As a food lover who writes about her passion for a living, I often get asked how I manage to stay slim, given the nature of my work. Usually I just smile and shrug and tell them that I’m into running. And that seems to keep them happy. But the thing is I used to struggle with my weight, just like everybody else.
Then late last year, I read The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf and decided to try eating ancestrally. Even after a few weeks I felt I was heading in the right direction. While I didn’t actually lose weight, my body shape started to change. My waistline became more slender – exactly what I was hoping for.
Paleo, primal, slow carb or ancestral eating, whatever you call it, there are many benefits of eating grain-free. From improving your blood chemistry, to losing weight, to increasing your energy levels, to improving your sleep and more. It’s almost been 9 months since I started eating grain-free. I’m finally in a place where I’m happy with my weight and I’m really enjoying what I eat. I’m running about one third of the distance I was last year. No more pounding the pavement to make up for what I ate.
But the best thing has been discovering that it’s much easier to ditch grains than you would think. In most cases there is a vegetable which fills the place of your bread or pasta or rice. And often they taste just as good, if not better than their grain equivalent.
So today I wanted to share a few tips for eating ancestrally. Enjoy!
- Have eggs for breakfast instead of cereal.
Eggs are a brilliant source of protein that keeps you feeling full much longer than a bowl of cereal ever will. Still concerned about cholesterol? Have a look at 7 reasons you should eat eggs for breakfast.
- Grate raw cauliflower instead of steamed rice.
A recent discovery, I’m just loving my new grain-free accompaniment to curries and stir fries. Just get raw cauliflower and grate it. Instant grain-free ‘rice’. And the brilliant thing it that it’s super quick if you get your food processor to do the hard yards. No more gluggy rice to worry about.
- Zucchini your noodles.
For an alternative to spaghetti or other long pasta, roast some finely sliced zucchini (courgettes). And serve with your favorite pasta sauce.
- Carotti your spaghetti. Shave a carrot or two into ribbons with a vegetable peeler and then simmer until tender. Presto! Orange ‘spaghetti‘.
- Make thin omelets instead of pizza bases.
Pizza can be difficult to go without. Try making a thin egg omelet in your non-stick pan and topping with your favorite pizza topping and popping under an overhead grill.
- Or try a meatza
Something I’m yet to make myself. Hard core paleo fans replace their pizza bases with a big flat disc of ground beef.
- Replace flour with almond meal (or other ground nuts).
This only works for some situations, like using flour or breadcrumbs to coat meat. Or in baked goods.
- Use pureed cauliflower instead of polenta.
Pureed cooked cauliflower is a great alternative to soft polenta or corn meal.
- Try lettuce wraps instead of bread.
For those who love their sandwiches, try washed lettuce – iceberg works really well – to wrap your favorite fillings. Think sang choi bau with so many possibilities. Just remember that lettuce isn’t as satisfying as bread so you’ll need to make your fillings more substantial.
- Serve your burgers without the bun.
Let’s face it. The best part of the burger is the meat and the sauce. Just increase your burger size and serve it without the bun.
- Or try a mushroom burger instead.
Just roast or grill two large field or portabello mushrooms until tender. Then use these exactly like you’d use a hamburger bun.
- Salads or soups not sandwiches.
If sandwiches are your default ‘healthy’ lunch, just switch to a salad or soup. If you’re used to making your own lunch, it doesn’t take any more time to make a salad. Just keep the dressing in a separate container to add just before you eat.
- Use chocolate for sweet treats.
For those with a sweet tooth, I know a life without pastries and cakes can seem a little dull (see point 15). But then there’s chocolate. Start exploring the wonderful world of dark chocolates, preferably with a high (60-70%) cocoa solids content.
- Wine not beer.
If you enjoy a drink or two, going grain free doesn’t mean you need to get on the wagon. Wine is not only grain free, it is lower in carbs than beer. It’s also a source of antioxidants. Cheers!
- 100% compliance isn’t required.
While coeliacs are unable to tolerate even the tiniest amount of gluten, most people will still see the benefits of going grain-free even without 100% compliance. I tend to have one day a week where I’m indulging in sourdough bread and cookies which staves off any cravings the rest of the week. Later is much easier to live with than never.
‘Carotti’ Bolognese Recipe
serves 2+
This is my minimalist version of a beef ragu or bolognese sauce. The secret is in the butter. Feel free to substitute your own favorite pasta sauce.
