There was a good crowd of folks that showed up tonight for the initial book club discussion.  A total of 14 people were in attendance, which included two who were not members of our group.  I am very happy to have had a good turn-out and especially happy to have a couple members of the public.

Quite a range of topics were discussed, and the primary emphasis was on insulin resistance.  Or, I suppose that is where I tried to keep the focus.  Here's my take on it:  I sense that the public is becoming more and more aware of what happens when a the human body is fueled primarily with high-carb / high-glycemic index foods.  But, the government and medical industry does not put emphasis on the reduction of high-glycemic index foods (primarily grains) in the diet.  After all, the USDA's food pyramid recommends that grains be the majority of our food intake (a bagel, a banana and a glass of juice is a good meal, right?).  So, we end up having guys like Robb Wolf write yet another "diet" book.  What Robb emphasizes in the book is the same that many of the Paleo advocates are stressing over and over:  cut out the grains, cut out the starches, cut out the sugar.  Eat foods that don't make your body spaz out in terms of hormonal response.

So what's the big deal?  What's so hard about that?  Old habits die hard and we learn from a young age that there is lots of pleasure associated with food.  The fitness mags tell us to "burn calories" and "melt away fat" through exercise.  We have the means to provide as much food as we can eat instead of as much food as we actually need.  Asking the question again....what's so hard about that?  That being the cutting out of all the foods that really don't fuel our bodies in the best way.  Well, it all comes down to mindset.  You have to choose between saying "I'm glad that I did" or "I wish that I had".

One of my mindset changes over the past few years has been a shift in how I view food.  Previously, as long as I ate something and was no longer hungry, it didn't matter what I ate to make me un-hungry...food was food and food was fuel.  But now I look at it nearly the same way, with a little more science involved.  Food is still food and food is still fuel, but now I evaluate what is the best fuel for me.  This is directly in line with the essence of Paleo eating:  quality food means quality fuel.  After all, when I run the highest octane gasoline in my car, my car performs better than running on low-octane fuel.  So why not choose the best fuel for my body?  And, it's not just that food is fuel for the metabolic engines...it's the hormonal response our bodies have to the fuel that's introduced to it.  Although some diet plans want us to think of nutrition as "calories in = calories out", we can't just stuff our faces with whatever high-glycemic index food is in front of us (or what sounds good versus what is best for us) and then expect to "burn it off at the gym".  By the time we make it to the gym, the damage has been done since we've subjected our body to an insulin spike and the resulting decrease in insulin sensitivity.

Blah, blah, blah...BLAH! 

It's time for me to stop repeating what I've researched.  It's time for you to do the research and convince yourself.  Read the book!  Be skeptical!  Try cutting out grains and sugar and starchy foods.  Learn about the glycemic index.  Commit to thirty days of drastic change in your eating habits and see how you feel at the end of it all.

When referring to the act of putting food into your body i.e. eating, diet, nutrition, et al, I now refer to the activity as FUELING.  'Cuz that is what you are doing....fueling your body.  It's been said many times, many ways, but here is how I've distilled it down in my brain: