Preparing real food is not always easy. It is a lot easier and less boring to buy that brownie mix. According to many folks, one of the advantages of a paleo diet is the reduced food rewad relative to many modern processed foods, so there should not be a surprise here.

Effort is required. However, you can mix it up with spices and garnishes.

The choice is yours though: eat real food, be healthy or eat processed food and lose your health over time.

Are you motivated to make the lifestyle change required, or is this just a phase for you?

Just my 2cents, but try not think of this being a diet but consider it a life style change. I know it's easier said than done. However, usually when people look at it as a diet they usually get caught up on the food and not making it a part of their regular routine. I'm just sayin'.

Peace

First off, it's a diet and a complete lifestyle change and such things just take some motivation and adaptation, and the first couple of weeks are the hardest. You don't really know what you can and cannot eat yet, you don't really know how to prepare delicious paleo dishes yet; it's just a lifestyle change that takes time to become a routine. Give it some time, that's all I can say for now.

May I ask you why you did start with the diet/lifestyle change in the first place? It might help in order to give you some further advice.

Good luck :)

In my opinion, food is meant as gas in the tank, not as pleasure stimulating treats. I mean, I love my occasional indulgences (all you can eat steak BBQ), but I digress.

I think modern times have given us conveniences and access to foods that we've never had, and tastes and additives that over stimulate our senses, such that we have come to expect food to entertain us, instead of simply nourish us. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure Grok had a lot more trouble preparing meals than any of us do, paleo or otherwise.

Decide whether you want to continue to view food as sense-entertainment, or nourishment, and set fourth determinedly to stick to the appropriate plan of action.

The longer you eat real food, the more appealing it gets, and the less over-concerned you will be with variety.

Anyway, my two cents.

Have you tried slow cooking meats and veg with lots of good herbs and spices? I find this and using the resultant broth as a soup and stock to be really tasty. Also, maybe a strict paleo diet is not right for you to begin with - adding dairy back in would give more variety. Cheese, cream, dark choc, full fat greek yogurt etc. Most people find it difficult to be 100% paleo straight away, don't get too despondent! The benefits are truly worth it.

Another idea might be to look at the cuisines of other cultures, and pick the paleo bits like indian and tandoori chicken. Good luck!

Sounds like you need some culinary inspiration! Going Paleo has for me ignited a long-gestated passion for food and cooking. I'm loving learning new ways to cook and combine. I like the following sites for inspiration

http://paleomg.com/

http://www.health-bent.com/

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/

This is not a diet

I might add that since this I considered this a 'lifestyle change' and not a diet, I did make the investment into Well Fed (Mel Joulwan's paleo cookbook) and plan on getting a few more. While I work long hours and am unable to cook a full on sit down meal every night, I find that I can make a few of these meals a week to break up the old salad routine. It keeps me from getting bored with my food.

Also (sorry Animaleater), but I don't consider food to be gas in the tank. I still love to cook and enjoy eating and I will not allow paleo to get in the way of that. Just because it is limited what we can eat, does not mean it has to be boring, it just means you have to find other ways to add excitement to your food whether through spices, or coconut aminos, or trying a wider variety of veggies and proteins!

Coconut milk curry sauces, yummo!

Food is fuel. Not entertainment. See also: I'm not french.

It's called addiction.

Just about every addict who goes off their preferred substance quickly starts claiming they're "bored." But they're not bored--they're restless and anxious because they aren't getting their fix. And your preferred substance? Carby "comfort" food that requires minimal thought and preparation. You're craving oatmeal and honey? Yep--grains and sugar.

Paleo is not a bland diet, unless you make it one. If you've been "cooking" with lots of processed foods, you probably don't know how to use spices very well. If you're going to stay paleo, and enjoy a lot of variety, you'll have to learn how. Adapting your cooking techniques and learning new ones is part of this--paleo isn't convenience food.

You don't have to love cooking--I don't. I tend to cook very quick, simple meals, or else I cook a lot of one thing and live off it for a few days. But I'm motivated to cook, despite not really wanting to, because I know that what I'm cooking is helping me improve my health (and lose weight).

