Hi friends,

As many of you know, during the month of April, I did a 30-day run with the paleo diet. You can find my posts about it here and here. Towards the end of the month, things got crazy with running my first half-marathon and starting on final projects for class so I wasn’t able to update about the last few weeks. Since finishing my 30-day challenge, I have continued trying to eat paleo, though it has been difficult with trying to get in meals with friends before leaving LA and traveling. Now that the dust is settled a bit, I’m hoping to do better with sticking to a paleo diet. I thought I’d take this post to talk about what I think are some of the pros, cons, and interesting points to note about paleo eating. I’ll also include some information resources at the end along with some of the paleo blogs that have been my saving grace since embarking on this new journey. The photos are just to jazz things up and give you guys some examples of what it looks like to eat paleo. Some of the dishes are homemade while others are paleo-ish dishes that I’ve had while eating out at various restaurants.

1. Pro: You Feel Good

So obviously, the reason that people do paleo, despite its challenges is because it makes you feel good. Once my body adjusted to paleo, I definitely felt like I had more energy throughout the day and felt lighter in general. I didn’t have the post-meal slump that many of us experience and I had to get comfortable with being satiated without hitting that wall of lethargy.

2. Con: Expensive

Yes, paleo makes your body feel awesome but it tends to have the opposite effect on your wallet. While paleo’s emphasis on animal protein already drives up the grocery bills for those of us who were not previously huge meat-eaters, the quality of the meat that the diet calls for further heightens the bill. I love the idea of eating the meat of animals who were treated and fed properly but this is certainly a luxury. Having spent a fair amount of time at the whole food meat counter, I know how quickly these products add up. In addition to the meat, staple paleo ingredients such as coconut oil, nuts, and nut butters aren’t cheap either. And the local, farmer’s market fruits and veggies also add up pretty quickly. This is probably, the biggest con of the diet for me. Having grown up in a working class household (and being back in that household as we speak), it is very evident to me that eating paleo is not possible for most working class families. Reading the labels on some of the products as local discount grocery store, the same products that my parents buy and that I was raised on, I’m appalled by the ingredients that low-income communities are, in many ways, forced to consume. It really underscores how classed health is in society, which is an important, yet upsetting, reality to face.

(Big-O-Bacon burger from the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook on top of a sweet potato pancake and topped with fresh avocado, onions, and tomatoes)

3. Pro: Useful Guiding Principles

While high quality/ high priced paleo foods are not accessible to everyone, I do think that the diet offers a great set of principles that can help lead anyone to a healthier diet, even if it’s not paleo. To do paleo properly, you have to become a complete nutritional/ingredient label whore. Its not uncommon for me to throw all of my bags on the floor in a particular aisle in Trader Joe’s so that I can comfortable scan the labels of pre-made paste sauces or canned goods. (I usually go at off-peak shopping hours for this very reason). While it’s a little obnoxious at first, it’s nice to take some control over the things that I’m putting in my body. Furthermore, scrutinizing labels also requires you to have some knowledge of the ingredients that are and are not good for your body. While part of this is a matter of readings, part of it is simply, or not so simply, knowing your body. This is one of the great things about paleo. While there are guidelines that some people follow super strictly, the actual idea behind the diet is that you shouldn’t be eating things that irritate your body. Many of us ignore the signs that our bodies give us about certain food products, taking them as “normal.” Paleo pushes you to be in tune with your body, allowing you to identify the things that it doesn’t like and eliminate them from your diet.

4: Con: Practicality

So while one downfall of eating paleo is the amount of money that it requires, another is the amount of time. So you go to Whole Foods. You stock up on grass-fed beef, wild caught fish, and locally produced vegetable and then what? You need to find time to actually prepare it. For those of us who are content eating grilled chicken and asparagus everyday, this might be no biggie. For those of us who enjoy food and seek interesting flavors and variety, it can be challenges to find the time to dedicate. Because most pre-made products are not pale-friendly, so much has to be made from scratch. This means more ingredients/money and more time. Being on fellowship last year, it wasn’t super difficult for me to eat paleo because I already spent a lot of time to the kitchen before starting the diet. Next year, when I’m TAing and taking on other responsibilities, I’m a little worried that I’ll struggle to stay paleo while staying fed, sane, and happy. We’ll see how it goes.

(Salmon cakes on top of salad of spinach and sun dried tomatoes)

Information Resources:

These sites were great for me when I first began thinking about giving paleo a try.

The Ultimate Paleo Guide – self-explanatory. Great lists of what is and is not paleo.

Fitness Nerd: Beginner’s Guide to Paleo

 

(So this is probably the best recipe that I’ve tried recently. Crispy Smashed Chicken topped with homemade roja asada salsa (both from Nom Nom Paleo) with a side of delicious baked plantain chips. I mean, if you can eat things like this, paleo can’t possibly be that bad.)

 

Nomtastic Paleo Blogs:

Lexi’s Clean Kitchen – I’m sure you guys have seen me pimp this blog before. It’s great. It actually contributed a lot to my desire to try paleo. Lexi’s recipes, with their simple ingredients and instructions, are super accessible and makes living the paleo life no biggie.

Nom Nom Paleo – This is my most recent blog obsession. Recipes range from super simple side dishes such as balsamic roasted beets to more complex dishes like. This blog is also really fun to read because Michelle’s personality just jumps off the screen. I also own her book, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans, and it’s great!

PaleOMG – Just an all around great site for paleo recipes and fitness inspiration.

Against All Grain – Great resource for anyone with gluten sensitivity. I also own Danielle’s cookbook. Was the first paleo cookbook that  purchased and it’s been extremely helpful in helping me transition.

(Homemade paleo graham crackers from Against All Grains. I actually had to stop making these because I would eat the ENTIRE batch in a matter of hours. Yeah, they’re healthy but I still need to practice self-control. :P)

 

Summer Paleo Reads: These are some of the books about the paleo diet that are on my list to read this summer.

Grain Belly

Against All Grain (Primarily a cookbook but there is some great information at the beginning that I would like to actually sit and read through)

 Eat the Yolks

Primal Blueprint – So the primal diet is a bit different from paleo but they are in the same caveman-no-eat-grains vein. This book was actually written by Mark Sisson, a Williams Alum (gotta show Eph love). I’m signed up on his website and it’s a great resource. I’m interested to read more of what my buddy Mark has to say.

((Amazingly delicious) pork blade from The Purple Pig. If you’re a Chicagoan or ever visiting the city, I highly recommend this place. I will certainly be back before heading back to LA.)

I’m certainly no expert on paleo but I would love to answer any questions that you have about my experience in the comments. Hope this is helpful for any of you guys out there looking to get into it.

 

Sabrina