Community post

My Paleo Diet Experience

https://i.supload.com/Hyej7qj_e.jpg

A few weeks ago I came across the lovely paleo recipes @kiwideb has posted on her blog. I had heard of the paleo diet before but since I'm more of a traditionalist I tend to run away from anything that resembles dieting. Unfortunately, after a couple of years of extreme life stress and drama, my eating habits had become anything but traditional. In fact, they were SAD (Standard American Diet) and it happened without me even realizing what was going on. It was all a matter of convenience.

After reading through some paleo recipes I decided it was time to further investigate what all goes into living the paleo lifestyle. From what I gathered the diet leaned more towards a traditional diet as in nothing that comes in a box, nothing unpronounceable, and no sugar. It sounded totally doable and even something I could do for my kids and husband without too much aggravation on their part.

After explaining the ins and outs as best I knew them to my hubby he was on board to give it a go. We ordered the second edition of "Practical Paleo" by Diane Sanfilippo. We chose this book because it was touted as the paleo bible and that's just what we needed. The book did not disappoint! It contains 30 day meal plans for weight loss, hormone imbalance, Thyroid issues, heart health, etc. I have to say I am very impressed by the book and the plethora of information it contains.
https://i.supload.com/B1XCX9i_x.jpg

We cleaned out our fridge and pantry of any potentially sabotaging foods. I was a little surprised to find out that legumes are not on the menu for paleo. Other things, though, were more obvious such as flour, sugar, certain sauces. There are a few cons that I could see which with the right solution could make it a lot more convenient for a busy family to adhere to.
https://i.supload.com/B1M-Nqjdl.jpg

For instance, preparing meals ahead of time for the week and having some grab and go snacks for the kids would do wonders. I spent most of each day cooking because everything is made from scratch and it seemed like as soon as one meal had been prepared and consumed it was time to make the next one.

The only other real issue my husband and I seemed to have with the diet plan was there seems like a lot of meat. We have never been heavy meat eaters. Although, it makes sense because by the time we ate breakfast, we had no desire to eat lunch and even dinner was a struggle. The protein in the meats and all the good fats you are consuming stick with you so much longer than any carbs ever did that you sort of have to learn how to pace yourself so that you are still getting a proper amount of calories during the day. The rule in paleo is 20% meat to 80% veggie on your plate.
https://i.supload.com/rkROV9sdl.jpg
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes...these were a huge hit with the whole family and completely gluten free!

By the end of the first week, I have to say, I felt absolutely wonderful!! I had also dropped 10 lbs! I felt lighter too, not just in weight, but in core, as if I wasn’t being bogged down anymore. My husband on the other hand, still had the pain in his joints, was tired and was having serious issues with not wanting to eat an entire bag of nuts and jerky. In fact, we went on a hiking trip and while I packed snacks which consisted of jerky, dried fruits, and nuts everyone was starving by the time we got home. We also figured out the hard way that my husband, myself, and any sort of beef, do not mix. I always sort of knew it was an issue for me. In fact, about 4 years ago I lost my gall bladder at 33 years old due to beef consumption and my body just not being able to handle it. My husband became sicker than a dog! No more beef for him!

So, after a few hiccups and sort of feeling like the joy of food was being lost, I gave in for a few days and my husband ordered pizza and the neighbor dropped off an order of Girl Scout Cookies. Mind you, this was after a solid week of clean eating and following the diet religiously. It was now my turn to be sicker than a dog. I don’t know what got me, but I will never eat anything that is not in the paleo plan ever again after being sick for two straight days. I am a total convert! My husband probably needs to eat more calories, perhaps dairy is something that needs to be included in his plan because it seems we narrowed his joint issues down to that being the missing link.

Overall, I am happy to have taken the leap into paleo. I feel that it will be a lifelong commitment for me because obviously there are things that have been contributing to my illnesses over the past couple of years in the SAD.

Have you tried paleo? If so, what were your pros and cons?

Replies (12)

Go, you!! Great article, opening up lots of possibility for discussion, so here goes...

For instance, preparing meals ahead of time for the week and having some grab and go snacks for the kids would do wonders. I spent most of each day cooking because everything is made from scratch and it seemed like as soon as one meal had been prepared and consumed it was time to make the next one.

