BEFORE
AFTER
Ok, I hope this isn't TMI for you folks, but I wanted to show you a before and after of my body since I started eating paleo. The first picture was from around the time I moved to Baltimore. I already wasn't eating grains every day and I was avoiding sugar, but I was drinking beer and eating beans. I was still feeling a lot of brain fog at the time, and I often felt hungover for entire days even after only drinking just a couple of beers.
Recently, I've noticed some weird physiological changes. On tour, I had no choice but to wear the same pair of socks for a few days at a time, yet my feet never got stinky. They started smelling strongly of the rubber my shoes are made of, but not that yeasty smell. I used to be pretty prone to athletes foot, particularly if I didn't change my socks every day. I went all of tour with about 5 pairs of socks, and I never had a problem. Another thing I noticed just today is that I am sweating much less than I usually do despite the heat, even after I've run a couple blocks to catch a bus. My heart rate also doesn't increase too much with a short sprint. It used to be that any sudden movement would make my heart pound.
The heat in Baltimore has gotten me feeling pretty fatigued, but not in the same way I used to feel every day, which is to say no concentration and a desperate desire to dip my brain in bleach because it felt like there was a greasy film covering it. The old fatigue also made me feel like I didn't want to lift a finger, but right now my tiredness just makes me want to take things slightly slower. I feel pretty alert, even when I'm exhausted, and all of tour I felt more energetic than I ever have. I think it's heat and dehydration that is getting to me right now.
Anyway, I'm not sharing this out of a sense of vanity. I've just been experimenting with my body for the past couple of years, and I think these changes are pretty interesting. I think it's noteworthy that I've been able to change my body composition with no concerted effort to establish an exercise routine - I lost fat (keep in mind that I have significantly increased the amount of fat I eat), and while I haven't really gained any muscle, I think I'm somewhat stronger. I wound up lifting a lot of heavy stuff on tour, but that was out of obligation more than anything else, and I only lifted one or two heavy things a day. I did notice that it was remarkably easier to lift my bandmate's keyboard than it was two years ago.
