Are you addicted to a meth-like substance?

It’s easy to get caught up in the thinking that Paleo is just another diet. Or on the other end of the spectrum think that Paleo is such a normal part of everyday life that everyone should instantly get and understand it.

I apologize!

Any change in diet significantly impacts your day-to-day living. It physically affects at least three parts of your day, every day. Add on the social and mental challenges and you are left with one large hurdle.

Whenever you dare to be different there are always antagonists, people who try to get you to eat cake or goad you as you don’t. Social gatherings produce an interesting conundrum because you have the choice of explaining your new dietary changes a million times, personally offending the host, asking lots of questions or making special requests at restaurants (while your party stares at you), OR just eating the poison and suffering the damage to your body.

I have done all of these things in my transition to full Paleo. And it’s much easier to offend people here in west Tennessee because our cooking is a very personal matter. If you don’t like my cooking, why, you don’t like me as a person!

What is interesting to me is that the peer pressure to eat like everyone else is WORSE than the peer pressure to try meth the first time. I can personally vouch for that.

I also notice many similarities between meth and the Standard American Diet (SAD):

• Trying meth ONCE can hook you for life… Eating gluten & high carbs ONCE causes a reaction in the brain that can hook you for life.
• Meth is POISON and slowly damages your body… grains, vegetable oils & processed foods are POISON that slowly damage your body for LIFE, leaving you with disease like diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune conditions, etc.
• Meth makes you FEEL GOOD and is highly euphoric… gluten & carbs make you FEEL good and are euphoric.
• Meth DESTROYS your life, your ability to handle relationships, your appearance and your brain… Gluten & omega-6 mega-doses & AGES (advanced glycated end products) DESTROY your body from the inside-out, rendering you a shell of the person you once were.
• Getting off meth is a long, slow process … getting off poisonous grains, HFCS & processed foods is a long process, but should not be avoided just because it’s hard.
• Meth affects the nervous system and strips your body of its glow… gluten & sugar affect your nervous system and can eventually manifest as Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, as well as leave you with acne and mottled skin.

I don’t think any of you would sanction using meth, so WHY do we continually put poison in our bodies and wonder why we are in this mess?

WHY do we give it to our kids? Just because it’s easier? Really? Are your kids going to thank you in twenty years or blame you for their obesity, diabetes or digestive disorders (constipation, ulcerative colitis, colon cancer)?

And don’t think you’re off the hook if your kid isn’t fat. Damaging their bodies damages their cells… their DNA. Our cells must divide and replicate constantly. Damaged DNA begets damaged DNA, mutated DNA and non-functional cells. Damage can take YEARS to manifest.

The peer pressure to eat grains and processed foods is very real and I recognize the difficulties you go through. I want to encourage you to stand strong in your convictions to eat whole, unprocessed foods and NO GRAINS. It will pay off, I promise.

Find a friend or family that eats the same way you do. They are around, I assure you. Have a potluck! Find support! Get on here… I’m here to help. I truly want to see you succeed. You can do this! It IS worth it!

Some things I have tried that work rather well:

• If we’re going to someone’s house for dinner, I simply call in advance, explain my diet and ask if there will be a gluten-free option and offer to make suggestions (here’s the time to eat rice for a cheat) AND/OR offer to bring a dish. People don’t hate folks with peanut allergies, so they shouldn’t hate on you for your special dietary needs. Tell them you have a wheat allergy, if you must. It’s not a lie. We all do.
• Skipping a meal won’t kill you, I promise. In fact, skipping a meal every now and then is PROVEN to extend your life and improve all health biomarkers. Yes, it may be difficult the first time, but it allows your body to restore and reset itself.
• Bring my own food… in a cooler. Yep. You can do this. Even in restaurants.
• Simply explain the diet you are on without offering details. Smile and nod as they disagree with you. Continue to smile and nod as they eat pasta and cake and complain about being fat.
• If it’s a close friend or family member, you can always just lay it out. Say, I am making a dietary change that is very important to me. Instead of trying to get me to fail, I could use and really appreciate your support as I work hard to make myself and my family healthier. By constantly trying to get me to eat cake, I feel like you don’t think health is important and want me to stay fat. Since I know you really love me and do not feel this way, I want to ask for your help and support on this matter. Will you help me? Then smile and nod… or hug.

What have you tried that works? Comment below!