Becoming a Caveperson
This is an expanded comment of mine on a reader email post at “Free The Animal“
Transitioning to a Primal or Paleo diet can be a little rough for some people. Especially if their current diet if high in grains, refined grains, processed sugars, juices, phony sugars etc… You get the point.
Here are a few tips I have for the new convert who may be having a fairly rough time at the start.
Advice 1:
If you’re switching to eating this way to lose weight… throw the SCALE IN THE nearest DUMPSTER and use a friends every once in a while.
If you’re resistance training (you should be) you probably won’t see the scale move much. You’ll be losing fat but gaining muscle. Scales are stupid.
Advice 2:Don’t eat a lot of fruit while eating a lot of fat on high fat diet like paleo diet.
Fruit = sugar. It’ll transport that fat right to your ass or gut. It will also keep your sweet tooth sticking around. Fruit should be considered a SNACK or dessert not a meal. Use in moderation!
Advice 3:
Natural sweeteners – Honey, Agave, Xylitol, Stevia or any other sweetener…. The faster you COMPLETELY eliminate them the less time your transition will take.
Fake sweeteners – Splenda, Nutrasweet or any other name they go by…. DON’T USE THEM AT ALL unless you are trying to kill yourself.
Advice 4:
Use spices for flavor.Hot pepper (cayenne) brings things to life. Others like sage, cumin, Italian seasoning, parsley, little sea salt will go a long ways to make things taste yummy.
Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice, Pumpkin Pie Spice & Cacao powder are good ones for deserts. Sprinkle on apple slices etc… Cinnamon and cloves are rumored to be good for blood sugars. Cacao or unprocessed (none alkali/Dutch) cocoa are a great source of antioxidants.
Stay away from the premixed combo spices (think Mrs. Dash) or look at the label. They are often full of fillers, soy, nitrates, phony sugars, etc… Lots of junk you don’t want.
Advice 5:
Herbal teas, Apple cider vinegar, PURE lemon or lime juice (or combos of all is these) mixed with water make great zero calorie drinks. Get a few BPA free water bottles or use old glass apple cider vinegar (ACV) bottles and take them to work.
For a warm drink. Peppermint tea with a tablespoon of coconut oil and cocoa/cacao power is fantastic!
Advice 6:If it came in any kind of package DO NOT EAT IT! Even if you think it’s one ingredient it’s probably not. Look at the label if you must buy something in a bag.
Advice 7:Keep your food simple for a while. Don’t get all carried away with baking “paleo” treats. These are just frankenfoods in disguise.
Muffins, cookies, cakes, pies and all that stuff is what make you sick and fat in the first place. QUIT TRYING TO KEEP EATING THEM. Just changing the ingredients doesn’t make them that much better. They’re still too easy to overeat. Save them for entertaining others in a more healthful way.
Advice 8:
Diet soda and chewin gum. Just don’t do it.
For me it was chewing gum. I just couldn’t let it go. I had to constantly have something chewing in my mouth. The sugar alcohols in the gum were just enough to keep me craving sugar all the time. These days I do more liquids (see above) and homemade jerky.
If you have to have your soda… try drinking sparking water ($0.99 for 2 liters) with a bit of lemon or lime juice. You’ll get the fizz and some flavor without the sugar flavor and chemicals to keep you wanting other sweet things.
Advice 9:
Donate all your old non-paleo food to the hungry.
It’s that time of year again. Just do it! Too much temptation having it around for a while. You wont want to eat it later anyway. Trust me, the ingredient list will disgust you in 3 months.
Advice 10:
Stick it out for AT LEAST 3 months. They’ll be tough but VERY worth it. This is not a “diet”. It’s a lifestyle change!
If you stick it out to 6 months you will never even consider eating a differently again. You will feel like a well oiled machine and all your old ailments will probably be complete history.
Food for thought
Look at it this way… you spent DECADES messing up your body! You can handle a few months bringing it back. If you can’t… well, you deserve to feel like crap and I guess you just aren’t bad enough yet.
It won’t take long to heal yourself and you can get to living life like you should have been all this time.
Nice post!
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Great post. I posted this on Facebook. Hopefully you get more hits and twitter followers too.
-MDW
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@MDW – Thanks man. Glad you liked it!
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Hey about the “paleo treats” : “They’re still too easy to overeat. Save them for entertaining others in a more healthful way.”
I like it, the new page also looks good! have a nice day!
