Perfect Paleo? Naaaah..... Just start with the basics!

I was having a conversation yesterday with someone asking me about Paleo and there were 2 interesting takeaways from the conversation:

1.  The Paleo Diet promotes Grass Fed Beef and "Organically" raised animals.... What about that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet

My response was I'm not gonna pay $12 / lb for meat just to get Grass Fed or Organic or whatever.....

I shop at HEB which is the cheapest place in town for everything I buy.... even cheaper than Walmart.

As I have stated many times before, I buy 4 basic meats and then add in other lean, nutritious meats when they become available at a reasonable price.

1. Holmes Pork and Venison Sausage - - $3.98 for a 16 oz package:  http://www.holmessmokehouse.com/products/sausages/pork-a-venison 
2. HEB  Jalapeno Seasoned Thin Cut Chicken Breast - $4 / lb  http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=530A444E-9081-647B-4861-AEEB8AD07655
3. HEB BBQ Seasoned Rib Eye Cut Pork Chops - $3.77 / lb  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/heb-simply-seasoned-texas-style-boneless-pork-ribeye-chops-99419586
4. Jennie-O Ground Turkey Breast - $5.98 for a 20 oz package       http://www.jennieo.com/products/3-Extra-Lean-Ground-Turkey-Breast

When I find Beef Ribeyes on sale - < $5 / lb, I"ll buy enough for 4 - 6 meals  http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-beef-rib-eye-small-end-i13098

I've also recently bought some Ahi Tuna on sale at HEB - $5 for 12 oz  http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-fish-tuna-fresh-yellowfin-ahi-i172863

So the average cost is about $4.62 / lb for my proteins.

2.  The second point was that the guy I was talking to said "There's no way I could do Paleo.... it's too expensive"..... which brings me back to the point I made above.

Don't get caught up in the details..... Yes - if you have easy and affordable access to lean, "grass fed" or "free range" meat, by all means, take advantage of it.

My personal preference for "free range" meat is feral hog and wild venison. IMHO, these are the absolute best Paleo meats, so if you're a hunter, you got the Paleo Meat thing by the ying yang.  I used to hunt a lot... killed feral pigs off a local lease and it is hands down the best meat I have ever eaten.  I got out of the hunting thing 7 - 8 years ago and the only thing I regret from that is not having the fresh wild meat all the time.

Second choice for buying affordable grass fed meat is to contact local ranchers or a local butcher who sells to the public and just buy an entire cow or half a cow or go in with someone to do that and you can probably get it for a $/lb cost that gets close to the Non-Organic meat cost in the store.

Point is.... don't get caught up in the details of the Paleo diet.... in another words, don't quit before you even start because you can't get grass fed or organic meats or veggies..... just buy good quality "standard" meats and veggies at an affordable store like HEB and press on.

In another words, get started.

You will be so much better off than what you were doing before, after a couple of weeks you'll "get it" and realize the "grass fed" thing is no big deal.

Final point - I can tell you I have tracked my grocery costs for 3 years straight.... every receipt cost goes into an Excel sheet and here's what I've found.

Since going to my "Not Quite Perfect Paleo", i.e. Non-Organic Paleo, my grocery costs are 20% LESS than they were when I was eating all the regular shit like Milk, Cheese, Bread, Pasta, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Rice, Sweets, etc.

Yes - I said a Paleo Diet using standard meats, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts COSTS LESS than the belt busting, artery clogging diet most people eat.

So quit using any excuse you can find to NOT do Paleo.... and just get on with it.

You'll be glad you did.