Once upon a time, way before Coca Cola was invented and McDonalds opened, before gushers and M&M’s were introduced… once upon a time, prior to the establishment of agriculture, there was no such a thing as fast food or factories that produced wheat and sugary snack foods.

Crazy, no? How on earth did humanity survive then? What did they live on?

Well, the simplest answer must be FOOD. Unless they were Gods or human beings who survived on magic potions that kept them breathing, they must have had what to eat. I know this for a fact, otherwise, you and I wouldn’t be here today. So, you want to know, what exactly did they eat?

To find out the answer to the above question, you just need to step outside, mother nature is whispering it in your ear because that is where it lies – in nature.

Humanity survived for thousands of years on whole foods eaten in their natural state. Until an interesting thing happened. People started to gain weight or feel queasy. Mankind’s energy levels started to plunge. It was time to introduce caffeine into the game. Fantastic. Now we were finally able to get through the day. Just. But then a problem was pinpointed – it was called ‘post-caffeine crash’. This meant that we discovered a way to get our energy levels shot up very fast, but then crashing down just as fast. Now people began to think: what would it feel like if we could eat enough to feel well and energized and, at the same time, not gain extra weight or feel unwell?

This is when diets started popping into the picture, many of which turned into fad diets after people caught onto the facts – that there were smarter, better, ways to live. The Wild Diet is one popular diet that thousands of individuals lost weight on. Its name already gives us an inkling of what it is all about. In this article, we will explore The Wild Diet and its pros and cons. After reading all the facts, you will be able to decide for yourself if you believe it is a healthy way of living.

What Is The Wild Diet?

If you are familiar with ABC’s 2016 reality show My Diet is Better Than Yours, then the name Abel James should ring a bell. Pioneered by Abel James, The Wild Diet became so popular, that it was featured on TV. The show featured a competition in which celebrities were paired up with Americans who needed to lose weight – the winning diet was the one that worked the best – in other words, the diet which the participant lost the most weight on.  Abel worked with Kurt, helping him to lose 50 pounds in just 6 weeks of being on The Wild Diet.

Also famous as the Fat- Burning Man, Abel James, creator of The Wild Diet, wasn’t always fit and healthy. There was a time when he was overweight and grappling with health issues as a result. After trying low calorie, tasteless, diets with no success, Abel decided to research into nutrition in the hope of discovering a better way to lose weight. And he did. As soon as he started to eat delicious, natural, foods rich in fat and fiber, his health problems began to disappear. He then decided to share his diet with the rest of the world by publishing The Wild Diet in April 2015, a book explaining his diet in detail. It wasn’t long before it turned into a hit and the diet was featured in shows.

The Wild Diet is unique in that it was created by a foodie, not by a dietician. It does not restrict eating. Instead, it encourages delicious, healthful, eating habits. You can even eat out with family and friends – just make sure you choose quality, whole, foods, such as meat, fish or salad.

The fundamental principle of The Wild Diet is living on whole, natural, foods, thus wiring our bodies to burn fat and gain muscle. The diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, eggs, meats, fish and proteins and devoid of refined, processed, foods and any food that contain chemicals. Starches are kept to a minimum. There are no food intake restrictions on The Wild Diet. Just don’t eat when you aren’t hungry. But when you are hungry, eat as much quality, natural, foods as it takes to fill you up as long as you don’t overeat – that’s not healthy.

Biggest Difficulties In The Wild Diet?

Perhaps the biggest difficulty most people have with The Wild Diet is the fact that it is time-consuming. And this can be a big hindrance for many. It takes a lot longer to cut up a wholesome, green, salad and cook up meat than it takes to buy a burger from your local takeout.  It can be especially challenging after a long day at work. You come home tired, and all you want to do is to sit with a tantalizing hot meal (and maybe also a drink) – ready to eat. Preparing a meal takes a lot of effort and internal motivation. But it is well worth it. Although fast foods are tempting, our bodies ask for real food; that’s what they are programmed to eat.

There is another difficulty with going Wild, something that Abel warns participants to be prepared for in his book. Organic, whole, foods are more expensive than the regular, processed, foods you can buy at your supermarket. But if you spend the extra money now on organic foods, you will end up saving in the long run because you will not have to shell out money on medical expenses because of health problems resulting from eating processed foods.

How To Get Started With The Wild Diet

The first thing to do is to get hold of a copy of The Wild Diet by Abel James. The book explains the diet in detail and provides healthy and delicious ‘Wild’ recipes. Alternatively, you can download Abel’s show, The Fat Burning Man. It is so popular that every month half a million people download the show. You can also look up Abel’s award-winning website at http://fatburningman.com/ for further insight into the diet.

Your Plate Should Look Like This In The Wild Diet

The wild plate.

