Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (21 page)

After 30 days, when you've reduced inflammation, worked on healing your gut, stabilized your blood sugar, and become a more efficient fat burner, you can venture out beyond the 30-Day Reset menu. Most of my patients experience the best results when they stick to a diet that's 80 percent Paleo and 20 percent personal play.

Some folks need more than 30 days before they are ready to have flexibility. If you have a condition you are trying to heal, you may decide to continue on past the 30 days. Again, what works for you personally is an important part of eating Paleo.

Feeling shaky, crazy, and tired

Be aware of what's happening when you launch the 30-Day Reset. If you start to feel a bit wonky as you're switching over your diet to Paleo foods, know that you're A-Okay. This yucky feeling is actually a signal that your body is making a positive switch. Some folks feel mental fuzziness, headaches, fatigue, achy joints, or shakiness during some part of their first 30 days. Think of this discomfort as an accomplishment because your body is actually conquering carbs. That's why this time is often called the
carb flu.
Your body is making the nasty transition from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fats for energy. Just try to be patient; on average, it takes four to seven days to get through the carb flu, but for some it may take longer. Just hang tight and know that this side effect is just part of your transition.

Here's what's happening during this process physically: Your body needs glucose (sugar) for the brain, muscles, cells, and so on to function. Before you started eating Paleo, glucose was easy to access from all the sugary carbohydrates you were likely eating. Now, without the constant carb supply, your body has to create some of the glucose it needs from fats and proteins, which isn't an easy process.

So What Can I Eat? Recognizing Your 30-Day Reset Power Foods

During the 30-Day Reset, you concentrate on providing the best raw material to rebuild a strong, healthy body: lean meats, fish and eggs, healthy fats, Paleo approved vegetables, fruits, and nuts and seeds (see
Figure 4-1
). These simple, real foods help you get back to the basics. The essential point is that you should keep your foods simple, balanced, and of the highest quality your budget allows.

Illustration by Elizabeth Kurtzman

Figure 4-1:
30-Day Reset foods for cleansing and rebuilding.

Picking the right Reset proteins

Purchasing your meat and eggs from pasture-raised, organic sources and seafood from a sustainable, wild source is the ideal (both during the Reset and in general). The guidelines for choosing proteins for the Reset are the same as the ones for everyday Paleo; check out Chapters
5
and
6
for more details on buying the following proteins:

Eggs and egg whites

Poultry

Beef

Lamb

Wild game

Canned fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel)

Pork/boar products

Deli meats and chicken or turkey sausage

Fish, seafood, and shellfish