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Following on from his journey to nutritional nirvana, Matt Mecham gives us some sweet tips for successful and sustainable Paleo eating…

After a few months eating paleo / primal, I’ve become quite efficient at shopping and preparing food. You might think that you need to spend a fortune and hours in the kitchen or eat bland repetitive foods, but this simply isn’t the case. If I had to condense this trial and error into a few neat bullet points, then I would say:

* Experiment. Buy food you’ve never eaten before and go online for recipes. You don’t need to be a skilled chef with a kitted out kitchen to make tasty good food. Most of my meals take no more than 30 minutes, one frying pan and a few knives. Keep your meals varied and exciting.

* Buy in bulk where possible. Buy fruit and vegetables from budget supermarkets and ignore ‘best before’ dates. Your sense of smell and touch is more accurate than a computer’s prediction. Try a local farm or market for good deals on organic food. You will save money this way.

* Don’t obsess over the details. For me, primal eating is complete freedom from calorie and macronutrient counting. Sure, fat is key and protein is important but don’t get neurotic about it. If you skip a meal, great. If you’re hungry then eat. It’s that simple.

* Cook up a storm when you have the time. I am self-employed and have a young son who I love hanging out with. I don’t have the time to cook for every meal, every day. I boil up a dozen eggs, shell them and then store in tupperware for a quick snack. I make a huge primal pizza on a Saturday and eat half cold on Sunday. Cook up a pack of bacon and eat it cold as a snack. This is basic efficiency and is key to making your life easier. I prep vegetables during the day when I have time and bag it up for cooking later or the next day.

* Embrace your sweet tooth.. A bowl of mixed berries covered in coconut milk and lime juice frozen for an hour is packed full of goodness and it tastes great too. Primal eating is about enjoying food and not feeling guilty about it. Seek out muffin and cookie recipes when you have the time. It’s not about trying to replace cravings because you won’t have those cravings any more but there is some fun in replacing junk food with a healthy nutrient rich version if only to prove you don’t need grains and sugar!

Most of all, have fun. I look forward to my meal times again. I love cooking and I’m eating a wider variety of food now than I have ever done so before. Enjoy it!

Matt Mecham

Check out more tips and treats on Matt’s blog: http://mattspaleoblog.tumblr.com



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