NEED HELP SURVIVING! how to ease in paleo?

[ferisong]

I’ve been trying for over a year to switch to paleo diet with very little success. I read an article that for a few genetically unfortunate people, certain food addictions can have equivalent power and hold as heroin addictions. As luck would have it, I happen to be one of those people (fastfood everyday for the last 5 MONTHS.)

I’ve tried to change soo many times and I’ve always failed. Right now I’m on a record breaking day 6 and it’s not getting any easier.
I always hear of the “two week breakthrough” where everything apparently gets suddenly better and cravings go away, but I’ve never reached it before. I really don’t think I could maintain the paleo diet long term in 100%, so I wonder

A.does the paleo diet have to be cold turkey? Or could you slowly wean off bad foods in a scheduled manner? Or, is every big mac like hitting the reset button?
B. what’s the miminum paleo you can have to see a positive effect? I’m especially interested in clearing up the skin.


I think the only way I’ll survive is a very slow and easy introduction, and the loosest possible version , at least initially. Theres just no way ill be able to maintain a strict paleo diet.
What are the best options to get started ? 1 day week paleo, then , then 3, so on? A general, unorganized effort to just eat better? Maybe a pre determined 30 minute a day period where I can eat as I like?

Initially, I’m not concerned with the long term health effects, I just need to get over the addictions and cravings. The one immediate concern I have is clearer skin, so what’s the bare minimum I could do to see progress?

Put it to you this way- I first found up about the paleo diet in 2009, and this is the second time ive EVER gone 6 days…. Im eating taco bell everyday, sometimes twice a day.i have a bit of adderal im using to hold off cravings, and it works, but obviously I cant rely on it.

[andvanwyk]

are you trying to eat paleo or raw paleo? I also struggle with raw paleo... The taste is very difficult for me to get used too. Normal Paleo eating is not difficult...do you cook? Just start by always eating a paleo breakfast. Once you've done that for a while always eat a paleo lunch. You get my drift. You don.t have to be perfect from the start. Just be perfect for breakfast and allow yourself to eat whatever you want the rest of the time. This will make sure you don.t feel trapped but are moving in the right direction nevertheless. Be patient with yourself and you will get where you want to go.

[achillezzz]

you have weak mind

[miles]

"Credits will do fine."

[achillezzz]

"Credits will do fine."

No THEY WONTA HHHHH
Credits will do fine.
No THEY WONTA HHHHHNo THEY WONTA HHHHHvNo THEY WONTA HHHHHV]

uhasuhsasahusahushuasauhsahuasuhasuhashuahus

[kurite]

I was one of the addicted people to. Sometimes you gotta just suck it up. But what helped me was eating as much food as I possibly could, don't worry about weight gain, once the addiction subsides you'll be able to lose as much weight as you want. I tried easing into paleo and it didn't work. If your not eating till your as full as you can be then your not going to be able to fight your addiction.

[CHK91]

No THEY WONTA HHHHH
Credits will do fine.
No THEY WONTA HHHHHNo THEY WONTA HHHHHvNo THEY WONTA HHHHHV]

uhasuhsasahusahushuasauhsahuasuhasuhashuahus

DANG IT! I was gonna say that.

[Paleo Donk]

Hey there feri, I am struggling through addictions myself right now and I'm now in the process of recovering. I don't have a true addiction to compulsive overeating but I do struggle and use food as an outlet for my emotions.

For those who do not have addiction problems its very hard to have empathy for those who go through such wretched torment and the pervasive craving for whatever it is that they are addicted to. I will tell you right now that much of your recovery(if you are an addict) will lie completely outside of whatever food you are putting into your system. This is almost certainly true for all addicts. There are deeper underlying issues at hand that you have to deal with. The overeaters anonymous 12-step groups will give you a first hand glance of others with food addictions and can be useful in determining if in fact you are an addict.

Heres there site - http://www.oa.org/

My journal has all sorts of addiction related info. I thought raw paleo would cure me from my sick mind. It did not. Only a comprehensive program dealing with mental, physical, behavioral, spritual, etc.. issues has given me hope.

[sabertooth]

Taco bell really? I have heard rumors how they get such low grades of meat that if taco bell wouldn't buy it that it would go to a dog food plant.

I think that the sauces have chemical additives that produce addiction in regular users.
There is also the extremely high carb level in almost everything on their menu, as well as GMOs, and lord knows what else

My Friends brother is a taco bell addict who keeps packs of taco bell sauce at home and puts it on everything.

Cold turkey may be the only way to go if you are serious about breaking free from such additions.
I went cold Turkey raw paleo over a year ago. I was so sick from eating food that made me feel ill that once I began to eat raw paleo foods I lost all disire to eat any food I associated with my past health issues.

Just be mindful that skin issues are often an indicator of internal toxic overload and if you just try to focus on clearing up the skin you may ignore the greater issues, which will eventually cause more serious problems later in life.

I am not sure about a two week breakthrough but I had noticed a definite shift in well being by the third week of going cold turkey Raw paleo. You shouldn't place an absolute timeline on recovery, but you should try to hold out and resist the junk until you start feeling improvements, and then by the time you begin to feel well you should be able to gain the confidence to continue the diet free of your addiction.

[sabertooth]

http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/ingredient-statement/

At least you should know what you are eatting, fast food restaurants are sneaky about placing addictive substances in the food. MSG has been re-labled as yeast extract as well as Disodium Inosinate or Disodium Guanylate. Who knows what chemcals the word spices represents on the label.

If anything you can look for the foods with the least amount of chemical additives and try to ween yourself onto foods that are less drugged.

[Ioanna]

A.does the paleo diet have to be cold turkey? Or could you slowly wean off bad foods in a scheduled manner? Or, is every big mac like hitting the reset button?
B. what’s the miminum paleo you can have to see a positive effect? I’m especially interested in clearing up the skin.

