Fads

Since I've become a more serious athlete, I've followed a lot of fellow athletic types on Twitter, and I've started noticing a trend.

Every few months, a new fad comes along, whether food-related or fitness-related. Suddenly, my Twitter feed explodes with articles, questions, blog posts, and opinions, and it seems like everyone I follow is now on board with the trend while I quietly shuffle along, losing weight, getting stronger, and getting faster.

First it was #plankaday, a hash tag devoted to showing off how strong our cores are by doing at least one plank every day. I was on board for a while but then realized that there are more than one awesome core exercise, and I don't want to do the same ole boring plank every day. Next came CrossFit, an extreme strength training program that is a lot like what M. the Reasonable has had me doing for months and months, only with less extreme effort.

I watch the trends come and go, much as they do at, say, a middle school. One day you wake up and no one is wearing skinny jeans anymore and life moves on while you sit there wondering what all the fuss was about. So I just keep doing my thing, as I learned from Mr. Reasonable, and it works for me.

The latest thing--right now--seems to be Paleo, a diet fad that essentially rules out anything cavepeople wouldn't eat: all dairy, all beans, and all grains.

I just shake my head as I see Paleo this, Paleo that flash across Twitter. Look, I'm all for a healthier diet, and I completely agree with the Paleo thought that cutting processed crap and the toxins many of us regularly ingest is a great plan of action. But legumes?! Is the 1/4 cup of black beans I put in my eggs really going to hurt me, just because some Paleolithic woman didn't eat them way back a few millennia?

That's just absurd. Yes, our diets changed, and in some ways, not for the better. That doesn't mean that all of those changes were inherently bad, or that we haven't adapted to them.

So I watch the word Paleo splash across my feed, and giggle quietly when recipes for cheese- and noodle-free lasagna come up...because yes, the cavehousewives were definitely baking lasagna using zucchini as noodles.

I guess what bothers me isn't the diet itself (and I call it a diet because looking at it, I believe it is completely and totally unsustainable in the long-term, and therefore, not a lifestyle choice but a fad diet) so much as the endless "I've gone Paleo, therefore I AM!" posts I see from certain fellow fitness junkies.

Now, if you need me, I'll be eating chocolate for dessert. : )