The Paleo diet's 30-Day Reset is the foundation of the Paleo living program. When you get past these first 30 days, everything gets easier. Everything starts to fall into place.
Develop a habit within your Paleo program's first 30 days
The number 30 is a good start to developing a habit. Dropping some of your favorite foods and cutting out packaged, processed foods with sugar isn't an easy battle. In fact, you may want to cry in your ice cream bowl for a while.
You may not be completely automatic in your responses after 30 days, however, this time frame will go a long way in starting you off in the right direction.
It has most likely taken you a long while to develop your eating habits, and it will take some time before you can erase those old habits and form new ones. Just know that after 30 days, most everyone feels considerably better, and cravings are greatly diminished. The longer you've depended on sugary foods, the more difficult it may be to retrain your taste buds to natural sweetness again.
It also takes about 21 days for your intestinal cells to turn over, which helps you get through this process a little easier as your body renews with good raw material.
Renew your system with the Paleo lifestyle
Developing new eating habits and cutting cravings during these 30 days is possible because you're renewing your system and making it stronger and healthier.
During the 30-Day Reset, you're improving the caliber of your cells. When you eat foods that are denatured, packaged, and processed, you're poisoning your cells. When people are lean and healthy and have a youthful vibrant appearance, they have cells that are free of waste.
By eating the cleansing Paleo-approved foods, waste leaves through the following detox organs:
Kidney
Liver
Lungs
Intestines
Skin
As you eat foods full of nutrition and drink plenty of water, the toxins start to flood out of your body and nutrients enter. Your cells start to regenerate and exude health.
You can do a few things during this time to move waste along. Here are some suggestions to help rid your body of toxins:
Get sweaty. Sweat is a great carrier of waste. Sweating through exercise or sauna is a great way to eliminate toxins. The toxins leave through your kidneys, so be sure to drink extra fluids while you sweat.
Jump. Mini trampolines called rebounders squeeze waste matters from cells as you bounce lightly. Rebounding is one of the healthiest exercises you can do for your cells and for elimination of toxins.
Brush. Dry brushing cleanses your skin, which is important because your skin is your largest organ and an eliminator of toxins. Through dry brushing, waste is lifted, which allows your body to take in more oxygen through the skin. It also stimulates the lymphatic system, which is your body's drainage system, so you have clear pathways to eliminate effectively.
Eat. Add some raw vegetables to your plate daily. This is a great way to move food through your colon and help your intestines in the elimination process.
Breathe. Yoga breathing is so simple but very powerful. Because your lungs are eliminative organs as well, when you exhale, you release toxins. Yoga is a fantastic addition to the 30-Day Reset and beyond for detoxification as well as health benefits.
Master the Paleo diet plan
You're ready to begin implementation. For the most successful journey possible during your 30 days, here are some sample guidelines to follow:
Make the decision to move forward with the 30-Day Reset.
Tell people in your tribe what you're up to.
Start your positive reprograming through affirmations.
Clear the decks.
Go through your kitchen with a trash bag and get rid of foods that aren't part of your 30-day plan. Stock your kitchen with all the wonderful Paleo-approved foods.
Get organized.
In addition to the steps in the master plan, you can do the following things to keep your spirits up and promote a healthy mind and body:
Move every day.
Set aside 20 minutes for meditation every day.
Get a weekly massage and chiropractic adjustment.
At the end of your 30 days, celebrate! You just accomplished a major milestone.
Understand your body's transformation when adapting a Paleo lifestyle
You may feel pretty lousy during the first few weeks transitioning to Paleo. Some people experience mental fuzziness, fatigue, headaches, moodiness, shakiness, and are just plain out of it. What's happening is your body is conquering carbs, and it takes a while for your body to adjust.
While your body may be looking better, sometimes it takes a while for the rest of you to catch up. Some coin these symptoms as "the carb flu," which is the nasty transition that your body goes through when going from a high-carb to a lower-carb diet. Even though living Paleo isn't considered a low-carb diet, it's naturally lower in carbs so your body is making that transition.
What's happening during this process is your body needs glucose (sugar) for the brain, muscles, cells, and so on. Until you started living Paleo, glucose was easy to access from all the sugary carbohydrates you may have been eating.
Now your body has to create glucose from fats and proteins, which isn't as easily done. It will happen, though, and you'll start feeling better and your body will run more efficiently because of it.
Battle the sugar demon with the Paleo diet
When you're going through the first 30 days, you're breaking food habits and cravings. The toughest of these to break is cravings for sugary foods. The sugar demon will constantly tap you on the back, trying to get you to eat your bagel, pasta, or bowl of cereal. This guy will try to justify why it's no big deal to have a bowl of oatmeal or a sandwich.
How do you know whether you have a sugar addiction? If eating sugar makes all your symptoms magically go away for a while or if you can't go long without sugary foods, you're probably addicted.
When you have a craving, your body is usually looking for a quick burst of something to make it feel better. Often, that "something" is a brain chemical called serotonin. This chemical affects mood, specifically happiness and well-being. When serotonin levels drop, your body screams out for a change. It's looking for that feel-good chemical to alter its present brain chemistry.
The following factors can lower serotonin levels:
Stress
Lack of sunlight
Natural aging
Always strive for healthy ways to elevate your serotonin levels. To balance serotonin, do the following:
Eat Paleo foods.
Exercise.
Think good thoughts.
The more knowledge you have through living Paleo, the harder it will be for the sugar demon to talk you into a trip to the bakery.