Look, you're undergoing a lot of changes right now. Physiologically, your body is craving what you've always fueled it with, which makes paleo foods seem unappealing. You're giving it fat and protein, when what it's used to getting are carbs, and since it hasn't yet keto-adapted, it's going to raise a stink until it does. Mentally, you're having to adapt to the practical demands of eating a different way, which means you can't fall back into easy old habits or "comfort" foods. And all of this is perfectly normal, by the way.

Deciding to make a huge change is one thing; getting past all the internal resistance you throw in your own path and making the change stick is another. Think of all the people who go on diets, or get gym memberships in January--then end up back to their old habits by mid-February. Changing habits is hard. We resist the hell out of it. But the only way to do it is to keep pushing through, keep re-committing to the desire to change even when, at any given moment, you hate what you're doing and want to quit.

So, that said, why are you doing paleo? Do you have a powerful motivator that you can use to get past the "boredom" with the food and your dislike of cooking? Is there a reason you're doing it low-carb? Paleo is not necessarily a low-carb diet, after all, and if you're having a hard time adjusting maybe adding some root vegetables and tubers would help.

You're five days in, and usually the first week to 10 days are the crappiest time, especially if you're doing low-carb. Stick it out, and you'll get over the hump and it will get a LOT easier. But for now, understand that your "boredom" is addiction talking. And not just to the foods you're no longer eating, but your old ways of doing things, as well.

Are you missing what you usually ate, do you think that could be at the core of this?

There is so much variety in the paleo diet, it should not have to be boring.

How are you cooking your vegetables? Eating them raw can be a chore, but they are delicious cooked along with a bit of meat or fish. Or blended with fruit in a smoothie.

Also be careful to vary your foods, so that "eggs and veggies" are not always the same combination.

I second the paleomg recommendation. I love the recipes on that site. I've made the pumpkin cashew chicken several times. It's very good.

I've been eating paleo since February and I've had several ups and downs. I remember feeling bored at times too. Sometimes a sandwich seems so much more interesting (and easier!) than a piece of meat. I'd recommend visiting a health food store for some inspiration. See what you can find there that sparks your interest. You could also get a paleo cookbook and try out some new recipes. I have the Everyday Paleo cookbook, which I really like. Another recipe I love is Ina Garten's "perfect roast chicken." You can google it, it's delicious and really easy.

I find I am the most bored when I worry too much about what I'm eating. Limiting carbs and eliminating fruits and nuts just isn't for me. I've gotten really bored when I did that.

Sounds like you are craving carbs rather than really bored. Paleo food is full of flavor if prepared right, especially compared to what I would call bland food like oats.

Once you get a few more weeks in, so long as you are eating enough, the carb cravings will diminish. Make sure you are eating enough calories with a food diary like cronometer.

Coconut milk curry sauces are one easy way to add lots of fat and flavor fast. When you eat, concentrate on appreciating the new flavors. Make sure you are cooking with lots of seasonings and fresh food. I've found that shopping for my food at the local farmers market really helps with an appreciation of the beauty and flavors of fresh foods.

oats and honey?! now, that sounds boring! I can see where you are coming from, in the beginning, before I learned more about how to cook food (because of eating this way) and got more creative with it, it got pretty boring for me too. Slab of meat, bland veggies, and maybe a piece of fruit. Now my strategy is generally: Ok, I have this slab of meat, what can I do with it that is tasty and interesting? Then I look up some paleo recipes for that particular slab of meat (or vegetable, whatever). I even look on non-paleo recipes to get ideas then just throw out anything that doesn't jive. After a bit, you start to build a database of stuff you can do with food and an intuition of flavors that might taste neat together. (I've had some failed experiments as well, but many successful) I post just about everything I eat on a facebook page, Sabretooth and Claw, which could give you an idea of what a regular non talented chef type person eats on a daily basis.

