I am intrigued by the Paleo craze, especially as I seek to shed the last 15 lbs of baby weight. However, there is no way that I could (happily) complete the Whole 30 given our home and social life. I'm interested in the 80/20 idea and would love to hear from bees who have loosely adopted Paleo but maintain a normal social life allowing for dinners out, at friend's houses, etc. How did you start and maintain the change? Any advice for getting started?
-
No suggestions, just commiserating.
The plan is start the Whole 30 on November 1, and I don't see how it's feasable since we have a baby shower, 2 weddings, and 2 Thanksgiving dinners in that time frame.
-
@shinymama: Yikes, a Paleo Thanksgiving? I could never!!
-
That's pretty much what I do. I eat paleo meals when I can control them (okay, Primal, cuz i like me some greek yogurt) but I don't stress when we go out to eat or someone's house.
-
My husband is extremely into crossfit which introduced him to paleo. He's been trying to do the paleo on and off for a long time but he's hard a hard time getting me on board. I just don't agree/like the idea of giving up food groups. Before I said it was because I was trying to get pregnant.. then it was because I was pregnant.. now it's because I'm breastfeeding. I have come around to the idea a lot more lately.. ( case in point... I made 'spaghetti and meat sauce the other night.. and made spaghetti squash instead of real spaghetti ) I also made 'potato soup' but used cauliflower instead ( it was actually pretty yummy )
However, after reading the bloggers post about the Whole30.. I kind of want to try it with a little more effort for myself.. especially after how easy she made it seem.. with pre-steaming the veggies and the nom nom website with all the foods.
Going to restaurants my husband still manages to eat pretty much Paleo, you can kind of seem to find options that will fit the criteria. It's the hardest when you go to friends because he doesn't want to see rude by saying he doesn't eat certain things. So he allows himself to 'cheat' when he has too, but just doesn't over do it.
Give it a try and see how it goes! The thing is with it being such a big thing right now, there's tons and tons of recipes that are adapted to make it 'paleo friendly' so you don't realllly feel like you're missing out a ton. Good luck if you do give it a go
-
meeeeeeeee! i'm not 100% on the wagon right now, but when i am, i just moderately follow the paleo rules.
i usually allow myself 1 or 2 "cheat" meals a week... or i substitute with a treat (sbux latte, etc.) instead for my nonpaleo for the week.
i also am not strict about grass-fed meats or seasoning. i do stick to olive oil & salt/pepper as my main seasonings tho.
i lost all my pregnancy weight (~40 lbs) by 6 months? i think. and have maintained/lost a couple more here and there (fluctuates) largely due to this way of eating. i have yet to be able to make working out a daily/weekly thing in my life right now.
even when i'm not gungho 80/20 paleo, i shy away from processed foods/breads/most dairy/etc. and it's made my stomach feel so much better after eating!
-
This is what I do. I've completed a variety of 30 day paleo challenges (no whole 30 though) but in general when I am on the wagon I'm about 80% compliant.
A very doable approach for me was to eat Paleo when I was cooking, or when eating alone (i.e. picking where to get my lunch or something), picking the best option when out to eat somewhere with a group, and not worrying about it when someone else cooked for me in their home. I also eat rice regularly and dairy occasionally.
Before I got pregnant I was in the best shape of my life eating a diet like I described and going to crossfit 4x a week. If you're interested I would encourage you to just give it a shot - try a few meals a week or something and see how it goes.
-
that's what i plan to do after the whole30! i think there are things that are easier to avoid, like bread, rice, and dairy... but i'm not going to worry if there are bread crumbs on my chicken or something like that. i think this is a healthful, doable approach!
-
Give it a shot, it isn't bad! The nice thing too is that you get to try really interesting things with food that you might not have otherwise. I made cauliflower 'tortillas' for fish tacos the other day and thought they were delicious. Different, but delicious.
