Posts

101 (more!) paleo snack ideas recipes diet suggestions inspiration primal-min

101 (more!) paleo snack ideas

After the popularity of my previous post on paleo snack ideas, I've put together a new, extended list of snack ideas.




After my last list, I got a lot of people telling me “DAIRY IS NOT PALEO” (yep, I think they were shouting), so just to clear it up, some of the snack ideas listed below do have dairy options. I'm not in the paleo police, so if you tolerate dairy and take more of a lacto-paleo approach (and can find a good quality source) – go for it. If you fair better dairy free, avoid it!

The list below has a good range of snacks suitable for work (where there often aren't good facilities for keeping things cool or warming them up), travel, children as well as snack ideas that are quick enough for you to grab and go.

101 (more!) paleo snack ideas recipes diet suggestions inspiration primal-min

I'd love to hear your feedback – – what's your go to paleo snack? Or do you find you don't need to snack so often any more?

  1. A can of (high quality) tuna
  2. Make your own beef  jerky
  3. A bag of nuts and seeds
  4. A couple of squares of super dark high quality chocolate
  5. Make your own cherry ripe bars
  6. Coconut flesh in a bag (dehydrate it to make it last longer!)
  7. Keep a small jar of coconut oil or coconut manna to hand – and a spoon!
  8. Cheese cubes served with cut apple
  9. Use a melon baller to prepare spheres of fruit – and serve in cream (dairy or coconut)
  10. Roll up avocado, radish, cress & asparagus in ham wraps
  11. Coat chicken with an egg and almond flour mix to create Paleo chicken nuggets
  12. Melon & ham slices
  13. Simple – avocado slices
  14. Pre-boiled, peeled hard boiled eggs
  15. A jar of olives
  16. A tin of coconut milk served over fresh berries
  17. Your favourite fruit
  18. A coconut
  19. Make your own pork scratching (AKA pork rinds or crackling)
  20. Have you tried coconut yoghurt yet?!
  21. A bag of your favourite nuts (activate them, then season them)
  22. How about spicy almonds?
  23. Seaweed is a good option that stores well
  24. Coconut flakes
  25. A berry and coconut mix
  26. Dry some berries and fruit
  27. Last night’s meatballs 
  28. Pigs in blankets
  29. Almonds, pecans and berries served in coconut milk
  30. No-Oatmeal
  31. Full fat plain Greek yoghurt (if you do dairy)
  32. Salmon
  33. Smoked meat and salami
  34. A selection of cheeses
  35. Almond Butter
  36. A sealed packet of nuts and seeds
  37. A jar of pickles (make sure it isn't full of sugar)
  38. Home made egg muffins
  39. Make your own Paté
  40. A tin of sardines
  41. Oysters
  42. Simple – cut up some leftover meat and veg
  43. Devilled eggs
  44. Precooked bacon pieces
  45. Dehydrated banana slices
  46. Kale chips
  47. Diced Steamed chicken and avocado
  48. Leftover meat and mayo 
  49. Paleo sushi with nori, veg, avo and fish
  50. Mini omelettes
  51. Veg sticks and nut butter
  52. Salmon and tuna on sliced cucumber
  53. Carrot sticks with a home made spicy salsa
  54. Capsicum (Bell Pepper) strips with a guacamole dip
  55. Make sandwiches with bacon “bread” and an avo filling
  56. Ham, tomatoes and fresh basil
  57. Left over roast veggies with a ranch sauce
  58. Home made sauerkraut
  59. Ever tried chocolate covered bacon bites?Coat almonds and coconut flakes in chocolate
  60. Dip fresh berries in chocolate
  61. For a special treat paleo cookies
  62. Frozen grapes
  63. Frozen banana slices mixed with fresh cream
  64. Baked pears with coconut cream and a dash of cinnamon
  65. A flask/ thermos of bone broth
  66. Soup
  67. A bottle of a freshly made green smoothie
  68. Zucchini Chips
  69. Spicy pumpkin seeds
  70. Homemade fruit leather
  71. Sweet potato, coconut oil fries
  72. Stuffed mini bell peppers (capsicum)
  73.  sliced peaches & cottage cheese
  74. Baba Ghanoush with vegetable sticks
  75. Ginger sesame Chicken wings
  76. Monkfish & sweet potato skewers
  77. Sweet potato & chocolate chip muffins
  78. Refilled sweet potatoes 
  79. Spicy nuts 
  80. Maple & cayenne roasted almonds
  81. Celery sticks and pesto 
  82. Spicy coconut king prawns
  83. Crunchy cashew fish sticks
  84. Indian Eggs 
  85. Kimchi
  86. Mini Paleo Pizza’s
  87. Sliced deli meat
  88. Chicken drumsticks
  89. Coconut Milk Kefir
  90. Plantain chips
  91. Roasted Chestnuts
  92. Cauliflower Popcorn – who needs that other stuff when you can make this?!
  93. Collard wraps – put your favourite veggies and leftover meat in a collard leaf and wrap!
  94. Coleslaw
  95. Prosciutto wrapped asparagus
  96. Pickled Gherkins
  97. A glass of (unsweetened)Almond Milk
  98. Prawns with Paleo Cocktail Sauce
  99. Carrot sticks with Paleo Hummus
  100. Strawberry & coconut ice cream
  101. Raw Chocolate Maple and Pecan Fudge

What's your go-to paleo snack? Share in the comments below!

Paleo or primal diet what's the difference-min

A Primal Diet, Or a Paleo Diet?

This way of eating, this lifestyle, is given so many names. You might follow a Paleo Diet or a Primal Diet – or perhaps you eat an Ancestral Diet or eat like a Caveman?

Does it matter what it’s called? And do the different terms even refer to the same way of eating?

Paleo Diet

The term “Paleo Diet” was coined by Loren Cordain and originally had a far less liberal stance on Saturated Fats. He has now updated his books on this and on the use of sweeteners, to the popular “Paleo Diet” followed by many today. Robb Wolf has also played a significant role in popularising the Paleo Diet as it is today.

As well as avoiding grains and legumes, Paleo also avoids dairy. In the Paleo community strict adherence to a Paleo diet is recommended for at least 30 days. After this period foods can slowly be re-introduced and any impact assessed to determine which foods have a detrimental effect and should be avoided in the future.

Primal Diet

The Primal BluePrint way of eating is from the book, written by Mark Sisson – and is much more than just nutrition. The plan places as much importance on movement, lifting heavy things, reducing stress, sleeping properly and getting some sunshine as it does on nutrition. Nutritionally Primal is very similar to Paleo in the avoidance of grains and legumes; dairy is where they differ. A Primal way of eating includes dairy – though it is recommended that it is raw dairy; from grass-fed Ruminants, un-pasturised and ideally fermented. Lacto-Paleo is another term used to describe eating a Paleo style diet, but with the inclusion of dairy.

The jury is still very much out on dairy. The growth hormones such as IGF-1 and the insulin response are behind the refusal of many, to include dairy in their diets. A lot of people find they don’t tolerate dairy well, which is reason enough to avoid it!

Paleo or primal diet what's the difference-min

Ancestral Diet

This term can apply to any form of Paleo, but I hear this term used more amongst the scientific/ research pockets of the community.

Caveman Diet

This is the term almost exclusively used by the mainstream media when talking about any type of eating that touches on Paleo. The term “Caveman Diet” is usually accompanied by photos of cavemen, Fred Flintstone or semi-naked people eating raw meat! When people talk about a Caveman Diet, they seem to assume it’s required to act like a caveman too and don’t realise it’s about science, not re-enacting cavemen! I would never refer to a Paleo or Primal way of eating in this way, but ultimately if it raises awareness amongst more people, I guess it doesn't matter what it’s called!

