Learning to fly my freak flag

It’s a stunning Auckland day on the back deck of a friends place, Fat Freddy’s Drop are playing on the stereo, and the BBQ is sizzling away with an array of delicious meaty treats.

HEAVEN.

I approach the food table and assemble a nice plate of veg and salads, and add some steak to my plate.

I bypass the bread, and cut myself I nice hunk of butter and whack it on my steak.

Primal Meal of Goodness: DONE!

Friend 1: (laughing) Oh, here we go, you’re on one of those stupid “No Carb” diets

Me : No. I have plenty of carbs on my plate

Friend 1 : Where? Have some bread you fussy b*tch

Me: I don’t need bread, there are plenty of carbs in my veg and salad

Friend 1: (looking shocked) There are carbs in vegetables?!!!

Friend 2: And what’s with all the butter? Did you know butter kills more people than *insert statistic here* (I was too busy laughing to remember exactly what their claim was)

For approximately the 16th time this summer, I explained my choice to live a (predominantly) Paleo/Primal lifestyle.

And spent the requisite 10 minutes defending my decision, despite knowing that most of the people present thought I was bonkers.

True story.

Mmmm. Buttery Cow.

Now, not 3 weeks earlier a friend (who is on a “no carb” diet, and looking to lose weight)  announced she was “intolerant” to gluten, and nobody questioned HER choice not to eat the bread platter or the pasta at dinner (I also didn’t embarrass her by pointing out that there was gluten in the crackers she had consumed earlier, or the muffin she had over coffee the next morning…..)

Which brought me to ponder this point over dinner with Mr Ninja: Would it be easier if I started telling people I had Coeliac  Disease?

As if people would ball me out for having a DISEASE.

I could happily turn down all the baguettes, cookies, bagels and pasta bakes in the world and not have anyone question it.

I know other followers of a similar lifestyle to mine who have found this works well for them. And the truth is, I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was “intolerant”.

Grains and gluten are proven to cause an inflammatory reaction in the gut; it’s the just the degree that each of us suffers that varies. Until I took up a Primal diet, I was vegetarian, and for a while, vegan. After years of suffering with IBS and general ill health, I had, through a process of elimination, concluded that meat, eggs, and cheese were the culprits.

But I still got sick.

It wasn’t until chatting to nutritionist friend and CrossFit Coach (and Director of CFNZ) Darren following a Certification that I considered eliminating grains. I was willing to give ANYTHING a go.

Familiar with THIS Food Pyramid???

It worked! My health and stamina are ten times better than last year, I’ve built a lot more muscle, lost a ton of bodyweight, I don’t have any tummy aches, and even my allergies seem to have settled down.

With all these benefits, why in the heck wouldn’t I shout it from the rooftops??!

So the choice was made.

If you ask me about my choice to turn down the floury baps at your next BBQ, or question how healthy it is for me to eat an egg, avo and bacon salad, or try and tell me how healthy your “low fat dressing” and “fat free chocolate cake” is,prepare to be dazzled. Be ready to be educated. And if you still don’t believe me, come along to a CrossFit NZ class and check out all the ripped abs on those hotties 😉 I’m not the only one who lives this way.

And we have nothing to be ashamed of.

In the words of Kurt G Harris of PāNu

“If you are a vector for cultural change, which way is the arrow pointing?

Wear your Real Food Uniform.

Active Duty.

Fly your freak-flag high.

Say no to the cake.”