Q&A: The Paleo Diet

Yesterday, I had some great questions from a Spark Friend so I figured I would use my response as a blog too!

Q1.  I know this sounds silly, but how do you stay full?

I actually find it very easy to stay full on PD and have eliminated almost all snacking. I have larger meals (typically around 500 calories) which keep me fuller longer. The slow digesting protein combined with the very filling vegetables makes it easy to eat less often.

Q2.  Where do you find recipes?

My favorite place to find recipes online is PunchFork. They have always had great Paleo contributors to their site (like NomNomPaleo) but they’ve taken it even further by adding a marker to all their Paleo recipes (it is the little steak). There are recipes not marked as Paleo that are or could be also so keep your eye out. You can save your favorites to use for later, Check out my list!  (not all Paleo mind you, I am human!)

Also, thank you to my friend Esther (from The Life & Times of the Fat Fit Girl) for telling me about the phone app and website The Food Lovers Kitchen (app called myKitchen).  It is an app and website of nothing but primal-approved recipes!

Q3. Sometimes, my boyfriend and I like to eat out. How would you do this in a restaurant?

grilled-chicken-saladEating out is pretty tricky and I have to admit I often use it as my “cheat” time but you can make it work.  Most restaurants offer grilled chicken over salad or steak and vegetables.  The hard part are the dressings and additions to meals.  I figure I cannot control every little thing so I just do my best.  For salads, I get the vinaigrette and I try to avoid cream sauces and the like.  At a more casual place? You can eat a burger with a fork and knife or ask for it lettuce wrapped! Ask for a side salad instead of fries.  Remember, Paleo is just whole foods.  Unless you are at an Italian place that only serves pasta and pizza, you are bound to find something on the menu!

Q4. How bad are the cravings?

The cravings are completely gone. At first, it was hard in the afternoons when I wanted something sweet. Now, I just pack Kind Fruit & Nut bars (the honey satisfies the sweetness) or a piece of fruit just in case. But honestly, I don’t get carb cravings at all, except for when I’ve cheated and had bread/pasta/etc. You just have to give your body time to adjust!

CavemanCoffeeQ5.  What about coffee?

Coffee is not considered Paleo-friendly.  I always say I follow a mostly-Paleo diet, and even Loren Cordain (author The Paleo Diet) encourages you to stick with it at least 80% of the time.  My morning cup-o-joe with cream and sugar is nowhere near primal!

Q6.  What about almond milk?

Almond milk is 100% Primal!  I’m going to go off on an aside here…  There are many ways of following the Paleo Diet.  Some people stick to just fruits, veggies, meats, etc.  The whole foods.  Others like to try to make impersonations like Paleo Pizza, Oatless Oatmeal, Paleo Bread, etc.  While I think that trying to make faker-foods is not the best way of going about to follow Paleo, sometimes you just gotta have something that feels like junk food (but isn’t).  I’d say out of the time I follow Paleo (because remember, I’m mostly-Paleo), I have “whole food” about 90% of the time and once in a while, I make a faker-food.  A girl can take only so much chicken and broccoli.  And those Paleo Pancakes?  YUM! 

Other Tidbits

Things I forgot to mention:  I’ve been sleeping great!  If you follow my blog regularly, you might recall that I was having trouble sleeping a few months back.  I never even noticed the transition.  Now I sleep a solid 8 hours, no problems!  (Oh and this week, after the carb-craziness, I have been waking up in the middle of the night wide awake.  Not cool!)

Even though Rob won’t admit it…  His sinuses problems have cleared up!  He LOVES drinking milk and since he stopped that habit, he stopped using his allergy meds (and stopped snoring too – hehe).  I’ve now noticed that when I have large amounts dairy, I have sinus problems too.  Best to avoid (except ice cream, I’ll deal with it for ice cream).

So I think that’s it for now!  I’m going to keep eating a mostly-Paleo diet because it makes me feel good.  I might not talk about it that much because I don’t want to be labeled as a Paleo Diet blog.  I just wanted to share what I had learned so far with my readers in case anyone was curious!  All the science and pro-Paleo arguments aside, it just works for me!  I know I say that a lot but I just want to emphasize it.  Find what works for you. 

If you want to give the Paleo Diet a shot, give it at least the 30 day challenge because the first two weeks, you will have carb cravings and think you can never make it.  After 4 weeks, you wonder what was so bad!  Or you might decide that its not for you (and go back to eating clean right?  Paleo is just the Eat Clean Diet minus the carbs, legumes, and dairy.  Please don’t go back to junk food!!!  LoL).

Any more questions?

7 thoughts on “Q&A: The Paleo Diet

  1. That’s great about your sleep and his sinuses!

    Oddly (don’t tell), I sleep better if I have rice at night. When desperate, I’ll do that (normally saving rice for if I get cc’d). My belief is it’s because it causes an insulin spike followed by a mini-sugar-“stroke.” It’s not a healthy choice but I’ve done it successfully too many times to not see it. That said, it sure as heck teaches me TO NOT EAT RICE unless I’m heading for bed!

  2. And, honestly, it’s a lot easier to follow than a lot of other things I’ve done in my life. And I don’t find the need to be so darn strict. I finally calculated up the calories for my meals this week – and the calorie counts are crazy low considering how much food I ate and how full it made me! Crazy, right!?

    I’m so glad I’m getting to see this from your perspective as well. It’s strange that the same diet works for both our families but for different reasons entirely.

  3. Avoiding dairy cleared acne breakouts for me. I make yogurt for my kids and husband (who need the fermented part and my kids won’t eat ***** or other fermented veggies) and when I “cheat” and have some, I get a huge almost itchy pimple on my face!!! My yogurt is super yummy, so it is hard to resist…I make it with organic half and half! yum! While we try to be “whole food” consumers and don’t often make Paleo “candy” as it has been called, I will on occasion for the kids make paleo muffins or “pizza” with either eggplant crust or cauliflower crust…no cheese, just tomato sauce and veggies or meat on it…it’s a fork and knife meal, but it helps them feel a little bit more “normal”…so until the entire country catches onto what the Ancestral Health community and Paleo community are doing, we Paleo’s won’t be considered “normal”…we’ll be the oddballs! Can’t wait for the day when real food is the norm and processed canned food has the smallest section of the Grocery Market!

  4. love this post! answers alot of ?s! and I love tiffany. You are so normal too me!! You are just ahead of the times, and I can’t wait to follow you into them!

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