What's been the hardest food to kick since going primal?

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I ask this while sitting here munching away on Quakes. The hardest thing to quit for me is chips so I minimize the threat by eating Rice chips like Quakes.

What's your Paleo-Kryptonite? Also, do you have any Paleo chip-like substitutes I can try?
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  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
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    Also, do you have any Paleo chip-like substitutes I can try?

    Chicharrones (pork rinds; cracklins). All crunch, protein and fat. No carbs whatsoever.
  • jamk1446
    jamk1446 Posts: 5,577 Member
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    I second the chicharrones. Sometimes I make kale chips too. Not exactly like the pork rinds, but if you do it right, they are light and crispy.

    Wash a bunch of kale, then dry the leaves thoroughly. Tear the leaves into pieces, discard the thick stems. Toss with olive or melted coconut oil, massage the oil into the kale. Sprinkle with salt & pepper or other seasoning. Spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake 425degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until they start to brown.
  • unmitigatedbadassery
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    Thanks for the suggestions!
  • momof8munchkins
    momof8munchkins Posts: 1,167 Member
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    I'm paleo - dairy free out of nessesity.. I reallllllllllllllllly miss cheese..:sad:
  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
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    I third the pork rinds/cracklins! It gives me a salty crunch, but without the carbs.
  • Mighty125
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    yum! I did not know that chicharrones were Primal...I love Chicharrones with Guacamole!
  • unmitigatedbadassery
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    I have to admit, I didn't think of the chich/rinds either. I'm very excited about that!
  • jsv454
    jsv454 Posts: 30 Member
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    I've had a much harder time kicking sugar than I anticpated. Granted, I have only be at this about 6 weeks, but every time I think I have conquered the sugar cravings for good, they rear their ugly heads again. The thing is, I really didn't eat a ton of sugar before going Primal, so I am a bit confused about the cravings.

    Other than that, I sometimes miss having toast with my eggs (but nearly over it) and I missed pizza in a BIG way before I learned about making it with portabella mushroom caps, which I love. I keep thinking I should give up dairy, because I don't think it agrees with me, but I just *can't* envision a life without cheese...
  • missyyclaire
    missyyclaire Posts: 572 Member
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    Yeah, I think when we try to leave something out of our diet, no matter how logical it might be to do so, there is some little resistance triggered in our heads. We want what we shouldn't have. Seems to apply to much of life, yes?

    There was a Dr Oz show last week or so where this girl talked about a cold desert called Arctic Zero. My local Sprouts store sells it. It's an 'ice cream' without being a killer when it comes to sugar or calories. In a pint, there's 20g sugar. 150 calories for the whole pint. It's easy enough for me to stop after half of that. I still feel like I got a bit of a treat without blasting up the sugars. It is naturally sweetened, with cane sugar I believe. I know there isn't any artificial sweeteners so you don't have the bad upset tummy/bathroom problem that comes along with reduced sugar ice cream. The base is whey protein instead of milk and cream.

    Feel free to advise on whether this is a good treat or a bad one and why you might think so. Surely it's better than the ice creams out there...those I can't stop once I start. Arctic Zero doesn't seem to trigger cravings and out of control feelings for me.

    Now I'm intrigued about the Portobello Pizza!
  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
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    I've had a much harder time kicking sugar than I anticpated. Granted, I have only be at this about 6 weeks, but every time I think I have conquered the sugar cravings for good, they rear their ugly heads again. The thing is, I really didn't eat a ton of sugar before going Primal, so I am a bit confused about the cravings.
    On the diet I'm on (Diet Evolution) they start with a two-week 'breakdown' phase designed to wean the body of the cravings for grain and sugar. Once the body has converted from a sugar-burning engine to a fat-burning one, the cravings will subside. That you are still craving sugar is an indication that you still have too much of it in your diet, and your body expects it for energy.
    but I just *can't* envision a life without cheese...
    Have you considered using goat or sheep cheese instead of cow?
  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
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    Feel free to advise on whether this is a good treat or a bad one and why you might think so. Surely it's better than the ice creams out there...those I can't stop once I start. Arctic Zero doesn't seem to trigger cravings and out of control feelings for me.
    From my vantage point, I wouldn't buy it, because to me the primal/paleo approach is about whole foods - whey protein is inherently not a whole food (it's the liquid drained off after making cheese). I throw some frozen blueberries into greek yogurt - it freezes up and turns into something like soft-serve.
    Now I'm intrigued about the Portobello Pizza!
    Here's my version of it...

