In terms of meals I have found the Paleo diet to be fine. Sure, there are a number of foods that I can't have any more. If I had a Friday night free from stand up me and Sally would go swimming once she finished work, then get fish and chips on our way home.
You did the exercise and that was the reward. In a chicken and egg style quandary, I'm not sure which came first. Did we start getting chips because we had done the exercise of going swimming, or did we indeed only start going swimming to justify buying the fish and chips?
A more likely conclusion to that question is that it was Sally who suggested going swimming, and me that added on the idea of getting fish and chips.
And sure, I really do like a chippy dinner. But do I miss it? Mostly no.
The reason I don't miss it too much is because on the Paleo diet I can have lots of food I really like, and as much as I want. Sure, you can over eat, but there's something about fruit, veg, fat and protein that means that you don't feel the need to over eat as much.
Can you say that about carbs? Let's put it this way, if I ever 'popped' a can of Pringles I really didn't stop!
So in terms of meals, Paleo living finds me just fine. However, what about treats?
Now, the idea of treats are not the same as a meal. For a meal you want food you enjoy, of course, but you are mostly eating in a way to satisfy hunger. Treats have got little to nothing to do with hunger.
My office is a den of sin and temptation when it comes to treats. I may only work there part time now, but the potential calorie intake available is enough to make even delivery drivers turn diabetic just by dropping off a parcel there!
On top of one filing cabinet are cakes and biscuits a very generous colleague makes for us all. Alongside that are various other sweet delights donated by happy clients.
This means that even if you are strong enough in mind not to buy naughty food like this, it's still there. It should be fine of course, will power should be enough. Should.
What happens is you are fine throughout the morning and then around 11am (the devils coffee break), you brew up and have just 'one' biscuit. Believe me, it is never just 'one'. By 4pm you realise that you have idly eaten about 4-500 calories of sugary devilment without even noticing.
The thing with trying to have a healthy diet is that it can be achieved in different ways by different people. There are certain truths about how food affects us, but how you go about trying to eat right is down to the individual.
All I can write about are my own experiences, and personally I find strict guidelines can be strangely reassuring. If I'm aiming to eat a balanced diet in which everything is ok in moderation that means a slice of cake is ok. As I said before though, I find one slice of cake is rarely just one slice of cake.
However, if I'm fasting or on the Paleo diet and I know that the rules say I cannot have any cake whatsoever, that's fine. I might want it, don't get me wrong, but I don't fall off the wagon. I know for some that wouldn't work at all, but it does seem to work for me.
But it is nice to have some nice foods for snacks. By snacks I suppose I mean easily accessible small portions of food. Not something that takes time to prepare, just something handy.
In this sense Sally has made a couple of things recently that fill that void quite nicely. Protein balls and coconut macaroons. And she's even given me the recipes.
For the Protein balls you need 6 tbsp cashew butter, 4 tbsp cacao, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed or chia, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tbsp honey/agave and a sprinkle of sea salt. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl, mix and slowly add water until you have your desired consistency. Mould into balls. Giggle at the word balls.
These give you a lovely chocolatey hit. But also they are quite dense, so you can take your time eating them and not just have them disappear in to you only to reappear on your waist.
For the coconut macaroons you need 6 egg whites, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/2 cup agave/honey, 1 tbsp vanilla extracts and 3 cups shredded coconut. To make them you beat the egg whites and salt until stiff (the egg whites, that is). Fold in the agave/honey, vanilla and coconut. Once mixed separate into small balls on a tray and bake at 170 for 10-15 mins.
This is a nice sweet treat and with the egg whites this means it's got quite a bit of protein, so surprisingly filling. Sally did find when making it though that when baking don't have them too thick, otherwise the surface will start to burn before the middle is done. I find they go nice with some nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
Dried fruit is a bit naughty of course. It's much sweeter than the original fruit, and also often contains preservatives. However, in terms of rule bending they are ok if eaten in very limited amounts, and frankly, a little can go a long way.
What I take to work every day is a snack pot. In it is a mix of things that I find go really nice together. I include in the mix raisins, golden berries, dried Goji berries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashew nuts, almonds, coconut flakes and raw cacao nibs.
Some of those things can provide rather too an intense flavour if taken by themselves. The raw cacao nibs are raw chocolate essentially, and very bitter by themselves. Also the golden berries and Goji berries, whilst super food with it's underpants worn on the outside, are also not great tasting by themselves, in my opinion.
However, when mixed with the seeds and nuts, they are great. The sharp acid of the golden berries and the coffee like bitterness of the cacao nibs blends nicely with the other flavours.
So, there are ways of having satisfying fun snacks, and still sticking to the Paleo diet.
If on the Paleo diet or not, let me know what healthy snacks you enjoy. Can you find ways of treating yourself without sinning?
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