I added a new section today: Paleo Lifestyle! Lately, living Paleo has become incredibly important to me. If you read my last post about redefining my fab & frugal journey, you already know that I was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. So after years of being a gluten-free weekday vegetarian, I made the switch to Paleo so I could begin my healing journey.

Honestly, I’ve never even heard of Hashimoto’s until my doctor reviewed my lab results and told me it was causing my fatigue, hair loss, brain fog, and some weight gain, among countless other symptoms. In fact, it’s quite common and something you should be tested for if you’re experiencing symptoms. Even though I was bummed out about dealing with a lifelong autoimmune condition, it made me feel better knowing that I wasn’t going crazy and that something really was wrong with me. And knowing what was wrong meant I can try to search for answers.

Goodbye Grains, Dairy, and Soy… Here Comes Paleo!

One of the first things my doctor prescribed (besides thyroid medication) was a gluten-free diet. This surprised me a bit but luckily, I was already avoiding gluten so I knew this wouldn’t be too difficult. Why no gluten? She explained to me that most Hashimoto’s patients are sensitive to gluten and that the proteins in gluten resemble the thyroid gland. When the body creates antibodies against gluten, it attacks the thyroid too. Chris Kesser is an expert on this topic… you can read all about the gluten-thyroid connection here.

Aside from gluten, my bazillion hours of online torture research have taught me that the Paleo diet is the best treatment for autoimmune conditions. There are lots of great web resources on the Paleo diet which I will link to later but in a nutshell, this diet completely eliminates gluten, grains (including corn), dairy, soy, beans (and peanuts), and processed foods. Instead, plates should be filled with high quality meat, seafood, veggies, herbs, and healthy starches.

So how does a weekday vegetarian become Paleo with the flip of a switch? I had spent years eating a 90% vegan diet with just a few meals a week that included meat and animal products. I was a huge follower of Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. T. Collin Campbell and their vegan and near-vegan lifestyles. I spent years convincing myself that too much meat is harmful.

While I still respect the foundation of a vegan or near-vegan diet, there’s a lot of evidence out there that for a leaky gut (which is usually one of the underlying causes of Hashimoto’s), Paleo-based diets are the answer. I now believe that there are different healing diets for various ailments, so in my case, Paleo is the best choice. In addition, here are some other reasons I made the switch:

• You can eat tons of vegetables on Paleo! As much as you want. This is a very natural transition for me since I was used to eating a rainbow of veg.
• You don’t have to overwhelm yourself with meat. I’m doing just fine with a 3-4 oz serving of meat at two meals per day. For breakfast, I usually have a large green smoothie.
• The Paleo Diet eliminates foods that most commonly cause inflammation (grains, dairy, soy, legumes) and it’s a difference you can feel almost immediately.
• It’s not a super low-carb diet (unless you make it that way on purpose). I get to enjoy all kinds of fruits, sweet potatoes, wraps made out of plantain, pumpkin, and squash. I still get around 120 to 150g of carbs per day on Paleo, and sometimes more.

Although my primary goal was not weight loss, it’s a nice added side effect. I lost 10 pounds in the last 5 weeks on Paleo which leaves me with just 10 pounds to go to hit my ideal weight! That’s reason in itself to continue. I also am sleeping much better, don’t feel bloated after meals, and rarely have indigestion. Overall, I’m a pretty happy camper. 🙂

Learn More About Paleo

I want to leave you with some resources, in case you want to try Paleo too or at least learn more about the benefits. It’s definitely worth the read so I encourage you to check a few of them out! Here are my favorite articles & resources on the web:

• Paleo Leap – Published Research on the Health Benefits of Paleo: A Look at the Studies
• Paleo Leap – Paleo Diet 101
• The Paleo Mom – What is the Paleo Diet?
• Chris Kesser – 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Paleo
• Nom Nom Paleo – What’s the Paleo Diet? <<I really recommend this one!

It’s not an easy switch, but I’ve made some yummy, fab Paleo meals that didn’t cost an arm and a leg! I hope to share some of these recipes with you in the future. I’ve also learned a lot of recipes from some of my favorite Paleo bloggers, which I’ll also share with you soon. My next step is trying the Paleo AIP, which is the autoimmune protocol version of Paleo… but I want to spend a little more time in the kiddie pool before I swim in deeper waters.

I really look forward to working on the Paleo Lifestyle section of my blog. Please stay tuned for more Paleo updates!