First week of Primal

cdngrl81

My husband and I have been following the Primal lifestyle since Saturday and love it so far. I am down 4lbs and he is down 8lbs. It is crazy and definitely a motivator! I think I am going through a slight case of carb flu, just minor headaches and a little sleepy, so I hope that is over soon, but mostly I am worried I may not be eating enough. I know this lifestyle isn't about counting calories, but I am still logging to keep track of my carbs and I am noticing I am rarely able to eat over 1000 calories in a day and that is with eating bacon and eggs every day. What can or should I do to increase my calories? I am not that hungry and I am eating 3 meals a day and usually a snack before bed.

monkeydharma

Fats, mostly.

Have an avocado with the bacon/eggs, or added to the salad. Extra olive oil on the salad. Nuts for a snack. Things like that.

bozmo

That's great cdngrl81!
I'm glad to hear you are both having good success on the plan.

I'm not a dietician but 1000 calories seems low. Nuts, pork rinds, guacamole are all good snacks to boost the calories. Are you getting enough protein too? It could just be that you don't feel that hungry anymore because you eliminated sugars. Its easy to not eat as many calories when you cut carbs.

lys617

If you like coconut, coconut oil is a good healthy fat. Can you tolerate dairy? Some pastured butter on veggies or with eggs is always yummy, if you can't tolerate diary then look into ghee. And I second the avocados and olive oil, both very good. Hope this helps you out!

GalaxyDuck

I agree with monkeydharma, more fats!

Feel free to take a look through my diary for ideas. I tend to eat between 1500 and 2000 (don't look at this week, I've been quite sick with no appetite and barely logging my foods, but start around Sunday and work your way back and you should see some examples).

Hope that helps.

mom2tek

If you like coconut, coconut oil is a good healthy fat. Can you tolerate dairy? Some pastured butter on veggies or with eggs is always yummy, if you can't tolerate diary then look into ghee. And I second the avocados and olive oil, both very good. Hope this helps you out!

Is dairy Paleo?? I was thinking you were not allowed to have any. I'm new to this lifestyle and learning what is and what is not Paleo. Is there a list somewhere...a guideline to go by that I can follow??

GalaxyDuck

Is dairy Paleo?? I was thinking you were not allowed to have any. I'm new to this lifestyle and learning what is and what is not Paleo. Is there a list somewhere...a guideline to go by that I can follow??

Dairy is something that some people can do and some people can't. Generally dairy is not part of a paleo lifestyle, but if you follow the primal lifestyle, it sometimes allows full fat dairy. When you are first starting, a good idea is to go 30 days without dairy, as with grains and legumes. After your 30 days, try re-introducing some dairy and see if it affects you in any way. Then you will know whether or not you can do dairy.

Here's a helpful link that monkeydharma provided in another thread:
http://www.complete-strength-training.com/images/paleo-food-paleolithic-nutrition-foodpyramid-1.jpg

mehaugen

I eat bacon and eggs every morning. Go at 'em!

mom2tek

Thanks for the link macphean! I am going to try leaving out dairy for 30 days and see what happens. I have to say will be difficult for me though. Grains and legumes I don't think will be as difficult.
Like the article mentioned I do limit my fruits due to the sugar and need to pick up more veggies.

digitalalchemy

That is really pretty low, but I remember having the same problem when I first started. I have heard Robb Wolf recommend people upping their starchy vegetable intake (sweet potatoes and yams) a little if you are too satiated by the high protein and high. This will help increase your hunger so you can eat a little more. Play around with your carbs and see if that helps. You don't have to be low-carb to be on paleo. Good luck!

twinmom01

Thanks for the link macphean! I am going to try leaving out dairy for 30 days and see what happens. I have to say will be difficult for me though. Grains and legumes I don't think will be as difficult.
Like the article mentioned I do limit my fruits due to the sugar and need to pick up more veggies.

I was eating a clean with primal slant before and I am almost done with a strict 30 day Paleo...giving up diary wasn't that hard...

Now that being said as I am coming up on the end of 30 days I think I will be adding some dairy in here and there - mainly in the form of grass fed butter and cheeses...I had a cobb salad the other day at a resturant and forgot to tell them not to add the blue cheese...luckly it was put on it a scoop so it was easy for me to push most of it off to the side...but if I wasn't doing strict I would have mixed the cheese all up in it...

I have been limiting my carbs because as of right now I do want this to be part of loosing overall weight...that part was the hardest as I was used to having a nice apple with some almond butter almost everyday and a Larabar every once in a while...I have been sticking to lower sugar/carb berries and subbing red pepper strips and cucumbers for snacks instead of apples ....and my Larabars...I think i have eaten 2 in the last 2 weeks (1 I ate half one day and the rest 2 days later and I ate a full one last night after my kickboxing class cause I was hungry)