Starting Paleo tomorrow, few questions

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chellebublz
chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
Do I really HAVE TO give up all artificial sugars? I drink sooo much flavored water. I will give it up if necessary, but that will definitely be the hard part for me....

And I really want to continue doing my protein with pb2 after my runs, I know it's not really Paleo. Everything else I have no issues with. Just those 2 things.

Are there any good Paleo recipe sites? I'm going searching now :)

Replies

  • Montco
    Montco Posts: 19
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    For recipes go to nomnompaleo.com.

    I personally don't cut out all artificial sugars, but I definitely try to limit them. I'd say if you were going to consume them, beverages would be better than food items. I use a little in coffee and still have diet soda once in a while.
  • booyainyoface
    booyainyoface Posts: 409 Member
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    how about instead of diving right in switch your food for the first week... the next week cut your fake sugar drinks in half, and the following week in half again. i used to like them, but now when i take a sip of one it tastes like nasty chemicals and i don't want anymore.

    as far as recipes, my favorites are: paleomg.com, health-bent.com, civilizedcavemancooking.com

    good luck! also switch over to almond butter... you will probably need the fat and calories in your diet after nixing the grains :)
  • Twibbly
    Twibbly Posts: 1,065 Member
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    I use TrueLime, Orange, and Lemon in my water. They all have a tiny bit of Rebiana, but not much.
  • shenitamo
    shenitamo Posts: 147 Member
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    I started about a week ago and am carving down my flavored water stock pile. I like the advice of tapering down if you can and now that summer is right around the corner...lemon and cucumber in your water is awesome. Good luck! Feel free to add me as a friend and we can support each other.
  • rae_32
    rae_32 Posts: 11 Member
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    Some good ideas so far! I agree, if you like you can go for some lemon/ lime wedges or cucumbers in your water... for some people the visual aspect of "not just drinking water" is helpful. Herbal teas are also good to have on hand at work (for me after lunch) and in the evening at home... As you get into paleo/ primal you'll find that you enjoy the taste of true water and won't care for the sweetness of those artificial sweeteners anyways... that said I do occasionally go for a club soda or very occasionally a diet coke when I'm out having mixed drinks lol... and I have not given up my coffee and cream in the mornings...

    As for the shake questions, definitely give almond butter with coconut milk a try. I really love natural vanilla protein and 1/2 avocado and coconut milk- very decadent! you can also never go wrong with simple berries in a shake...

    Good luck with your first day and remember best to ease into it and don't be too hard on yourself if it takes some time figuring out what will work best for you. Don't get too overwhelmed with new recipes and changing everything right away (although new recipes can be fun)- for me I find keeping it simple is easier most of the time- find a handful of staple recipes that are easy for you (e.g. chicken and salad, steak grilled in coconut oil with veggies roasted in EVOO and garlic, taco salad, etc.) and rotate those throughout the week with a few recipe "experiments" thrown in..

    As for recipes, you could try chowstalker.com and civilized caveman, among others (nomnompaleo, etc). I often do a quick search on marksdailyapple.com when I'm first thinking about new recipe ideas...
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    The eating itself isn't going to be too terribly hard for me. As we have already cut out all processed things months ago. And for grains we were down to brown rice and whole wheat things. It seems like just an extra step. The hardest part for me is going to be the drinking. I have been doing 120oz of water BUT it is flavored water. I have been addicted to the Strawberry flavor of Walmart brand Crystal Light stuff for months lol that's literally all I drink =/

    I actually do have some Almond Butter in my cabinet for a couple of months now but I haven't been brave enough to try it. I'm a major peanut butter lover. I had to give it up completely for awhile because I could eat the whole jar with a spoon if I wasn't careful. So I switched to pb2, it's more expensive and harder to make so it helped lol. I guess I really should quit being afraid of the almond butter :D
  • carissar7
    carissar7 Posts: 183 Member
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    Honestly, if you love drinking your flavored water then just drink it, but start out less and less each week. No one particular "diet" is going to be perfect. I'm fairly new to the paleo lifestyle as well but still drink my coffee in the morning with the hazelnut creamer stuff. It's sugar free but I'm certain there is some evil form of wheat, gluten, soybean oil, etc. lurking in the ingredients. I don't feel as if it's hindering my progress towards better health, and if you really love something then I don't think you should give it up.

