Hello Rebellion! Here is my story.

[Wamps]

Hello everyone, my name is Lindsay.

Two months ago, my husband was tested for food allergies. The Doc was so concerned for my husband, they were surprised he had lived so long without his food allergies being diagnosed and not causing serious harm. He has Celiac Disease (which means he cannot have gluten or wheat). He also cannot have corn, lettuce, tomatoes, yeast, dairy, eggs, soy, oranges, peanuts, and a few others that have slipped my mind. I think it is easy to remember what he can have, versus what he can't have. Anyways we learned two important things:

1.) Celiac Disease is more common than most people think. 1 out of 133 people in the US have Celiac Disease and don't even know it.

2.) Corn, Wheat and Soy are in everything!

The night we found out his test results, we got rid of everything in our kitchen and started all over. I actually spent over two hours in the grocery store once just reading labels. Even after multiple trips and hours at the store we are still learning and finding items we bought that he can't have. Those nutritional labels can be really tricky. Do you know all the different names or byproducts of corn? We didn't.

My husband seemed to have a better time adjusting after his first week. He finally came to the realization he CANNOT eat "crap" anymore. He basically has to follow a Paleo diet. This realization got him really excited. He remembered the article on NF about the Paleo diet and its benefits.

It still surprises me that it was food allergies and my husband's excitement that finally pushed me in the right direction. I was trying to be supportive for him, but I was having a really difficult time myself with all the changes. For him, he had no choice, I did. I could continue eating processed foods and drinking Dr. Pepper (I think DP is a gateway drug). But watching my husband get really excited about this program helped... a lot. I did not really commit to the life style change until a couple weeks ago. I can tell a huge difference already. I have gained a new positive attitude. This is not a diet, it really is a lifestyle change.

[Gowaduv]

Welcome to the Rebellion, and the Paleo club There are a couple places on this board that cater to the carnivore. Also, agreed that Dr P (and cheetos) are the road to ruin

[Crooked]

Welcome to the forum! I think you will find it is a very helpful place for people new to the paleo diet - I certainly have!

Here are some websites with paleo recipes for you and your husband to experiment with:

http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/category/recipes/

http://www.chowstalker.com/ — this one has a lot of variety, but they don't require recipes to be strictly paleo, so you have to check the ingredients more carefully (there's also a dessertstalker.com with a lot of paleo-friendly desserts; paleo isn't just about giving things up - you can also play with it!)

http://www.civilizedcavemancooking.com/

http://everydaypaleo.com/ — she just came out with a book, which I'm considering buying

Mark Sisson also has a lot of recipes, but his website is more difficult to navigate. He is also primal, not paleo, so his recipes might be a bit more lax:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

[Wamps]

Thanks for the links! I will have to check them out during some free time. I'm a big fan of Mark Sisson. We purchased his cookbook and it has been a game changer! No more boring chicken, brown rice and veggies for every meal, each day of the week. I'm starting to get a little more daring and make my own changes to some of his recipes!

[Brometheus]

Dang...that's a lot of allergies. Sorry to hear that, but good luck on the journey

Just an FYI, white and brown rice can be problematic for people w/celiac, since it cross-reacts with gluten...along with a bunch of others: http://paleohacks.com/questions/46162/gluten-cross-reactivity#axzz1PqBbzXKX http://tread-miller.blogspot.com/2011/02/gluten-cross-reactivity.html

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Welcome to the Rebellion and the paleo lifestyle! You will find a lot of paleos around here (including myself). I have never felt better since dropping the grains.