-
@shinymama: @maybebaby: We started Whole30 today, but we have a couple days that we are traveling. We're just going to do the best we can those days. After we finish Whole30, if we are pleased with how we feel on it, we'll probably do "sometimes paleo." I don't see us being 100%, but I think it would work fine to mainly eat Paleo but not be super rigid about it.
-
That's me. I did paleo all of last summer and it did help me lose weight and get rid of thrush, my doctor was actually the one who suggested it! It really helps that my family is 90% paleo as well ALL the time - so all of our birthdays and holidays involve sweets made only with "natural sweeteners" and no gluten, pretty much ever. My sister has celiacs so gluten makes her really sick anyway. SO in that way - events are easy for me! They're probably healthier than I eat at home, ha.
I have found that I haven't had to give up as much as I thought - there are ways to make variations of my favorite foods with a little creativity and adaptability. I feel better about myself and what I feed my family when I eat this way!
I want to focus more on produce anyway - that's the most important thing - and avoid sugar and carbs mainly.
It starts small though - don't delve into it 100% or you might fail and then get upset - which has happened to me. Instead focus on one change at a time, if you want it to be a life change rather than a momentary diet.
-
@plantains: I need that recipe. I'm a New Mexico girl living in Texas and I just must have some kind of tortilla-like product.
-
We did a month of fairly strict paleo (1 cheat meal a week) to kick start things, and now we do about 80/20 paleo/other.
-
I've been doing paleo for 3 years and some times I'm more "strict" than others. Since I'm feeding an 8 month old that barely eats solids at the moment I'm just eating everything in sight. I can't wait to get back to eating more cleanly. I really feel much better when I do.
Honestly, I couldn't have started with 80/20. I had to go all in at the beginning. If I had done 80/20 I wouldn't know how good it feels, how the weight drops off, and how clear my skin can be. That knowledge keeps me at 80/20 on a regular basis and pulls me back to Whole 30 a couple times a year.
-
@Mrs. Blue: here you go!
http://slimpalate.com/cauliflower-tortillas-paleo-grain-free-gluten-free/
tehy are a little thicker than regular tortillas and not as flexible but I liked them a lot!
-
I give a lot of props to people who can happily stay on the strict Whole 30 but I think the approach I took with my trainer/nutritionist prior to my wedding was great and a bit more realistic for most of us (my trainer was a crossfitter so all of my workouts and meal plan were crossfit and paleo inspired). The key for our approach was not actually going all the way back to the Paleolithic Age, if you will, but maybe back a couple hundred years and eat what they could have made back then. Essentially this eliminates all of the over-processsed, over-sugared foods that dominate today. So instead of cereal like Special K which is processed, eat oatmeal with fruit. Of course there are some common sense supplements to the "if they could make it 300 years ago rule." You shouldn't be eating cake, cookies, and loaves of bread just bc the ingredients were there back in the day. But, if you do, you'll be better off avoiding the pre-made kinds and cooking out of your own whole ingredients.
Heavy emphasis on protein and veggies for sure (the more colorful the food the better!).
Hope this helps - worked for my husband and I and we never felt restricted. It's still a huge guidance for how we eat today which is a testament to how livable it is. -
I prefer a "Primal" Marksdailyapple style 80/20 versus paleo. The whole 30is cool to experiment with but I find it too restrictive to do permanently unless of course you have major food allergies or something where it would be medically benefical/neccesary.
Good luck on your journey! -
We don't do complete Paleo (can have legumes, quinoa, brown rice), and DON'T eat sugar of any kind, even honey. When we go out to eat though, we don't hold ourselves to these restrictions. It works for us.
When we were being strict, I tried to really focus on the foods that we could have and crush thoughts of wanting what I could not have. I created a Pinterest board of good recipes and focused on the fun of learning new ways to cook.
The plan is start the Whole 30 on November 1, and I don't see how it's feasable since we have a baby shower, 2 weddings, and 2 Thanksgiving dinners in that time frame.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
17 comments