There are a lot of descriptions of ways of eating that have similarities to Paleo. I think a gluten-free diet could come close (though I think many people avoid gluten, but replace it with other undesirable refined grains and processed foods). The Atkins diet is also commonly assumed to be Paleo – and whilst there are similarities, it’s very possibly to follow Atkins eating nothing but junk food; not Paleo! A Weston A Price way of eating also has many similarities.

How do you describe how you eat? Do you avoid using labels like “the Paleo diet” or “the Primal diet”?

Living in a SAD Beige World colours of paleo

Living in a SAD Beige World

Whenever I watch the Biggest Loser and they show the former diet of the contestants, I'm always struck by the colours of the food. Almost everything they ate is beige, brown and anaemic yellow in colour, broken up with the black of the cokes they drank (usually diet, clearly that worked) and a few fluorescent coloured sweets and cakes.

Burger buns, bread, pizza, chips, fries, crisps, popcorn, pastries, cakes, biscuits, sugary milky coffee – it’s all virtually the same colour. It seems utterly depressing eating beige foods the entire time; it must start turn your World, well, beige after a while.

Paleo Primal v SAD Colours

Contrast that with a healthy Paleo or Primal diet where virtually every colour seems to be represented.  Certain colours are actually attributed to certain properties – for example the vibrant orange foods like Carrots and Capsicum provide Beta Carotene and dark green vegetables are rich in Vitamin K. It’s not just pretty, eating lots of different colours really is essential for a good nutrient intake.

How colourful is your diet? Could you live in a beige world?

The 10 Types of Paleo Followers-min

The 10 Types of Paleo Followers

Since I started eating this way and got more involved with the Paleo community, I can’t help but notice several distinct types of Paleo Followers.

 1.       The Ex Vegetarians and Ex Vegans

I am always amazed at how many people fall into this category. To go from a Vegan diet, with all of the legumes and grains that includes; and complete lack of animal products – to the complete opposite; eating all parts of many different animals from head-to-toe and no grains or legumes?

When you think about it further, it isn't really all that surprising. Vegans and Vegetarians tend to be health conscious and chose what, at the time, appeared to be the healthiest course of action. It can’t be easy to make such a radical transformation, particularly as being Vegetarian or Vegan almost becomes an identity.

The 10 Types of Paleo Followers-min

 2.       The “I Want a Bikini Body/ Get a Six Pack in 10 Days” Group

Most of these people don’t hang around for long. They are looking for a magic super food they can eat with their usual meals that will make the fat melt away. Overnight. Paleo sounds like a good option – you can’t argue with bacon and eggs for breakfast and the premise that calorie counting is not required. This falls down because Paleo isn't “a diet”, it’s a lifestyle to follow for the long haul. Without addressing the lifestyle factors like sleep, sunshine, stress and fitness, it’s not going to have the same benefits.

A minority of the weight loss entrants do realise there is more to this lifestyle than vanity. Health problems reduce or disappear, energy levels increase and they realise weight loss is just a positive side effect – the real reason for Paleo is health.

 3.        The Scientists

This is perhaps the most influential and loudest group. We all know who they are! Instead of focusing on common ground, this group like to create and resolve contentious issues. Paleo must follow prescribed macro nutrient ratios. Blood tests and specific supplements are essential. A Very Low Carb Ketogenic diet is optimal. Carbs are essential. Cold water immersion. Safe Starches. Food Reward. Fructose. As soon as one debate dies down, another rises.

I'm happy for them to argue these issues out in the background, so long as it doesn't distract from the 99% of common ground they all share. Meanwhile, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, experimenting and exploring which brand of Paleo works for me.

4.       The Antagonists

There are both Antagonists within the Paleo community and those Antagonists alone in their Paleo adventures.

The Antagonists within the community are vocal in their outlandish views – and aren't afraid to call out when they feel someone in the community is not right or just. Provocative yet fun – and essential in keeping those in the community accountable.

