As with any change, when a person decides to follow the Paleo Diet they are sure to face challenges and to make mistakes, however, there are several common mistakes that people make when following the Paleo diet that if you know them ahead of time, you can avoid.
Thinking that the Paleo diet is a strict diet that must be followed long term.
When many people begin following the Paleo Diet, they begin with the mindset that they have to strictly follow the diet. However, the truth is that the Paleo diet was created to remove certain foods from a person’s diet, so that they could fix their health issues.
The problem is that it is very hard to eliminate specific foods or even food groups from your diet for the rest of your life even if you know it is benefiting you. This means that if there are certain foods that you want to add back into your diet after the first 30 days of strictly following the diet, you can do just that. For example, if you want to add low-fat cheese or beans back into your diet after the first 30 days, that is fine as long as they do not cause you a problem.
2. Most of us have been taught that carbs are the enemy however, this is a mistake and it is one that many people make while they are following the Paleo Diet.
Your body turns carbs into energy and one of the mistakes that so many people make when they first start out on the Paleo Diet is that they do not eat enough carbs, especially if they are exercising. Sure, you are going to read that if you eat a low carb diet, you will lose weight and that will happen but you are going to lose your energy as well. If you don’t have any energy, it is highly unlikely that you are going to stick to the program.
3. When most people start the Paleo Diet, they make the mistake of not eating enough food to sustain their bodies.
Most of us are used to eating small amounts of food that contain a large number of calories, however, when you follow the Paleo Diet, you are going to need to eat a lot because you are going to be eating foods that contain very few calories.
Make sure that you are giving yourself huge portions of vegetables instead of tiny little portions. You do not want to give yourself little portions thinking that it is going to help you lose weight because the only thing that you are going to be doing is depriving your body of the nutrients that it needs.
This, of course, is not a green light for overeating however, you have to be honest with yourself when it comes to the number of nutrients and vegetables that your body needs each day. So make sure that you pile your plate high with vegetables when you are on the Paleo Diet. Your portion of meat will be on the small side and you will fill in the gaps with nuts, seeds, healthy fats, and fruit.
