Vegetable and fruit juices aren't paleo-friendly, because they aren't whole foods - the healthiest part has been removed (the skin/fiber). Any processing that decreases the nutrition or increases the caloric density of a food is non-paleo (at least for weight loss).
Thin paleo athletes can get by with some minimally processed, calorie dense foods such as dried fruit, fruit/vegetable juice, baked potato... but for weight loss these foods aren't ideal.
It isn't that V-8 and other veggie juices are so terrible, but that whole vegetables and fruit are so much better because none of the good stuff is lost. Eating whole fruit and veggies will be more filling than juices, because the whole veggies and fruit digest more slowly and provide more nutrition.
Carnation drinks are mostly sugar. There are some paleo protein drink powders, but they're not cheap or easy to find. There are paleo smoothie recipes you can find online through google.
I do sometimes used canned tomato juice or V-8 as a base for my homemade veggie soup, but I dilute it with chicken stock and add tons of veggies and greens. I'm finding though that petite diced tomatoes with chiles (from the dollar store) work just as well and is cheaper and more paleo-authentic.
It takes quite a bit of effort to eat paleo on a tight budget, so you may need to make some compromises, but sugar, fiber content and calorie density are the most important variables. Any processing that makes the food smaller and therefore higher calorie per gram is counterproductive - that includes juicing, peeling, drying, and long cooking at high temperatures.
I know this all sounds confusing, but it boils down to eating foods as whole as they grow. All of the plant or animal is eaten, and you don't throw away parts that are edible. It's hard to do that with meat, but it's important to eat whole produce and whenever possible, the whole animal (at least some skin and organ meats).
Vegetable and fruit juices aren't paleo-friendly, because they aren't whole foods - the healthiest part has been removed (the skin/fiber). Any processing that decreases the nutrition or increases the caloric density of a food is non-paleo (at least for weight loss).
Thin paleo athletes can get by with some minimally processed, calorie dense foods such as dried fruit, fruit/vegetable juice, baked potato... but for weight loss these foods aren't ideal.
It isn't that V-8 and other veggie juices are so terrible, but that whole vegetables and fruit are so much better because none of the good stuff is lost. Eating whole fruit and veggies will be more filling than juices, because the whole veggies and fruit digest more slowly and provide more nutrition.
Carnation drinks are mostly sugar. There are some paleo protein drink powders, but they're not cheap or easy to find. There are paleo smoothie recipes you can find online through google.
I do sometimes used canned tomato juice or V-8 as a base for my homemade veggie soup, but I dilute it with chicken stock and add tons of veggies and greens. I'm finding though that petite diced tomatoes with chiles (from the dollar store) work just as well and is cheaper and more paleo-authentic.
It takes quite a bit of effort to eat paleo on a tight budget, so you may need to make some compromises, but sugar, fiber content and calorie density are the most important variables. Any processing that makes the food smaller and therefore higher calorie per gram is counterproductive - that includes juicing, peeling, drying, and long cooking at high temperatures.
I know this all sounds confusing, but it boils down to eating foods as whole as they grow. All of the plant or animal is eaten, and you don't throw away parts that are edible. It's hard to do that with meat, but it's important to eat whole produce and whenever possible, the whole animal (at least some skin and organ meats).
thank you for the info <3 i also know a few people who do a lot of greens smoothies, i can also ask them for recipes. what about my dried veggie chips? i'm assuming not paleo?
as im sure you can see through my conversations, i am willing to give up everything... except coffee and chocolate, and even those i'm willing to make CHANGES. i do want to do a very very strict paleo diet for this week, so i'm open to any and all suggestions... which is why i posted this ^^ other people doing Paleo can direct me to paleo alternatives of my favorite things!
Last edited by Alyssa Autopsy; 05-23-2013 at 11:21 AM.
thank you for the info <3 i also know a few people who do a lot of greens smoothies, i can also ask them for recipes. what about my dried veggie chips? i'm assuming not paleo?
as im sure you can see through my conversations, i am willing to give up everything... except coffee and chocolate, and even those i'm willing to make CHANGES. i do want to do a very very strict paleo diet for this week, so i'm open to any and all suggestions... which is why i posted this ^^ other people doing Paleo can direct me to paleo alternatives of my favorite things!
Don't worry too much about being strict or perfect, that can set you up for frustration. Don't expect weight loss every week either, because you're bound to make mistakes along the way. Just focus on learning to do better today than you did yesterday.
