I look like a caveman and might as well eat like one.

It might be a little ridiculous how excited I get when someone approaches me with interest in Paleo.  As I've said before, one by one, we change the world ;)

I am often posting links on Facebook leading to paleo sites, paleo blogs, paleo articles, my blog, etc. and I daily wonder how annoyed people must be with all of it.  I mean, the last thing I want is to sound preacher-esque.  

But the way I see it, if I keep posting about it maybe eventually someone will click on an article and learn a little more about the paleo diet lifestyle and jump on board.  A friend just yesterday commented on a link I put on Facebook: Fitbomb's What is the Paleo Diet?  He said he was giving in and questioned my daily meal intake.  His reasoning?  "I look like a caveman and might as well eat like one."  Ha!  Of course I said I'd LOVE to help him.

Josh, this is for you.  But of course the rest of you can read it too. 

April 10, 2012

Dear Josh,

Evan and I plan things out a little more than most people probably do but we've realized it's what works best for us.  You may find something totally different works for you but hey, as long as you're eating the right foods, it doesn't really matter how you plan or don't plan your meals.

Grocery shopping takes place once a week for us.  Prior to our drive over to Whole Foods we make a menu of things we want for the week and then a grocery list from that menu.  When the week comes to an end we have used everything in our fridge and nothing goes to waste.  Yeah, it's weird seeing an empty fridge when it used to constantly have something inside.  

"Just Say No" fridge

Our fridge after weekly shopping.

Our pantry is quite empty as well.  No more boxes of grain-based crap or canned goods or snack/junk foods.  When eating paleo you'll notice you basically shop on the perimeter of the grocery store- vegetables, some fruits, meat, eggs.  

Easy, right?  The only time you'll really need to venture down those troublesome, Frankenfood aisles is when you're in need of oils (coconut and olive) and certain canned goods (no salt added tomato sauces and salsa)- but you can also make your own!

We typically buy 7 lbs of meat per week to account for lunches and dinners (1/4 lb per serving) and then if we want meat with breakfasts as well (which we often do) then we'll add that on.  When people hear that paleo won't allow them to have cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, toast, poptarts, french toasts or toaster strudels for breakfast they tend to close the door on the idea.  The thought of meat for breakfast is just weird I guess.  It used to be for us too.  Cereal was my favorite meal before I saw the paleo light.  Our lunches are very similar to our dinners.  Another challenge for people "going paleo" is the realization that they can no longer have their sandwiches at lunch time.  I was a big consumer of turkey sandwiches on bagel thins or whole grain bread.  No more.  Here are a few meals ideas we might have throughout the day but if you just do some simple searching online there are hundreds (probably a lot more than that) of easy recipes for every paleo meal.


* There is no need for calorie counting nor any restrictions.  Eat till you're filled.        

Breakfasts: Noatmeal, Sausage & veggies with avocado, coconut flour pancakes,  bacon and eggs with veggies, salmon, steak.  Lots of options!  

Start to think of breakfast like this.

Not this.

Lunches:  Salad with grilled chicken, veggies of your choice and balsamic vinegar, leftovers from dinner,  tacos on lettuce leaves, paleo pizza 

You can still have a burger and fries- hold the bun and make fries from sweet potato instead

Need I say anything about this?  Gross.

Dinners:  spaghetti squash spaghetti, grilled, wild caught salmon with asparagus, beef curry over cauliflower rice (so good), crock pot shredded chicken and salsa (make some guac and coconut tortillas and have enchiladas!)

I hadn't heard of spaghetti squash until I began eating paleo.  It's fantastic!

I know this tastes good but it is doing NOTHING for you.

Basically, follow THIS strictly for 30 days and then see how you're feeling.    

Please feel free to send any and all questions my way.  Also, there are LOADS of paleo sites out there on the internet and lots of paleo cookbooks on the market as well.  This one I've linked to is my favorite that we own.  Short ingredient lists and easy to follow instructions.  Check out Nom Nom Paleo's mega list of food blogs as well as paleo resource blogs.  


I do hope this blog post dedicated to a Facebook comment response has been nothing but helpful :D Trust me, it's going to seem impossible at first but once you get through the first week or two of feeling tired and fighting cravings for foods our bodies were not meant to eat you're going to be saying "I'm never going back!"  Well, at least I did.  

Sincerely/your friend,

Tara

  

P.S. And then there's crossfit.  I have yet to get on board with this partner to paleo but I realize I'd be in the best shape of my life if I added this to my paleo way of eating.  We looked into a paleo gym and they're super expensive to join but I know several people that have created their own crossfit routine/WODs and work out from home.  No machines necessary- it's the paleo way.