My Paleo Blog

The best way to go about paleo eating is to be prepared. Preparing meals ahead of time not only saves time but it also ensures we are feeding ourselves the right nutrients at the right time. It ensures we do not cheat!

I've been cooking chili with this recipe since I was in college. This was a great way for me to get a nutrient dense meal without spending too much money. I used to make it with beans but now usually omit them.

I love this chili because it's loaded with healthy protein, fat and tons of veggies. I can't think of a better way to sneak veggies into a diet than chili. 

Here's how to make it!

This Paleo dish is a great way to hide a huge portion of vegetables with Italian style chicken. The chicken and squash mix together perfectly and the nuts make for a great addition!

I got this idea last time I was at New Seasons Market. I was picking up some Wild Caught Salmon and was browsing the meat section. 

This was simply mild Italian chicken sausage with pecans, added to the squash. Since this turned our BETTER than I anticipated, next time I will add chopped onions and garlic to improve the flavor...maybe peppers too.

Here is how I made it this time!

Check out this Tequila & lime shrimp recipe I found on www.food.com. The cool thing is all the ingredients are paleo!

The recipe takes less than 20 minutes to cook and clean up, leaving plenty of time to plan your meals for tomorrow!

In an effort to get excess calories,sweet potatoes are a major staple for my diet. I like them mashed with coconut oil but when not at home, sweet potato fries are the way to go! 

Sweet potatoes are a great source of both antioxidants beta carotene and vitamin c. Beta carotene is what gives the potato it's orange color but both of these antioxidants will help fight against diseases like cancer. Sweet potatoes are also great because unlike most plants, sweet potatoes have little anti nutrients to worry about. The last thing I want after a workout is poor absorption...

Speaking of post workout, the starch found in sweet potatoes is great for post-workout nutrition. The carbs will be a great source of calories to replenish the energy lost during the workout and also fuel new muscle growth! A chicken breast with a sweet potato is a perfect post workout meal.

Don't miss this Easy Paleo Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

I don't eat those foods and don't want my food eating them either. After all, we are what we eat eats.

Here is a great recipe for Wild Caught Salmon that has been fed it's natural diet.

I made this for lunch today. Ground buffalo meat purchased at the local store (6.99/lbs). Since all buffalo is free range, buffalo meat is always going to be grass fed, meaning rich in Omega 3 fatty acid.

Red meat has gotten a bad reputation due to it's high fat content. Red meat that was fed with grain is high in omega 6 and bad for you, but grass fed beef has different fat content. The fat in grass fed meat is more balanced when it comes to omega 3 vs omega 6...the way it is in nature.

Ingredients;
-Buffalo (grass fed) (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder)
-Avocado
-Pico De Gayo

Cooking;
-Heat pan over medium heat and coat pan with grass fed butter or Unrefined Coconut Oil. Cook over medium heat until desired.

Don't have Unrefined Coconut Oil. You Should! Here is some you can pick up from Amazon. Most stored carry regular coconut not --- NOT unrefined. This is like eating grain fed beef vs grass. Get the good stuff or you will not get the benefits!

The Paleo Diet often gets rejected by people because of its difficulty. "It's expensive and hard to prepare the meals" they say due to all of the cooking. 

Well I am going to start adding meals on the blog to demonstrate how you can create full meals while on the Paleo Diet...without breaking the bank or spending too much time in the kitchen.

Unless you're exercising in the morning it makes sense to eat a protein breakfast, Paleo-style lunch, and a Paleo/Japanese style diet in the evening (allowance of starchy carbs like rice or potatoes). This was originally suggested by Nate Miyaki. 

This template restricts any major spikes in insulin throughout the day.Less insulin spikes = less likely your cells are to become resistant. Remember, you want your cells to be as sensitive to insulin as possible, and you do that by playing hard to get.

Also, by keeping these insulin spikes down you are priming our body for muscle gain. When you do get an insulin spike (ideally after during/exercise) our bodies will use the nutrients for muscle gain rather than store as fat deposits.

Without any further delay, here is a sample day on the Paleo diet.

-2 Omega 3 Eggs
-Grass Fed Flank Steak
-Fresh Mixed Veggies (Brocolli, Peppers, Onion, Mushrooms)
-Salt, Pepper, Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

Preperations; Oil pan with either Unrefined Coconut Oil or Grass Fed Butter. Throw on meat and veggies until meat begins to brown. Once browned, push the mix over to one side of the pan and throw on the eggs (add more oil if necessary). Once eggs are almost finished, I like to mix everything together to make it nice and juicy! Enjoy 

This is a Pork Tenderloid cooked in slow cooker for about 8 hours. It has peppers and onions added as well. Once cooked, I like to put it on the stove over low/med heat and add some spices and green chilli sauce to add flavor.

