Your First 30 Days

So you've made the decision to try paleo for 30 days. YAY!

Here are some tips to make it through. Some might work for you and some might not, but here we go:

• Clear out your apartment/house of all tempting food. And any food that you can't eat will become tempting! Note: I am not telling you to throw away your non-paleo food. That would be wasteful. Maybe give food away to friends, or ask them to hold on to it while you go through the next 30 days.

Mitchell and Cam from Modern Family clear out their kitchen as they embark on a juice fast.

Image courtesy of nymag.com

• The first week is the hardest. You're dealing with simple carbohydrate withdrawal, and your brain/body isn't going to like it: mood swings, headaches, low-energy... But don't worry, it gets SO. MUCH. better.


• Eat a lot of fats. A lot. More fats than you might think. More fats than your "low-fat diet"-ingrained brain could ever imagine. Feeling tired? Eat fats. Low energy levels? Eat fats! Still hungry after stuffing your face with food? EAT FATS. Fatty meats, eggs, ghee (clarified butter), avocado, olives, coconut. This makes me want to write an ode to fats. Maybe in a later post... Trust me, as long as you're exercising, eating all of these fats won't make you fat! Still skeptical? Check this out.


• Use the wonderful interwebs for all that it has to offer. There are tons of websites with a wide, wide range of paleo recipes. Just google "paleo recipes" and they will rain down upon you.


• A crock pot/slow cooker will become your BFF, if you let it. You can prep the ingredients at night, put them in the crock pot in the morning before you leave for work, and come home to a delicious meal. Minimal effort, maximum food!


• Always have food with you. Good go-to snacks include, but are not limited to: Lara bars (sparingly), leftover steak, trail mix, paleo jerky, meatballs, and tuna packets. You definitely want to avoid hanger. And by hanger, I don't mean something you hang your clothes on. I mean hunger+anger, hanger, an uncontrollable state of crankiness that does not subside until you eat. It looks a lot like this:

Me, as a small child. And I have no doubt that I was hangry when this picture was taken.

• Check allll ingredients labels. It's a huge pain in the you-know-what, but you'd be surprised how many foods add stuff like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), evaporated cane syrup, or other soybean products seemingly for kicks. (Seriously, why does salsa need high fructose corn syrup? hint: IT DOESN'T.)


• Don't trust any sauces or dressings at restaurants. Chances are, they have sugar in them.


• Lie if you have to. I plan on writing a post about my lying habits, but this is a tip worth mentioning now. If peeps give you a hard time about your "pickiness" or you just don't feel like explaining paleo for the 1000th time (it gets exhausting), just lie and tell them you're having allergy/stomach issues and you need to figure out what's going on. It might make you a liar, but it will (a) force them to be honest with you about what you're eating and (b) make them sympathetic towards your eating habits.

Alright, I think that's all I have for you. For now, anyway. Are you a seasoned paleo eater with more tips for a first-timer? I'd love to hear them!



P.S. - are post scripts allowed on blogs? Welp, they're on mine now... Some of you may have been so bold to also give up caffeine. I was once so young and bold. I was also unemployed so had the luxury of sleeping whenever I felt like it (ahem, all the time). Be prepared for lots and lots of naps. I meant for this to be a warning, but it's sounding enticing. Maybe I should also give up caffeine and take lots of naps again!