Blog – The Paleo Diet Quick Start Guide

Ultra quick & easy Paleo breakfast

If you’ve never manage to cook up a paleo breakfast, get started now!

…here is my breakfast for today…it’s ultra quick & easy to prepare. 🙂

Ingredients:

2 eggs, parsley

Preparation:

Boil the eggs, peel them, cut in halves, chop the parsley, put the chopped parsley on the eggs halves, enjoy!

P.S. If you are hungry, boil more eggs 🙂 and add salt to taste.

P.P.S. Let me know in the comments that you will commit to get started with this paleo breakfast. Write something like “Yes Carin, I’m will totally try this paleo breakfast out!”

my paleo husband

Hi it’s Carin here…

Would you like to know what my husband has to say about the paleo diet?

He started eating paleo in 2007.

…and he has some great advice on getting started.

Find out below.

Ok, ok, let’s hear it straight from his mouth.

…introducing my paleo husband Nils:

PHOTO

—– NILS TALKING —

Hello all. In 2007, I was introduced to Paleo and started following its diet program. Within the first few months in Paleo I was able to shed considerable amount of excess weight and successfully maintained that weight up to now. I am Swedish and unfortunately, Paleo Diet is yet not to popular in my country. I am an avid Paleo fan and I stringently eat Paleo food only. Whenever I strayed in my diet, I can immediately feel the negative impact of eating non-Paleo food. For this reasons alone, my resolve to stick to Paleo is getting stronger. Being successful in any diet program whether it is Paleo, Primal Blueprint, Atkins or South Beach is only half the battle. You have won the other half of the battle already by starting a diet. The greatest obstacle to living a healthy life is the lack of courage to take the first step and the lack of commitment to take the succeeding steps. JUST DO IT! Once you go on Paleo Diet however, you will feel its positive effects clearly that you will want nothing more but continue on the program. I’m afraid I can write a book on how passionate I am with Paleo and how it changed my life. I am more than eager to answer any question related to Paleo so please feel free to ask. -Nils

—————————–

What do you think about his advice?

How does your spouse feel about the paleo diet? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

19 paleo snacks that are actually good for you

You asked. I listened. 19 of my favorite paleo snacks!

When on the Paleo diet, the main area most people seem to struggle with is snacks.

As a general rule, snacks aren’t comprised of the healthiest ingredients and with Paleo many people may think that the variety of choice is quite limited.

While it’s true that compared to what the standard American diet considers a snack, the snacks on the Paleo are quite different. But, the variety is endless if you just open your mind and use your imagination.

Of course, you also have to be willing to enter a new world of taste you may not have previously enjoyed. For instance, plantains, sweet potatoes and other starch-based vegetables can be sliced thinly and baked with a bit of healthy oil and eaten as chips, and raw vegetable sticks, such as celery, cucumber, carrot and pepper go great when combined with healthy dips made from good fats, such as avocado or coconut oil, along with your favorite choice of citrus juice or spices.

Many people on the Paleo diet find that they need only two meals per day in order to feel satisfied, and choose not to snack at all. The choice is up to you. If you feel hungry, snacking can stop you from grabbing something unhealthy. If you work out quite a bit and find that you need some extra energy, then healthy snacking can give you that extra boost you need.

19 sample paleo snack choice ideas:

Here are a few snack ideas to get your imagination started. You can use as many or as few as you like, as well as challenge yourself to come up with your own snack ideas.

Fruit salad
Canned salmon or tuna
Fresh vegetables with dips such as guacamole, babaghanoush, salsa or olive tapenade
Fresh vegetables, olives, sauerkraut or dill pickles
Chips made from starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, kale, zucchini and plantain
Piece of fruit (any kind)
Smoked salmon
Pork rinds
Trail mix
Cooked or roasted fruit
Beef jerky
Omelets (plain or vegetable) or hard boiled eggs
Fruit or vegetable smoothie
Paleo granola or cookies
Slices of high-quality salami
A square of dark chocolate
Cold meat dipped in mayonnaise or mustard
Fresh fruit dipped in coconut milk
High-quality, full-fat yogurt

Find anything on the list that speaks to your taste buds?

If you’ve been enjoying the Paleo recipes that I’ve been sharing with you so far, then you’ll love what’s coming up…

I’ll be sharing a new, exciting Paleo resource with you in my blog post that could help you start eating right without compromising on flavor.

You could lose weight without feeling like you’re on a diet!

Be on the lookout for my next Paleo blog post!