    Get the largest portabella mushrooms you can. Scrape the gills out of the portabella, then fill with your favorite pizza toppings (in this case tomato sauce, fresh mozz, pepperoni and some fresh basil). Put on a cookie tray and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 (or until the portabella starts to sag). You pretty much have to eat it with a fork - but it tastes like you swiped the good parts off of everybody else's slice!

    IMG_0276.jpg
  • missyyclaire
    missyyclaire Posts: 572 Member
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    Monk, that pizza looks amazing! I may be hitting up the grocery store for some Portabellos today! And thanks for the tip on greek yogurt....never thought about trying it that way.

    Which makes me curious...anyone ever tried freezing coconut milk? Wonder how that turns out? It might be the most lucious thing in the world...I know it is when it's room temperature. In fact, I'm gonna have some on my raspberries this morning
  • momof8munchkins
    momof8munchkins Posts: 1,167 Member
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    Monk, that pizza looks amazing! I may be hitting up the grocery store for some Portabellos today! And thanks for the tip on greek yogurt....never thought about trying it that way.

    Which makes me curious...anyone ever tried freezing coconut milk? Wonder how that turns out? It might be the most lucious thing in the world...I know it is when it's room temperature. In fact, I'm gonna have some on my raspberries this morning
    coconut milk does not freeze well.. when it thaws the water rises while the fiber part gathers at the bottom in a thick sludge that will not mix back in..ick
  • jellerose
    jellerose Posts: 74 Member
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    I've made some great coconut milk ice cream. Especially good if you can handle the extra carbs and add bananas. Add some coconut/palm sugar and vanilla and it's a very satisfying home made frozen treat. I have only tried it in an ice cream maker. I have some banana chunks in the freezer that I plan to try with the coconut milk in the magic bullet since my ice cream maker is now gone.

    I can't get past sugar cravings. Too many years of habit there. I try to replace the bad sugars with coconut sugar treats more than regular sugar. A few times a month I get the salty/crunchy cravings and usually try to wait until I want to do a higher carb day (which seems to help shake things up for me if I do a few of those a month.) Then I'll pop some organic popcorn in coconut oil and smother with pastured butter. Not claiming it's good to be eating the corn but it's a heck of a lot better than chips and such or even most of the processed substitutes. Soothes my cravings and usually helps shake up any plateau.
  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
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    How do you consider your coconut ice cream paleo - or even primal?

    If you are making recipes like these, no wonder you can't get past sugar cravings. Sugar cravings stop once you convert your body from burning carbs/sugars for fuel to burning FAT for fuel, as it was designed to do. That conversion takes place after you've been on a 'no carb' regimen for a couple of weeks, and the body switches to fat-burning out of necessity.

    If you are still having sugar cravings, it is because 1) you still have too many carbs and sugars in your eating, and 2) you haven't really understood the principles of the primal/paleo lifestyle. Fats instead of carbs for energy is a basic principle.
  • kkarrolle
    kkarrolle Posts: 120 Member
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    Due to the way I use to eat I always had massive sugar cravings...I always said I had the world's biggest sweet tooth.

    I don't actually crave sugar anymore, but overcoming a life time of habit is hard, particularly at work. Social club as choc and lollie fund raising and there are also the charity fundraising chocolates. I would think I was subsidising the work Christmas dinner (including the alcohol) with the amount of chocolates and lollies I use to eat.

