Bending then Breaking

          Unfortunately, even as I extoll the virtues of the paleo diet on this blog, I have to admit that I have slipped a lot lately.  Travel really tends to throw me off, and I have been travelling a fair bit for the interview season.  The fact is, without a kitchen at your disposal, it can be pretty tough to eat high quality foods and avoid the bad stuff... which seems to be everywhere.  For example, did you know that there is wheat, and thus gluten, in soy sauce?  Honestly, I was shocked when I found that out.

          The other problem is that once I bend a little bit on my diet, I tend to throw in the towel and go ahead and break, at least for a few days.  When you have meticulously avoided gluten for a while, even a slight exposure can throw you off a lot.  Once I have already hit that point, I usually decide that I might as well keep going for a few days... and that's when things like McDonalds start to make their appearance.  Not good.  Very not good in fact.  You don't have to tell me.  I know.

Yes, I do love it.

          This bad cycle really started some time around Thanksgiving.  I was at my girlfriend's house for Thanksgiving, and her mother is a phenomenal cook.  Not only did I not want to be "that guy" refusing the stuffing and bread she made... but I just wanted to eat the damn stuff, because it was so good!  Also, I am a huge football fan and knocking back a few beer with the guys while watching the game really seemed like the right thing to do.  I got it together a few days after Thanksgiving, but then I had to travel for an interview.  For lunch we were offered pre-made sandwiches (white bread and chips... even in medical circles these things aren't considered healthy; kind of surprising that's what a medical establishment would offer).  This is also a situation where you really don't want to be "that guy."  In fact... it's really important not to be.

          I ate my sandwich and the chips and went to the airport where I had to wait for several hours.  Eventually I got hungry.  Then it was Quiznos.  Seriously, there weren't really many other options.  I got to my parent's house that night, and when I woke up the next morning, I decided that with my GI tract was already completely screwed from the days and weeks before, so I might as well go to my childhood favorite place to slam a couple of bagel sandwiches.

          I went back to Ithaca for a few days, but now I'm at my parents house for the holidays.  I'm trying to get my diet back on track, but the Christmas season is seriously messing with my plans.  I feel like I'm being force fed chocolate.

          Right now, my body... well, it doesn't feel so great.  Actually, as a side note, when I first started eating paleo, it was really surprising how much better my body started to feel.  It was really subtle, but when I stopped and thought about it, there was a big difference.  My neck didn't have as many weird aches, I didn't wake up stiff for no reason, and my GI tract felt much better.  Right now, though, things are not so positive.  My acid reflux is acting up, my neck and back get these weird stiff aches, I get the occasional random headache, and I don't even really want to spill the details on the state of my digestion.

          I have to give you some background, though, so you can see where I am going with this.  First, I want to say that my paleo eating has been subject to periods of extreme lapses like I just described.  Other examples are the weeks leading up to graduation or other partying periods in my past (think spring break, fraternity events, finals weeks after last exams...).  The fact is that when you're a highly social college student... there are times when it can be hard to stick to your diet, even when you know it's the right thing to do.

Yes, I'm a frat boy to the bone.

          Not only that, but I haven't been exercising lately.  I'm usually very consistent about exercise, because it's something I enjoy and really value, but lately I have had a lot of trouble motivating myself to get into the gym.  Without the motivation, I actually haven't had a workout in a week and a half.

          That's actually one reason why I think this blog's nutritional aspect could be helpful for some people.  A lot of the writers out there, like Robb Wolf or Mark Sisson, are almost machinelike in their ability to maintain a perfect diet all the time.  It just is who they are, and they will not waver.  If they ever do, they fix it.  Personally, despite recognizing the superiority of this dietary plan, I have struggled with its implementation at times.  This is both for social reasons and reasons of preference; at the end of the day, I have to admit that I really just don't enjoy eating most veggies.  Onions, artichokes, asparagus, and a few others are great... but carrots and broccoli, for example, kind of gross me out.  I either have to force em down or find a really creative way to cook or season them.

          The second piece of background information you have to get is that I have had acid reflux - aka GERD - since I was young.  I'm in the process of writing a few articles on GERD, because I think it's a really interesting medical condition that is not well covered in medicine and most online sources.  I have been taking some form of prescription acid blocker since I was young.  Unfortunately, these are correlated with a variety of health problems that I really don't want to suffer from.  I have decided to get off the meds this winter, following an endoscopy later this week - I promise to post pictures.  I'll discuss my plan of attack in the upcoming GERD post, but integral to that plan is having my diet locked in... and right now, it is about as bad as it has ever been.

          Another thing I keep thinking about is how important it's going to be to have my diet and exercise routines really locked in before I embark on my medical career.  You see so many fat and unhealthy people with terrible habits in healthcare; it's terrifying.  I have been warned that med students need to have good habits ingrained in them before they get started, because the stress has the potential to push people in bad directions.  Between the stress of the job and the non stop work, it's easy to see how a doctor or medical student could develop bad eating habits.  It could start simply, like stopping at McDonalds while studying for a test, but after a while, I can see how it could become more habitual.  Given my tendency to break the diet after I bend a little, I feel like I would be especially predisposed to this.

          So, this is me re-affirming my commitment to a healthy lifestyle.  I'm going to start exercising again and eating right.  I'll post an update in a week or two.  To have some kind of baseline number, as of this morning I weigh: 185.8.  I asked for a bodyfat caliper for Christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to post some kind of percentage in a few days.