Confused Former Vegan page 2

[BennettC]

mark also says in his interview with dr. mercola. the diet is based up meat, fish, fowl, and eggs. with minimal plant matter (speaking of a real paleo diet) obviously a lot of people are doing a lot of different things on here

[otzi]

One last note: take advantage of your experience in cooking vegetables, just consider them as a side dish to accompany your meat/fish instead of the main course. That's to say: vegetables are as important as meat. Just watch the starchy ones - and the grains - remember that energy comes from fats, not sugars.
Welcome, and enjoy!

How to Succeed with the Primal Blueprint | Mark's Daily Apple

That doesn't mean eat a huge steak and a small salad. It means eat a humongous salad and a big steak. Vegetables should be the bulk of what you eat, although meat will be the bulk of your calories..if that makes sense. According to the Primal Pyramid, fat calories should be less than vegetable calories--most miss that.

[Lewis]

According to the Primal Pyramid, fat calories should be less than vegetable calories--most miss that.

I don't know about "most miss that".

Most wouldn't think that because that's not what's meant and it wouldn't be particularly easy to do anyway.

If you do the arithmetic, based on the grams of protein recommended in the formula given here, the grams of carbohydrate suggested in the Carbohydrate Curve, then, for most people, you're left with quite a lot of fat -- because there are only three macronutrients and that is all that's left.

Here is what Mark actually says:

Fats. Learn to love them. They are the fuel of choice and should become the balance of your Primal Blueprint diet. Fats have little or no impact on insulin and, as a result, promote the burning of both dietary and stored (adipose) fat as fuel. Think about this: if protein and carbs stay fairly constant (and carbs stay under 150), you can use fat as the major energy variable in your diet.

What he meant by the diagram was that vegetables and fruit could take up most of the room on your plate, because they're mostly water. He's talking about them being a big element in your diet in terms of the room they take up on the plate, not in terms of their calorific value.

[noodletoy]

Vegetables should be the bulk of what you eat, although meat will be the bulk of your calories..if that makes sense. According to the Primal Pyramid, fat calories should be less than vegetable calories--most miss that.

is this is a typo? i typically eat about 900 cals of fat per day. i'd have to eat 36 CUPS of broccoli to equal that.

[Twibble]

Here's a video of how to break down a whole chicken: how to break down a chicken (a video!)

They also have a few other videos that would be appropriate for Primal, like mushrooms with prosciutto stuffing, chicken with a mustard sauce, and eggs: Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef - YouTube

You can also YouTube stuff like How to Cook Ground Beef: how to cook ground beef - YouTube

[BennettC]

How to Succeed with the Primal Blueprint | Mark's Daily Apple

That doesn't mean eat a huge steak and a small salad. It means eat a humongous salad and a big steak. Vegetables should be the bulk of what you eat, although meat will be the bulk of your calories..if that makes sense. According to the Primal Pyramid, fat calories should be less than vegetable calories--most miss that.

well I don't eat salad...AT ALL! I rarely ever eat anything from the plant world unless its just to flavor my meat. I'm a straight up carnivore!

[otzi]

is this is a typo? i typically eat about 900 cals of fat per day. i'd have to eat 36 CUPS of broccoli to equal that.

I'm talking about added fat like coconut oil, olive oil, etc... Not the fat attached to the meat. Notice on the primal pyramid how Mark just calls it "meat" not protein&fat. I guess I forget we have a lot of macro counters on here. I find it much easier to be primal by not sweating the macros. I eat meat, with the fat attached. I eat a ton of veggies a day a little fruit some days, and eat very little non-meat type fat mainly coconut oil or olive oil. Makes life simpler that way. I tried counting at first, but found that's all I was doing. Now I just eat. I do think a lot of folks around here are getting too much into the meat thing though, lean meat isn't all that nutritious--just delicious. For nutrients think seafood, offal, gelatin, bone broth, vegetables.

If anyone is using FitDay to count calories/macros--you can also use it to count nutrients...I think there's more bang for your buck there.

[otzi]

well I don't eat salad...AT ALL! I rarely ever eat anything from the plant world unless its just to flavor my meat. I'm a straight up carnivore!

That can be OK. Just make sure you aren't eating lean cuts of meat and getting lots of liver, brains, kidneys, fish...like the Inuit.

[BennettC]

I eat liver about twice a week and eat wild salmon a few times a week. sometimes I eat leaner meats for dinner but I get plenty of fat at my other meals. unfortunately I don't have access to brains lol. I drink raw milk too so I get a lot of nutrients from that as well, im basically on a herdsman type diet

[magicmerl]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I don't know how to quote multiple people on here yet (I'm still pretty forum-challenged)

Click the 'Quote +' at the bottom right of each post you want to quote, then click the 'Reply to thread' button at the bottom of the thread.

I'm confused now though-- should I not be focusing as much on meat? For example, for breakfast I scrambled together eggs, salmon, peppers and onions, for lunch I had a spinach salad with olive oil topped with avocados and some grass-fed beef, for a snack I had an apple and some almonds, and for dinner I plan on having some chicken and more green veggies. Should I be adding more fat? More vegetables? Less meat?

Sounds like you are getting plenty of meat, you don't need to focus on getting more. And I think you have enough veggies there too. If you're not geetting enough total calories then fat is the right variable to increase (and it makes things taste delicious).