Paleo and primal

[Daughteroughter]

I have been reading about paleo and primal diets has anyone tried them?

After a couple of weeks you don't tend to miss things, caffeine, processed foods. In fact they start to taste like the non food "poison" or fake food that they are.

Please could you share your breakfasts with me? That's where I struggle.

Breakfast- just another excuse to enjoy food in our household!
We are rather partial to a cooked breakfast and anything goes.
Fish (all especially if the skin is on as it makes lovely cracklings).
Instead of bacon we buy thinly cut pork.
Liver or kidneys (love mine cooked in the juice of an orange and some chives).
Eggs in any way (asparagus/celery/cucumber make wonderful soldiers).

Mushrooms and salads are probably the quickest of veg in the morning. Ds loves his fruit.

From a practical point of view if you are in a hurry eggs are probably the quickest but fish on its skin cooks pretty much on its own; and if you eat cheese: cheese,tomato and cucumber in lettuce wraps can be made in a flash. :)

Marking my place too - been eating the Harcombe way for almost a year now and find it suits me well, clears my IBS up. I struggle as I'm still addicted to sugar and find it difficult to withstand temptation re carbs but have to keep reminding myself what happens if I eat them.

I'm now looking into Paleo/Primal as I would like to add a little fruit into my diet.

I have almost lost the weight I wanted to lose (just over half a stone to go - but everytime I give into carbs I lose the plot for a few weeks and put on half a stone again!).

I'm really interested in trying this, but don't you find it really expensive? Pasta, potatoes and bread are so cheap compared to meat, fish and veg.
How has it affected the cost of your weekly shop?

Posterofapombear, what is the Whole30?

It can certainly be expensive.
Also, it's nearly impossible to be a pure paleo/primal (at least in the UK) so compromises are unavoidable and a freezer is essential.

Here is how I try to cope.

I found a local farmer (9 yrs ago now) who sells privately: he rings a few weeks before the animals (Beef, lamb and pork) are ready for slaughter to see if we are in need. I would love to buy more from him but I don't have the freezer capability. Although the quantity is pretty fixed (ie, full lamb, half a pig,etc.) and I can't choose the cuts I want... I know I'll get a bit of everything- this way his prices remain competitive: more expensive than mince but similarly priced to cheaper cuts of meat in the supermarket.

A nearby orchard finds pheasant and rabbit populations have to be managed (sometimes wood pigeons too). They happily sell both fresh (when the right season) and frozen. Some country parks might also be amenable and in some parts of the country deer has to be controlled.

Supermarket fish choices are quite limited, so we go on trips to the coast and fishing lakes. This can reduce the price of fish significantly.

Fruit and vegetables are expensive and sometimes there is no choice but to go down the route of inorganic, non-local and frozen.
Every border in my garden has been replanted to be edible. It does not go far but it's lovely to see ds wonder in the garden to pick a plum or a berry. Fruit trees and bushes can be bought as miniature root stocks.

I'm also lucky to enjoy a few hens who are allowed to rule the garden!

Thanks Favadi. I guess omelettes and leftovers from previous meals will probably be my breakfasts then. This morning I had a hard boiled egg, half of a salmon fillet leftover from last night, some cucumber and 3 cherry tomatoes. Lunch will be tomatoes, ham and avocado and tonight will be chilli with courgette on the side.

Breakfasts - as a standby, I always have Parma ham in the fridge (keeps well, preserved using only salt), aldi does it for a good price. They have quite a few paleo friendly things at really good price actually, unprocessed nuts, freeze-dried tubs of herbs, and a decent passata that's just tomato and salt, all good for the store cupboard.

Parma ham and a handful of nuts or berry fruits makes a good instant no cook breakfast.

Increasingly, we just cook more in the evening and have cold cuts with a handful of leaves. Again no cooking, which is great for busy weekdays. Weekends, often do a cooked breakfast, pork loin, egg and tomato with mushroom or something similar.

The whole30 is a really strict kickstart to eating paleo. It's online at the whole9 site and its free for the basic guide.

