Folks, you can do all the walking in the world, but it’s not going to help you lose weight. A grain-free Paleo diet is the real deal. From my very first post on this blog, I said I will keep it honest and transparent, and well… here’s my confessions.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. I had, probably, 11 slices of NY style pizza.

I just got back from a quick 5 day trip in New York City. I’ve never been and I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Maybe I enjoyed it just a little too much. They first day, I did pretty good sticking to the Paleo basics. I found a great Paleo friendly restaurant, 5 Napkin Burger, in Hell’s Kitchen. I had a burger on a gluten-free bun, fries from their gluten-free fryer, and a gluten-free beer. Not bad at all. I kept passing one amazing looking pizza-by-the-slice shop after another but refrained.

The next day, I really had a hankering to try the famous New York Pizza – I mean, I had to right? I started to justify it in my head. Just one won’t hurt. I can have a slice then be back on the straight and narrow. Besides, I am walking like 10 miles a day in the city! And that heavy fog proceeded to set over my brain and impaired judgement.

I ordered a slice. It was a large thin slice with pepperonis, classic. I raised it to my mouth, folded in half with my fingers, and took a bite. Holy shit, this was the best pizza I have ever had. The crust was perfect, not too thin, not to thick, right amount of crispiness to the bottom crust… Then I did what any good crack head would do, got more. For the next 3 days, I spiraled out of control. “Since I am having a gluten exposure, might as well have a couple beers too”. It wasn’t a crazy binge, just a couple slices for a meal accompanied with a beer or two, and an extra couple slices late one night… a couple times. I thought with all the walking, i’d still maintain my weight.

By the 5th day, I was back on the straight and narrow. Grass-fed burger, no bun, from the awesome brgr. And I have been back on the wagon since.

Here’s the shocker though. In those 3 days, I gained 5 pounds that I am having a hell of a time shaking off. I thought if there were going to be any gain, it would have been minimal.  So here’s what I deducted.

• No matter how much you walk (my Fitbit told me 10+ miles a day), its not going to help a 41 year old from a non-Paleo, heavy carb, gluten exposure
• It must have jacked my system because I can usually cut weight pretty quick on this diet if I am strict and cut the caloric intake – no go
• I think I have to kinda reprogram my body again after that binge, it seems to be taking bit to recover and get back into “burn fat as fuel” mode

This was from Puglia’s in Little Italy. That place is LEGIT.

Now I have had a couple cheat meals along the way – but that was one meal few and far between. Even after one meal, I would notice any weight loss could be delayed for a week, but never had a gain.

So moral of the story:

• Exercise and cheats do not balance each other out
• Gluten exposure halts weight loss
• Large non-Paleo and gluten exposure causes quick weight gain
• I can never go back to my old way of eating, I was putting on almost 2 pounds a day while “exercising”

Crazy, huh?

I think its safe to say, and expect, we will all slip up. We are human. There are times of weakness, momentary lapse of reason, and holiday. The main thing is to not let it get you down, you did it for enjoyment after all, and just get right back on track. The worse thing you can do is get discouraged and not get back on that wagon. Let’s help each other out.

Peace out, ya’ll!
-Adam

Got a confession? Leave it in the comments below – let’s keep it real.

I’ll do a couple editorials here to keep you posted on progress and how long it takes my body to snap out of this.

Some photos from my New York City vacation: