cravings?

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I've been doing paleo for 2 weeks and feeling great! I've had a couple of cheats but I'm calling it a success. When are these cravings going to stop? Bread, pasta and chocolate cake consume my thoughts!

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  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
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    Bread... Honestly do not miss it but there is a paleo bread you can purchase at whole foods. Or, make your own http://againstallgrain.com/2012/05/21/grain-free-white-bread-paleo-and-scd/

    Pasta... This is where my wife hates me for not eating pasta, and since I'm the cook we all know how that goes. But I (and she) have found that using celery root (celeriac) in place of pasta for marinara and pesto to be a great. You can also use it to make a lasagna.

    Chocolate cake... We love dark chocolate so we purchase a variety of bars in the 80% or greater category, and we eat one row daily. Also, and this is a special treat mind you, I will make hot chocolate out of coconut milk and dark chocolate. We have found that 1.5 oz of chocolate chopped up finely to a mug of coconut milk works as a great ratio. Heat the coconut milk up in a pan and then whisk in the chocolate until melted and combined. This is rich so that 10 oz coffee mug is going to fill you up. You can also add cinnamon and other spices as you see fit.

    Also, sites like and against all grain, MDA and nom nom paleo have paleo friendly deserts that can be made. Just go lightly. I make these at least once a year and never have I heard someone complain about them (by good chocolate. We use Taza 80% stone ground and enjoy life chocolate chips). http://againstallgrain.com/2012/08/29/real-deal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
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    The one thing that worked for me and made Grains truly a bad thing in my mind was reading about how it was killing me and wreaking my mind. Grain Brain and Wheat Belly are very good books, written well and both by medical doctors. I can honesty say they do not pull at me at all. I went to dinner with my family last night for our youngest son's Birthday they all had Pizza and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie plate and olive bowl, they thought I was missing out, no way.
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
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    I have been gluten free for 5 years now and there are times I still want certain breads...really bad! You can either try to substitute, or go cold turkey and just make things that don't require breads like stir fry or meatloaf. If you are craving carbs in general, try having some sweet potato to get you by.
  • 0911shunamite
    0911shunamite Posts: 150 Member
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    I also struggle with a sweet tooth and for breads...There is a blog I follow and I have tried a lot of her recipes for desserts and have NEVER been disappointed nor has my husband who didn't even know what I made was paleo! Look up "PaleOMG". This woman is amazing.therr are also other sites with great recipes for paleo chocolate cake and even frosting! Good luck!!!!!
  • GrokRockStar
    GrokRockStar Posts: 2,938 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I've tried the Julian Paleo bread and it was horrid! I agree with arming yourself with information on the ill effects of grain, then you may think twice about consuming them, even with the cravings. When I gave it up I had such a hard time, like it was the end of the world :'( but I'm so glad I gave it up and don't miss it at all!
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
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    I've tried the Julian Paleo bread and it was horrid! I agree with arming yourself with information on the ill effects of grain, then you may think twice about consuming them, even with the cravings. When I gave it up I had such a hard time, like it was the end of the world :'( but I'm so glad I gave it up and don't miss it at all!

    Yeah, but once you haven't had real bread in 5-6 years it isn't that bad! LOL I mourned the loss of gluten for sure!! I don't buy Julian Bread now because there has been a lot of negative things about its Nutrition Facts being all lies. I just make my own makeshift "breads" for now. I currently make a coconut/almond flour one in the microwave for breakfast sandwiches.
  • LoriCARoberts
    LoriCARoberts Posts: 32 Member
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    Thank you all for ideas and input. Its been very helpful!
  • JennaKalli
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    Something that might help with pasta cravings is spaghetti squash pie. Cook up spaghetti squash, brown some ground beef, mix it all up with some tomato sauce and a couple of eggs and spices and bake it at 400 for an hour. It tastes like baked ziti to me. It's good, pasta-like comfort food.

    There is also this recipe for Paleo brownies which I love. It might help with the absolutely unavoidable chocolate cake craving. http://www.tessadomesticdiva.com/2013/06/dense-fudgey-chocolate-brownies-paleo-vegan-nut-free.html
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
    edited January 2015
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    The one thing that worked for me and made Grains truly a bad thing in my mind was reading about how it was killing me and wreaking my mind. Grain Brain and Wheat Belly are very good books, written well and both by medical doctors. I can honesty say they do not pull at me at all. I went to dinner with my family last night for our youngest son's Birthday they all had Pizza and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie plate and olive bowl, they thought I was missing out, no way.

    This motivates me, as well. Especially since I've realized I get severely depressed very quickly when I eat bread and sweets. Even before I start to gain enough weight and get depressed over my clothes not fitting. I don't think my brain likes carbs, I'm so much happier in ketosis, chock full of natural foods and not crap.
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
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    Jolinia wrote: »
    The one thing that worked for me and made Grains truly a bad thing in my mind was reading about how it was killing me and wreaking my mind. Grain Brain and Wheat Belly are very good books, written well and both by medical doctors. I can honesty say they do not pull at me at all. I went to dinner with my family last night for our youngest son's Birthday they all had Pizza and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie plate and olive bowl, they thought I was missing out, no way.

    This motivates me, as well. Especially since I've realized I get severely depressed very quickly when I eat bread and sweets. Even before I start to gain enough weight and get depressed over my clothes not fitting. I don't think my brain likes carbs, I'm so much happier in ketosis, chock full of natural foods and not crap.

    I finally got around to watching Fat Head on youtube. It was interesting when he talked about the connection between low fat eating and depression, and what happened to Nathan Pritikin. I wish I hadn't been sold by all the promises made for the Pritikin diet. I wonder if the fat that I ate high quality but ultra-low-fat (Pritikin diet) while I was pregnant contribute to our eldest's severe learning problems. After all, the brain is made up from fat. I feel like a retired lab rat. How could an unproved diet be put forth as *the* way to health and long life?

    I know the recent "paleo" craze is... well, recent, but the lab results people have posted, and the actual healing I've experienced over the last two years, have convinced me that this way of eating is no fad.
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Jolinia wrote: »
    The one thing that worked for me and made Grains truly a bad thing in my mind was reading about how it was killing me and wreaking my mind. Grain Brain and Wheat Belly are very good books, written well and both by medical doctors. I can honesty say they do not pull at me at all. I went to dinner with my family last night for our youngest son's Birthday they all had Pizza and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie plate and olive bowl, they thought I was missing out, no way.

    This motivates me, as well. Especially since I've realized I get severely depressed very quickly when I eat bread and sweets. Even before I start to gain enough weight and get depressed over my clothes not fitting. I don't think my brain likes carbs, I'm so much happier in ketosis, chock full of natural foods and not crap.

    I finally got around to watching Fat Head on youtube. It was interesting when he talked about the connection between low fat eating and depression, and what happened to Nathan Pritikin. I wish I hadn't been sold by all the promises made for the Pritikin diet. I wonder if the fat that I ate high quality but ultra-low-fat (Pritikin diet) while I was pregnant contribute to our eldest's severe learning problems. After all, the brain is made up from fat. I feel like a retired lab rat. How could an unproved diet be put forth as *the* way to health and long life?

    I know the recent "paleo" craze is... well, recent, but the lab results people have posted, and the actual healing I've experienced over the last two years, have convinced me that this way of eating is no fad.

    But the essence of Paleo is that it is NOT NEW! That it is the way we were meant to eat and did before industrialization and factory farms. It is "ancestral", studying what people did BEFORE all these issues. Far from new!
  • vhuber
    vhuber Posts: 8,779 Member
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    Far from new. Soooo very true!!!
  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
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    Jolinia wrote: »
    The one thing that worked for me and made Grains truly a bad thing in my mind was reading about how it was killing me and wreaking my mind. Grain Brain and Wheat Belly are very good books, written well and both by medical doctors. I can honesty say they do not pull at me at all. I went to dinner with my family last night for our youngest son's Birthday they all had Pizza and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie plate and olive bowl, they thought I was missing out, no way.

    This motivates me, as well. Especially since I've realized I get severely depressed very quickly when I eat bread and sweets. Even before I start to gain enough weight and get depressed over my clothes not fitting. I don't think my brain likes carbs, I'm so much happier in ketosis, chock full of natural foods and not crap.

    I finally got around to watching Fat Head on youtube. It was interesting when he talked about the connection between low fat eating and depression, and what happened to Nathan Pritikin. I wish I hadn't been sold by all the promises made for the Pritikin diet. I wonder if the fat that I ate high quality but ultra-low-fat (Pritikin diet) while I was pregnant contribute to our eldest's severe learning problems. After all, the brain is made up from fat. I feel like a retired lab rat. How could an unproved diet be put forth as *the* way to health and long life?

    I know the recent "paleo" craze is... well, recent, but the lab results people have posted, and the actual healing I've experienced over the last two years, have convinced me that this way of eating is no fad.

    I would like to point out that paleo/primal is based off actual measurable science. It is not based off food surveys.

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/01/14/377238265/we-lie-about-what-we-eat-and-its-messing-up-science
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
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    Not saying that paleo is new, just that its recent re-discovery and recent popularity is new. Of course, from what I understand, there have been people all along the way who have recommended this kind of eating, but I for one never heard of it in all my years of dieting, until I was desperate for a natural approach to deal with severe joint pain. The closest I came over the years was the "Mayo diet", I think? Thinking back on it, it was a high-fat, low carb approach where about the only sweet allowed was a half a grapefruit, I don't remember if it was with every meal or just with breakfast. I *do* remember how satisfying it was to stir up custard with eggs and cream and bake it and dive into it. I didn't even need sweetening, and it was so filling! (I think that was the old "mayo diet" but I could be mixing two things up.) I couldn't stick with it, though.

    People have proposed paleo-like eating down the years and been dismissed as kooks, as opposed to people who have proposed vegetarianism down the years and been dismissed as kooks, well, sometimes hailed as heroes. I know in college it was very trendy to be a vegan, or an ovo-lacto vegetarian, even. "Diet for a Small Planet" was very popular. Didn't Dr. Cordain come out with his paleo approach in the 1970s (I'm terrible with dates, so this might be wrong)? Never heard of it until a couple years ago.

    Paleo/primal is the first thing I've really been able to stick with -- for two years now -- and not have a huge struggle to return to when I've had something "off program" or "fell off the wagon" during the holidays or something like that. (I know it's a lifestyle, not a wagon or program, but I hope you know what I mean.)