Podcast Episode #70: Practical Paleo Meal Plans, Exercise & Diet for Kids

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Episode #70: Practical Paleo Meal Plans, Exercise & Diet for Kids

Topics:

1. Can you mix and match the 30 day meals plans in Practical Paleo? [8:00] 2. Clarifying super foods and goitrogenic foods recommendations. [15:50] 3. Help modifying recipes in Practical Paleo for an egg intolerance. [20:50] 4. Can I substitute proteins in the meal plans? [25:27] 5. Is it ok to exercise when following a Practical Paleo meal plan? [29:55] 6. Help with Practical Paleo meal plan selection. [34:38] 7. How to use Practical Paleo meal plans for the whole family [38:52]

LINKS:

PCOS Unlocked by Stefani Ruper.

The Healthy Baby Code by Chris Kresser.

Paleo Parents' AI friendly recipes.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil or Fermented Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil Blend from Green Pasture

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LIZ WOLFE: Hey everyone, I'm Liz Wolfe, nutritional therapy practitioner and I'm here in the same room with Diane Sanfilippo, who is a certified holistic nutrition consultant and the woman behind Balanced Bites and the new book, Practical Paleo. Remember our disclaimer: the materials and content of this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Welcome to episode…

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: 70?

LIZ WOLFE: 70? Of the Balanced Bites podcast. We, as I said, are in the same room together. It may…because we cannot mute one another, it may be impossible to [laughs] skip over all of the ridiculousness and, you know, the laughs and bodily functions and whatnot that go on…

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: [laughs]

LIZ WOLFE: When we podcast. We're a little bit late today. It is Thursday, January 17th, and there is a ton going on. We decided to wait to record until we were together in Los Angeles, which is where we are now, getting ready to do a whole weekend of workshops. Should be fun. What else do we need to talk about, D-Sizzle?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Well, if people are listening to this Thursday or Friday, if they catch it, they can catch us on Saturday here in LA at Dog Town CrossFit and Sunday at CrossFit Elysium, I think that's how you pronounce it, in San Diego. And what else? We have upcoming February second, Oceanside, New York, so on Long Island. So all those folks who have been asking us to come to New York, that's really going to be it. We’re not going to be, you know, in Manhattan or anywhere else, so if you're in the New York area, the greater, you know, northern New Jersey, New York, Connecticut area, just come check it out at Oceanside. We're working on something for donating to Sandy relief with the proceeds, part of the proceeds from that event, so we'll get more information out on that in the next week or so, when we're kind of back in town. But yeah, come check us out there. Information is on www.blog.balancedbites.com for events.

LIZ WOLFE: It'll be a fun one. And yeah, just come right up 95. If you're going to get on the 405 and then get on…what are you doing here? Does anyone know what I'm talking about there? Diane has no idea what I'm talking about. If you watch Saturday Night Live, you totally know what I'm talking about.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I'm sure some people know what you're talking about.

LIZ WOLFE: The Californians.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Whenever you make pop culture references, I'm like the total nerd who like has to force myself to watch certain television shows so that I'm relevant socially.

LIZ WOLFE: Oh, you just need the whole world to go back 15 years.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: [laughs]

LIZ WOLFE: So we get all your references. So wait, what do you think about LA so far? Diane?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: So…well, LA, I like LA. I mean..
[cut to Clueless] “Everywhere in LA takes 20 minutes”

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: [laughs] I don't know if it can get better than that.

LIZ WOLFE: Everywhere in LA takes 20 minutes.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: One of the best movies of all time, perhaps Clueless, and you know, now that we've had a handful of reviews on iTunes where people don't like us chatting in the beginning, it almost, you know, as I've said before, it just makes me want to do it more. We're not going to talk about that much today, but you know, this is kind of an informal podcast. We don't have producers. We don't have intro music. We've been talking about getting some for awhile. This is like, look, we're sitting down to answer questions. If you enjoy the banter, cool. If you don't, there's a fast forward button. We have time stamps. You can just move right along. No big deal. Anyway…

LIZ WOLFE: NBD.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: No big deal. So yeah, that's pretty much it. I love it. We kind of flew backwards in time to summer today, so we're kind of excited.

LIZ WOLFE: Diane met her best friend at the Whole Foods…at the Whole Foods checkout line, who was totally into her description of how we traveled, not only back in time from the East Coast today. We traveled back in time and back to summer.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Woo hoo!

LIZ WOLFE: Because it is warm and it is crunchy and snowy in New Jersey, and the cashier was super into your description there. He was…she blew his mind, let me tell you right there.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: And he returned the favor by introducing us to this amazing local kombucha.

LIZ WOLFE: kombucha.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: What's the brand?

LIZ WOLFE: Oh no.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Like Ann-Anna's? Or Ann's?

LIZ WOLFE: Ann's?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Or something?

LIZ WOLFE: Yeah.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Delicious. So we were in Whole Foods in Encinitas and got this kombucha on tap, so check that out if you live in that area. It was very cool. What else?

