One of the first things you notice when you start cooking paleo recipes: it’s a commitment.

You have a whole new shopping list, filled with unfamiliar ingredients like coconut aminos, ghee, and beef liver. You have to learn about concepts like “intermittent fasting” and why legumes are a no-no. It can seem overwhelming, and frankly, it often feels like many of the recipes are just gobs of meat and fat.

Not so with paleo pioneer Mel Joulwan’s book “Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less,” the third in Joulwan’s “Well Fed” series.

This book seeks to remove the complexity from the paleo diet, with simple, attractive infographics showing new paleo-ites what to eat and what not to eat and an approach that combines ease and speed with truly delicious, gourmet, and innovative recipes.

“(Paleo) guidelines are fairly stringent but extremely practical, and they’re based on the idea that we should eat the foods that make us the healthiest,” Joulwan writes.

Joulwan’s background seems to have destined her to be a great cook, even with these constraints. Her dad owned a restaurant when she was growing up, and her mom was a frequent cooking contest winner. Joulwan also has a diverse background, with Lebanese, Italian, and Slovak roots. The recipes in this book combine all of these influences – as well as a few others – for a myriad of dishes that you can make in under 45 minutes with limited pots, pans, and stress.

I’ll admit, I tend to be skeptical of books that highlight the rapidity with which a given recipe can be made, not because I think all recipes need to take a long time, but because often these books include too many shortcuts that cut down on time, sure, but also on flavor, by using prepared foods. Joulwan’s paleo recipes, however, use only whole foods and are full of flavor and ingenuity.

The book is divided into sections that cover each major protein – beef, pork and lamb, chicken, eggs, and fish and seafood. Within each of these sections are both delicious stand-alone paleo recipes like beef Milanese with peach salsa, pork medallions with blackberry compote, and Mediterranean tuna cakes, but also guides for creating your own recipes with a common theme or guideline, like the velvet stir-fry recipes, the burger night variants, and more than enough egg salad ideas.

I particularly loved the recipes that stepped out of the ordinary, with lots of flavor thanks to spices and aromatics – not fat. The Moroccan steak salad with fig and pistachio dressing is definitely a new favorite; I ended up licking the pot for the hot dressing clean, with its fresh, slightly sweet-sour flavors. The chicken shawarma bowl – one of the “meat and potato” variants – combines a spiced chicken breast with a crisp, refreshing cabbage slaw and perfectly cooked potatoes, for an easy dish (provided you have a well-stocked spice cupboard) that adds color even to winter plates.

Joulwan includes lots of make-ahead tips and tricks as well as suggestions for how to make different paleo recipes in the book more to your taste. She also includes notes for making recipes Whole 30 and Autoimmune Protocol compliant. Her conversational tone and true love of food are what makes this book a real winner for anyone considering trying the paleo diet or even those who just want to eat cleaner.

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Pork medallions with blackberry compote image care of Greenleaf Book Group Press

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This zucchini flatbread recipe re-inspires your love for bread, only without the wheat.

I’m always looking for low-carb alternatives to foods that I tend to overindulge in. I have a hard time holding back from chips, cheesy sauces, and, of course, bread. As I eat, I like to use bread as a vessel for my salad, leftover sauce on my plate, and a palate cleanser in between bites. Unfortunately, the empty carbs and calories inherent in white flour aren’t doing my body and mind any favors. That’s where zucchini comes into play. The following flatbread recipe is a zucchini-based paleo alternative to traditional flatbread. It’s a low-carb wonder that you can dig into without holding back. Enjoy!

This flatbread is held together by tapioca flour and egg. Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava root. Tapioca flour has become a staple for gluten free baking – it lends to springy texture, promotes browning, and makes crispy crusts. For this flatbread recipe, it is essential in helping the bread to hold its own, so it doesn’t fall apart with each delicate touch. I add in an assortment of spices to boost the flavor profile of the resulting flatbread, but you can keep the mix as plain or as complex as possible. Play around with the spices and find what hits the spot for you.

