John Footen wrote:
> PALEOFOOD Digest - 28 Jul 2002 (#2002-374)I, like many others here, first came to Paelo as a means of losing weight.  I was very successful on my first run.  I lost 75 pounds in 9 or 10 months.  I was very strict.
> I have since regained all of that and put on another 25 more after leaving the diet (and my home in SE Asia) and returning to live in the US.  I am 100 lbs over weight in 18 months!  Good old American food.

Just to add my $.02.  We tend to think of diets as
treatments for this or that.  The diabetic who is suddenly
faced with a "diabetic diet" and told this must be followed
for the rest of his/her life goes into denial - well, I'll
do it for a while and then I'll try eating one of the
forbidden foods just to see if things are "fixed" yet.  I
fell into this trap myself with paleo - had been on it
almost 3 months, feeling good and losing weight.  It started
with "just a taste" and progressed to "one serving won't
hurt" and so on.  It did hurt - the craves came back full
bore, I stopped losing weight, my blood sugar went up, my GI
and respiratory problems started coming back, I felt awful
again.  So now I am back on strict paleo (or as strict as I
can get it) and repeat constantly to myself "CARBS ARE NOT
FOOD" in the hopes of changing my brain's mind about it.  My
body is hard wired to eat carbs, but I can learn to live
with that particular handicap.  It beats the heck out of a
wheelchair and an oxygen tank, which is where the carb path
was leading me.

For me, paleo eating is not a restrictive diet but rather
the door to freedom.  I could not live with the knowledge of
constant restrictions; I can live and prosper with food
consumption that is right for me.  And it gets easier: the
more I believe that those fudge Toast'ems by husband bought
are NOT food, the easier it is to ignore them :)  I just
remind myself that every action has consequences - do I want
the great temporary taste of that fake stuff or do I want to
feel good?  The choice is much easier then :)  While many
may regard Mickey D's Supper Club offering of a double
burger, fries and a chocolate shake as American food, for me
they are only poisonous filler.

Good luck in finding your path!
--
   Elisi Tsayonah, AniWodi, ghigau,
   St Francis River Band of Cherokee