LIZ WOLFE: Tonight we have dinner with another blogger, Ann Marie of Cheeseslave. Should be fun. We're meeting her for the first time. She's a local out here, I believe, and we're going to be enjoying some chow at Waterloo and City. So that should be fun. That will be interesting to meet her and get her perspective on a few things. So we're excited about that, and I think that's about it.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yup. So it might be a little bit of a shorter podcast since we're saving up some minutes for our 20 minute drive to wherever we're headed here in LA. [laughs]

LIZ WOLFE: [laughs] Well, we'll try to make it a good one. Better than it has started out, anyway. All right, so we'll start with question number one.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Well, I just want to preface, hold on.

LIZ WOLFE: Oh yeah. Go for it.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I get…this is Diane, for people who are confused by our voices. I get a ton of questions through the contact form on my website, through Facebook, all kinds of avenues about Practical Paleo, about my book, about some of the content in the book. Specifically a lot of questions about the meal plans and you know, I tried to lay out information on portion sizes and how to use the meal plans, which ones would be right for you, and some of the descriptions before the plans, but either it's still not completely clear or folks are skipping over some of those pages, so I want to just clarify whatever is confusing for the handful of questions we have here, and you know, I've been working on a blog post to help clear up some of this stuff, too, but it's actually really tough to kind of answer every question in written format because I feel like I can think of a million questions that somebody might have, but we're going to try and answer a bunch of them today. Hopefully, if you've been using the book, if you have some questions, this will cover a lot of those for you, and if you have more, maybe comment on the blog post for this podcast, and we'll, well, I'll get back to you with any other information.

LIZ WOLFE: Bueno.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Okay.

LIZ WOLFE: First question. “Can you mix and match the 30 day meal plans in Practical Paleo?”
“My name is Kira and I recently bought Practical Paleo and think it is absolutely wonderful. I had a question and hoped you could help.
I have PCOS and have recently switched over to Paleo to lose weight and get more energy. I love your 30 day meal plan and trying to see if it is kind of mix and match. Because I notice days at the end of the month have a lot more carbs than the beginning. As in two starch vegetables a day and many in the beginning without. Maybe that was not intentional, I am not sure.
I am noticing for fruit options in the blood sugar regulation 30 day plan that you only have lemon/lime juice or berries. Are they my only options? Should I not be really including fruit at all?
Either way, am I aiming for about 30 grams of carbs a day? Is that a long-term lifestyle option?
I am sorry for reaching out. I am just so confused. I have been for a couple of weeks and a little loose with my fats and fruits and not dropping any weight. I never feel great on too low carb but maybe I need to push through it longer. Just wondered if you could shed a little light. Thanks so much.”

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: So she's got a couple of questions in here. I'm going to try and break them down, kind of one by one. So the first one, she's just wondering, you know, if she can mix and match the meal plans. You absolutely can, and I think part of it is, if you're totally new to Paleo, a lot of people come into the book and they notice that there are different meal plans that address their specific needs, but Paleo is completely new to them in the first place, and so if it's new to you in the first place, you really don't need to look at hammering a specific meal plan in terms of all the specific foods right away because it can be overwhelming and almost like more limiting than it needs to be. I think you'll see a lot of benefits just with going on sort of a Squeaky Clean Paleo approach. Now what you can do is take that Squeaky Clean meal plan and maybe just kind of keep an eye towards some of the supplement recommendations maybe. Certain foods that might be more beneficial to leave out or add in for your specific condition, but overall, if it's new to you, I don't want people going too far into limiting things because it can just become a little bit paralyzing.
Now that said, if you've been eating Paleo for awhile, that's the point at which a little bit more customization can be helpful. So she's asking here, you know, she noticed that some of the carbs come in more later than at the beginning of the month. Part of that's because I want people to really shift away from really high carb diets, and then move more towards getting some of that stuff back in a little bit later on as they move through the adaptation, getting used to burning fat for fuel. But some of it, you know, some of it's not really that specific in the sense that I know some people are going to go through the 30 day plan and they might take a certain week out or two weeks out and do it. It doesn't have to be that specific. If you are active, and you're looking at where you're going to get carbs in after a workout or making sure that you're refueling properly, that's where you need to pay attention to your own body and your fueling needs. I don't have a plan for every single different type of athlete, and you know, what time of day they're going to be working out, etc.
So she's noticing in the blood sugar regulation plan, there's only lemon or lime juice and berries, are those the only options? Should I not be including fruit at all? So she might be asking that specifically for PCOS, I do recommend that people stick to the blood sugar regulation plan because women who are dealing with PCOS, we know that largely insulin control is one…sort of the driving factors behind the hormonal imbalances that can take place with PCOS. There are obviously lots of different reasons and different nuances that are contributing to the condition, but that's kind of the first and the most overarching in terms of dietary concern, and so yeah, that is really intentional. I'm trying to get out some of the more dense carbohydrates. You know, I like berries for people who are dealing with blood sugar issues, where it's not…it's not like this huge issue that they can't have some carbs, but they're very anti-oxidant rich and not super dense in the carbohydrates. So I think that those are helpful. Should I not really be including fruit at all? I don't know. If your glucose tolerance…if your blood sugar regulation, the way you tolerate sugar isn't great, I would keep the carbohydrates really low, and so maybe no fruit is a good idea for you. Aiming for 30 a day…if you're getting 30 grams of carbs a day, there's no room for fruit there, so if you're tracking it, and you're using something like FitDay or some kind of online system, you'll notice that if you're trying to eat 30 grams or fewer per day, you can't eat berries. You'll get like 5 blueberries in there and then you're over your limit. So just kind of be aware of that.
And is that a long term lifestyle option? I don't personally think that you need to be on any kind of super low carb plan. I would call 30 grams a day as a very low carb approach. It's, you know, attempting a ketogenic diet. I think you can do that long term if it feels good for you. If you've got a condition that is managed well with it, I don't think it's unhealthy, but depending on your activity level, if that's working for you. You know, if your adrenals aren't feeling overly taxed and you can do the lower carb approach, I think it's fine. I think it might be okay to do that as a cyclic thing, so maybe even you do a few weeks on it, a few weeks off, or maybe that's even 3 to 5 days on, 2 days off, something like that where you're kind of cycling in and out of that more restricted carbohydrate plan. So I know it can be confusing. Hopefully that answered a bunch of your questions and also knowing that it really isn't a prescription, it's a recommendation and guidance. The meal plans are not intended to be like this is the only way. They're really meant to be a framework and a place to start from, and more details for people who want extra, you know, tell me exactly what to eat. But you absolutely don't have to follow them to the letter if you find something that works for you within it. So these are my recommendations, and that's really all it is. It's what I would recommend if you were my client. And that doesn't mean that would stay that way for forever. There would be some changes. We'd check in in two to three weeks or a month, and see how are you doing, and make some changes from there. So that's kind of the overall…overall take on that.

