New to primal/paleo. I have some questions...
AuntieKT
Posts: 235 Member
So today was my first day trying to eat as primal/paleo as possible. I am sure I am going to have loads more questions. Becuase I am usually an all or nothing person that worries about everything I hope I don't become too obnoxious. It is a little difficult right now because I still have so much food in the house with trace amounts of sugar in it and I don't want to just throw it all away. I read the rules forthright Whole 30 plan and they said that you should 100% cut everything out and not have any artificial "fake" cheat foods either. Like using stevia instead of sugar and eating sugar free items that are still sweet. I have noticed on the message boards though that not everybody is that strict. I was wondering what you guys thought as a whole about artificial sweeteners? If I don't cut them out completely, do you think it will keep me from "feeling the best I have my whole life" or my weight loss or anything? I plan on getting all kinds of sweeteners out of my diet eventually, but I thought if I finished off the remainder of this stuff with "sugar free" sweeteners in them, it wouldn't be the end of the world. What do you think?
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Well, I'm not militant, but I cannot recommend artificial sweeteners. Their problem is 3 fold, insulin production seems to still go up with fake sugars (which doesn't help with potential weight loss)..
Your body still keeps getting the "sweet fix", and you can't break the cycle of addiction..
and given the processed nature of it, it is probably quite toxic to your system no matter what they say.
The reason the whole 30 people get so militant, is that we are all dealing with true addictions... and that unless you can go 30 days without it, you are not free of it. I have to agree with them on that. That being said, I will occasionally partake in sugars, grains, legumes and of course adult beverages. But in their book they say, if you are going to eat these things, make them meaningful.0 -
I mostly agree with this. But you have to decide how far you need to take it. I personally don't agree with the alternative sugars. If you think you need something sweet have berries or a small piece of fruit. I know sugar is my trigger so I don't partake(except the cookie my son wanted to share on christmas) although I have better control now then when I first started I know that I don't need it so I don't eat it. If you are doing the whole 30 stick to the plan to get the benefits!
For primal Mark does mention a 80-20 approach but again you need to figure out if that is a plan that will work for you.
Welcome to the group!0 -
It depends: are you doing a whole 30 or are you just trying to transition to paleo/primal? If you're aiming for a strict whole 30, you need to cut that stuff out. If you're trying to transition and aren't concerned with being 100% at this time, you can decide whether it's worth it to you to keep using this stuff.
After not having artificial sweeteners for a while, I personally want to pull my tongue out of my head when I taste them. They're overly sweet and chemical tasting. I'd much rather have some fruit for sweetness
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On a whole30, artificial sweeteners are not allowed. I'm on it at the moment, so out go my diet cokes in the pub - normally I'd have diet coke or light tonic water on a night out (I don't drink much alcohol, it doesn't agree with me).
Aside from that though I do try and avoid them, they are essentially chemicals and therefore junk, and they promote cravings for sweet things same as sugar does.0 -
I agree with the other posters, sweeteners are just as bad, if not worse I think. If you must have something sweet, use some raw honey or organic maple syrup....much better than chemicals.0
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As a personal choice I don't do sugar or artificial sweetners. I use honey and maple syrup. It is amazing how good baking can be without sugar, I have made some wonderful things that other non paleo people have loved.
For me artifical sweetners cause serious stomach problems so I just avoid them completely.
I have to say that it didn't take long for any cravings to stop.0 -
I haven't done whole 30 but we don't use sugar or fake sugars. I do use a bit of honey or homemade applesauce if I want things sweetened though. The more you go without it the less you miss it to be honest, I don't feel like I need it now at all.
I did try using artifical sweetners once upon a time and they gave me the most terrible headaches, that was enough to scare me off!0 -
When I *need something sweet and I am being strict I go with raw honey. It is sooooooo good.0
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Thank you for your responses. I do agree that sugar and artificial sweeteners are bad and I plan to gradually eliminate them from my diet totally. My question was more about how big of a deal people thought it was if I still ate a few trace amounts of it while I am using up my old "not so paleo" food.0
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I think if you slowly wean yourself off what you have left, you'll be fine. It is very hard to jump right into pure Paleo. I've been there before, and I'm getting back to it as quickly as possible, but still using up some stuff I had hanging around.0
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This is a lifestyle way of eating, not a religion. If you don’t follow the Paleo bible exactly, you won’t die and go to he!!.
Here are some websites where you can read up on Paleo/Primal.
http://www.archevore.com/
http://eatingacademy.com/
http://everydaypaleo.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
http://robbwolf.com/
http://thepaleodiet.com/
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/
http://nomnompaleo.com/
If you want some serious information:
Loren Cordain “The Paleo Diet”
Robb Wolf “The Paleo Solution”
Mark Sisson “The Primal Blueprint”
Mark Sisson “The Primal Blueprint 21 day Total Body Transformation”
Gary Taubes “Good Calories, Bad Calories”
Gary Taubes “Why We Get Fat”0 -
There are people on the paleo boards that eat bread and frozen pot pies. If you're going to do well, ignore them.
Cut out the crap.
Eat real food.
The end.0 -
Thanks again for all of the advice!0
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I stay away from all sugars including honey and maple syrup because they are my achilles heal.
Decide where you want to go.
80/20 rule or full on whole 30.Whatever works for you.Don't stress or it won't be worth it.
Good luck!0 -
I would also suggest getting rid of all artificial sweeteners, your body doesn't process 'foods' made in a lab as food because, well, it isn't. I use stevia when I'm really trying to cut the carbs (my sweet tooth doesn't allow me to cut out all sweets) and don't want to even use honey or maple syrup (or, gasp! the occasional granulated sugar). Read this article http://www.marksdailyapple.com/stevia/#axzz2GyxB3Noa about the potential added health benefits of stevia over any other sweetener. I had to look it up and make sure it was OK, sometimes I'm surprised by what's not considered Primal/Paleo, I was impressed with the enthusiastic thumbs up it was given. However, they still don't make diet coke with stevia, so to cut that completely out would be ultimately beneficial to you and your body! (it will thank you, you'll see)0
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I've been eating 'primal' for almost a year now and I have stevia in a coffee with cream each morning. I have 1 coffee a day and quite enjoy my one teaspoon of stevia. Personally I don't feel it makes me crave more sugar.
Good luck with the primal/paleo. It is a lot of new information to absorb but you'll eventually find what works best for your body 0
