Paleo diet: Food preperation issues and light headedness

[Neal Winkler]

Alright, I went on the paleo diet about a month ago and stayed on it for a few weeks but I recently fell off.

The biggest thing for me was the food preperation. It was getting somewhat tiring to have to chop up all my vegetables all the time, and especially in the morning, without being able to simply poor a bowl of cereal, I was at loss as to where I could get my moring protien intake (besides eggs which Cordain only recommends 6 per week), so I would often leave the house crabby because I didn't get a morning meal or had to give in to cereal.

In Cordains books he recommends things like cooking at lot of extra meat so you can just heat it up later instead of having to make a whole new meal time and again. Also, he suggests making a big salad so you can just grab out of it for the whole week. I did the later once and it did help. I guess I shouldn't of been so stupid and just cooked chicken in bulk as well.

Any other food preperation suggestions?

What about variety? It gets old to eat fish or meat and a salad at every meal. Basically what I ended up doing at every meal was have some meat and throwing lettuce or spinach and some chopped veggies on top, which makes it seem like I am only having two different meals (fish or chicken).

Finally, I was often feeling slightly light headed. I never felt like my concentration was off, or that I was really dizzy or anything, but it was just a different sort feeling in my head, perhaps a kind of surealness.

I quit the diet when I completely crashed during a workout, I hadn't even done many reps, so I pretty much figured that it must be the diet - I must not be doing it properly.

I never paid attention to my macronutrient ratios, I just ate a piece of meat, with salad and chooped veggies on top, sometimes with a piece of fruit, and usually added some olive oil to the mix. I snacked on friut and nuts.

Thanks for any advice.

[Ian Holmes]

Neal-
The easiest way to tell you the things you are doing wrong is to direct you towards someone with a degree who puts it much more elequently than I do.

www.johnberardi.com

Problems could have come from a range of things from not enough calories in your diet, to your body simply hating you for always combing carbs and fats at your meals... the list is long. Read JB he knows what he is talking about.

[Marc Moffett]

Neal, the key to variety on the paleodiet is IMO to come up with substitutes for nonpaleo foods. Spaghetti squash for noodles is an obvious one. And if you make some good lean meatballs, you get a pretty awesome paleomeal.

Another substitute: romain lettuce or lightly blanched cabbage for tortillas. Saute some beef or chicken with peppers/onions, make some salsa, and dice up some avocados. Good! (Oh, and these can be wrapped and stored for quick eating, too.)

If you are willing to stretch a little, yams go a long way to adding something different, though winter squash is about the same. [The only knock on "starchy" vegetables in Cordain's book is that they have a high glycemic load. So I eat them in moderation with other foods that have a low glycemic load.] For breakfast, I smash up some cooked yams and make yam pancakes. If you add spinach, onions, and chicken, they can be savory. Or nuts and a little honey (or dried fruit), for sweet.

I also try to vary how I spice my food. If I cook something savory for dinner Monday, then Tuesday I will make something with a fruitier sauce. E.g., Monday will be Mexican flank steak; Tuesday, pork tenderloin with apples and nuts.

[Paul Symes]

You crashed because you've stopped eating carbs, it's as simple as that.

[Robert Wolf]

Well...easy is not always best? Health and good nutrition do not come in a box with names the include "Cap'n, Charms, or Loops".

The John Berardi recomendation is excellent BTW.

Robb

[Michael Hill]

Soup. Easy to make, easy to cook. You can get a wide variety of vegetables, drink the broth and you get all the vitamins and minerals. You can up the carbs by putting in some root vegetables, an especially good thing this time of year. Eg. celery root, rutabagas (sp), beets, parsnips, turnips, etc