Basically, avoid all processed and refined foods. Healthy fats and fiber are okay. Eat as much as you want when you are hungry and eat luxuriously. Fill your plates with whole, natural, quality foods – plenty of vegetables, fruits, proteins, grass-fed meats or fish. You can even have dessert, as long as the ingredients are natural.

Coffee On The Wild Diet Explained

The wild coffee.

If you are one of those people who survive the workweek on your daily coffee runs, you’ll bless The Wild Diet. Cue: a roll of eyes and a groan. Another permittable bitter, black, dietary coffee on the menu. Thanks, but no thanks. If you want me to be healthy, water will do! – Was that your reaction?

Well, get ready for this… because no, The Wild Diet does NOT instruct you to replace your usual coffee with a bleak, black, drink devoid of milk, cream and sugar – basically everything that makes coffee so tempting. On the contrary, The Wild Diet promotes fatty coffee as a fat burning mechanism. This is how it works:

Organic coffee beans (you can grind them yourself if you like) because most coffee beans are sprayed with pesticides, a tablespoon of grass-fed heavy cream and some coconut oil (for extra taste – this one’s optional). Usually, the coffee is good enough with cream. The Wild coffee is just like the authentic thing. Nobody will guess its homemade and organic.

But here’s the burning question: how on earth can a coffee with heavy cream be considered dietary? Never used to be in my vocabulary!

As we said before, The Wild Diet is based on the notion that healthy, natural, fats are okay – even good for you. The goal is to train your body to burn fats instead of carbs.

There’s a medically proven reason for this: whatever you eat in the morning affects your appetite for the rest of the day. So, if you eat carbs and sugary foods for breakfast, you will be craving those kinds of processed foods for the rest of the day. But if you have healthy fats for breakfast, that is what your body will be asking for the rest of the day. And, of course, healthy, natural, fats are way better for you than processed, sugary, foods.

My Results With The Wild Diet: Before & After

I must confess, I did cheat more than once on this diet. Bur cheating is okay here and there. The point of adopting healthy eating habits is not to deprive your body to an extreme.

Cutting processed foods from my meals definitely made me feel better and more energized. My energy levels did not plummet nearly as quickly after eating a plate of whole, natural, foods than after eating a greasy burger. Plus, a plate recommended by The Wild Diet put my appetite to sleep for a lot longer than a burger or pizza or pasta, contributing to weight loss.

However, I did find that if I woke up hungry in the morning, a cup of coffee with fresh cream was not always enough to curb my appetite and leave me energized till the afternoon. A whole grain sandwich with plenty of vegetables and a protein as well, like a sliced boiled egg, grass-fed cheese or fish, can be an excellent way to lift your energy levels and keep you satiated for a good few hours. It is important to listen to your individual dietary needs even if it means slightly deviating from a diet.

We all have different bodies and different dietary needs so it makes sense that the exact same diet won’t work for everybody. But if you are going to eat a filling meal of carbs and proteins, you’re better off eating it closer to the beginning of your day than to the end, so at least it leaves you energized and moving until the sun goes down.

Is The Wild Diet Safe?

I have yet to meet a health practitioner who classifies The Wild Diet as unsafe. There is nothing weird about this diet. (I always say, if something sounds too unusual, be wary). It is a watered-down version of the Paleo diet, and probably safer.

Many health practitioners did view the Paleo diet as a tad too extreme. Living off raw foods alone, as required by the Paleo diet, may be too hard on our weakened bodies, according to some practitioners. That is why The Wild Diet incorporates cooked foods and baked goods, as long as natural ingredients are used. Of course, some foods, such as most fruits and vegetable, are better for you when eaten raw. Heat can diminish foods nutritional value.

The Paleo diet goes back in time, but once upon a time, people did eat cooked food. They may not have used fan-forced ovens, but fire is not a new invention. The Wild Diet is natural but very reasonable and livable. All it asks of you is to eat real foods. Foods that were around since creation. Unfortunately, white sugar, white flour, pasta, candy, and soft drinks were not. Well, at least they’re not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

The reviews of this diet are overwhelmingly positive, perhaps more than any other diet.

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Conclusion

The biggest allure of this diet is that there are no food restrictions. You can eat as much as you like, and luxuriously too if it’s natural. Processed foods are out, but they never made you feel good anyhow. The rewards of eating healthy, whole, foods are lasting while sugary snacks only temporarily reward your cravings – but soon enough you’re asking for more.

Is this scenario familiar? You’re at a party and completely stuffed – (you just ate half – or a whole! – pie of pizza) until dessert shows up. Suddenly there’s room in your stomach for a double chocolate layer cake.

Sugar is addictive, so if you live off processed foods, you will most likely eat more than what your body is asking for. The aim of The Wild Diet is to ensure that food remains food, something that we eat when we are hungry – and once we are eating, why not make the food deliciously tempting? Especially if you’re serving it to others as well. But food shouldn’t be addictive.

The Wild Diet inspires a mindset switch. You can be healthy and enjoy life at the same time.