I think a lot of people who could benefit from this diet are turned off from it because they can't handle the thought of missing their favorite foods, or just the work involved in cooking this way. I won't lie and say it's not difficult sometimes, especially in the beginning.
Food is social, food is cultural, food is emotional. Having to go to Thanksgiving dinner with the family and have your own separate little dishes (this especially applies to people like me who are very gluten sensitive, we can't even use other people's pans to cook our food) and then you have to sit at the family table and have heaps of gorgeous stuffing and mom's amazing gravy and mashed potatoes sitting right in front of you... It's enough to drive you mad. But what I tell myself and other people again and again is that it's worth it.
Health and happiness is better than a super veggie burrito slathered with hot sauce (as crazy as that sounds.)
So I thought I'd write this entry to share tips for getting through the day-to-day of this diet.
Here are some basic tips for eating a nightshade-free Paleo-ish diet and not losing your mind from boredom. (full diet details are HERE)
I also have some recipe sites listed on my links page, and I promise I'll try to post more entries with recipes soon!
1) A New Way of Looking at Food
First, you need to clear out of your head all that mainstream mumbo-jumbo you've been told about diet and health. The food pyramid is a lie (okay, not totally a lie, just very foolhardy and based on shoddy research).
You should follow a pyramid that looks a little more like this:
But I encourage you not to just take my word for it. Do your own research, read some good books, check out my links page for research I've found.
2) Get Creative
More recipes pop up all the time. Keep looking, keep experimenting.
I NEVER thought I'd eat pizza again, until I found this recipe.
Also, sometimes you have crazy ideas that actually work! For instance, I made up a nightshade-free pizza sauce that's delicious. It's made with avocado, lots of lemon (tomato sauce is fruit and acidity, right??), fresh basil, oil, and garlic. It does kinda make your pizza taste a bit like a quesadilla with guacamole, but that's totally not a bad thing.
My palate has also changed dramatically from my days of Standard American Diet eating. I actually *crave* vegetables! Cauliflower and zucchini are two of my favorite things on earth.
Also, be OPEN to new things! Things that might gross you out at first, but are actually totally delicious... like bone marrow. I freakin' LOVE bone marrow. (The vegan I was 5 years ago is screaming right now.)
3) Don't Beat Yourself Up (No One is Perfect!)
I can't tell you how many times I've convinced myself that it'd be totally "okay" to eat that entire bag of potato chips or put hot sauce on my dinner... Only to end-up in crazy arthritic pain the next day.
I used to cheat like this more than I do now with things that hurt worse (like rice... oh man, that's a kicker). But I learned that it's soooo not worth it. And that bite of that thing you've been craving forever just never tastes as good as you imagine it would.
But really, we all have our moments. Don't beat yourself up for being a bad person. Just give yourself a good reminder of why you're on this diet (your health and happiness!) and keep on truckin'...
4) The Nuts and Bolts of What to Eat Everyday
Here are some ideas based on what I eat (find your own favorites!)
Please note that without saying it after every food item, I buy organic produce, and humanely raised meats and eggs. It's not just an ethical thing, it's for health reasons too.
Breakfast:
Eggs and bacon or chicken sausage (save that bacon grease, it's good to cook with)
Yogurt (homemade coconut yogurt or I can tolerate goat yogurt... not everyone can do the goat milk thing, so be advised.) Be careful of the additives in commercial yogurt. Gotta read those labels!
Side of organic berries
Decaf Chai, Yerba Matte Tea, or Decaff Coffee with coconut milk. (which one depends on your adrenal gland health and caffeine sensitivity.)
Meals:
Ye Olde Pan-grilled meat with veggies! It's a classic! Steam the veggies, oven roast the veggies, make a raw salad... whatever you desire. And I'm not talking processed meat here, I mean a pork chop, grass-fed steak, lamb chop, fish filet, (or go the extra healthy mile) and grill some liver*, etc..
*A note one cooking liver, it's a bit different than muscle meat... you must be gentle. I like simmering it in coconut milk and garam masala, cumin, garlic, and corriander. Don't over cook it. A little pink is good.
Bangers and Mash Paleo Style: Freshly made sausage with mashed sweet potatoes (get the white kind, they're less sweet) Serve with a salad and some sauerkraut.
Lazy Day Salmon Salad: Take a can of wild salmon, chop up some green onions, then finely dice whatever veggies you like, throw it in a bowl with the salmon, plop some mayo and GF mustard on it. Then add some shredded greens, and a dash of dill and pepper. Mush it all together, and nom down!
That paleo pizza I mentioned above is killer with tons of veggies and the avocado sauce or dairy-free pesto.
There are also recipes for coconut bread and rolls... So good! Who said you can't have a sandwich??
Soups! Like bone broth with sweet potato, carrots, garlic, onion and ginger. Make a huge pot and eat it for a few days. I do this once a week.
Lazy side salad: Handful of salad greens, heap of sauerkraut and/or fermented veggies, olive oil, lemon juice, dill... go!
And so many more things... go raid those recipe pages and experiment!
Snacks:
I admit, this can be a hard one. I LOVE chips, but all commercial brands are made with those nasty seed oils that are loaded with inflammation-causing Omega 6s. Honestly, those were one of the hardest things for me to give-up, and I've just managed to stay off of them for a bit.
Homemade chips: Taro root, yucca root, plantains, all make great chips! Fry them in some coconut oil, make some fresh guacamole for dipping (I make my guac with avocado, a dallop of unsweetened yogurt, garlic, onion, cilantro, and lemon.)
Dehydrated veggie chips. Slice veggies thin and dehydrate till crispy. Add some sea salt if desired. Make lots and store for later.
Random raw veggies or fruits. (don't go crazy on fruit... dried fruits are also not such a great idea because of the high sugar content)
Olives (especially the garlic stuffed kind... yum!)
Sunflower seeds *occasionally*
A whole avocado, cut in half and dusted with sea salt and lemon juice.
Random turkey slices.
Goat cheese nibs (only after a long healing period and for the goat cheese tolerant)
Out somewhere and in a pinch for a snack? I do eat Lara Bars occasionally. Not perfectly on-diet, but also not terrible.
In a perfect world I would be an amazing cook who followed all the rules and made everything from scratch... but we all have our limitations, and our digressions.
5) Cooking from scratch... Not That Bad (Except for the Pile of Dishes)
I know everyone always thinks it takes so much time to cook from scratch. It really doesn't!! Chopping veggies is normally not that intensive. Throwing a piece of meat or eggs in a pan is also not that time-consuming. It might add ten minutes of work to your day... but who cares? I'm sure you did something else for 10 minutes today that was totally non-productive. This is time much better spent!
And also, you'll have more energy to cook if you keep eating this way.
The only bummer for me is that we don't have a dish washer. On top of that, my hubby eats mostly vegetarian meals, so we both cook our own separate foods. Talk about a dish nightmare... Our next house will have a dishwasher!
So that's it! I hope this was helpful for those of you either new to the diet or frustrated with the diet.
Feel free to drop me a line and ask more questions if you so desire.
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