Thanks Mizz, the only thing I eat that has vegetable oil in it is salad dressing. I cant find any that dont, and I don't want to make my own, too much trouble. We only use coconut oil, butter and olive oil when cooking. The coconut oil took a while to get used to since I HATE coconut, but it works great for pork chops and chicken curry. I do eat cheese but not yogurt because of the sugar and high carbs, but I am not much of a fan anyway. I am hoping that this time, modifying the gluten free/low carb lifestyle to be more realistic and doable I will succeed. And, with 3FC to turn to for support, I am feeling very hopeful :cp:

Bindi-
I make salad dressing using equal parts extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with some fresh ground pepper and Mrs. Dash table blend mixed in. I just swirl it all together in a cup. No fuss, no muss, plus it's healthy, easy, and tastes good.

yeah...the problem with that, is that I don't like it. If I don't like it I wont eat it. I have tried the balsamic dressings, too acidic for me. I have acid reflux and I can't eat a lot of foods. I can eat creamy dressings only, even then sometimes I get AR. I don't eat a lot of salads, but when I do, it has to be a creamy dressing. It is just going to be one of those "non-paleo/primal" exceptions to my diet. I may try that olive oil/balsamic vinegar mix combined with some sour cream or even a little heavy cream, though. That might work.... I am always looking for a way to make it work. I know vegetable oils are not good stuff.

I am going to try sour cream to thicken mine. I made an apple cinnamon dressing (got the recipe from That's Some Good Cookin'). I made it paleo friendly and it tasted really good. We actually like it better than store brought. I think it's because it pairs so well with salad and we don't have to use much.

I've also tried salsa on salads. That may work well with the sour cream too.

My goal this week is to try to make some meals ahead of time. I've pre-made some salads but I need to do some main dishes as well.

Hi everyone... I've been following this thread for a little while now, and thought I'd jump in...

My first experience with a paleo diet was back in college after using Joe Friel's "The Triathlete's Training Bible" to start working towards doing my first Ironman... and it definitely was a very different approach to diet and training from anything that I'd ever heard of before, at least back then... especially, coming from a high carb, vegetarian diet for optimal training and performance approach that worked well for me back then...

I guess because of this initial experience... I've always thought that if you were going to eat "paleo" that you should be exercising and training at a "paleo" level as well... Which unfortunately hasn't been the case for me these last couple of years... But now that my desire to run another marathon has returned, I've decided to give paleo another look, since there is a lot about it that I really like...and I think that will work for what I want to do...

I'm planning on taking a look at "The Paleo Diet for Athletes" since I'm already familiar with Cordain and Friel... and I'm also going to take a look at "The Primal Blueprint" since he has a marathon/Ironman background that I'm interested in and I can relate to... So if anyone has any experience with either of these, I'd love to hear about it...

But I'm also looking forward to see how everyone here makes "paleo" practical which I know from experience isn't always so easy... :)

Tripswitch-

If by chance you have a Nook, I can lend you my copy of "Primal Blueprint" as I've finished reading it. However, you should be aware that although Mark Sisson has a back ground of marathon/triathalon training, his view is that this is over training and he advises short, intense workouts (weight lifting, sprinting) coupled with a few long walks or hikes or swims but not intense cardio like marathoning. So his book won't advise on how to train for stuff like that, except that he makes a point to say that when he deliberately scaled back on his training that he improved his performance in triathalons. He goes into it a bit. By his standards, I also overtrain since I do P90X.

The hardest part of paleo for me is meals on the go. I think actually it's probably the hardest part for most people. Snacks are easy enough- nuts and stuff are fine- but actual on-the-go meals aren't as easy. That's the part I struggle with.

EagleRiverDee thanks so much... :) I actually just downloaded it to my iPad earlier this evening, but haven't gotten a chance to really get into yet... And actually long walks sound a lot more appealing to me right now than training for another marathon... ;) but seriously, I'm definitely looking forward to getting his perspective... and from what I can gather so far the Cordain and Friel book has info on adapting paleo for endurance training... so I'll have that as a resource...

And ITA about meals on the go... I tend to eat out a lot, but fortunately there are more and more places here that are really embracing "paleo" friendly ingredients... But it definitely takes a bit more research and planning ahead on my part...

Right now I'm trying to figure out what I want to include in my lean protein choices... I was vegetarian for many years (and actually strict vegan for about 5 years) so I still just naturally gravitate towards that way of eating... But lately, I've been eating fresh fish and I've even been having some organic, free range, grass fed beef... Although if I'm going to continue to eat some meat on occasion I would like to look for wild game like venison or elk instead of beef... But as you can imagine, that's not something you come across at most places... so that's going to take some work on my part... But it will be a lot less work than what paleo man had to go through so I won't complain... :D

hi, all! I was absolutely horrible over the holidays as far as eating! :)

I am back here on day 1 of Paleo-Primal. I do try to limit dairy, but I have some, for example a pinch of cheese in an omelet.