450g (1lb) minced (ground) beef
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans tomatoes (400g / 14oz)
large knob butter
2 medium carrots
- Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and cook beef and garlic, stirring every now and then for about 5 minutes or until well browned.
- Add tomato and simmer for about 15 minutes or until reduced and good saucy.
- Meanwhile bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Shave the carrots into ribbons using a vegetable peeler.
- Cook carrots for 3 – 5 minutes or until al dente like cooked pasta.Drain.
- Toss butter into the beef sauce and season.
- Return the carrot to the saucepan and stir in some beef sauce. Then divide between plates and top with more sauce
Hi Jules, I did the Paleo thing a few years ago and it was great for weight loss. But now I’ve gone vegan and am eating grains again. I know you’ve also toyed with a meat-free diet, so I’d be very interested in a combination of the two (vegan Paleo, is it possible?). Would love to hear your thoughts…
Weston Price looked for ancestral vegans during his travels in the 1930s. The closest he got was cannibals; when a given tribe could no longer secure animal foods, they turned upon one another or their closest enemies instead.
Human beings are not herbivores, no matter how badly you want us to be.
Weston Price looked for ancestral vegans during his travels in the 1930s. The closest he got was cannibals; when a given tribe could no longer secure animal foods, they turned upon one another or their closest enemies instead.
Human beings are not herbivores, no matter how badly you want us to be.
Thanks for the list! Zucchini makes a great pizza base too, either as boats or patty pans sliced. Along the same lines we often use cucumber slices in place of bread for mini sandwiches. The kids love it!
I applaud your efforts to reduce your grain consumption but am concerned about the suggestion to substitute animal products instead. Consumption of animal products is proven to be detrimental on so many levels:
Firstly, studies consistently link meat and dairy to a host of diseases, mostly through inflammation. So while you might experience short-term weight management, you’re setting yourself up for long-term disease.
Secondly, consumption of factory-farmed meat and poultry not only participates in unethical treatment of living creatures, it’s the number one impact on the climate. If all the meat eaters could resist a single serving of meat once per week it would be the equivalent of taking your car off the road for 320 miles. If everyone in the US skipped meat and cheese just one day a week, it would be the environmental equivalent of not driving 91 BILLION miles.
First off, paleo is not a weight loss plan. It is a means to eat in the way that we are genetically programmed to do. The basis is the diet of our hunter gatherer ancestors. It is how we ate back in the day (when there was basically no such thing as obesity and diabetes) and we have not evolved one iota in the past 10,000 years to process grains, dairy, etc. These are products easily mass produced at a cheap cost to manufacturers and then sold in massive amounts to regular consumers.
This means no consumption of processed foods such as oh let’s say for example, CHEESE. We also stay away from yogurt and milk in general, though I will put a splash of organic half and half in my coffee in the morning. A good paleophile eats free-range pasture raised products when it comes to eggs and animals, so your second argument is null and void. Also, these meats and eggs are not injected with those evil hormones used to fatten the livestock up that are very capable of leading to inflammation and disease especially when combined with products we are not meant to process in the first place.
Also, when was the last time you saw a healthy looking vegetarian????? Especially the common gaunt and sickly vegan…
Also, you’re an idiot for thinking cow farts affect the climate…
It’s possible the methane that grain-fed cattle put off *might* have an effect, but there’s an easy fix for that: grass-fed cattle don’t put off as much methane. And, incidentally, cattle on pasture sequester carbon into the soil just by walking over the grass. Whereas growing a field of wheat requires plowing which releases carbon into the atmosphere. So cattle still have a net positive effect on atmospheric gases IF they are being raised and fed properly.
Happily, more and more meat-eaters are becoming aware of this issue, and the demand for grass-fed and grass-finished beef is increasing exponentially.
It’s possible the methane that grain-fed cattle put off *might* have an effect, but there’s an easy fix for that: grass-fed cattle don’t put off as much methane. And, incidentally, cattle on pasture sequester carbon into the soil just by walking over the grass. Whereas growing a field of wheat requires plowing which releases carbon into the atmosphere. So cattle still have a net positive effect on atmospheric gases IF they are being raised and fed properly.
