so so i just started doing this paleo diet thing - feels like it should be bullshit. is it?

i started doing low-carb, which for me just means cutting out bread, rice, potatoes, pasta. i'm not gonna get too crazy with it, i just want to feel better and give my stomach a rest from some of the irritating things i've been putting into it.

see now if you cut out beans and sugar you would be a total caveman, jbr.

*beats chest*

i feel like beans are kinda the easiest thing in the world for me to live without. i like them and all, but really not much of a burden on me. rice isn't hard either. pasta and bread are obviously the tough ones. and sugary stuff.

I could ditch pasta and bread but need my beans/rice :(

i love beans. i haven't decided about them yet. i bought some hummus today, which is garbanzo beans -- i think i'll allow myself that.

why are beans verboten?

they make you too boisterous

paleos are anti-beans/rice/grains/sugar. maybe cavemen were scared of beans.

They can have a gluten-esque effect on some people similar to grains. They are difficult to digest.

That was worded badly, but yanno.

got it

potatoes speak to me.

yes. I will eat any amount of fries you put in front of me

I'd say if you tolerate beans just eat em. No need to roleplay caveman for unnecessary reasons.

i don't really eat/cook with beans a ton anyway. i probably should more actually for the kiddos. they are a magical fruit after all.

there's a good wikipedia about that

fecula
feculum
fecula
feculum

worst cover of "funiculi funicula" yet

(hello, i like to lurk on this thread while eating a big sack of doritos)

according to this: http://calorielab.com/foods/potatoes/159
you'd need to eat 7 large potatoes or 15 medium potatoes to hit recommended 2000 cals/day.
that just seems like an unfeasible amount of baked potatoes to eat.
maybe if it could be eaten in shake form...

jamba spuds with sour cream boost + chive latte

pork + kale + mashed celeriac/potatoes

i already notice after 2 & a half days without sugar/sweets/wheat/bread/cheese/dairy that things taste better to me. i ate a lot of kale! which i never do. cuz i think the bread/sweet/dairy thing just dulls my palate/tastebuds so much and that's all i end up wanting. i've eaten enough dairy/bread/sugar for ten lifetimes. for real. (maybe its all in my head but it feels real)

That's so interesting, Scott! I don't categorically love sweets to begin with but I've definitely noticed myself enjoying, even craving, bitter/cruciferous things more in recent years, I've said that before. Like kale and broccoli in specific. And the more I eat of those things, the more I love the taste and want to eat more of them.

I had the same thing, like the first thing I noticed was that suddenly raw spinach (which I already liked) was like kind of complex and super tasty. Now that I am a couple months in or so, lots of stuff seems way more interesting tasting. Bacon is sweet! Who knew? Basically my number one takeaway from this is that corn syrup is the goddamn devil.

I completely cut all breads, fruit, sugar from my diet for six weeks and stayed the same weight, experienced no change in mood or energy level, and everything tasted the same to me as it had before. I feel left out!

i've been limiting sweets (made with sugar in all forms, and don't often eat fake sugar stuff either) for over 10 years now - i think i slowly eat a cookie or almond croissant once every two months on average? i did get into ginger candies when i had a cold because mmm ginger, but too sweet blaagh, or have honey in my tea or eat a dessert at a dinner party or have a diet coke (summertime!) - so i'm not a stickler abt it - everything in moderation, right? but all in all, my sugar cravings have pretty much died off and those things taste crazy sweet to the point of unpleasant, so i end up eating small portions. and i really love bitter things! coffee, hoppy beer, the weirder herbal teas and stuff like that. taste changes! it is cool. like, i was a candy fiend in my teens and early 20s! now i don't even understand the point of candy, would never choose it over a buttery sweet baked good or, yes, kale.

xp
i think cutting down on bread, fruits, sugar, rice, etc is a long game for many people. seriously, i think it took me at least five years to stop wanting with all my heart to eat three of every sweet or carby thing at, for example, a potluck or wedding buffet, etc. But for a few years now I really and truly can take it or leave it - still seems unbelievable that i can just shrug off dessert - usually i'm swayed by pure curiosity though, like if someone (or me) has made a fancy cake or pie i've never tried before.

but anyway, yeah, it's hard when/if you see people losing weight or feeling healthier faster than you, but it's just that everyone is different. For me a big part of making changes was really being honest with myself and writing down the whole truth of what i was eating and looking at how i was exercising - then sticking to things when i was feeling okay, and changing things if i was feeling not okay. I still do that. What worked for me as far as not feeling sick all the time (this was in my mid-20s, was all sugar shock or hypoglycemic or whatevs all the time) was really low carb in morning and at lunch ((a few strawberries, for example, or vegetables + protein + fat (almonds, egg, cheese, meat, not all at once necesarily), with low-to-"normal" carbs, protein, fat at dinner. and no booze. and regular exercise. i still do that most of the time. except i do drink beer, though not every day - booze is a hard habit/addiction to break, obv, especially when it's a social thing.

ate too many potatoes as a kid/teen. can't remember the last time i bought them, though i've been into putting sweet potatoes in curry lately.
i do eat poutine on occasion - the best potato form.

