What to eat and what not to eat
In general, eating Paleo means eating veggies, fruits, meats, fish, certain fats, nuts, and seeds. And it means removing grains (breads, pastas, rice, etc), beans, soy, dairy, certain vegetable oils, and refined sugar from your diet.
When I started Paleo I thought I will be hungry all the time, after I've seen what can I eat and what not!
But it turned out exactly the opposite! I've NEVER been hungry! I ate 5x a day, and still was losing weight!
It was an incredible feeling what I never felt before!
So here they are:
FOODS TO EAT:
VEGETABLES
All veggies are acceptable, including sweet potatoes.
FRUITSIn general, fruit guidelines are the same as veggie guidelines. Organic and local are best. If you’re really trying to lose weight and you’re not active at all, limit your fruit intake to one or two pieces a day, as the carbs can add up.
MEATS and EGGS:
Eat meats and eggs freely.
- Game Meats
- Organ Meats
- Pork
- Beef
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Goat
- Lamb
- Eggs
NUTS & SEEDS
All are good, as well as the butters that are made from them. Also on this list are coconut flour and almond flour. Peanuts are NOT NUTS – they’re legumes, and thus are not on the list. If you’re trying to lose weight, limit nuts and seeds to about 1 or 2 ounces per day, as the calories add up quickly!
FATS
- tallow (rendered beef fat)
- lard (rendered pork fat)
- coconut oil/milk/manna
- extra virgin olive oil
- walnut oil
- avocado oil
- macadamia oil
- hazelnut oil
COCONUT PRODUCTS
- Coconut oil
- Coconut milk
- Coconut manna/butter
- Coconut vinegar
- Coconut aminos
- Coconut sugar
- Coconut nectar
EAT IN MODERATION
- Coffee
- Chocolate
- Sesame
- Dried fruit
- Alcohol (all kinds)
- Caffeinated teas
- Sweeteners – Raw honey, stevia, coconut sap, grade B maple syrup
- Filtered or spring water
- Herbal tea
- Coconut water
- Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables
FOODS TO AVOID
GRAINS
That means flour, even white flour (especially white flour, actually), so conventional bread, pasta, cookies, cake, bagels, muffins, tortillas, and any other white fluffy thing you may love.Grains mean rice, corn (including tortillas, chips, corn flour, etc.), quinoa (yes, it’s a grain), amaranth, buckwheat, wild rice, spelt, rye, sorghum, oats, and even gluten free oats. No more grains, even if they’re gluten free grains.
DAIRY
That means milk, cheese, butter, ghee, yogurt (yes, even your most favorite Greek yogurt – sorry), kefir, whey protein powders, cottage cheese, sour cream.
BEANS/LEGUMES
That means soy in any form, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, red beans, peanuts (sub out your peanut butter with almond butter), white beans, garbanzo beans, you get the gist.
HIGH OMEGA-6 VEGETABLE OILS
Vegetable oils aren’t really made from vegetables, which is why we’re still really confused over here about how they came upon that name. What they ARE usually made from are soy, cottonseed, corn, sunflower, and safflower.
These oils are very high in omega 6 fatty acids, which promote inflammation (as opposed to omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory). They are debatably one of the major causes of heart disease.