As for the veggie chips, what are the ingredients listed on the label? Depending on the vegetables used and the other ingredients, they might not be a terrible choice for an occasional treat. The same is true of nuts and dried fruits. A tiny amount sprinkled on a big salad now and then is fine. Eating handfuls frequently can be a problem when you're trying to lose weight.
Don't worry too much about being strict or perfect, that can set you up for frustration. Don't expect weight loss every week either, because you're bound to make mistakes along the way. Just focus on learning to do better today than you did yesterday.
As for the veggie chips, what are the ingredients listed on the label? Depending on the vegetables used and the other ingredients, they might not be a terrible choice for an occasional treat. The same is true of nuts and dried fruits. A tiny amount sprinkled on a big salad now and then is fine. Eating handfuls frequently can be a problem when you're trying to lose weight.
sweet potato, taro, squash, carrots, green beans, non-hydrogenated canola oil, dextrin, and sea salt. i'm assuming it's going to be a no-no due to the canola oil, and dextrin.
and i just wanna try and be super-strict just to see how hard it is. if it's too hard to forgo some things, i'll add them back into my diet but in smaller amounts than usual, and i'll do semi-paleo instead of strict paleo. i do want to continue to cut out sugars and artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup solids. my goal is more for health than weightloss.
and i DO wanna lose FAT, but i also want to GAIN muscle. ive only been awake 3 hours and ive already done a 1-mile bike ride, 15 crunches, and 15 pushups. i haven't eaten yet, but that's because today is one of those days where the smell of food is making me feel ill. i will be making a mushroom omelette soon because i NEED to eat, but i already know it's going to be difficult... but i'm still on antibiotics so i can't skip any meals today at all.
also, i'm starting to get into the habit of drinking water with meals. ive never been a big water drinker, but drinking with a meal is easier than drinking it by itself. i also have mio flavoring for my water, but i use it sparingly, so it won't be hard to stop using.
do you know what i could replace yoghurt with?
*edit* looked it up. i don't do greek yoghurt or yoghurt made with coconut milk... would home-made almond milk yoghurt work?
Last edited by Alyssa Autopsy; 05-23-2013 at 01:38 PM.
Sunday
Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 2 slices bacon, 2 mugs coffee with unsweetened almond milk (no creamer, sugar, agave nectar, or honey)
You can always throw any veggies that you like into the scrambled eggs or put some pico de gallo on the eggs =)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alyssa Autopsy
Snack: Raw or Dried veggie slices or V8
I end up making veggie and/or fruit smoothies to have as snacks.
afridgefulloffood.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/05/home-made-real-food-v8-juice-aka-vegetable-smoothie.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alyssa Autopsy
Dinner: Chicken breast with lightly buttered steamed veggies
You don't just have to steam them. You can also try something like this...
everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/
Last edited by PaleoPeanut; 05-23-2013 at 01:38 PM.
You can always throw any veggies that you like into the scrambled eggs or put some pico de gallo on the eggs =)
I end up making veggie and/or fruit smoothies to have as snacks.
afridgefulloffood.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/05/home-made-real-food-v8-juice-aka-vegetable-smoothie.html
You don't just have to steam them. You can also try something like this...
everydaymaven.com/2013/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/
i LOVE steamed veggies :3 but sometimes i DO do stir fries. this week is a challenge to see how i feel at the end, and if i like how i feel i will look into more recipes, to have more variety. right now i decided to keep it simple as possible.
okay so i went shopping. all i bought was salad stuff, apples, fish, chicken, and heavy cream to replace my coffee creamer, and chocolate. the chocolate i got has SOME carbs, but it's dark chocolate with almond with no sugar, no trans fat, and no gluten.
I know that people who are strictly paleo don't eat certain things like yogurt, nuts, etc. But many people follow a mostly paleo diet and eat these things without issue. I am one. (Actually, I had no idea what paleo was until I started on 3FC.) As I read more about it, it occurred to me that most of what I eat is paleo. I can't give up the yogurt or nuts though - or an occasional piece of cheese!
Question: For those of you who do paleo strictly, is there a reason why you follow it strictly? Did you try eating things like yogurt and nuts and could not lose weight? It seems like some people follow it without regard to the issue of whether they could eat these other, non-paleo foods and still lose weight.
There are so many forms of paleo that I believe strict has no meaning. If you wanted to follow a strict paleo diet in terms of anthropological authenticity, you'd have to eat only wild plants and game, including all parts of the animal - skin, blood, organ meats, insects (probably lots of insects and worms -they would have been in the plants, and paleo people would have sought them out as well, in their own right) and perhaps even a fair amount of dirt since cleaning food would have mostly consisted of shaking the food plant or wiping it without water).
