Looking for a New Year's resolution? Look no further. Go Paleo for 30 days. Make the commitment. See how you change. The fun starts on Monday, January 3rd.
- This is going to be big. Folks all over the country are doing it: CrossFit NYC - The Black Box, CrossFit Love (Philadelphia), Melissa McEwen at HuntGatherLove, Diane at Balanced Bites, Robb Wolf and 1 month of gluten-free, and tons more.
- Follow the action. Follow me on Twitter and give some love to Hunter-Gatherer on facebook. And I'll be blogging here daily with a focus on fundamentals.
- Live events in NYC. We've got an intro session planned in NYC for Tuesday, January 4th -- sign up here. We also are going to be doing a trip to the grocery store, meet the butcher, a book signing with Art De Vany (80 people already signed up), a talk on high intensity training by Fred Hahn, and more. We'll video it whenever possible and post.
- What are the rules? I'm going to take an orthodox approach. Over time, after the challenge, you can tweak this and see how your body responds, but the purpose is to repair your metabolism. And that means we go back to basics.
Paleo Challenge: What to eat
- YES to meat, seafood, vegetables, some fruit, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, seafood, tuna, salmon, shrimp. Avocado, asparagus, arugula, spinach, broccoli, celery, sweet potatoes, yams, any type of leafy green, red cabbage, artichoke. Berries, melon, pomegranate. Chicken eggs, ostrich eggs. (no Do Do eggs). Almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts.
- No to processed foods. Pretty much anything in the middle of the grocery store. Can't recognize it growing or running around in the wild? Don't eat it.
- No to sugar. I don't care whether it's super natural 100% organic fair trade sugar from the honey of communitarian bees, ITS STILL SUGAR. No sweeteners, no agave nectar, honey or maple syrup.
- No grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, corn and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa and sprouted grains.
- No to legumes. Peanuts, peanut-butter, beans, peas, lentils.
- No to dairy. Milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.
- Less alcohol. No sugary mixers, no beer or alcohols containing gluten.
- Fewer sweet fruits and starchy vegetables. Bananas, eating a bunch of apples, dried fruit, or white potatoes. (If you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding all nightshades for 30 days.)
- Cook with real fats. If you're cooking, then cook with lard or animal fat. If you don't have that, then cook with coconut oil, olive oil, or butter.
Still got questions? I'll be posting more on all the great things you can eat, how to shop, snacks, and more. In a nutshell, eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. A salad with meat on it for lunch. And meat and veggies for dinner. Easy!
Note: The initial rules I had up here I had grabbed from Joe Petrusky at CrossFit Love, who had grabbed them from Whole9Life. I attributed them to Petrusky, not Whole9Life. Rules are changed, now my own. Apologies!
Paleo Challenge: How to move
Do some form of high-intensity training (HIT) two or three times a week. At the simplest, that could mean intervals on a stationary bike for 15 minutes, or sprinting (don't if it's icy), or CrossFit, or anything that gets your heart rate up for 20 minutes or so. That's about an hour or so of actual working out a week -- very doable.
Paleo Challenge: How to sleep
Get more sleep. Duh.
Okay, that's it for now. A whole lot more to come. But you have to decide to make the commitment -- you gotta want it.
So...You in?
Comments
Two years paleo come
Two years paleo come February-no more antacids, dropped 2 dress sizes, am overall vey healthy...what could be the downside to this!
does this diet have long
does this diet have long term results? like if i go on it and then start to introduce other foods back into my diet but eating them in moderation with exercise will i gain the lost weight back?
Anytime you make a dietary
Anytime you make a dietary change and loose weight if you don't make your changes a lifestyle you will gain weight back. That is with any diet! Why do you think there are so many diets out there. This way of eating is more about health and healing your body then losing weight. You will lose weight initially but when your body gets to its healthy weight you will taper off. But it will keep you thin
Hello, Excited to start this
Hello,
Excited to start this diet. But I do have some questions . I'm not a beef or pork eater. So is it ok to do turkey bacon? As of now I have eaten a apple and peanut butter everyday. I am now switching to almond butter. But my question is a apple a day ok with some almond butter?
I starting this diet on a vacation which is dumb. Continental breakfast are a bust. So I had an apple and almond butter because that's what I had.
What do you think about the so called paleo baked goods? If I make them with no sugar is it still paleo ?
