Primal Urge

For the record, I am not a dieter. No, I am not one of those annoying people who is naturally thin (whatever that means) - I could definitely stand to misplace a few pounds. ...and, I have done the calorie-counting thing (which does work) for a few mind-numbing weeks every now and then.

So, when my husband recently announced that he is considering the "caveman diet", I was ... well, intrigued. Wanting to be supportive of any interesting and healthy-sounding move, I immediately volunteered to join him. Never having heard of this particular regimen, I really had no idea what it even was, but my husband is not the impulsive type who follows fad diets. In fact, he has never dieted OR calorie counted. And, the simple (seeming) explanation of eating only stuff pre-agricultural humans could have consumed sounded reasonable enough.

And then I remembered that I'm a "pescetarian" that loves hummus, pasta, rice, cheese and yogurt. Seafood is fine, but all grains, dairy and legumes are pretty much verboten on the "Paleo Diet" (one of the official names, as I discovered). Oh, and not to mention that I am two weeks out from a marathon, during which time I should be CARB LOADING. How do you carb load without pasta, rice, and bread???

Ok, deep breath, this is not impossible. It is a challenge, which I kinda love, but doable. I think. I have already scoured the web for advice (the No Meat Athlete is pretty helpful) and decided that my dinners away from home for work and school over the next couple of weeks are fair game for cheating in the name of carb loading.

Turns out that the whole thing is fairly complicated as there is much disagreement over such details as white potatoes and lentils (which apparently can be soaked to eliminate 95% of the toxins that would have been debilitating to the caveman digestive tract, had they been able to grow or forage them). Alcohol and protein powders are particularly contentious subjects within the caveman diet universe, but, I digress.....

Shopping for our new meal plan was pretty entertaining - and educational. Who knew all of the gluten-free foods have soy, rice and chick pea flour in them? We stocked up on almond milk, leafy greens, root veggies, coconut milk ice cream and lots of nuts. Today was the first day of an agreed-upon one week trial period before we commit to three solid weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Coincidentally, and sort of problematically, I also had a pre-planned brunch with some girlfriends at a little French place that specializes in cheesy, bready goodness. I felt pretty darn silly ordering eggs Florentine without the bread, but was later proud of my restraint. Dinner back at home was grilled octopus (he had a steak), roasted Brussels sprouts and a green salad with late tomatoes from the garden. It was delicious and didn't feel at all restrictive. Plus, I kind of like the image of myself as a cave woman near a coast who spear-fishes octopi, rebelliously eats deadly nightshades, and when necessary, runs really damn far to escape whatever happens to be chasing her.

As to the marathon, I am hoping that a few cheat nights and a whole lot of Halloween candy will be enough to carb me up for the main event. I guess we'll see.