The Paleo Diet

[MoonShadows]

Is anyone else here familiar with or following the Paleo Diet? We came across it a few months back and have been following it for a while now. As a result, we have lost some weight (without trying!) and have never felt better. We've seen improvement in our mood, thinking, energy levels, and just general well-being. It takes some getting used to, but it makes a lot of sense as you learn about it, and I think it lends itself very well to those trying to live a homesteading style of life.

Basically...The paleolithic (or Paleo for short) diet is a nutritional plan based on the presumed diet of Paleolithic humans. It is based on the premise that human genetics have scarcely changed since the dawn of agriculture, which marked the end of the Paleolithic era, around 15,000 years ago, and that modern humans are adapted to the Paleolithic diet. The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils. Proponents argue that modern human populations subsisting on traditional diets, allegedly similar to those of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers, are largely free of diseases of affluence (obesity, cardio-vascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, colitis, colorectal cancer, depression, and a whole host of others) and that Paleolithic diets in humans have shown improved health outcomes relative to other widely-recommended diets.

There is a great video (how we first found out about the Paleo Diet) at http://perfecthumandiet.us/ If you have Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or similar, you can probably view it for free or rent it for just a few bucks. It is well worth the watch.

Just interested in what others have to say or comments from others following this diet.

 

[1Maynard]

I've been trying it. It's hard to stay true paleo when traveling as much as i do. Not very many restaurants would work. It's also hard to cook out of town. If I didn't have to travel as much this would be easy as I love unprocessed meat haha. I do what I can. But it is far from true paleo

 

[nayeli]

I have heard of it and know a few people who did it. Most people I know of that do try it are athletes or weight lifters. I have no doubt it is very healthy and you would feel better eating it but it would be to drastic of change for me. I do plan on eating more fresh foods though.

 

[GrusGrus]

I tried it for a couple of months, and it worked great. I lost a few kilos and felt more happy and had a lot more energy. It turned out to be tough to stick to it in the long run though, partially because the rest of my household hates veggies.
It is interesting to shop for food on paleo. 90% of what is in the store is out of the question.

 

[Prettypuddles]

My husband and I started the low carb / high fat diet (New Atkins) back in April 2013 when my husbands cholesterol came back a 'little' high. Our doctor promptly handed us a list of low fat/high carb foods to eat and help lower is cholesterol. I took one look at that list and my gut(pun intended) told me that this was so wrong. I did some research and found the low carb/hi fat was the way to go, and that there is no scientific proof that low fat diets lower cholesterol, nor reduce risk of heart disease. So, being the bad patient that I am, we did exactly opposite of what the doctor said to do. Neither my husband or I were 'fat', I could say that maybe we were on the higher end of 'normal'. We did however manage to lose a lot of weight. By October 13, my husband and I both 20 pounds each! Now we are in the lower end of 'normal'! We went back to the doctor and my husbands cholesterol went down a few points. I told the doc what I did and he nonchalantly said, "ya, that works too".
Since then our weight loss has leveled off and we were 'supposed to' add carbs back in to maintain. Well, since reading 'Grain Brain', 'Wheat Belly' the 'Paleo Solution' and many other books I came to the conclusion that I do not want to add back what made us 'fat' in the first place. I want to eat the way I am genetically designed to.
I found the Paleo Lifestyle and have been following that since.
Yup, there's more cooking involved. So what, its what we are supposed to do. Give up 30 minutes of TV one night and you can make all the food you need for the next day. I got creative, I can make meals in just a few minutes at a time.
I read somewhere "It's only effort until it's routine." That is so true. I will never go back. The food is just too good!
Oh, and by the way in severe circumstances Wendy's hamburger (although not grass fed beef) is great when traveling. I order a double baconator - no bun - salad instead of fries and a diet soda. 100% paleo, 80% of the time! when traveling.

Now that my chickens have started laying - I have lots of paleo foods to make with them!

