I do get asked often, sometimes by my kids at gym, other times by people who discover that I have lost 60lbs how I did it. Once I explain it is the paleo approach to eating they most often have one question… What about my sweet tooth? For me, it was best to wean off my sweet tooth with plenty of fruit at the start. I found that eating lots of fruits gave me plenty of satisfaction sweet wise and was still keeping me off the grains. As time went on, I ate less fruit and more vegetables to keep my fruit intake down to about 5 or 6 pieces a day. To some, that may seem excessive, but at my size, things are a little different. I found I was able to lose lots of weight and keep it off while waiting for my body to get over the years of insulin abuse I had put it through. Nowadays I am still eating 5 or 6 pieces of fruit a day but I also have berries, mix in lots of veggies with my meat and drink a ton of water. I am still craving free and although I have had challenges with portion size it usually comes down to the fact that I am low on veggie or fruit volume and too high on protein volume. Adding a couple of fruit snacks during the day usually puts me right back on track.
Paleo can be tough to start out, but I think for me the key was lots of fruit and enjoying the ability to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every day and not feel guilty. In fact, I have probably had bacon and eggs for breakfast 80% of the time over the past year and I love it!
My only warnings on the paleo diet are this:
1. Watch the nuts. There are MASSIVE amounts of calories in nuts. Make sure you measure and know exactly what you are eating. You can scarf 1000 calories of nuts in 2 big handfuls.
2. Beware of drinking calories, they usually aren’t worth it. Just like condiments, they can be full of hidden sugars.
3. In the beginning, drink as much water as humanly possible, the extra protein requires more water to assist in digestion, besides, water is the best thing you can do for your body.
4. Learn what you can about Paleo. People will challenge you, vegetarians will become openly hostile and your family may throw words like “Atkins” and “Low Carb” at you in an attempt to dissuade you. Just remember, eat like a predator, not prey. If it has one ingredient, eat it.
Mark’s Daily Apple sweet snacks