I am back from an 8 day trip to my home state of Ohio. My last visit was in December 2011. I covered that experience in the post Paleo in Ohio – Adventures in Inflammation. In that blog entry, I discussed how I tried my best to dodge the 4 big toxins, which were gluten, veggie oils, sugar and legumes. Since that trip I’ve moved sugar off the toxin list and placed into neutral status.
By trying to eat Seattle clean during that trip proved impossible and I got some gluten exposure, which made me ill. I was also getting back pains due to stress caused by my lack of dietary control.
I learned a lot that trip. Being neurotic about food can be worse for our health than just embracing what is outside our control as best as we can. It was then that I refocused my health journey. It would no longer be about being more healthy or seeking optimal health. The focus shifted to resiliency. I covered that in the post Healthy vs Resilient.
Post Paleo
For this trip I decided my only goal would be to avoid gluten. It really would make me miserable, so I can’t bend on that. Everything else was wide open. Avoiding veggie oils would be impossible and would make me a poor guest if I tried.
So during my trip, I had no pastured meat, nothing heirloom and only a single organic apple. Everything was cooked in veggie oil. I had some legumes. I drank a few colas that had High Fructose Corn Syrup. But I didn’t have any gluten exposure. The result was I felt great and got great sleep. I gained a few pounds. Oh well.
I ate at Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Boston Market. I survived.
I had both Doritos style tacos while in Columbus. Photo by Karl Baron.
Now I am back home and eating more healthy again. Last night I had a Beef Heart Stew using my my homemade beef stock. Taco Bell will have to wait until my next visit to Ohio.
Skyler Tanner
May 31, 2013 — 9:36 am
You mean you didn’t die when you ate Taco Bell?! I kid, I kid!
I am, however, waiting for taco bell to release the “Taco Bell-Flavored Doritos Locos Taco” for the ultimate in post-modern meta hilarity.
Stephan
May 31, 2013 — 9:43 am
Nice one, MAS. I have evolved a very similar mindset to the one you describe.
Avoiding every single food culprit and still having fun and being sociable at the same time hasnt worked for me.
Choose the worst of all evils (also gluten for me), enjoy some of the lesser evils (i.e. grain-fed beef, legumes, pasteurised dairy) and JUST enjoy the trip. We’re not on the road each week. Back home back to healthy basics. Ups and downs. Nothings perfect. Go figure.
So, for all of those neurotic Paleo-fascists –> some non-Paleo indulgence here and there wont prevent your quest to living 120 years.
Glenn Whitney
May 31, 2013 — 10:22 am
Well done! Glad you got out of there alive.
I travel a lot and my survival strategy revolves around always having to hand lots of jerky-like substances and hard-boiled eggs (Nick’s Sticks, Tanka Bars and Primal Pacs).
One fairly “safe starch” on the go is organic corn chips but these can be somewhat hard to find. Also, organic potato chips aren’t too bad
MAS
May 31, 2013 — 6:41 pm
@Glenn – My snack was a big bag of roasted almonds. Oh the PUFA!
glenn.whitney
Jun 1, 2013 — 10:32 am
PUFA indeed. I am easily capable of eating a pound of almonds in one go; 2 pounds if they are roasted and salted. That’s why I avoid them. But they tend to find me of their own accord…
Erica
Jul 11, 2013 — 11:56 am
So, I just wanted to let you know that you did have gluten on this trip. Those tacos have gluten/wheat in them.
Didn’t want be the Debbie Downer here, but thought you should know since you like to track stuff. Maybe you aren’t as sensitive to gluten as you thought. 🙂
http://web.archive.org/web/20150905071954/http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/allergens
MAS
Jul 11, 2013 — 12:01 pm
@Erica – That is interesting. I’ve learned that I am not super sensitive. I can handle trace amounts, which is what I’m guessing those tacos may have had. I can also handle soy sauce, which has a little wheat. I like the idea of doing trace exposure to known toxins to build resiliency.
https://criticalmas.org/2012/05/healthy-vs-resilient/
Erica
Jul 11, 2013 — 3:15 pm
@MAS Yeah I doubt it was a ton. I think it may be in the meat, but I’m not 100% on that. I do believe it is in the shell as I’m pretty sure Doritos aren’t gluten free. Makes sense about exposure to small amounts. I don’t think I’ve read that article of yours yet.. I’ll check it out.
Didn’t realize you are from OH… I am as well. Still here for now. I also contemplated a move to Seattle. Lately though, I’ve been looking at warmer climates. Sometimes I think my “soul home” might involve an island of some kind. 😉