first-time paleo advice

bungaro79

myself and the missus are going to give the paleo diet a try in the new year, have got a couple of cookbooks and looking forward to giving it a try!

i'm thinking that breakfasts will be the hardest, apart from eggs is there anything else people would advise?? one of the books recommends having a smoothie in the morning sometimes, it says to use egg protein powder, does anyone know of any place in cork you can get this?? i'm not the best with eating veg so i'm hoping that i might turn around after a few days of this (except for onions, i really hate them!!). is there some way you can cook yams or sweet potatoes to make them kinda crispy?!

the main thing my wife is concerned about is not being able to have some milk in her cup of tea! is it ok to have this and still reap the benefits?!

any other advise would be greatly appreciated, some of the other threads have been very informative!

thanks

danlen

bungaro79 wrote: »

i'm thinking that breakfasts will be the hardest, apart from eggs is there anything else people would advise??thanks

Bacon is always good. Handful of almonds/cashews? Greek yogurt + berries?

bungaro79 wrote: »

one of the books recommends having a smoothie in the morning sometimes, it says to use egg protein powder, does anyone know of any place in cork you can get this??

This isn't really necessary but I'm sure you'll find it in a health shop. I don't think it is really necessary to have protein powder with a smoothie, just get your protein from other meals.

If you really want protein powder, while strict paleo doesn't allow dairy, most people would be able to tolerate whey protein, which is a lot more easily available and prob cheaper than egg powder.

bungaro79 wrote: »

is there some way you can cook yams or sweet potatoes to make them kinda crispy?!

Bake in oven with olive oil drizzled over them.

bungaro79 wrote: »

the main thing my wife is concerned about is not being able to have some milk in her cup of tea! is it ok to have this and still reap the benefits?!

If this is your only non-complicance you will be in great shape! Should be of little detriment overall.

Orla K

Just two things,
You don't need to have a breakfasty thing for breakfast.
Forget about the lyons/barrys tea get a good black tea, I have a smoked black tea putting milk in is out of the question.

Slydice

bungaro79 wrote: »

is there some way you can cook yams or sweet potatoes to make them kinda crispy?!

You can fry or oven-roast most veg with some olive oil to get something of a crisp taste. Pretty fattening if you go overboard though

bungaro79 wrote: »

the main thing my wife is concerned about is not being able to have some milk in her cup of tea! is it ok to have this and still reap the benefits?!

I think all dairy is out in a strict paleo diet. The closest bending of rules I've read is using very full fat butter if you don't have a paleo oil (olive, coconut etc) or gee to use.

I've become unsure about bacon recently. I can't find any bacon which doesn't have some ingredients that seem to be added.

I agree on almonds. They are really tasty. Especially with coffee. Maybe they'd be nice with tea. Careful with nuts though. They have tonnes of calories :rolleyes:

danlen

Slydice wrote: »

I've become unsure about bacon recently. I can't find any bacon which doesn't have some ingredients that seem to be added.

The impact of nitrates/nitrites is over-exaggerated I feel. I wouldn't worry about them at all tbh.

The only complaint I have with bacon is that it is nearly impossible to find some that does not come from pigs that have been cooped up in a shed and fed grain. I have found a local place near me that has pigs that are free to roam outside on pasture and are fed organically. Obviously a bit more pricey though.

RobAMerc

bungaro79 wrote: »

i'm thinking that breakfasts will be the hardest, apart from eggs is there anything else people would advise??

thanks

I think its funny that people think breakfast can only include a subset of the menu they would eat normally - thats the power of advertising I guess !

Try this - have 2 poached eggs with some smoked haddock over a spinach and rocket salad with maybe some crushed walnuts and a few slices of apple in it. Making a simple wholegrain, apple cider vinegar and olive oil dressing really brings it to life too. now go find 6 others on paleo sites !

boxercreations

I find Pinterest great for recipes - I like the visual search.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

not entirely on topic but decided not to have a coffee this morning and when I glanced through the forum I was very confused to see a thread titled "first time paedo advice"

SunnyDub1

I use to be a sucker for tea 3-5 cups a day and approx 2-3 coffees, Cappuccinos & lattes mind you

Now I have a black coffee in the morning and replaced tea with green tea. Will still have sneaky ordinary tea the odd time

As for breakfast , you would be surprised how much you can cook with an egg.
My favorite is pancakes -
2 eggs whites, 1 table spoon of almond flour, 1 scoop vanilla protein, half a tea spoon of cinnamon. Stir all together until doughy and fry with some Olive oil until golden brown. Add some organic peanut butter as a topping= Delish also very filling.

boxercreations

SunnyDub1 wrote: »

I use to be a sucker for tea 3-5 cups a day and approx 2-3 coffees, Cappuccinos & lattes mind you

Now I have a black coffee in the morning and replaced tea with green tea. Will still have sneaky ordinary tea the odd time

As for breakfast , you would be surprised how much you can cook with an egg.
My favorite is pancakes -
2 eggs whites, 1 table spoon of almond flour, 1 scoop vanilla protein, half a tea spoon of cinnamon. Stir all together until doughy and fry with some Olive oil until golden brown. Add some organic peanut butter as a topping= Delish also very filling.

