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!

Ahh that is sucky. I understand the missing sugar. I'm not much for bread but I love sugar. I'm focusing on fruit and finding recipes. I also have a little chocolate mixed with nuts.

Howdy all! I have a question for you guys - how many of you do dairy? If you tolerate dairy, have you ever tried cutting it out? What happened? I'm thinking of doing a short experiment to try to lose a few more pounds before a beach vacation in Feb. I'm open to other ideas - I stick to a primal eating plan (around 1200-1300 cals/day, with less than 50g carbs, and lots of veggies, proteins and fats) and run or walk 3 miles daily. Curious to hear about your experiences...

I do dairy, but only in small amounts - otherwise it flares up my arthritis, but fortunately due to lots of experimentation I know pretty much EXACTLY how much I can eat! I ate vegan for 3+ years, and I believe that cutting out dairy was the main reason I felt so good at the beginning of my vegan experiment. My husband, who also eats primally, can have dairy in pretty much unlimited amounts and has lots of keifr, homemade yogurt, ghee, butter, cheese, heavy cream, etc. without any negative effects.

Sugar is a tough one... I'm still struggling with this one... I will still use one packet of Sugar in the Raw a day if I have coffee, which I know only has 20 calories, but that combined with the 2 Tbsp.'s of half & half (even if it is organic and only has 40 calories...) somehow makes me feel like I'm "cheating"... I've also been allowing myself a few squares of very dark chocolate (about 100 calories worth or so...) as a "treat", but the trouble is I seem to want that "treat" every single day...

I've thought about trying to completely cut out sugar for a few weeks to see if it makes any real difference, but I'm not sure I should bother since realistically I don't see myself giving up the occasional decadent dessert every once in a while...

Although I would like to get to a place where I think that it would feel very liberating not to feel I needed something sweet everyday... Just not sure if that is possible, but hey, you never know...

I do dairy. I tried to cut it out, but I couldn't part with the cheese. I think cheese has been crucial to my success. There are times when one of those mini babybels has filled a hunger no amount of almonds or broccoli would. It's never made a huge impact on me, I have no intolerance to it and didn't notice any symptoms when I returned to it like I have when I've cheated with wheat.

The only sugar I'm allowing myself is the occasional chocolate. I don't really miss it at all.

I've been allowing myself a small amount of dairy in the form of 1 to 2 tbsp of organic half & half and maybe a tbsp of organic pastured butter a day and it hasn't made any difference in my maintaince... I've completely cut out dairy before, but I only think it helped my weight loss because of the reduction in calories from cutting it out...

I do dairy but limit it to cheese only. Technically I am allergic to dairy but find that if I keep it to a minimum I can eat it and so I choose cheese as my cheat. I don't mind not having milk or yogurt but I love cheese.

I really love cheese too... but it's just one of those foods that I could never seem to just have one serving of... I guess all those years of eating pizza and pretty much having cheese on almost everything really did me in... lol...

First off, 1200-1300 cals/day seems VERY low, especially for a primal/paleo diet. The only dairy I eat is cheese and some cream or half/half in my morning coffee. I haven't noticed any problems from it. Are you questioning whether eliminating it completely will help you lose quicker? If so, I guess the only way to find out is to try it. I would try upping my fat calories (and total calorie intake) . I know Jimmy Moore (Liven' la vida low Carb, Low Carb conversations, and ask the low Carb experts) says he has to eat an 80% fat diet to lose weight because too much protein kicks him out of ketosis. I personally don't count my calories but I do keep Carb intake low, my protein moderate and my fat high. My weakness is my red wine in the evening. I know if cut that out completely I would drop pretty quickly. I would be interested in knowing if cutting out your dairy made the difference.

Thanks, all, for the comments and thoughts.

Bindiboop - totally agree on carbs low, protein medium and fat high - that's exactly what I've been doing. And around 2 glasses of red wine a week as my indulgence. The calories seem to work for me - I've been losing 2-3lbs/week until this week (only lost 1lb this week). I'll definitely raise that number when I get to maintenance. And yeah, I'm wondering if cutting out dairy and maybe nuts would help me with a quick pre-vacation loss and of course you're right - need to try it to find out. I just thought I'd poll my favorite gang of experts to see if there were others out there who had gone down this road before.

I've just spent the last few weeks traveling for work and found this plan relatively easy to stick to. Bringing along cooked bacon, raw almonds and apple slices and storing them in hotel mini-fridges helped. Anyone else have any travel tips for eating our way? I'm learning as I go...