Food journal for a longtime caveman and a newly on board cavewoman

[novicecrafter]

Background:

Caveman: has been on a primal diet for years now. He used to be somewhat overweight despite INSANE amounts of exercise and eating "healthy" (SAD). He started going low carb and the weight just melted off. He has been primal ever since.

Cavewoman: Newly on board after doing tons of research on the paleo lifestyle. Possibly pre diabetic and with some weight to lose hopefully a paleo diet will help. Hopefully it wont take long to undo the damage from years of a "healthy" (SAD) diet of sugar highs and crashes.

Combined: Caveman is going to go completely paleo and cut out the remaining dairy, ranch dressing, protein shakes etc. Cavewoman is going to learn how to be creative and prepare tasty paleo food.. and hopefully get over her revulsion of fat and handling raw meat before cooking.

Transitions: today will be consuming the remaining items in the fridge that were too expensive to just toss but not paleo. No junk food but some dairy products and grapes. Cavewoman will start paleo right away however will not go super low carb until day 2.

Goal: dedicated in recording daily food consumption and finding a perfect balance of fat/protein/carbs for both of us. Any comments and or suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

[Jean]

Good luck!

re the handling raw meat revulsion, it helps if the meat is dry. Well-hung meat from a good butcher is dry, whereas the stuff that comes in plastic at the supermarket is slimy. I'd recommend finding a good old-fashioned butcher if such a thing exists where you live.

[novicecrafter]

Caveman:

Breakfast

"cleaning out rest of non paleo stuff omelet"
6 eggs, one large portobella mushroom, onions, habanero pepper, way too much cheese, sour cream, hot cock sauce
One small bowl of fruit/berries: 3/4 apple, 12 berries (raspberry and blackberry), 1 sliced small fig, 2 chunks of coconut
 
This was munched on over a few hours as it was a pretty big meal.

Cavewoman:

Breakfast

3 eggs cooked sunny side up in REAL butter (wow havent seen that in awhile)
one small bowl (these are really pretty Japanese bowls that look like they are for matcha - probably a 2 cup capacity) of fruit-
1/4 of a pink grapefruit, 9 berries (rasp/black) 1 small sliced fig, 1/4 small apple, 2 chunks of coconut


Lunch: (For both of us and only a smallish serving each- the rest is leftovers)

one packet of 80/20 trader joes ground beef cooked in the remainder of the port wine I had and some butter alone with
leeks
onions
chard stalks
okra
diakon radish
a little burdock root sprinkled on
Rest of sour cream (will not buy more)
way too many herbs/spices
a dash of Worcestershire (which I will no longer be using as the 2nd ingredient is hfs)

Frankly I did not like it at all- luckily caveman is a walking garbage disposal and will eat it happily.

Snack: (cavewoman)
 
3 eggs over easy cooked in real butter. Bizarre desperate craving.

A few hours later the other half of the grapefruit I sliced this morning. Also a very specific craving *shrugs*

Snack:(caveman)

Rest of lunch leftovers

a chunk of coconut here and there


*note: all of the dairy items were just to get rid of what we had. No more will be bought.
*question* So should I be concerned about oxalates by eating the raw greens with fat/protein? 

Thank you!

[Warren Dew]

Looks like a good start.

*question* So should I be concerned about oxalates by eating the raw greens with fat/protein? 

I don't think it's an issue.  I figure if the greens taste too bitter, I should probably skip them.  If they don't taste bitter to me, that probably means I need the alkaloids for pH balancing.

[novicecrafter]

I have not updated this in a few days. Mostly because I am kind of too embarrassed to do so. I have been struggling with this - though I have not had any major mishaps (bread /grains etc).

I am going to air out some dirty laundry so hopefully I can move on.

- I have been eating cheese and tomatoes. As for cheese I cheated horribly with some store bought standard cheddar.

As For tomatoes I have found that adding pico de gallo or a good organic salsa (no nasty stuff- fresh made) has really brightened up my food. I plan on having small servings of either (probably pico de gallo for the most part) for awhile longer.

- bf and I got a little tipsy one night and had a mad craving for pizza. We did not order any! But we did make a low carb one from zucchini, egg, Parmesan, marinara sauce (will NOT eat more of this after I read ingredients- sugar and soybean oil!!) and bbq chicken on top (no more of this either we were using up last of the sauce).

-My biggest and most shameful mistake. I utterly cracked under carb cravings and downed an entire pint of coconut ice cream. Pretty high calories though the sugar content was low all things considered. It did not push me past 100 carbs for the day BUT i know how bad it was. I got horrible stomach issues afterwards.

-beef jerky. I have been working on perfecting the recipe. I probably had too much of the stuff. It is incredibly salty!! I used bragg liquid aminos and a tiny bit of hot sauce. I am looking for a very low sodium recipe that can be done in the oven. Perhaps even NO salt or seasoning at all?

-salty meats such as bacon, lunch meat (EW) and organic all beef hotdogs. These need to go. Got some uncured organic bacon and will continue to only get that from now on.

-mayo. This will also probably need to stay in small amounts. I get a craving for fish at night so I mix a can of tuna with some salmon and mayo.

- occasional slice of grapefruit. Also had some grapefuit/cranberry coconut water. 8g sugar for the entire bottle.

-alcohol. Been drinking a bit too much wine etc.

-diet soda and diet energy drinks!

*sad face* But I have to think positively. I may be a bit bloated from all that salt (ugh) but I did not cheat with any grains/bread.