    As far as the almond butter, it's great! I am also a huge peanut butter fan, and I will admit the almond butter for me does not replace peanut butter. But I don't really crave it anymore, and if I do have a craving for something 'nutty' then I will usually eat almond butter with some apple slices. That helps the craving super fast. It might not be the same as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (mmmmm), but after eating this way for a few months I can honestly see my cravings slowly disappear. I am not as hungry, I get fuller faster, and food is becoming more about fuel for me than an emotional fix. I shuddered at the thought at giving up bread, pasta, and CHEESE but honestly I don't even miss those things anymore. If I feel like having a small amount of melted cheese for example on my veggies or eggs (which is rare) then I will do it. There's no point in depriving yourself.
  • breeanreyes
    breeanreyes Posts: 228 Member
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    Try slowly diluting your drinks, after you get used to less and less sweetener you will eventually be able to switch to straight water. You really should only have one or two servings of the stuff a day, not 16, but we all have our vices!
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    We all have our "no go's" - mine is coffee with sweetened creamer. I refuse to give it up. I moved from the coffee-mate chemical stuff to the Natural Bliss (from coffee mate). That's as far as I'll go - I can't go black. Yuck

    I have found like the poster above that once I was eating real food, anything with chemicals tastes "off" (surprisingly, that goes for a lot of processed foods too - I literally spit out a brownie/cookie bar someone made from a box a few weeks back. It tasted weird.)

    My advise would be to see if you could go 1 week without it. Then try it again. You may find after you've given your taste buds a break that you won't like it.
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    Thanks. We did our Paleo shopping today and didn't buy anymore drink mixes, so once it's gone it's gone and I think it will be ok. I will still be keeping the tiny containers of my favorite Strawberry Lemonade Crystal Light Liquid in my purse if we are out. But I'm going to try to cut it, I know I drink too much of it as it stands. In order for me to develop these good habits, I just need to cut things out. I know people encourage doing it gradually, but it's honestly easier for me to cold turkey. If I know I can't have it and why, then I'm less likely to cave. We are going to be 80% Paleo at best as it is, we aren't able to find beef or pork that is grass fed so we limited what we bought of that and just bought mostly chicken as we can find plenty of that here. We live in a small community and we do have alot of Amish but they raise mostly chicken.

    We were doing real good in eating a few months ago then just got out of the habit because we were on the go alot and eating out alot so that really slowed my weight loss to like 10 lbs in 2 months, but I am just thankful I continued losing instead of gaining from it. EAting like we have been is awful on my stomach so I'm hoping this will help that. And my fiance gets so fatigued right after he eats, and we have tested his blood sugar and all that to make sure he wasn't developing diabetes and he's just fine so he's worried it may be the gluten. So our plan is to follow as close as we can within our budget for 30 days, and after 30 days, we'll add back in things that are outside Paleo that we'd like to have (my drink mixes, peanut butter, dairy, etc) one by one so we can see how it affects our system.
  • each_day_stronger
    each_day_stronger Posts: 192 Member
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    I think it's great that you're cutting it out entirely! It'll save money, reduce your affect on the environment, and it's worth learning to like what REAL water tastes like again!

    You got this! Good luck!!
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    Made it through the first day. For dinner I made rosemary chicken that somehow ended up insanely spicy, sweet potatoes (in chunks) roasted in olive oil and some spices, steamed mixed veggies and a salad. We didn't die! lol I am domestically challenged, to put it mildly but it wasn't too bad. Of course my fiance's favorite part of the meal was the sweet potatoes and was sad when I told him that was the one part we have to limit ourselves on haha. I also made it through the day with only plain water and it suckssssss. I haven't logged my meals completely yet, but I"m sure I was way under calories =/
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    I suggest trying soda water instead of plain old flat-water. Squeeze a bit of lemon/lime in it, or drop in some frozen berries, for a bit of extra taste and it's quite good.

    Will probably take a few times to get used to flavorless soda, but I'm hooked (I used to think it was nasty).
  • 3rdxacharm
    3rdxacharm Posts: 377 Member
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    I switched from artificial sweetner to the sparkling water or club soda. And just this weekend I started with infused water. Delicious. You could infuse water with strawberries and lemon. Just add a few cut up strawberries and a slice or two of lemon to about 2 quarts water for a few hours or overnight. Good Luck!
  • dimplz369
    dimplz369 Posts: 28 Member
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    It might not be as bad as you think. I started a week ago and was so worried about giving up coke zero. So far, that part hasn't been so difficult. I usually drink water with a little fresh lemon or lime juice, or frozen strawberries or raspberries to give it a little flavor. I also drink unsweetened iced tea and some hot herbal teas in the morning. Good luck with your goals! Oh and feel free to add me since we're both new at this!
  • BrakemanSlova
    BrakemanSlova Posts: 54 Member
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    I have been experimenting and I have way more willpower against excess/bad carbs when I don't use artificial sweeteners. Got a Sodastream and make bubbly water with a little lemon or orange extract. It really does a pretty good job of satisfying my diet soda urges.
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    I am finding that I really don't care if I have it anymore or not. I will admit I have had it on occassion and it doesn't seem to be hurting me in any way. But I am not on a 100% Paleo yet. I am still having protein powder and pb2, and the occassional reduced sugar ketchup. We've been through about 4 days like that and my weight started dropping again after being stuck in a fluctuation cycle. I was jumping between 228 on a good day and 234 on a bad day and today was 225 so I can only hope it keeps going down and doesn't start fluctuating again.Really the only difference in my diet is dropping grains and dairy.