What Not To Eat: The Paleo Story Infographic

A Closer Look: Interview With Paleo Newbie Michael Collins

What's Next? An Interview With Paleo Newbie Michael Collins

Making the change can be hard when it comes to eating. So if you’re a wannabe Paleo follower or if you are already on board but wondering what’s next, here are some suggestions to overcome the common setbacks of this lifestyle change. 

Dieting implies that one is restricting oneself or even depriving oneself of food that they want to eat. Luckily, the Paleo diet isn’t actually a diet at all – but an entirely new lifestyle that allows you to eat delicious food AND feel great.

The Paleo diet is different from other fad diets like Weight Watchers, Special K, and Nutrisystem because it doesn’t rely on marketing tools and celebrity endorsements to sell food produced in lab. It relies on nature.

When one decides to go full Paleo, he or she must have a plan in place to avoid any temptation to revert back to old eating habits. This begs the question, now what?

The Paleo Story recently conducted an interview with Paleo newbie and senior at George Mason University, Michael Collins. During this interview, Collins talked about what he found to be the hardest part about staying on the right track.

Collins said, “The hardest part for me in the early stages was getting to know my body and realizing just how much junk food I was craving without even realizing it.”

This is an example of how Paleo can open one’s mind to reveal just how much the brain is influencing what the body is doing. This applies to anything from the cravings to the cardio. When switching from a junk food (RE: regular) diet to a Paleo diet, it’s essential to establish a healthy (literally) relationship between the body and the mind.

Collins also revealed how he initially struggled to find meals he could enjoy that met the Paleo requirements.

When asked how he overcame this setback, he said, “I threw out all of my old sugar-laden cookbooks and fattening recipes. I thought to myself, ‘If I’m going to do this, I need to do it right,’ I had an all or nothing mentality, which for me, was helpful.”

While tossing out a cookbook collection may seem drastic for beginners, it is important to realize how many alternatives are available for finding usable recipes.

Blogs-turned-businesses like PaleOMG, Against All Grain, Primal Palate, and Nom Nom Paleo are a few of the most widely known resources to find recipes and cooking tips within the Paleo community.

When asked what his favorite go-to recipe was, Collins answered, “I don’t like to narrow my options to one particular meal. Instead, I focus on filling my plate with a lean protein and loads of fresh veggies.”

Lean proteins and leafy vegetables are a stellar combination for those looking to lose weight and boost energy levels. However, it can be easy to fall into a rut of eating the same thing over and over again.

To combat this, Collins suggested that a Paleo newbie be fearless in creating his or her own recipes. He said, “I have a lot of fun working in the kitchen to recreate recipes I once enjoyed but can’t eat on a Paleo diet such as spaghetti or even fried chicken.”

Not only did Collins discover how many alternatives are available for Paleo meals, he also discovered a new love and appreciation for cooking.

“Paleo has made me realize how many options there are in the kitchen. Before Paleo, I would have never thought to spiralize a zucchini to make ‘noodles’ or to mash cauliflower instead of white potatoes,” Collins said.

Cooking shouldn’t be intimidating but inspiring for Paleo hopefuls. On the opposite hand, however, the grocery bill might be something to adjust to.

Shopping for food at Whole Foods may be  more expensive than Wal-Mart, but there’s a good reason for that. Food that is mass-produced and overly processed like sugary cereals, potato chips and popsicles are cheaper to make than food that is naturally sourced and farmed.

It makes logical sense that “healthy” food will cost more, even though it doesn’t make moral sense. With this in mind, Paleo newbies must face the fact that it can potentially be more expensive to follow a Paleo diet opposed to a junk food diet.

Collins reflected on his experience with price increases by saying, “I found it discouraging to pay more for a head of kale – food that prevents cancer – than I would pay for a king size chocolate bar. Where’s the disconnect in this country?”

He’s right. There is a major misstep in America when it comes to the food industry. Is this why we are the most obese nation in the world? It certainly contributes to that fact.

However, Collins said he quickly got over the price difference between healthy and unhealthy foods once he saw and felt the results from his Paleo lifestyle.

According to Collins, “[Paleo] is worth trying for one month. One month is all it takes to feel like a brand new YOU. It’s hard, it’s challenging and it’s inconvenient at times. It’s worth it. You will feel and look like the very best version of yourself. That, to me, is priceless.”

---SEE VIDEO FOR MORE OF THE PALEO STORY INTERVIEW------

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Audio Explainer: What IS Paleo?