LIZ WOLFE: There's always room for movement and tweaking and customization. You just have to really pay attention to what's going on in your own body and how things are working for you, and you know, really be willing to be perceptive of that during the process and not think, okay, well, I'm just going to follow somebody else's set of rules, and it's supposed to work, so you know, if it doesn't, you feel like maybe there’s something wrong with you. No, that's not the case at all. Every single person needs to be listening to their own intuition and learning more about their own bodies and what works for them using these things as a guideline and a framework. It's what they're there for, but also doing the work to get to know yourself better, as it sounds like Kira is trying to do. And anyone who wants to go a little bit deeper on the PCOS stuff should definitely check out Stefani Ruper's PCOS Unlocked guide. I believe you can probably find it on the www.blog.balancedbites.com page. You can find it on the www.cavegirleats.com page in the sidebar. It's really good stuff.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, the other thing, too, is she was asking, do I need to push through a little bit longer? Sometimes with low carb, you kind of do, but I think there's definitely a breaking point at which, you know, this is going to feel different and then there's a point at which where you're banging your head against the wall. You know, where it's like, you have to listen to your body. I know when I make the transition, the first couple of weeks can be a little weird. After that, it feels really great, so do what you think is right for you. If you know that controlling the sugar is what you need to do, you know, stick with it for awhile, but it doesn't mean a year. If you start, you know, feeling really bad after 6 weeks or 2 months, maybe adjust something. And the other point I just wanted to share with her is that I think I've got on the resources for Practical Paleo, on the page somewhere in the website, I can't kind of pick through it right now, but I’m just thinking, I'm pretty sure I have some kind of tracking guide. Like a one page PDF you can print out, so like what Liz was saying, pay attention to your body. Keep some notes, and maybe print that out and maybe use that to kind of keep notes, what you ate and how you felt and kind of look back at it over the weeks.

LIZ WOLFE: And you're going to doing a talk on low carb eating, who it's appropriate for, who it's not appropriate for and when on the Low Carb Cruise coming up. Is that right, Diane?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Indeed.

LIZ WOLFE: Indeed.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I'll talk more about that as it gets closer.