The only sunday brunch recipe you’ll ever need

For many people, Sunday Brunch is an experience.

It can be a time to get together with friends and family, or simply to indulge yourself.

And what is Sunday brunch without pancakes?

Paleo Pancakes

Here’s a paleo-friendly flour free, nut free recipe that has all the indulgence of a regular pancake, without all the harmful and unnecessary additives. It uses cinnamon and vanilla extract as flavorings, but you’re certainly not limited to those. Feel free to add spices or switch spices to suit your palate, or simply to experiment with the taste.

After all, bananas are so versatile, they go with just about everything.

Ingredients (per serving)

1 ½ large ripe bananas
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. other spices such as nutmeg, cloves, etc (optional in place of cinnamon)
1/8 tsp. baking powder
Maple syrup; (optional)
Fresh fruits; (optional)
Honey (optional)
Cooked fruit (optional)

Directions:

Whisk eggs in a bowl.
Lightly mash the bananas in a separate bowl using a potato masher or a fork.
Pour the egg into the mashed bananas and add baking powder, vanilla, and your chosen spices and mix until combined.
Drop small spoons of batter (roughly 2 tablespoons at a time) onto a preheated skillet at medium-low heat and cook about 1-2 minutes until the bottom sets.
Flip and cook an additional minute on second side.
Serve immediately, plain, or with toppings of your choice and ENJOY!

The best part about this recipe is not only do the pancakes taste great, but it’s a good way to use up bananas that are going brown. Those ripe bananas will give you the richest flavor!

Making smaller pancakes will allow for better results, since larger ones might break during flipping, as they are only being held together with eggs.

Remember, the recipe above is for your own indulgence. If you want to treat friends, you will need to amend the recipe based on the number of people you’re cooking for. But don’t worry; it’s a simple ratio that will let you know how much of each ingredient you will need for any number of people.

For every 1.5 bananas you use, make sure to add 2 eggs. For instance, a serving for one would use 1.5 bananas and 2 eggs while a serving for 6 would use 9 bananas and 12 eggs.

If you like, you can also add flavor to your pancakes with a variety of healthy toppers, such as fresh fruit and berries, honey, real maple syrup or cooked fruit.

Finally, all you need to do is sit back, pick up your fork, and enjoy!

In my next post, I’ll share 15 ways to enjoy delicious Paleo treats like this, even when you’re on the go!

To health and happiness, Carin Andersson

Can I only drink water on paleo?

One of our readers, Bettye from Northport, recently emailed me this question:

“What can I drink on the Paleo diet? Just water?”

This is actually a very popular question, so I thought I’d share my answer with you too:

Pure, filtered water is the best thing you can drink on the Paleo diet. Think back to what man drank before all the fake flavors and colors were created: natural, plain, pure, healthy water. Filtered water is free of all the toxic chemicals generally found in tap water, such as chlorine, which can lead to a compromised immune system. It’s also free of all those additives that are not good for your body and can make you feel bad, such as toxic dyes, caffeine, natural and artificial sugars and sweeteners, imitation vitamins and preservatives. Not to mention, a tall glass of water can satisfy your thirst cravings like no other drink can.

Consider the other available choices:

Sodas and drinks containing added sweeteners:

None of these drinks could be considered Paleo given their added and unhealthy color dyes, artificial flavor additives (fda.gov), preservatives and large quantities of refined white sugar.

Milk:

Considering there was no cow in sight for early man, and trying to milk a mastodon or other wild animal would most certainly have been harmful to their health, let alone their life, the chances of our ancestors having access to animal milk is highly unlikely.

Fruit Juices:

Generally these contain additives like artificial colors and flavors. Fruit juices that contain large amounts of sugar are usually not properly balanced with the more nutritious parts of the fruit, such as fiber, to help offset the high glycemic response your body gets from the sugar.

Herbal Tea:

Those that are natural such as peppermint, lemon balm, nettle, rosehip, ginger and chamomile fall into the paleo diet because our early ancestors would have had access to these herbs.

All diet drinks:

These drinks are probably some of the most harmful. They are not only loaded with artificial colors and sweeteners (cancer.gov), but they also contain many harmful synthetically produced chemicals used to add flavor and sweetness that can be detrimental to your body.

Coffee:

Coffee is generally used for its caffeine content, as a way to revive and restore energy. But this energy is a “fake” energy, used in place of real energy, which is often lacking due to unstable blood sugar. After being on the Paleo diet for a while, people often find that their bodies have stabilized to the point where they no longer require “fake energy”.

