A Guide To Start Your Paleo Life

This doesn't have to be difficult. Get over yourself, and get over your whiny little addiction to bread. You'll thank me and everyone else in the Paleo community later. I'm not talking a year later. I'm talking about 14 days or so. That's all. You'll see what I mean. And, it only gets better over time.

The Paleo lifestyle is simple and there are a few different philosophies that range based on your athleticism. I'm going to summarize them here. If I'm wrong, feel free to call me out, but please back it with references (not 'cause I'm being an ass, but because I want to learn). 

Here are the fundamentals (drastically summarized and drawn from The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf). It's a great book; however, most people I know get a little bored or lost when he geeks out with the scientific sections. I understand, although I appreciate the scientific backing. 

The Point: 

• The way we eat now is hurting us, causing disease, obesity, etc. through a variety of inflammatory responses in our blood, organs, and body. 
• Humans didn't eat like we do now until after the agricultural revolution. On the football field of life, this  represents only the last 2.5 yards
• The diet eliminates foods that "were not designed to be eaten" and elicit low to moderate levels of inflammatory toxins. Example, blueberrys = meant to be eaten (you get nutrition, it gets reproduction after you poop its seeds out in the woods); wheat germ = dies inside you when you eat it, fights you with inflammatory toxins
• The way we use energy in our modern diet is far different from those of our paleolithic ancestors: glycogen (now) vs. ketones (paleo). A full sustained paleo diet allows your body to perform more efficiently so it may sustain longer periods of physical activity through preventing your body from going into anerobic exercise. (See My Experiment) 
• Inflammatory responses trigger other responses (i.e. cholesterol storage, fat storage, free radical invasion, unhealthy mitochondria (the nuclear power plants of your cells) and unhealthy cell reproduction
• Nutritionists don't usually advocate for this diet. Why? They generally receive their certification to offer advice and counseling from the FDA model which uses grains as the very basis of the food pyramid. Why would the FDA do such a thing? Umm...well, money. How much money in subsidies does our government pump into corn, wheat, etc? Yep.
• Grass-fed meats are the aspiration. If the cow eats corn and you eat the cow, you eat the corn.       
•  Soapbox Sidenote: Cows are not meant to eat corn. They are fed antibiotics to keep them alive from all the diseases they get after their bodies start shutting down from eating something their rumen (stomachs/bacteria/system) cannot and were not made to digest. Corn makes cows big. That's why we feed them corn.
• Know any other species of animal that is over-medicated because of poor diet?

The Myths (de-mythed):

• MYTH: This is about cavemen (or cave women). FALSE! It's about the healthy 6 foot tall, largely disease-free Paleolithic ancestors who were doing well into they discovered how to harvest grains, corn, etc. 
• MYTH: You eat just meat and fats. FALSE!  In fact, I eat more vegetables now than I ever have in my life
• MYTH: It's not sustainable because you sacrifice too much good stuff. BULLSHIT! You will discover more amazing foods and combinations that you have ever imagined past your normal meat and potatoes, spaghetti, pizza, or whatever the hell you are eating now. 
• MYTH: It's expensive. HELL NO. It's not. With a little practice and a plan, you can and will actually lower your grocery bill. This blog will, in part, tell you how. I'm a mad genius like that.

What Not To Eat:

• Grains (Soy, Wheat, corn, quinoa, buckwheat, spelt, etc.) 
• Legumes (peanuts, peas, some say cashews, soybeans, beans, i.e. lentils, chickpeas, pintos, black, red, navy you name it)  
• Milk, Cheese, butter
• Heavy starches (potatoes, red skin potatoes)
• Processed foods, heavy salt
• Vegetable oil (made from soybeans)
• Canola Oil (made from cans and olas)

What To Eat: 

There are over 8000 meal combinations you can partake in. This list is by no means comprehensive. 

• Lean, Grass-Fed Meats. If the cow you're eating ate corn as its primary diet source, then so are you.
• Vegetables: (carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, etc.)
• try to limit sweet potatoes to work out days or early mornings
• try to limit higher glycemic vegetables (if fat loss is your goal), i.e. turnips, parsnips, beets
• Fruits:
• ranked in order of preference: 1. berries 2. apples 3. melon 4. bananas and peaches 5. sugar citrus (oranges - lemons and limes are A-OK)
• Non-Animal fats: almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, avacados
• Oils: (also a non-animal fat): olive oil, sunflower oils (great to cook with)

YOU MUST USE YOUR NOGGIN 

The Paleo diet is not a strict format; it's a philosophy. You have to think about what you eat and WHY.
Most people have no idea what they eat. For example.

• Soy sauce is something you can't have. Why? Made of soy, also contains wheat. What, wheat? Yep. Wheat. Don't eat it.
• Hummus is made of chick peas. Chick peas are legumes (beans). So, no hummus. 
• Most store bought seasonings contain wheat or soy ingredients and therefore contain gluten. Read the labels. 
• Wanna thicken that soup with corn strach? Don't even try it. Not paleo friendly.
• Kevin, what about onions? They aren't on your list. Answer: Derrrr...My list wasn't comprehensive. Onions are vegetables. Eat them. Use your noggin.
• Don't cheat. Unless you are doing some intense atheletic training, you can't really cheat. If you do intense training, you can take down a protein shake, a glass of milk, some chocolate, or virtually whatever your conscience will allow within a half hour of your intense exercise. Why? Your body moves the sugars differently during that time period. Otherwise, stick to the plan. After 14 days, it gets easy.

Major Barriers:

There are some big barriers one must overcome; I did too.

1. The initial sacrfice: parting with foods you love. This is more difficult for some than others. Make a choice and commit.

2. Withdrawal. Some of you sugar addicts will realize very quickly how relative sugar is to heroine. This goes away within a few days. Drink water, tea, something. Don't drink artificial sweetners as they just trick your brain and you really never overcome the addiction.

3. Weird feeling. I have to admit, the first few days no one feels too great. Your body is converting itself; there will be some changing happening. Embrace them. In 10-14 days time you will be reborn. (I've known a lot of people now to experience exactly what I mean. In fact, I haven't met someone who hasn't)

4. Stocking your food stores. This one was tough and it takes some practice. You either didn't buy the right thing or not enough of the right thing. Meal planning takes a little time to master. But, soon enough, it's a way of life.

My Experiment - My Personal Proof 

So, if you've read my first post, I started this whole thing because I wanted to see if the hype was true.
Well, it is. In fact, within the past two weeks, I just learned and did two interesting things.

1. I ran a marathon (26.2) in under four hours with no real training. One day I went out and ran 20 miles to see if I could, and it was easy. I never got brain drain or too tired. Besides my usual CrossFitting, this was pretty much the extent of it.

2. Just got my blood tested. The results, the lowest cholesterol and best blood balance I've ever had in my life (High HDLs = Good, High LDLs = Bad). You can see for yourself below.

Total Cholesterol: 131
HDL: 78
LDL: 39
Triglycerides: 72
Glucose: 83

Not bad for 150 eggs every month ;-)


This is a Paleo Friendly Salad from Chipotle. It has romaine lettuce, fajita vegetables, double meat (chicken and steak) two salsas, guac, and I doused it with lemon.