I'm doing this diet for health and strength not to lose weight. I'm actually just a few pounds under weight. I have severe adrenal fatigue and I have been on a great supplement protocol and I already eat no sugars or gluten. But I have seen no change in my strength or well being. I feel horrible all the time and I have a very energetic 16 month old boy. I hope and pray that I see results on this diet. Because I would live to be a good mom and wife and have other children.
Lindsey
Are macadamias OK? What about
Are macadamias OK? What about hazelnuts and cashews?Are fruits like pineapple and mango OK?Thanks!
21 Days into the Challenge.
21 Days into the Challenge. Shed 22 pounds of fat so far and gained some lean muscle! PACE Program by Dr. Al Sears dovetails nicely. Missing my Red Bull Sugar Free and having some terrible chocolate cravings, otherwise this rocks!
Dude, that's awesome. Take
Dude, that's awesome. Take progress photos and stuff. Almost to the 30 days...
What's wrong with bananas?
What's wrong with bananas? Don't monkeys eat bananas?
"real" bananas have almost no
"real" bananas have almost no flesh. and great big seeds. we bought a little rundown shack in Costa Rica and got a local to find us some wild banana plants (very difficult to do). fascinating. They are tiny, purple, and basically big black seeds held together by a little (very astringent) flesh.The Cavendish is genetically doomed - in the not to far distant future it will get the same sort of blight the bananas of the Phillipines got, and our supply will vanish - they are working like mad to come up with a variety that will meet the requirements for travel, etc.I love them but rarely buy them because: the village in CR where we have our casa is downstream from some plantations. They try to time the spraying right, but when they don't and it rains right after, all the poison washes into the river, kills the fish, the fish pop up to the surface, and then all the birds eat the fish. With poor results.
I'm not sure but probably
I'm not sure but probably because the well known cavendish is a cultivar that has been modified from the fruit that existed many years ago.
Why are legumes not allowed?
Why are legumes not allowed? Sugar snap peas or snow peas are great finger food and I often eat them right off the plant.
I'd already joined
I'd already joined http://www.glutenfreejan.com/ as part of my "back on the wagon" paleo/primal deal, and decided to make it more open, so I'm tweeting everything I eat (but not measuring anything or counting calories or such nonsense)Support and suchlike is appreciated: http://twitter.com/ieatprimal
For coffee drinkers who don't
For coffee drinkers who don't like black coffee, you might like a tea called Morning Thunder made by Celestial Seasonings. (I'm not affiliated with the company, I just like their tea.) It's made of roasted mate (an herb) and black tea. The flavor is somewhere between black tea and coffee, and (to me) tastes good without adding anything.
Coffee is the PERFECT carrier
Coffee is the PERFECT carrier for healthy fats. Here's what I do most mornings:http://www.bulletproofexecutive.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproofa... You can vary that approach with ghee and coconut oil, although they are harder to emulsify. I have a video going up soon showing how to do it. Grassfed butter blends best, but if you are a purist, you can mix coconut or ghee with a teaspoon of cashew butter and it gets 1" of foam on top like a latte.Most mornings, my breakfast is 100% fat + coffee, and that's it. I'm good until 2pm if I need to be! -Dave
what about fiber?
what about fiber?
The best fiber is found in
The best fiber is found in fruits & vegetables!
The best fiber is found in
The best fiber is found in fruits & vegetables!
Me and my wife might start
Me and my wife might start this challenge, but I am reading the Paleo Solution first. It will definitely be hard for us, we love us some bread, but my family has a history of heart disease and I would like to get out from under that sooner rather than later. My wife has agreed to eat whatever I buy so she is in as well. I am pretty excited about it, but it is a little daunting getting started.
I can do without bread for
I can do without bread for everything but sopping up my raw egg yolk. I love that. What else can I do, lick it off the plate?
aloha! I sure hhope you keep
aloha! I sure hhope you keep coming to John's site for the inspiration to keep making changes. Keep reading and experimenting...Sometimes we just have to BE around the change and FEEL the possibilities to stay the course...after enough time and you start experiencing the new found vibrancy you will have no trouble following your path to health. :)
I am three days in so far.
I am three days in so far. It turns out my brother-in-law has been doing a diet very similar to this one. He gave me a book called Maximize Life, and from flipping through it the language and ideas seem very similar to the Paleo Solution. I am liking the diet so far, the stuff about Gluten really got to me because I remember my Doctor telling me about Gluten last year some time and telling me to eat less wheat, but I didn't really do it then.
