What the heck is paleo?

Before I jump into today's blog post, I just want to say:

There was a girl at the gym deadlifting 180 pounds today.  I want to be her when I grow up.

ANYWAY, I bring you: What the heck is paleo?

The day I decided to "go paleo," I told my sister, and she looked at me with half-mocking big eyes and inquired, succinctly, "BONES??"

A slightly more prefix-savvy friend asked, "does that mean eating like cavepeople or, like, literally eating rocks?"

The answer is neither.  Well... mostly neither.  Although I have yet to try bone broth or any other food made from bones, my sister wasn't too far off from what some paleo people do make a regular part of their diet...

Check out that photo - that's me with my groceries from a few weeks ago.  I get that it's hard to see a lot of the items because all the produce is bagged... but basically what you're looking at is meat (antibiotic-free chicken, grass-fed beef, etc), eggs, fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, and seasonings.  The canned stuff?  That's coconut milk, and the only ingredient is coconut.  This is basically what I'm eating these days.

The premise is that back when we were cavemen and cavewomen, these are the things we ate: animals and animal products, produce, nuts, and seeds.  We didn't eat grains, which are the product of agriculture, nor legumes, nor refined sugar, nor processed foods.  And since the advent of all that stuff, obesity rates have skyrocketed, heart disease and diabetes have become increasingly prevalent, and people are, generally, less healthy.  Granted, part of this is our increasingly sedentary lifestyle (which I'm addressing by going to the gym, and also I'm planning to set up a walking desk when I get to Los Angeles), but a great deal of it is what we put in our mouths. 

There's a lot of science that explains why this is healthy, too, but at risk of being a Bad Feminist, I'll disclose that I'm rather science-phobic, and reroute you to Mark's Daily Apple for your more technical explanations.  Also really great is this video about how fat isn't what makes you fat. Honestly, all I know is that eating Real Food (rather than processed food) makes a lot of sense to me, and that I feel really energized and healthy since making the transition to paleo.  Plus I've lost 10 pounds and 2 pants sizes.

The next question I frequently get is, "isn't that boring?  What do you eat?"  And the answer is that thanks to some absolutely amazing recipe websites, I eat pretty friggin amazing stuff, and some of it is stuff you'd never expect me to be able to eat on a paleo diet.  For example, my friend came over yesterday and we made paleo French toast.  It was delicious... and although it was legitimately paleo, I must admit that it was a bit of a stretch because it was loaded with honey, which is on my diet but should be eaten in small quantities.

On a less push-the-envelope day, here are some of the foods I eat:

I think most people expect my food to look like this salad, and some of it does, but not all of it.  Besides, isn't that a pretty salad?  Kale, blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, olive oil, and vinegar?  Yum.

MEATZA!  My favorite new discovery that I just tried this week.  Basically, it's grass-fed ground beef in place of bread crust, with pure tomato sauce and a bunch of really awesome veggies piled on top.

Paleo pancakes!  Yet another pushing-the-envelope food that my brain is still trying to understand is truly grain free.  Basically the trick is replacing conventional flour with coconut or almond flour, and using coconut milk instead of regular milk.  And the berry compote is just berries fried in honey.  Delish!

Curry coconut shrimp - just shrimp dipped in egg, a curry/coconut flour mix, and shredded unsweetened coconut.

My favorite paleo dish I've made so far, but a huge ordeal to make.  First, I have to cold brew coffee overnight.  Then I have to marinade the steaks in the coffee and some other stuff for a day.  Then I roll the steak in coffee grounds and spices, fry it up, and toss it on top of mixed peppers and onions.  I can't begin to tell you how amazing this dish is.

 

I ate a smoked turkey leg at the county fair.  I was pretty impressed with how many paleo-friendly options were available there!

For eating out, sushi places are my favorite, since I can just order sashimi, which is literally just raw fish.  I don't eat soy products, though, so I bring my own coconut aminos (a soy sauce substitute) to season the fish.