Live Fit and Sore

Tiny steps can be just as valuable as a giant leap

The list below of Paleo encouraged and discouraged foods was found here – Please read it and follow it with a grain of salt. It really depends on who you read and how they interpret Paleo eating on whether to get rid of ALL of the foods listed on the discouraged list. I am certainly modifying it a bit overall with the goal that any food I do eat is natural, whole unprocessed — I am not eating crap food. I am having my pre-workout 8oz glass of milk with protein powder, and cream and sweetener in my coffee. Modify to see what works for you — Try it solidly for 2 weeks to 30 days minimum to see how your body responds. Can’t just right into it? Try eliminating one element — drink too much soda? Try cutting it out for 2 – 4 weeks. Or try cutting out wheat/gluten for 2-4 weeks. Tiny steps can be just as valuable as a giant leap.

Below is a list of foods that are encouraged or discouraged in the Paleo diet.  This list was obtained from the book Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (Wiley and Sons, New York 2002 pages 104-112).

Encouraged Foods

Lean Meats

  • Lean beef (trimmed of visible fat)
  • Flank steak
  • Top sirloin steak
  • Extra-lean hamburger (no more than 7% fat, extra fat drained off)
  • London broil
  • Chuck steak
  • Lean veal
  • Any other lean cut
  • Lean pork (trimmed of visible fat)
  • Pork loin
  • Pork chops
  • Any other lean cut

Lean poultry (white meat, skin removed)

  • Chicken breast
  • Turkey breast
  • Game hen breasts

Eggs (limit to six a week)

  • Chicken (go for the enriched omega 3 variety)
  • Duck
  • Goose

Other meats

  • Rabbit meat (any cut)
  • Goat meat (any cut)

Organ meats

  • Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken livers
  • Beef, pork, and lamb tongues
  • Beef, lamb, and pork marrow
  • Beef, lamb, and pork “sweetbreads”

Game meat

  • Alligator
  • Bear
  • Bison (buffalo)
  • Caribou
  • Elk
  • Emu
  • Goose
  • Kangaroo
  • Muscovy duck
  • New Zealand cervena deer
  • Ostrich
  • Pheasant
  • Quail
  • Rattlesnake
  • Reindeer
  • Squab
  • Turtle
  • Venison
  • Wild boar
  • Wild turkey

Fish

  • Bass
  • Bluefish
  • Cod
  • Drum
  • Eel
  • Flatfish
  • Grouper
  • Haddock
  • Halibut
  • Herring
  • Mackerel
  • Monkfish
  • Mullet
  • Northern pike
  • Orange roughy
  • Perch
  • Red snapper
  • Rockfish
  • Salmon
  • Scrod
  • Shark
  • Striped bass
  • Sunfish
  • Tilapia
  • Trout
  • Tuna
  • Turbot
  • Walleye
  • Any other commercially available fish

Shellfish

  • Abalone
  • Clams
  • Crab
  • Crayfish
  • Lobster
  • Mussels
  • Oysters
  • Scallops
  • Shrimp

Fruit

  • Apple
  • Apricot
  • Avocado
  • Banana
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Boysenberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Carambola
  • Cassava melon
  • Cherimoya
  • Cherries
  • Cranberries
  • Figs
  • Gooseberries
  • Grapefruit
  • Grapes
  • Guava
  • Honeydew melon
  • Kiwi
  • Lemon
  • Lime
  • Lychee
  • Mango
  • Nectarine
  • Orange
  • Papaya
  • Passion fruit
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Persimmon
  • Pineapple
  • Plums
  • Pomegranate
  • Raspberries
  • Rhubarb
  • Star fruit
  • Strawberries
  • Tangerine
  • Watermelon
  • All other fruits

Vegetables

  • Artichoke
  • Asparagus
  • Beet greens
  • Beets
  • Bell peppers
  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Collards
  • Cucumber
  • Dandelion
  • Eggplant
  • Endive
  • Green onions
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Lettuce
  • Mushrooms
  • Mustard greens
  • Onions
  • Parsley
  • Parsnip
  • Peppers (all kinds)
  • Pumpkin
  • Purslane
  • Radish
  • Rutabaga
  • Seaweed
  • Spinach
  • Squash (all kinds)
  • Swiss chard
  • Tomatillos
  • Tomato (actually a fruit, but most people think of it as a vegetable)
  • Turnip greens
  • Turnips
  • Watercress
 Encouraged Foods

