There's a bit of a stigma with Paleo in that it is expensive to eat this way. My retort is: “What is more costly, medical bills or a better diet?”. Once you give up on boxed foods and start buying whole foods you should begin to see a difference in meal costs for the better. You can easily put together a meal for four for about 15 dollars which is a lot cheaper than eating out. Speaking of eating out, you'll likely reduce that considerably since it is somewhat difficult to source a restaurant that is conducive to your eating habits.

The initial costs can be a bit off-putting and a lot of times I recommend starting slow in replacing items. Eat down what you may have stocked up as you build up new supplies, or if you have long term storage, give it away or keep it stashed for emergencies.  I went the cold turkey route and tossed out everything in favor of my new lifestyle.  The choice is yours if you can afford it or if your health can hold out for a little while longer as you make the transition.  Some people are in dire straights with obesity or metabolic issues and need to shock the system as far as I am concerned.  If the temptation is there then they'll never achieve their goal.

There's a certain misconception around that fat equals fat on the body.  The notion, upon closer examination, is illogical ,however; I was certainly under this spell for the longest time of my life.  Eating fat does not equal fat.  Growing up in the 80's everything was low fat and Jazzercise or aerobics with colorful leg warmers was the way to fitness godliness.  As I have learned, both couldn't be further from the truth.

Further hang ups tend be with the types of fats.  Everyone knows that we need more Omega 3's and less Omega 6's but at the same time we're told to use "healthy" fats and oils like vegetable oil which is loaded with polyunsaturated fatty acids and Omega 6.  So, if you take away nothing else from this then understand that you need to dispose of all those corn, canola, peanut, soy, and grape seed oils.  Yeah I thought grape seed was ok too for a while but it's no better than the others.  Canola is used so heavily now it is disconcerting.  Canola was originally designed as an industrial lubricant and even a lot of olive oils sneak in a portion of canola to round out the rest of the bottle and cut the cost.  Canola is, as I understand, a product of Rapeseed and not exactly good for our systems.  Another terrible "fat" is the alternative butters.  Margarine is one molecule away from being plastic not to mention all the other so-called butters which are nothing more than chemical compounds made to taste like butter.  Thanks, but I'll take my chances with something natural and something my body knows how to process. So, toss them out and don't look back.  If you're serious about reversing your health, start here.

If this is your first approach at a Paleo or Primal diet after years of living on the SAD (Sandard American Diet) it is likely you will have detox symptoms. This isn't so different than that of a drug addict but less severe. You will have insatiable cravings for foods, you may have flu like symptoms, and you may just have lethargy and general fatigue. This may be referred to as a Herxheimer reaction. This is typically relegated to those taking antibacterials and resembles bacterial sepsis but I use the term for detoxing, while maybe not clinically correct in its usage it does apply here.

Detox reactions are occurring due to the fact that you're eliminating the diet of bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. The die-off of critters in your gut happens at such a rate that the liver cannot handle the load and the result is a feeling of malaise. There's really little that one can do during this period which, depending on your state of health, may be a couple days or even weeks. Don't let this discourage you from taking on the change in diet though. You may go in feeling awful but on the other side it is worth the trouble and the elimination of the bad bacteria floating around the body. A lot of Paleo websites fail to mention this portion of things since there may be trepidation of those looking to change their diet and lifestyle. All I can say is to stay the course with it.

Things that can help during Detox:

• Epson Salt baths
• Magnesium Supplements
• Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)
• L-Glutamine (which helps rebuild the gut lining)
• Plenty of fluids to help flush
• Milk Thistle to aid the liver
• Relaxation and Patience

We got started Friday evening around 8pm at the Big East Fork trailhead destined for Old Butt Knob. This route was my choosing and Friday night looked like it was going to be pretty much a straight up jaunt. After checking all the gear and securing the vehicles I engaged my headlamp and set off. We were a little confused at the trail split but we ended up on the correct path and the ascent began pretty quickly. The first part of the trail was a moderate climb but as we got about a half mile in Old Butt Knob earned it's name. The trail became steep, you could hear roaring water well down in the ravine that my headlamp could not touch and trail was tight. My poles kept me from becoming a victim of sliding down the ravine a couple times. Being a Friday night I had plenty of energy to expend so we moved along quite well until we started coming across some downed trees. This made staying on the trail a bit difficult but someone had been kind enough to place some cairns on the path around the trees to keep everyone on the trail. This part of the Wilderness area does not have trail makings so be sure to keep a map and compass handy or a GPS system. The trail continued unrelenting until we linked up with the Art Loeb trail around midnight that night and settled in for some sleep at Shining Rock Gap. The ascent went up about 2K feet in about 2 miles up to almost 6K at the junction and temps dropped into the low 50's. It is definitely a climb but oddly enough it was a fun trail to conquer. Our camping spot was a little side trail pretty much right at the junction that opened into a little clearing. We more or less fell on it since it was fairly difficult to see.

This is another book that I have gifted quite a bit to get some friends and family started on a better diet. It Starts with Food is based on the Whole30 protocol from the Whole9 website. The guidelines are very strict if following the Whole30 program but it is useful in given you a good basis for how to eat more so than exactly what to eat. It's also less of a recipe book although there are some base recipes in the back to help things along but they're fairly free form cooking in that you're given base ingredients and it's up to you to spice as needed.