This is going to be a big challenge for me. I also want to cut down on my wine consumption. One day at a time!

Hi, sounds like we have a similar problem... wine. I just restarted paleo on Sunday but I don't want to give up my evening red wine. I count it in my log but I have heard mixed info about whether the carbs in a glass of cab (there are about 6) breakdown in our body's the same as other food. I am going to try keeping my daily intake of carbs (including wine) below 65 gms, and if I don't lose I guess I will have cut it out or at least limit it to a few times a week.

I'm with you ladies! I keep my carbs below 50g a day usually but a glass or two of red wine on the weekends is a big weakness for me.

I went completely off plan for about two weeks. I struggled all through December with Christmas parties and travel, so I just gave up the ghost. Well, I'm up ten pounds (mostly water I'm sure), my skin is broken out, and I was an hour late for work today because I couldn't pull myself out of bed!

I didn't realize how good I felt on plan until I went off plan and realized how bad I felt before!! This week is all about getting the crap out of my system and going back to primal!

I'm feeling a bit tired as well after all this celebration, could you please share with us what kind of food made you go out of the plan?

Perogies. The perogies definitely got to me. And I did eat some sweets but not alot. And I had soda for the first time in ages.

I think part of the problem was the "it's christmas it won't be the same" mentality. I knew it would make me gain, and I was ok with that. But I'm not ok with how crappy I felt.

Hi all... It's good to read everyone's posts here about their plans and keeping on track... For me, I've had to cut out a glass of wine... It didn't really make sense to me how a glass or two of wine with dinner a couple times of week could make any real difference, but it really did seem to stall my progress... And it seemed to be making a difference in my training as well... I really think, since the body basically treats alcohol like sugar that was what was causing the problem for me at least...

Well...that just sucks :halfempty

Sorry bindiboop... Didn't mean to be a downer here... :) From what I can see most people can include some alcohol in their paleo/primal plans with no problems at all... So I wouldn't worry about it...

I've actually just been trying to do some research on the whole thing now and I should edit my previous post about your body basically treating alcohol like sugar... which isn't really accurate since the actual biochemistry is a bit more complicated... But from my understanding there's a lot going on there that could have been why it seemed to be an issue for me... perhaps, it lowering blood sugar... or maybe the alcohol needing to be processed before fat burning could resume and in the meantime the calories I was consuming being stored as result... Who knows...??? :dizzy:

I get it Tripp, different foods (or wine) affect everybody differently. I have heard some paleo folks say a glass of wine is fine and others say no way. I will just have to experiment with it. Its all trial and error, I've learned that much :mouse:

Glad to see everyone getting back. I had a leeway off plan for the holidays as well. Now I am trying to get my body back to being energized. I had a salad today and it was really good. I did finally start with some things ahead. The only problem is now that my niece and nephew are here, it harder to keep extras. There is some chicken leftover so I will make some salads with that for the pull and go times.

If anyone finds to-go meals please share. I'm always looking for new recipes.

Does anyone else get gastric upset from coconut oil? I've been using it sporadically- mostly for stir-frying vegetables - and I swear I get heartburn and a rumbly gut from it the following day. It comes so highly recommended that I want to like it. The flavor is fine, it's just the aftermath I'm not fond of.

It gives me diarrhea if I use more than about a teaspoon at a go. I mostly use it to grease pans now because it did bother me quite a bit.

I'm having trouble getting back "on plan". Everyone in my house has been sick at various times the past two weeks. I've had a hard time making it to the grocery store. I'm going today, so I will be back to paleo tomorrow. My joints hurt from eating bad.

I've heard that some people can be sensitive to it and need to gradually increase their intake. You may be one of those who are allergic to it. I don't like coconut at all but we use it to fry chicken (doing it tonight) and I have never had any GI problems from it. :dunno:

Dee, what brand of coconut oil do you use? Coconut oil is one food that does not give me trouble. I use nutiva.

I've never really gotten into coconut oil... and I really wanted to like it too... I've bought it several times and used it for various things and I always hope that "Oh, this time it will be different and I'll like it more now" but sadly it never is... But since I don't live in the tropics (unfortunately) I just rationalize and tell myself that I don't really need it anyway... :)

coconut oil makes me REALLY sick. I'm reluctant to ever try it again, actually, because one day it took me out of commission all day.