 

[MoonShadows]

My husband and I started the low carb / high fat diet (New Atkins) back in April 2013 when my husbands cholesterol came back a 'little' high. Our doctor promptly handed us a list of low fat/high carb foods to eat and help lower is cholesterol. I took one look at that list and my gut(pun intended) told me that this was so wrong. I did some research and found the low carb/hi fat was the way to go, and that there is no scientific proof that low fat diets lower cholesterol, nor reduce risk of heart disease. So, being the bad patient that I am, we did exactly opposite of what the doctor said to do. Neither my husband or I were 'fat', I could say that maybe we were on the higher end of 'normal'. We did however manage to lose a lot of weight. By October 13, my husband and I both 20 pounds each! Now we are in the lower end of 'normal'! We went back to the doctor and my husbands cholesterol went down a few points. I told the doc what I did and he nonchalantly said, "ya, that works too".
Since then our weight loss has leveled off and we were 'supposed to' add carbs back in to maintain. Well, since reading 'Grain Brain', 'Wheat Belly' the 'Paleo Solution' and many other books I came to the conclusion that I do not want to add back what made us 'fat' in the first place. I want to eat the way I am genetically designed to.
I found the Paleo Lifestyle and have been following that since.
Yup, there's more cooking involved. So what, its what we are supposed to do. Give up 30 minutes of TV one night and you can make all the food you need for the next day. I got creative, I can make meals in just a few minutes at a time.
I read somewhere "It's only effort until it's routine." That is so true. I will never go back. The food is just too good!
Oh, and by the way in severe circumstances Wendy's hamburger (although not grass fed beef) is great when traveling. I order a double baconator - no bun - salad instead of fries and a diet soda. 100% paleo, 80% of the time! when traveling.

Now that my chickens have started laying - I have lots of paleo foods to make with them!

BRAVO!

Most Dr's today no less than those of us that research. It's a shame.

Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Jim

 

[MoonShadows]

We've been cooking some great Paleo meals this past week that we have found online.

 

[TXchickmum]

My husband and I started the low carb / high fat diet (New Atkins) back in April 2013 when my husbands cholesterol came back a 'little' high. Our doctor promptly handed us a list of low fat/high carb foods to eat and help lower is cholesterol. I took one look at that list and my gut(pun intended) told me that this was so wrong. I did some research and found the low carb/hi fat was the way to go, and that there is no scientific proof that low fat diets lower cholesterol, nor reduce risk of heart disease. So, being the bad patient that I am, we did exactly opposite of what the doctor said to do. Neither my husband or I were 'fat', I could say that maybe we were on the higher end of 'normal'. We did however manage to lose a lot of weight. By October 13, my husband and I both 20 pounds each! Now we are in the lower end of 'normal'! We went back to the doctor and my husbands cholesterol went down a few points. I told the doc what I did and he nonchalantly said, "ya, that works too".
Since then our weight loss has leveled off and we were 'supposed to' add carbs back in to maintain. Well, since reading 'Grain Brain', 'Wheat Belly' the 'Paleo Solution' and many other books I came to the conclusion that I do not want to add back what made us 'fat' in the first place. I want to eat the way I am genetically designed to.
I found the Paleo Lifestyle and have been following that since.
Yup, there's more cooking involved. So what, its what we are supposed to do. Give up 30 minutes of TV one night and you can make all the food you need for the next day. I got creative, I can make meals in just a few minutes at a time.
I read somewhere "It's only effort until it's routine." That is so true. I will never go back. The food is just too good!
Oh, and by the way in severe circumstances Wendy's hamburger (although not grass fed beef) is great when traveling. I order a double baconator - no bun - salad instead of fries and a diet soda. 100% paleo, 80% of the time! when traveling.

Now that my chickens have started laying - I have lots of paleo foods to make with them!

I'm for whatever works (generally speaking). If your health has improved, that is a wonderful thing! I am definitely for the consumption of good, nutrient rich, unprocessed, unaltered foods....and a huge fan of cooking/preparing foods at home (staying away from the packaged foods/fast foods). -one thing that I personally would not do is consume artificial sweeteners via diet soda or any other sugar-free beverage or food. Any artificial substance cannot be good for the body which was never designed to process synthetic material/chemicals. -just my opinion.

Anyway, congrats on the success that you and your husband have experienced! -sounds like this diet is working well for y'all!!

 

[ClovisMan]

I started a similar diet called the Primal BluePrint. http://www.primalblueprint.com/
I began on January 12th and have lost 11.8 lbs and about 3 inches off my waist. I haven't even started to do any real fitness training or weight-lifting other than everyday activities such brooder and coop building, etc. You don't even have to buy the books or anything. You can go to http://www.marksdailyapple.com and get some free downloads and get the jist of it. Beside, who doesn't like a diet where you can have bacon at every meal.

 

[Christy85]

My husband and I have been loosely following the "Primal" diet for 2-3 years now. When he first started on the diet, he lost more than 50 lbs. in about six months and hasn't gained it back!

Part of why I am looking to raise chickens is for the higher quality of meat and eggs, without additional hormones or unnecessary antibiotics. We also garden what we can organically-as-possible, and the chickens should help that with their fertilizer as well.