Cracking the Paleo Diet Code: Lose Weight Fast With Primal Eating & Intermittent Fasting (How to Lose Weight Your Way) (6 page)

I wanted to ensure we addressed starch directly even though you will be cutting a lot of it out by eliminating grains and legumes from your diet. Basically all of the starch you used to consume to be turned into glucose will now come from other sources of food. No more need for a big plate of nutrient deficient pasta or breads.

White potatoes are again something that is very controversial when it comes to the Paleo diet.
The argument against potatoes is that they have a high glycemic index which leads to higher insulin spikes and a high blood glucose level, which isn’t good for your health. On the other side of the argument are people who say as long as you bake your potatoes and eat them without the skin it is very comparable to sweet potatoes. Of course, avoid the processed varieties of potatoes like French fries, etc.

Starch
es can still be a healthy source of energy when you eat Paleo safe starches. Some safe starch choices for your Paleo diet are:

You can add many of these starches
to your meal plan in place of the grains and potatoes you used to consume. Find some good recipe books on Paleo and you will be amazed at how easy it is to replace your typical sources of starch. Make sure to consume these in moderation, as too much starch will still spill over into fat storage even if it is healthier starch.

This is the list of foods you are going to eliminate or consume sparingly. A general rule of thumb is if it has been processed in any way it is not Paleo-friendly. Again, if you are not trying to go hardcore Paleo then by all means you can pick and choose what you eat. I would recommend trying to eliminate the foods in this chapter for at least the first two months, and then if you want to add them back in, do so one at a time.

Then you will be able to identify the foods that made you feel awful and others that have no effect on you. Most of us have accepted “feeling horrible” as the norm. Our bodies don’t know any different so the crappy food we put in doesn’t really make us feel worse
, but it continues to silently hurt our health.

It will take time to adjust to n
ot eating all the things we habitually eat for no other reason than because we have always eaten them. There is also the side of the argument that is if something needs to be modified to make it edible should we be eating it at all? Use this mindset when making your food choices and you most likely won’t go wrong

Now that you
are buying food that actually spoils (I know, shocking) you may need to plan a couple more trips to the grocery store a month. When you eat Paleo the days are gone of opening up the cupboard doors to choose from the selection of boxed and canned goods that contain enormous amounts of preservatives. You might even need another little fridge to keep some of those extra healthy foods in.

Let’s be honest, when your grocery list does not include grains, processed foods, dairy, legumes or pretty much anything in the middle aisles at the store
, your shopping becomes straight forward. You just need to be careful because those middle aisles have a vortex-like feel where they suck you in, and the next thing you know you have a box of Lucky Charms and 2 litres of pop. True story!

The way to stay true to your healthy lifestyle is to stock your house full of the foods that support your goals and eliminate the ones that don’t. People want to complain that there must be more to it than that
, but just think about it: If the foods you shouldn’t be eating are not in your house, how could you eat them? You would have to consciously choose to buy those foods, which you will not do if you are committed to this lifestyle change.

The easiest way to plan Paleo into your lifestyle is no different than any other
diet change. You are going to want to get the gigantic calendar from the office supply store and add the following information:

● Work Schedule – what time you leave and what time you get back from work

● All extra-curricular activities like kids sports, meetings, events etc.

● Your workouts –
you can also plan your eating based on your workout times.

● Your meals –
yes, all of them including any snacks you have planned. This makes grocery shopping easier and allows you to see where life’s events may conflict with your pre-planned meal. This is why meals are planned last.

For simplicity when planning meals it is a good idea to have some consistency but enough variety to avoid boredom. This might look like having three different breakfast meals you rotate
, or always making enough dinner so you can have the same meal for lunch the next day as leftovers.

I see a lot of people complaining about the cost of going Paleo
, and while it can be a bit more expensive with regards to buying healthier foods, there is a huge cost savings people miss. If you get sick less you purchase less prescriptions and cold/flu remedies. Just think about how much money people spend on these products each year. Cold medication, migraine medications, muscular aches and pain medicines, etc. It is a lot but goes unnoticed because you believe you need them.

There is also the fact a $3.00 bag of chips lasts one or two nights whereas a $3.00 bag of apples lasts two to three times as long. You will eat the bag of c
hips in one sitting, but most likely not the whole bag of apples. Healthier food actually costs less than junk food when you break it down to the number of servings you get.

There is also the long
-term expense if you become ill from poor eating habits. Having a disease is expensive, and with a bit of preventative medicine many of them are avoidable. If you are maxing out your health plan’s prescription portion you can see exactly how much you are spending each year on reacting to illness, versus being proactive against it.

You also cease consuming so much junk food which saves a lot of money. People can spend hundreds of dollars a month on pop, chips and chocolate without even realizing it. You can also make the conscious choice to eat out less
: Those meals can be made at home much cheaper. If you want the social aspect, invite your friends over for a Paleo potluck.

