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28K views 444 replies 84 participants last post by  pumabearclan 
#1 ·
So we have decided and begun to go primal with our diet and I thought it would be good to start a primal family thread. (when I did a search everything was from 2010 so I figured we'd need a new one)

Today is essentially day 2 of our journey into primal eating and I am definitely in carb hangover mode! I didn't think I would be b/c we really limited carbs anyway and it was all whole wheat or brown rice (which I perceived as healthy).

I have bee reading Marks daily apple's blog but I haven't gotten the book....I did write down the approved foods and workouts though. Do you think the book is really a must?

I am a little confused on if I am suppose to limit meat at all? Also fruit for that matter...

Hope you all will join me for primal eating support here whether you are new to it like me or have experience with it.

NAK
 
#4 ·
we are, though we are moving DH to GAPS pretty soon, though DS and I will remain primal -- obviously with a GAPS influence. :)

we really don't limit anything for the kiddo -- he's free to eat his fill of veggies, meat, and fruit. we just keep it diverse and go from there.

DH and I tend to focus more on nutrient diversity than on actual amounts, though I find that i eat about 1600 cals per day with about 50-55% fat, then about 30% protein (maybe 35%), and the rest carbohydrate from veggies and fruits. we also do eat sweet potatoes and potatoes, because we don't have any weight to loose or major metabolic issues. we'll also have rice on occasion. but, that's how we do it. oh, and a fair bit of dark chocolate.

end of the day, we really enjoy the process. we are moving toward more seasonal and organics, which we are finding fun and enlightening.
 
#6 ·
Yeah we just started but I have no intention of limiting any and all fruits, veggies, meats, and nuts for DD. She is still very actively nursing at 22 m/o and is not the biggest meat eater although I encourage it. (she HATES bacon!! How can you hate bacon?!) She does love nuts though and I let her eat them as she pleases with me right there of course and breaking them into bit size pieces for her etc. She almost has all of her teeth.

Also we are dairy free b/c DD has an allergy to dairy (genuine allergy not intolerance) so I have still been cooking with high heat safflower oil...and we use So delicious coconut milk for cooking and smoothies, we also eat the so delicious yogurt.

We plan to have wild rice and tubers on occasion. I made "cauliflower rice" the other night for dinner and DD loved it (but she is obsessed with fruits and veggies...not so much other foods).

I do want to lose some weight so I have to be a little more careful but in 3 days I lost 4lbs! I can't believe it! I am still weaning myself off of coffee (since I usually drink a large iced every morning...) and it's been tough!
 
#7 ·
We've been eating primally for some time now & it's awesome. I've noticed that the kids stopped requesting snacks all the time (because their blood sugars stabilized.) I do limit fruit and we focus on eating seasonally & locally - I think this helps with limiting fruits a lot. We've been having berries and some stone fruits because they're in season here, but it's such a fleeting season that I'm not worried about it. We focus on eating fats, meats & non-starchy veggies. Something that's really made things simple is to make big batches of bone broth every few days and just stuffing TONS of veggies from the CSA in there along with sea veggies and Celtic salt. I simmer it then puree & serve with a big ole dollop of cream. We eat this for breakfast (and sometimes lunch too) pretty much every day & everyone loves it. Then I just makes various meals of meats/seafood and veggies cooked in lots of fat & topped with butter. We don't go crazy on nuts/seeds because I'm not sure about the phytic acid (even with soaking/sprouting.) Once in a while, a little handful is okay with me.
 
#8 ·
I feel dumb asking this question, but what is the difference between primal and paleo? We eat paleo and it sounds pretty much the same as what you guys are talking... meat and veggies, no starchy veggies, limit fruit, no sugar, no dairy.
 
#10 ·
Hello All,

Glad to find this family thread! I'm very new to this way of eating and excited to share the journey with other folks just entering the change. I've been calling my diet Paleo but do still use heavy cream in my coffee & eat a ton of butter so I guess it's technically Primal. Either way it's only been a couple of weeks and I feel amazing! I've lost 13lbs and have so much energy!

DH and I are totally on board, but have not made too many changes in DDs diet yet. She is nearly 5 and eats at preschool 4 days a week. There are a lot of food rituals and expectations we've allowed to develop over the year + she's been going so I'm hesitant to change too much too soon. I've mostly included more fresh veggies & dialed back a little the bread/crackers, but I know there is still too much sugar (and gluten) and it makes me feel kinda guilty. She's only recently opened up to the idea of eating meat and will not eat nut butters so dairy has been her main source of protein. I'm tempted to start by substituting gluten free bread/crackers for her but does that really address the issue of the addictive nature of carbs?

At home she now eats roasted chicken twice a week, but her go to dinner of choice is rice + veggies. I'm glad it is at least gluten free and we do put pasture butter on it. I also learned from my recent studies that white rice is more easily digested so we switched to that for her. I'm have no plans to take away her organic full fat milk as I understand it's growth promoting and fine for kids till they become teenagers. I am familiar with the benefits of raw milk and would prefer that but have nowhere to get it at this point.

Any suggestions on how how you switched you kids to paleo/primal would be most welcome!

Heather
 
#15 ·
I was just reading about the primal diet and I'm very interested in trying it. I read all about it on Mark's website and even saw his sample menu. But can any of you post an example of your daily meals? It would really help. Thanks so much!
 
#17 ·
Paleo does do salt and even sweet potatoes, but no dairy except some butter if you tolerate it well. I've been pooring over Primal blogs and info all afternoon and haven't been able to find much difference, except that it seems like Primal is more concerned with the number of calories you eat than Paleo. Anyhow, it looks pretty much the same for all intents and purposes. So I'll join this thread if it's ok with all of you!

Heather - I found that just going to the diet fully was the easiest for my kids. I tried to ease them over, but they were super resistant to it. So I just cut out all the illegal foods. The first couple days they didn't eat a whole lot, but than as they got the cravings out, they started eating stuff that they wouldn't have even touched before. Every time I let them cheat they get way picky again. I have found for my kids that it's the grains and starches that make it so they will only eat certain foods. My 4.5 year old was not at all into meat, it was hard to get him to eat chicken and eggs! Now he gobbles down the meat! Tonight he ate almost a whole steak!
 
#18 ·
Our meals today went thus...

Breakfast -

Breakfast burritoes made with

Tortillas made with egg and coconut flour

Eggs scrambled with broccolli and coconut oil and leftover chicken

And the younger kids shared half a peach

Lunch -

BLT's with lettuce as the bread and homemade mayo

Carrot sticks with almond butter

Yam spears with homemade ketchup

Snack -

Green smoothies made with leafy greens, eggs and berries

Dinner -

Steak Korean style

Stir fry cabbage and broccolli with sesame seeds and sesame oil (put on after it was done cooking)

The kids had a handful of dark, grain free chocolate chips for dessert

I also wanted to mention that everydaypaleo.com is an excellent blog written by a mom of 3 young children who are also strict paleo. She gives a lot of great kid friendly ideas and her cookbook is one of the best grainfree cookbooks I have seen!
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamaspirit View Post

Paleo does do salt and even sweet potatoes, but no dairy except some butter if you tolerate it well. I've been pooring over Primal blogs and info all afternoon and haven't been able to find much difference, except that it seems like Primal is more concerned with the number of calories you eat than Paleo. Anyhow, it looks pretty much the same for all intents and purposes. So I'll join this thread if it's ok with all of you!

Heather - I found that just going to the diet fully was the easiest for my kids. I tried to ease them over, but they were super resistant to it. So I just cut out all the illegal foods. The first couple days they didn't eat a whole lot, but than as they got the cravings out, they started eating stuff that they wouldn't have even touched before. Every time I let them cheat they get way picky again. I have found for my kids that it's the grains and starches that make it so they will only eat certain foods. My 4.5 year old was not at all into meat, it was hard to get him to eat chicken and eggs! Now he gobbles down the meat! Tonight he ate almost a whole steak!
Here's one article that says paleo doesn't so salt or starchy tubers -- but I know it's ok for primal
shrug.gif
Not very important for practical purposes...

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/paleodietcavemandiet/a/paleoforbidden.htm
 
#22 ·
So I guess I'm learning a lot here! LOL... I found this article talking about the difference between paleo and primal...

http://paleoblocks.blogspot.com/2010/08/paleo-versus-primal.html

It's weird because the blogs and cookbooks I have been following talk about the importance of eating saturated fat, especially coconut oil and even some butter or ghee and they also say not to use artificial sugar. According to the definition in the above article, I am more primal than paleo. We eat a lot of coconut oil and other healthy fats and although we use some stevia, we don't use any other sweetener... even honey. I do still drink coffee and that is allowed in the paleo diet books I have read. I have only read Robb Wolf and the woman who does the everydaypaleo blog, as far as Paleo sources. This stuff gets confusing!

Basically, I eat clean, grain/sugar/starch free, limit fruit (my kids eat a bit of fruit and I'm fine with that), eat a good source of protein every meal, balanced with a large selection of veggies. And when I follow this and limit my cheating to not more than once a week I feel AWESOME! I have lost a ton of weight and have built quite a bit of muscle. I play roller derby and my stamina and endurance have increased exponentially. I can tell when I've been cheating too much because I can't keep up in a pace line during practice!
 
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#23 ·
OIC good difference blog. I am definitely primal then! I LOVE coconut everything!

