Why Paleo Couples?

Happiness was and is so important to life, that it became a right that was written into the constitution "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". The ideas started in the 17th century, when philosopher John Locke, who became known as the father of Liberalism wrote in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding that "the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness."
This right is called a certain unalienable right. It is so basic and intrinsic and universal that it applies to every person, just like breathing. It can't be taken away is what unalienable means. As simple as that. An ABC to live. Happiness is needed as simple as breathing. No matter if in Africa, America, Asia, Australia...

How is this idea of your emotions, and mind-state connected to what you eat, and the physical body:
When I started eating Paleo, it was really hard for me, because I felt how it was changing my state of consciousness. I felt how my reality was shifting, and it was unnerving. I experienced a quicksand effect, where I didn't have a hold on what I thought was good food and this new state of understanding of what is real food. I had a cultural upbringing of toast and orange juice for breakfast so deeply set in and now I was uprooted to salmon and broccoli? This upset meant that I would go on and off Paleo like a yoyo diet. But two things just kept me keeping on with Paleo and why I would keep coming back to it, until I eventually had a hold on it. To now this point where I can make choices about food and not feel nervous or worry about feeling like an abnormal alien. I can eat out in confidence, in restaurants, with friends and enjoy other people's home cooking by just selecting certain things and leaving other things out.

Coming back to the two things that kept me on Paleo are that my athletic performance undoubtedly improved and the second is that it just made sense.
As an athlete with an Olympic dream, this was my ultimate marker. And when I ate paleo, I trained better, trained more, recovered faster, and got faster! I broke the world record on the ergometer being a Paleo-eating athlete.
The second marker was my level of intellect, and that eating this way, made sense. Without any fad notions of bullshit or temporary solutions, I saw how eating this way was sustainable, and life-changing. I saw how eating this way meant a better metal state, a happier and more nourished me. It fed my soul as well as my body. It meant I was giving back to the earth, and being part of the circle of life. It meant I could show my way of protest against awful animal feed-lots and genetically modified seeds and crops. One only has to watch a brief section on Food Inc. to feel the painful pang of processed economy driven by profits before life. This wonderful American economy that I was excited about as a native South African and being a part of the millionaire possibility, also had the flip-side, that profits were made at the expense of providing cheap foods that would eventually kill people. But because like a frog in lukewarm water, it happens slowly over time, no-one goes to jail. Only evidence remains with increasing modern day defects, I also call the results of the processed, seen in cardio deseases, obesity, diabetics, cancer and suicide. "Oh the kids of today, don't play like we used to..." Yes because your kids of today aren't eating like you used to.

However this food paradigm shift that happened to me is also spreading more into the mainstream as more and more Paleo sites are popping up everywhere. Top Influential food people for 2011 announced Robb Wolf (Paleo Lifestyle), Mark Sisson (Primal Blueprint) and Michael Pollen (Omnivores Dilemma) in the top 25. I'm hoping this is because Paleo eating is becoming a lifestyle. Its the basics, the primal way. Our ABC's of living.

Lastly, I believe because this way of eating is so much more than a diet, so much more a lifestyle that changes mental-states, that it effects the very relationships we keep. Being a Paleo eater makes individuals in the couple follow or fall out. Family feuds I have watched and read and heard on many of Robb Wolf's podcasts confirm this. Because its not a diet for a temporary solution. Its a lifestyle, a change that is sustainable. More examples of Paleo couples are in Hayley and Bill from the Food Lovers Primal Plate, or Julie and Charles from Paleo Comfort Food.

"We are hard-wired for pleasure" as neuroscientist Candace Pert puts it. I will write more about the Body-Mind Consciousness and how it relates to Paleo in another post, or book. But for now, know that when seeking the very best of our bodys and mind, when seeking the best you can be, eating Paleo is it!