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What was your Paleo Aha moment?

I'm not talking about when you lost 60lbs, or it cured such and such disease. I mean, when the logic made sense.

I was out to dinner with my wife the other day, she had been eating paleo for about 5months, myself about a year. Somehow, we started talking about seed defense.

Suddenly, something clicked in her brain, it all of a sudden all made sense, as to WHY we are not supposed to be eating certain things. While she had been moved toward paleo for health benefits, now she finally had a logical explanation for those benefits.

Myself, I was interested in the logic/Sciency part from the getgo. When I "signed up" it wasnt necessarily for the health benefits or weight loss, it was because the evolutionary science made sense. I was reading an article about MovNat. and they mentioned the Paleo diet, I realized that eating what humans are genetically designed to do, is the best way to be an awesome specimin of humanity.

So when did it all come together for you?

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When I saw my blood test. All the deficiencies I had were related to meat. AHA and I went to the butcher to buy a huge steak, after 8 months of vegetarianism. – Bruno Dec 23 2011 at 16:23
When Kato jumped out of the closet. – Dave S. Dec 23 2011 at 19:18

12 Answers

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I'd like to believe that my Aha! moment came from the very beginning... researching Candida and Paleo, and low carb... it all made sense! I started following blogs like Everyday Paleo, Nom Nom Paleo, Fitbomb, Healthy Indulgences, and many more. I was getting a LOT of information online via google searches and Paleohacks, and more...

But I think my "real" Aha! moment came while reading "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis. I thought I knew so much, and I felt like it all clicked and made sense... but reading "Wheat Belly" REALLY solidified things for me. :)

And I'm just starting Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" today... so I'll probably have yet another epiphany. Lol.

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I was sold when I first heard Take On Me.

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Right after my first Wham! moment. – Dave S. Dec 23 2011 at 19:43
I'm so sorry I just read this. Take On Me will be in my head for days.... – legup Jan 7 2012 at 5:35
I'm so sorry. Give me a downvote to compensate. – Wisper Jan 7 2012 at 11:00
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For me it didn't really happen like that. I'm a scientist. I read all the science behind (that's available) before I really committed to the paleo movement. However, you can read and read and read and just because it works for some one else, has all this science behind it, I wasn't going to go blindly following. After all, everyone is different etc.

So my big Aha! moment came after about three months of being paleo (well I'm primal) anyways. I was walking down the street and just thinking to myself, "Man, I feel really good." That was the first time in my life I could ever say I felt good. I'd never felt 'good' in my life until that point. I remembering before paleo wondering if "this" is how everyone felt all the time, because it wasn't good. I was always wondering if maybe I was just a wimp when it came to life. But now... I feel great! It's amazing how feeling good changes everything.

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Now that you've had that" feeling", could you ever go back to not having that "feeling"? I couldn't. It would be like cutting off a toe, maybe all my toes. – shah78 Dec 23 2011 at 14:27
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every time i fall off the wagon it's another aha moment...it's crazy how i got so used to feeling awesome that i sometimes forget why. then i get a reminder!

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I have a couple of aha moments...the big one being whenever i slip up and cheat (or go to a restaurant and have them tell me theres no gluten/dairy in the meal when there really is) and i feel like absolute crap that night/the next day...i feel puffy, bloated, break out sometimes, etc. i think thats the biggest sign that paleo is working for me.

the other aha moment is coming home for the holidays and not feeling the need to eat all of the cookies, cakes, treats, whatever junk food my family has made. in the years past i felt as if i had to eat all that stuff, and I WANTED to eat all that stuff. but this year, i could care less - i'd rather have plate after plate of meat & veggies and skip the dessert!

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I ate at a casino buffet today and calmly picked out FOOD while "seeing" all the neolithic stuff as if it was an assortment of figurines. I had no visceral reaction at all and my daughter-in-law really noticed a difference in me. – Nance Dec 24 2011 at 3:02
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Testimonials from one of my girl friends. And then I read The Paleo Solution. There's just no going back after that...

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It was about a 1/2 second after I heard Art DeVany explain it for the first time, but it was more like a "slap-my-forehead-DUH!" moment.

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I don't know the guy and I'm not sucking up--at least I don't think I am--but my ah-ha moment was when I read Dr Kurt Harris's explanation of the Archevore Diet. I literally said, "Oh, I get this!"

My next thought, "Others wrote entire books trying to explain this and this guy said it all in one page."

EDIT: I would say similar things about the definition written by J Stanton at Gnolls.org and his series on Why Are We Hungry?.

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When I read the prologue introductory chapter "A Brief History of Banting" in Gay Taube's book Good Calories, Bad Calories, I think that's when it started. Then I saw Youtubes of Mark Sissons which progressed those thoughts a little more before I started reading his and all the other books. Also, as much as the books are convincing, what really helped a lot was reading comments on results from real people on forums and blogs!

And, well, having a migraine for the past few days after eating starches after being free on paleo for some time doesn't hurt (no pun intended). Aha. Duh.

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When for the first time after 2 years of meds and and IUD. And post partum depression I actually want to "be" with my hubby again. Haven't really wanted that since I got pregnant with my 2.5 yr old.

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That is so inspiring. Since I had my two girls, "being" with my DH has almost felt like a duty; it never did before. I'm hoping that getting my eating in line with the rest of my beliefs and priorities will help straighten lots of things out! – legup Jan 7 2012 at 5:32
A duty is how I have looked at it too. It has felt good to want it and not dread it. – fabbecky Jan 7 2012 at 12:39
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Well, it didn't happen as an aha. It was more like shock. One boxing day about 12 years ago my younger brother got diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 by my mum. She read his blood sugar at way over the top with her device, and that was when I learned she also had diabetes. Then I learned that most of my aunts and uncles had diabetes too. It struck me that I might also have it. So I decided to read about the incidence with the Mi'kmaq people, my mum's people, which turned out to be about 25% incidence! And I learned a few were studying in uni's doing their masters on native health issues and how to rid diabetes. All the traditional herbs like juniper berries etc. were being documented while some were advocating return to original diets. I started cooking stews with deer and walnuts, no more potatoes, and lots more cycling. Off my weight came, from 95 to 75kg. Now I was ready to check my blood glucose. Results of no sugar on my haemoglobin. By this time I'm in South East Asia. But I wasn't convinced so I went to a sports doctor and insisted on a glucose intolerance test. which sure enough showed I had diabetes. The doctor said, he never saw that before, all other tests were clear, except that one which wouldn't have been done only that I insisted. He said I have managed to camouflage my disease. That was my aha moment. I read Ray Audette after that as I totally believe in nature.

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I had sort of a series of Aha moments. I was always low carb friendly but I didn't really understand the processed oil/food thing until I saw Sally Fallon's lecture "Nourishing Traditional Diets" and "The Oiling of America." Those two are what convinced me about seed oils, the cholesterol scam, and processed foods. My final aha moment was reading about why grains were unhealthy from Mark Sisson. Before I had always stood on the "everything in moderation camp" but that final aha moment made me realize that when I was eating a large plate of beans or whole grains (even the gluten free variety,) that I was simultaneously voiding whatever nutrients I was serving with it from meat. I knew about anti-nutrients but I didn't really internalize it before.

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