No modern paleo diet suggests eating like this, but it's hard to talk about strict paleo when one can only adhere strictly to the paleo diet one is following and they can be quite different.
Some paleo diets don't allow honey, some do.
Some allow no dairy, some allow only fat free dairy, some allow only full-fat dairy, some allow only fermented and aged dairy, some allow dairy only from goats, sheep, and donkey (I forget the logic behind that one, I think the argument was that these animals were domesticated first - or were small enough for paleo humans to occasionally capture and milk, something like that).
Some allow all tubers (potato, sweet potato, tarro, squash, carrots, beets... anything that grows underground). Some allow none, and some forbid some but not others such as allowing sweet potato, but dissallowing white potato.
Some forbid eggs (or chicken eggs specifically, strawberries peanuts, shellfish and any other food that is a common allergen (due to the theory that allergens are common only in foods that are relatively new to the human diet).
Some forbid legumes entirely, while some allow the legumes which can be eaten whole (such as green beans, snap peas and snow peas) and some allow small lentils, but not dried beans.
Some allow coffee and cacao (unprocessed Chocolate), some do not.
Some allow nightshade vegetables (such as eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, hot pepper) and some do not.
Some demand that all meat must be wild game or grass-fed for a better omega 3 balance, while others recommend supplementing with omega 3 supplements and fatty fish, and others don't address omega 3 balance at all.
Some paleo diets are meat-centric and others are plant based (in the USA, the meat-centric low-carb is more popular - but there's decent evidence that many paleo people foraged more than they hunted - meat was an occasional treat, not the staple of the diet).
Because there are so many types of paleo, I think it's almost impossible to talk about "strict paleo" unless you're eating bugs and getting all your food from the woods.
There are so many forms of paleo that I believe strict has no meaning. If you wanted to follow a strict paleo diet in terms of anthropological authenticity, you'd have to eat only wild plants and game, including all parts of the animal - skin, blood, organ meats, insects, and perhaps even a fair amount of dirt.
No modern paleo diet suggests eating like this, but it's hard to talk about strict paleo when one can only adhere strictly to the paleo diet one is following and they can be quite different.
Some paleo diets don't allow honey, some do.
Some allow no dairy, some allow only fat free dairy, some allow only full-fat dairy, some allow only fermented and aged dairy, some allow dairy only from goats, sheep, and donkey (I forget the logic behind that one, I think the argument was that these animals were domesticated first - or were small enough for paleo humans to occasionally capture and milk, something like that).
Some allow all tubers (potato, sweet potato, tarro, squash, carrots, beets... anything that grows underground). Some allow none, and some forbid some but not others such as allowing sweet potato, but dissallowing white potato.
Some forbid eggs (or chicken eggs specifically, strawberries peanuts, shellfish and any other food that is a common allergen (due to the theory that allergens are common only in foods that are relatively new to the human diet).
Some forbid legumes entirely, while some allow the legumes which can be eaten whole (such as green beans, snap peas and snow peas) and some allow small lentils, but not dried beans.
Some allow coffee and cacao (unprocessed Chocolate), some do not.
Some allow nightshade vegetables (such as eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, hot pepper) and some do not.
Some demand that all meat must be wild game or grass-fed for a better omega 3 balance, while others recommend supplementing with omega 3 supplements and fatty fish, and others don't address omega 3 balance at all.
Some paleo diets are meat-centric and others are plant based (in the USA, the meat-centric low-carb is more popular - but there's decent evidence that many paleo people foraged more than they hunted - meat was an occasional treat, not the staple of the diet).
Because there are so many types of paleo, I think it's almost impossible to talk about "strict paleo" unless you're eating bugs and getting all your food from the woods.
when i said i wanna be strict, it was more about actually sticking to the plan i set than eating bugs xD i'm trying to be as strict as POSSIBLE FOR ME. i'm cutting out my yoghurt, my granola bars, my fiber one brownies, no more hershey chocolate, no more carnation drinks, stop with the cereal and oatmeal, and instead trying to have some sort of fruit and lots of veggies every day. believe it or not, i LOVE veggies, sometimes i'll have 2 cups of steamed veggies just as a snack. fruit is harder for me because i tend to binge on sweets and the fruits i like (apples, oranges, peaches, raspberries, strawberries) are all quite sweet. however, i'm planning on, if i do this long-term, having 1 cheat day a week where i CAN have a bowl of cereal or a granola bar. i'm not going to cheat to the point of tons of carbs, but just a bit.