Others followers come to Paleo as Antagonists. These people positively enjoying riling their fat-fearing friends, by eating copious amounts of meat. Without cutting the fat off. Or pouring away the excess fat. When their concerned friends and family try to intervene and push margarine on the Antagonist, they will be among the first to challenge their friends to a six-pack-off.

 5.       The Covert Paleo

These are the sneaky converts. They've been watching and mocking you for months. They've shot down everything you've said about nutrition and were the first to tell you what a silly idea this Paleo nonsense is. But you've recently noticed you haven't seen them eating bread for a while – and their skin is looking clearer and brighter? That’s right – they've finally realised you were right all along, but feel a bit too sheepish to admit it to you. Best to invited them round for a hog roast and say no more about it.
The Paleo Recipe Book

 6.       The Athletes

They heard Paleo might increase their performance. Despite being sceptical about avoiding the pre-race pasta party they gave it a try – anything to get an advantage is worth a shot. Amazed at the improvements, the next step is minimalist footwear!

 7.       The Formerly Unwell

There is nothing like being sick to force a change. Many people go from doctor to doctor and drug to drug. The net effect is often side effects from the drugs – rather than improvement of symptoms. Fortunately many people reach a point where they take on the role of detective themselves and question the role of their nutrition and lifestyle in their health and stumble upon Paleo and become avid followers.

 8.       The Parents

They may have had no more than a passing interest in nutrition – until they became Parents. Suddenly the responsibility of another person and desire to be healthy to bring the child up spurs them to find out how they can eat and live to thrive as a family.

These are one of the most important groups, with the power to influence the next generation – and the burden of trying to influence the outdated views of the schools and other parents they need to interact with.

9.       The Wannabies

These people love the idea of an ancestral lifestyle and being part of the Paleo community. They’ve even done a Whole30. Apart from at Friday work drinks. And business trips. And family meals. And when they were in a rush to get to work. And when they forgot to go shopping that time.

“Cheats” creep up from rarely, to a daily occurrence. A small amount of good quality dark chocolate occasionally, becomes a daily indulgence in cheap junk chocolate.

They aren't Paleo anymore, but haven’t quite acknowledged it.

10.   Paleo Fanatic

They follow all the key Paleo blogs and are quick to jump in when a friend ponders whether to go for brown or white bread. They find themselves tutting when noticing strangers feeding their children with Neolithic junk and often have to hold themselves back from commenting.

Their bookshelf resembles a who’s who of Paleo authors and they are on first name terms with their local butcher, who knows to put aside chicken feet and heart. Their kitchen is the frequent location for experimental cooking and a scoby isn't a cartoon character.

Which Type of Paleo Follower Are You?

I confess, I was a 2, who was starting to become a 7 – but now I am most definitely a 10 working towards a 6…

Did I miss any groups? Which group do you fall into?

Weston A Price Foundation Conference New Zealand Australia Events Sally Fallon-min

Weston A Price v The Paleo Diet

I went across to Auckland, New Zealand at the weekend to hear Sally Fallon-Morell, of the Weston A. Price Foundation, speak.

As with the Melbourne Sugar lectures, the audience was full of people new to the concept that the government approved low-fat diet is not the right approach. It is great to see so many people interested in making changes to their diet and I find it encouraging how many people were in attendance.

I meet up with Julianne Taylor at the talk – and I also meet and spoke Paleo with Rodney Hide. There’s nothing like being able to have real-life conversations on your favourite topic, is there? After the talk Rodney introduced me to Sally, which having had her book Nourishing Traditions for such a long time, was a real privilege.

WAPF-Paleo-Weston A Price Sally Fallon-min

Whilst there are some important differences between the Paleo style diet that I follow and the WAPF diet, I think it’s more useful to focus on the similarities, of which there are many. Whilst I believe a Paleo style diet is the optimal nutrition plan, if anyone were to convert from a SAD diet to a WAPF plan, I think they would see tremendous health benefits. If they then went one small step further to a Paleo or Primal diet, I think they’d see even more health benefits.