So today has got to be the last day of this. I feel bloated and gross. Its hard not to be terrified that Im gaining weight on this diet because of it.

--breakfast

I was craving veggies (probably due to all the cheating) so I made an omlette with

bacon, eggs, zucinni, okra, onions, and cheese. Ate a reasonable portion.

lunch I had a small packet (those .69 cent single serving ones) of lunchmeat turkey. I used it to wrap pickled jalapenos, cheese and mayo. (ew) talk about more salt

Had some low sodium sunflower seeds- about a serving- MORE SALT

Beef jerky MORE SALT

dinner I made something kinda good. kinda like french onion soup-.

Half an onion sauteed in some butter. I then added (and realized I should have done this in the first place) some solidified fat from the bone broth I made. I added the liquid and some marrow as the soup itself. Topped with a little bit of better quality cheese (a few pieces not covered like french onion).

I will probably get hungry later and have some fish with something green. Spinach perhaps.

*sighs*

[sparrow]

A couple of those aren't really cheats.

As For tomatoes I have found that adding pico de gallo or a good organic salsa (no nasty stuff- fresh made) has really brightened up my food. I plan on having small servings of either (probably pico de gallo for the most part) for awhile longer.

Some people can tolerate nightshades with no issues.  If that's the case for you, I wouldn't try cutting them out until your diet is more established, especially if it helps you stay on the wagon overall.  I eat them in small amounts, when they're in season.

My biggest and most shameful mistake. I utterly cracked under carb cravings and downed an entire pint of coconut ice cream. Pretty high calories though the sugar content was low all things considered. It did not push me past 100 carbs for the day BUT i know how bad it was. I got horrible stomach issues afterwards.

Ok, so that's not good, but I wouldn't exactly say shameful.  Buck up - we are all human, tomorrow is another day, and there's no reason to feel guilty.  Your body punished you enough without you beating yourself up emotionally.  I tried the coconut milk ice cream recently and it did the same thing to my stomach.  Too many additives.

beef jerky. I have been working on perfecting the recipe. I probably had too much of the stuff. It is incredibly salty!! I used bragg liquid aminos and a tiny bit of hot sauce. I am looking for a very low sodium recipe that can be done in the oven. Perhaps even NO salt or seasoning at all?

Jerky is paleo, so long as you make it with paleo ingredients.  I saw the suggestion on this forum to try pressing cracked black pepper it into the strips, no salt or other seasoning, and it is really good.  I also make plain jerky to use as dog treats, and it's good that way, too.  If you search the CF forums, there's a jerky thread somewhere with other ideas.

mayo. This will also probably need to stay in small amounts. I get a craving for fish at night so I mix a can of tuna with some salmon and mayo.

It's very easy to make homemade mayo using lemon juice or vinegar, egg, and some sort of fat (I use pure olive oil since extra virgin will get bitter).  Many people add mustard and salt or other seasonings to it, but I usually make it plain, or with a little bit of dried mustard.  I've never considered homemade mayo to really be a cheat.

occasional slice of grapefruit.

This is paleo.

alcohol. Been drinking a bit too much wine etc.

Go easy on it, but many of us drink alcohol in small amounts.  It's one of the few cheats I can have without a nasty reaction later, so I allow some alcohol in my diet.  Cutting back is probably a good goal if you're not wanting to eliminate it.

diet soda and diet energy drinks

This stuff is nasty, but I empathize with the temptation.  It was way harder for me to cut out non-paleo beverages than foods.  I'm not saying you should do this, but I ended up changing foods first, and then switching my caffeinated drinks to unsweetened tea and coffee.  I've had two weeks off of school, and used the time to FINALLY break the caffeine addiction (this is after an otherwise pretty strict paleo diet for over a year - getting off the stuff is waaay overdue and I'm not proud of it taking so long).  I will still drink herbal tea.

*sad face* But I have to think positively. I may be a bit bloated from all that salt (ugh) but I did not cheat with any grains/bread.

YES!  Gluten is, in my opinion, the cheat with the worst physical consequences for most people, and even occasional  (e.g. weekly) exposures can keep your gut from healing.  So good for you on avoiding the stuff.

From your journal for the day, is there a reason you're using processed turkey?

[novicecrafter]

WOW. Thank you Sparrow for such a detailed and awesome response!

* as far as the grapefruit- I understand that it is paleo however I am trying to do super low carb in order to lose a fair amount of weight. From what I gather fruit should be avoided during this time.

*The lunchmeat? well I have no excuse for that. I should have packed a lunch but was out and it was something I used to eat when I worked at a grocery store. It was a really cheap way to get full from a tour of sorts of the deli. A few slices of cheese,of meat, packet of mayo, and I would grab some jalapenos in a tiny cup. I know its horrible- and frankly it tastes vile now. But that is the problem with cheating I guess. A very slippery slope.

Today is back on track hopefully.

Breakfast:

omelet with zucchini, okra, avocado, salsa, bacon, cilantro, green onion

will update when I eat the rest of the meals.

Thanks again!

[sparrow]

No problem!

Fitday has a half a large grapefruit at 13.4 g of carbs.  If you're having less than that, and only a few days a week, I wouldn't sweat it too much.  If you're going on grapefruit binges, that's a different story. 

I get what you mean about the easy lunch.  I am one of the laziest people on earth when it comes to this, and paleo definitely requires planning ahead in this area.  Boiled eggs make an easy snack/light lunch that you can carry with you, and prepping lunch the night before, from dinner leftovers, also helps save time in the morning.