Here we are… A little over one week in to this paleo thing. Ask yourself… “How do I feel?”, “Do I look any different?”, “Do my clothes fit better?”, “Do I have more energy than I did before I started on this new lifestyle?”. My guess is that you have answered “yes” to at least one of these questions. You have completed a week, what do you do now? Start branching out with the menu a bit. Chicken, hamburger, some veggies (likely the same ones for the last week) are kind of getting old. How can anyone keep up with this lifestyle change if the food never changes?
I really like looking at a variety of recipe blogs and cookbooks. I own several paleo cookbooks and look through them for new recipes all the time. Before I committed to this paleo thing, I started by getting recipes from places like Everyday Paleo, The Food Lovers’ Primal Palate, PracticalPaleolithic.com, PaleOMG , Fast Paleo – Paleo Recipe Sharing Site. I started to include recipes on this post, but I started looking at these websites and couldn’t decide what to include. Almost every recipe I have looked at is awesome. You will have no trouble finding great recipes to make for yourself and family. This is all fine and good for the day to day paleo eating, but what if I want a beer or some cookies? See “cheat meals” below.
Scott! This paleo thing is not working for me!
In the past few days, several people have described feeling a bit tired, like they are not on their game, they don’t have the energy to complete a WOD, OR the WOD completely crushes them. One of the problems that I have experienced when I restart paleo… This has happened several times because I travel a fair amount for weeks at a time and eat what is prepared for me. I don’t really get to make my own meals… it takes me a few days or longer to tweak my carb/fat/protein intake. The one thing I consistently have to change is my carb intake. If you are feeling like you are tired or just lacking a bit of energy, add some sweet potato to your post workout snack/ meal. Don’t like sweet potato? Try some of the many good carbs that are out there… pretty much any vegetable works. I like sweet potato for the flavor, slow uptake carbs and fiber. Add some coconut oil or grass-fed, pastured butter and you have upped your fat intake a bit too.
Several folks explained to me that they were concerned about having to snack often, or eat a small meal several times a day, because that is what they did pre-paleo. I offered to these people that if you have a good ratio of carbs/ fat/protein, you will likely not notice the desire to snack or eat several meals a day. One of the nice things about paleo is that is is darn satisfying. The ratio of carbs to fat to protein is something like 40:30:30. If you eat with this in mind, you will find that the fat and protein are satiating and you will likely not have the desire to eat as often or snack as much. If you are going to snack, try a handful of tree nuts (almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, etc…). Are you curious about how much good stuff is actually in almonds? Click here to see the nutrient content of 1 ounce of almonds. There are lots of options to snack in a paleo way. What do you like? Comment below.
Cheat Meals
“I saw in the rules that you posted that I can eat paleo 80% of the time, how does that work?” Good question. You probably also saw the comment that, while you can eat paleo at an 80/20 ratio (more on that in a minute), said the winner of the paleo challenge will likely have eaten 100% paleo. If you eat 100% paleo, you will see AMAZING results. If you eat paleo at 80/20, you will still see really cool things happen to you… maybe even amazing, but not as AMAZING as possible. If you read any of the books on paleo eating, you will find that they suggest 100% compliance. However, they do acknowledge that sometimes we want a little of our old way of eating. So, if you eat 80% of your meals as strictly paleo as possible, then you can have the occasional indulgence. Hopefully you understand the whole no grains, dairy, or legumes idea. If you are going to have a cheat meal… one meal, not a whole day… you will keep it small(ish) and as a treat. Dr. Cordain in The Paleo Diet writes “If you enjoy an occasional glass of wine or beer, that’s fine– it’s allowed here. Because the Paleo Diet is a lifetime program of eating– and not a quick-fix weight-loss diet– it has built-in flexibility to accommodate a little cheating and your own individuality.” (The Paleo Diet, pg 22). Robb Wolf (www.robbwolf.com) and several other Paleo Diet experts talk about the 21 or so meals we have in one week (3 meals /day x 7 days). This means that you can eat roughly 4 meals a week as “cheat” meals. What that means to me is that if I wanted to, I could have something like a small bowl of ice cream or some dark chocolate with 4 meals a week. It does not mean I am going to make every meal for 4 days a week “cheat” meals. For me, I may have some baked potato or some nachos with a little cheese, and corn tortilla chips. I rarely drink, so that is really not an issue for me. I do like ice cream. I do like cookies, but I have stopped eating wheat and pretty much all other grains, especially those that contain gluten. After reading the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, and Dangerous Grains by James Braly and Ron Hoggan, I am really wary of gluten. I find that I feel much better without grains than with them and that if I have even one wheat flour containing cookie or cracker, that I have some GI upset.
What is the bottom line on cheat meals? You can have them. If you are going to have them, build them into your meal plan. If you have not yet built a meal plan, you should start with the information at Robbwolf.com. Great stuff. If you are looking for a good book to help you get started and stay on track, I would buy Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso… this is not only a great primer for getting into paleo, but it has some fantastic recipes.
Please leave comments or questions in the comments section. Let me know what you think so far. Is there something more specific you would like me to include?
Scott
