Why I’m eating margarine & 6 other non Paleo foods again
I've been thinking a lot about my diet recently, and I'm getting a little worried that being fully Paleo maybe isn't the healthiest choice I can make. After speaking to several health experts recently, and reading up on the latest government recommendations, I've started to get really worried about how healthy my Paleo diet really is. Despite my blog being all about the Paleo diet, it's only fair that I'm honest with you and share my concerns and fears.
I'm concerned that I'm not getting enough calcium, fibre or carbohydrates. I've also started to get really worried about how much more fat I've been consuming, especially when compared to what the government recommend. I'm suspecting I'm eating way too much fat, and probably more meat and eggs than I should as well. I've read several times this week that it's dangerous to eat more than one egg a day, especially if you eat the yolk. Something has got to change…
In fact, I'm considering if Paleo is a healthy choice altogether. I've been pondering whether there are a lot of very healthy, nutritious foods that I'm excluding from my diet by continuing to be Paleo. I'm going to initially work on reintroducing the following foods, in the hope I start to feel even more healthy, before committing to a really healthy low fat diet for a month. Here are the seven foods I'm going to start eating again, starting today. I'll be reporting back on my progress and would love to hear your thoughts on the new additions to my modified paleo diet.
Margarine
With my new found concerns about cholesterol and eating high fat, the first, and most obvious decision for me to make was to swap coconut nut oil and grass fed ghee for heart healthy margarine. I'm going to try to find an organic margarine, and make sure I choose a brand that is heart healthy. This was a hard decision to make, but I'm becoming convinced a very healthy one – as margarine is much lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, which means I’m much less likely to get heart disease. Carrots drenched in margarine doesn't sound as appealing as butter, but I'll just have to get used to it for the good of my health.
Vegetable Oil
Have you seen the saturated fat content of butter, lard, ghee and coconut oil? I’m going to throw away my olive oil and swap it with healthy vegetable oil. This should also help keep my cholesterol levels low as it's low in saturated fat. Also it's vegetable oil, so will help me get towards my five a day.
Quorn Mince
I've also been reading a lot about how badly meat clogs up your arteries and is really hard to digest, so I'm planning to start with meatless Monday's and reduce my meat consumption dramatically. I’ve decided to replace my organic, grass fed ground beef with healthy vegan Quorn mince. It’s made from rehydrated mycoprotein extracted from the fungus ‘Fusarium Venenatum.’ I'm not really sure what that is, but Quorn is really low in fat and has no unhealthy animal fats, so it is obviously very healthy. I've also discovered that Quorn make healthy, meat free bacon slices and chicken fillets too. So really, I'm not even going to notice I've gone meat free.
Soy Milk
I've been having very little dairy in my paleo diet – and despite my recent body scan showing I have an excellent bone density, I clearly must be highly deficient in calcium. I've just bought my first bottle of soy milk, so I'll be making sure I drink a lot of this each day, as well as skim milk to give my calcium levels a big boost. I must be honest, I opened the bottle and it did not smell good, but if I add some hot chocolate to it, it should hopefully take away the taste.
Whole grain cereal
There are so many revolutionary new whole grain cereals out there now, compared to when I started eating Paleo. I've even found a special range specifically designed to promote heart health, which makes me question if I'm right to continue to start the day with a high fat meal? These technologically advanced cereals do seem to be an easy way to start the day, providing lots of healthy carbohydrates for energy. The one I'm looking forward to trying the most is Kellogg’s Special K Multi Grain – it contains FOUR different types of healthy grains and is almost fat free. I’ll make sure I have it with soy or skim milk.
Coca Cola Zero
Pretty much all I've been drinking for the last few years has been water and tea. I've hear it's bad to omit variety which has been concerning me. I haven’t had a can of Coca Cola in so long because I'd convinced myself it was unhealthy, but they now make a version with no sugar at all. Who knows what it is sweetened with, but I can’t wait to try one again. The people in the TV adverts always look positively glowing with health and I'm quite keen to have some of what they're having. It’s got no sugar, so it must be healthy, as we all know how bad sugar is for us.
Low Fat Snack Bars
In case I do get hungry between meals (which I'm sure I won’t, as all of the carbohydrates I’ll be eating with provide me with lots of energy) I’ll make an effort to reach for a low fat snack bar rather than a cholesterol-loaded hard boiled egg, home made jerky, or a handful of nuts as I have been doing. There are so many different flavours these days, and a lot of them are healthy whole grain. Some even are fruit flavoured, which will help me get to my five a day.
