When I first joined Weight Watchers and began started to check out and understand their SmartPoints system, I quickly realized how many points grains and beans were. This got me thinking. Maybe I should just go Paleo and then I won’t have to worry about the bread, grains and beans eating up my SmartPoints each day.
Then my brain kicked in and said, “What does going Paleo mean, exactly”. So, I started researching. And I found that there are different types of Paleo: Strict and Primal. Obviously, the Strict Paleo followers don’t touch certain things (like dairy), but the Primal followers are a bit more lenient and allow dairy and eggs.
What I found most interesting is that while there are certain things you should not eat at all – grains and legumes – you can sort of choose what works best for your body when it comes to dairy and eggs.
So let’s look at the Paleo 101 Cheat Sheet:
Click to download your copy today.
The struggle for me, is getting rid of grains. I am pretty good about eating them in moderation, but completely giving them up would be a huge challenge. I also love lentils and white potatoes, although I try to eat more sweet potatoes now.
I am going to make this into a series. Next time, I will go into details about what key words to look for and which ones to avoid when you are grocery shopping. And I will delve into easy substitutes for certain things we all love (like white potatoes).
Note: We do not follow the Paleo diet nor does Dash of Herbs follow the Paleo diet. But, I do think having a general knowledge of it – and what you can and can’t eat on the Paleo diet – can help anyone who is trying to lose weight. Cutting out things that have to be processed somehow to be consumed can help you get your life back. I am not encouraging anyone to choose to switch to the Paleo diet either. This is just general knowledge about it and why I think it can help you on your weight loss journey.
Yes, I agree with you that it’s hard and expensive (buying organic food is expensive). But I do think it can help if you are trying to cut out sugars and grains/breads (which is what Weight Watchers is all about right now). I do eat bread and grains, but I try to cut back as much as I can because I know that sugars and certain grains aren’t healthy for you. I think using it in moderation is good (especially cutting back on grains) and something you should think about.
Paleo is HARD and can be expensive. Tried it, hated it, gave it up. The idea that I’m not allowed to have things makes me want them even more, and that makes me crabby, and my husband doesn’t deserve a crabby (hangry) wife.
I like and eat almost everything on the approved list, but the grains list will be the most challenging for me. If I were to completely cut grains out, this would be the biggest challenge. I will say that there are SO many paleo recipes that taste amazing – I have a carrot cake cupcake recipe coming that is pretty close to paleo coming – so you can eat great food and still be healthy.
I was surprised to see how many of the Paleo-approved foods I like! That said, grains would be a really tough thing for me to give up too. Why is all the stuff good for your taste buds bad for your body?!