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

i had ham for dessert last night.

yeah if you're not into meat and/or are a veg I could see where this thread would be infuriating!!

did anyone have gastrointestinal issues prior to paleo? I have had IBS ever since I had my gallbladder removed in 2000. It seems to be completely gone now, which is awesome.

It occurred to me that duh, this thread is just not up my alley, so I should stop being a dummy and just remove the bookmark
I did the same thing -- it was making me totally neurotic!

I came in just to say that and also because I am avoiding calculating my final grades.

Thinking about trying this for at least 30 days post holidays. I've been sort of trending this way anyway as my wife always feels sort of wrecked after eating a lot of wheat, but I'd like to see what happens if I fully commit.

I think I'm going to miss rice quite a bit as I eat a ton of stir fries, curries, and soups with rice noodles. Also breakfast sort of freaks me out - probably 75% of the time I eat granola with yogurt or multigrain bread with peanut butter. I think I'm going to get tired of eggs pretty quick.

We've been eating these muffin-shaped things for breakfast that are mostly spinach/kale with some meat and egg and spices. Like a spinach-heavy meatloaf. plus roasted yams, which I make a lot of on the weekend and we scoop out and reheat during the week. I don't like eggs so much, especially not every day.

i don't think i can do this and get enough protein because i don't want to eat meat 3x/day. i eat greek yogurt a lot. which i don't even always like because it's too thick. but i have been eating a lot less bread, almost none. and less beans. i don't miss those things. i did eat some rice this week. my feeling hungry all the time problems are basically gone unless i have reason to be hungry. before i would eat a ton of whole grains for breakfast and be hungry in like an hour. same with brown rice at lunch. i don't always have to eat breakfast anymore and it's fine.

i feel better eating more fat and less carbs basically but i'm not paleoing

also a sweet potato with coconut milk poured over it = kewl

I eat lots of eggs. Also lots of salmon. Lots of salads. I think this is a nice, simple way of eating. The only thing that is a pain in the ass is eating out in a restaurant.

Also why is sugar IN EVERYTHING. It starts to get really obnoxious!

Shopping and there was some crying baby and I totally caved and pulled into a Brioche Dorée and ate a whole creme brûlée, happy holidays. Haven't eaten proper sugar in, damn, at least a month. Tasted totally awesome.

one downside to all of this is that i have to figure out how to have my wedding ring resized i think

Use your middle finger instead

Put a glop of silicone inside the band.

Office lunch at a Mexican restaurant - carne asada and veg, the server looked so sad and confused at no rice no beans no tortillas thanks!

My wife and I just had our rings resized, I think we paid about $70 total. Pretty much any jeweler can do it.

the server looked so sad and confused at no rice no beans no tortillas

it is sad! those are my favorite things. last time i went out for mexican i just left them on the plate. *weeps*

i get the rice and tortilla ban in theory but what's the paleo beef with beans?

There's something in them (leptins? something like that) that really irritates my gut. I don't know if that's the paleo thing or not.

lectins, not leptins

2nd attempt at making coconut butter, this time with a food processor = no. I soaked the dried coconut in warm water and added a bunch of coconut oil and it's a gritty gloppy mess. 3rd attempt, unsoaked, just dried flakes and oil = meh. I'm just going to buy it; the texture is just so much better.

I am trying to salvage some of the second attempt by beating 3 eggs w/vanilla and pumpkin pie spices and mixing in about a cup of the coconut glop and a cup of whipped sweet potatoes. Baking in a souffle ramekin and we'll see if it's edible.

I smoothed the 3rd attempt out on a parchment lined cookie sheet - it's in the fridge now hardening up. I'll cut it into small bars for desperation snacking.

Hmmm this recipe is just shredded coconut in a fp for 10 mins: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/06/22/homemade-coconut-butter/

Yeah well, I had it in the food processor for closer to 20 min and it is sadly nothing like that.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8297800045_bbb7cf2bb9.jpg

You can see the crumbs of the coconut butter on the parchment - very dry, even though I added almost a cup of coconut oil to 2 cups of flakes. The coconut-sweet potato souffle is pretty good!

well, i'm totally going to cheat with this here diet. i have a 4 lb pork shoulder in the fridge and there is no way i'm not making it into lechon asado and then putting that into awesome cuban sandwiches. there is just no way.

Oh guy that sounds so gooood
I cooked paleo for the family (pulled pork + cole slaw + kale) after I cheated this morning and had some Swedish pancakes with them

does anyone know a recipe for a bread that would work in this situation? you have to use so many eggs with coconut flour and idk i'm grilling a cuban sandwich here it feels so wrong.

