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Social Paleo

I've noticed that there aren't many cavemen out there in the world today. It's not easy to eat Paleo outside of the house. It's awesome and super practical when I'm controlling the menu and all of the ingredients, but that's obviously not the case in the 'real world.'

I went out for dinner with my wife and kids to another couple's house the other day. They are our daughter Maggie's friend's parents, so we didn't know them too well. I was a little nervous. Could I eat anything they were going to serve? If not, how would I broach the subject of coming over for dinner and not eating? I was feeling pretty low, too (It was day 6 of the Paleo Challenge); I didn't know if I could even fake being social. Being new to this idea of thinking about what I eat before I eat it, and not just shoveling whatever's in front of me into my gullet, I didn't know how to act. How awkward!

I managed to work it into the conversation early. We started talking about our educational experiences and I was relating the 'human as laptop peripheral' metaphor to describe my health during the MBA. I managed to steer the conversation toward fitness and nutrition (I know, I'm a bore). I explained the 'challenge' and what I was trying to accomplish through this diet. It turns out that the husband used to be a total fitness guy (sidelined recently due to a major injury) and he completely understood. Luckily, they were serving steamed broccoli and chicken (I skipped the barbecue sauce and mashed potatoes), so I didn't have to be a total weirdo.

I went out for lunch with some coworkers the other day. Luckily it was a sushi restaurant so I had a few options (I had salmon and tuna sashimi, and the seared ahi tuna straight up), but there aren't many options out there for cavemen.

Jennifer and I went to the Opening Ceremonies for the Paralympic games last night. Awesome show! Great atmosphere! Incredible tributes to Rick Hansen and Terry Fox. No Paleo food. Cavemen would've eaten nachos, footlongs, and spicy fries if they smelled them last night. Luckily, there was red wine on the menu, so I wasn't totally shut out but, ironically, healthy eating is not a priority at sports arenas. Jennifer (the amazingly supportive wife that she is) packed some carrots, hard boiled eggs, and an avocado. It's not easy eating like a caveman in modern society, but it helps to have a good cave woman by your side.

The proximity to junk food has inspired me, though. This weekend, I'm going to make some zucchini chips to go with the salsa recipe I discovered last week. I'm looking forward to eating some 'health junk.'

Jer

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