To sum up – water is your friend.

Drink it.

Water flushes harmful toxins out of your body. Getting your body used to drinking water is the best route to take. Minimizing all other drinks is a MUST, especially for those people who rarely find themselves drinking water.

A good test, one that will show you the best of what the Paleo Diet has to offer, is to stop drinking anything but water for a few weeks. Once you have completed the cycle, see if you notice any differences in how you feel. Then try drinking your favorite drink again and take note of any changes. You may find yourself VERY surprised at the outcome.

The best way to determine whether something is fit to go in your body is to see if you can picture each ingredient listed on the label, just as you would with food. If you don’t know what something is, it probably shouldn’t go into your body.

Speaking of toxins, in my post, I’m going to show you how you can enjoy a delicious breakfast treat minus all the toxic ingredients that usually come with it.

Here’s a hint: my 3 year old daughter loves it and it’s naturally sweet!

I’ll see you in the next post…

To health and happiness, Carin Andersson

P.S. Have some questions of your own about the Paleo diet? Just hit the comment button and tell me what’s on your mind. I’m happy to help!

How to stop feeling hungry all the time

It’s not uncommon for people who are new to Paleo to feel hungry in the beginning.

Yes, there is a short transitional phase during which your body adapts to the a natural, grain-free regimen.

However, it doesn’t mean you have to go starving.

Actually, it should bet the exact opposite. If you follow the Paleo diet correctly, you should feel full and satisfied for a good 3-4 hours after a meal. But if you don’t eat the right portions of meat, vegetables and fats, it’s very possible that hunger pangs and cravings will sneak up on you.

If you follow this tip I’m about to share, your transition to Paleo eating will be smooth and craving free…

Think BIGGER portions

As you already know, grains and dairy are excluded from your diet on Paleo. So the majority of your meals will consist of meat or fish and vegetables.

What most newbie Paleo eaters do wrong is prepare their meals with a ‘normal’ sized portion of meat or fish. A portion that is suitable for a meal that also contains grain-products such as rice, pasta and bread.

This is the biggest mistake that people make and causes them to feel hungry very soon after the meal.

Why?

Because all the grains that you are excluding are energy dense. Vegetables and fruit contain mostly water and fibers so they can’t really substitute all that energy that you are missing.

What you need to do is get more energy from meat, fish and fat to compensate for the lack of grains.

You can do this by adding larger portions of meat to your meals than you are used to.

In the beginning it can be a bit difficult to know just how much meat or fish you should use. I recommend that you prepare your lunch and dinner with at least double the amount of meat or fish, maybe even the triple amount. Eat as much as you want until you feel satisfied.

Also remember to add fat, like coconut or olive oil to compensate for the fat from dairy products that you are no longer eating. It can be from fatty fish like salmon or mackerel, and you can make a sauce with coconut milk or mayonnaise.

See how long you stay satisfied after a meal, and if you get hungry munch on some nuts like macadamia or walnuts, which are high in fat.

This is just the kind of insider information about the Paleo diet that you’ll gain access to if you get our free Paleo quick start guide.

If you really want to succeed with Paleo and achieve that slim, healthy look you’re dreaming of, you’ve got to do it right.

Guessing won’t get you results.

Get your free Paleo quick start guide here >>

To your health! Carin

P.S. I’ve said it before and I really meant it! I’m always here to help. Hit the comment button below and ask me any Paleo related question.

Promises, magic pills, and other lies…

I’ve been working in health and wellness industry for the past 9 years and I have come across so many brilliant people in the field that is makes me proud to be a Paleo lifestyle coach.

There are literally hundreds of different types of diets that you can choose from, and most of them will get you results, if you stick to their plan.

The cost of these diet plans can vary from just a few dollars to $100s or $1000s, for special foods, protein powders, meal replacements, pills, and other dietary supplements that may or may not help. So the quality of the diet plan isn’t actually directly related to their price.

Just as there are effective diets out there, there are also some (very) harmful ones (webmd). People who claim to be ‘health experts’ will try to convince you that there is a magic pill for solving all your health and weight problems.

Luckily, I am here to empower you with a fool-proof method for choosing a diet that will not only be effective for immediate weight loss, but will also allow you to maintain your success for the long term.

Make sure you ask yourself these 4 questions when choosing a diet:

1. Does it include foods I like, can prepare and afford?

Let’s face it, if you don’t like the foods on the diet plan, or can’t prepare them, or can’t afford them, you won’t be able to stick to this type of diet for long.

