my name is robin fritche and i just finished reading Dr. Cordain's book, 'The
Paleo Diet.'  not only was it utterly convincing, but i've also been on kind
of an anthropological kick lately (i'm in a barnes and noble class on human
evolution and development, plus i've just read a book called 'The Seven
Daughters of Eve' and i'm rereading Jean Auel's Earth's Children series in
anticipation of her her book finally coming out).  anyway, i'm 24 years old
and severely obese.  i suffer from a myriad of minor ailments that Dr.
Cordain claims a Paleo diet can significantly improve.  i want to give it a
try, even though i know it will be hard for me.  i love milk, cheese, pasta,
bread, and peanut butter too much.  i need to improve my health though, and
any diet that can help me do that is worth the struggle.  i also think the
whole idea of it makes perfect sense...nature hadn't originally planned on
our agricultural innovations.  of course we should still eat as our
paleolithic ancestors have.  as much as i love pasta, i have noted that when
i eat too much of it, it wreaks havoc upon my digestive system.  i could
stand a change.

so anyway, i am extremely new at this.  i've joined this list in hopes of
compassion, questions answered, and ideas shared.  i currently live with my
parents (ah, the post-college slump syndrome), so my mother has been buying
most of the food.  she went shopping yesterday and as i helped her put it
away, i realized that almost none of the things she bought would comply with
my change in diet.  aside from carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, apples,
bananas, oranges, and kiwis, the only other thing i can eat are the frozen
chicken breasts i asked her to buy for me.  guess i'll be going shopping
tomorrow!  today i have to make do with what i can.

i also doubt i'll get any support from my family.  my mother already
denounced this whole idea just from seeing me read the book.  "robin,
everyone knows that the secret to losing weight is less calories and more
exercise."  she would have said more but i asked her to please let me read
the book.  if i told my mom that i'm going to, for the most part, quit eating
dairy and grains, she'd probably flip out and launch into a lengthy lecture
about proper nutrition vs. fad diets.  i don't think she'd understand that
this isn't a fad at all, but simply a norm from which we have strayed.

blah, blah.  i'm babbling.  i just wanted to introduce myself and tell you
all a little bit about why i'm trying this out.  Dr. Cordain says that after
a couple of weeks i can feel markedly better.  i'm going to try it for at
least that long and if it works (and i think it will), i'll stick with it.
i'm also going to check out that 'Neanderthin' book.

take care, all, and thanks for listening!

-robin