First day of paleo, how am I doing?

fat Free yoghurt is not primal, full fat is. You can find plenty of primal desserts online

[QUOTE=jaczor;1002817]Hi, my name is Jose and I just started doing paleo today, I've been reading a lot during the past few days and I have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the information that's out there! I've been putting it off for weeks because I didn't know where to start, so today I decided to just go at it with the most basic meals I know I can have and develop it from there.

Anyway, a little info about me, I currently weigh 236lbs and I am 5'9", need to loose about 60lbs or so.

My biggest challenge regarding paleo will definitely be eating veggies and fruit, which I rarely do and so far don't like most of them unless they are "disguised" in sauce or something.

As far as physical activity goes, I started doing crossfit over a month ago, 2 times a week and now I've switched to three times, I also walk one or two miles most days to move around the city (yay europe!).

Anyways, wanted to show you guys today what I ate and see if it's ok for paleo (as well as quantity/quality wise), these would be staple meals for me, I'd probably have them more than 7 times a week.

Breakfast:
4 strips of bacon (thin, regular oscar mayer bacon), 3 eggs. Ill probably have eggs in some shape or form every day for breakfast for the next few weeks, until I find alternatives.

Lunch:
a whole bunch of grilled green peppers and a grilled 300gr steak, not sure what the cut is called in the US, according to google the closest would be round (a picture is worth a thousand words so here you go). I'm affraid this cut has too much fat, although I don't eat most of the fat but I have no problems with it, if it's relatively thin and crispy I actually like it and that's the part I eat.

Can't embed picture, don't know why, here's a link:
[url=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/840/20121112160940.jpg/]ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting[/url]

Dinner
Not sure if Ill have any, I'm not really hungry (I have the flu, great day to start paleo huh?), If I do it will probably be a 300gr tenderloin with grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms.

I know that I need more veggies, but I just don't know where to begin, it's so weird having to buy and prepare something that I have avoided most of my life, but Ill start experimenting tommorow.

My main proteins would be red meat, pork, eggs, bacon, Ill try to incorporate some chicken and fish in there, but that will take some time, I don't like them much without simple carbs.

My main doubt has to do with how fatty the meat cuts can be, from what I've been reading, it doesn't seem to matter, is this right?

Well, sorry about this very long first post!

Jose[/QUOTE]

Eat the fat! When you feel better, of course.

My only other advice would be to not get caught up in the minute details. Work on expanding your vegetable selection and explore more colorful food! Try roasting cut up root vegetables, blanched broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus or brussel sprouts or munch on a big salad.

[QUOTE=jaczor;1003610]Thanks for all the great advice guys and gals!

I haven't had any cheese, Ill try to keep it to a minimum because I know calories from cheese add up real fast (even though I'm not counting calories). Ill save it for when I have salads, with goat cheese or some parmesan.

I'm now researching dishes, sauces and salad dressings, are there any desserts on paleo? I used to have fat free frozen yogurt before, which I really enjoyed, but I think it's not paleo friendly :(.[/QUOTE]

Do you like the taste of coconut? Lots of dessert options when you use canned coconut milk. There is also a chocolate avocado mousse recipe floating around on this forum that sounds delicious. You can also check out these blogs:

[url]www.nonnompaleo.com[/url]

[url=http://www.paleomg.com]PaleOMG - Paleo Recipes[/url]

Don't worry about the fat (I say it again). Increasing your fat intake will actually work to help decrease your appetite by making you feel fuller and more satisfied. Our brains are also 60% fat... we need fat to function. I know it is hard to get over the non-fat mindset. I find it better to get my fats from meat, coconut milk, avocado and butter/ghee rather than nuts. Nuts add up too fast with the calories; too easy to overdo.

Roasted bone marrow is the BEST! Grass fed.

Welcome! Make stews. A great way to smuggle vegetables into your food.

Cool, I will definitely try some dessert recipes this weekend, as well as start trying different kinds of fruit to see if I like any, that seems like a good option for dessert on a daily basis, right? What about chocolate that is above 70% chocolate, can I eat 2 squares of those as dessert after a meal regularly?

As for the grass fed aspect, I'm not stressing over that for now, I live in Spain where the paleo/organic food trend is not that big, I'm sure that if I ask my butcher if the cows were grass fed I'd get a blank "wtf?" stare, but I must say that the quality of the meat is very good, regardless of what they eat (nice and fatty too). I'm guessing that the change to not eating any grains, sugar, etc myself is good enough for now.

Just eat jamon de bellota all day. Isn't that 100% acorn fed? ;) And a bazillion euros?

Maybe you can stick to wild caught salmon? What about finding grass fed lamb? All you can do is ask the butcher; no harm in asking.

You can certainly eat 2 squares of 70% dark chocolate per day as long as you aren't trying to cut out sugar completely.

I do have a permanent stash of jamon iberico, it's awesome and I believe it's paleo friendly as well, great snack every once in a while, and not as expensive as you'd think (for good quality, of course you can always go nuts and buy some that's 170 euros per kilo, but you can get some nice jamon for a lot less here).

Ill ask my butcher next time, the thing about salmon is that I only like it raw, same with tuna, so it's not really something I'd eat frequently.