Absolutely! IMO, meal planning and cooking in bulk are vital, especially with a family. Use your crockpot (slow cooker), food processor and freezer for all they're worth.

The only other real issue my husband and I seemed to have with the diet plan was there seems like a lot of meat ... The rule in paleo is 20% meat to 80% veggie on your plate.

Think of paleo more as a blueprint, and find your own sweet spot in it. Personally I need more than 20% meat. But your hubby might need less. If you look around at those of us posting under the paleo tag, we're all different in how we utilise our real foods.

My husband on the other hand, still had the pain in his joints, was tired and was having serious issues with not wanting to eat an entire bag of nuts and jerky.

I'm not sure whether you mean he couldn't stop himself eating the whole bag (possible addiction, or maybe just starvation) or that he couldn't force himself to eat enough of them.

A couple of observations here - for joints issues, he may need to also take out nightshades - potato, tomato, capsicum, eggplant, chillis, paprika, goji berries. If he still has no luck. might need to go to no starch, but talk to me about that first, when and if it comes to that.

The fatigue could be that he is still in the process of training his body to run on fats instead of carbs, whereas you maybe transitioned quite quickly. It can take a while, and some people never really make the transition and need more carbs ongoing. Remember that if you reduce carbs, you need more fat. Or as you say, he may need to keep some dairy in, to get enough calories. Aim for grass fed, and if you possibly can either unpasteurised or fermented.

We also figured out the hard way that my husband, myself, and any sort of beef, do not mix. I always sort of knew it was an issue for me. In fact, about 4 years ago I lost my gall bladder at 33 years old due to beef consumption and my body just not being able to handle it. My husband became sicker than a dog! No more beef for him!

This perplexes me a bit, as beef is actually one of the easiest foods to digest. Though you can have issues with any food, even healthy ones. The only thing I can think of is that maybe you were eating factory beef, rather than grass fed. Most NZ beef is still grass raised, so we are very lucky.

It was now my turn to be sicker than a dog. I don’t know what got me, but I will never eat anything that is not in the paleo plan ever again after being sick for two straight days.

Yes. Now your body can tell you what those "foods" were really doing to you. Its quite a shock, isn't it? Now you've come over to the dark side, you can never go back. It's like taking the pill in The Matrix, you can never un-see it again, lol.

Keep us posted on your adventures!

Really good info @kiwideb ! I did not think of the nightshades as being a possible culprit for my husbands joint issue...I remember reading a long time ago that they can cause inflammation so that really makes sense now! We will eliminate those and see where we get! Thank you for that!

As far as the beef issue goes, we used to eat locally raised beef when we lived in a more rural area, now we purchase the expensive grass fed stuff. I hadn't really eaten it myself since having my gall bladder removed. My doctor at the time told me that gall bladder disease had become a silent epidemic in the states and that from what he could tell beef was usually the trigger for most people. I thought he was nuts, but at the time we lived in a small town of 1200 people and my husband had mentioned to one of his coworkers that I'd had the gall bladder surgery and he learned that 4 or 5 other people just in his department alone had had it done as well. It seems to be any sort of ground beef in particular...here they add fat to the meat so that it cooks properly, not sure if they do that in NZ or not. Other cuts of beef don't agree either but not nearly as severely as the ground beef. It may not even be the beef itself that is the cause but something else in our diet that causes the reaction. Whatever it is...consuming beef usually ends in 2 to 3 days of bloating, sulphur burps, and contantly running to the restroom. I would love to be able to get to the bottom of the cause of it because we are seriously limited with only having poultry and occasionally fish. I really worry that my husband is starting to have this same reaction to the beef. I wonder if perhaps this reaction could even be a result of leaky gut syndrome or something to that effect?

I agree that my husband possibly did not transition as quickly...I think we probably should have started gradually for him instead of jumping in head first, lol. He seemed fine throughout the day with being full, but at night he became really hungry and just couldn't stop snacking. That's pretty unusual for him so maybe I should add in some sweet potato or something like that for him?

Thank you for the encouragement and the words of wisdom! I am super exciting to continue on and learn everything I can!!