This is really easy to make, totally customizable and great with an avocado as a topping. It is also like 4-5 meals total.

Mixed salad with mixed veggies (red onions, celery, carrots, avocado, cucumber)...and my guilty pleasure blue cheese.

Salad dressing is a custom mix of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. I add salt and pepper to the dressing and it is delicious. Sometimes I add Apple Cider Vinegar as well.

Grass Fed Beef Pinwheels Found here. These are packed with protein and healthy fat. A great protein dish for any meal.

**If this is your post workout meal, it would be a good idea to replace this with a more lean protein such as a chicken breast or white fish.

Realistically, unless you are really trying to add mass, this is probably enough meat to feed 2.

Baked sweet potatoes, plain and simple.

How To Prepare: Poke numerous holes in potatoes (this is 3 here), and bake in oven for about 1 hour. Make sure to put foil down because the potatoes will bleed out delicious juice.

I top mine off with grass fed butter.

Throw in some veggies (maybe asparagus) with this meal and dinner is served.

Now this is simply a template to give you an idea of how meals should look like on the Paleo Diet. Obviously this isn't going to be the only things going passed anyone's lips in a given day, but this is the foundation. 

I drink protein shakes usually between my 1st and 2nd meal. Everything is relative to your goals. 

If you are trying to get lean, use this template and be and the more strict you are, the better results you will get.

If you are trying to gain mass, throw in some extra protein and maybe some starchy carbs, hell, even oatmeal every now and then. 

It all depends on your goals, but start here and ask questions about anything else.

Made these for lunch yesterday. So Good! I even ate the paleo meatballs for lunch the following day cold and these were really convenient to eat off the stick. Being cold was not even a factor!

Ingredients;
-Ground Buffalo Meat
-Uncured Bacon
-Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt

Preperations;
Create 1x1" to 2x2" inch meatballs and set aside until you have the bacon ready. Once you have your meatballs prepared, get bacon out. Wrap bacon around the buffalo meatball and stick the skewer through the meatball to keep the bacon in place. I prefer to do 3 Paleo Meatballs per skewer.

Preheat oven to 350*

Cooking;
Place on baking sheet and put into oven for about 20 mins.

Enjoy!

I figured I should start posting some examples of full meals that can be put together that fit within the Paleo Diet Meal Plan. This meal was lunch on a workout day. On days I workout, I reduce fat intake and bump up carbohydrates more than usual. This is for the extra fuel for my workout and to bump up my calories a bit. 

Here you can see I added mashed sweet potatoes which some would argue this is not Paleo. What I would tell these people is "Hey, I am trying to add muscle, not lose weight -- worry about youself". I have a goal in mind (of adding more muscle) so I am fueling that to happen with carbs such as sweet potatoes and rice. That is what the Paleo Diet Evolved is all about; combining the Paleo Diet with our specific goals to gain the physique we want! It is a blueprint for success not the 10 Commandments.

Back to the point - the meat here is Grass Fed Flank Steak - the same meat used for the Paleo Pinwheels. Since the flank steak is grass fed, it has a good omega 3 to omega 6 ration.

I simply seasoned the meat and put it on the stove with some grass fed butter. The egg is poached (my favorite) and I topped it with a spinach salad. The dressing I created was Olive Oil, Basalmic Vinegar, Apple Cidar Vinegar, and a squeeze of Lemon - topped off with salt and pepper - then pour over salad.

Just like that - A Paleo Diet  Lunch Created!

“Saturated fat is bad for you; it will clog your arteries”! We’ve all heard this, this is known as the Lipid Hypothesis and it has been beaten into our brains. For the last hundred years, Doctors and other“professionals” have been suggesting a low fat (especially saturated fat), high carbohydrate diet to live optimally. But is this really justified?


Due to the Lipid Hypothesis, between 1910 and 1970 our fat intake has been reduced by 21%, refined oils (vegetable oil – bad fats) has increased by 400%, and studies show that sugar has increased about 60%. Based on what has been suggested by the SAD (Standard American Diet), we should see a reduction in Coronary Heart Disease and the like. However we don’t. We’ve actually have seen the opposite.

Studies from the AHA tell us that today 75 Million Americans suffer from Heart Disease, 20 Million have Diabetes and 57 Million are on the brink. These numbers continue to get worse.

Well Jimmy, I think the Lipid Hypothesis has not withstood the test of time. It has failed us. It was a good hypothesis, however incorrect. At least we tried. Now it’s time to try something else. (It seems Inflammation may be the cause of Heart Disease – read this article to learn about Inflammation).