Here is a great article I
Here is a great article I found on food & wine.com about how Lard is making a comeback as a healthy alternative!
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food
Ok. Day 1. I had some bacon
Ok. Day 1.
I had some bacon and eggs from our chickens we have outside. Cooked the eggs in the same pan with the fat from the bacon.
Coffee- no sugar- black
snack- a handful of organic almonds
Lunch:
A salad made with spinach leaves with a few slices of avocado, red onion, tomato, pork sausage. Water to drink
Afternoon snack - 1 pear, small handful of almonds and a small hand of grapes.
Dinner- steamed Atlantic salmon cooked in olive oil, squeezed lemon on top, salt n pepper, onion and tabasco sauce, side of fresh vegetables (carrots and broccoli).
Sound good enough John? For a brief second in the grocery store my mind wandered and thought how good a Coke would taste but I pushed it away quickly. lol
Joseph, Please come cook
Joseph, Please come cook for me. Sincerely, JennGreat job!!!!!!
LOL You're funny Jenn
LOL You're funny Jenn . Thanks! I'll take that as a compliment. I think it would be good for us to post recipes we are using on here so people will always have an option. I think I will post another Salmon dish that is easy to cook tomorrow. Eating junk is such an easier option right? Plus it is less brain work because one does not have to feel the pressure of being so "creative". However, if we have healthier alternatives available to us and we plan and organize our meals we can replace our bad habits and foods that are killing us as a society with healthier and great tasting options.That is my take on it anyway! ;)
I'm doing the challenge! A
I'm doing the challenge! A Biology teacher who's finally going to start practicing what I preach. Yay! I've finished day 1 and I feel great already, but I realized I need to find some parks where I can do some outdoor fitness and play.
I'm in!! And I'm bringing
I'm in!! And I'm bringing my hubby to the intro sesson! Woot! We're also thinking about joining a Crossfit gym near our new place. Let's do this!
After years of health issues,
After years of health issues, and my Doctor giving up on trying to figure out the problem, I visited an allergist. He discovered I was allergic to ALL grains, blue cheese mold, and peas. No one would believe the difference in my health since the elimination of grains. On my own, I have stopped eating processed foods. However, I still put Stevia and creamer in my coffee, so this will be a huge challenge. I don't know if I'll even like coffee without the extras! Fruit will be a challenge too as it is a big part of my diet. I wish everyone would read your book. It just makes SENSE! We have revolutionized ourselves into disease and sickness. When people at work see my lunch, which is always a spinach salad with no dressing, I actually get made fun of! Of course I am so sad for these people. They are all over-weight with a multitude of health issues. So, a new journey begins.....wish me luck!
What fruit CAN be
What fruit CAN be eated? Assume the fruits you mentioned (bananas, a bunch of apples) should NOT be eaten?Can you suggest a specific meal plan for a generic day for someone willing to simply eat the same set of meals day after day after day for a month?Thanks
Berries, persimmons,
Berries, persimmons, pawpaws, cherries, plums. melons. It's hard here because most fruits available at the grocer are recent agricultural developments. And you won't likely find persimmons and pawpaws at the grocer. I have some in my yard. Which is the point. Fruits are very seasonal. Persimmons are late fall, berries come at various times of the summer, oranges and grapefruits are winter crops. Therefore, paleo man wouldn't have eaten the same fruits throughout the year nor any fruits all year unless he was in the tropics. Living in far north or south lattitudes, he would get very little fruit. He was simply an opportunist as a hunter/gatherer. He didn't get shipments from South America. Likewise, not being a farmer, he would only have eaten cereal grains late fall/early winter.Living in the tropics gives one a tremendous opportunity to consume a variety of fruits as there are hundreds of indigenous genetically unadulterated fruits that you would never find here and some are available year round - just none available more than briefly.Personally, I wouldn't recommend your intention to " simply eat the same set of meals day after day after day for a month". Variety is the spice of life. No set menu can provide optimal nutrition. Try to think what a hunter/gatherer would encounter day after day. One day he would be able to catch a jungle fowl, the next he might find snails or crayfish, the next he may be lucky enough to nab a monkey or deer in which case he'd eat that for days on end. The same with vegetation. He certainly wouldn't find mushrooms everyday, but would eat them when he found them. Good luck.
I'm on board! I've been
I'm on board! I've been doing crossfit for 9 months, and although my fitness is way up, I've been using it as an excuse to eat even worse than before. It's time to actually eat like a human being. I worried it'll be rough...
