The other day, someone asked about a paleonutrion list on smartgroups.com.  I
joined it to see what it was about.  There was a very interesting thread on
doing paleonutrition imperfectly (which unfortunately the list owner cut off
for fear it would turn into a flame).  I found it very interesting and
helpful.

I am not a perfect cavegirl, and I know that if I have to be--if it has to be
all or nothing--I will not be able to do it at all.  It was a great relief to
me to read that Ray Audette eats deviled eggs in restaurants (contains
mayonnaise with illegal oil, sugar, and vinegar), and occasionally has ice
cream.  I can't do this diet perfectly.  It's too hard--it separates me too
much from the rest of the world.  I like going to restaurants with friends.
Also, I don't want to spend that much time cooking and obsessing on what I'm
eating.

These are the types of changes I've been making... The other day, I went to a
Tex-Mex restaurant.  When they brought corn chips and bean dip to the table
(which I LOVE), I asked them to please take them away so I wouldn't eat them.
 I ordered barbequed spareribs.  These usually come with potato salad and
baked beans.  I asked them to substitute cole slaw and collard greens, and
they were happy to do this.  I'm sure the cole slaw contained sugar and
vinegar, and I'm sure the barbeque sauce did, too.  But I ate them and
enjoyed them.  I drank water instead of sugared lemonade (which I really
love), and I didn't have dessert.  To me, this is a successful cave-meal.  I
left feel pleasantly full instead of overstuffed (which is how I usually feel
after eating there).

Tonight I had dinner in a sushi restaurant.  I ordered hijiki and sashimi,
and asked them to hold the rice and the soup.  I used low-salt soy sauce,
which I know is "illegal", and probably the hijiki contained some taboo
ingredients, but I figured that if I wasn't eating rice, I was way ahead.

I don't eat out every night and when I'm at home I'm a little better about
avoiding forbidden fruit.  But I still use vinegar.  It's very important to
me to avoid salt (my partner has high blood pressure), and vinegar is
sometimes a good substitute.  We make big wok-fulls of sauteed meat and
veggies, and sprinkle on a little balsamic vinegar instead of adding salt.  I
also happen to absolutely love salmon cooked with tomatoes and balsamic
vinegar, and I don't see myself giving that up.  Hey--I gave up CHOCOLATE--I
think that's pretty good!!!!

I'd like to hear how others handle the paleo diet day-to-day, and especially
how they deal with social eating (dinner out, dinner at friend's houses,
inviting people over--what do you feed them???, etc.).  Re inviting people
over... My brother's family came to visit me last week.  My 6-year-old niece
looked sadly into my refrigerator and said, "I'm hungry, and you don't have
ANYTHING I like!"

     -Sheryl