Dominic said I was mad creating a page about Paleo for people that do Paleo. But I am very argumentative and decided to do it anyway!
You see he believed that people had to be perfect candidates for Paleo in order for it to work, but in reality it never quite works out like that does it?
If we are born to do Paleo we would have done it from birth, not at a point later in life when we feel like we need to embrace a healthy lifestyle.
This blog has been put together for people that don’t do Paleo – that find it hard to embrace the new Paleo lifestyle and want a helping hand along the way.
First of all I will start by saying I am the last person you could possibly imagine doing Paleo and it’s down to the following:
I Hate Fatty Meat
There is just something so wrong about any kind of fat that takes forever to chew on a piece of meat. It just ruins a meal for me. I want lean meat or meat with the fat chopped off.
For example as I am writing this blog post Dominic has just served up lunch. It is a pork steak with cauliflower and carrots. He has chopped off the fat and grizzle from my piece and I still see some left at the edge and feed it to our puppy.
I just can’t stand the taste of it and its better on someone else’s plate than mine.
I HATE Fried Eggs
I mean I really HATE fried eggs. What is good about sticking an egg in the pan with lots of oil and frying it?
Growing up my parents had holiday flats by the seaside. I would go and help her clean them after customers had left. There would be a frying pan with loads of sloppy slimy lard in the bottom of it that had been used to make fried eggs and bacon and other things.
Cleaning those out three times a week for years and there is no love there at all. Then my mother always felt I should have them too and I would eat the yolk and leave the rest and wish I hadn’t had one.
I Am NOT A Fan Of Bacon
What is there to like about bacon? It’s full of fat and stinks out the house. I could live without bacon but it is something that I have from time to time. I do like bacon bits on top of some roast potatoes and I will eat a bacon butty occasionally (if all fat is removed) but its not something I would go out of my way to buy.
I Am Allergic To Nuts
Well technically I am just allergic to peanuts but I hate the smell and taste of all nuts apart from almonds.
It’s always been such a big part of the Paleo lifestyle to have nuts in your diet and this is something that will never happen in my world.
So you look at those three things and in all honesty I bet you have seen them on most plates of food that has been tagged on Instagram. As I know I have. No bacon, eggs, nuts and seeds seems so extreme on Paleo and is probably similar to what it would be like with limited options that a vegetarian must face.
But on a plus side I am perfect for Paleo because:
I Eat Very Little Processed Foods
I am not completely perfect in this department but I eat a lot less of them than most people I know. I cook fresh therefore I don’t buy mixing sauces, I hate shop bought cheese sauce and would never buy a ready meal.
My processed food intake is very low and is just some mayonnaise, ketchup, beans in tomato sauce and the odd cooking paste.
I Eat Healthy Already
We always buy a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables every week; we also have a large supply of meat that we buy monthly from the cash and carry. Pretty much everything is cooked from fresh and it wouldn’t be a problem to transform this further for the Paleo diet.
I Don’t Have A High Sugar Diet
I notice that the majority of people that take on Paleo are Americans with a very high sugar diet. They have sugar on their breakfast via pancakes, eat a lot of ice cream, doughnuts, puddings and the list goes on and on.
Yet as a European the sugar intake is considerably less.
I go through phases with how much chocolate and sweets I have put I am perfectly happy on five small squares of dark chocolate each evening and don’t need anything but this.
But here are my biggest problem areas:
Giving Up Carbs
I am going to find it difficult to give up carbs. Not for cravings for what it does to my body, but because they are convenient and I couldn’t imagine a life without them.
I am not a big breakfast fan and I am happy having a couple of Weetabix with some milk or some toast with a little butter on top.
I also find that having something like chips or rice completes a meal and makes it easy to plan.
Really it comes down to habit rather than a need for carbs.
You look and you probably think in some areas = perfect for Paleo but in others not so perfect. It is all about changing your lifestyle for good rather than going on yet another diet. But I am ready to give it a go and I hope you enjoy following my journey as I do Paleo from the point of view of someone that doesn’t do Paleo.