To anyone craving sweets, I recommend stacks upon stacks of chocolate of that super dark and organic variety

otm

i think it took me at least five years to stop wanting with all my heart to eat three of every sweet or carby thing at, for example, a potluck or wedding buffet, etc.

btw I didn't have this problem either, I didn't crave carbs while I wasn't eating them, I felt basically the same as I always do.

eephus, are you overweight? You might just be carb tolerant. In which case, nom the bread my friend.

BMI 26, so overweight by about 10 lbs per official statistics. That weight's been roughly stable for about 10 years but my lipid profile has steadily been worsening, which is why I decided to try switching up my diet to see if anything changed -- it didn't.

day 3 and all is well. my diet is definitely not a strict paleo because i haven't given up nightshade vegetables -- i have a tomato/zucchini/chicken sauasage stew slow-cooking in the crockpot right now. but as carbs go, i've been able to keep away. i had some tuna salad and celery for a late breakfast.

i had more slices of turkey for lunch and a ton of bananas. have eaten so many bananas in the last three days. i might eat one or two every couple of months otherwise. also had some cashews. i forgot that paleos don't eat corn. i forgot that corn was a grain! but its cool. i don't need it. have had a 400 tons of corn over the years in various guises. that oughta hold me.

having scallops/broccoli/small potato for dinner.

made blue seal breakfast sausage (chicopee's finest. best hot dogs in the state.) and scrambled eggs.

I think the no nightshade thing is a)another food sensitivity thing and b) bullshit because removing peppers from this is a def no go. I don't think I have had this many bell peppers in my life tbh

every nutritionist in the world will tell you that if you can handle them, peppers are great for you.

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/the-nutrition-of-a-green-pepper.html#b

i'm gonna eat any veggie/fruit put in front of me. paleo people say go light on fruit but fuck that.

I have a slight sensitivity to nightshades. Not so much tomatoes, but red peppers can put my IBS out of control.

I had friends over for lunch yesterday and made them grass-fed beef sausages on top of a bed of steamed spinach with ginger and a 5 minute egg, Korean-style, with cabbage, roasted sweet potato with zatar, avocado and sliced tomato on the side. I wasn't proselytizey about the diet but they want in.

This is a really crazy diet and I have to take more time to assess the social and financial side of taking it on but so far I am into it.

Well YEAH but that is an INSANELY good meal!!

That's kind of the point of this diet is to eat insanely good food all the time

I suppose! I don't know who has the time, though.

i figure even if i buy better meats/veggies (organic/free range/etc) i'm still gonna be saving a ton by not buying all the crap i used to buy on a daily basis. chips and ice cream and other sweet stuff adds up. plus, we haven't been buying alcohol for months so that right there...

anyhoo, maria is kinda following along on the caveman journey (i'm actually dragging her by her hair hahaha! not really she's into it) and she don't feel so hot! totally different reaction than i've had. she's really spacey and tired and feels a little ill from it. so she's been having a little cheese and some other stuff so as not to shock herself so much. you never know how much wheat and other gunk you eat until you stop eating it.

rufus wants to join in on the fun too but i'm making sure that he gets plenty of everything that he needs. he already loves vegetables so much and will eat pretty much anything. we had ham & eggs for breakfast. and he took some smoked bluefish and carrots and grapes to school for lunch this morning. feel like kids can go wheatless/sugarless easier than adults cuz they haven't had that lifetime of accumulation/addiction. cyrus is a total chip/sweets/cheese addict already at the age of seven and i feel good about bringing healthier stuff home for everyone to eat. i mean he learned it from us, man. already just bringing more nuts and seeds into the house has paid off as cyrus likes that kinda healthy fare.

I mean to cook like THAT. I can understand the whole hard-boiled egg and handful of almonds and raw fruit/veg during the day and a chicken breast + half an avocado for dinner, for instance, but not that glorious feast above.

yeah that spread does make our scallops/broccoli dinner look pretty pitiful. if i had the time i would get more elaborate. probably. i'm kind of a simpleton though.

I make lots of stuff like this! It's mostly a matter of shopping/planning more than cooking, imo.

otm. been doing this for over 6 months and have gotten so much better at meal planning and shopping. it's like no big deal anymore

yeah same. most of the meals get pretty easy to make, and now that i have figured out the utility of having a bunch of pre-made spice blends, it's even easier.

? It didn't take that long! I'd made the cabbage the night before. Cleaning up afterward took longer than the prep, I don't own a dishwasher

The reason I'm "this might get $$$" is because I'm eating so many vegetables, it's really nuts how much you've got to eat when you're not padding it with rice or w/e

yeah one of the hardest habits for me to break is going to be not making a pot of rice with everything i eat