My wife is keen about nutrition and I am a good husband - I listen to her and to be honest, I need to lose the weight. She’s put us on the Paleo Diet aka the Caveman Diet. This post is about how I am going about it.
What is the Paleo Diet?
This link explains it well: “The paleo diet is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago. Although it’s impossible to know exactly what human ancestors ate in different parts of the world, researchers believe their diets consisted of whole foods.
By following a whole food-based diet and leading physically active lives, hunter-gatherers presumably had much lower rates of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. In fact, several studies suggest that this diet can lead to significant weight loss (without calorie counting) and major improvements in health.”
This has happened to me - I have lost 5kgs in 2 weeks. I also have 2 of 3 aforementioned lifestyle diseases and a bad knee. So losing weight is the need of the hour, especially given the 'work from home' situation due to COVID-19 and the lack of physical activity thereof.
What are my thoughts on it?
A few personal reflections:
- The secret of a happy marriage is to listen to your wife especially if she's reading the books that you are not!
- The Paleo Diet seems healthier than the Keto Diet that I did for 6 months in 2018. I did lose 15kgs then but the high-fat bit always sounded dubious to me.
- I like the aspect of only eating fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits as a part of the Paleo diet. Also no processed foods. (Except in my case a bit too much of Coke Zero and coffee)
- You cannot do this diet if you don’t eat chicken and/or fish.
- I wish you could eat cheese and more nuts. (Anyway I don’t smoke, and I am an occasional drinker which I don’t miss at all when I don’t)
All in all, the Paleo Diet looks promising and I hope to continue to lose weight. I am sincerely hoping that means I am getting healthier.
What have I been eating?
Here are some of the things I have been eating:
Breakfasts are usually simple and consistently no frills
Breakfast is usually 3 boiled eggs (1 whole, 2 whites) and a fruit with a cup of coffee...
... and when I feel indulgent (and it is a weekend), I make eggs a bit more fancy as you can see below (recipe here)
Lunch is typically lean proteins and salad. I love playing around with the meat marinade, salad ingredient, and dressing as you can see below.
Pan-fried chicken flavoured with Chorizo slices with a side of red pepper, carrot and cucumber salad with light caesar dressing and a hint of Nando's Mango and Lime Sauce
Chicken marinated with mustard with a side of green salad and cherry tomatoes with a balsamic vinegarette dressing. The red sauce drizzled on the top is Encona Hot Sauce.
Pan-fried smoked haddock, with fried aubergine/eggplant (aka 'begun bhaja') with a green salad with a balsamic vinegarette dressing.
Lemon & herb marinated smoked haddock, pan-fried in butter with a side of bistro salad with walnuts & chilli cheddar drizzled with Sriracha sauce and Caesar dressing.
Tandoori chicken with a side of pressure baked veggies (carrots, cauliflower and beans)
Rainbow chicken fajita with red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers garnished with red onions juliennes and chive cheddar cheese flakes, and served with a wedge of lime.
Dinners are usually the same as lunch but with a side of pressure baked veggies (cauliflower, carrots and beans). At times, I have 'cheat meals' that I cook not just for myself but for others in the family who are not on Paleo Diet.
Pan-fried chicken with a side of Mediterranean char grilled veggies & walnuts with a drizzle of Sriracha sauce.
Ultra spicy dan dan prawns
Zucchini pasta with meatballs in marinara sauce
Pan roasted aubergine with tomato chilli sauces, cheddar cheese and spicy chicken sausages
Breaded chicken steak topped with burger sauce with a green salad and orange juice as a dressing.
I also make these chicken kebabs on a weekly basis (recipe here)
Sometimes I add onion paste to the marinade of the chicken kebabs so that it becomes very much like "Chicken Chaap" or "Chicken Kosha" that you get in Kolkata.
Snacks are usually loads of bananas and a few nuts - walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts, peanuts - but not more than 10-12 pieces a day.
Condiments: The biggest find of Paleo has been hot sauces. I have been able to build quite a global collection as you can see below:
What a hot 🌶 all star global lineup
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🇿🇦 Nando’s Range - extra hot, hot, lime and mango, lemon and herb
🇮🇳 Maggi Masala Chilli Sauce
🇯🇲 Encona Hot and Extra Hot
🇨🇳 Lee Klum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli oil
🇨🇳 The ‘imposter’ chilli oil
🇲🇽 Cholula - regular and chipotle
🇹🇭 Sriracha