I'm excited to get started!
I'm excited to get started! One question I have is about condiments. I'm guessing mustard is ok, but what about ketchup, A1 steak sauce, and are there salad dressings that are ok? Also, all olives are good?
Thanks!
Check the labels. Again, most
Check the labels. Again, most ketchups have sugar or even worse, the king of kings- hydrogenated corn syrup.Like John said in one his latter posts. It really is up to you and how commited you want to be and want kind of results you want to achieve. He said : Don't eat processed foods and eat wild.The rest is up to you. I myself am going to stick within the parameters of what John has relayed as to what is truly acceptable in regard to going Paleo for 30 days and then see what I look like after that. I find that when my mind trys to make convenient exceptions (like ketchup) for instance then it is easier to make exceptions or cut corners in other areas. That is just me though. I am with integrity going to put my best effort forth in sticking to true Paleo as much as I can and (afford to) and then go from there.Best of luck!
You have to be careful with
You have to be careful with condiments, as a lot of them have sugar and processed junk in them. If you want to make your own paleo friendly condiments, check out Mark Sisson's post on it here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/alternative-healthy-condiment-recipes/ Also the best that I've found for salad dressings is just to sprinkle olive oil & vinegar on the salad. I haven't found any commerical salad dressing yet that doesn't have something bad for you in it. Hope that helps!
I'm excited to get started!
I'm excited to get started! One question I have is about condiments. I'm guessing mustard is ok, but what about ketchup, A1 steak sauce, and are there salad dressings that are ok? Also, all olives are good?
Thanks!
I'm in, in Jonesboro,
I'm in, in Jonesboro, Arkansas!!!!This stuff just makes sense.
Count me in for 30 days!
Count me in for 30 days!
I convinced the wife, i think
I convinced the wife, i think we're doing it, this is going to be dificult because i really enjoy bred.
Cool, awesome, welcome.
Cool, awesome, welcome. Always easier when doing it with someone else. Also, this doesn't mean you never can eat bread for the rest of your life...just this 30 day period. But you'll find that your craving for bread will start to go away.
I was on a Paleo diet about
I was on a Paleo diet about 10 years ago after years of fighting celiac. Stayed on it for 2 years, looked and felt great, then I met my Italian pasta eating husband and here I am looking for inspiration to try again! This is just what I needed, may take some babystepping, but let's see where it gets me! Thanks, Melanie
Cool, Melanie, welcome
Cool, Melanie, welcome aboard. There are lots of parts of Italian cuisine that is paleo: all the seafood in Southern Italy and Sicily. Just stick with that! Here's one paleo blogger, Richard Nikoley, who recently traveled through Italy:
http://freetheanimal.com/2010/07/the-food.html
Hi everyone,I'm in (which for
Hi everyone,I'm in (which for me means skipping 1-2 tsp of xylitol per day and maybe hitting the treadmill one more time for 20 minutes).But a word of warning for those of us who are hitting this hard for the first time and have lots of fat to lose, based on personal experience.I'm somewhat of an expert in this area:I lost 100lbs 15 years ago and have kept it off ever since (I'm 6'4" and 200lbs now, with a 6 pack that doesn't require any exercise to maintain.) I also run an 18 year old anti-aging and health education nonprofit http://www.smartlifeforum.org that brings world-class people (Gary Taubes recently!) to present to the public in California. I'm about to publish a book about nutrition for having a smarter baby (http://www.betterbabybook.com). Consider me an expert on human health as it relates to performance, based on personal experimentation, along the lines of Tim Ferriss.It's possible to rapidly lose fat - I lost my first 50 lbs in 3 months - but most fat-asses like I was are storing fat for a variety of reasons, including body toxins that your body stores in your fat rather than letting it get into your brain and liver. We're talking mercury and mycotoxins (mold-derived like aflatoxin) and some petrochemicals. If you melt the fat - and you will on this program - you need to take steps to bind the toxins you will flood your body with, or the mercury will take up residence in your nervous system, and you can get sicker. I did.So add chlorella, higher dose vitamin C, and toxin-binders like activated charcoal to your diet. B-12, NAC, or my favorite, which is liposomal glutathione. (about to carry that on betterbabybook.com but you can get it at VRP.com) Think DMSA or even DMPS if required.You will save yourself some serious pain - usually upper back pain, hand numbness, and skin problems, as your body tries to detox.The Paleo diet is the right way to go to live a long time and to be powerful now, without a lot of work, without "dieting" and without marathon workouts. It's efficient and keeps you stable, which makes you better at work and home.Thanks for the motivation, John...I blog at http://www.bulletproofexecutive.com and tweet at @bulletproofexecutive