I really like it because I need rules!

Expense of paleo- there are ways to keep that down, veg and fruit in season as much as possible, buy whole chicken and fish and joint yourself and freeze. Cow share (local farm shops may sell half or quarter cow, pig, sheep.

However!!! As Robb "paleo solution" Wolf says on his blog, yes, organic grass fed might be the "best" - if you can afford it, but compromising on that because you need to stick to a budget is not an excuse to give up, it's a reason to be sensible and just do the best you can within your budget.
A factory farmed chicken roast at home with non organic veg is still 10x better than buying a breaded, reformed chicken product full of additives and serving with a massive pile of carbs!

Unprocessed foods can be quite cheap. Carrots, sardines, tuna fish, eggs, nuts I do not really find particularly expensive. A roast chicken lasts a few days. Wholefoods and I only drink tap water I think are cheaper than most processed foods and eating out.

tried Samphire for the first ime last night - tis yummy!!

Can I just sneak in to say I've only been doing paleo for four days, but I can actually notice two things already:

1. energy. I don't feel sluggish and lethargic - if I have to go upstairs I will jog up rather than lumber. (Jogging not a pretty sight for someone of my size but still)

2. my stomach has changed shape! Usually I would have a big evening meal laden with mashed potatoes or roasties and would wake up with a beach ball stomach. This morning when I looked in the mirror I can honestly see a difference. Still got loads of fat to burn, but that bloated look just wasn't there.

I feel great. So glad I was pointed this way.

Am really glad it's working for you Stuffez I now notice a huge difference in my energy levels etc if I eat non-primal. Yesterday I went to lunch at a friends house and she had made soup and bread (homemade bread), quiche (!!) and TWO different cakes... Of course I had to eat what she'd cooked (only had one cake though!) - came home and promptly fell asleep on the sofa for an hour, feeling bloated and sick! It was such a huge contrast to how I've been feeling since starting primal.

Dinner was a pork chop, butternut mash, courgettes and spinach in butter - felt much better!

Spinach is LOVELY, isn't it? I'm going into school today to shift some furniture around then out to lunch at this really nice Italian in the village. It won't even be a struggle avoiding the pizzas and garlic breads, just feeling so positive at the moment.
By the way, where do you get samphire from?

They had some in Tesco the other week Stuffez. I found it quite tough, though - what's the best way to prepare it?

The samphire I bought in Asda was more woody than the one from the Fishmonger (may due to Freshness?). I boil it first then add butter and if it's woody I strip it discarding the inside stalk . It's also yummy with a little olive oil, lemon juice and chilli.

Samphire - fantastic with fish. Tesco has it, sometimes. The

Whoops posted too soon! Quality/woodiness seems to vary with variety of samphire and the season. Sometimes almost the whole thing is non woody. You can kind of pull the softy bits off the woody stem before cooking fairly easily.

You're right about the season, RawC. Dd was home for Easter, so we treated her to all that she can't buy or afford away from home, including a trip to a 'fishing' port. Almost no samphire made to the pan as it was so tender and not salty at all! :)

Is there a way to recognise the different variety?

Fiiiiishhhhh!!!!! That's dinner sorted!

I think that, short of climbing up sea cliffs ourselves to collect the stuff, we just have to go with what appears in the supermarket!

It's lovely done in the oven with several kinds of fish (ie white fish, salmon and a smoked. Fish, in chunks, rolled in coconut oil with leaks and samphire (plus pepper and any herbs you fancy), about 20 min at 180 in fan oven is about right. Yummy and healthy too!

Thanks for the tips, we're planning to buy a second freezer so can hopefully make cost savings with that.

I'm thinking of giving the Whole30 a go but I like the sound of a protein shake for breakfast when I'm in a hurry. Does anyone have a recipe? (Whole30 friendly or otherwise)

On the Whole30 testamonials there are a few people with PCOS helped by paleo

I love these kind of stories, they give me hope! Am hoping to start properly this week, will be watching this thread