There are a number of principles that are the essence of the nutrition recommended by the WAPF.

FIRST PRINCIPLE: No refined or denatured foods

So much SAD food is refined or modified in some way;  sugar, flour, industrial seed oils, HFCS and so many more. If people did just one thing differently, completely removing these products from their diet would surely be the most beneficial. On this point Paleo/ Primal and WAPF are in complete agreement.

SECOND PRINCIPLE: Every diet contained animal products

As with Paleo, the WAPF believe that a healthy diet needs to include animal products and an optimal diet can’t exclusively contain plant food. Organ meats were mentioned a lot in the talk as an important source of many nutrients.

THIRD PRINCIPLE: Nutrient Density

The primitive diets studies by Weston Price were far richer in nutrients than much of the food available today. Mineral content in soil is depleted so many produce just don’t have the same nutrient density. This is where selecting good quality food comes in. Organic, home grown and grass-fed all promote far better nutrient density than the same items produced from intensive farming. Again, this is completely in line with Paleo.

FOURTH PRINCIPLE: All cultures cooked some or most of their food; but always ate some of their animal foods raw.

Weston Price noted that whilst primitive cultures did cook animal products, they also all ate some raw. This came down to raw dairy, which, whilst I agree it is absolutely better than pasteurised dairy, I find a big grey area. The talk focused on comparing processed dairy to raw dairy – where clearly raw dairy is the winner. Excluding dairy wasn't discussed, which is the approach taken by a lot of the Paleo community, myself included.  My areas of concern with dairy are around the insulin response and the growth hormone IGF-1, which weren't mentioned at all during the talk. I’d like to come to a more definitive view point on dairy, so had hoped to hear compelling reasons why dairy should be included. As it stands, until I find more conclusive evidence, I'm still of the view that dairy is best excluded.

FIFTH PRINCIPLE: High Levels of Enzymes and Beneficial Bacteria

This focuses on foods that provide enzymes to promote good digestion & metabolic health. Whilst raw dairy is noted as a good source, the super-foods here seems to be lacto-fermented foods such as Sauerkraut. The take-away point for me here is on fermented foods – something I need to make a conscious effort to include in my diet far more.

SIXTH PRINCIPLE: Seeds, grains, legumes & nuts are soaked, sprouted, fermented or naturally leavened

This principle starts off in line with Paleo, observing how components such as anti-nutrients, phytates and lectins in grains are not desirable. Where Paleo excludes grains and legumes altogether, WAPF promotes preparing these foods to minimize the damage. As with the dairy issue, I didn't hear any compelling reasons why it is better to have grains in this form, than not at all. This is the main point on which Paleo/ Primal varies to the WAPF – whilst I’m certain people transitioning from a SAD diet to a WAPF would see significant improvements by preparing grains and legumes – I think their health would be far more optimal foregoing the grains and legumes altogether.

Weston-A-Price-Lecture-Paleo-Sally-Fallon-WAPF-New-Zealand-Auckland-680x450-min

SEVENTH PRINCIPLE: Total fat content of traditional diets varies from 30% to 80% of calories, but only about 4 of calories come from polyunsaturated fatty acids.

This is a key point on which Paleo and WAPF are in agreement. I would probably promote this as the key point, since it concerns the importance of saturated fat and the dangers of the industrial seed oils.

EIGHTH PRINCIPLE: Nearly Equal Amounts of Omega-6 and Omega-3 Fatty Acids

This is also essentially in line with Paleo, stressing the importance of maintaining a good Omega 6/ Omega 3 ratio. This comes down to making the right choices in choosing quality meat and avoiding seed oils.

NINTH PRINCIPLE: All diets contained some salt

I think this point is hard to accept for people transitioning from Conventional Wisdom, where we are told how dangerous salt it. Once the processed food is removed the natural levels of salt remaining are often very low, so supplementing with a good mineral salt is very beneficial.