Paleo Zucchini Flatbread Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds zucchini, shredded
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper with olive oil.

Grate the zucchini and place the shreds into the center of a clean kitchen towel. Wrap the towel around the zucchini and use hands to squeeze out as much of the zucchini’s natural liquids. It is important for the zucchini to be relatively dry so that it firms up nicely when baked.

Transfer the zucchini to a large bowl and fold in the remaining ingredients. Once evenly combined, place the zucchini mixture into the center of the parchment paper-lined baking sheet and use clean hands to spread the mixture, forming an even-layered flatbread.

Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the flatbread is lightly browned and cooked through.

Remove the flatbread from the oven and let cool before serving.

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Shredded Zucchini Image from Shutterstock

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There’s nothing more frustrating than a weight loss plateau. Learn how adopting the Paleo diet can help you shed those final pounds.

You did it. You stopped eating crap and started exercising more. You made a plan and stuck with it. And it paid off! You started losing weight. You made a giant leap towards your healthy weight goal. You felt better, looked better, and became even more motivated. And then you arrived…not at your target weight, but at the dreaded weight loss plateau.

Maybe it’s been a week, a month, or even several months. You’re still doing all the healthy things that helped you shed the weight so effortlessly in the beginning, but nothing changes. Hitting a weight loss plateau is extremely common, so if you’ve been beating yourself up about it, STOP.

Rather than feeling bad, the key to overcoming a weight loss plateau is to reevaluate your strategy, and committing to a few months on the Paleo diet could be just what you need to kickstart the journey to your healthiest weight.

3 Ways Eating Paleo Can Help You Overcome a Weight Loss Plateau

1. It cuts out empty “diet” foods  – Sure, you can eat carbs, sugar, dairy and all sorts of crap and still lose weight. You’ll have to count every calorie and spend long hours at gym, but you can do it. Or you could cut your body some slack by eliminating the things that just create fat, bloat, and zap your energy. “Research shows that a Paleo diet is more satiating per calorie than both a Mediterranean diet and a low-fat diet,” writes Chris Kresser. “That means it’s more filling for the same number of calories compared to other popular diet methods. This is crucial for weight loss, since it helps you eat less without fighting hunger or counting calories.”

2. It eliminates inflammatory foods – Food sensitivities and allergies, especially to stuff like gluten and dairy, are on the rise around the world. Some experts estimate that as much as 80 percent of the U.S. population might be sensitive to gluten, and you could be one of them without even knowing it. “Often when people stop eating the foods they’re sensitive to, they lose weight,” writes Neely from Paleo Plan. “It happens partly because your body will hold onto water weight (blasted water again!) when it’s trying to protect itself from something; the water acts as sort of a buffer. So when you take out the offensive food from your diet, the water goes with it. Food sensitivities can also mess with your hormones and your thyroid function, and we know that both of those systems have much to do with body weight.”

3. It encourages the right kind of exercise – Exercise is a tricky thing. When it comes to escaping a weight loss plateau, we assume that more is better, but that’s not necessarily so. Instead of more trips to the gym, be smarter about what you’re doing while you’re there. Just as the Paleo diet mimics the eating habits of ancient humans, so should our exercise mimic the lifestyle of an ancient human. (Hint, they were not hitting the elliptical machine). Paleo workouts include slow but deliberate movements, like walking and hiking, body weight exercises, like push-ups, pull-ups, squats and sit-ups, lifting heavy things, and occasional bursts of cardio activity (like running or cycling sprints) are ideal when eating Paleo.

Combined these actions can build muscle, teach your body to feed off your fat (instead of empty carbs) when it needs energy, and hopefully, pull you off that weight loss plateau.

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Image: PublicDomainPictures

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When it comes to the Paleo diet, let’s agree to leave the cavemen out of it.