Buy in bulk when you can and find other Paleo diet followers so you can order meat directly from a farmer. I always buy
a half beef or full Bison from a local farmer. Avoid the gigantic commercialized farmers that are just plumping up cows with whatever they will eat. Local smaller farmers are not usually pumping their animals full of chemicals and their animals are healthier. You may pay a bit more from a smaller farmer because they don’t have the same volume as the big boys, but you are paying for better quality.

One area
where I have had success in finding cost-effective meat is finding local hunters that have extra wild game tags they are not going to be using for their own needs. You can usually get them to fill the tag and give you the animal with minimal costs. The hunters are out anyway and are happy to have an excuse to keep hunting. Most of the time they also know some great butchers that will cut and wrap the meat for a good price.

Plan on learning how to cook
, because that is the excuse most people use for eating out at restaurants so much or why they eat processed foods all the time. Healthy food can taste like junk food and still be healthy. All you need to do is learn how. A very cost-effective way to learn how to cook is online cooking classes or free videos on YouTube. For example if you search “how to make fermented kimchi” you get 9000 videos. I am pretty sure you can figure out how to make it, or anything you could imagine if you take the time to search YouTube.

With some planning
you are going to find switching over to Paleo to be quite effortless. You will develop new habits and can reminisce with friends about how you used to eat while being proud of yourself for sticking to your new healthy lifestyle.

The Paleo diet is not a weight loss program
per-se; the weight loss most people experience is due to the lifestyle change. If you drink 2 litres of pop every day and then stop that one habit without replacing it with other sugars you will lose weight. Our diets are loaded with unhealthy choices because they are convenient and taste good.

I remember a guy telling me a story about how his nutritionist had him track everything he ate for a week
, and this guy ate out a lot so his calorie consumption was around 5000-6000 calories a day. Needless to say he was not in the greatest shape.

His nutritionist then gave him a diet that was full of healthy food and equaled that same 5000 calories. The guy was floored at how much healthy food it takes to eat 5000 calories a day
, and it was in that moment that something clicked. He saw how easy it was to eat less and feel just as full without the quantities of junk food he ate before.

Just by changing over to a Paleo
-style diet he essentially cut his daily calories in half and felt great doing it. He lost a substantial amount of weight quickly. When you switch your lifestyle over you will almost automatically lose weight because you are overconsuming so often.

The struggle can come into play when
you start to feel bored or cravings set in. This is why learning to cook and keeping a variety of foods in your diet is important.

How
the Paleo diet helps lose weight:

● You consume low glycemic foods which help keep blood sugar
s stable and reduces cravings. This also avoids the typical sugar highs and lows people experience. It is the lows that find you chowing down on Snickers bars mid-afternoon every day.

● It is
a very high fiber lifestyle if you consume the amount of vegetables and fruit you should be. Without fiber, food doesn’t move along properly and your digestive system suffers. You can’t be constipated and lose weight at the same time.

●
High protein helps keep you feeling fuller longer and allows for better muscle tissue repair. The leaner and more muscular you are the more efficient you are at using the calories you consume instead of storing them as fat.

● Increased consumption of Omega 3 fatty acids have numerous health benefits, one of which is weight loss. I know from personal experience that they make a big impact o
n how much weight you can lose.

● You get a big dose of much need
ed essential vitamins and minerals, which ensures your body is functioning at peak levels. The Paleo diet is rich in Vitamin C which helps the body metabolize fat.

As a weight loss coach
, the first reason I would recommend Paleo is the fact it is a natural weight loss plan. If you follow it you will no longer consume pretty much anything that is full of preservatives, processed flour or unnecessary sugars. There is no need for fat burners or a long list of fat loss supplements.

I have read numerous times that you don’t have to count calories or really monitor the amount you eat on the Paleo Diet
, but I slightly disagree with that statement. When it comes to vegetables more is always better and there is no real worry there.

But
this diet is higher in healthy fats and you have to be mindful of how much you eat, because you can go overboard very quickly. Nuts, seeds and avocadoes are all high in fat and pack a calorie punch. You can still gain weight by overindulging in any type of food, healthy or not.

Overconsumption is overconsumption plain and simple. When looking at your plate make sure it is filled with lean protein sources and a big pile of vegetables and you will be fine. Eat fruit, nuts and seeds to satisfy some cravings and everything will fall into place nicely.

If you read you can eat bacon and decide to eat three pounds a day then you are not going to get the weight loss you are after. Even though people hate to hear it, there has to be some common sense used when losing weight. Bacon is delicious and can be consumed in moderation, as can most foods.

Eat what your body needs
, no more and no less. The hunters only ate what they needed to be the most efficient hunters and most likely didn’t gorge themselves, because there would have never been enough. They were always ready for action and you should always feel ready for action.