    When I first starting going sugar free (and then primal), I would walk past and out of sheer habit, I would have picked up something without thinking about it. Sometimes it got put back down and other times not.

    Now, I can say the habit has finally been broken and I can walk past the fat boxes without even thinking about it.

    One of the other hard habits to break was 'pigging out' at work morning teas. There is a tradition, that if its your birthday you supply morning tea. Some people go all out. It wasn't usually for me to be picking all day from the morning teas (as there is always plenty left over) and also grabbing bars of chocolate from the fund raisers, some days I don't think I ate a real piece of food at all.

    Now, I can go along to socialise and it isn't an issue. I take a cup of tea or flask of water with me, and do without the sugar and fat. There was a big one on Friday, this was the morning tea of all times, so much food it could have lasted all week. And, it was right outside my office, went along to socialise and it didn't even occur to me to pick, to have anything...it actually felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
  • jellerose
    jellerose Posts: 74 Member
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    Coconuts are primal, no? Coconut milk, pure vanilla and pure coconut sugar means basically frozen coconut and vanilla. I added some banana as an extra carb treat on occasion when I was either doing a high carb day or a day I'd eaten very few carbs and could "afford" it. I can't stand stevia and prefer coconut sugar as my primary sweetener.

    I don't do carbs for energy, I do them for vitamins and flavor/taste accents (veggies), or for treats. Sometimes I'm gonna do chocolate, has nothing to do with not understanding primal, has to do with choosing not to live a life without chocolate if I don't have to. And I don't. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't run around - sweet is my vice. I try to keep my carbs below 60 most days and succeed most days. The highest percentage of my calories are from good fat, followed by protein.

    I have gone without the sweets for a couple of weeks and cravings didn't go away - it's not physical, it's psyschological, as we've said, "habit" and I'm basically ok with that.

    It's my "20%". I went from someone who could consume a big bag of m & m's in a day or so to someone who could have a few packages of m & m's sitting around the house unmolested for months. I've never done that in my 50+ years of life. I don't eat sweets every single day but I have things that work when I want them. I'm fine working to keep cravings under control but I'm also fine with indulging them when I choose. I'm not into the dogma of primal/paleo, I'm into making it work for my particular personality and needs. That's what I like about Mark's Primal approach, he acknowledges the idea of doing the best you can while making your own choices. On average I'm actually more 90/10% than 80/20% with my food but I don't beat myself up if make a choice outside of the "blueprint".

    editing to add: For me, a "high carb" day means going closer to 80-100 and I try to keep those rare. Seems to be working for me ; ).
    How do you consider your coconut ice cream paleo - or even primal?

    If you are making recipes like these, no wonder you can't get past sugar cravings. Sugar cravings stop once you convert your body from burning carbs/sugars for fuel to burning FAT for fuel, as it was designed to do. That conversion takes place after you've been on a 'no carb' regimen for a couple of weeks, and the body switches to fat-burning out of necessity.

    If you are still having sugar cravings, it is because 1) you still have too many carbs and sugars in your eating, and 2) you haven't really understood the principles of the primal/paleo lifestyle. Fats instead of carbs for energy is a basic principle.
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
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    For me, probably ice-cream. And before I started eating ice-cream, I drank wine. I've been working on quitting drinking for a few years now. I finally managed to do it. I'm not too hard on myself with the ice-cream. I don't eat a lot of it. One day I think I'll probably wean myself off but right now I let myself have it. It's better than turning up a bottle of wine, in my case anyway.
  • kcalla
    kcalla Posts: 49 Member
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    My ice cream is this: One Ingredient Ice Cream. Although I sometimes add 1 T. of almond butter or some cinnamon or some chopped nuts.
    http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/stay-cool/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-093414
  • jellerose
    jellerose Posts: 74 Member
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    Kcalla, that's where I got the idea of adding banana to my coconut milk ice cream ; ). I haven't done just the banana but love it added to coconut milk. And don't need coconut sugar really with the banana.