Original Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Paleo/comments/37ct38/other_my_boyfriends_doctors_recommended_a/

First Update: https://www.reddit.com/r/Paleo/comments/37etwx/other_udate_my_boyfriends_doctors_recommended_a/

It's been 1 month since my frantic post about how paleo was not working for me and how I felt awful all the time, even as my boyfriend was doing amazing.

Good news everyone, I've been eating paleo the right way for a month now and I feel great. Here's a breakdown of how I dealt with the major issues I mentioned in my first few posts.

I felt sick all the time: This was 100% due to lack of calories. I'd get so hungry I felt sick, then eat on a sick stomach and feel sicker. I started recording my food in the fitness app that came with my phone, and set a goal of eating more than 2400 calories a day. Most days I didn't make it, but by the time I stopped recording I had a really good idea of what enough food looked like, and I hardly ever feel sick anymore unless I space or eat something really processed.

The food restriction is triggering my untreated anorexia: This was just something I had to work through. I don't recommend it to everyone, but I've been feeling really healthy mentally, and I have a good social support network, so I decided to try and see if I could walk through it, and I could. The calorie counter app was a necessary evil, but as soon as I felt like I didn't need it, I got rid of it, and my anxiety over eating has almost completely gone away.

In fact, something amazing happened. Because of the imperative that I get enough calories, I'm feel like I'm really doing some healing around an issue I never addressed. I used to just eat food and try to ignore it was happening. I loved food, but I almost never really paid any attention to what was in it, how much I ate, or anything because it was either pretend it wasn't happening, or get all sick in the head about it like I had before. Now I'm paying very close attention to everything I eat and where it comes from, even how much I eat, but in the opposite direction. All my food is nourishing today, I literally can't make a "bad" choice unless I consciously go out of the house and buy something I wouldn't ordinarily have with the express purpose of eating it because I want to and I'm making that choice.

I feel my body respond to what I'm eating, I eat with purpose, and to amount in a way I never did before. It's difficult to articulate, but it's like I'm pushing rewind on years of self-destructive habits. Plus, fun side effect: I feel hungry now. I never was in-touch enough with my body to feel a little hungry. Sometimes I didn't even know when I was about to pass out. Now I can do things like predict that I will want to eat in an hour based solely on hour I feel. It's so cool.

My boyfriend cooked all our food: This was the most controversial aspect of my post and I got a lot of backlash for being useless in the kitchen. Well, I still can't cook, so no progress in that area, but here's how we deal with that now.

He'll cool up a giant pot of beans and brown rice at the beginning of the week and store it in the fridge. When I'm hungry but he isn't, I go put some beans and rice in a bowl, add some hummus, and cut up veggies to go on top. Sometimes I add sandwich meat for some extra protein.

I also make salads along the same vein, and I eat a lot of nuts and yogurt. I know brown rice and yogurt aren't on everybody's diet, and yogurt can have a lot of sugar, especially the fruit kind, which is what I eat. If anybody has some lower sugar alternatives, I'd be happy to know about it. To be honest, I'm getting to the point where they taste a little too sweet for me.

The cost of fresh vegetables: This was mostly me whining and I had to get over it. Also, every meal can't be steak and sauteed veg. Beans and brown rice are really affordable, and using beans as a protein or as a supplement to meat has cut down on the super-high grocery bills we had initially. Also, Trader Joe's has really cheap really good hummus.

Edit: Sample Meal Plan

Someone asked for a sample meal plan since they also have trouble keeping sugar down and calories up. We are paleo-ish, so we eat beans and whole grains, but no fruit (fruit yogurt being an exception I'm actually going to be changing thanks to /u/sultrypickle's suggestion). This is an ideal meal plan for a perfect world, so it's not like I eat like this 100% of the time, but it's a good picture. Also, we have a lot of time to cook and prepare since we work from home, so I realize that this might not work for everybody. Measurements are approximate.

BREAKFAST DAY 1 - 2 sausages and 2 fried eggs in lard or coconut oil

SNACK DAY 1 - Handfull of roasted lightly salted almonds/cashews

LUNCH DAY 2 - 1 cup beans and rice, 2 tablespoons of hummus, Persian cucumber, medium sized tomato, 2 large slices of deli turkey, carrot

SNACK DAY 1 - 1 cup yogurt with honey (formerly fruit yogurt), hand ful of lightly salted almonds/cashews

DINNER DAY 1 - Beef stock chili with pinto beans, white beans, beef, sweet potatoes, cheddar and sour cream, eaten with corn chips. I also like to put tomatoes and corn in mine after it's cooked.

BREAKFAST DAY 2 - 2 pieces of whole grain toast with half an avocado on each piece with one large deli turkey slice on top of that for each piece. Cup of yogurt with honey on the side.

SNACK DAY 2 - Corn chips and 2-3 tablespoons of hummus

LUNCH DAY 2 - 1 cup salad with 2 tablespoons of hummus, 2 large slices of deli turkey, 2-3 oz cheddar cheese, carrot, cucumber, tomato, whatever other veg is in sight, light drizzling of full fat ranch dressing for flavor, sometimes I add about 1/4th cup of beans and rice too, if I'm feeling tired or had a light breakfast.

SNACK DAY 2 - Persian cucumber cut into spears with 1 tablespoon of hummus and 1 slice of deli turkey

DINNER DAY 2 - Boyfriends specialty pork tacos on homemade tortillas. I'm not entirely sure how he makes these but here's what I know: 1/3rd of a pork loin serves 2 people, he makes the tortillas from masa with lard and fries them in lard (this is where the real calories come from). He seasons the pork and fries that in lard, then he puts that in the tortillas with about 2 oz of cheese for flavor, 1/4th a cup of shredded cabbage and a sauce made from sour cream, cilantro and lime juice. This makes about 10 little tacos about 3-4" across.

BREAKFAST DAY 3 - Eggs scrambled with leftover beans and rice and sausage in lard or coconut oil and hummus on top - this is good for when we didn't have enough calories at dinner, or if we're eating later than usual.

SNACK DAY 3 - Elote, which is roasted corn with mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, lime juice and picante powder. Some people also put butter, but my boyfriend is lactose intolerant, so we don't. I know, we were just eating sour cream, but that's really a sometimes food, and doesn't seem to bother him as much as butter. It's a mystery to me.

LUNCH DAY 3 - Peanut butter on whole grain bread with cucumber, carrots, corn chips and 2-3 tablespoons of hummus on the side

SNACK DAY 3 - 1/2 avocado. Sometimes on bread, sometimes wrapped in a slice of deli turkey.

DINNER DAY 3 - Boyfriend's burger cabbage thing. We have no name for this. He makes little burgers about 1-2 inches in diameter, puts them on a cabbage leaf, and we put hummus, or peanut butter, or A-1 on top of them with various veggies, whatever fits the profile. It sounds a little weird, but it's good.

We're still beginners, but the real key to keeping my calories up and sugar down has been to eat lots and all the time. Also, frying things in lard. Lard is your friend. I know we have a lot to learn still, but this kind of diet has been really good to me. And despite all the beans, I have virtually no gas. I used to have gas all the time, it's kind of funny.

EDIT 2: Apparently not actually eating Paleo the right way. I must be eating something the right way, because I feel awesome.