Thanks going to try this - where do you get your almond flour - the health food shops I tried only had ground almonds. From US sites I understand almond meal, ground almonds and almond flour are different ( I assume it's just the fineness).

boxercreations

bungaro79 wrote: »

myself and the missus are going to give the paleo diet a try in the new year, have got a couple of cookbooks and looking forward to giving it a try!

i'm thinking that breakfasts will be the hardest, apart from eggs is there anything else people would advise?? one of the books recommends having a smoothie in the morning sometimes, it says to use egg protein powder, does anyone know of any place in cork you can get this?? i'm not the best with eating veg so i'm hoping that i might turn around after a few days of this (except for onions, i really hate them!!). is there some way you can cook yams or sweet potatoes to make them kinda crispy?!

the main thing my wife is concerned about is not being able to have some milk in her cup of tea! is it ok to have this and still reap the benefits?!

any other advise would be greatly appreciated, some of the other threads have been very informative!

thanks

I've been having more brunch type breakfasts - bacon with spinach and almonds or squash "chips" with homemade sausage patties and mushrooms.
For the sweet potato - I was given an actifry - and I love it. So many of my meals are "cut up and throw in actifry" type recipes(you can even make coconut curries & tomato based stews in it) it's also great for squash, sweet potato, parsnip and white potato (for kids) chips.
I cheat and have porridge once a week, and usually 2 cups regular tea with semi skim milk but I've swapped to lactose free milk this week - a day. I certainly feel it has benefits even if I am not 100%

Ole Rodrigo

Paleo Recipe for Pancakes:

Almond flour
Free range Eggs
Almond milk

Almond milk is made with almonds soaked overnight, blended with water ( one part to three ) and strained with a fine gauge or a muslin bag.

Wrap a banana in one of these with cinnamon and maple syrup ( or some peanut butter ) at about 300 to 400 calories each, before exercise.

bungaro79

thanks for all the replies! some great advice here, keep it coming!

that actifry looks like a great idea, might check it out

bungaro79

danlen wrote: »

Bacon is always good. Handful of almonds/cashews? Greek yogurt + berries?

can you use yoghurt danlen?? are there certain types of it that are ok on the diet??
i ended up getting some hemp protein instead of whey, it was the closest the girl in holland & barrett said they had to a non dairy or wheat protein

danlen

bungaro79 wrote: »

can you use yoghurt danlen?? are there certain types of it that are ok on the diet??

Natural, full-fat yogurt should be good. Avoid any of those with additives, or any low-fat varieties (basically the commercial yogurts).

bungaro79 wrote: »

i ended up getting some hemp protein instead of whey, it was the closest the girl in holland & barrett said they had to a non dairy or wheat protein

I have used hemp while I was on a zero-dairy kick before. Good nutritional profile to be fair, but it is vile tasting imo. I mainly use BCAAs now, as well as whey.

Dotcomdolly

bungaro79 wrote: »

myself and the missus are going to give the paleo diet a try in the new year, have got a couple of cookbooks and looking forward to giving it a try!

i'm thinking that breakfasts will be the hardest, apart from eggs is there anything else people would advise?? one of the books recommends having a smoothie in the morning sometimes, it says to use egg protein powder, does anyone know of any place in cork you can get this?? i'm not the best with eating veg so i'm hoping that i might turn around after a few days of this (except for onions, i really hate them!!). is there some way you can cook yams or sweet potatoes to make them kinda crispy?!

the main thing my wife is concerned about is not being able to have some milk in her cup of tea! is it ok to have this and still reap the benefits?!

any other advise would be greatly appreciated, some of the other threads have been very informative!

thanks

Howya & well done on deciding to give paleo a go I started the "how to go primal" thread almost a year ago and am so glad I made the change!

For me, paleo is about natural whole foods so I would veer away from processed protein powders completely. No need when there is so much delcious real food to choose from.

For the sweet potatoes I would try them 2 ways which I like - peel & cut into thick slices about 1cm thick, nuke for 1 min each side until soft, and then fry in your fat of choice. Speaking of ...try making ghee, it's really easy & delicous. And you can have hilarious double entendre fun with the wife

Other way I do them is THIS though I use herbs or garlic powder instead of cinnamon

If you want to do strict paleo rather than primal you should drop all dairy. I drink herbal teas or coffee (either black or with a splash of coconut milk)

For breakfast I often have egg loaf, the first one I made I used this recipe (halved quantities) but now I just use whatver meat & veg takes my fancy.

I LOVE the Whole30 appproach which is 30 days of super strict paleo to re-set your system. It's a great challenge and I'm going to do my 5th round soon.
There are some great free pdf's here, good info even if you're not planning on doing it
http://whole9life.com/itstartswithfood/
If you sign up to the forums you could read back on some of my whole30 logs
here and here - lots of pics, recipes etc and I hope some inspiration


best of luck!

ps I have always ground almonds where it says almond flour.

bungaro79

thats some good reading there dolly! i'll be doing a lot of reading this weekend! can you tell me what the difference is between paleo and primal, thought they were the same.
i'm looking forward to giving it a go in jan, can see the bread with-drawl symptoms setting in by day 3 though!

Dotcomdolly

It is my understanding that primal is a bit more lenient with full fat dairy still "allowed"

bungaro79

thanks again dolly, think we'll do the 85/15 recommended in the book, allow ourselves 3 meals with "bad" stuff during the week, will try and stay away from the bread and pasta though

Dotcomdolly

bungaro79 wrote: »

thanks again dolly, think we'll do the 85/15 recommended in the book, allow ourselves 3 meals with "bad" stuff during the week, will try and stay away from the bread and pasta though

have a listen to this for a take on the 80/20 approach
http://everydaypaleo.com/paleo-lifestyle-and-fitness-podcast-episode-17/