Desperate for a sustainable solution to my weight and health frustrations, I tried the Paleo diet for the firs time last fall. After 30 days, I had lost 10 pounds, my skin cleared up, and I had more energy than ever. I was hooked. I started buying Paleo cookbooks, engaging with the online Paleo community, and clicking on just about any headline that mentioned the Paleo diet. After four months, I was 25 pounds lighter and loving it.

Following the Paleo diet has reignited my love of whole foods–organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed, pastured meats, raw nuts and seeds, and occasionally some spectacular dark chocolate. I’ve also learned so much about how the foods that dominate our food system, namely highly processed grains, dairy, and sweeteners, affect us in a negative way. And I cook all the freaking time now! You’ve got to when processed foods are out of the question. I love serving friends delicious food, and not admitting it’s Paleo until AFTER they’ve told me how much they enjoyed it.

But I also learned something else. I don’t like self-identifying as a Paleo eater. Why? Because people always get hung up on the name, and I find myself repeatedly explaining that the “Paleo” part shouldn’t be taken literally.

See, the Paleo diet has been around since the 1970s, popularized by gastroenterologist Walter L. Voegtlin and later Dr. Loren Cordain. I also learned that while early proponents suggested that Paleo eating is best because it “mimics the diets of our caveman ancestors” the nutritionists, fitness experts, and foodies that currently endorse it almost never push this aspect. And with good reason.

Suggesting that we can, with any decree of certainty, re-create the diets of our Paleolithic ancestors is ridiculous. And it’s the main reason why so many people feel comfortable saying the Paleo diet is stupid. Even though scientists say it’s nutritionally sound. That’s why, when talking about my own experience with Paleo, I leave the cavemen out of it.

My decision was recently validated by a widely-shared article written by Michael Pollan. The article listed all the things that, in Pollan’s opinion, are wrong with the Paleo diet. And just to be clear, Pollan and everyone else is entitled to their opinion. Because the Paleo diet is right for me doesn’t necessarily make it right for you. But the core argument was that cavemen most likely ate what they could find. Sometimes it was meat. Lots of the time it wasn’t. To me, the headline (and feisty comments) further proves that clinging to the “caveman” meme is hurting the basic message of the Paleo diet: eat real food. What Paleos really mean is “don’t eat something that wouldn’t have been recognized as food 200 years ago.” Which is almost identical to Pollan’s own ideology about food.

So let’s stop quibbling about what the cavemen ate. The Paleo diet includes lots of things that a caveman couldn’t possibly have had access to. But that’s not the point. The point is to eat real, whole foods, and eliminate the processed crap that’s only been considered food for the past 50 years. No matter what your anthropological perspective, that’s something we can all agree on.

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Image: Imamon

The post Why I Love The Paleo Diet But Loathe The Name appeared first on EcoSalon.

Are you a vegan? Vegetarian? What about Paleo? Find out where your diet measures up in the US News rankings.

In what’s a first for the publication, US News has designated a brand-new category for ranking plant-based diets – naming 10 that can help you shed pounds, feel great, and get healthy.

Naturally, plant-based isn’t 100% free of animal products – but it’s a great way to ease into a healthier lifestyle, break old eating habits, and just learn more about the food we feed ourselves everyday.

While you can jump over and read the full list here, those of the vegan world will be disappointed to see it ranked #7. From the article:

“The experts were lukewarm on veganism, despite giving it fairly high marks as a diabetes or heart disease diet. It’s more restrictive than other plant-based options, offers no built-in social support, and may skimp on important nutrients.”

The lack of built-in social support is an interesting critique – as there’s certainly a healthy social scene online built around veganism (the subreddit r/vegan comes to mind) – but yes, no Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers system. (Although I did stumble upon this vegan weight watchers blog for those interested…)

Caldwell Esselstyn’s Engine 2 Diet also scored poorly, though ahead of veganism at #6. From the site:

“Experts sent the Engine 2 Diet toward the bottom of the plant-based list. “The diet is too extreme,” one expert warned. “It’s difficult to maintain for any length of time.” Experts also questioned the plan’s elimination of vegetable oils, and said more research is necessary to determine whether that’s a beneficial move.”

