Hello Dan. The main rule on this list is to always bring the point around
somehow to paleo food. Which you did, so not off topic at all.

What works for me is keeping to the basic paleo formula, eating only things
our ancestors could have eaten without much processing. Meat, fruit, nuts,
veggies and roots, eggs, fish and other seafoods. I cook the food, some
people don't.

Beyond that is fine tuning and details. Eating only grass-fed meat, or not.
Balancing fat ratios, or not bothering. Eating certain non-paleo foods now
and then, or not. Alcohol, salt, spices. Low carb or medium. If you are just
starting out don't sweat the details too much until you have your buying
habits under control. It took me a couple of years to stop eating pizza. I
still will eat the cheese and toppings once in a while.

I generally choose fattier meat, because I like to keep my carbs low, so I
need to get energy from fat to replace the sugar I no longer eat so much of.
Most of my sugar comes from fruit, which I tend to overeat. My teeth are
poor now from too many years of poor diet and poor care. Since starting
paleo my teeth are much much healthier, and only give me trouble when I
overeat fruit, or eat non-paleo junk foods for a while. If you are young and
have not damaged your body so much, you will have much better long term
health than I have, just by avoiding all the 'normal' middle-aged health
problems that I am recovering from.

I sound like a fanatic about this diet, but I am not. I just like telling
people how much healthier I am since starting it. (I am a religious fanatic,
and being fanatic about two topics would take WAY too much of my time ;--)

To list:

Painful knees and ankles from sports overuse injuries, gone as if never
there. I had bad knees for some 20 years, but now have no knee pain.

Migraines, improved from 2-3 a week to only occasionally, and usually after
over-indulging in some non-paleo foods like pizza.

Digestion problems, constipation, gas, heartburn, gone.

Teeth, much healthier, no pain or sensitivity unless eat too much sugar a
few days.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask questions.

On 11/19/06, DS <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
>   I am new to this list. I am not aware of any posting rules and this post
> is a bit off topic.
>
>   I have started the paleo diet one week ago just from reading some online
> information. Last week I had a paleo breakfast everyday (fruits and nuts
> mostly). This week I am starting to introduce paleo lunches. I made a big
> vat of ground pork and sliced up tomatoes, onions, broccoli and put the pork
> on top of it.
>
>   Does anyone have suggestions on following this diet? Any tips from their
> conversion to paleo days?
>
>