Plain and simple.

2. Does it call for pills, supplements or detox formulas?

Besides the heavy price tag associated with all the latest weight loss supplements (a multi-billion dollar industry based on people’s desperation to lose weight and feel beautiful) (statista), there is no scientific evidence to suggest that these offer any weight-loss benefit, or any other benefit. In many cases, these can actually be harmful, especially if they are abused.

So, rather than throw your money away, just make sure that any diet regimen you adopt provides all the nutrients your body needs through food.

If you want, take a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement to ensure you’re getting what you need each day.

3. Does it match your lifestyle (eating style, habits)?

If you like eating often, and the diet requires you to eat two meals a day without snacks, there’s no way you’re going to stick to the plan.

Or, if you like to eat out, and the plan significantly limits your food choices, you’ll be cheating in no time at all.

If it’s not a diet you can stick to,it’s not the diet for you.

4. Can I live with it forever?

Some diet plans promise rapid weight loss within a short time, requiring that you eat a lot of only one or two things (the cabbage soup diet, the grapefruit diet, etc…).

These basically deprive your body of calories and fat, forcing it to burn calories from fat reserves.

Effective in the short term (if you can stand it for more than a few days), these diets cause severe health issues long-term by depriving the body of critical nutrients. And, once you’re off the diet and back to your old ways, the pounds come back too, with friends.

You want to choose a diet promotes slow weight loss, good health and proper eating habits that can be maintained long term.

I just wanted to share this information with you because I’ve seen too many people suffer in terrible ways and I don’t want you to be one of them.

Consider it a special gift from me. 🙂

Once you’ve thought about it carefully and you’re sure that you know what you want, you can take me up on my exclusive offer to join the ranks of everyone I’ve helped lose the weight, get lean, fit and healthy.

Get our free Paleo quick start guide here >>

To health and happiness, Carin

P.S. Want to pick my brain a little? Hit the “leave a comment” button below and leave your question below! I’ll help you understand if the Paleo Diet is right for you.

Myth: flour is forbidden on paleo

While the Paleo lifestyle does eliminate wheat flour from your diet, it does not eliminate flour altogether!

You can still enjoy cookies, muffins and cakes (in moderation) by using alternative, grain-free flours, and they are delicious!

Here are my 4 favourite grain-free flours:

Blanched Almond Flour (ref.) is made from very finely ground blanched almonds. You can replace regular flour with it in your recipes using similar quantities. The only difference is that almond flour doesn’t have the same elasticity as regular flour because it doesn’t contain gluten. So to compensate, I add 1 or 2 extra eggs to bind my mixtures together. If I am baking muffins or crumbly types of cake, the almond flour works perfectly! No alterations to recipes are needed.

Coconut Flour (ref.)is made from grinding coconut pulp after it has been squeezed for coconut milk. Made up mostly of fiber from the coconut, this flour absorbs a lot of liquid. My suggestion is to use one quarter of the amount of regular flour you would use in your recipes but results may vary. Getting the right texture is sometimes a challenge with coconut flour. A little bit too much and the texture will be grainy and dense. Add too little and the mixture won’t hold together well. So play around a bit with quantities until you hit the sweet spot!

Arrowroot Powder and Tapioca Starch are great wheat flour alternatives because they have an airy, light texture. They are perfect for thickening sauces without compromising on taste (wiki).

Doesn’t it seem so much easier to adopt the Paleo diet knowing that there are healthier alternatives for the mainstream ingredients we use in everyday recipes?

If this kind of lifestyle change speaks to you and your desire to lose weight naturally, then I have some great news for you… 😉

You can get our new Paleo quick start guide for free – that could help you claim your health back, lost weight and look sexier than ever!

Get the new Paleo quick start guide here >>

To health and happiness, Carin Andersson

Why ‘healthy’ whole grains are kad for you

One of the most common questions I get about the Paleo diet is this:

“Why should I exclude ‘healthy’ whole grains from my diet?”

Here’s how I answer:

Every living creature, including us humans, is physically engineered to consume the diet it was meant to eat.

As hunter-gatherers, we don’t have the instinct to graze like animals, who have special chambers in their stomach to digest grass and grass seeds.

Instead, human stomachs make hydrochloric acid, which is designed to break down proteins, not starch.

The grains we like to think are ‘healthy’ like rice, corn and wheat, are starchy grass seeds.