Overall, the diet that scored the worst out of the myriad available is the Paleo.

“Experts took issue with the diet on every measure. Regardless of the goal—weight loss, heart health, or finding a diet that’s easy to follow—most experts concluded that it would be better for dieters to look elsewhere. “A true Paleo diet might be a great option: very lean, pure meats, lots of wild plants,” said one expert—quickly adding, however, that duplicating such a regimen in modern times would be difficult.”

What do you think of US News’ rankings? – Michael Destries

This article appears courtesy of Ecorazzi

Ecorazzi covers news and gossip on celebrities and notables in support of the environment and humanitarian causes. You can follow us on Twitterand Facebook.

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ColumnSkip the diet and go for the lifestyle change.

Resolution this, resolution that. As we come closer to 2014 everyone is abuzz with good intentions, and that’s all well and good, but here is one thing you should not do in 2014: diet.

Seriously, don’t do it.

We’re diet obsessed, but we don’t need diets, we need lifestyle changes.

Diets have always had a certain appeal – eat a certain thing for a certain amount of time and lose a certain amount of weight. But this isn’t sustainable in any way shape or form; the only way we stay healthy is if we create an eating lifestyle that we can maintain on an everyday basis. Not just for two or three weeks, but every single day.

In 2013 some of the most popular “diets” that were searched on Google were Paleo, the Master Cleanse Diet, the Juice Cleanse diet and the Mediterranean Diet (what I like to call the “real food that you know you should be eating” diet). You know what all of this diet Googling tells me? We are incapable of finding a food policy that works for us individually. Eating is an evolving process, finding out how your body responds to certain things, and adapting as you see fit. It’s about indulging once in awhile and other times not. All good things in moderation as they say.

We’re diet obsessed because we think if we find the “right” one we will magically drop those extra 10 pounds, miraculously be in good enough health to run a marathon and end up with super glowing and radiant skin that everyone around us will comment on. If only we find the right diet, then all will fall into place in our lives.

Reality check. There is no right diet. Some foods work for some people, and others don’t. Some people choose to avoid certain foods for ethical reasons, others for allergy reasons. At the end of the day, we can incorporate certain diet elements into our everyday eating regimen, but when it comes down to it, we don’t need to diet, we need to relearn what it means to eat well.

Instead of a diet to kick off 2014, here’s what you should do instead:

Celebrate the beauty of eating. Food – and the people that make it – is amazing.

Avoid fast food at all costs. No really, at all costs.

Eat in season. Hybridized, imported, picked-before-ripe watery tomatoes never did anyone any good.

Experiment. Play in the kitchen. Enjoy the process of figuring out what makes your body and mind feel good.

Stop drinking soft drinks. Seriously, what is this, the 1990s?

Eat less meat. Go vegan a few days a week. We all could do with a little less meat and dairy in our diets.

Slow down and take the time that real eating deserves. Eating isn’t a task to put on your to-do list.

Eating well is a process, and if you need a week long detox to hit the “reset” button once in awhile, that’s fine. But if we depend on one-off diets to guide our health, we’re missing out on the bigger picture. Here’s to celebrating a good journey of food discovery.

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This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Dan Zen

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10 diets that should make you want to run (for your life).

It’s okay to be a little freaked out by the prospect of stuffing your pale, corduroy-shielded backside into a bathing suit in just a few short weeks. It’s also okay to cut back on the pasta and do a few extra squats or lunges at the gym in preparation for the yearly “unveiling.” It’s even okay to learn a few new toning moves from women’s magazine articles with titles like, “6 Weeks to Your Best Bikini Body Ever!”

What’s not okay, however, is undertaking a faddish, questionable, and gimmicky diet in order to drop pounds as quickly as possible. If you want to lose weight, eat veggies and lean protein, avoiding processed foods, carbs, and alcohol. Skip these shams, along with any “doctor” who tells you that you can lose weight by eating cookies all day. (Hint: Not true.)

