CHAPTER TWO

How to Use the Paleo Diet Meal Plan

Boredom. It’s the main reason many people don’t stick with diets. Eating the same thing, day in and day out, is an easy way to succumb to unhealthful cravings and set yourself up for failure.

The Paleo lifestyle is about variety and fresher, cleaner, better-tasting food that will literally change what you crave. Sugar and salt junkies who go the Paleo route often find the foods they once ate as too sweet, too salty, and not nearly as delicious as the new, wholesome meals.

Still, adopting a Paleo lifestyle doesn’t mean you can flip a switch and reap all the benefits at once. That’s why, by following a set meal plan, you can familiarize yourself and get comfortable with the new foods and slowly flush out the cravings for less healthful options. Meal plans, such as the one in this book, take the guesswork out of a new way of eating and help you stay focused, organized, and inspired.

By having a clear food “map,” you can rest assured that each meal will be unique. Having a clearly laid-out shopping list will help you cut down on wasted time and money. And with a slew of exciting and easy-to-follow recipes at your fingertips, you’ll be able to spend the next month cooking with ease and enjoyment.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MEAL PLAN

While meal plans mean prescribed breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, know that after following the planned twenty-eight days, the options for continuing your Paleo lifestyle are endless. Eating the Paleo way at its simplest means combining healthful proteins with vegetables and a little healthful fat in their purest, most wholesome form.

Before heading out to stock your pantry and refrigerator, make sure you’re up to speed on the Paleo food groups, knowing that there are far more foods to enjoy than to avoid. Clear out your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer to make room for cleaner, energy-boosting foods. Give yourself a little extra time on your first grocery run so you can choose produce wisely, read labels, and ask your butcher questions, if necessary. Remember to shop, cook, and freeze in bulk, especially proteins, berries, and nuts, so you’ll always have ingredients on hand for quick meals and a wide range of options. If anything, shopping this way will excite your creativity during and well beyond this twenty-eight-day plan.

Once you’re comfortable with the recipes and guidelines in Paleo for Every Day, create your own dishes using a combination of proteins, produce, and fats to try new flavors and pairings.

LEARN TO READ FOOD LABELS

These days, deciphering food labels at the grocery store may be tricky and time-consuming. Claims like “all natural” and “hormone-free” don’t always mean what they say. For example, by law all poultry must be raised without hormones, so calling chicken “hormone-free” is a moot point. Even “free-range” does not mean the same thing as “pastured,” which is more ideal because it means the animal ate only grass throughout its life. Sadly, many of these labels are simply marketing tactics food manufacturers use to entice customers to buy their products.

Some Paleo purists avoid chicken, pork, and beef sausages altogether, while others make an exception if they contain only natural ingredients. When reading labels, look for yourself, and if there are ingredients you can’t pronounce or noticeable preservatives on a product, move on to another one. And watch the sodium content in foods like these as well as in broths, crushed tomatoes, and nut butters. Even those labeled “low sodium” may still contain higher levels than unsalted versions or sauces, stocks, and condiments you could make yourself.

Reading Food Labels

The Paleo eating plan focuses on fresh vegetables, fruits, and proteins, which you buy raw and prepare yourself. But anytime you buy packaged food—even items labeled “natural,” “organic,” “nonfat,” “low-sodium,” “no sugar added,” and the like—it’s crucial to read the ingredients list and the Nutrition Facts label. Unless you do, you have no way of knowing exactly what’s in your food.

Inspect the ingredients list and reject any food that contains refined grains, excess sugar or salt, or anything on the “Foods to Avoid” list in Chapter One. Then look at the size of the print on the ingredients label. If it’s too small to read, that’s a clue that there might be a whole lot of ingredients in the product. More ingredients often means more stuff that’s bad for you, such as artificial flavors, sweeteners, and colors, or a whole laboratory’s worth of emulsifiers, flavor enhancers (such as monosodium glutamate), preservatives, stabilizers, and thickeners. Some of the mystery matter might include hidden sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, bad fats, or sodium. If you see a lot of ingredients that you can’t pronounce or decipher, it’s a good idea to put the package back on the shelf.

The government-mandated Nutrition Facts label, that information box printed on every packaged food product in the store, is a treasure trove of Paleo data. It doesn’t tell you everything you’d like to know, but it’s still a valuable tool. Take a look at the example here.

