I think it's a lot cheaper and simpler if you don't try to sub bread items. Learn to love simpler foods. My daily meals are like this: breakfast is eggs of some sort, lately in omelet form. Lunch is chicken thigh and veggies. Fruit for snack. I'm primal, so I'll have yogurt sometimes too. Dinner is meat, veggies, and often a sweet potato of sort. I vary my meats quite a bit.

That's most days. I do have cauliflower crust pizza from time to time. Chili often. Made eggplant cannollenni the other night. Love spaghetti squash. But really, simple is still great.

I probably eat more fruit than I should, and rarely buy grass fed or organic, so a lot of my groceries come from Aldi. I still feel great and my grocery bill isn't any higher.

I think it depends on your health goals how many "treats" you can indulge in. I find wheat so bad for my health that I will NEVER eat it again. No, not even pizza... but why not just the toppings or make a meatza? My cravings return instantly when I resume eating high sugar or grains, and the pounds pack on as much as 1 pound per day.


I don't think it is realistic to plan to be 100% strict Paleo forever and ever. However, find a way to enjoy the Paleo lifestyle that keeps you getting closer to your health goals. Most importantly, you don't want to be constantly struggling with cravings and feeling like crap after each treat or you just won't find the lifestyle sustainable. Be careful that you don't fall into "eat all the things" after your 30 days. I did that after my last Whole30 (which ended before Christmas) and it totally wiped out all the benefits earned and then some.

The cravings coming back, that is what I would be afraid of. And I know it probably isn't realistic to consider NEVER having a slive of cake again, or enjoying chocolate. I think I will just try to refrain from it altogether for this first month. Once that is done, I will to have an indulgence and see how it effects me. Thanks for the advice

Hello all, my name is Lauren and my husband and I began a Paleo lifestyle a week ago today. We were looking for a lifestyle change, not a diet, that would help us both feel satisfied, healthier, and shed some weight in a healthy way. I have tried many times to lose weight and have always ended up disappointed because I ended up hungry at the end of the day. My husband worked with a few people who followed a Paleo lifestyle and suggested that we try it. After some research we decided to give it a go!

So far I am doing well and haven't had any slip-ups ( aside from a dash of milk in my coffe in the morning). There have been a few cravings of course ( I would have looooved some stuffed crust pizza tonight) but so far so good. And my husband and I both feel great just after a week. He has acid reflux, and hasn't even had to take any medicine since we started eating Paleo! We have three kids and are on a budget grocery wise. We are trying to make this diet affordable, but it is more expensive that our previous eating style. Yes, I know the price difference will be worth it in the end, but I was hoping some of you might have some buying tips?

Are there any good, online sites to find Paleo bread mixes, or premade breads and other items? I found a site called "Julian's Bakery" that seems promising. But I was wondering if anyone else had ideas?

Also, we have 3 small children and want to incorporate some of our eating habits in their diet as well. We have done some stir-fry dishes and bun-less burgers, chicken dishes, ect.. Anyone out there have some easy dinner recipes? I know there are lots of good dishes you can make, with the right ingredients. But we are trying not to spend to much on extra things, like Almond Flour, Coconut Milk, ect. I know some will be inevitable, but we want to try to work with what we have as much as possible. Anyway, any help will be appreciated. I look forward to this fresh start!

As for meat (to the OP and Nutmeg76) - Check out farmer's markets to find local farms and butchers. You might be able to work out deals to get biologically appropriately fed and pastured meats (pro tip - chickens and pigs are omnivores and foragers, they should be getting their protein from non-plant sources).

I don't know about the OP (OP, here's your settlements, I don't know how close they are to you, though - http://amishamerica.com/missouri-amish/ ), but Nutmeg76, I know there's Amish near you, and if you're willing to travel a couple of hours (about 3), you're not far from the primary Amish settlements up in the Holmes county area. They generally grow their livestock the old fashioned way, pastured and without antibiotics (whenever possible), and you can generally find the meat at a lower price than...well...anywhere. I highly recommend finding them and checking them out. They may also have general stores that you can shop at that will sell most things for cheaper than grocery stores.

Don't limit yourself to Whole Foods stores, and you can get the good foods without breaking the bank. :flowerforyou:

We shop mainly at the Commissary, which limits our options a bit. We just moved here in September, so the money for buying better qulaity meats was just not avilable. We have scoped out the local farms and plan to order bulk meat once we get our tax money back. In AK we had a reat butcher that charged reasonable prices for local meat and produce so we ate a lot more grass fed meat before we moved.