Meal plan help required (where's my calcium!)

[Mortimer]

I'm transitioning to full paleo(to cut body fat percentage) . Now I'm not a picky eater, and I'd eat anything and everything. 

 

Currently this weeks meals look like this:

 

Breakfast:

1 chilli tuna zucchini boat

330 ml of fortified almond milk with a teaspoon of cocoa powder and cinnamon powder added

300g okra stir fried with an onion, 0.25 tsb of rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil 

 

Lunch:

150g brocoli and cauliflower stir fried with ginger, onion, 35g sesame seeds 

40g hulled pumpkin seeds

90g chicken breast stir fried

50g chickpeas (will be removed next week) 

 

Dinner:

150g brocoli and cauliflower stir fried with ginger, onion

135g chicken breast stir fried 

 

Fruits for the day(as snacks) :

Kiwi/orange

An apple/a peach

 

8 zucchini boats are made out of the following:

230g canned chilli tuna 

230g French beans

120g carrot 

 

I think my diet is pretty squeaky clean, but the only problem is I have yellowish palms and soles of my feet! Which could be a vitamin A excess problem, but I don't seem to be peeling anywhere.  Technically I calculated things using Samsung health and there wasn't an excess. 

 

I do feel a little dirty having to rely on fortified almond milk for calcium, but again I don't see other sources of getting it(is eating canned sardines everyday a good idea?) 

 

And also how do I get the necessary nutrients without having yellow palms and feet? 

 

P. S, Im also a bit on a budget. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

I don’t know anything about turning yellow, but if you’re worried about calcium the cheapest source is Tums. Take vit. D with it to make sure it’s absorbed.

[Mortimer]

What is Tums? I'm also trying to do things all natural, as from the meal plan there are no supplements involved. 

 

Vitamin D... Eh my preferred way to get it probably would be to run up the hill near my office during lunch break ^^

 

Praise the sun! 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Ok. You don’t want Tums then; it’s an antacid.

I’ve never been Paleo, but it seems like the best way to get micronutrients on that diet is to consume organ meats and bone broth.

IIRC tripe has a fair amount of calcium and liver has a lot of vit. D. You should probably double check that though.

Good luck.

[Elastigirl]

Bone broth is good. Sardines with bones are great. Pumpkin seeds have calcium too. Not sure what would cause yellow hands and feet though.

[Mortimer]

I suspect my issue is due to carotemenia(did I eat too many vegetables?) 

 

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1104368-overview

 

The only sardines here are of the canned variety and if taken daily will there be issues of heavy metal poisoning? 

 

Also about tripe, yep I'd eat that as well happily but one reason I am trying a paleo switch is so my mom stops nagging you're eating too many beans wait till you get gout from high uric acid.

 

Well if you said I was eating too many beans, no beans you got it! 

[Defining]

Go chat with a dietitian to ensure that you're getting enough of ALL the nutrients you need, not just calcium. And I'd also recommend making an appointment with a GP ASAP for a blood panel & examination just to double check that the discolouration isn't a symptom of something more serious (eg. diabetes, renal or hepatic diseases, hypothyroidism, etc.).

 

Are you dairy-free? Milk proteins can offer some protection against gout, and cottage cheese (or even just straight up milk) is an easy/cheap protein option that would also add some calcium if you're worried about that (though I'm not sure why that particular nutrient has caught your attention?). Also, just as an aside, our bodies react differently to vegetable purines, so IMO I wouldn't worry about beans.

 

Going paleo won't help you lose fat in and of itself - that happens from a balanced hormonal environment, a caloric deficit, and sufficient protein intake (plus resistance training) to favour fat loss rather than WEIGHT loss (ie. losing muscle too).

[Mortimer]

My family does have a history of gout, so there is some cause to be alarmed. I'm trying to go dairy free(though yes, I enjoy milk + cheese(not blue! Or stinky!) as much as the next person). I read that the weaknesses of Paleo was the lack of calcium and vitamin D. Vitamin D is easy to fix, just run up that hill and back(no, I'm not racing up the hill at top speed, will take my own sweet time) , will give me 30 min under the noonday sun. 

 

I would be seriously upset if it was a diabetes issue since besides accidentally grabbing the sweetened almond milk instead of unsweetened(hey, they were the same colour and packaging), I've pretty much cut out sugar out of my life. OK fine... an occasional mooncake (one quarter this morning). 

 

I'll see if I can arrange for the blood tests, though me turning a little yellowish on the palms was a recent phenomenon, apparently I wasn't yellow last week so it could be the things I ate. 

 

I do strength train in the gym:

 

Days that I don't, I try to get 13 x 3 sets of push ups done and 30 burpees. 

 

[Mortimer]

I've come to report I'm no longer yellow! Yay! 

Apparently you can get issues eating too many greens. (But really, my case might have been a tad excessive - eating like 300g brocoli, 300g okra, 300g cauliflower in a day) 

 

I swopped out my brocolli for lotus root(yeah not the best idea because its a bit starchy - 61cals/100g),but oh well. Cauliflower and lotus root stir fry tastes even better then brocolli so I'm happy =)