TENTH PRINCIPLE: All traditional cultures made use of bones, usually as bone broth

Another point I need to work on, bone broths are such a great source of nutrients, easy and cheap to make and very satisfying.

ELEVENTH PRINCIPLE: Traditional cultures made provisions for future generations

This principle was very interesting and concerns issues such as optimal spacing of children, nutrition of pregnant and nursing women and teaching nutrition to the younger generations. This seems to be all too often ignored or not considered in modern society.

Paleo vs Weston A Price?

I learnt a lot from this talk and it was a great reminder that I need to make sure I make provisions to include more organ meat, fermented foods and bone broth in my diet. I plan to make sure I include these regularly.

Whilst I completely agree that prepared grains are far superior to their refined counterparts – and that raw dairy is far superior to pasteurised, I didn't hear anything to make me consider changing my anti-grains, legumes and dairy stance.

What do you think about the Weston A Price principles? Do you agree with their stance on dairy and grains?

24 Mistakes People Make on a Paleo Diet-min

24 Mistakes People Make on a Paleo Diet

Are you making any of these Paleo Diet Mistakes?

1. Increase Fruit Intake

When starting any “healthy eating” regime, so many people seem to make mistakes, like replace the junk food with endless fruit salads, fruit smoothies and snacks of whole fruit. Just because it’s natural, it doesn’t mean it’s a good choice. Fruit is very high in fructose, something that should be minimised to prevent inflammation, insulin response and ultimately conversion into fat storage.

2. Failing to Make Time to Get Organised

If you’re organised, eating healthily doesn’t have to take much time, but prior planning is essential. Being organised and having the ingredients you need at hand, meals planned and contingency plans in place for tricky situations (such as social events) is essential for success. If you find yourself hungry at a party you knew you were going to, you haven’t set yourself up to make the right food choices. I've just finished my first book, the Paleo Breakfast Recipe Book – the aim of this book is to make delicious Paleo Breakfast's possible and easy with a bit of organisation. I'd love to hear what you think of it!

24 Mistakes People Make on a Paleo Diet-min

 

3. Expect to Lose 20kg/ Gain an Athletic Body Composition in 7 Days

I read about a lot of people who are disappointed that they’ve been following a Paleo eating plan for a week and have not lost any weight/ changed their body composition yet. This isn’t “a diet” for short term cosmetic benefits – it’s a lifestyle you can follow for the rest of your life, leading to long-term health benefits. If you’re looking for a diet to get into your bikini in 4-days time (before returning to your previous way of eating and exercising), you’ve come to the wrong place!

4. Try to do Junk Food Paleo

It’s not realistic to expect to replace a junk food diet with paleo equivalents. Whilst you might be able to find packages food that are broadly Paleo these are no substitute for properly prepared foods – with good quality ingredients. There is a place for packaged “Paleo” foods, such as when on the road – but these times should make the exception, rather than the rule.

5. Keep Old SAD Foods in the Pantry

There might be hundreds of dollars worth of pasta, packet meals and bread-making ingredients in the pantry. It might seem wasteful to throw it away – but to really commit to a better way of eating, there is no place for this in your kitchen. Donate it or throw it away, but don’t “use it up” first, or hang on to it “just in case”. Commit. Get rid. Restock.

6. Overdoing Nuts

Nuts are Paleo, but they are calories too, lots of them. It’s all too easy to snack on a few too many nuts. Some nuts also don’t have favourable Omega 3/ Omega 6 ratios – another reason to go easy and limit the nuts to no more than a very small handful each day.

7. Being Scared of Fat

It’s probably not surprising, but after years of being told about the evils of fat, many people are scared of it. Despite reading and understanding the Paleo concepts, when it comes to eating, some people are still wary – and may cut the fat off meat, or cook in as little coconut oil as possible. I think it just takes time and reinforcement – make sure your diet contains adequate fat.