LIZ WOLFE: Cool. All right. Question number 2. “Clarifying super foods and goitrogenic foods recommendations” Lyn says: “Page 160 of the book gives conflicting information on fermentation of cabbage. i.e. Add super foods and avoid goitrogenic foods (fermented cabbage? Am I reading it incorrectly? Thanks for your help. I’m looking forward to better health. ” So I think she's basically asking how can fermented cabbage viewed as a goitrogenic food given that when you ferment cabbage, the concentration of goitrogens, I guess, they become more bio-available, and the idea that fermented cabbage, as in sauerkraut, which is a probiotic food, can be a super food despite that fact. What are your thoughts?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, so it's a good question, and what I actually recommend also within the recipes is that if you are looking to avoid goitrogens to go ahead and eat that as fermented carrots, if you want to. The thing with goitrogenic vegetables is it really depends on your iodine levels. If you are working with a practitioner, if you are getting supplemental iodine. If your levels are good, it's not really something to be overly concerned about in terms of the goitrogenic properties in the fermented sauerkraut. I want people to be eating it if it's not an issue for them, even if you do have concerns with hypothyroidism, for example. It may mean just not eating every single day. It may mean a couple of times a week. The balance here is that a lot of times hypothyroid people are dealing with constipation or dealing with issues going to the bathroom and we want to make sure they're getting good probiotics in, so just looking for a balance there and understanding that, you know, when I say I recommend it, it doesn't mean you're eating a cup of it every single day. It may mean a little bit here and there, and it also may mean, if you're dealing with, you know, what's called like a flare up, when it comes to autoimmunity, it's like are you in kind of storm of your symptoms are building up or you've maybe just been diagnosed, and you're feeling like really sluggish and tired. Your weight is really not budging, you know, with hypothyroidism. Or you just kind of, in a situation where you're managing it, you know, potentially kind of in remission with your symptoms. Maybe you're on thyroid medication and you're feeling good, and you're getting all your supplements, the food source of those goitrogens isn't going to kind of take you down, if you're in that situation. So you really have to know where you are with your condition and kind of balance it that way. So I definitely get where that can feel like a really conflicting point, but just knowing that it's not an all or nothing thing with goitrogenic vegetables or even the fermented ones, it's just understanding that I don't want people eating plates and plates and piles of broccoli and cabbage and cauliflower, and at the same time I don't want people eating, you know, cups and cups of fermented cabbage. It's just something to be aware of. And I do know some people who, you know, some of my really good friends who love sauerkraut who have hypothyroidism and you know, had been eating a lot of it every day, and it's like, okay, that's what I'm talking about. Just peel it back to a small portion, a quarter of a cup a couple of times a week. So that's where that kind of balances out.

LIZ WOLFE: I think there's something to said for looking at superfoods as really unique and special foods that also help to augment and balance the effects of one another, so sardines, for example, as one of our favorite superfoods. Seafood in general containing iodine, right? Which, you know, if you're eating good superfoods that we recommend like the seafood, you're probably also getting a decent amount of iodine, which at times, folks that tend to avoid seafood tend to avoid the iodine containing food, seaweed, stuff like that, could end up going a little bit thin on the iodine just in their daily diets. We really like sea veggies. What are our other superfoods?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Well, I was just going to say on the point of the iodine, there are some folks who make their sauerkraut with kelp added in…

LIZ WOLFE: Yes.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: And that can kind of help to balance it out a little bit. Kelp, as a sea vegetable, being pretty rich in iodine. So there may just be some more, you know, digging around to do on that for somebody specifically looking to get that balance in.

LIZ WOLFE: There's a really fabulous company. What is it called? It's www.fabulousferments.com or www.fabferments.com. They do actually make a sauerkraut from, you know, organic, local, locally sourced cabbage. I think they're in Ohio, but I can't remember. And it has sea vegetables in it, and it's one of the best I've ever…I've ever tasted. So if you're not quite ready to make your own, give that a whirl. Great company.
All right. Next up. “Help modifying recipes in Practical Paleo for an egg intolerance.” Rebekka says: “I have an egg intolerance. Is it possible to reverse this intolerance? And how? Also, I am pregnant and how do I know I’m getting enough variety of nutrients in the mornings? I guess I have the second question because most of the breakfast recipes in the Practical Paleo book are egg based.” What do you think?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: So if you have an egg intolerance, it may be possible to…I don't know about reverse it, but you may be able to sort of keep from triggering it if you put yourself on a protein rotation. So what that would mean is maybe you eat eggs one day, and you don't eat them again for 3, 4, or even 5 days. Or maybe you have them two or three days in a row, but not 4, 5, 6, and 7 days in a row, in a week. It's different for everyone. I know some folks who can't have them at all. Some who can have them 3 days in a row, the 4th day, they start to feel symptoms, so they just never go the 4th day. They always know, you know, a couple of days, and then I have to eat something else. So sometimes, really, the poison is in the dose. So it's a matter of if you're getting too much of it, and you're overwhelming your system that's already sensitive, not eating them and then just being a little bit…just a little bit more scaled back can help. And so that may be one way to sort of reverse it. I think if you have the propensity for the intolerance or an allergy, I don't know that it can ever really go away, but you know, it's possible. I just…I don't know for sure. I wouldn't say it's not…it's never possible.
And then in terms of what to do besides egg-based breakfasts, the entire autoimmune protocol has breakfasts that don't include eggs. If you have like what the very first print run of the book, there is maybe one spot where I recommended the sweet potato pancakes, and currently on the website I have a correction for how to prepare that as a hash instead of the pancakes, so that you can enjoy it without the eggs. But I would say if you're looking for something that's not egg based, go ahead and look at the autoimmune protocol meal plan. You won't have any eggs in those breakfasts, and you'll have a bunch of other suggestions of, you know, what you can eat instead, and in terms in the variety of nutrients, I mean, I think if you're just varying the proteins and veggies, maybe some fruits that you're eating, if you want to enter it into a nutrition calculator, see what you're getting. Do it, you know, try and do an average over the course of a week, but really, I just wouldn't stress too much about that. I mean, if you're eating a balance of different types of foods, different colors of foods, different types of fats, you should be doing just fine, and really not to stress much about it.

