What I Eat

Many of my friends and family haven't quite wrapped their heads around the whole paleo thing. The broad message of eating whole, unprocessed foods usually resonates, but the detail can get tricky. I admit, it can be complicated in terms of what I eat day-to-day, what I don't eat at all, and (here's the grey area), what I eat infrequently as a treat but prefer not to include in my everyday choices.

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs: In abundance! I try to source good quality grass-fed beef, pastured pork, humanely raised chicken, and wild or sustainably farmed fish. Just like on Portlandia, I want to be able to visit the farm. I actually haven't done that yet; maybe next summer! We get a monthly meat and egg share from True Cost Farms, linked to the right. We also recently bought an eight of a grass-fed beef that E's mom's cousin raised. These sources are supplemented with purchases from the co-op.

Vegetables: In abundance! I try to include at least two varieties with every dinner, which flows into leftovers for lunch. I haven't successfully incorporated them into breakfast regularly yet, although we do enjoy a pork/sweet potato hash as a break from eggs. When possible, I buy items in season.

Fruits: Some, usually 1-2 servings a day. I try to buy seasonal fruits, but bananas are a fallback option.

Fats: Coconut oil for cooking. Olive oil for low heat cooking and dressing salads or vegetables. Pastured butter (Organic Valley has a great one) for cooking eggs and dressing vegetables. I steer clear of processed seed, soy or vegetable oils.

Chocolate: I enjoy a few squares of 80-85% dark chocolate several times a week.

Nuts: I eat a handful a few times a week, usually raw or dry roasted mixed nuts. My favorites are cashews and pecans.

Dairy: As noted above, we use quality butter as a cooking fat. We have also recently started eating sheep or goat cheese once a week or so. I avoid most other dairy, as I find it makes skin problems flare up for me. If I indulge at all, it tends to be in restaurants or a rare stop at an ice cream or gelato shop.

Alcohol: Due to the gluten restriction, I've quit beer, which I used to love. Now my drink of choice is red wine, although I occasionally will have some vodka with club soda, sip some whiskey, or have a hard cider. I keep it to the weekends, maybe one or two drinks in an evening. Occasionally, I take longer breaks from drinking, like during the Whole30 we completed in October.

Sugar: I generally don't eat sugary foods on a day to day basis. The chocolate I eat is so dark that the sugar content is less than most fruits. I incorporate small amounts of sugar as a treat, either in paleo baked goods or some other goodie. The current temptation is some toffee I bought last week at the wonderful Golden Fig. I bought a tiny bag and have been doling it out slowly!

Potatoes: Though forbidden on many paleo "challenge" regimens, I do eat potatoes occasionally-- maybe 1-2 times a month. They're a whole food, after all, just not one with tons of redeeming nutritional value.

Legumes: Generally, I avoid these completely. Once in a great, great while I will have a scoop of hummus as a "least bad" option at a party or something.

Non-gluten containing grains: I eat white rice in small quantities perhaps once every few months, usually with indian or thai food. In the summer, I'll eat an arepa maybe once a month from Hola Arepa. In other words, these are occasional treats only. The ones that don't appeal to me (quinoa, brown rice, etc.), I don't eat at all.

Gluten-containing grains/flour: I've recently come to the conclusion that I should not be eating gluten at all. For a while, I was eating it occasionally, but the last time I had some, I felt sick for half a week afterwards. I have yet to go through a holiday with this restriction, so Christmas ought to be interesting!

I've arrived at this style of eating in a slow evolution from the South Beach Diet, which E and I started in August of 2011. Until now, I've never actually sat down and articulated these choices in detail. If I got into the whys and wherefores, it would take several more entries to explain! Fortunately for me, others have done a good job of assembling that information. If you'd like to learn more, start with these links:

What Is The Paleo Diet?
Whole9 Nutrition in 60 Seconds
Mark's Daily Apple Primal Blueprint