8. Ignoring Portion Control

Calories do matter. I read so many comments where people have been strictly Paleo, but are not losing (or are even putting on) weight. It’s not a correct assumption that you can eat whatever you like – certainly not when you are overweight.

9. Become Fixated with a Certain “Brand” of Paleo

There are lots of different ways of eating, within the Paleo spectrum. Some people may do very low carb for instance, and others may follow an auto-immune protocol. If it isn’t working, move on and try something new. To stick to a set prescription, which clearly isn’t working for you, makes no sense. Experiment. Find what works.

10. Let one Slip Ruin the Day/ Week/ Month

Sometimes things do go wrong. You ate something that wasn’t Paleo, by any stretch of the imagination. Instead of using this as an excuse to eat more SAD food, it is the perfect opportunity to start fresh and move on. There is nothing wrong with occasionally having non-Paleo food, providing it isn’t allowed to ruin the rest of your efforts.

11. It’s a Science not a Renactment

You hear people who start to question everything through Paleo lenses. Computers and modern medicine weren’t around in the Paleolithic era – so we shouldn’t use them? This may be true, but we have the benefit of modern science and research to combine with Paleo, to get the best possible results – it would be foolish not to take advantage.

12. Don’t Sleep Properly

Sleep is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle. I’d argue it’s actually the most important factor. Without sleep, you might be eating a perfect Paleo diet and have a great fitness regime, but you won’t be in the best possible health. Without adequate sleep your body mechanisms won’t function efficiently, you won’t recover properly from exercise – and you won’t deal with stress as well. Working out why you aren’t sleeping properly and taking steps to resolve it will work with your Paleo lifestyle to bring your health forward in leaps and bounds.

13. Trying to Make Things Fit

You know your morning skinny latte or daily glass of wine isn’t in the spirit of Paleo, but you try to make it fit (all those antioxidants must be Paleo, right?). If you have to justify it, you probably shouldn’t have it – at least not so often.

14. Avoid the Sun

There seem to be more studies every week showing us just how crucial Vitamin D is – yet so many people still avoid the sun and cover themselves in sunscreen at the mere mention of the word “sun”. Even in Australia, at the right time of day, for the right duration sun exposure is a good thing.

Paleo-Outdoors-Sunshine mistakes 680-min

15. Refuse to Cook

Not cooking seriously limits eating choices and will makes it so much harder to eat well. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming – it can actually be relaxing, fast and very rewarding.

16. Turn a Blind Eye to Social Occasions and Restaurants

It’s all too easy to let a few poor choices slip in when eating out socially – but these can really add up. With steps such as finding out the food options in advance and not going out hungry, you can make good choices and minimise the damage. If it’s too hard to eat differently to everyone else, perhaps arranging social events that aren’t food based – or offering to cook for friends will be a better alternative.

17. Obsessing on a Weekly Cheat

Paleo should not be boring or restrictive – if it is, you need to introduce more variety and try new recipes. When a planned weekly cheat becomes the focus of your week, it’s time to address what isn’t working and fix it. With a varied Paleo diet thoughts of SAD food should be very few and far between.

18. Don’t Move

Fitness is an important part of a Paleo lifestyle. Whilst nutrition is a huge part, the importance of being active and lifting heavy things once in a while should not be ignored. Paleo doesn’t begin & end with food  tweet this quote

19. Don’t Take Measurements

When you feel well, it’s hard to remember how you felt before. If you have blood tests and take a note of your measurements and how you feel every few months, it will be obvious how well Paleo is working for you and what you can improve on.

20. Listen to Conventional Wisdom

Following Conventional Wisdom often isn’t very compatible with a Paleo diet and could get very confusing. Once you decide to stick to Paleo, it’s helpful to filter out many of the health stories in mainstream media, or just read them for entertainment value.

21. Fail to Read and Research

Those who stick to a healthy lifestyle seem to be those who understand the impact it has on their health. The more you read and research, the more you can tweek your lifestyle and improve your health. Following a lifestyle based on someone else’s example, without an understanding of the principles, will be very hard to stick to and follow properly.

