Baby Steps
Being relatively new to the blog scene, and still slowly waking up from a writing coma, I thought I’d start small, and keep the content relative to the blog’s title, and [sort of] purpose.
At some point i’ll dive into the many failed attempts I’ve made at various diets and lifestyle approaches over the years, but one common denominator in why none of them ever worked for me long term was because they were either too restrictive, or too confusing/complicated. I can’t stress enough how different Paleo eating/living is from other diets/lifestyles out there.
Grocery shopping, for me, is an enjoyable errand. I love piling my cart with all the healthy goodies I can find, even though I usually feel a twang of buyers remorse every time the register calculates my grand total. Yes, eating Paleo eating IS expensive. I don’t care what you read that tells you otherwise. Unless you live on a farm with your own chickens, livestock, crops, etc, you will end up spending more at the grocery store than you are used to. I like to think of it as an investment in my body and overall health, and that always helps erase any unease I have about spending a few extra dollars on [good] food.
A few key guidelines to follow when shopping for a Paleo diet are:
Avoid processed foods (there are a few exceptions to this)
Shop the perimeter of the store (packaged, artificial crap can usually be found in the aisles in the middle of the store)
READ THE LABELS. OMG PLEASE READ THEM. Seriously- just when you think a jar of almond butter is safe, BAM. Added sugar, added salt, palm oil. Its ridiculous. Its so easy to be tricked by misleading packaging that makes a product look healthy and pure. Do yourself a favor, take a few seconds and give the labels a glance
The pic below is an example of what an average Paleo grocery run looks like for me. I do these about 2x/week. As you can see, nothing complicated or over the top, just simple, easy foods that you can find at most stores. Some things I buy organic, others I don’t. I’m still learning about when its actually important to choose organic, but that’s for another day :).