Any [Single-Ingredient] Diet

These have been around for decades, employed by high-school girls desperate to look skinny for prom. The cabbage soup diet. The grapefruit diet. The anchovy diet. Most of these schemes promise unlimited amounts of the magic ingredient (“You can have all the cabbage soup you want!”), as if consuming 900 percent of your daily allowance of beta-carotene makes up for not consuming any other vitamins or nutrients.

The Feeding-Tube Diet

For the busy woman who simply has no time to think about eating, a feeding-tube diet (technically called the K-E Diet, short for ketogenic enteral nutrition) may be the perfect solution. Pioneered in Europe, this ten-day regimen involves inserting a nasogastric tube to deliver liquefied nutrition, and promises that patients can lose up to ten percent of their body weight in only ten days. This diet is popular with self-obsessed brides-to-be and women who contemplate ingesting tapeworms.

Die Fat or Get Tough

Are you fat? If so, it’s your fault. As the book’s website says, “Get ready for a 2,000-volt cattle prod to your consciousness.” You think like a fat person, therefore, you’re probably going to die. Sorry. You’re not fat because of portion sizes, cortisol, or your thyroid – you’re fat because you’re weak and pathetic. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Get tough like Steve Siebold, the writer, so you can be an awesome winner like he is. (Note: The website doesn’t specify exactly what a fat person “thinks like,” but it’s safe to say that his diet plan probably involves yelling at your thighs until they disintegrate in submission.)

The Paleo Diet

Also called the “Caveman Diet,” because it’s modeled on how cavemen ate. (Supposedly.) No wheat, no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol, no beans, no corn, no dairy. Sounds reasonable, right? Except that you replace bread and milk with meat. Lots and lots of meat. Bacon, sausage, beef, ham, meat three times a day. Meat as snacks. Meat for dessert. Meat. Meat. Meat. Avoid this diet for the sake of your cholesterol and the environment.

The Cookie Diet

What’s not to love about a diet that allows you to eat cookies? The fact that these aren’t so much “cookies” as they are “low-cal bran clumps,” for one. Also the fact that this diet only allows you to consume about 1000 calories a day, which is far too few for any healthy adult.

The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

Can drinking pure apple cider vinegar with every meal help increase your metabolism, curb your appetite, and decrease bloating? Well, the jury’s still out on those claims, but apple cider vinegar definitely reduces your appetite. Drink a shot of it before meals and you will find that you’re not as hungry as you thought you were. In fact, you’re downright nauseated. Weight loss achieved! But the vinegar rotted your teeth away, so there’s that.

The Texas Firefighter Diet

Texas currently has the twelfth-highest obesity rate in the country, so the author of this book will pardon us if mentioning Texas firefighters doesn’t instantly conjure up images of svelte, manly fitness. The secret to this diet, created to curb obesity among firefighters, is eating fewer barbecued ribs and more vegetables. Shocking.

The Sleep Diet

Sleep – your doing it wrong. Lucky for you, author Michael Breus has the answer. If you sleep better, you’ll lose weight. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Sleep more.
Step 2: ??
Step 3: Your metabolism is raised, burning fat and decreasing cravings. Congrats! You’re skinny!

The Hot Diet

After carefully studying 104,000 people, the author of this book noticed that fat people tended to drink beverages with ice while they ate. Thus, ice is the enemy. Science has spoken – only consume warm things.

The Jesus Diet

What Would Jesus Eat? Well, He would probably have eaten a lot of fish, whole grains, fruit, vegetables, red wine, and olive oil. Nothing processed and not too much red meat (saved for special occasions) or pork (unkosher). Actually, this one makes a lot of sense, so go for it. Just remember that once you reach your goal weight, you’ll have to cover up at the beach, because He demands modesty.

Image: isox4, edkohler, uberculture, deansouglass, Kyle May , Rich 701, mccun934

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