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@thania1
Yes they are easy to overeat and the calories & carbs still add up.
Once I stopped baking “paleo treats” on a regular basis (and using them for snacks), things got a whole lot easier. I could probably go back to eating them with control, but why? I’m happy with my delicious boring meat and vegetables
Thanks!
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Nice post! Although I have committed to making the pumpkin pie for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner (nut flour & stevia used in the concoction), I suppose it could be worse. I’m pretty sure the Native Americans brought not pie but venison to that party. Silly food marketers.
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@Meeses
I’m sure it’ll be mostly non-primals eating that pie, so you’re doing them favor
I’m dieting right through Thanksgiving on The 6WC So it will be a medium sized portion of dark turkey, some salad and Kombucha for me.
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I’ve been Paleo for about 2 years now. Fixed everything (high bp, high blood sugar and that extra 30 lbs I was carrying around) except my joints. Shoulders, elbows and L knee still just kill me sometimes. I’m going to try prolotherapy.
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@Dave – Much to my surprise, my arthritic wrists, bad knees and bum shoulder showed improvements (almost like new) after I shifted my diet away from Vegetables & fruit and more towards QUALITY meat & fat.
Other things I’ve noticed to help: Fasting, when I drink more ACV, and staying away from nightshades (lots of tomatoes specifically).
Cod liver oil made a big difference too. I started that back before primal. I recently upped my dose to 3Tbsp a day since I’m starting to Tri train again.
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[...] Having trouble transitioning to a Primal Diet? [...]
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Grok,
Love your website! Glad to see someone still hunting out there. Whitetail season is the one thing that usually brings be back home every year. Question? Most of your transition info pertains to those wanting to “lose” weight. I’m trying to gain some back. I’m down about 20 lbs from what I would consider average weight for me. Any suggestions on calorie rich Paleo meals or best type of fat intake. Without my sweet potatoes, brown rice, wheat bread, pasta and milk I’m wasting away! It’s the end of week 2 for me and I def. need soem advice!
Thanks,
Jeremy
http://rawpaleoliving.blogspot.com/
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@Jeremy, weight gain has always been ultra easy for me, but I have a huge appetite.
1.) Eat more
2.) Why did you ditch the sweet potatoes? They’re perfectly ok and primal despite what anyone says; unless you’re trying to lose (which you’re not).
3.) Add dairy for an easy way to boost calories. Heavy cream, sour cream, fatty cheeses, butter. Generously add it to everything.
4.) Drink RAW milk. As much as you can afford.
5.) Upping fruit will put weight on you, but I can’t really recommend it.
Slightly less on a primal diet, but calories do matter!
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Grok,
Thanks for the tips.
I used to live off milk and ate plenty of sweet potatoes. I learned a long time ago that dairy, meat and certain other foods would help my gain weight very quickly.
My goal with this transition is to follow as close as I can the foods recommended by the Paleodiet. I understand your desire to continue with dairy consumption. It tastes great! and it’s packed with plenty of calories and protein.
Humans are the only species that still drink baby milk through to adult-hood. (And we drink another species milk) Raw milk may be better than pasteurized, but our ancestors had no access to either one until the age of farming.
Here’s a great list of Paleo foods: http://altmed.creighton.edu/paleodiet/Foodlist.html
Again, thanks for the tips. I had never heard of Chia seeds for consumption before your site. I have some coming in the mail tomorrow. Can’t wait to try them out!
Take care,
J
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@Jeremy
“Humans are the only species that still drink baby milk through to adult-hood.”
I’ve always thought this was a lame argument. The only reason other species don’t continue drinking milk, is because Momma forces them off her tits. Then she dries up.
“Raw milk may be better than pasteurized”
They don’t even compare. As far as I’m concerned, pasteurized milk is not even food. It’s a food product. No different than sugary cereal.
There is absolutely nothing un-paleo about sweet potatoes. Eat them.
“We advocate that Paleo Athletes obtain their carbs from non-grain sources such as yams, sweet potatoes, fruits, fresh fruit juices, dried fruit and vegetables.” ~ Professor Cordain
Even hard core paleos know milk is the way you add beef. They use it to make their gains, whether you hear about it or not. Do bodybuilders admit to using roids? Ever seen the bodies of a hunter gatherers? They’re not a beefy bunch
P.S. I thought I had lactose intolerance. I went no dairy for a while until I found out it was only pasteurized that gave me problems.
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