LIZ WOLFE: And we love the Blue Ice fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend for pregnancy and everything else on the planet. Love that stuff. You can get that I think at www.greenpasture.org. I think they're in stock now. www.drrons.com and probably on Amazon as well.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, I'll put a link in the show notes to Chris Kresser's Healthy Baby Code. That might be helpful, just so you can see what other, you know, special foods you might want to look at in terms of nutrients that are important for pregnancy and just kind of go from there.

LIZ WOLFE: So Diane, do you ever tell folks to keep the egg yolks, being that generally egg intolerances are to the whites only?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, that's a good question. Actually a lot of times what I'll do is have people take out the eggs entirely. Do that for about 2 weeks because, especially if you're eating Paleo already, you only really need two weeks to allow your gut lining to heal to allow your immune system to calm down and retest the food. So I ask people to get rid of them for two weeks, and then actually that is the best idea is to reintroduce yolks only and discard the whites. Do something else with them. I don't know, whatever you want to do with them. But yeah, reintroduce them first and see how it goes, and you know, maybe do that for a few days in a row. See how you feel. And then go ahead, put the whites in it. Also making sure if you are eating the whites or trying them again, that they're fully cooked and not undercooked at all because we are looking at the anti-nutrients in the white as generally what's irritating people.

LIZ WOLFE: If you tolerate dairy, you can make yourself some hollandaise sauce.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Mmm, hollandaise.

LIZ WOLFE: Make some hollandaise for breakfast.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Mmm.

LIZ WOLFE: All right, next question. “Can I substitute proteins in the meal plans?” And this speaks also to, you know, a variety, the rotation that you were talking about before, Diane. “Starting week 1 of the thirty day diet for leaky gut. I am allergic to salmon. I break out in hives if I consume it more than once a week. Is there a substitution? I also don’t like lamb. Is venison a good substitute?”

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: So I think…that's a good question. You can absolutely substitute proteins. It's actually the reason why there are color codes in the weekly meal plans so that you can easily spot where there might be a type of protein that you aren't a fan of. I know specifically some people don't eat as much red meat. Some people don't tolerate fish or are allergic to eat. They can kind of spot really quickly where they might need to make a modification. And yes, lamb has its own color in the meal plan because I think it’s it's own whole category of red meat.

LIZ WOLFE: I don't think I like lamb, Diane.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: It's my favorite

LIZ WOLFE: I know you guys love it so much, but tell me. Can you tell me why you love lamb so much?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I love lamb. [laughs] Well, let me answer her question.

LIZ WOLFE: Yup.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I would say if you're going to replace the proteins, try and replace it with like a lateral shift. So if you're not doing salmon, try and do another fatty cold water fish that has omega-3s, like mackerel or herring or sardines. Something like that so that you're getting that omega-3 content in in your food. Same thing with the lamb. The reason I like lamb is that it's pretty easy to find 100% grass-fed lamb. And I do think that, you know, don't quote me on this, I'm being recorded, but don't quote me on this. I think that…I think all lamb is grass-fed. I don't think you can feed lamb something else without horrible ramifications very quickly. Like the way we feed cows, you know, soy and corn and grain, whatever we're feeding them. You know, it takes a little bit longer for them to get sick from that, and they end up kind of going to slaughter before that happens or they're given antibiotics and all kinds of delicious things we don't want to be eating. But I think venison is a good substitute, especially because it's going to be wild game. It's going to be eating its natural diet, so I like those…I like those substitutions for those types of foods. You know, if you don't like chicken, if you like some other kind of poultry or if you like pork, some kind of lighter meat, it, you know, whatever works for you. It's fine. There isn't a super, you know, honed in nutrient specific reason for certain proteins vs. others besides the fact that I'm trying to mix up some of the, you know, white and lighter meats with red meats and with fish. That's really it. Just trying to get a mix in. So I think her substitution ideas are pretty good there.
And yeah, I just…I think part of it is, I can just get really good lamb in the last few years. I've been able to get locally raised, 100% grass-fed. I can get it cut the way and I'll tell you what. I've been getting it for cheap. Like anywhere from 3 to 7 dollars a pound and that's for anything from like ground meat to chops. And so if you look at grass-fed lamb in the grocery store, and it's over $20 a pound for lamb chops.

