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Will Your Diet Hurt You?

When most people want to lose weight then they want to do it with as little effort as possible, so they blindly trust anyone or any pill or contraption that says it will help them do that. That means there is a steady stream of people willing to try the newest pills or fad diets like the lemonade diet or grapefruit diet, in a desperate attempt to lose weight.

When looking at what diet they are going to follow then unfortunately most people go straight for how much weight it promises they will lose in the first 2 weeks, that is like choosing a new car based just on colour! There is no point in being sucked in by promises of huge weight loss figures as it could be totally useless afterwards and might even get you to do things which are harmful to lose that amount of weight

Dieting should be about the long term, the first few weeks are when your body can adapt to the diet and when you’re most motivated to follow it, but really that is just the tip of the iceberg and you need to be prepared to stick with it for much longer than that. Your diet should really encourage gentle and consistent weight loss as well as at the same time teaching you how to make healthier food choices so that when you come off the diet you can continue eating properly and keep the weight off.

If your diet does not do that then you will just get some false hope at the start as you lose some weight (which will probably be muscle and water loss as well as some fat), then once you realise you don’t know how to carry on or it changes and you don’t lose anywhere near as much weight from then on, then you get discouraged and quit. So take care to thoroughly research what a diet asks you to do and what results other people are getting before you invest any time or money into it, some diets sound great in the flashy advertising, but when you dig deeper you realise they are just a gimmick. Be sure the program it gets you to follow is balanced as well and doesn’t force you to eat one thing all the time like the cabbage soup diet, otherwise you might miss out on important nutrients.

When you have found a diet which gives you everything you need for long term success then make sure you set small goals to achieve, most people have one big goal which means they only get rewarded right at the end. Have a reward for every 5lbs you lose, or maybe 10% of your overall target or something like that. That will be much more motivating so you don’t quit when you come to the rough spots that every diet will have over time, when you are stressed and run down and just want to go back to how you used to eat.

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Is Paleo diet a meat diet?

The paleo diet is a regime that helps us eat the freshest, healthiest and nutrient-filled food there is. The paleo diet is based on a balanced diet. The typical Paleo recipes includes

meat of grass-fed cows,
Poultry, seafood, and meat,
Fresh and organic vegetables and fruits of all colors,
Complex carbohydrates coming from tubers and fruits such as sweet potato (potato / sweet potato), potato and banana
Healthy fats such as coconut oil, avocado, olive oil and animal fat.
Based not only on what our ancestors ate that suffered from fewer chronic diseases than we, despite having no access to modern medicine,

Many people see the list of foods removed from the paleo diet and remove them from the diet without adding new things. When they remove processed foods and cereals from their diets, often only meat, eggs, and bacon remain. But just as important as eliminated foods (processed foods, sugar, cereals and in some cases dairy and vegetables) are the foods we add to our diets.

A typical paleo diet recipes is half veggies (carrot, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach) and a quarter of protein (often meat or seafood) and a quarter of carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes. A “paleo recipes” diet can be balanced or not, depending on what you put on your plate – just like any other diet. It is essential to note that every person has different body needs.

In the paleo recipes diet, there is also an emphasis on the quality of the food consumed – we try to avoid genetically modified organisms, eat organic vegetables when possible and meat/poultry/seafood that was fed properly, without hormones or inadequate food for their species. We try to eat “all the animal products” because we know that there are essential nutrients and amino acids in the parts of the animal that we cannot find in the most common cuts. Eating “booze” such as liver, paws, cola, bone broth, and any other part of the animal helps to maintain a balanced diet.

The paleo diet recipes does not restrict the consumption of fat or cholesterol. Contrary to what we have been taught, fat does not make us fat (consumed in moderation). Fat is essential to assimilate some vitamins (A, D, E, and K) that are necessary for the functioning of our body. Without fat, those vitamins cannot enter our body to do their job. Every cell in our body needs fat to function.

An old article in Time Magazine admits that consumption of saturated fat has no proven link to increased risk of heart problems, and high consumption of sugar and carbohydrates did. In fact, our use of cholesterol in food has nominal influence on the level of cholesterol in our blood. There is no reason to be afraid of eating fat. A paleo diet recipes with enough protein and fat often helps people to lose weight because they are foods that make us feel satiated and as a consequence, we eat less. In fact, if your goal is to lose weight, a paleo diet can be the key to your progress.

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Paleo diet foods list, Paleo diet Guidelines

Before there were packaged goods, processed foods, GMOs and an ongoing debate between organic or not, there was dirt, seeds, water and roaming animals. It may be hard to consider now, but the dawn of man produced hunters and gatherers and humans had to get their own food – not by heading to the supermarket.

There were no sprays to kill insects, no chemicals or genes added or modified. No extra-large tomatoes or vibrant yellow bananas. Food was simple. It was either found, picked or hunted. And although there weren’t doctors or research scientists to confirm the benefits of such eating, it seems that when it comes to dietary habits, eating like our ancestors has some merit.

Diets come and diets go, but one in particular seems to have staying power and for good reasons as well. It’s based on eating similar to that of prehistoric man and it’s being touted as one of the best way to eat. It’s called the Paleo diet.

What is the Paleo diet?
The Paleo diet was created by Loren Cordain, a now-famous author, speaker and professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, who specializes in disease and diet. The Paleo diet itself reflects food items and methods of eating similar to our Stone Age ancestors – that’s right, this diet is framed around eating like cavemen. Through scientific research and peer-reviewed studies, Cordain has uncovered many health benefits to eating the Stone Age way.

There are seven premise on which the Paleo diet guidelines are based:

High protein
Low carbohydrates and low glycemic index
High fiber
Moderate to high fat intake – monosaturated and polysaturated fats with omega-3s and 6s

High potassium, low sodium
Net dietary alkaline balances dietary acid – some foods produce acid (meat) and others are alkaline (fruits and vegetables). Eating a balance of both alkaline and acid foods can have positive health effects.

High intake of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and plant phytochemicals.

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