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The “serving size” and “servings per container” at the top of the label give you an understanding of how much food is actually in the package. The “calories” line indicates how many calories and fat-based calories are in one serving (based on the stated serving size). Below that, the lines for nutrients, from “total fat” down to “protein,” give the weight (in grams) of each nutrient that’s contained in a single serving.

Another measurement, the “percent daily value,” is given for each of the nutrients as well as for some vitamins and minerals. Percent daily value is based on government recommendations for how much of a given substance a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet should include. For instance, the 15 percent figure for saturated fat in the example label means one serving contains 15 percent of the saturated fat you should eat in a 2,000-calorie day. If a vitamin or mineral doesn’t appear in the Nutrition Facts label, the food isn’t a significant source of the nutrient. The basic rule is that a food is considered low in any nutrients with a daily value of 5 percent or less, and high in those with a daily value of 20 percent or more.

SHOPPING TIPS

The Paleo lifestyle means eating wholesome, unprocessed foods, so shop the perimeter of the grocery store or supermarket. There, you’ll find most of the produce and meat offerings. The inner aisles are reserved mainly for boxed and packaged foods, which you won’t need, except perhaps for crushed and diced tomatoes, broths, oils, nuts, some condiments, Paleo baking needs, and nondairy beverages like canned coconut milk, typically found in the ethnic food aisles. Other non-dairy beverages, namely almond milk, may be found near dairy products in the refrigerated sections.

When purchasing Paleo-friendly packaged foods, again, read the labels carefully. Make sure there are no added sugars, preservatives, stabilizers, or other ingredients you can’t pronounce, and always check the sodium content. Unsalted, roasted, or raw nuts and nut butters are best, while no-salt-added tomatoes and broth can be helpful for quick soups and sauces. Choose tomatoes packaged in cartons rather than canned ones to avoid potential BPAs or carbon-based chemicals used in plastic and aluminum packaging. Some research has pointed to BPAs as carcinogens that can elevate the risk of cancer.

STOCK YOUR PANTRY

The first step in stocking your pantry for the Paleo lifestyle is to discard all non-Paleo packaged goods, such as bread, rice, pasta, cookies, crackers, artificial sweeteners, and any grains as well as canned soups and beans. By removing these from the get-go, you also remove temptation from the house. To avoid waste, donate unopened goods to a local food drive.

Take a look at your freezer. Toss out any ice cream, waffles, and bagels as well as other frozen breads, dairy, and sugar-laden products. Remove starchy, non-Paleo vegetables like frozen peas and potatoes.

Discard any juices, sodas (except for seltzer water or club soda), yogurt, and non-Paleo condiments like sugary ketchup and soy, teriyaki, and hoisin sauce from the refrigerator.

Now it’s time to go shopping. While many of these items are listed in your weekly meal plan shopping lists, here is a complete list of Paleo-approved pantry items to keep on hand for your new way of eating.

Oils

Refrigerate nut oils to prevent them from going rancid.

Other Fats

These ingredients are not used in this book, but some Paleo followers choose to have them on hand for cooking and baking.

Nuts and Seeds

Refrigerate or freeze nuts and seeds to prevent them from going rancid.

Nut Butters

Baking Items

Store coconut and nut flours in the freezer to prevent them from going rancid.

Natural Sweeteners

Vinegars

Condiments

Other Pantry Items

Seasonings and Spices

BASIC EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

The following is a list of suggested equipment and supplies you’ll need when following the Paleo lifestyle:

Very Important

Somewhat Important

Useful But Not as Important

MAKE THE PALEO DIET WORK FOR YOU

Following the Paleo diet will revive and revitalize you. You’ll have newfound energy and lose weight. An important part of eating Paleo, however, means preparing many of your own meals and snacks. Here are some tips to improve your shopping, cooking, and food-saving techniques to make the most of your money, time, and resources. By following these tips, you’ll soon improve your health and well-being with Paleo’s clean and fresh way of eating.

DINING OUT

Those who follow a Paleo lifestyle have no problem dining out in restaurants. With the exception of pizzerias and some fast-food chains, restaurants everywhere can prepare dishes to your liking. By scanning the menu carefully and making some simple decisions and substitutions, if necessary, there are plenty of choices when eating out.

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