A while back, I took my sister to one of my favourite cafes in Melbourne. This place has it all: great coffee, offensively delicious scrambled eggs, and the pièce de résistance for any CrossFit athlete, bacon. Really, really good bacon. Like, massive slabs of bacon. Not that this article is about bacon, but seriously. Their bacon is life-changing.
Anyway, while my sister and I were eating breakfast, we overheard a conversation between friends at the table behind us. It went something like this:
“I’ve been eating such crap lately!”
“Have something healthy then.”
“I’ll just have toast. It’s whole grain.”
“That’s not enough for breakfast!”
“Fine. I’ll be naughty and have some bacon too.”
If you’re already a member of the Paleo cult, or just make a concerted effort to eat clean, whole foods, then that conversation probably made you cringe. Well, it made me cringe. I remember resisting the urge to turn around and tell the naughty bacon eater to go ahead and shovel the bacon down her throat. Ditch the toast!
Her perceptions about what is and isn’t healthy are likely the result of having believed traditional nutrition dogma, which is not only pervasive, but dangerous. Most children and adults, for example, are advised to consume nine to eleven servings of whole grain per day. But one of the key ingredients in most whole grain products is gluten, which acts as an inflammatory for your blood, bones, joints and organs.
The intention of this article, however, is not to slam different diets, or to herald the Paleo diet as being the Ultimate Solution to the world’s nutritional woes. Rather, this article will discuss the benefits of the Paleo diet, and provide you with the resources to try out a cleaner diet and make the decision for yourself.

The Paleo Diet, Defined
Let’s start by defining the Paleo diet. According to Loren Cordain, the founder of the Paleo diet, eating Paleo is “based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups that our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era” (thepaleodiet.com).
By wholesome, Cordain means unprocessed meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, oils, and fats. Dairy, processed grains and sugar, juices and legumes were not consumed by our Paleolithic ancestors, which means, according to Cordain, that we shouldn’t consume them either. Humans have not adapted to consuming these foods, which means that our bodies react negatively when we do eat them.
If you’ve ever suffered from lactose intolerance, inflamed joints, headaches, stomach aches, or IBS, for example, then you’ve more than likely eaten a lot of something that you shouldn’t have.
Making the decision to follow the Paleo diet, or simply deciding to cut out processed grains, sugars, and dairy from your diet can be daunting, mostly because it sounds really boring. Most people ask very similar questions when they first learn about the Paleo diet: What can you actually eat? What about chocolate? How do you get your carbohydrates if you don’t eat bread?
These are all valid questions (especially the one about chocolate). The Paleo diet seems fairly restrictive, but that’s only because we humans are bombarded daily with a mind- boggling number of packaged food choices that trick us into thinking we have a variety of foods to eat.
But if you read the labels of most packaged or processed goods closely, the illusion of variety will fade quite quickly. Different variations of sugar appear on just about every single label. Corn syrup? Sugar. Barley malt? Sugar. Dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, lactose, maltose, sucrose, sorbitol? All sugars.
The natural world offers an incredible variety of whole, healthy foods that humans have been consuming for years. And the good news for those new to the Paleo diet is that those who’ve come before you have gotten really creative with those foods! Paleo pancakes, bread, caramel, cookies, dips, and sauces are quite common, and many of them are far more delicious than the non-Paleo versions.
One of the best ways to learn more about the Paleo diet and get started on it yourself is by consulting a list of foods that are ‘Paleo-approved,’ and a list of those that are not. The Ultimate Paleo Guide, an online Paleo food blog, has put together a great list: http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/paleo-diet-food-list/
If you’re looking for a simpler rule to live by, though, just remember this: if man made it, don’t eat it.

Customizing the Paleo Diet
While the Paleo diet is a great template for eating wholesome, healthy foods, it’s still incredibly important to customize the diet for your needs in much the same way that you would scale a CrossFit WOD.
Depending upon how active you are, you will need fewer or more carbohydrates, natural sugar, healthy fats, and grams of protein.
Some people react poorly to dairy, while other people thrive on getting their carbohydrates from milk. Rice works well as a source of energy for some, but is tough to digest for others.
The best thing that you can do is start out with a relatively strict Paleo diet template, and adjust the servings of Paleo foods- or maybe add in a few that aren’t if your body is asking for them- to suit your needs.
Pay attention to your body, and realize that how you feel and how you perform are directly related to what kind of fuel you’ve given your body. If you eat well, expect to perform well. Alternatively, if you find that you’re lacking energy or strength, eat more. Every body is different, so no one ‘blanket diet’ will work for everyone, but the Paleo diet cuts out all the crap and leaves you with a way forward in clean eating.

Feb Fast
For the entire month of February, CrossFit Victoria will be participating in Feb Fast. During Feb Fast, fasters give up alcohol, sugar, or caffeine to raise money for charity. This is a fantastic time to get started on the Paleo diet as well, as you’ll have plenty of friends who can’t go out for a drink or a coffee.
If you really want to make a change, give yourself thirty days. Eat clean, healthy, Paleo foods for thirty days, and document the changes in your mood, energy levels, and physical appearance.
If you love it, stick to it. If you don’t love it, tweak the diet a bit, but don’t give it up. You’ll never get the most out of your body if you’re not putting the best foods into it.
If you need more convincing, bacon is Paleo-approved. If that still hasn’t made your decision for you, browse through these resources for more information and opinions:

http://thepaleodiet.com/http://robbwolf.com/

http://robbwolf.com/podcast/

http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/

http://www.fitsugar.com/Other-Names-Sugar-Appear-Labels-810571

http://www.tnation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/paleo_nutrition_improved

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/paleo-diet-healthy_n_1898529.html