A. depends on the person and depends what the other non-paleo foods are. big mac/taco bell?...  i don't think you'll see benefits.   

B. same as (A).  try raw paleo, determine for yourself what the benefits are.  if you add back any non-paleo foods, you'll find your own answer.



is there anyway you can adjust your lifestyle temporarily so that you are not tempted so much? i don't have cravings whatsoever, but if i were around my family i'd probably be going crazy!!.. everything is homemade (italian) so the kitchen always smells like tomato sauce, basil or garlic 

[CHK91]

1. I would stop cold turkey on the fast food. They put addictive substances in it to make you want more. I don't think you can get off of it, if you keep getting exposed to it.

2. Hypoglycemia increases addictive tendencies. Try eating a high fat diet with adequate protein. If you are satiated, you will crave less in general.

3. Or.... If you are desperate, you can use classical conditioning to your advantage. Whenever you take a bite of fast food, get a friend to hit your hand with a hammer so that your mind associates fast food with pain. XD. (KIDDING... XP)

[magnetic]

I was one of the addicted people to. Sometimes you gotta just suck it up. But what helped me was eating as much food as I possibly could, don't worry about weight gain, once the addiction subsides you'll be able to lose as much weight as you want. I tried easing into paleo and it didn't work. If your not eating till your as full as you can be then your not going to be able to fight your addiction.

This sounds about right to me. 

To the original poster, I don't know how much control you have over your environment (whether you live alone or with others), but you may want to consider purging/getting rid of your non-paleo foods.  I live with a carb addict and was one myself but I was able to avoid "relapse" into eating addictive high carb foods by stuffing myself full of cooked paleo foods at each meal. 

Try writing down your favorite meats and then go out and buy those.  If you can handle dairy, stock up on that also.  Make sure you have some sweet fruit and veggies that you like as well.  Go for comfort foods that do not contain the dreaded grains.  I think the key is to be prepared.

Here is how things went for me.  I started by giving up sugar and ONLY sugar 6 months before going cooked paleo.  So I was still eating mostly SAD for six months, with the exception of sugar.  People tried to pressure me into eating sugary foods but I stood my ground.  It was challenging, but it was simple as it only involved sugar.  During the time I gave up sugar and EVERYTHING containing sugar, I still ate lots of bread and pasta, that was my serious addiction.  I tried going paleo once over those 6 months and didn't last 48 hours.  Sometimes you just have to keep trying.  The second time I tried I was successful.  I prepared by buying a freezer and a grass fed lamb, then went to the farmers market and stocked up on the fruit and veggies.  On the third night of switching to cooked paleo I woke up in the middle of the night, my heart was pounding and I felt extremely weak and hungry.  I CRAWLED into the kitchen.  Luckily I had a few pieces of fruit handy and I was able to get my blood sugar up without breaking the diet, but if I had to eat a piece of bread it wouldn't have been the end of the world.  In the first few weeks I ate pickles (which contained "natural flavor" which is just MSG), I ate processed salami (more MSG and factory meat), I ate pork from a grain-fed pig... I know I ate some other grain-fed meat.  But I drew the line at grains and starchy vegetables like potatoes/yams.  NO WAY was I going to touch those!

The important thing is to keep trying and try to be prepared and not be caught off guard!  The world isn't very paleo friendly!

Ryan

[00nightstorm]

I have been eating like this for 16 months and I still find raw meat disgusting and crave things I can't eat.  A raw steak will never be as appealing as a piece of pizza despite what these lunatics in denial will tell you.  Sad but true.

[goodsamaritan]

I have been eating like this for 16 months and I still find raw meat disgusting and crave things I can't eat.  A raw steak will never be as appealing as a piece of pizza despite what these lunatics in denial will tell you.  Sad but true.

I love raw meat.  Pizza is disgusting.

You need better meat sources.

[TylerDurden]

Obviously he's doing something wrong, either by buying low-quality meats or not eating enough variety of raw meats. I also found my appetite/taste for raw meats disappearing once I went RZC. Whatever the case, the vast majority of RVAFers find they get used to and enjoy the the taste of raw meats by the 8th-12th month period, with some taking less time, and a few taking longer.

[00nightstorm]

I order mostly from Slankers.  I've eaten everything from brain to tongue, bison to lamb.  It does not taste good to me at all.  The next thing your going to tell me is that my taste buds are damaged from my previous diet.  I started out believing the hype but I have finally come to realize that I do not like the taste of any of it any better than the very first bite I ever took so I doubt anything is going to change at this point.  F#cking depressing!

[CHK91]

I order mostly from Slankers.  I've eaten everything from brain to tongue, bison to lamb.  It does not taste good to me at all.  The next thing your going to tell me is that my taste buds are damaged from my previous diet.  I started out believing the hype but I have finally come to realize that I do not like the taste of any of it any better than the very first bite I ever took so I doubt anything is going to change at this point.  F#cking depressing!

If this is such a big inconvenience, then quit. No one is telling you that you have to do anything.

[goodsamaritan]

I order mostly from Slankers.  I've eaten everything from brain to tongue, bison to lamb.  It does not taste good to me at all.  The next thing your going to tell me is that my taste buds are damaged from my previous diet.  I started out believing the hype but I have finally come to realize that I do not like the taste of any of it any better than the very first bite I ever took so I doubt anything is going to change at this point.  F#cking depressing!

Maybe you are a sea food guy.
Blue marlin, salmon, clams, oysters, shrimp, squid... just typing those makes me hungry.
How about horse?
Fly in to my city and taste what we got.
Maybe what Slankers has is not for you.

They should invent a way to send taste and smell over the internet.