What works best for you?

Posted by Melissa Baumgart
Yesterday was my son's semi-final game for the State Cup soccer tournament.  He put up a good fight, but they lost, 3-0.  While standing on the sidelines, making small talk with the other parents, I found myself in a conversation about gluten-free/paleo/high protein diets.  Imagine that?  This mom I was talking to is hilarious, and gluten-free!  We laughed and admitted to our judgement of "those sensitive people" that can't just eat everything like we could, prior to experiencing life without grains/gluten.  And how much better we feel since removing those items ourselves. 

Paleo is everywhere, even on the soccer sidelines.

It's not like I think everyone should stop eating grains today.  I can only say how surprised I am at how much better my body feels without them.  And how easy it is to not eat any grains.  I also find that it helps curb my emotional eating.  Without the quick carbs to stuff my face with, I tend to not stuff my face with anything.  I will turn to the foods I can eat, but how much meat and veggies can one eat at a sitting.  These foods just don't have that same effect when it comes to emotional eating.

I get stuck between trying to figure out the science of why this diet might feel better, and just taking the inherent cues from my body and believing that.  There's all the paleo websites and books, there's the new Abascal Way -TQI diet (To Quiet Inflammation) that seems to be the rage on Vashon Island and beyond, the Diet Cure book I bought...so many resources out there that claim high protein/low carb diets are the way to go.  But I bet there's just as many that say eating a vegan diet or eating no meat is best, and that you need carbs to be healthy. 

That's the thing, right?  Find what works best for you.  Why not try different ways of eating to see what works best for your body and your lifestyle, so you feel your best?