Harris - The Paleo vegetarian diet : a healthy weight loss and healthy living

Text copyright 2015 Dena Harris. Concept and design copyright 2015 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the US by:

Ulysses Press

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Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN 13: 978-1-61243-462-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014952013

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Editor: Lauren Harrison

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Index: Sayre Van Young

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NOTE TO READERS: This book has been written and published strictly for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as medical advice or to be any form of medical treatment. You should always consult with your physician before altering or changing any aspect of your medical treatment. Do not stop or change any prescription medications without the guidance and advice of your physician. Any use of the information in this book is made on the readers good judgment and is the readers sole responsibility. This book is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition and is not a substitute for a physician.

For anyone who has struggled with food. I hope this book makes it an ally versus an enemy.

Contents

I had been a vegetarian for 20 years when I decided to give Paleo Vegetarianism a go. No beans. No soy. No dairy. No rice. No quinoa. No alcohol (um, yeahwell talk). No grains of any kind. And, obviously, no meat. Friends thought I was crazy. And for a while, I agreed. I mean, just what was a MorningStar breakfast patties addict like me supposed to eat?

My decision to try a Paleo Vegetarian diet came when I met a number of health-obsessed people eating Paleo and experiencing phenomenal results. Like the type A skeptic I am, I started researching Paleo and Primal diets and was intrigued by what I found. I started a website about my Paleo Vegetarian journey and was amazed at the response. It turned out that I wasnt alone. Tons of vegetarians, it seems, are interested in the benefits of a Paleo diet.

The biggest obstacleobviouslyis that consuming meat is at the heart of any Paleo diet. So what are a bunch of plant eaters supposed to do?

Answer: Go Paleoonly without the meat.

It wasnt easy. That means no beans, soy, rice, dairy, alcohol, or added sugars? That pretty much wiped out every recipe Id ever made as a vegetarian.

But eating Paleo Vegetarian can be done. This book is a tool to get you started. Pay attention to what you eat and how you feel, and youll quickly learn what parts of the diet do and dont work for you. Once you learn the basics, you can make adjustments. Maybe youre okay with the occasional inclusion of rice or beans. Maybe you find a bowl of morning oatmeal before a hard workout does you no harm. This will thrill some of you and make others cringe, but there are no hard-and-fast rules that apply 100 percent of the timein life and especially in a diet. Instead, whats here is a foundation upon which you can build.

Its taken almost 30 years of dietingand being heavier than I should be for most of that timefor me to get to a point where I feel like food is my friend and not an enemy to be combated, outmaneuvered, and outwitted at every turn. Making the switch to include Paleo eating in my life has been a big part of this mental switch. I hope whats outlined in these pages will do the same for you.

Some thank-yous are in order. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an army of understanding friends and family to see a writer through the draft of a book. To say I ran around frazzled would be a kind understatement. So a huge and heartfelt thank-you to all friends, family, and coworkers who were patient with me, calmed me, believed in me, and reminded me to feed my cat when I grew distracted.

In good health and good spirit,

Dena

Paleo Vegetarian? Uhisnt that an oxymoron? Kind of like decaf coffee? Aside from the fact that it doesnt exactly roll off the tongue to anyone with even a little bit of knowledge about the Paleo diet and vegetarianism, the pairing makes no sense. Sooo Youre a vegetarian who follows a primarily meat-eating diet? Uh-huh. That doesnt seem like it would be a problem. At all.

Fair enough. But the fact that its a marriage of opposites doesnt negate the fact that multitudes of hardcore, in-it-for-life vegetarians are interested in exploring the possibility of adapting their diet to the Paleo lifestyle. Some, like me, came to the idea through the CrossFit phenomenon that has swept across our nation. Reading and witnessing how many of these super-strong, super-lean athletes were transforming their bodies through Paleo made a number of us do a double take and say, HeyI want that for me! Others are hearing and reading more about the damage grains are doing to our bodies and wondering if there might be something to the notion of grain-free living. Still others are stymied by weight loss and baffled as to the cause behind their weight gain or inability to shed pounds.

Why Adopt a Paleo Vegetarian Lifestyle?

First of all, lets agree to call it PV for short. For vegetarians reading this book (and I assume most of you reading this book are already vegetarians, otherwise youd be looking at a traditional Paleo diet), the V part of the equation is likely something with which youve already come to grips. Whether for moral, ethical, environmental, or a combination of reasons, youre clear on why you choose to eschew meat. This leaves the second part of the equation to be answered: Why are you interested in adhering to a Paleo diet?

Before jumping into Paleo, lets pause to examine the word diet. Its a term fraught with emotion. For many of us, it conjures up memories of grapefruit and fiber, replacement meal shakes, and countless hours spent tracking and recording every morsel of food that went into our mouths. (Ask any woman over 30 the caloric value of anything from a frozen fruit smoothie to cream cheese brownies and shell be able to spit out the answer before you can say, Weigh in.)

Yet for all the fad diets, all the Weight Watchers and Jenny Craigs and days spent eating fat-free treats and low-sodium rice cakes, were still not where we want to be. We yo-yo up and down on the scale. We surround ourselves with guilt around food. We give up on our goals, thinking theyre unrealistic, too hard, or too far out of reach.

And maybe they are. Other than teenagers in love, there is no one as self-delusional on the planet as a would-be dieter. We knowknowthat once we lose the weight our love life will improve, well get a better job, redecorate the house, become a more patient parent and altruistic spouse, volunteer to help the homeless on weekends, write the novel thats been percolating inside our brain for the last ten years, and transform into the 510 natural blonde we were born to be. (Never mind that were a 54 shaggy brunette and medical science has yet to document the spontaneous growth of six inches of toned legginess to any physique, no matter how many desserts you say no to.) Dieters, God love them, are probably the most optimistic people on the planet.