22. Don’t Tell Others

In any change, it’s really important to have support. Family and friends will (hopefully) accommodate your nutritional wishes and may even follow your example. If you’re finding it difficult, having a support network is invaluable. Finding others following Paleo is great way of building a support network of people going through the same as you.

23. Not Persevering

Changing diet can be hard. Carb flu is a distinct possibility when moving from a SAD diet, to a Paleo diet. It might feel all too easy to give up at this point – when in reality a bit of perseverance will see this stage end and everything will get easier. Sticking with it, however hard it feels, however many mistakes you make, will be so worthwhile.

24. Hanging onto an Old Favourite

Diet Coke immediately springs to mind as something people often struggle to give up. Products like this seem extremely addictive, but certainly aren’t working with your Paleo nutrition towards your health goals. Whether it’s changing routine, finding an alternative – or going cold turkey, it’s time to let go.

What mistakes would you add to the list?

Paleo Elevator Pitch-min

Paleo Elevator Pitch

An Elevator Pitch is a very brief summary, which describes something briefly and with few words.

When people ask me what Paleo is and why I eat the way I do, I could talk for hours – it's hard to summarise something I'm so passionate about in just a few sentences.  But that's precisely what I challenged myself to do in this video – this is my Paleo Elevator Pitch!

I'd love to see your video responses on YouTube – and what your Paleo Elevator Pitch would be in the comments below….

Paleo Elevator Pitch-min

PrimalCon

7,497 Miles to PrimalCon

One of the highlights of 2011 so far was the weekend I went to PrimalCon 2011 in California in April.  I enjoyed it so much, that I booked my ticket for the 2012 event as soon as the tickets went on sale this morning.

Sunset at PrimalCon-min

Sunset at PrimalCon

I hadn't realised quite how far America was from Australia when I booked this year.  I went at quite short notice and used my air miles, so didn't pay too much attention to minor details like flight times.  I was trying to minimise time off work, so I left Australia on the Friday and flew back on the Sunday night.  This was a big mistake!  I now know very well that Los Angeles is a very long 14 hour 7,497 mile flight from Sydney.  To make matters worse, as I used my air miles, I was assigned a very impressive route of Sydney to Brisbane, a night in Brisbane, a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne, then finally I got on my international flight at Melbourne!

It was all for the best however, as I met a wonderful new friend on the flight to LA, who was also attending PrimalCon (with just two people going from Australia, what were the chances of us being on the same flight?)

I'm planning to make PrimalCon 2012 into a much more sensible length America trip, especially as it falls the weekend after Easter.

I made some lifelong Primal friends in April, in fact, I spent a wonderful week in Texas with two of my PrimalCon friends, and met up with some others at the AHS in August.  I'm really looking forward to catching up with them and making some more Primal friends.

Over the whole weekend, the food was incredible.  So much was local Californian produce and it was great to have things like Kale and Turkey, which I find so difficult to find here in Australia (if you know of any good sources here, please let me know in the comments!)

One of my highlights from the weekend was the running workshop with Barefoot Ted.   I learnt so much from him and my running style has changed forever.  In fact, it was his workshop that inspired me to buy my Vibrams!  I'm thrilled to see Barefoot Ted is back again for next year’s event – hopefully I can refine my technique further still.
Barefoot-Ted-PrimalCon-Paleo-Network-min

Erwan Le Corre is a new presenter for the 2012 event.  I really enjoyed his talk and demonstration on MovNat at the AHS this year, and to have the opportunity to have a small group workshop with the guy who does this is incredibly exciting!

I just received my latest Amazon book order of Exuberant Animal by Frank Forencich yesterday – so couldn't believe it when I read Frank Forencich is also a presenter at PrimalCon!  I’d better get started on his book…

Hopefully we'll be able to get Mark Sisson over to Australia/ New Zealand in the near future, but in the meantime…  anyone else coming to PrimalCon with me?