Formulating Contemporary Paleo Diet Meals Plans

Now that you have more or less a clearer understanding of the Paleo Diet, you have to feel highly motivated to be able to adapt it to your ...

Now that you have more or less a clearer understanding of the Paleo Diet, you have to feel highly motivated to be able to adapt it to your lifestyle. And like any other nutritional program, you have to have a plan to put it into action. You can’t just dive in and play it by ear as it will only lead to failure and dismay. Planning your switch to the paleo diet meals plans will guarantee your success as well as allow you to monitor your progress.

There is no “one size fits all” Paleo diet plan. Every plan is uniquely tailored to fit the needs and requirements of individuals. Start with a 28-day plan to eat only Paleo food. Below are some guidelines you can follow in formulating your planned transition to the Paleo lifestyle.

1. Step 1 – Decide on your starting date. Make up your mind when you want the changeover to commence and be firm about it. Don’t take too long as you may get sidetracked by other things that will make you lose interest on it. Remember, it is your health and longetivity at stake here.
2. Step 2 – Encourage family members to join in changing over to the Paleo diet so that you so won’t be all by your lonesome self. Besides, with other members of the family in the same diet, you’d be able to motivate and help each other out. It would be a fun and fulfilling adventure the end results of which is something everyone will cherish for the rest of their lives.
3. Step 3 – Make a record of everything before you get started on the program. Take measurements of yourself specifically your height and weight. See your doctor and have blood chemistry done on you to include your blood sugars, CRP, blood pressure, TG, HDL, LDL particle size, etc. All these will help you know the kind of progress you are making with the diet. And oh, don’t forget to take a picture of yourself with as little clothes on as possible. This will come in handy when comparing the you then and now. Jot down any and all health issues you may have before you start on the diet. Include bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, acid reflux, gas, etc. This should complete the picture of what you are prior to changing over to the Paleo lifestyle.
4. Step 4 – Rid your kitchen of all non-Paleo foodstuff. Throw them away or better still, give them out to your neighbors. Whatever you decide to do with them, make sure they are out of your sight and in a place where you can’t be tempted to reach for them.
5. Step 5 – Go shopping. Get your Paleo food list out and start stocking up on them. Visit your friendly neighborhood grocery store or supermarket and if you can’t find some Paleo foodstuff there visit the farmers market. Note down what you can’t get from your nearest neighborhood food outlets and order them from online sources. The important thing is to have everything Paleo in your kitchen so that you won’t be tempted to use substitutes.
6. Step 6 – Start collecting Paleo Recipes and make a weekly meal plan to last the next 28 day challenge. This way, you won’t be at a loss on what to cook next.
7. Step 7 – Don’t take any body weight measurements until after the 28 day period. But carefully note down any physical or emotional changes you may feel in the course of the challenge. This way you won’t get disappointed if the changes are slow in coming. Don’t worry, the changes will happen.
8. Step 8 – No matter what happens or whatever it is you feel stick to your plan until the last day of the 28 day challenge.

At the end of the 28-day challenge, carefully evaluate the progress you’ve made if any. It is the time to find out if the Paleo diet made you healthier, feel better, lose weight, or if it worsened your condition instead.

Evaluate by:

• Taking another picture of yourself wearing the same clothes when you took the first picture. You can now visually compare if there are differences between then and now.
• Take your body measurements once more and compare your weight and your waist line then and now.
• Get another blood chemistry work done and ask your doctor’s help to interpret and compare the results then and now.

There can only be one reason why the challenge will not bring the expected results. It must be because you are not serious enough to strictly pursue the challenge to its completion and somewhere along the line, you’ve indulged in some exceptions or broke the diet at times.

If you don’t notice any improvements for now, perhaps your body needs more time to adapt to the new diet so stick to the diet a little longer until there are manifest results. If you’ve achieved great progress, then it is up to you to decide whether you should stick to the Paleo diet for good.

Below is a sample weekly Paleo meal plan. You shouldn’t have any difficulty in putting together a weekly Paleo meal plan. Start by collecting as many Paleo recipes as you can and chose those that you fancy most. Incorporate them into a weekly meal plan making sure there is variety so you won’t get bored eating the same stuff over and over again. There are tons of free online sources for paleo treats recipes.