Primal Diet?

[barefootmommy]

I have been doing TF for a few months now but I have another 30 lbs to lose and am interested in the Primal diet. Could someone enlighten me on the basics? Is cooked meat okay, or is it all raw? I'm ready to place my order with the local farm for grass-fed steaks!

[jplain]

Cooked meat is definitely okay on the Primal Blueprint.

Mark Sisson has put up his diet/lifestyle philosophy on his website, Mark's Daily Apple. Honestly, you don't need his book as long as you're willing to spend lots of time reading the articles on his website. But the book is nice if you want it all laid out in a logical fashion.

Here's the page that is most helpful for starting to figure it all out: Primal Blueprint 101. These two links from that page are good for starting out:

The Primal Blueprint Diagrams
A Primal Blueprint Sample Menu

But really, everything on the PB 101 page is worth reading.

[crunchy_mama]

Which primal diet to which you refer? There are 2 by that name now.

[jplain]

crunchy_mama, the book The Primal Blueprint was recommended to the OP on another thread, so I'm pretty sure that's the one she's talking about. But good point, as the other Primal diet is very different.

To the OP, the biggest difference you'll find between TF and PB is with grains. On the PB you greatly limit or, ideally, eliminate grains. Since it is pretty controversial to suggest eliminating grains completely, I'll put a couple links on that topic below. One is from Sisson's website, and one is from the PāNu blog.

Mark's Daily Apple: Why Grains Are Unhealthy

PāNu: The Argument Against Cereal Grains

Kurt Harris of PāNu has a very similar dietary philosophy to Mark Sisson. His Get Started page is great for helping you prioritize dietary changes. Click on the red text for more in depth discussion of the steps. The main entries posted to the blog tend to be fairly technical/scientific, and the content is excellent.

[elleystar]

Re: the two diets, are you thinking of Primal and Paleo? The Paleo diet seems to be a lot more restrictive, and while there's nothing wrong with that per se, I just know that I couldn't maintain it and be successful. That's why I chose Primal and it's working wonderfully. YMMV though!

[jplain]

There actually is another diet called the Primal Diet, but it involves raw meat and raw eggs, preferably eaten when they're a bit spoiled. Ick.

Paleo (with a capital P) is Loren Cordain's diet. He's written a couple of books and also runs a blog. His diet differs most significantly from the Primal Blueprint on the topic of saturated fat consumption: Cordain is not a big fan of saturated fat, though his stance has softened somewhat since his books were published.

Others who eat paleo (small p) don't necessarily follow Cordain's prescribed diet, but use the term to mean that they're trying to eat in a way that mimics how Paleolithic man might choose to eat if dumped into modern suburbia.

[elleystar]

Originally Posted by jplain

There actually is another diet called the Primal Diet, but it involves raw meat and raw eggs, preferably eaten when they're a bit spoiled. Ick.

Paleo (with a capital P) is Loren Cordain's diet. He's written a couple of books and also runs a blog. His diet differs most significantly from the Primal Blueprint on the topic of saturated fat consumption: Cordain is not a big fan of saturated fat, though his stance has softened somewhat since his books were published.

Others who eat paleo (small p) don't necessarily follow Cordain's prescribed diet, but use the term to mean that they're trying to eat in a way that mimics how Paleolithic man might choose to eat if dumped into modern suburbia.

Pleh!!! So much for my appetite! lol

[closedaccount]

I know a Primal Dieter (The all raw diet including meat, eggs, dairy, and veggie juice created by Aajonus Vonderplanitz - www.wewant2live.com) that gave birth at home with one contraction and only one hour of labor with very little pain. She attributes it all to her diet.

[alireb]

Love Mark's site and the primal way of eating. I feel so much better and the weight does comes off quickly.

TF is super grain heavy and I know a lot of people who gain weight on it.

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by djtutolo 

I know a Primal Dieter (The all raw diet including meat, eggs, dairy, and veggie juice created by Aajonus Vonderplanitz - www.wewant2live.com) that gave birth at home with one contraction and only one hour of labor with very little pain. She attributes it all to her diet.

Whoa!  Why can't I be that lucky? 

[Panserbjorne]

I felt fantastic eating the primal diet (raw meat/eggs/milk and some veggie juices.)  I didn't stick to it long term, but I honestly felt wonderful.  Now I am primal/cooked and so long as I stick to it feel excellent as well.  No grains, no sugar, very little in terms of starches.

[Piglet68]

I'm new to this and didn't realize there was a difference between Paleo and Primal. Good to know. 

I'm less concerned to sticking with *exact* rules and more with using them as a guideline. I know I want to cut sugar out of my diet, as well as starchy foods like rice, pasta, and grains. So that's what I'm doing and the paleo recipes I've found seem to fit best with that. I do eat dairy (we have access to raw milk), though some paleo folks think that's okay. 

Glad to figure out the lingo so I don't confuse the issue when I discuss it with others. I've only just recently begun looking into this.

[lovestolearn]

FYI: Here is my new blog post on Primal Pregnancy!:

http://www.primaltoad.com/primal-pregnancy/

[rootzdawta]

Mark Sisson broke down the differences between paleo and primal here.  

I'm gradually transitioning myself and my kids to a paleo/primal diet.   I went vegan cold turkey when I did and this time, I want to take things slow.  I changed my diet significantly when I started Weight Watchers and lost 40+ pounds on that.   I reduced bread and grains then because they were too point heavy, i.e. I couldn't stay within my points and eat as much bread and grains as I was so I had already started to cut it out.  Anyway, I was vegan for years and finally realized that beans and wheat are basically things I cannot digest.  They made me feel awful.  So I cut those out.  In the process of trying to find out why I felt so sick, though, I discovered The Paleo Solution.  The science/reasoning behind paleo makes a lot of sense but I still have some reservations about eating so much meat not only from a health perspective but from a financial standpoint.  But I feel amazing right now and I would say I'm only about 75% paleo.  I just want to see how I will feel 100% paleo.  I'm training for a 1/2 marathon in Sept and then after that I intend to go 30 days strict paleo--no sugar, dairy . . . not even my beloved popcorn.  We'll see.  Happy to have found this thread!