BF wants to try Paleo

Hurricane_C

Hey guys... I'm completely new to the Paleo world. My BF just got his cholesterol results back today and his HDL was only 30 (everything else was okay, but the 30 really upset him) so he wants to try Paleo (referred to him by a friend in the AF) and see if that helps. I'm willing to support him as much as I can, the only thing is I'm vegetarian and I usually do all of our cooking. I also get most of my protein from legumes and dairy. Is there a way that I can particiape in this with him without having to eat meat? I wouldn't mind reducing the amount of processed foods I consume (I've been trying to do that anyway - but failing) but I like my beans and soy :-/

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Catrina

impyimpyaj

Well, you're going to have to get your protein from somewhere, so you can't cut out all your protein sources. But you can change them a bit. Do you eat eggs? Dairy? You could go more the primal route, since primal doesn't take issue with dairy. Quinoa is a good vegetarian source of protein as well.

Keep in mind that a lot of soy products are by definition "processed foods." I'm not saying they're evil, I'm just saying that if you want to cut out processed foods, if you're eating a lot of soy, that's processed.

An actual "paleo" diet isn't super compatible with a vegetarian lifestyle, as I understand it, but that doesn't mean you should just throw in the towel. Make a move toward a more "clean eating" lifestyle, focusing on whole foods instead of processed ones. Your boyfriend will be cutting out grains through his paleo lifestyle, so you can do that too, if you so choose. There's nothing in grains that isn't more readily available in other vegetable sources anyway. If you make those changes, you'll see the benefits.

Good luck!

twinmom01

Good general Info

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://www.robbwolf.com/
http://garytaubes.com/ - his book Why We Get Fat is great at explaining what our body needs….

Good Paleo Websites for food

http://everydaypaleo.com/
http://www.health-bent.com/
http://nomnompaleo.com/
http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/



Being vegatarian it is pretty hard to follow a Primal/Paleo way of eating since you need protien and if you aren't eating meat and fish...

You could always do up things sort of separately - I.e. make a big hash of veggies and you have some veg. form of protien and your BF has a piece of grilled chicken.

make a big bowl of guacamole and use veggies to dip...

If you do eggs - lots of different egg based dishes....

Hurricane_C

Well I decided to just bite the bullet and try Paleo for 30 days to see if I feel better. I read (most of) the book my BF got and it makes sense, so I want to try it. Tonight I had meat for the first time in over 3 years... and I'm feeling a little sick... okay a lot sick. But I want to give it a go these 30 days and see if I feel better. I felt so much better after giving up meat, but I'm still tired all the time and bloated and blah... so hopefully this will help - if not then I've just wasted 30 days and I can go back to eating the way I was.

I'm also kinda worried my HDL will go down and my LDL will go up from this diet (my HDL was 84 and my LDL was 46)... its hard to argue with numbers like that - but my iron, L-carnatine, etc etc is low... so ... idk... wish me luck

MrsAbles

Take it small and slow with the meat, Hurricane. Good luck!