The Paleo diet is easy to follow as it doesn’t require counting your calorie intake or other limitations. The main focus of Paleolithic diet regime is on eating natural and fresh food products just like our ancestors did. As long as you eat fresh seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and lean meats, you can eat as much as you want without worrying about the carbohydrates and fats.
Before you start your Paleolithic eating journey, you must have a clear and investigating approach towards what you learn and adapt during the course of your Paleo diet meal planning. You need to sit down and decide what you are going to eat in the first week. Initially, if you decide, to begin with, a full on diet, you will experience a period of adjustment. This period will definitely lead to mental, physical, and emotional situations where you perhaps experience symptoms of withdrawal because you are starting to change your eating patterns.
Because of this adjustment period, it is better you begin when you are mentally calm and free of any stressful situations. There are a few cases where folks would feel a mild headache or flu symptoms, but it’s just for a couple of days. The adjustment period can last no more than two weeks and once it’s over, you can attain a healthy and well-balanced eating routine. No doubt that you feel an intense craving for tasty carbohydrate laden food and often exhibit symptoms of fatigue and dizziness during the period of adjustment, but it’s just a matter of few days or weeks.
How to Manage Cravings and Symptoms
The most fascinating yet strange fact is that human body craves for food that has no or very minimal nutritional value. The same goes for dairy and grains, hence folks who begin the Paleo diet experience an intense desire to consume these type of food products. Here are a few things to do to make the change of lifestyle a little bit convenient.
Drink a Lot of Water
Include onions and garlic in your food. Rich in amino acids and sulfur, both onion and garlic help in detoxification of the body. Don’t hesitate to add plenty of turmeric in your food. Being a strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent, turmeric helps in disabling the disease-causing free radicals, thereby preventing the damage to healthy cells. Cook your food in olive oil or coconut oil. Oily fish is also one of the healthiest food.
Planning your Paleo Diet
It is highly recommended you plan your Paleo diet in advance and decide what food items you are going to take during the first week. For that, you need to first make a 7-day paleo menu and on the basis of that, you need to have a handy paleo diet beginner shopping list to take you with on your next weekly shopping.Make a shopping list and buy the things in advance to avoid consuming sugar laden food products quickly as and when the craving strikes. It is good if you have an adequate supply of Paleo snacks, for instance, nuts including, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and fresh fruits with low glycemic index. When planning your diet, you need to concentrate on mealtimes. Here’s a sample of Paleolithic meal plan to help begin your journey.
Once you make a shopping list, buy the things in advance to avoid consuming sugar laden food products quickly as and when the craving strikes. It is good if you have an adequate supply of Paleo snacks, for instance, nuts including, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and fresh fruits with low glycemic index. When planning your diet, you need to concentrate on mealtimes. Here’s a sample of Paleolithic meal plan to help begin your journey.
A Quick Meal Planning – Your First Day of Paleolithic Diet
A Paleo Breakfast
- Eggs, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and steamed spinach.
- Avocado
- Use coconut oil
A Paleo Lunch
- Chicken salad with red onion
- Herbs, olive oil, and lime juice dressing
- Pecan, cantaloupe, and blackberries
A Paleo Snack
- ¼ cup macadamia
A Paleo Dinner
- Venison steak
- Ginger cabbage and olive oil
- Steamed summer squash with lemon juice, cinnamon, and coconut milk
A Paleo Dessert
-Blanched almonds and walnuts with slices of apple and papaya
Your first grocery list will include fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fish, chicken, and nuts. Include plenty of herbs, olive oil, coconut milk, Epsom salt, to help you tackle the adjustment phase.
Taking Care of Yourself
It’s a wonderful idea to keep a close watch on your body’s reaction to the new diet plan. Paleo diet contains all nutrients with no fillers. Many beginners experience a detoxification period where their body learns how to utilize fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.
Begin your Paleo Journey with the first meal of the day. Bake delicious and moist Paleo-friendly breakfast of bread and loaves with Mary’s bestselling cookbook Paleo-Friendly Bread Recipe Hacks.