It’s day 2 and I’m already regretting this decision. What’s a girl supposed to grab for breakfast as she runs out the door at 6:30am? I settled for an orange, but let me tell you, that’s seriously not going to hold me until lunch-time. I actually had to come back home in between jobs to get Fletch to make me some eggs! Feed me!
I probably should have thought this through a little more before I dove into something that involves cutting out half of the food groups…All I can say is, it’s a darn good thing I’ve already curbed my caffeine addiction, because coffee is definitely NOT allowed. What on earth did cavemen do without their morning java?
So, in an effort to make tomorrow morning a little smoother I decided to do a little research on the Google Machine.
I’m not feeling any relief. Mostly I’m just confused. I was looking on this website, that has meal plans for following the Paleo Diet. The first recipe was for pumpkin muffins using almond flour. This doesn’t make any sense to me. How can I use almond flour, but not wheat flour? Doesn’t it still involve the same amount of processing? And baked goods…really? I mean….I’m game, but it doesn’t really seem realistic.
The next article I read is here, about a couple who lives on a modified Paleo diet. Now, no criticisms for them, because it sounds like they’re being pretty realistic about the whole thing, but still, how is tofu OK?
The more I look into this diet, the more I’m seeing the resemblance to a gluten-free, lactose-free diet. Now, that’s fine, alternatives are sort of expected when you are specifically avoiding lactose and gluten. But, how are they OK when I’m being a Cave Man? How am I supposed to believe that I’ve developed the ability to refine almonds into flour and milk, but I haven’t figured out how to domesticate animals or grow food?
Maybe I’m getting too nit-picky about this. Has anyone ever tried this diet? What did you eat? Help me!
From what I know about the Paleo diet, and I would have to keep researching this to be sure, baked goods are simply not allowed whether made with almond flour or not. The idea is that you are eating things that were around before agriculture made it available to you. Pretty sure Homo Erectus didn’t hang around grinding almonds to make muffins.
The great thing about the Paleo diet is that it is made for meat lovers. Breakfast can be all protein, all the time. Have some eggs, bacon and sausage. I would recommend making mini-omelettes in muffin tins. You can reheat them in the morning before work in the microwave.
I’ll keep looking and report back!
A good friend of mine (age : 40) has been following a tailored version of the Paleo diet for about a year and a half, mostly out of desire to keep off the middle-aged weight that gradually appears as the metabolism slows down. His diet mostly consists of non-red meats (soft white fish for breakfast, “meatier” fish or chicken for lunch, game meat for dinner), lots of vegetables stir-fried in coconut oil, salads, miso soup, whole avocados. He had cut dairy for the first month and finds he has no trouble digesting it now. He says cutting sugar and grains has given him tons of energy. From my perspective, since this diet is not easily comprehensible from archaeological point of view, every person must decide on what feels right for them and what suits their lifestyle best – not everyone has the luxury of being able to cook their own meals three times a day.