We are really limited in budget...so our breakdown is like this:

15lbs grass-fed CSA meat- $128

All fruits and veggies, and more meat organic, also any coconut products and oils - $175

raw nuts and tons of eggs (not organic)- $31

It's not ideal but it's the best we can do!

Here is an example of our day: (DH is always at work or school and doesn't eat as well as us btw)

breakfast- eggs (I have 3, DD has 2) maybe with mushrooms

snack- fresh veggies or berries

lunch- chicken and pea pods with cashews

snack- veggies or fruit

dinner- steak, "rice" cauliflower. with sauteed zucchini and squash

dessert- coconut yogurt

This is us so far...we did just start and I know peas are "questionable" but DD loves them and at this point I am not willing to be really strict on our diet since it seems really healthy. I know some people limit fruit as well but we are not there yet. (I sort of limit it for myself)

Where do you all buy your fish? I am not close to any fish markets and don't think I can trust walmart fish or grocery store fish....what do you think? Is walmart fish better than no fish? (remember the limited income as well here!)
 
#24 ·
sosurreal. we have a very limited income as well, we can't even afford the grass-fed beef. and I definitely will not eat store bought beef.. so we are just going to stick with chicken, fish, and eggs as far as our main sources of protein. Wal-Mart sells bags of shrimp for around $5.50-$6.00 a bag. I believe they are Alaskan shrimp, they are not fresh but frozen in the seafood section. comes with about 30 large shrimp per bag. This is what I like to get, not as as good as fresh of course.. but with some seasoning it is still delicious. and an excellent source of protein. Also, not TOO expensive. As far as other fish from Wal-Mart goes I'm unsure..Their salmon is pretty expensive for such a small amount and I just can't afford it right now, so I've been eating canned tuna/salmon : \

oh well we do what we have to do, right!
 
#25 ·
Summer is so easy for us - year round, I order 1/4 of a cow every month and in summer we visit our CSA about 3 times a week (1 day is our pick up and the other 2 days we get "extras" aka leftovers.) The only time I go to the store is to buy condiments like stone ground apple cider vinegar mustard, acv, olive oil or some herbs/spices. I buy cream by the case and occasionally yogurt directly from a local grass-fed, biodynamic farm (Seven Stars). We buy 3 gallons of raw, 100% grass-fed milk & a 5 pound block of raw, grass-fed cheese from a local farmer about every 10 days (maybe a bit more often sometimes.) I buy cheap cuts of chicken from a local farmer, mostly necks, backs & feet. Sometimes I'll get pork butt & bacon, but not often because they're pricier. We get lard regularly too & use it A LOT. I get KerryGold butter by the case to save money.

Did I describe our daily soup in my other post?? Big ole pot of rich bone broth, add sea veggies (kelp, kombu, arame, etc) and stuff as many veggies as you can in the pot (especially tons of greens!) add Celtic salt to taste & some herbs/spices like rosemary, oregano, bay leaves, etc & puree. We like it really thick. I serve it with a big gob of cream & nobody can get enough of it - even in this 100+ degree weather!

A typical day:

Breakfast:

2 eggs, fried in lard, topped with butter, Real salt & sea veggie flakes.

FCLO

Snack:

Glass of milk

Couple of Brazil nuts

A handful of berries (if they're in season - they are now.)

Lunch:

Bowl of above mentioned soup.

Leftover meat from night before (cheeseburger, steak, roast, etc.)

Dinner:

Some kind of meat - shredded pork butt, pot roast, turkey meatballs with adobo seasoning, etc.

Whatever veggies are in season - right now we've been having a lot of pattypans sauteed in butter & garlic & chard the same way.

Ferments - gingered beets, pickles, carrots, kraut, etc.

If we're wanting some sort of "treat" I serve something seasonal - like now it would be berries with cream. In fall/winter, it might be baked apple slices (just apples with coconut oil & cinnamon) with some whipped cream (just cream, whipped.) I also like to make a butternut squash custard which is just butternuts with cream, eggs, a little salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. It serves well cold too.

We used to use coconut flour but I found it led to carb cravings and Ramiel Nagel (Cure Tooth Decay) says it's REALLY high in phytic acid. We go pretty easy on nuts for the same reason. I try really hard to limit fruit to what's in season (OUR season, not California's or Chile's.)
 
#26 ·
Yeah we have $206 of our food budget in state aid (food stamps) so we can't buy directly from farms. We try to go to the farmers market that takes FS, but otherwise we shop at a local place that sells a lot of local goods, also (GASP!) trader joes and whole foods. Like I said it's not ideal but it's what we can do right now. Someday we will be able to do meat and fruit/veggie CSAs and be happy! Until then we are grateful for what we can do.

Ideally in a few years we want to homestead.

We try to eat what is in our season too, but we also freeze things.
 
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