In this audio explainer I will describe how you can fool people into thinking you're a Paleo expert, even if you don't really know what you're talking about. This is to help people who are new to the diet or who are looking to start the diet. Enjoy!

Audio Explainer: What IS Paleo? 

The Paleo Revolution Slideshow

I created this video to briefly demonstrate how the Paleolithic diet has evolved from cavemen hunting and gathering to people like you and me cooking up wholesome meals (and Paleo cookies) in the comfort of our own homes. 

The Paleo Revolution

Seldom can one find a meal plan that is free from big business, marketing ploys, and celebrity endorsements, but the revolution is here; and it’s Paleo.

The Paleo diet is based on the way our ancestors ate in the Paleolithic age. Often referred to as The Caveman Diet or The Primal Diet, this ancient meal plan offers an impressive number of health benefits.

Intimidating to most, the Paleo diet restricts consumption of all grain, dairy, sugar, legumes, and alcohol. Before dismissing the diet for its number of restrictions, it is important to educate oneself on why the Paleo diet does not allow the consumption of these things.

Unfortunately, processed foods have inhabited the American kitchen with convenience and taste being the most prominent appeals of this quick and easy way of eating. The Paleo diet turns back to a time when food was pure and found in nature rather than polluted with chemicals and made in a factory.

When we abandoned natural food for convenient food, we abandoned our health. The implications that non-Paleo diets have could be serious. What happens when we introduced foods into our bodies that offered no nutritional value? 

According to a 2005 article published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,

“The displacement of more nutrient-dense foods (eg, fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood) by less-dense foods (refined sugars, grains, vegetable oils, and dairy products) and the subsequent decline in dietary vitamin and mineral density has far reaching health implications—consequences that not only promote the development of vitamin- deficiency diseases but also numerous infectious and chronic diseases.”

This means that when you choose to consume sugar-laden food and processed carbohydrates, you are depleting your vitamin levels and opening the door for potentially serious health issues. While the effects of processed foods are not always shown in the form of weight gain or obesity, they are often shown in the form of chronic illness and health problems that occur later in life. 

When did it become so unusual to eat food that occurs naturally, yet completely normal to eat something that contains Yellow Lake 5?  It seems like a no-brainer to me. Just eat real food. 

Diane Sanfilippo, author of New York Times Bestseller Practical Paleo, says that, 

"If a food is not in its whole, natural form, chances are that it has been refined in a less than optimal choice. When we intellectualize our diet and remove ourselves, as human animals, from the complex web that defines nature, we fight against our birthright of health. When you eat food as provided by nature, it actually promotes health, healing, and immunity against future ailments."  

Interestingly enough, many of the food choices offered in supermarkets have been refined and processed. Moreover, the artificial additives and impossible-to-pronounce chemicals that are a part of the refining process are so harmful to one's health that most of them have been completely banned from food products sold in Europe.

Aside from the obviously harmful effects of chemicals and additives, there are other clear reasons why the Paleo diet is a healthy alternative to processed foods.

According to a Wall Street Journal article featuring Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, Paleo does help users control weight and lower the risk of cancer.

“In contrast to high-carbohydrate diets that have led to skyrocketing rates of diabetes, obesity and inflammatory diseases, a paleo diet can reduce inflammation, reverse diabetes symptoms, lower blood pressure and cut cancer risk by providing a template of foods that are as close to nature as we can get today,” says Nestle.

A diet high in carbohydrates is not beneficial to those who want to lose weight; therefore the Paleo diet makes logical sense due to the absence of carbs in the meal plan.

“A study published last October in Lipids in Health and Disease found a paleo diet to be more effective in reversing metabolic syndrome (the first step toward diabetes) and cardiovascular risks in patients with extra belly fat or other risk factors for diabetes than a diet based on standard guidelines,” says Nestle.

Unlike processed foods laden with sugar and preservatives, the food allowed within Paleo diet speeds up the metabolism by fueling the body with natural energy.

The bottom line is this: what is found in nature is undoubtedly healthier than what is found in tons of prepackaged bags and boxes with ingredients like “ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN B1 [THIAMIN MONONITRATE], VITAMIN B2 [RIBOFLAVIN], FOLIC ACID),” listed on the box. By the way… those are a few of the ingredients in a Pop-Tart.

Is it really that hard to comprehend why an apple and almond butter is a better snack than Doritos and M&Ms?