Since I've made this decision I've realised a lot of these foods don't need to be kept in the fridge and don't seem to go off – so this is going to make life so much easier for me – another benefit to adapting my diet.
Are there any healthy non Paleo foods that you are going to add back to your diet? Let me know what you've added back and why in the comments below.
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This week’s strangest Google searches
Every so often I look at the Google searches that brings people to this blog. And as you’ll see, there are some really strange ones. These are the searches that have confused me this week…
“what to feed a maltese dog that has allergies and is sick of eating kangaroo mince???”
(Er, just a suggestion – something other than kangaroo mince?)
“ive cooked a chicken, can i give my cat the jelly stock”
(I'm no cat expert, but maybe it depends on whether your cat likes jelly stock?)
“facebook sad to see what parents do with their babies”
(Perhaps you should be asking social services, rather than me?)
“indonesian women carrying heavy things on their heads”
(Have strong heads?)
“can you make cauliflower rice using a smoothie maker”
(Wouldn’t that be a cauliflower smoothie?)
“is buying a restaurant in a food court a good idea”
(Are we talking McDonalds or Subway?)
“where can i buy refined sunflower oil in Melbourne”
(You’ve come to completely the wrong blog…)
“does kale have to be washed before making chips”
(Let me guess. You've just made a batch of kale chips, then noticed some dried in dirt and maybe an insect – and you're hoping to get the go ahead to dive in? Would it annoy you if I suggested you make a new batch with clean kale?)
“packed lunch ideas for men with no microwaves”
(Ah, if only you’d asked me for lunch ideas for 27-35 year old women with microwaves, I’d have been able to help)
“does crooked teeth lead to a sloped forehead”
(Perhaps you should Google dentist? Or doctor?)
“what is the perfect use of pork and knife”
(Do you mean fork and knife? Or are you trying to eat roast pork without a fork? I’m confused.)
“marine tells kid to shop somewhere else”
(Are you a marine who dislikes children? Or a kid who's been thrown out of a shop? Either way, I'm confused.)
“can you get high off of kangaroo jerky”
(I don't even know where to start with this one)
“where to buy minced meat for babies”
(Everything about that sentence sounds wrong)
“best ipad cover for reading in bed”
(And you found my blog, how?)
“can i just live off fizzy drinks”
(No. Just no.)
“going to work with the flu”
(And passing it on to everyone else?)
“wolves eating a trolley”
(I have nothing for you)
“how to give up food”
(probably best to save this one until you’re dead?)
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Your Health Messages To YOURSELF Ten Years Ago
I recently asked the fans of my Facebook Page The Paleo Network this question: “If you could go back and tell yourself a key health message ten years ago – what would it be?” What would your answer be?
There were hundreds of answers covering all sorts of aspects of physical & emotional health, here are some of them.
Quit grains
And sugar. This was (unsurprisingly) a very common theme. Here are some of the messages:
- No grains
- Grain brain
- Give up wheat
- Kick the sugar
- Don't eat sugar.
- Cut sugar n carbs
- Stop eating grains
- Put down the sugar!
- Don't. Eat. Grains.
- Go grain & sugar free
- Don't eat lots of bread!
- Don't eat so much sugar!
- Give up wheat and sugar.
- Eat less sugar and grains
- Don't eat grains or sugar!
- Stop eating bread and pasta
- Fat is not the enemy…sugar is!
- Don't eat candy or chocolate bars!
- Cut the bread bro and lay off the booze.
- Ditch the GRAINS, forget the SUGAAAAR!!!
- Fat doesn't make you fat. Sugar is the enemy.
- Reduce your carb intake, don't eat bread anymore!!!
- Avoid grains and sugar, they make you feel like crap.
- Give up sugar and grains. You honestly won't miss it!
- put down the loaf of bread and spinage dip!… I have a long list…
- Once a sweet tooth, always a sweet tooth! Cut out sugar from the diet!
- Stop all grain not just gluten don't look for substitutes there really enough to eat….
Easy on the vices
Alcohol and smoking also featured…
- Don't smoke
- Don't drink beer
- Drink less alcohol
- Ease up on alcohol
- Avoid alcohol better
- Don't start smoking again
- Don't smoke or hang out with those who do!!!!
