Paleo diet foods list, Paleo diet Guidelines

Before there were packaged goods, processed foods, GMOs and an ongoing debate between organic or not, there was dirt, seeds, water and roaming animals. It may be hard to consider now, but the dawn of man produced hunters and gatherers and humans had to get their own food – not by heading to the supermarket.

There were no sprays to kill insects, no chemicals or genes added or modified. No extra-large tomatoes or vibrant yellow bananas. Food was simple. It was either found, picked or hunted. And although there weren’t doctors or research scientists to confirm the benefits of such eating, it seems that when it comes to dietary habits, eating like our ancestors has some merit.

Diets come and diets go, but one in particular seems to have staying power and for good reasons as well. It’s based on eating similar to that of prehistoric man and it’s being touted as one of the best way to eat. It’s called the Paleo diet.

What is the Paleo diet?
The Paleo diet was created by Loren Cordain, a now-famous author, speaker and professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, who specializes in disease and diet. The Paleo diet itself reflects food items and methods of eating similar to our Stone Age ancestors – that’s right, this diet is framed around eating like cavemen. Through scientific research and peer-reviewed studies, Cordain has uncovered many health benefits to eating the Stone Age way.

There are seven premise on which the Paleo diet guidelines are based:

High protein
Low carbohydrates and low glycemic index
High fiber
Moderate to high fat intake – monosaturated and polysaturated fats with omega-3s and 6s

High potassium, low sodium
Net dietary alkaline balances dietary acid – some foods produce acid (meat) and others are alkaline (fruits and vegetables). Eating a balance of both alkaline and acid foods can have positive health effects.

High intake of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and plant phytochemicals.

Is Paleo diet a meat diet?

The paleo diet is a regime that helps us eat the freshest, healthiest and nutrient-filled food there is. The paleo diet is based on a balanced diet. The typical Paleo recipes includes

meat of grass-fed cows,
Poultry, seafood, and meat,
Fresh and organic vegetables and fruits of all colors,
Complex carbohydrates coming from tubers and fruits such as sweet potato (potato / sweet potato), potato and banana
Healthy fats such as coconut oil, avocado, olive oil and animal fat.
Based not only on what our ancestors ate that suffered from fewer chronic diseases than we, despite having no access to modern medicine,

Many people see the list of foods removed from the paleo diet and remove them from the diet without adding new things. When they remove processed foods and cereals from their diets, often only meat, eggs, and bacon remain. But just as important as eliminated foods (processed foods, sugar, cereals and in some cases dairy and vegetables) are the foods we add to our diets.

A typical paleo diet recipes is half veggies (carrot, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach) and a quarter of protein (often meat or seafood) and a quarter of carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes. A “paleo recipes” diet can be balanced or not, depending on what you put on your plate – just like any other diet. It is essential to note that every person has different body needs.

In the paleo recipes diet, there is also an emphasis on the quality of the food consumed – we try to avoid genetically modified organisms, eat organic vegetables when possible and meat/poultry/seafood that was fed properly, without hormones or inadequate food for their species. We try to eat “all the animal products” because we know that there are essential nutrients and amino acids in the parts of the animal that we cannot find in the most common cuts. Eating “booze” such as liver, paws, cola, bone broth, and any other part of the animal helps to maintain a balanced diet.

The paleo diet recipes does not restrict the consumption of fat or cholesterol. Contrary to what we have been taught, fat does not make us fat (consumed in moderation). Fat is essential to assimilate some vitamins (A, D, E, and K) that are necessary for the functioning of our body. Without fat, those vitamins cannot enter our body to do their job. Every cell in our body needs fat to function.

An old article in Time Magazine admits that consumption of saturated fat has no proven link to increased risk of heart problems, and high consumption of sugar and carbohydrates did. In fact, our use of cholesterol in food has nominal influence on the level of cholesterol in our blood. There is no reason to be afraid of eating fat. A paleo diet recipes with enough protein and fat often helps people to lose weight because they are foods that make us feel satiated and as a consequence, we eat less. In fact, if your goal is to lose weight, a paleo diet can be the key to your progress.

Goal Setting: The Biggest Secret of Successful Weight Loss

It does not matter if you want to lose 10, 20 40 or 100 pounds, it makes no difference, the following tips will be the biggest factor in how successful you will eventually be and if adhered to will practically guarantee you weight loss success on their own.

Goal setting is undeniably the most important and first step to successful weight loss. Goals are measuring sticks, the equivalent to milestones on the highway; they tell you how far down the road you are. Without setting goals you would have no idea where you are, or where you are going and more importantly how much more you need to do to reach the objective, which is, in this situation, excess weight!

Primarily, you need to ask yourself two questions:

1. How much weight do you want to lose?
2. When do you want to lose this weight by?

Jot down your answers on a sheet of paper. The reason why writing your goals is so important is so you never forget them! Make lots of copies on lots of small pieces of paper, Post–it’s are a good idea, and stick them every conceivable place you can around your home.

Don’t forget to stick papers onto your refrigerator and kitchen, and don’t forget the cookie jar as it is these places that temptation lies in wait for you and will attempt to, at every opportunity, ruin your weight loss efforts!

Don’t just be random with your goal setting; your goals have to be achievable; so setting REALISTIC goals is of paramount importance. If you set incredibly difficult or impossible weight loss goals all your efforts at goal setting will be wasted as this will nullify the effect that goal setting is meant to have.

The whole purpose of goal setting during your weight loss is to continually build upon small success after small success, failure, due to unrealistic goal setting, results in disappointment, disappointment results in frustration, frustration results in negativity and negativity results in giving up.

When setting your goals don’t go over the top, a realistic weekly weight loss goal of 2 pounds doesn’t sound much, but is an ideal goal as it can be achieved relatively easily and if you are targeting say a fifty or sixty pound weight loss you are only talking six to seven months to achieve it. So can you now see the benefit in setting small, achievable goals for yourself that are a whole lot easier to manage, you will certainly feel more confident about succeeding moving forward.