Climbing and the Paleo Diet

Posted on Dec 22nd, 2011 | 5 comments

Hi Steph!
Loved your book. You are a true inspiration for all climbers, not just for the women of the sport. I know you’re vegan, so educated about how sports nutrition works and such, and I was wondering what you think of the Paleo Diet lifestyle. I’m a competitive climber and an avid skier and I’ve decided to try it out for a few weeks and see how I feel. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this particular way of eating.

Happy climbing
Ayesha
BC, Canada

Dear Ayesha,
I have a few friends who have tried the Paleo diet. I don’t know much about it myself. Honestly, I’m skeptical of “theme” diets. I have tried them in the past, and the books associated with them are always very convincing and reasonable. For myself, at this point, I have a very simplistic approach to nutrition: I like to eat whole foods, as little processed food as possible, avoid refined sugars or grains, and eat a plant-based diet.
I am a big believer in trying different things out, and being open minded about what feels right for you, so I think it’s great that you are focusing your attention on nutrition. I’d be curious to hear your experience with the Paleo diet, after having tried it for a while? Like I said, I don’t know much about this eating style, and would like to know more…
:) Steph

  • Jesse Nichols
  • Jaime

    Steph, Paleo eating is actually quite similar to how you eat now,  just with the addition of meat.  It is a whole foods approach, avoiding food that comes in packages, and focusing on just fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds and meat (no grains, legumes, dairy or sugar/sweeteners).  Most ‘paleo folk’ also emphasize eating locally, and buying meat from small farms with animals that are pasture raised/grassfed,  and not treated with hormones and antibiotics.  I’d say that the grain-free vegan approach and paleo have more in common with each other than they each do with ‘conventional’ diets. 

    I began a paleo diet several years ago, after a decade of vegetarian/vegan eating, and I found my health,energy and recovery time improved immensely.  Mind you, I was not always a very healthy veggie….as my diet at that time was very heavy on pasta, rice and baked goods:(.  So it may be the omission of gluten from my diet that has helped me the most.  I do find that I have very sustained energy levels eating paleo though (no more blood sugar crashes…yay!),  so much so that I can spend a day out climbing and not really need to eat…..which is sometimes convenient.

    Anyways, hopefully this adds to the discussion!  Thanks for great blog:).

  • Jeff Meagher

    Steph, as Jamie said its very similar to how you eat with the addition of meats.  As you stated this is a great way to eat and makes you feel so much better.  It can be hard at time but it is so worth it with how good you feel, how much better you sleep at night, and the amount of energy that you have.

  • http://www.highinfatuation.com steph davis

    Thanks for the feedback! I also noticed when quitting sugar and white flour that I never crashed/bonked anymore, and don’t get hungry even when eating very little :) Good bonus!

  • http://www.highinfatuation.com steph davis

    And feeling good is the most important thing in life :)

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