- Cut the grains and sugar and it will be easier to quit smoking.
- Stop drinking alcohol it's poison. So is wheat dairy and sugar. Paleo paleo paleo
Fat?
I thought more people would have commented about body weight and body image…
- Stop Eating!
- Don't get fat!
- You're not fat. Eat something
- Being fat is not genetic and you're not big boned.
Ditch the soda
Soda and fizzy drinks were also prominent in your messages to your younger self
- No soda. No diet soda.
- Stop drinking pop and fast food
- Drink water not coke or coke zero
- To never touch diet drinks or diet anything and drink lots of water!
Fitness
Fitness was one of the most popular themes, with these messages being added:
- MOVE
- Stretch
- Do yoga
- Exercise!
- Weightlifting
- Don't overtrain
- Stay strong fit and fast.
- Don't quit weekend sport
- Start CrossFit. Eat Paleo!
- Don't ever quit sport/exercise!!
- Don't stop exercising because of pregnancy
- Put down the sugar and lift weights…. heavy weights
- And start yoga young to keep u strong and flexible !!!
- Keep moving…don't stop the exercise…even for a week!
- Paleo and CrossFit….if only I had discovered this years ago!!
- Don't wait till you gain weight to start exercising. Biggest mistake I made!!!
- Go to the gym & get a trainer/training partner. I'd be so much further along in my physical development
And perhaps best of all, the random messages!
There are definitely some stories there…
- Speak up
- Sleep more.
- Stay consistent
- Don't marry him.
- Pack it in. Idiot!
- Bitcoins! Buy them!!!
- Omg! Where do I begin?!!
- Put the candy bar down fatty
- You really are allergic to dairy
- Stay away from the chocolate
- Stay focused don't get complacent
- 27 is not too young to have babies
- Don't get the flu shot and go Paleo
- Your friends and chidren are amazing
- Stay away from snotty nosed children!
- Thank god u took the advice to lose 95 kg.
- Stress less, not a food thing but a health thing
- Don't ever stop, that's what I tell the youngsters.
- Don't marry him! Hahaha. I would Def be healthier
- Dont listen to your mother… and dont eat like her….
- Take the time to feed your kids and yourself healthy!
- Enjoy the small things! Work to live, not live to work!!
- Stop making stupid excuses and get divorced now !!!
- Nothing can be fixed until you sort out that zinc deficiency.
- The habits I have will be the habits my kids will have. Eat clean!
- NOTHING and I mean nothing, taste as good as healthy feels!!!!!
- Don't take hormone contraceptive pills and quit that stressful job!
- You are worth loving and you don't have to turn to food to feel loved.
- Don't sweat it me, you are going to look better at 37 than you did at 27.
- I would tell me to keep eating clean and switch degrees to sports science!
- Don't shrug off the little things cause sometimes they mean there is a big thing.
- My biggest down fall, closely followed by, avoid chocolate – it is not a meal!!!!!
- Don't get lazy and give up. YOU'RE worth the EFFORT of cooking healthy food!!
- Everything you've been taught about nutrition was false. The food pyramid is upside down.
- Slow down, create more homemade meals (organic) than eating meals on the run (processed junk).
- Exercise, laugh, set goals be flexible, action is the key to fruition, rest, relish silence, no sugar, grains, no dairy
- Take a kids cooking class to master basic cooking skills – especially knife skills & don't be bloody lazy about eating properly!!!
- Do not do the endometriosis treatment that your supposed specialised GP said was latest and greatest. It will ruin your health forever…
- Don't have vital parts surgically removed unless you've been diagnosed with a deadly disease and the removal of said parts is the way to eliminate the disease.
So over to you… what message would you tell your ten-years-ago-self?
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Why can’t I lose weight? My story…
Ask almost anyone how to lose weight and you’ll get the same answer. It’s easy. All you need to do is eat less and move more. In the Paleo world it's almost as bad – eat Paleo and your weight will naturally regulate. For a lot of people, this seems to be the case – but unfortunately this simplistic view just does not work for everyone. I’m now almost certain that for myself, weight loss is a far more complicated equation than eat Paleo,eat less, move more.