I just found your site this
I just found your site this evening. Someone linked an article from here. I have a few questions. One is why no grains? As people wandered, they ate grains. They ate them raw, but they ate them. Also, why no honey? Honey is not just a sweetener, but also has great medicinal uses. (I've used raw honey on open wounds. It works. I've also used it for coughs and sore throats. Again, it works.) Legumes - Soy, I understand. But the other legumes? Again, why not? There isn't a whole bunch of processing going on. You pick it and cook it or eat it raw. Raw peanuts makes a wonderful snack. Legumes has an excellent source of fiber and protein. Dairy - Store bought dairy I understand. But the milk I get from my goats and drink raw? I also make my own cheese, butter, yogurt, ice-cream, kefir, and use the whey in place of water when baking bread. Some of the stuff you are saying makes sense. The other stuff does not make sense to me and I would like to understand your reasoning in this. Incidentally, someone mentioned diabetes. My husband is diabetic. He went from pills to insulin, back to pills, and now he is diet controlled. He also used to be on two different bp meds, a medication for high cholesterol, and (because of these messing up his liver) a medication for his liver. He's off of all of that. So diabetes does not automatically mean medications for the rest of your life. And, my husband is 3rd generation diabetic. His father lost his foot, then his leg, and eventually his life. Same with his grandfather. So genetic predisposition can be over come as well.
I agree with some of what you
I agree with some of what you say, in particular honey. If he stumbled on a hive, I believe he would have eaten honey. On the other hand - dairy. This comes from someone that loves cream for coffee and yogurt. Paleo man didn't raise anything that produced milk nor was he likely to be able to hold something still long enough to milk it. If he could he would just have killed it and ate it. I'm not giving medical advice but if your husband is diet controlled on the diabetes he's close. More meat, fish, fowl in the diet -in effect more protein- has the effect of helping to regulate blood sugar.
Kim, you ask a lot of good
Kim, you ask a lot of good questions. The short answer is that humans are best adapted to the types of foods we've eaten for the longest period of time. So most of the foods you asked about (dairy, grains, legumes) are the product of the Agricultural Revolution -- very recent in human history.
I just did a post outlining the simple way I think about health: http://bit.ly/hASimi
To go any deeper into those specific foods, either buy one of those books on the list, or search around -- and I'll be addressing many of the points over the coming month!
As for genes and diabetes, a few generations ago NO ONE had diabetes. Genetics haven't changed over that time period, so it's the environment (i.e., our eating habits) that have. No one is destined to have diabetes. Glad to hear that your husband has addressed it.
Buy The Paleo Diet (Revised
Buy The Paleo Diet (Revised Edition) by Loren Cordain.
I love the concept of the
I love the concept of the Paleo diet. As an Anthropology student I have developed an interest in traditional diets and have done quite a bit of research about them. My question is: does the Paleo diet make any disclaimers or indicate that the diet could be harmful for some ethnic groups? For example, aboriginal Hawaiians that ate their traditional diet of very little meat and mainly all vegetables were relieved of symptoms of metabolic syndrome. And also, many African-Americans are prone to heart attacks and kidney disorders because of their West African ancestors' little consumption of meat and mainly all vegetables, as their kidneys are extremely efficient at retaining salt. I also believe it would be helpful to indicate that there is a difference between wild game and farmed meat. Wild game is very low in saturated fat, and most of their fat is mono/polyunsaturated, while farmed meat is high in saturated fat. I still believe the Paleo diet is great for a lot of people, but it might be helpful to indicate that it is possibly not universal.
Monica, I imagine you must be
Monica, I imagine you must be a Huge fan of Weston A. Price and his life work.
Hi Bryan,I haven't read
Hi Bryan,I haven't read anything by Price. I don't want to embarrass myself if his work is *the* authority on the subject, but do you recommend it?
Sorry, I suppose I should
Sorry, I suppose I should define the difference between my use of the words "Paleo" diet and traditional diet. When referring to the Paleo diet I mean the diet plan you have suggested, and when I say traditional I mean the ancestral diet of particular groups, which may or may not date back to the Paleolithic.PS: I'm not trying to criticize what you're doing here, I support it, just inquiring about certain considerations.