LIZ WOLFE: Mm-hmm.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Like bring on the lamb chops and the lamb steaks at 4 bucks a pound because I bought the whole lamb. Like I'm thrilled and it's actually…I just like the taste of it better than beef. I'm not a huge fan of beef.

LIZ WOLFE: That's my problem is the taste, I think. Bill and Hayley made me some lamb one time that was so good, and I went off and tried to make my…okay, hold on.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: You have to season it.

LIZ WOLFE: I just identified the problem.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: [laughs] Your cooking?

LIZ WOLFE: I went and made it myself. And it wasn't good. Okay.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: I think…I think it's just a matter of the right herbs and spices, and make sure, you know, you kind of get those blends. I mean, just check out some of the recipes on our blogs and whatnot, and we'll help you, Liz.

LIZ WOLFE: Whatever works. Awww.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: There, there.

LIZ WOLFE: Thanks. I stink at cooking. Okay. All right, next question. I'm right though that it tastes different, right?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah.

LIZ WOLFE: Lamb has a different flavor.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Some people think it's pretty gamey and I think it is gamey, but I like that. I…you know what?

LIZ WOLFE: I love venison. What's wrong with me?

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Liz, what's wrong with you?

LIZ WOLFE: [laughs]

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: We don't have that much time.

LIZ WOLFE: Oh my gosh.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Love you.

LIZ WOLFE: I love you too. Okay, next question. “Is it okay to exercise when following a Practical Paleo meal plan?” Julie says: “My husband and I started the Squeaky Clean plan from Practical Paleo on January 1st. We are loving everything about it. My question is…..when should we start exercising again or is it okay to be exercising during this time?” I think this is a really good question. Like it seems like an easy question, but it's…this is actually really interesting. And I think it's good that she's asking it.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, I think it…it depends, you know, like I was saying about the first question, to you know, which meal plan to do. Like if this is really new for you, I would wait if you haven't been exercising. If this dietary change is really new for you, you're doing Squeaky Clean, so it sounds like it's new. I don't know what you were doing before…there's not a huge reason why if you were exercising before, you couldn't be exercising now, but understanding that carbohydrates are really like hugely scaled back in just a basic Paleo approach, even when it's not intended to be low carb, it is a lot lower carbohydrate than what most people were eating beforehand. If they were eating sort of standard American diet or what the USDA recommends, they could be eating anywhere up to 300 grams of carbohydrates a day, whereas, you know, a Paleo approach that's not limiting carbohydrates, but is just kind of free eating whole foods, you're probably only getting 100 to 150 grams. That's just, you know, even eating fruit and some sweet potato, that kind of thing. So see how you feel. If your blood sugar regulation is really shaky still, you're just not sure that you're making it through the day without those crazy dips and all of that, I would wait until that evens out a little bit more, and then go for it.
I would definitely look at the way that the Athletic Performance meal plan is made. You may not be considering yourself an athlete right now, but just look at the nuances of the add and avoid, and you know, learning how to kind of time some of your carbohydrates to come in after your workout. Just making sure that you're not feeling shaky before the workout or even during it. And I don't know what kind of exercise they're doing, so it's really going to vary based on that. Sometimes with-excuse me-sometimes with like a CrossFit style workout, depending on what the workout is, you might feel a little bit hungry beforehand, but your adrenaline kicks in, cortisol kicks in, your hunger goes away, and you actually are fine for that like 5 to 10 minute workout. If it's a longer workout, if it's over 10, 15 minutes…if it's like 20, 25 minutes, and you don't have enough stored glycogen from carbohydrates that you've been eating, you might feel really, really weak and slow and your head might hurt. Like those are really fast signs that you don't have enough carbohydrates in the tank. You don't have enough glycogen stored. Again, it's going to be like your head might hurt, headache, you feel sluggish, you feel just like lead. You know, just that box jump is the last thing you feel like doing. That's how you know you need some more carbohydrates. So yeah, it kind of depends and some people are fine to just get right in, and some people really just need to make sure that they feel strong and their blood sugar is even. More thoughts on that?

LIZ WOLFE: I think if you feel stressed and you feel like you're in transition, it's always good to take it a little bit easy, i.e. not go, you know, [laughs]

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Crazy?

LIZ WOLFE: Crazy on the CrossFit, but maybe doing like a walk, gentle yoga, that type of stuff until you feel like you again. That's generally how I attack it.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah. Well, you know, get in there and see how it feels, and then go home and see how it feels the next day, you know? Like how does it feel? If you're feeling like you went in and you couldn't make it through, or you got home and you were just like crushed after it, you know, you have to just see what's going on.

