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A Paleo diet (or Palaeolithic diet or caveman diet) is all about eating natural foods to help achieve optimal health – anything we could hunt or gather – meats, fish, leafy greens, nuts, veggies, seeds, eggs. So no pasta, cereal, rice, bread, cakes, biscuits, bugger!

I have been eating mostly paleo for a long time, but it wasn’t until about 5-6 months ago I was a little more ‘strict’, like a bit of an experiment! And what have I found?

Over the last 5-6 years I have been eating very healthy (as most of you know, as I like to practice what I preach), but I decided to try this paleo way of eating, as it seemed like something that made sense to me, something I can agree with. I tend to follow this way of eating about 90% of the time. I have found energy levels are higher, no bloating, I am not hungry, blood sugar levels are stable, I don’t crave sweet things – fruit is sweet for me. When I was injured last year and couldn’t exercise, my clothes still fitted, even though I wasn’t exercising as much as I did when not injured – assuming my weight stayed about the same (don’t weigh myself!)

Some will say Paleo is pretty restrictive, and others will want to give it a try and see. If you are following my eating plans/recipes you are pretty much there anyway! Majority of my recipes in my eBooks can be paleo – just by taking out the brown rice, or wheat free pasta, taking out sourdough bread and oats.  Replace them with lots of salad/greens and sweet potato and quinoa in moderation.

There is SO much information, research, points of view on this subject and I don’t like to get all sciencey, cause you might fall asleep! But if you are interested in reading more, here are a few links that I have found interesting

http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz2JLttZWFV

http://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-diet-faq/

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-101/

Research suggests that eating a paleo lifestyle could

  • Reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and most chronic degenerative diseases that affect people in the western world
  • Stabilise blood sugar
  • Burn off stored fat
  • Help you lose weight if you are overweight
  • Improve your athletic performance
  • Reduce allergies
  • Slow or reverse progression of an autoimmune disease
  • Improve or eliminate acne
  • Sleep better and have more energy throughout the day
  • Enjoy an increased libido
  • Improve your mental outlook and clarity
  • Enjoy a longer, healthier, more active life

What can you eat:

  • Vegetables – as much as you want!
  • Fruit – minimise this if you want to lose weight, as fruit can be high in sugar – berries are best!
  • Protein – seafood, poultry, meat (I tend not to eat a lot of red meat). It is better to eat grass fed, not grain fed – as the hormones can mess with you
  • Eggs
  • Oils – coconut oil, avocado, olive oil
  • Nuts – if you can find them in nature, they are OK to eat – brazils, almonds, walnuts. Just don’t overeat them – no more than a handful a day

What you can’t eat:

  • Dairy – milk, butter, cream, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese etc
  • Starches – no potatoes, no rice, no breads
  • Processed foods – anything in a box, or in the freezer (apart from fruit & veg), is most likely a no go!
  • Grains – rice, pasta, flours, oats
  • Legumes -beans, peas, peanuts
  • Sugars – fake and real sugars!
  • Soft drinks
  • Caffeine

Foods I eat in moderation, but if you follow a strict paleo lifestyle, you would add to the can’t eat column

  • Quinoa (it is technically not a grain or a seed!)
  • Corn (some consider it a grain)
  • Oat milk – only because almond milk is too sweet for me
  • Alcohol – there is discussion about wine being grapes etc

So if you want to try it, you can start slow – if you want recipe ideas, check out my ebooks or sign up for Mummy Bootcamp @ home!

  • Caveman diet is not for me – I am out of the cave as I love dairy, pasta and coffee!

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  • this is a great idea. I like to think I mostly eat paleo….but I am not ready to cut out the other things that taste good too! lol

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  • i have heard of this diet but not what it consists of. it sounds alright though

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  • Thankyou, I’ve been seeing this Paleo stuff everywhere lately, and wondered what it meant, now It is all clear to me. My problem is I’m vegan and have always been and it has always been hard to follow special diet ideas as they all want you to eat eggs and meat, and I never do anyway.

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  • i find this very interesting and it all makes sense. Except the legumes bit? i’m a bit confused as I though lentils and beans etc are really good for you. Especially if you follow a vegetarian diet.

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  • I wondered what the restrictions of paleo were, I tend to limit a lot of things in my diet but I’m not sure I could or would do this. I’m glad it’s working for you :)

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  • I believe I mostly eat this way except I will not omit grains from my diet. Good article and very informative as was always wondering what Paleo meant.

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  • It certainly sounds like a diet that makes sense. Not sure I could cut out wholgrains though..

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  • thank you for all the links, I will be doing some more reseach on this

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  • Sounds like it get results, but hell, it would be hard sticking to it. Although I guess that’s true for most diets and food/lifestyle changes.

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  • Not sure I could follow this diet!

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  • Thankyou for providing simple & concise info on the Paleo diet.It was the type of info I was after.

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  • i would struggle with no rice or oats!!

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  • I think as a diabetic it would be too hard to meet my carb quota here

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  • not a big fan of this sort of diet as it excludes dairy

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  • I eat mostly fresh foods, but I wouldn’t be able to do this diet.


    • I feel I eat rather healthy too, might indulge here and there, but don’t think I could follow this either.

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  • Looks so delicious, great article, thanks for sharing

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  • what an interesting article. I have in laws who eat palleo but drink lots of coffee, so interesting to read these two dont match up

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  • Great advice! A truly motivational article!

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  • I would miss bread way too much!

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