Nah, just use actual bread.

w00t, my favorite jeans fit again. that's the only metric i've been using to monitor my weight -- scales are too depressing.

there was a scale at my gf's parents' place and i've dropped 8lbs just halfassing this thing! her sister, coincidentally, started seeing a nutritionist almost the exact same time i took up the paleo quest, and she cooked a bunch of really awesome delicious stuff for us over x-mas. all of it seemed paleo-friendly afaict, only way less heavy on the meat, and was just as filling as anything else to me. i might post some recipes if she remembers to e-mail them.

one week of eating whatever and feeling pretty awful actually, now we're back at it after today's prosperity dinner (black eyed peas + hominy)

I haven't lost any more weight (stalled out at 18lbs), but I still feel pretty awesome. Didn't stray one time over the Holidays! Sister made coconut flour cookies and cake, though, which was pretty good.

I am currently in the process of making my own BEEF BROTH from some pretty rank looking bones.

Well done!! Making stocks and slow-cooked things always seems like a primal, pioneering thing to do. What I'm saying is if you have a floor-length gathered apron and a matching sunbonnet, this would be a good time to wear them.

How do you make a food fad appeal to libertarians? Invoke human nature.

Another article, written by a young man named TobanWiebe who advocates for “Paleo-Libertarian integration,” bore the rallying cry, “No grains, no government.” “Paleo and libertarianism share a common bond in individualism,” Wiebe writes. “Both value personal responsibility and oppose government paternalism, wanting nothing from the government except to be left alone. Both recognize that nothing good can come from using the political means to further their cause.” Wiebe goes on to argue for the importance of “Misean longevity” for the Libertarian cause and to mourn the grain-fed demise of his idols: “It saddens paleo-libertarians that Murray Rothbard was struck down by a disease of civilization at the young age of 68. It is important that libertarians do their best to avoid such a fate — the libertarian cause is too important.”

In October, the site’s founder Lew Rockwell himself observed the growing popularity of Paleo among younger Libertarians on the campaign trail. “When I spoke at the two Ron Paul events in Tampa, a young man kind enough to pick me up at the airport told me a fascinating story. The vast majority of young Ron volunteers in offices he visited all over the country were paleo. If a kid ordered pizza — which was always the primary or perhaps only campaign food — he was practically booed,” reads his blog

I have noticed that thus far, and it's kind of interesting... slash annoying.

i bought the paleo comfort food cookbook by julie & charles mayfield. i think i'll try out the shrimp/crab bisque this coming week.

Making a Thai holy basil stir-fry with pork tonight to serve over Chinese broccoli.

This morning I shredded yams in my (new! awesome!) food processor, and made this for breakfast: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/19886925277/sweet-potato-hash-with-fried-eggs which was amazing and I am making again tomorrow.

What's been great about this so far is I love cooking again. Low carb cooking for 3 years got disheartening.

that looks incredible. i made roasted sweet potatoes with melted sage butter a few nights ago; i topped it with a little fontina but it didn't even need it.

Sweet potatoes\yams are just amazingly good. Went to my favorite asian market today and got orange, yellow, white, and purple (!) fleshed ones.

I set off all the smoke detectors with my stir fry tonight. Oops. Burned the garlic, but everything else was fine and tasted great. We are trying those coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and the taste is nearly identical - maybe just a bit less salty.

I'm interested in how you find the paleo comfort food - I've been eying it. Mr. Jaq got me the gigantic Everyday Paleo book for xmas, and I already had the Well-Fed book (which is really good). Everyday Paleo is only about 1/3 recipes.

There's a huge intersection between paleo, Crossfit and libertarianism.

Less paleo-specific but the most granola (gluten-free, homemade laundry soap, co-op bringing in Alaskan salmon/elk/grassfed beef, etc.) people I know personally are evangelical Christians who adore Ron Paul.

tonight i'm making the langostino bisque from the paleo comfort foods cookbook (the recipe is actually for shrimp bisque, but this'll work). it subs coconut oil, coconut milk, almond flour, and arrowroot for the cream and thickener.

i thought paleo came from parkour dudes.

get bent - one of the things I've found with almond flour: Bob's Red Mill brand is grittier than Honeyville Farms.

okay, one thing i'm finding with this recipe (making it now) is that it calls for too much broth and coconut milk*, so it needs to reduce down at the end. but i did add in twice the amount of brandy.

*actually, it just said "one can" of coconut milk, which isn't helpful if the stuff you have comes in a box. i just used a cup.

making the onion soup from the same cookbook -- the house smells like caramelized onions, it's killing me. recipe calls for red wine and sherry but i also have some leftover brandy from the bisque. this is gonna be nice and boozy. hic.

I think I might need that cookbook!

OK guys help. I am trying this again after being force fed chef food by my dad over Christmas for 2 weeks and basically doing nothing but eating and getting drunk that entire time. I've been doing this high fat/ high protein very low carb (~20 a day) vegetarian thing for a week now and I FEEL LIKE SHIT. I'm exhausted and literally feel like I'm going to just collapse. Also I have muscle cramps in my legs and just feel like I'm not eating enough something or other. Also, I miss carbs and this fucking sucks! I am trying to stick it out but it's pretty tough when I feel this bad. :(

i have no clue if this helps but leg cramps is v. often a hydration issue for me.

Cramps = metallic salts. Magnesium, calcium, potassium. Maybe you can't have a banana (too much sugar?) but figure out what you can have and eat several of it.