A few questions... page

[Cat_ty]

hi everyone!

To enable you to help me out with a few questions I have here is some basic background information about me: last Saturday I had been a vegetarian (and on and off vegan) for 11 years. Then I read primal blueprint Saturday night, went and bought some organic sausages Sunday morning and haven't looked back. I honestly can't believe how satisfied and full I feel for the first time in 11 years.

I have quite a limited budget for food and organic meat seems is extremely expensive in the uk having come from a diet based on canned beans and tofu. I don't think I can afford to eat meat more than every dinner time and a few lunches (I eat eggs for breakfast) so my first question is: is that enough protein? I lift heavy weights three times a week and have always tried to keep my protein intake higher but never managed it. What I like about being primal is not having to count calories, but I am concerned that I am still not meeting my protein needs so is it advisable to track what I eat for a few weeks?

Secondly, I am 25 and enjoy going out drinking with my friends at the weekend. My tipple of choice is a dark rum and a dash of diet coke so do I need to cut this out completely or can I still enjoy a few drinks without having to worry?

Lastly, does anyone have some meaty lunch dishes they can share? I can't quite get around the taste of cold meat at the moment and I'm pretty paranoid about re-heating meat, but I would really appreciate some easy, quick meal ideas if anyone has them.

Thanks guys!

[Tribal Rob]

Hey dude, welcome.

Re the organic meat: It's optimal, but not essential, obviously local, organic, raised on permant pasture with not agro-chemicals is the most ethical and has the least impact on the planet, however I'm poor so Aldi it is for me. UK meat is not as bad US meat, go out into fields arround Bristol, you'll see cows and sheep eating grass. Pigs still eat crap, and chickens are meant to eat some grain but not a diet based entirly on it.

If it's an ethical thing then you have to make that decide what to do, eggs have plenty of protein, cheese, nuts and greek yogert also have some if you are tolerant of dairy and not trying to lose body fat then eat these too. IMO lentils are the least offensive of legumes, they don't need soaking so are farirly digestable, you could bulk out mince meals with lentils (red for tomato dishes, green for things like cottage pie)

Drinking till you fall down is never optimal, but it's your life, there isn't a special 'primal club' where you have to follow the rules to the letter or you'll be ex-communicated. I don't think a few rum and cokes, the odd pint of local cider is going to do you massive harm in the grand scheme of things. Just don't go into Yates and drink 13 pints of Carling (only cos that makes you a townie muppet)

I don't really do hot lunches that often, but when I do they are not any differnt from tea, I pretty much never eat breakfast anymore, so lunch is sometimes bacon and eggs, sometime cold meat (usally cook up a whole chicken, better than processed crap), Home made soup. tinned fish, eggs, liver curry. There are tonnes of paleo blogs on the web that are mainly recipies for insperation.

[Hedonist2]

+1 To what Rob said. I find that I don't need or eat much food now that I get some good stuff. Often bacon and eggs for lunch and whatever for dinner, with some nuts in between.

[Dialit]

+1 to Rob & the Hedonist. Although I'm learning not to skip breakfast, I often go from breakfast to dinner with a few olives and nuts about 3pm.

That said, on days I do enjoy lunch, I go with cold chicken for several reasons. I can get a true free-range organic whole chicken for about $10-15. I used to pay almost that much for 4-5 B/S conventional breasts, so I think overall I'm actually getting quite a deal. First thing I do is roast that bad boy and have some for dinner. I cut most of the other traditional "pieces" off - thighs, legs, etc. And pack those up either for another dinner later in the week or to take for lunch. Then I pick a a cup or two of meat off the remaining carcas (but not all of it...) and whip up some chicken salad. Finally, I throw the carcass with the remaining meat in my crockpot and some water, chopped onions, garlic & salt and let that boil slowly for a day or two. I then pull out the carcass, pick off all of the remaining meat and throw it back in the broth with a bunch of carrots and celery and season to taste.

This makes AWESOME soup which in itself makes a great lunch with a couple of hard boiled eggs for an extra protein kick.It also makes a great light lunch or breakfast if you're not very hungry.

Whole chicken is the ultimate in Primal economics in my opinion.

If you like American hot wings ("Buffalo wings"), another thought is free range organic chicken wings... purchased alone, wings are one of the cheapest pieces of chicken, and somewhere here on the website, Mark has posted a great hot wings recipe that is de-lish!

Finally, you could consider canned seafood - though getting quality, safe, sustainably caught fish may be more expensive than conventional, it is still a bargain, and tuna salad, salmon salad, etc is an easy lunch choice (though you'll want some gum or a toothbrush and toothpaste afterward if you work with other people).

Best of luck to you!

Diane