I’ve made a lot of huge discoveries in the last few weeks, and am starting to understand why my body is fighting all efforts to burn fat. It’s time to share my weight loss struggles with you…
As you may have read when I first found Paleo in 2010, I quickly and effortlessly lost 17 kilos. This was several dress sizes and changed me quite dramatically. I felt so much better, my asthma disappeared, my sleep improved – I felt like a brand new person. With another maybe 15 kilos to go, I assumed my weight loss would continue – perhaps not at the same speed – but I thought I would gradually get to the right size for me (that’s what the experts tell you, after all…)
But then nothing happened. Nothing. For the last four years I have stayed within a 3kg weight range. I have been completely unable to break through this barrier, no matter what I’ve tried. And believe me, I have tried almost every approach.
Excuses
With the distractions of day to day life – a busy corporate job with weekly inter-state travelling, running a business, blogging, multiple house moves etc etc– I’ve always been able to blame my inability to lose weight on a variety of things I’ve “been getting wrong”. My favourite thing to blame has always been sleep. When I’m stressed, I don’t sleep well. Poor sleep increases cortisol causing the body to hold onto its fat stores. Therefore even though I'm eating well and lifting weights, it must be the poor sleep preventing weight loss, right? Or perhaps the problem lies with one of these problems:
- Living alone and cooking for myself, perhaps I had been eating huge football team size portions, without realising?
- Perhaps I've been lying to myself all along and punctuating my amazing Paleo meals with McDonalds every few hours?
- Perhaps I've been sleepwalking to the fridge with no knowledge or recollection?
- Perhaps it's my adrenals?
- Perhaps I'm just big boned?
- Perhaps I'm just meant to be this weight?
Enough
Last year I went to PrimalCon for the third consecutive year and felt really embarrassed to have made no progress over the course of another year. I spoke at length to Sarah Fragoso (of Everyday Paleo – one of the sweetest most genuine people you could ever hope to meet) about my weight loss plateau. Sarah didn't take the “eat better/ move more” approach, but really encouraged me to focus on stresses in my life and get my sleep in check. Coming back I had a renewed belief that I could change this – and a determination not to give up.
Experimenting
Last year, I was fortunate enough to have several months off the corporate conveyer belt, for the first time in years. Escaping the daily early mornings/ commute/ work/ meetings/ pressure/ deadlines/ late nights gave me a golden opportunity to experiment with everything. I could to finally start losing some weight.
What I did every single day
The first change I incorporated was sleep. Just how much was that really impacting things? In all the time I wasn't working, I only set an alarm twice. I stuck thick cardboard* to my widows to make sure my room was darker than a remote cave in the middle of the night.
After sunset I turned off all main lights and used side lights with red bulbs. I forced myself to turn off all screens (tv, laptop, iPhone) at least two hours before bed.
I read. Real physical fiction books before bed.
I turned off the wifi in my house overnight and switched my iPhone/ iPad to flight mode (I still do this)
I did interval sprits to the local outdoor swimming pool most days. I swam. I lifted weights.
I got sunshine everyday.
On the nutrition side, I took the time to get excellent, quality food (pastured/ grassfed/ organic – you know the drill). As always, I cooked everything from scratch.
Changing things up
Once I had my baseline established, with the new habits I mentioned above, I tried pretty much every piece of paleo weight loss advice. Whenever I tried something new, I stuck at it for a few weeks, without introducing any other changes. Here are some of the things I tried:
- Intermittent fasting. Without the usual life stresses this was the perfect opportunity to give this a real go.
- I tried very low carb (below 50g a day, then lower, about 20g a day)
- I tried high (relatively speaking) carb, which meant eating a lot of things like pumpkin and sweet potato.
- I tried counting calories strictly, sticking to a conventional wisdom approved daily limit (keeping it paleo, within that limit)
- I tried eating more fat
- I tracked my macros and micro nutrients and made sure I was hitting all of the recommended amounts of everything (except for calcium)
And guess what happened….
Nothing. That’s right. NOTHING. I could get to the bottom of my 3kg range, but I could not break through that barrier.
Perhaps I eat too much?
I was able to spend a couple of months in the UK with my family during my time out, which gave me some great insights into this weight loss puzzle.
Looking at me and hearing about my weight loss plateau, I'm frequently quizzed on my portion sizes. I know people think I must be eating an entire chicken, 2 packs of bacon, 6 eggs and a litre of coconut oil for a mid-afternoon snack. Well, actually no. And my time in the UK proved this to me.
