Your Top 3 Challenges When Going Primal... page 2

[Misabi]

1. Eating with family. My partner and outlaws are Malaysian, and all cook loads of 'great' food - curries etc. But it to them, a meal just ain't a meal if it doesn't come with at least one bowl of steamed rice and/or noodles, roti bread, etc.. Also, lots of the dishes (which are high fat / medium to high protein) also contain soy, legumes or other things that have to be soaked overnight before being cooked (like some large seeds, that they suck out the insides of. Tastes great, but...)

2. Eating at restaurants. Not so much because there aren't primal / semi-primal choices, more because before we go anywhere we have to have the whole "but what are you going to be able to eat there" or "can you see anything on the menu that you can/will eat" discussion. Now we don't go out lots, and I've said over and over that if I can't find anything that's remotely primal I'll just eat something that I like that isn't and it goes towards my 20%. But they always make such a big deal out it. Either through some kind of misguided support of my choice to be PB or because it gives some of them an 'in' to play the "well aren't you just being a hypocrite if you eat that?" card

3. Not exercising so much. I enjoy working out, and love working out hard but have always had trouble motivating myself to exercise when not in a regimented routine. Unless it's going to my martial arts classes or a surf at the weekend. I did crossfit 4 or 5 days a week (before going primal) for over a year (and then on and off over the following year or so) and loved it. I've probably gone too far to the other extreme now, because just through eating well I've lost a couple of inches off my waist without really losing muscle mass anywhere else and without the guilt factor of missing the xfit WOD I don't Still do crossfit now and again, but to be honest other than walking a couple of hours a week and some very occasional (maybe twice a month) sprints & short hight intensity squat, pull-up and press up sessions I don't seem to need much else to stay in good shape. Could I have bigger muscles? Sure. Could I be more cut? Yep. But my goal was never to lose weight, I was pretty healthy and didn't have a lot of fat to lose anyway, so not really an issue. I'll probably step it up a little as we're heading back into summer now and being a little fitter / stronger always helps in the surf

[bUMbLeB]

ok, let's see:

Challenges
1) Meal preparation: I'm surrounded by fast-food outlets, and when I did cook at home it was often quick options like pasta. Now I make all my own food, and what I make takes longer.

2) Nutrient ratios: I signed up at nutritiondata, and bought a cheap food scale, but I'm not good at this and so usually have only a vague idea of what proportions I'm getting.

3) Lifting heavy things: I lost significant weight just by eating PB, and it wasn't even deliberate so much as a lucky accident, but I'm probably less motivated than many other PBers. I get a lot more exercise than I used to, because it's more fun now, but mostly I'm just riding my bike.

Solutions
1) IF. I only really eat at the end of the day, and I always make leftovers. I've become a much better cook!

2) Meh. I don't worry about it much - I feel great, eat well, sporadically supplement. Good enough for now.

3) Stop being a baby.

[momofredheads]

1. giving up sugar/sweets/baked goods
2. not getting bored with the selection of food. When I did Atkins years ago I was very hard pressed for ideas of what to eat besides eggs and bacon. I was also newly married at that point and my single life consisted of eating out a lot and pasta.
3. eating fat...has been really hard mentally, CW still sticks around in my head.

[naiadknight]

1) visiting family and eating out
2) Pizza and pasta were ym go to foods. With those gone, I had to get creative.
3) Eating primal with my husband eating what I used to eat right next to me.

[Ollie]

probably

throwing ALL the crap out and replacing it with ALL good stuff
going through the transition phase from sugar burner to fat burner
not given in to temptation when it arose

[Misabi]

1) Cost. Let's be honest, buying meat these days isn't cheap, especially if you're in an area where farms and cowpooling aren't really possible. And even if people buy supermarket fare and then supplement, the cost still isn't that much different.

How could I have forgotten that one!
Yep, the price of organic meat is just prohibitive really. Luckily our standard beef cattle and lambs are grass fed, but that means that I have to miss out on the yummy fat and go for lean beef because of the other pollutants involved in non-organic farming. Must look into cow-pooling... haven't heard that one before

[OneDeltaTenTango]

1. Eating out (including work meals, restaurants, at friends' and families' houses)
2. Doing strength exercises consistently 2-3 times/week
3. Not freaking out about my 2-yr old daughter's diet

And now I am worried about sprinting since it is cold and sloopy out but not yet enough snow for nordic skiing.

How to deal with it all?:
1. pretty much all restaurants will have a salad with chicken/salmon/halibut and I pick around the bread for work-related meals (or just IF through)
2. Just have to keep pushing myself to do regular body-weight exercise. I have always been a runner (now totally relaxed on that) but not htat motivated to work out inside.
3. With the kid, it is enough of a chore to make sure she eats so I just won't be too freaked if she has pasta or whatever now and again. She gets very little sugar right now. If I can dial in her primal ways at 50/50 or 60/40, I figure that's ahead of most.

One Delta Ten Tango, over and out

[elwyne]

Top 3 Challenges:
1) Re-thinking breakfast. I always had cereal, toast, or oatmeal before; it took me awhile to adapt to boiled eggs, cottage cheese, an avocado, or maybe some leftovers.
2) Going out in groups. Our choir went to a pizza place after a gig last night, & the director ordered pizza for everyone. I wasn't even terribly hungry, but it was so terribly tasty that I ate it anyway. On our own, hubby and I steer clear of such places.
3) Food options near work. There are plenty of primal choices, really... but most places are heavy on the bread/rice/noodles, including some of my old faves which I've been letting go. Sometimes I miss them.

[Cavebot 3.0]

Diet was fairly easy... I still have trouble with:

1. Sprints. I feel like a weirdo doing sprints. I know I should just relax and do it, have fun... but still.

2. Proper sleep schedual. I try to get enough sleep, but its hard some days.

3. Being the only person in the car not want anything when at the drive-thru for McDonalds/White Castle etc. Most people still think I'm vegan, seems easier than correcting them...

[Diana Renata]

1) Giving up my favorite pizza at my favorite pizza shop. I've been telling myself for a year I'd "indulge" and I haven't because the side effects of eating non-Primal food SUCK, which makes me not want some of the yummy things I miss so much.

2) Checking labels to look for hidden food bombs. Even "healthy" Primal foods you still have to check because they sneak stuff in there.

3) Making plans with others to eat out. Most places have relatively Primal options though, even if it's not the same quality. Sucks when people want to go to an Indian or Mexican place, let alone fast food.