Paleo diet is a popular diet because it can eliminate bloating, eradicate seasonal allergies, reduce migraines, eliminate acne and reduce your weight. In this system, you focus on fresh foods and that is a very good idea. At the same time, you also clean up your diet. Fresh foods are good for you because they will keep you satisfied, maintain the blood sugar levels and the hunger hormones. Let’s find out how you can go paleo.

Clean your kitchen

First of all, you will need to gather all the ‘no foods’ like grains, vegetable oils, cereals, yogurt, beans, cheese, milk, packaged foods and throw them out. This is necessary because it means you are eliminating the temptations from your kitchen and when you don’t have temptations, it is less likely that you will consume any of that. If you’re not comfortable in going all out, you can start small. Probably you can eliminate dairy in the first week, grains in the second week, packaged foods in the third week and so on. Whatever approach you take, you will need to ensure that you are not eating all those foods which you should not eat when you are following a Paleo diet.

Follow the 85/15 rule

Once you cross the first month, you need to start following the 85/15 approach. It means that 85% of the time you should be strictly paleo and the rest 15% can be used for non-paleo stuff. If you want to eat something which is not advised in paleo diet or even to eat something that you like. Just get notice of how you feel after reintroducing those foods into your diet. If they are causing any type of discomfort or health problem for you, you can eliminate them completely from your diet.

Cook

If you are following Paleo diet, it is very important that you start cooking for yourself. If you don’t know, you can always learn how to do it by starting with the simple recipes. Paleo diet is based on whole, fresh foods and so cooking them at home is much easier. Cooking also enables you to completely control the ingredients used in cooking. When you go to a restaurant, it is not possible for you to control the elements used in cooking. This is a new opportunity for you to experiment with different foods. You can go for organic foods and vegetables or go to the farmers market to get fresh fruits and vegetables. You can take help from your friends or people you know in finding out how to cook certain foods and vegetables. You can also search online or buy paleo cookbooks to find interesting and tasty recipes for your Paleo diet.

Decode the labels

When you are on a Paleo diet, you will need to learn to read the labels and then decode them. It is important to ensure that you are not consuming ingredients which you should completely avoid while you are on a Paleo diet. You need to avoid peanut butter, added sugars, soy sauce, lunch meats, malt vinegar, different types of marinades and sauces etc.

Find your motivation

Find out what your motivation is. Different people have different motivation for going Paleo. Many of them attempted to get help in their medical conditions like GI problems, allergies and autoimmune conditions. Some other people may go for paleo because they want to feel better every day. You will need to find a reason why you want to go for Paleo diet. If you have a reason, it will keep you motivated for a long time and will also help you to push harder in the journey. Without the motivation or the reason, it may be very difficult for you to go on because you’re doing something which is completely new to you and your body. Finding motivation will reduce the possibilities of failure.

Be ready for setback

When you are trying Paleo diet, sometimes it may be normal to slip back to your previous eating habits. Such type of setbacks are pretty normal to anything new. But you don’t have too take it as a failure. You can expect it and take it as a learning process. You need a support system and your friends and family can help you tremendously in this process. Local groups, forums, social media and other people can also help you to stay the course and become successful in what you want to achieve.

References

1. Paleo Diet Guides From Robb Wolf
2. Is the paleo diet safe?
3. The Beneficial Effects of a Paleolithic Diet