Wow I didn't know that about coconut oil. I usually have issues with other foods. Thankfully, it coconut oil works great for me and my stomach. At least there are other nut oils.

If anyone know of a good tasting olive oil, let me know. I usually pick the general one at the store but something is just missing with the taste.

Light or extra virgin? I really like the O brand organic from Safeway in Extra Virgin. It's got a nice fruity flavor.

I believe olive oil is a lot like wine... You have to taste it for yourself to see if you like it... Also the particular region that it is from actually makes a difference in its flavor to me as well...

Is the one from Safeway from California? They're producing some really good ones these days... I'm partial to ones from Italy, especially ones from Tuscany and also some from Liguria as well...

Also I like to pick ones that provide the harvest date on the bottle... This way I'm buying ones from last year's harvest and I know it's fresh... My understanding is olive oil is not something that improves with age like wine...

Thanks Eagle and Trip. We don't have a Safeway but I will start looking at dates and trying some. I tried chestnuts for the first time today. All of the Christmas nuts are on sale at Kroger for .50 a pound so I decided to try them. The taste reminds me of an acorn. They're not for me, but I will be getting some more almonds, pecans and walnuts.

Hi Jez... Are you following any specific plan? Right now I'm interested in applying paleo principles to not only what I'm eating, but to my lifestyle as well... So diet wise I'm avoiding grains, dairy, sugar, alcohol, processed and prepared foods, etc... So lots of veggies, lean protein, nuts and seeds, and fruit... for protein sources I've been using mostly fresh fish, but I'm also looking to also maybe have some wild game like venison or elk as well...

And as far as lifestyle changes I'd like to move more of my road running to trail running and maybe move from marathons to ultras, since those are pretty much exclusively trail based and held in some amazing places that I'd like to explore... and they're more like hiking/trekking with some running thrown in anyways... Which is what I've been gravitating towards...

Just curious... Does anyone include any game meats in their diet? I'd be interested to hear others experience and if anyone has any recommendations on ones they really like, as well as good suppliers that would be great...

Yes but only because I live in Alaska. We have halibut and red salmon we catch ourselves and then some moose that my boss gave me. My DH plans on doing some caribou hunting this summer.

Actual wild game, I'm not sure if it's legal to buy and sell. I don't think it is- I know for sure individuals in Alaska are prohibited from buying/selling game meat because they arrest people for it up here. Now you can get free range bison and reindeer (domesticated caribou) but they aren't truly wild. They will be, however, free range and grass fed so healthier by definition. And I've seen lots of shops that sell mixed meats- like hot dogs that have reindeer meat, etc. That may just be up here though and laws in other states probably differ.

It is illegal to sell game in Canada, I don't know about the states. We get a lot of game meat from friends that hunt. You can tell the difference between farm raised and truly hunted.

Thanks for the tips about game... I didn't even really stop to consider the distinction between what constitutes truly "wild" so I'll have to do some more research, but from the sound of it what is being sold as "wild game" isn't truly wild... I'll have to do some more exploring to see what I can find here... Wish me luck...

So it is possible to get wild game meat here in season...from a company that I really like... and is known for really top quality.... In fact the purveyor warns that the meat may contain buckshot... So that sounds about as "wild" as I'll be able to find here in NYC... lol... Now I just have to decide if I want to spend a small fortune on this little "experiment"... :dizzy:

Trip if it was too expensive I'd have to go shoot my own, but you are in NYC. What about surrounding states?

Lol... :) I went ahead and splurged and it was definitely a nice change of pace... But just from a practical standpoint it looks like I'll be sticking with mostly fresh fish... since that seems to be easier to come by...

Hi, I was wondering if I could get some advise. I am just new to the paleo diet and just working in to it. I don't really know where else to ask this so thought i'd try here.... for dinner tonight I had mushrooms and red pepper sautéed in butter with a tomato and a piece of steak which I had rubbed with raw garlic. I didn't have much oil other than rice bran so used a bit of that to cook the steak. About 5 - 10 minutes after eating I started feeling awful, very low energy, tired, headachey. I have no idea what could of made that happen?? I thought it was a pretty healthy meal. I have had all of those ingredients numerous times. I feel so low and tired I am trying very hard not to go have a biscuit for a sugar pick me up. Any ideas would be most welcome! Thanks

Cassrose if you are just starting, it could be carb withdrawls. Headaches, cravings and other aches happens when the body is trying to get carbs again. It should stop withing 1-2 weeks, because your body will start getting use to the lower carbs.

Thanks Mizzthingaling, I did think that but over the last 3 weeks I haven't had a lot of carbs, just thought it was strange it came on so fast after the meal. I have since realised the garlic was most likely off.

I miss sugar the most though at the moment!