Happily, more and more meat-eaters are becoming aware of this issue, and the demand for grass-fed and grass-finished beef is increasing exponentially.
from the LA times:
Pollution on the hoof
A WARMING WORLDLivestock emissions are a leading source of greenhouse gases. One solution may be to eat less meat.October 15, 2007It’s a silent but deadly source of greenhouse gases that contributes more to global warming than the entire world transportation sector, yet politicians almost never discuss it, and environmental lobbyists and other green activist groups seem unaware of its existence.That may be because it’s tough to take cow flatulence seriously. But livestock emissions are no joke.Most of the national debate about global warming centers on carbon dioxide, the world’s most abundant greenhouse gas, and its major sources — fossil fuels. Seldom mentioned is that cows and other ruminants, such as sheep and goats, are walking gas factories that take in fodder and put out methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases that are far more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Methane, with 21 times the warming potential of CO2, comes from both ends of a cow, but mostly the front. Frat boys have nothing on bovines, as it’s estimated that a single cow can belch out anywhere from 25 to 130 gallons of methane a day.
Those studies are crap because they don’t control for other elements of the diet with much stronger links to chronic disease, such as grain. Because grain is assumed to be healthy by most diet researchers, they never consider it as a contributing factor to diabetes and heart disease and so on.
But think about it. How many people do you know who eat red meat and also avoid grain? Sure, the low-carbers (sometimes) and the Paleo eaters (more often)–but how many of *those* do you know?
I get way more inflammation when I eat grain than I do when I eat beef. My body *loves* beef. Meanwhile, the one year I tried going vegan (and I don’t think I lasted longer than six months), I got fatter and crazier. I will never try that again–and I’ve learned since that I am probably not able to convert beta carotene to vitamin A, so it is just as well.
Part of being compassionate to animals is advocating a species-appropriate diet for them. Guess what? We’re animals.
Archie, first there are 2 well known long-term (20+ years) studies that were conducted in the US, the Nurses (women) study and the Health Care Providers (men) study. Neither of these studies have shown any correlation between meat consumption and an increase in either heart disease or cancer.
Secondly, Paleo encourages the consumption of of grass fed and organic meat. I do agree with you to a certain extent about factory farms, but unless you are strictly eating organic and locally small-farm produced grains and vegetables, you are supporting factory farms as well, only the kind that relies on heavy use of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides that are detrimental to not only people, but the environment and wildlife as well.
Compassion comes in many forms, and it never ceases to amaze me how some people can show more compassion to animals than they can to their fellow man. Compassion to me is respect, and that’s why I choose to respect others’ decisions as to their diets even if I feel they are extremely misinformed.
Qualified Food Scientist my ass. Eat tiny portions 5 times a day, fast once a weak (no food, no drinks, just water) and excercise at least 3 times a week. And go out meeting people instead of staying in your farty chair in the front of useless TV.
A lot of people who struggle with overweight also have problems with high fasting insulin or high postprandial insulin (more often men for the former and women for the latter), and should not be eating in a way that keeps their insulin pretty much constantly elevated, as would occur if they ate five times a day as you suggest.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about, save “your ass” for your farty chair. Thanks in advance.
I found an awesome recipe not long ago for making zucchini noodles using a mandoline (sp?). Watch your fingers, fer cryin’ out loud, but you get nice long ribbons that way. Way more nutritious than wheat semolina, too, although you’ll want to eat them with fat for full nutritional benefit. Preferably butter, ghee, or olive oil.
Hmmmmmmm….
Ancestral eating huh? My tradition dictates lots of lard and haggis… And cardiac arrest by 45.
I’ve made this change and love the results! A big misconception is that low carb means more meat when it really should be just more veggies.
I’ve made this change and love the results! A big misconception is that low carb means more meat when it really should be just more veggies.
This is a great post. Tips 12 and 15 are my favorite and are probably the most important. I used to love to make sandwiches – I considered myself a “sandwich artist” (not to be confused with Subway employees). Alas, I went grain-free about 6mo ago because I just could not lose weight no matter what I did. I am currently down 30lbs and hope to keep going.
If the author doesn’t mind, i would like to include some of these tips on my own website: nograinconvert.com
Great post. This was very helpful for me as I’m just starting to explore the world of grain-free eating. Thanks for sharing! I’m going to try the carotti bolognese this week!
aren’t you concerned about high cholesterol?
Wow. You've really helped me out here. Been reading so much of this stuff but your article is succinct and practical. I was just about to give up my new grain-free regime but you've given me renewed dedication.