They require a different mix of digestive enzymes than the ones human produce to digest meat, fats and vegetables.

You see, all seeds have elaborate defense mechanisms such as lectins and phytates to protect them from insects. These indigestible seed coatings are toxic to humans and are best suited for animals who have eaten them for millions of years and have adapted specifically to their toxins.

Before the Agricultural Revolution over 10,000 years ago, grains were not an important part of the human diet. In fact, human health rapidly declined when we began eating cultivated crops and dairy products. People were shorter, had weaker bones, more cavities, a compromised facial structure and suffered from arthritis.

Wheat, rye, barley, kamut, and oats (which are contaminated during processing) all contain gluten, which may cause gastrointestinal distress (more.).

In the present day, high-yield grains have been created through hybridization, a process that creates wheat with higher gluten content than that of ancient grains. These new hybrids are even more indigestible, creating a higher occurrence of allergies and autoimmunity issues, as seen in so many children and adults recently.

For all these reasons, the Paleo diet is based on the food that we humans ate as hunter-gatherers, before we settled to become cultivators. This includes meat, fish, eggs, fruit, nuts and root vegetables. These are the foods our bodies were designed to properly digest.

Learn more in our Paleo Quick Start Guide here >>

In my next blog post, I’m going to show you how you can bake traditional gluten-filled recipes with Paleo friendly alternative ingredients.

And the results are delicious! 🙂

Update: you can find it here: Myth: Flour Is Forbidden on Paleo >>

To health and happiness, Carin Andersson

P.S. Have some questions of your own about the Paleo diet? Just leave a comment and tell me what’s on your mind. I’m happy to help!

#1 mistake when starting the paleo diet

This post is about the #1 Mistake when starting the Paleo diet (that keeps you hungry all day) – and how to avoid it.

If you learn and use the concepts that I am about to show you, your first weeks on Paleo eating will be without feeling hungry and having cravings.

Instead you will feel full and energized and secure about how to eat.

When you start on your Paleo diet you know that you should exclude grains and dairy products.

So when preparing your meals you use meat or fish and vegetables.

If you are anything like me you might be doing a big mistake right here that will get you hungry very soon after the meal.

And you might end up eating too much fruits or other stuff that can risk you not losing weight.

Why Eating the “Normal” Amount of Meat and Fish Doesn’t Work – And What to Do About It

The common sense approach when preparing a meal is to use the normal amount of meat or fish that one usually has for a meal and then add a lot of vegetables as a substitute for the grain-products such as rice, pasta and bread.

That is a big mistake a lot of people make that will lead to them getting hungry very soon after the meal.

However the foods you exclude from your dinner, like pasta or rice and bread, are really energy-dense food. Vegetables and fruits contain mostly water and fibers so they can’t really substitute all that energy you just lost.

You need to get more of the energy of your meal from meat or fish and fat, because these products are much higher in energy.

So you actually use much more meat or fish for a Paleo meal than you are used to.

In the beginning it can be a bit difficult to know just how much meat or fish you should use so I recommend that you prepare your dinner with at least the double amount of meat or fish, maybe even the triple amount, that you are used to so that you can actually eat as much as you want until you feel satisfied and keep staying satisfied after every meal.

Also remember to add fat, such as coconut fat or olive oil to your meal since a lot of fat comes from dairy products that you are no longer eating.

How to Get Satisfied from Your Paleo Meal: The Success Formula

The success formula for getting and staying satisfied from your Paleo meal and avoid feeling hungry and having cravings is to do these steps:

Prepare your dinner with at least the double amount of meat or fish that you are used to, so you can eat as much as you want. Eating that much food might feel strange when you want to lose weight however remember that you actually leave out the energy-dense grain products that are really the source of your body storing fat. And the best thing is that eating lot of proteins that you get from meat and fish actually helps you burn fat.
Make sure your meal contains fat; you can use olive oil on your vegetables, it can be from fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel, and you can make a sauce of coconut milk or your own mayonnaise. For some people it might feel awkward to eat fat when wanting to lose some weight, but the truth is that when you eat fat your body will not store any fat.
Watch how long you stay satisfied after a meal and if you get hungry have some nuts such as macadamia or walnuts which are high in fat.

Here’s what to do right now to make sure you get and stay satisfied and avoid feeling hungry and having cravings; print out the article, read it again and underline your three biggest takeaways and then go get some nuts right now!

Learn more in our free Paleo quick start guide, click here >>