My parents are both slim having lost a few pounds when they went Paleo three years ago. For the duration of my stay we ate exactly the same for all but two meals. Same food and similar portion sizes (my Dad having slightly larger portion sizes). They are at ideal body weights – and their weight remained constant. I didn't lose any weight, despite having significantly more kilos to support than my parents do.
So what's going on?
For the first time I felt I had conclusive proof that there was more going on in my body, than I could control with nutrition and movement…
I was explaining my puzzle to my friend Jodie – who happens to be a trainee naturopath (and eats a natural, real food diet too). “There has to be more to it than eat less, move more?“. Her empathetic agreement encouraged me to delve a lot further into this and for the last few months I’ve been on a journey to find out everything I can….
Over the last few months I’ve been on an incredible personal journey into this puzzle. Over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to share with you who I’ve met, what’s really going on – and what I’m doing to fix things. From emails and comments I get from you, I know I’m not alone in this struggle. For all of those who are doing everything the “paleo experts” tell you – and are still struggling to lose weight, I think I have some answers that will help you, which I’ll be writing about in detail in the coming weeks and months.
You can read the next post on my weight loss journey here
In the meantime, if you’re struggling to lose weight (or you overcame a struggle), please please leave a comment or email me. I’d love to hear about your journey and what you think the problem is for you.
* If you're renting, don't do this. It took hours and hours to scrape the glue off the windows when I moved outShare this:
Five Ways to Eat Your Sunscreen
Despite what conventional wisdom would have you believe, it is not in any way a bad thing to spend plenty of time in the sunshine – provided you don’t burn. On the contrary, it is essential to good health; it is the best (and only significant) source of Vitamin D, it ramps up serotonin (the ‘happy’ hormone), and boosts your energy and your immune system. With sunshine being so crucial to a happy and healthy life, it therefore makes no sense to stay in the shade between 11am and 3pm when you could be outside enjoying nature. It is important to protect yourself from harmful ultraviolet ways – but there are certainly alternatives to the chemically laden, commercial sunscreens found at your local pharmacy.
Eat your sunscreen
Food is a powerful healer, and it turns out that certain foods protect you from the sun from the inside out by boosting your skin’s natural protection against harmful UV rays. If you burn easily, try boosting your intake of the following foods:
Brightly coloured vegetables – Brightly coloured vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes and capsicum (bell peppers) should be a significant part of your diet already; but if they are not, consider increasing your consumption. These vegetables in particular are a rich source of beta carotene, which has been proven to reduce sun sensitivity and sunburn intensity.
Leafy Greens – dark, leafy green vegetables like spinach, chard and broccoli all contain high levels of the antioxidants Lutein and Zeaxanthin, which protect the skin against free radical damage from UV rays.
Oily Fish – foods rich in omega 3, like mackerel, salmon and trout, are proven to guard against sunburn. If you’re not the biggest lover of fish, I’d strongly encourage you to take a high quality Omega 3 supplement. A healthy Omega 3: Omega 6 ratio has also proven to significantly reduce the risk of cancer.
Green tea – packed with antioxidants called EGCG’s which dramatically reduce the genetic mutations causes to skin cells by UV radiation. Try drinking Macha for an even more potent dose of these antioxidants.
Natural Sun Screen
If I'm expecting to be out in the sun for an extended period of time, to further reduce my risk of burning I will often make my own sunscreen from entirely natural ingredients. It’s easy to make, is nourishing for the skin, and you’ll smell way better than anyone else at the beach! Try the following recipe to naturally protect yourself from the sun.
1 ounce raspberry seed oil – this oil, which can be found in health food and even cook shops, has a natural SPF of approximately 30
1 ounce coconut oil – not only is it nourishing and intensely moisturising, virgin coconut oil contains an SPF of approximately 10.
2 ounces shea butter – nourishes and moisturises, and protects the skin against free radicals.
2 ounces of beeswax – emulsifies, and is naturally waterproof!
15 grams Zinc Oxide – helps to reflect the harmful UVA and UVB rays
20 drops of your favourite essential oil, such as lemon grass or ginger
In order to maintain a healthy level of tolerance to the sun, it is important that you expose yourself to it frequently (and ideally, for short periods of time.) Take your lunch outside, go on long weekend walks, or take up an outdoor sport if you have the time.
What steps do you take to enjoy the sun without burning? Have you found any effective sunscreens, without all of the chemicals?
