Paleo: my take and my favorite resources.

Warning: no cute kid pictures in this post. Sorry! If I can snap a picture of them eating something decidedly paleo, I'll do that soon. Ooh, bacon...anyway, a serious, if quickly written, post about me and what I've been up to.

In August I went for a full Paleo diet. I was shocked at my sudden and rapid weight loss, with no hunger and no loss of muscle definition. But except for a private online group, I haven't talked much about it. Now that I'm down to a size 4, I'm starting to get some questions from folks who see [what's left of] me in real life.

"Paleo" is nominally a paleolithic diet and lifestyle. The idea here? That we are genetically the same as our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and our bodies have evolved for that sort of diet and environment. Now I'm not going to give up my warm house and my grocery store. But I did give up grains, dairy, and legumes. Also I gave up refined sugars, sticking to only some fruit and a tiny amount of honey. Some folks are able to happily sip their red wine and nibble their dark chocolate; right now those things both make me feel bad, so I don't. (That started long before I went paleo.) The same with a little high-fat dairy; once I gave up grains, I could tell that dairy was causing me to be bloated and cranky. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since Marcus is full-on allergic to dairy.

Do I feel deprived? Hell no. I feel awesome. I eat as much as I want, and it feels like too much food. And still the weight falls right off. Well, I'm down to about a pound a week lost now, so not falling as fast. And I had barely been exercising at all. I just ramped up a bit and I'm feeling even better.

Here are some of my favorite resources. You want writing quality, you aren't going to get it here, so go there.

My favorite paleo book: The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. I identify most with his philosophy; also this book is silly and entertaining. Plus he's a major science geek with a compelling personal story. He also has a website with a blog and podcasts.

Second favorite book: The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. Mark Sisson's philosophy is more relaxed. Mark also has an excellent blog, called Mark's Daily Apple. A very helpful mom in my homeschool group emailed me a link to MDA, and it's Mark's gentle wisdom that convinced me to give it a try.

Avoid at all costs: The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. He makes paleo eating into a joyless affair, utterly free of bacon or any other fatty meat for that matter. Then he adds in cheat meals where you can eat whatever you want. It's ridiculous.

A decent practical book: Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso. It's good for practical recipes and how-to guides for when you have a family and a life to live.  Her Marvelous Meatballs have saved me on swim class days.

Cookbooks:
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook. It has lots of practical recipes, such as how to cook basic cuts of meat. Also primal versions of ketchup, mayonnaise, etc. I used it a LOT when I had it from the library. I should probably buy it, but it has no index and that drives me crazy.

Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals. I do own this one (it has an index), and I need to use it more. But I find myself instead being drawn to the very beautiful...

Paleo Comfort foods. This book is amazing, and I feel inspired whenever I open it. I found a great pork chop recipe; how to make your own sausage patties from ground pork (super easy); even oven fish sticks I still need to try. However, it only has an ingredient index, not one with the recipe titles included. Very frustrating when it's 6am and I want to make some sausage patties already.

My favorite podcast: I have discovered that if I listen to paleo podcasts, I can fold quite a bit of laundry, wash quite a few dishes, or fill the crockpot with tastiness without getting bored and distracted. (Audiobooks don't do this for me.) I have a few that I like, but my favorite is Latest in Paleo. In the beginning of every show, Angelo Coppola says, "Human beings are not broken by default." It's something we all need to hear from time to time. I definitely feel less broken now.

I did find one picture of a smoothie I made today. It came out so thick it was like pudding. And the kids and I ate it with a spoon.  Coconut milk, banana, avocado, blueberries.  Amazing stuff. 

Yum!

Okay, back to kid pictures.

Update:  I did a second resources post, and you can find it here.