I'm pissed.

Hold on paleo peeps, this might get rough. You (average Americans eating your Standard American Diet [SAD]) might not like me. You may even hate me. I don't care. You need a wake up call.

Glen Pendlay isn't the only one who is pissed (pissed2, or pissed3).I'm pissed too. Yesterday I was on a cross country flight from Charlotte, NC to Seattle, WA and I was completely surrounded by a sea of unhealthy people. About two hours into our flight we had a medical emergency. One of the passengers passed out in the bathroom. From my seat towards the rear of the plane, I looked back to see half of a large elderly woman laying on the floor, half in the bathroom and half in the rear of the plane. Frightening doesn't even begin to explain the situation.

The flight attendants had been busy pushing their cart and offering the customers on the flight their choice of a variety of sugar infused beverages and alcohol when this happened (this pisses me off too and it was a 7:45am take off, sadly people were already drinking alcohol) . They quickly put away the cart and tried to help the woman. Seconds later, they were on the intercom asking for doctors or nurses who could assist.

What happened next astonished me. They got back on the intercom and asked if any passengers had a blood glucose monitor that they would be willing to let the lady borrow and if so, "please push your flight attendant button located above your seat". NUMEROUS BUZZERS AND LIGHTS began going off as passengers offered up their diabetes paraphernalia to help the woman in need. Wow. I was shocked to see so many people having ties to this disease. As the glucose kit was returned to the generous passenger who loaned it, it was mentioned that the lady's blood glucose was "a little too high". It took a while to get her off the floor, stable, and laying down in the last row of seats in the very back of the plane.


I had hoped that this experience would help to force a change in many of these passengers. If seeing a woman passed out on the floor of an airplane bathroom (ewwwww) doesn't knock some sense into you, I'm not sure what will. I believe that Type 2 Diabetes is a disease of choice. If you continue to over-consume sugar and processed crap, you are well on your way to becoming a train wreck on the bathroom floor of an airplane. For all of those who claim that diabetes runs in your family and that your destiny is to become diabetic too, pick up a copy of "It Starts With Food" (ISWF) by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. My FAVORITE quote in this book is their no-nonsense way of explaining epigenetics (p. 83 of ISWF)...

"Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger." - Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

Meaning that the genes for disease (even diabetes) may be present but YOU actively decide to "pull the trigger" when you make poor nutrition choices. You control your decisions; you control your environment. No excuses, no bullshit. You do this.

So I'm pissed because I'm on a plane surrounded by people who continue to make poor nutrition and health choices.  I'm pissed because numerous people on this plane are choosing to live with diabetes. I'm pissed because a lady would rather lay on the floor of an airplane bathroom than eat healthy food. And after all of this, once the plane had calmed, I got up and headed to the bathroom in the back of the plane... I stood there, waiting for a restroom to become available, and I'm beside this lady who now has an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth and is laying there trying to breathe and what do I see in the isle DIRECTLY beside her? An overweight couple chowing down on a gallon sized bag of M&M's. Obviously they missed the wake up call and that REALLY pisses me off.

PISSED ME OFF. Paleo-ninja skills used to discretely snap photo. 

And what was I doing before I got so pissed? I was reading ISWF on my five hour flight home. Now I'm pissed because I was the only person on the plane who was reading it.

Go get it, change your life.

"Colorado for a Cause"

Big shout out to Whole 9 today for their "Colorado for a Cause" workshop! They graciously offered attendees to bring family members for free! All due to a letter from my friend, Trish O'Donnell, about her mother. They're saving lives today because it starts with food! Click here to read why. 

Saving lives starts with food.

Paleo Junk Food

I've been thinking about a conversation that happened on Twitter this week for a few days now. It went like this:


Stacy and Matthew (Stacy and Matthew (@PaleoParents)
10/3/11 3:51 PM
It's unfortunate #Paleo(ish) brownies are assumed to make us want SAD Enough already w/ food guilt! #realworld #paleokids #SWYPO @whole9life

Whole9 (@whole9life) 10/3/11 6:34 PM @PaleoParents A big part of the #Whole30 is eliminating cravings. How can you do that while eating brownies? We want folks to succeed. {m}

Stacy and Matthew (@PaleoParents) 10/3/11 7:04 PM @whole9life I think working within the #whole30 framework it makes sense. Your lit spoke to that. This post tastes more of an overall tone.

Whole9 (@whole9life) 10/3/11 7:09 PM @PaleoParents Yeah, it's overall. A "Paleo" dessert is still a dessert.

Stacy and Matthew (@PaleoParents)
10/3/11 7:23 PM
@whole9life Stating grainfree lowsugar "special treats" lead to #SWYPO is an assumption. They helped our family succeed. Worth a thought...

I think the whole thing (no pun intended) started with this post from Whole9. In a nutshell (pun intended!), it cautions against the Paleo-lithification of desserts and junk food while reminding us that a paleo-dessert is still a dessert. In my opinion, they assume that if we keep the Paleo version of our old eating habits, at some point, we will just revert back to our old eating habits (in a non-Paleo form). I disagree with them here and really believe that if I wasn't able to eat some Paleo junk food when I first went Paleo that there's NO WAY I would have stuck with it. Also, as a mother, I realize that kids are going to have some junk food. Whether it is in our house, at a friend's house, at a birthday party, or at school, they are going to leave the Paleo friendly walls of our home and they will consume junk food because it tastes good to them. I'd much rather send them into the world with a limited amount of Paleo junk food rather than to have them eat a friend's lunch that is full of sugar, gluten, grains, and all around nasty stuff. I'm assuming this is the position of PaleoParents as well. I do appreciate Whole9's reminder though. While Paleo junk food is better than the normal junk food floating around 99% of the lunch boxes in America, it is still not nutritious. If your goal is to lean out, maximize benefits found in nutrients from food, and perform well, you just need to stay away from all junk food - Paleo junk food too! All Paleo junk  food has a sweetener, usually honey or maple syrup, which causes an undesirable insulin response in your body. They are usually full of fat too (almond flour, coconut flour, etc). While fat isn't a bad thing, too much of it isn't good. In this case, it could be what is causing you to miss your weight loss goals, your performance goals, or your health goals. Bottom line, eat Paleo goodies if that's what you need to do to keep you Paleo but limit them. If your goal is to lean out and perform well, give them up completely. Junk food is still junk food no matter how it is packaged.