So if saturated fats aren’t the devil, does that mean we can, or perhaps SHOULD include them into our diet? Let us look at some facts and make a decision that makes sense.

We are going to look at saturated fat and its effect on vitamins uptake, DHA/EPA Absorption, its effect on immune health and its hormonal effects. There are other benefits, but these are the most relevant to our goals of living a healthy life with a lean physique.

Fat can be broken down into 3 categories; Short Chain, Medium Chain, and Long Chain Triglycerides (Fatty Acids). Short and Medium Chain Fatty Acids are used for sustained energy, and due to the essence of the nutrient, is not likely to be stored as fat in the body unless consumed in excess. Unrefined Coconut Oil and Grass Fed Butter are great examples of food staples that include Medium Chain Triglycerides.   

There are two types of vitamins, Fat Soluble and Water Soluble. Fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K. The idea of the Paleo Diet Evolved is to provide healthy nutrients (vitamins, minerals, macro-nutrients) so our bodies can perform optimally. Fat soluble vitamins need fat in the diet so these vitamins can be properly transported and absorbed. These fat soluble vitamins play crucial roles in our bodies and without enough fat to help them get absorbed, vitamin deficiency can occur. These vitamins tend to work synergistically. For example, vitamin A and D build certain proteins, and vitamin K will activate it. This cannot happen without saturated fat in our diet.

We have all heard that Fish Oil (Omega 3) is great for our health, but according Mary Enig in her book “Know Your Fats”, including saturated fat in the diet can help our bodies retain Omega 3 in our cells and even help convert ALA to its usable form DHA. This can help reduce insulin resistance and thus lead to weight loss. Omega 3 Fatty Acids are essential to our diets and this is something that cannot be ignored. Omega 3's need saturated fat to function properly!

When making educated choices about where to get your saturated fat from, you will likely be choosing Grass Fed Butter and/or Unrefined Coconut Oil. Both of these oils are great for cooking (they will not oxidize with heat like olive oil) and have a high content of Lauric Acid (found in Medium Chain Triglycerides). Lauric Acid is absorbed more easily and thus are more likely to be used for energy than to be stored as fat for later fuel. Due to these properties, coconut oil can help in boosting metabolism which also helps burn unwanted fat.  Studies are still being done on this subject and will continue to evolve – however things are looking very promising. Lauric Acid is also highly anti-microbial and can help our immune system! It is also found in breast milk and is currently being tested as an HIV prevention method!

Saturated Fat can also have an effect our or hormonal response. Every cell membrane in our body is made up of 50% saturated fat and 50% unsaturated fat – it needs to be properly balanced to send and receive messages (hormones transported). What is also interesting for us trying to add lean muscle to our physiques is that a low fat diet can also restrict the amount of free testosterone in the body (testosterone has a muscle building, fat burning effect). This is because low fat diets increase Globulin Levels which binds to testosterone, making it unavailable for use – not good. 

Clearly saturated fat has a place in our diet, ranging from vitamin absorption to our bodies hormonal response. However this doesn’t mean to have a hay day with saturated fat and eat mass amounts. While eating a diet consisting of healthy fats, HDL (good cholesterol) will be increased, but its brother LDL (bad cholesterol) will also be increased. With that being said, this isn’t something we should be terribly concerned about because;

A.     You will not be eating massive amounts of Saturated Fat and when you do, it will come from healthy
sources like Coconut Oil/Grass Fed Butter (Healthy Balance of Omega 3) and
B.     The increase in LDL will be offset by both the increase in HDL to remove cholesterol from bloodstream and from the other healthy food choices the Paleo Diet offers. 
 
So the question remains; Is Saturated Fat bad for you? Well…no. Like many things in life, saturated fat CAN be bad for us in excess, but when included in a healthy diet in small portions saturated fat can give you all of its benefits while restricting the only negative property it holds – increasing LDL. While this is a serious issue, it is not something so serious that one should lose all of the benefits in fear of the small risk. Based on the findings in this article, and knowing the other healthy foods that are included in the Paleo diet (green vegetables), you can afford to eat a variety of foods, knowing that you are feeding your body what it wants so it will be able to take care of itself the way it was evolved to.


Take home message about Saturated Fat

Don’t be afraid to cook with saturated fat; coconut oil, grass fed butter, and lard. Doing so will give you a healthy cooking oil that will not oxidize when heated and provide the benefits of saturated fat

-Saturated fat can help Fatty Acid (Omega 3) and vitamin (A, D, E, K) absorption 
 
-Saturated fat helps with hormonal function and our immune health
       
-Saturated fat can provide sustained energy while increasing metabolism.

Include Saturated Fat in your Diet!