LIZ WOLFE: And it's okay to take it easy, you know. To show up for a workout, be it at a CrossFit gym or boot camp or whatever and go a little light. Go a little easy. Listen to what your body's telling you. My husband got home from deployment, which is a whole different type of stress. He got home from deployment, immediately hit the gym, tried to do a one rep max bench press, and tore his pec major, and it was the longest recovery. It was the worst thing ever. Something that he felt like he should be able to do, but he was under a very specific type of stress, and shifting the diet is also a very specific type of stress. You just have to be vigilant about it. So it's okay to take it easy.
All right. Number six. “Help with Practical Paleo meal plan selection.” Eva says: “I just received your book as a Christmas gift and am excited about starting the Paleo eating plan.. I have Hashimoto's disease (diagnosed about 20 years ago and take medication) and just recently got diagnosed as pre-diabetic (insulin resistant) and put on metformin 2 X day. I have a terrible time losing weight, so I’m hoping this will help me. If I start with the Autoimmune Conditions 30-day meal plan, which plan would I continue with afterwards?.The Thyroid or the Blood Sugar Regulation? Thank you.”

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: So this is a really common type of question. People have more than one sort of health condition they're dealing with. They're not sure where to start. I think that the way that I generally have people approach this is that if your overarching concern is that you've got several autoimmune conditions and you know, obviously in the book there are several meal plans that address conditions with autoimmune roots. We think that most health conditions have some kind of root in autoimmunity. So there's more than one plan in there that, you know, you could say, I have a neurological condition and it's autoimmune, but the autoimmune conditions meal plan is the most restrictive, the most sort of like, I just want to get in and get rid of anything that could be problematic right from the get go. That said, it does not specifically address, you know, thyroid health the way the thyroid meal plan does. It doesn't specifically address blood sugar regulation the way the blood sugar meal plan does. So I think for someone like this, who was diagnosed twenty years ago, has been on thyroid medication, recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic, the way I would look at this is blood sugar regulation is your number one concern, and the other cool thing is that when you work on blood sugar regulation, you help your thyroid a bit because you remove that stress of the dysregulated blood sugar, which eventually ends up taxing your adrenals, which will tax your thyroid thereafter. So, you know, this is someone where I would say the Blood Sugar Regulation plan is probably a good way to go. You know, if you find that you need more carbohydrates than are in there because you're feeling too stressed by it, you know, you have to look at…we've had a…you know, we had another episode, I don't know, it was awhile ago now, where I kind of went over ways to check your blood sugar, linked up to a post that Chris Kresser did and you can kind of go back and look at that, just a home glucometer, checking your blood sugar, your fasting glucose in the morning, and what's happening after your meals, just to see what's going on with the foods you're eating. But, you know, if you were recently diagnosed pre-diabetic, that's where I would say, you know what? Getting your blood sugar under control is probably the most important thing. After that, maybe after 30 days, then maybe, you know, if you're feeling like you want to try something different, you want to try something even more restrictive, that Autoimmune Condition plan is the most restrictive. I just don't know that it's where you need to start if blood sugar is the primary concern. And for you I would say, that's the primary concern right now.
Other people who ask this question a lot of times, you know, they've got 3 or 4 diagnosed autoimmune conditions. That's where I say, go with the Autoimmune meal plan. Just don't narrow, you know, don't narrow the scope to like one of the conditions, just try and hammer them all with this one meal plan. If one of them is overarching, like some people will be dealing with arthritis and they're dealing with Hashimoto's, whichever is kind of more pressing, look at that other meal plan. Just get an idea, maybe see where there is some crossover in the supplements that I'm recommending, and if you're seeing that your condition has 3 of the same supplements that are recommended for general autoimmune condition support, maybe those are the ones that make the most sense for you and for your condition, and that's really where, you know, I don't know everybody's health history. I can only give you, okay, here's some supplements that are helpful from what I, you know, have experienced and have worked with people on for their conditions, but you have to look at it as what sounds like is best for you with what you're dealing with because everyone's got really, really different situations.

LIZ WOLFE: Okie doke. Next question. “How to use Practical Paleo meal plans for the whole family?” Julie says: “Two of my sons have health problems that haven’t been able to be resolved by myself, doctors, allergists, elimination diet, or drugs. I really don’t like the drug/doctor route anyway, so I’ve been looking into healing with food. I received “Practical Paleo” for Christmas and have read through the whole book and LOVE its approach on eating/healing. Anyway, I’m wanting to use one of the 30-day meal plans for my children, husband, and myself. I feel like we all could greatly benefit from it. But looking at the plans, I know there will be a struggle getting my kids to eat some of these foods. I’m assuming the plans were geared toward adults. This may have been addressed in the book & I don’t remember, but to correctly initiate the “plan,” do I need to follow the 30-day menu, or would I be okay just using the add/avoid list & supportive list of nutrients and foods to support? Like, for instance, for breakfast do I need to be sure to rotate what they have each day or is it okay to eat similar things each day? My 9-year old son has many known food allergies including wheat, corn, soy, dairy, peanuts and a few more (known through both blood tests & mostly observation), not to mention he is allergic to just about every pollen/dust/mold out there. He gets stomachaches when he eats some offending foods, and worse than that, his behavior becomes extreme – either hyper, depressed, unable to focus, unmanageable, etc. My 5-year old has severe eczema, black baggy eyes, pale skin, constipation, and a constant stuffy nose. My husband has many health problems and I’ve had a hard time losing any weight since my 2 1/2 year old was born. We need help! Sorry that was winded, but thank you for your help and for your book!”

