Four Handy Tips for Starting a Paleo Diet

 

Unless you’ve been living in a cave (pardon the pun) for the last few years, you will almost certainly have heard people constantly raving about what is known as the ‘Paleo diet’ or as they are sometimes called ‘Paleolithic diets’. Unlike other diet plans currently being followed, the paleo diet is different, in that it isn’t actually a diet at all, but rather a change in lifestyle. When most people think of diets, they tend to focus on weight loss, but in reality, the paleo diet places an emphasis on promoting health and well-being, with the added benefit of being able to assist with fat loss and lean muscle growth in the process. If you’re thinking of starting the paleo diet for yourself however, you will need to know what you’re doing, which is why we’ve compiled this handy list, providing you with four helpful tips designed to make life a great deal easier for people about to embark on a paleo diet plan.

 

What is the paleo diet? – Before we go any further, it’s important that we bring you up to speed on exactly what the paleo diet is. Basically, the paleo diet is a diet plan in which people will consume very similar foods to those that cavemen used to consume during the paleolithic era, millions of years ago. Back then, food had to be hunted, foraged, or found, and there was no processed food and no farming or agriculture back then. From an evolutionary standpoint, the paleo diet is ideal because it promotes optimal health, and it is great for people who suffer with food allergies or intolerances. You see, we have only been consuming processed foods for around 10,000 years, which is not much time in evolutionary standards, which is why we often struggle to digest processed foods such as wheat, gluten, flours, and cereals. Basically, the human digestive system has not yet evolved enough to be able to digest and process these foods properly, which is why the paleo diet is so beneficial. You consume foods that human beings have been consuming for millions of years, meaning that we have evolved enough so as to be able to better digest and process these foods. Common paleo-friendly foods include: red meat, lean meat, fish, seafood, grass-fed butter, organic coconut oil, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables.

 

Tips for starting a paleo diet - Now that you know more about the paleo diet, let’s take a look at a few tips for getting started.

 

Make sure you embrace healthy fats – For years, human beings have avoided fats like the plague, for fear of them causing them to gain weight and suffer from heart disease, heart attacks, and other serious conditions. However, research has now proven that not only are many fats beneficial and healthy, some of them are even essential. The paleo diet includes a great deal of very healthy fat sources, including healthy butter and coconut oil, and coconut butter, which is rich in MCTs (Medium Chain Triglycerides) as well as minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients. Healthy fats help to boost the metabolism, they fuel your body, they’re great for the brain, plus they assist with cellular health and function. If you’re following a paleo diet plan, make sure you include plenty of healthy fat sources.

 

Plan your meals – When you make the switch over to a paleo diet plan, it will come as a bit of a shock to the system, especially if you’re used to eating processed foods. To help make life easier, look up your favorite paleo-friendly recipes and plan your meals ahead. This means that you know which foods to purchase, plus it means that you know which foods you will be eating for the coming days/weeks.

 

Throw out junk food – When you do make the switch to a paleo diet plan, before you go ahead and purchase the food ingredients that you are going to need, you will need to ensure that you throw out any junk food hiding in your kitchen cupboards. It’s easy to tell yourself that you won’t eat them, but there will be days when you’re tired and hungry, and the cravings will eventually get too much for you, and you will eventually CAVE in (sorry). The idea behind paleo is that you only eat fresh, healthy, and natural foods, so just one processed cake bar or biscuit, will be enough to throw your body out of whack, which could make the diet is a great deal harder.

 

Don’t think of it as a diet – When most people think of diets, they’ll basically plan to stick to them for as long as they can, in an attempt to lose a certain amount of weight. This means that in their head, these people think of diets as quick fixes, and often, they cannot wait to finish so that they can binge eat and stuff their faces. With the paleo diet however, it isn’t designed to just be about fat loss, it is instead designed to promote optimal health and well-being, making it a lifestyle. Many paleo practitioners consume paleo-friendly foods for the rest of their lives, and they look and feel fantastic as a result.