Rodgers - Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go

In my work as a nutritional therapist and consultant, I meet a lot of Paleo dieters. Most of them love the benefits of their diet but struggle with the practicalities of maintaining it all day long. Breakfast and lunch are where most people get stuck. It can be challenging to grab a quick and satisfying Paleo lunch while on a short break from work. Leftovers from home eventually feel boring and uninspiredtheres only so much leftover chili you can take to work! This book is designed just for you: the busy Paleo dieter. Whether youre plugging away at a sixty-hour-a-week office job or managing kids and a household with little time to plan meals, you need lunch and breakfast options that are easy, delicious and portable.

I know the meaning of busy. My typical day includes running my own business; darting from my workouts to graduate school classes; seeing nutrition clients and picking up my kids at school. Ive got a fast-action life and it has inspired me to create some easy solutions for tasty lunches and breakfasts that are Paleo compliant. Ive also paid my dues in the corporate world and understand what its like to be rushing out the door in the morning when its still dark out and not have time to plan something enticing for lunchnever mind squeezing in a healthy breakfast. Do you feel like everyone but you has a great choice for lunch? Just wait until you see all the delicious and quick-to-assemble dishes that will soon liven up your workday and reinvigorate your diet. In the Grab-and-Go Paleo Wraps chapter, youll find easy-to-make lettuce wraps like the Turkey Apricot Dijon Wrap and the Roast Beef and Celeriac Slaw Wrap. Tasty wraps like these take mere minutes to make but are so incredibly delicious to eat. Youll be surprised by the number of speedy, gourmet breakfastslike the Cherry Tarragon Breakfast Sausagesthat can be assembled in minutes with commonly found ingredients. No culinary degree necessary! From soups to wraps to mouth-watering salads, the recipes in this book are your answer to eating a healthy Paleo diet on the go.

MY PATH TO PALEO

As a young child, I struggled to gain weight and was often sick. I was hospitalized for dehydration several times and suffered from severe nosebleeds, low muscle tone and an overall lack of energy. I was always hungry and in digestive distress. My doctor thought my symptoms were caused by lactose intolerance and recommended that I continue to drink soy milk (I was fed soy formula from day one) instead of cows milk. It didnt help.

After college, I stopped drinking soda and eating junk food. I thought I was doing everything right by eating a low-fat, whole grain and mostly vegetarian diet. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease in my mid-twenties and had to give up wheat, I felt like I had the most restrictive diet anyone could possibly follow. I had been eating wheat three times a day, so just making the switch to gluten-free food was an enormous adjustment. After attending a Weston A. Price conference in my early thirties, I started to eat butter and other good fats. I felt much better, but it wasnt until I did the 30-day Paleo challenge, as prescribed in The Paleo Solution, that I really felt cured. For me, eating healthy has been a lifelong journey.

No matter how hard you have struggled with your health, the important thing is to keep trying. If you havent already done so, get a good book on Paleo, check out some recipes and practice making nutrient-dense meals like the ones that follow.

THE RULES

The Paleo Diet (Paleo being short for Paleolithic Era) is based on eating the most nutrient-dense foods that cause the least amount of irritation to the body. This includes meats, vegetables and fruit. The Paleo diet requires the elimination of all refined sugars, grains, legumes and dairy products that are so common in the Standard American Diet. Most people who start this diet begin with a 30-day Paleo challenge where they are 100 percent compliant, then move into a blend of about 80/20, where 80 percent of their diet is Paleo and 20 percent is not. Some foods like dairy and a number of starches are heavily debated in the Paleo community. Regardless of where you stand on these foods, stay focused on the primary goal of eating nutrient-dense foods to achieve optimal health.