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Okay, so she's got two kids here who are dealing with some really different issues. Like the first kid, despite all of his food allergies, you know, we know that none of what's written in her list of his known allergies will be in the book, with the exception of dairy in terms of like butter, but butter's always written in with options of a non-dairy fat to use in the recipe. So I would say for that child, you know, he can probably eat whatever the other child is eating because what the other child is eating will be more limited. I would say it's probably easiest for the family to do what's most limited because the one child who can't eat other things, you don't want that stuff around in the house because it's really just kind of not fair, and he's not really going to understand why everyone else is eating this thing and maybe he's not. I mean, I don't know…yeah, he's only 5 years old. So the one who's got the severe eczema, black baggy eyes, pale skin, constipation, stuffy nose, that's the one where I would say, you know what? This might be a case for doing the autoimmune protocol, and it isn't easy. I'm not saying it's easy. I know that Stacy from Paleo Parents has done it. I don't think she's done it with her whole family, but I know that she has a lot of recipes over there that are autoimmune friendly. So that might be helpful. But the eczema and the black, baggy eyes, even the constipation, I know that some of those can be tied to egg intolerances, and so it's something that I would say it's worth getting rid of eggs for at least two weeks, even if it's not the full month, and I mean that for everyone in the family. It's a good exercise to do anyway, just to see, you know, what else can we eat that's not eggs and just give it a try.
That being said, you don't need to be following the meal plan as written for the 30 days. I only did that for the people who want that kind of a, you know, outlined plan, tell me exactly what to eat. That's why the foods are there, why the, you know, supportive nutrients and food that contain them is there, so that if you just want to make your own plan based on even more nuances, you know, that you need to follow, that's totally fine. So you can do that without hesitation. Just do your best to rotate the foods that you are serving them. So when it comes to the proteins specifically, which, you know, we mentioned this a little bit earlier, trying to keep one type of protein to no more than, you know, one or two days in a row, and then rotating it out. So one way that some people will do this is, you know, for one day or for 3 meals they're eating like chicken, for example. The next day they only eat beef. The next day it's lamb. The next day it's pork, etc. Part of that is, a little bit of an ancestral approach. Like if we would have killed a certain animal, we would have been eating that for however many meals and then we would move on to the next thing, etc. Okay, that might be a stretch, but part of it is also just to not hammer your immune system with the same proteins every single day, but to rotate it out, and so you could even do one or two meals in a row. Make sure to not eat that same protein again for another 5 to 7 meals. So if that's, you know, if you've got your list of all the foods you guys can eat, you've crossed off the stuff that isn't included right now. Print out, you know, the Guide to Paleo Foods, cross off whatever you're not including, and then maybe your calendar plan that you do for the week or two weeks at a time is really just looking at making sure your proteins are rotated, and filling in any veggies or some fruits that, you know, all the kids can handle, and yourself and your husband, obviously, and really just doing more planning around the proteins and letting the rest of it kind of come in because that really is where people tend to have the most…the most trouble, the protein sources.

LIZ WOLFE: Get some bone broth in there, some homemade bone broth and some fermented cod liver oil if you possibly can. Support the little ones.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: Yeah, surprisingly kids…I think a lot of times parents are, you know, feel like, oh, it sounds gross, fermented cod liver oil. But I mean, we know a lot of kids who take it, take it happily…

LIZ WOLFE: Who love it.

DIANE SANFILIIPPO: you know? So I mean, the cinnamon flavored, I think it tastes pretty good. Don’t make a face when you give it to them. Pretend that it tastes amazing. It's like their, you know, superhero vitamins that they're going to take, and you know, just make it kind of a good thing.

LIZ WOLFE: Yup. All right, I think we'll close it out there. We will be back next week with more of your questions. Hopefully, at our usual time. Until then, you can find Diane at www.blog.balancedbites.com, and you can find me, Liz, at www.cavegirleats.com. Everybody pop over to www.cavegirleats.com for a free shipping code for Steve's Original PaleoKits. It's a great way to support Steve's Club National Program. You can read all about it over at my blog. Grab that code: CaveGirl2013. And enjoy your PaleoKits. We have some awesome guests coming up. Dr. Davis of Wheat Belly and the man himself, Mark Sisson. We are going to have him on this show, I believe, next week. Should be awesome. We're going to talk about his new book, The Primal Connection, which is phenomenal. So definitely be sure to stick around for that. All right, everybody, thanks for listening. We'll be back next week.

Cheers!
Diane & Liz