I’m three weeks of nine into my Primal Blueprint case study and despite a couple of temptations I’m going well and I’m really enjoying myself.

Pleased To Meat You

One of the great things about eating Primally is that it gets you back into the kitchen. I’ve had a great time looking up new recipes on the internet, buying grain-free recipe books and eating cuts of meat I never would have eaten before.

Just this last weekend Zoe and I had some work friends and some friends from interstate over for dinner. We were determined to show ourselves and our clients that we could make a Primal meal that everyone would find satisfactory.

I scoured the internet like crazy to find a good recipe for spicy Brazilian skewers. I had eaten them in a restaurant the week before. I used the vinaigrette as the marinade and left it in the fridge for over 24 hours. I also only used lamb, chicken and beef.

Zoe put together this awesome sweet potato, walnut, fetta and rocket salad. I’ll get her to put the recipe up in the next few weeks. We also ate a Caprese salad that one of the guests brought and some baked potato that I put together. Desert was a 10 fruit salad with all organic fruit with thick cream on top. Yum!

Flourless Baking

My favourite style of cooking is baking. I thought the hardest thing about going Primal was going to be giving up baking. But that was before I discovered Almond Meal.

My favourites so far have been the Almond Meal and Apple recipe, my pastry-free Quiches and the Almond Meal biscuits. Stay tuned for the recipes over the next few weeks.

Understanding Your Cravings

Temptation

Image: Dave Pullig

It’s amazing how many people have the reaction ‘There is no way, I could never…’ when you tell them about the Primal Lifestyle. Even Mark Sisson has spoken about this on his blog (although I can’t for the life of me find the particular post I’m thinking of).

The fact is though, going Primal is a big change to your life. You need to be able to take a definitive and conscious step in changing your habits and your life. One of the things you will have to deal with is cravings for foods you used to eat like hot freshly baked bread and tiny teddies.

Last week Zoe and I were out shopping when we walked past a bakery. The smell gave me instant cravings for bread, or so I thought. I resisted the urge and we walked onwards to the free-range chicken shop to get some meat for the week. This particular shop also sold roasted chicken.

Going on a gut feeling (pun intended) I decided to grab half a roast chicken. Zoe and I devoured it in the car minutes later AND it completely satisfied my cravings for bread. It turns out that I wasn’t really craving bread, but something hot and tasty. I’m glad I picked the chicken over caving in for some bread because not only did it taste great but I didn’t have that bloated heavy feeling you get from eating a chunk of bread.

The moral of this story is:

There is often a primal alternative (that is even yummier) to what you are craving. You just need to get down to what it is you are exactly craving as it’s usually not a food but a taste or sensation that your body associates with particular nutrients.

Satisfaction

Image: stevendepolo

Tips and Tricks

Here are a few more tips, tricks and shortcuts for others going Primal:

• If you used to do long workouts, take that new free time you had and use it for sourcing better quality produce and cooking Primal snacks.
• Look into buying some grain-free cookbooks. Mark Sisson has a new cookbook coming out soon with quick Primal meals.