Forgive me father for I have sinned.

I am in the midst of the single worst episode of dietary cheating  
since I started this thing in 1999.  Beer, oats, wheat flour  
tortillas, milk, cheese, ice cream, and, of course, too much caffeine  
to keep me awake during the day.  The other day I had a "Twelve  
Musketeers" for lunch (four Three Musketeers bars, lol).

I usually have a very strong willpower, but it's been unusually  
difficult to get started eating well again.  The reason it's so  
tough, which has eluded me, suddenly popped in my head during my run  
this morning: I am trying to go from this very neolithic diet to  
paleo perfection.  I simply don't have the patience right now to see  
it through and keep slipping back to poor eating habits.   I had to  
remind myself that there are three phases to paleo.

Phase One
Do not concern yourself with carbohydrates. Simply eliminate grains,  
dairy, legumes, frankenfats.  You'll feel great very quickly and will  
lose quite a few pounds of water weight (which is nothing more than  
the body's defense to neolithic foods) and some to quite a bit of  
fat.  One could spend a very healthy life in this phase.

Phase Two
Low or very low carbohydrate.  You'll still feel great.  Early stages  
will lead to some weakness and degradation in athletic ability.  You  
will lose additional fat beyond phase one until your body figures out  
how to convert protein to sugar (gluconeogenesis), at which time  
you'll plateau or even gain some weight back.

Phase Three
Low carb, limited protein, high fat.  You'll get to your ideal weight  
and feel better than ever.  As the study Ray posted the other day  
showed, we spent most of our time in this phase.

My problem is I keep trying to jump from where I am today back to  
Phase Three, where I've spent most of my time the last year.  The key  
for me right now is to go through the progression of phases.

Jim Swayze
www.fireholecanyon.com