Nuts and Seeds

  • Almonds
  • Brazil nuts
  • Cashews
  • Chestnuts
  • Hazelnuts (filberts)
  • Macadamia nuts
  • Pecans
  • Pine nuts
  • Pistachios (unsalted)
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Sesame seeds
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Walnuts

Foods To Be Eaten In Moderation

Oils

  • Olive, avocado, walnut, flaxseed, and canola oils (use in moderation—4 tablespoons or less a day when weight loss is of primary importance)

Beverages

  • Diet sodas (These often contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine, which may be harmful; you’re better off drinking bottled and mineral waters.)
  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Wine (two 4-ounce glasses; Note: Don’t buy “cooking wine,” which is loaded with salt.)
  • Beer (one 12-ounce serving)
  • Spirits (4 ounces)

Paleo Sweets

  • Dried fruits (no more than 2 ounces a day, particularly if you are trying to lose weight)
  • Nuts mixed with dried and fresh fruits (no more than 4 ounces of nuts and 2 ounces of dried fruit a day, particularly if you are trying to lose weight)

Foods You Should Avoid

Dairy Foods

  • All processed foods made with any dairy products
  • Butter
  • Cheese
  • Cream
  • Dairy spreads
  • Frozen yogurt
  • Ice cream
  • Ice milk
  • Low-fat milk
  • Nonfat dairy creamer
  • Powdered milk
  • Skim milk
  • Whole milk
  • Yogurt

Cereal Grains

  • Barley (barley soup, barley bread, and all processed foods made with barley)
  • Corn (corn on the cob, corn tortillas, corn chips, corn starch, corn syrup)
  • Millet
  • Oats (steel-cut oats, rolled oats, and all processed foods made with oats)
  • Rice (brown rice, white rice, top ramen, rice noodles, bas mati rice, rice cakes, Rice flour (all processed foods made with rice)
  • Rye (rye bread, rye crackers, and all processed foods made with rye)
  • Sorghum
  • Wheat (bread, rolls, muffins, noodles, crackers, cookies, cake, doughnuts, pancakes, waffles, pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, wheat tortillas, pizza, pita bread, flat bread, and all processed foods made with wheat or wheat flour)
  • Wild rice

Cereal Grainlike Seeds

  • Amaranth
  • Buckwheat
  • Quinoa

Legumes

  • All beans (adzuki beans, black beans, broad beans, fava beans, field beans, garbanzo beans, horse beans, kidney beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red beans, string beans, white beans)
  • Black-eyed peas
  • Chickpeas
  • Lentils
  • Peas
  • Miso
  • Peanut butter
  • Peanuts
  • Snowpeas
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Soybeans and all soybean products, including tofu

Starchy Vegetables

  • Starchy tubers
  • Cassava root
  • Manioc
  • Potatoes and all potato products (French fries, potato chips, etc.)
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Tapioca pudding
  • Yams

Salt-Containing Foods

  • Almost all commercial salad dressings and condiments
  • Bacon
  • Cheese
  • Deli meats
  • Frankfurters
  • Ham
  • Hot dogs
  • Ketchup
  • Olives
  • Pickled foods
  • Pork rinds
  • Processed meats
  • Salami
  • Salted nuts
  • Salted spices
  • Sausages
  • Smoked, dried, and salted fish and meat
  • Virtually all canned meats and fish (unless they are unsalted or unless you soak and drain them)

Fatty Meats

  • Bacon
  • Beef ribs
  • Chicken and turkey legs
  • Chicken and turkey skin
  • Chicken and turkey thighs and wings•
  • Fatty beef roasts
  • Fatty cuts of beef
  • Fatty ground beef
  • Fatty pork chops
  • Fatty pork roasts
  • Lamb chops
  • Lamb roasts
  • Leg of lamb
  • Pork ribs
  • Pork sausage
  • T—bone steaks

Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices

  • All sugary soft drinks
  • Canned, bottled, and freshly squeezed fruit drinks (which lack the fiber of fresh fruit and have a much higher glvcemic index)

Sweets

  • Candy
  • Honey
  • Sugars

Stephanie Hoaglund

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4 responses to “Tiny steps can be just as valuable as a giant leap”

  1. Thanks for compiling such a comprehensive list for implementing Paleo. This has been my week to eradicate glutens as much as possible & this guide definitely helps fill in the gaps.