when i said i wanna be strict, it was more about actually sticking to the plan i set than eating bugs xD i'm trying to be as strict as POSSIBLE FOR ME. i'm cutting out my yoghurt, my granola bars, my fiber one brownies, no more hershey chocolate, no more carnation drinks, stop with the cereal and oatmeal, and instead trying to have some sort of fruit and lots of veggies every day. believe it or not, i LOVE veggies, sometimes i'll have 2 cups of steamed veggies just as a snack. fruit is harder for me because i tend to binge on sweets and the fruits i like (apples, oranges, peaches, raspberries, strawberries) are all quite sweet. however, i'm planning on, if i do this long-term, having 1 cheat day a week where i CAN have a bowl of cereal or a granola bar. i'm not going to cheat to the point of tons of carbs, but just a bit.
And that's what's important -finding the style of eating that allows you to meet your health, fitness, and weight goals. There's a lot of wasted time and effort in the paleo communities (such as on the Mark's Daily Apple website) arguing over what is and isn't paleo and who has the best, most strict, most paleo diet... and the horrible potential consequences of following the imperfect path.
The danger in focusing on perfect or strict is that it's very easy to start second-guessing yourself or that the effort in finding which of the many paleo diets is right for you, and how strict you need to be.
Your veggie chips for example - some would say they're not paleo because of the starchy veggies like the tarro, others would say the added salt, and others the oil, and still others the fact that frying removes the water (and therefore they're less hunger-satisfying than the equivalent calories in whole, fresh veggies) and still others would say they're fine in reasonable amounts.
I can't tell you what your paleo looks like. The very definition of paleo is difficult to pin down unless you adopt someone else's definition or create your own. That's what I both love and hate about paleo. I've read dozens of paleo recipes online and in cookbooks, and there are always recipes among them that I don't consider truly paleo
Or that I consider paleo, but otherd do not.
When you follow paleo, you have to be comfortable with others disagreeing with your choices, even others following paleo, because their paleo may not be your paleo.
The many flavors of paleo make it very difficult to be a paleo beginner, because none of the rules are agreed upon by everyone within the paleo community.
And that's what's important -finding the style of eating that allows you to meet your health, fitness, and weight goals. There's a lot of wasted time and effort in the paleo communities (such as on the Mark's Daily Apple website) arguing over what is and isn't paleo and who has the best, most strict, most paleo diet... and the horrible potential consequences of following the imperfect path.
The danger in focusing on perfect or strict is that it's very easy to start second-guessing yourself or that the effort in finding which of the many paleo diets is right for you, and how strict you need to be.
Your veggie chips for example - some would say they're not paleo because of the starchy veggies like the tarro, others would say the added salt, and others the oil, and still others the fact that frying removes the water (and therefore they're less hunger-satisfying than the equivalent calories in whole, fresh veggies) and still others would say they're fine in reasonable amounts.
I can't tell you what your paleo looks like. The very definition of paleo is difficult to pin down unless you adopt someone else's definition or create your own. That's what I both love and hate about paleo. I've read dozens of paleo recipes online and in cookbooks, and there are always recipes among them that I don't consider truly paleo
Or that I consider paleo, but otherd do not.
When you follow paleo, you have to be comfortable with others disagreeing with your choices, even others following paleo, because their paleo may not be your paleo.
The many flavors of paleo make it very difficult to be a paleo beginner, because none of the rules are agreed upon by everyone within the paleo community.
yeah i noticed a lot of different things like that in paleo. some sites say yoghurt is okay, some say sweet potatoes are okay, and others completely eschew ANY dairy or types of carb-y vegetables. i think it's good now that i edited a bit and got myself better chocolate than the hershey's (it's even gluten free) and removed the yoghurt, and added heavy cream to the coffee instead of sugary creamer. i'm also taking a multivitamin, so if i undereat on something or another, i'll still be getting an extra helping of nutrients. and like i said, i'm gonna have a once-a-week cheat day, but even then it's not gonna be much of a cheat other than some cereal or a granola bar. i really want to limit my carbs as much as i can without removing carbs from my diet 100% or removing healthy carb foods like apples. i'm also going to eat my dried veggies as snacks regardless of carbs because i simply enjoy the dried veggies, and i never have much at once anyway. but they're expensive so i'm going to stop buying them anyway, so i can afford more non-dried veggies. i'm also avoiding dried fruit because for some dumb reason they add sugar to it! i mean, it's fruit, it's already sweet, why do you have to go and poison it with craploads of sugars?
