Paleo Substitutes for Comfort Carbs

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So, you have decided to turn paleo!

Firstly, many congratulations! Best decision you’ll ever make!

By choosing to turn paleo you have made a commitment to yourself, to reform your future health and well-being. Not only that, but you have also committed to making lifestyle choices which will in essence shave inches off your belt / dress sizes. Amazing stuff.

Good for you! Get your Game Plan

Now, all of that is great, but before you get carried away; firstly, have a long hard think what it is you’ve decided to do, and how you are going to stick to your resolution.

Making a commitment and having ‘best intentions’ to follow your paleo diet plan is wonderful; however before you begin, you need to have a game plan; a strategy of how you are going to stick to your goals and achieve them!

For me, when trying to make a new habit, you need to make sticking to that new habit as simple and easy as possible.

And Stick to It

Today we are focusing on bad carbs, or comfort carbs, which are included heavily in the traditional Western Diet. Often combined with refined sugar (which we will discuss another day) these bad carbs are highly addictive, and terrible for your health and weight loss journey.

Bad carbs come from wheat flour, starchy potatoes, over processed dairy products, and difficult to digest grains. For example:-

Doughnuts

French Bread

Egg fried rice

Noodles

Ice Cream

Croissants

Mashed Potatoes

French Fries

The list goes on, and on.

Transitioning from a typical Western Diet to a Paleo Diet, can be extremely difficult.

You are eradicating foods you have had reliance upon, both habitually and emotionally.

Your paleo objective is to succeed by avoiding banned non-paleo food groups, and replace those foods with unprocessed, quality meat and veg.

The Culprits

Listed below are some of the worst ‘bad-carb’ culprits. These items can really have a strong hold over you as they are (a) CHEAP and (b) HAVE A LONG SHELF LIFE, making these items good for your wallet, and convenient!

No wonder, they are very difficult to shake.

Bread

Cereal

Noodles

Potatoes

Dairy

Pasta

Rice/ Quinoa and other grains

Beans/ legumes

Pre my own personal paleo journey, although I ate ‘clean,’ I still ate wholewheat bread, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa, and cheese!

I ate beans, rice, and other grains mainly because they were convenient; they could sit in your pantry for months. I was also, under the misplaced belief that you needed these carbs to function.

When speaking friends who are ‘paleo curious’, one of the first questions they ask me is:-

‘You can’t eat, rice, pasta, oats, quinoa, bulgar wheat…..’

‘WHAT ON EARTH CAN YOU EAT?’

They suggest that they couldn’t possibly function without eating, potatoes, pasta or brown rice.

Often it is the men who struggle with giving up the ‘bad carbs.’ It’s taken many months of fine tuning in my household, to get my husband onto cauliflower mash.

Ultimately, if you have decided to become paleo, you have committed to the eradication of the above food groups. It’s non- negotiable; and it’s going to do you the world of good.

Yes, it is extremely difficult to visualise a world away from pasta bakes, freshly baked bread, fluffy mash, and delicious rice, to mop up your sauce. BUT these things have to go if you want to succeed and achieve your goals.

SUBSTITUTES

In this article I wanted to outline helpful substitutes, to enable you to plan your strategy in relation to these food groups.

I want to offer you SIMPLE, EASY, FAST suggestions, to enable you to replace the above BAD CHOICES with GOOD CHOICES.

These substitutes are made from SIMPLE, HEARTY, BUDGET vegetables; like cauliflowers (£1.00 for a large one,) courgettes (£1.60 for 4) and sweet potatoes (£3 for 6;) or coconuts, or almonds really!!

A WORD ON BREAD

I have not included a substitute for bread- as for me bread is totally dangerous. This is an example, of why bread should not be your life, if your anything like me!!

A couple of months ago, some non-paleo friends invited me around for dinner; they are great cooks, and offered up a delicious starter of baked brie, cold meats, and warm artisan tomato and onion breads. Because, I’m not rude, and the food looked and smelled amazing, warm yeasty bread; I didn’t just stick to the meat- I got stuck in to the cheese, and of course the bread…. My objective, aiming to have one or two slices, at the most- just a taste. The next thing I know, I am surrounded by crumbs, sporting a massive bread belly! I am pretty sure I ate the whole loaf.

Bread is addictive, and it brings out the greedy gobbler in me! I try to avoid it at restaurants, I don’t buy it, or allow it in our house!

You can’t ban everything though, so here is my:-

TOP BAD CARB SUBSTITUTES

TOP BAD CARB SUBSTITUTES Mashed Potatoes Sweet Potato MashSimply boil, add grass fed butter, and season. Cauliflower Mash Simply boil, add grass fed butter, and season.) Prepare in under 10-20 minutes. Pasta Courgette or Zucchini SpaghettiMandolin, or cut the courgette 5 times, length ways, then peel, to make spaghetti. Aubergine for Lasagne pasta. Use Leek Skins for Lasagne pasta. Prepare in under 5 minutes. Noodles Courgette or Zucchini Noodles Mandolin, or cut the courgette 5 times, length ways, then peel, to make noodles. Prepare in under 5 minutes. Rice Cauliflower RiceIn a mini blender chop the florets, then in a pan add grass- fed butter, and season. Prepare in around 10 minutes. Cereal Coconut flake granola Prepare in 1 hour 30 mins (but, make a batch to keep you going for a month.) Pancakes Paleo PancakesMix eggs, almond flour, or coconut flour and almond or coconut milk. Add bananas and cinnamon. Prepare in 15 minutes. Breaded/ Fried Items Paleo BatterDip your item in an egg, then use coconut or almond flour for coating. Prepare in 5 minutes Flour Almond flour, and coconut flour.I often make a roux, for sauces using butter, almond flour and almond milk. Ready bought! Dairy Instead use grassfed butter, coconut oil, olive oil, coconut milk, almond milk, coconut cream. Ready bought! Crisps Paleo CrispsKale Crisps, Sweet Potato, Banana, Apple Prepare in between 5 and 45 minutes

Hopefully the above suggestions will aid you in planning those all important meals, and aid you in staying on the wagon. Check out the rest of my website, for delicious quick and easy paleo meal ideas.

If you’re interested in joining the Paleo movement- why not have a look at my Paleo Shopping List, buy some ingredients and get started. You don’t need it to be the New Year to make a resolution!

Any questions, let me know. Email paleopolly(at)gmail.com

Or simply post your question through my contact form!

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All the best, Polly! x

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