Where I can see where you are coming from is the preparation. I get kind of bogged down sometimes too in cooking every meal I eat, and probably even more so, in having to wash a sink full of dishes and clean up a mess in the kitchen every time I eat (I'm a messy cook). BUT, I certainly have the energy for it and feeling so great in the end makes it worth it. Also, the longer you stick with it and the healthier you get you will probably find you don't have to eat quite as many times a day. I pretty much eat 2 times a day max, sometimes just once and maybe a piece of fruit in there as a snack. So all the work starts to diminish a bit. I've been using it less and less, but a slow cooker also comes in handy when all the prep time and cooking time has got you down. Throw some meat and a bunch of veggies in there before you go to bed and you've got a ready made meal (or 2 or 3 or 4) by morning. I find this particularly helpful when classes are in (college student).

You are only through ONE WEEK, you are probably still having cravings for SAD foods and that is making your current meals seem less than stellar. I'm about a week into a Whole30 challenge right now and I want ice cream so bad I could scream (dairy?) but I feel AWESOME so I'm not gonna eat it cuz I know it upsets my tummy. If you were a recovering crack addict really giving it a go this time, you would still be craving crack, and even though your life and health were greatly improved being off crack, you would still be jonesing for it. And I agree with everyone else, Paleo is a lifestyle, not a diet. Maybe we should stop referring to it as a diet at all. There is so much more besides food that is a part of it for most people (exercise, barefooting, sunlight exposure, sleep, etc.). Eat awesome food but don't focus on it so much, focus on how you feel and what you are able to do because of the food.

And as far as the oats and honey, I know there are some recipes for Paleo "oatmeal" type stuff made with nuts and whatnot that you could add some raw honey too. Maybe that would be a way to satisfy your craving a bit with something Paleo.

I was a foodie before paleo and I'm a foodie now. The only thing that's changed is what goes into my meals. For me, food is a passion and I find the oft-repeated "food is just fuel" to be an extremely depressing outlook. But that's just my opinion. I love to cook. You know what they say, you are what you eat. Food is only as exciting as the effort you put into it. Boring cook = boring food.

There are plenty of paleo cooking resources already listed here but I haven't seen nomompaleo yet and it's awesome!

Undoubtedly, changing your lifestyle is a challenge, and I commend you on making the first steps into leading a paleo lifestyle.

But if your struggling after one week, I think it shows that you haven't sat down and thought about how this is going to make a positive impact on your life. If you had, you would be more focused and driven to reaching a goal.

Setting goals is a key part of changing lifestyle, so if you haven't already its something that is a must. A good goal would be something along the lines of “Today is June 13th and I am X% bodyfat. On August 13th, I am going to be Y% bodyfat. I will do this by following a paleo lifestyle and by training with a periodised progressive resistance program”. I would also point you in the direction of one of my favourite articles by Charles Poliquin - The Myth Of Discipline http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/161/The_Myth_of_Discipline.aspx

I struggled for a bit as well, but once I realized how much paleo-friendly food was out there, things got much better. If you tolerate dairy, adding cheeses into meals can really help add variety into things. Look into some old French/Mediterranean cook books (Julia Childs is a good source) for inspiration. Lots of quality fats, tasty sauces (cream based in many cases), and a good amount of organ meats.

If you live alone, Judith Jones' "The pleasure of cooking for one" is a pretty good resource. It is less a cook book (although it does have recipes) and more of a guide to cycling foods into multiple meals. The upshot is that it helps you plan your meals, reduce cooking time (due to reusing stuff), and cut back on food waste. She was Childs' editor, so most of the stuff in her book is French/Mediterranean as well.

FWIW, Mushroom cream sauces on chicken, turkey hash, soups, etc are far from boring. People just are not used to cooking/eating in the older tradition. You are removing grains, legumes, and processed sugars; you are leaving everything else (which is a MASSIVE amount of food). It takes me 30-60 mins to prepare basically any dinner (depending on baking times). You'll spend almost that much time driving to a place, finding parking, ordering, etc; so food prep really doesn't take much longer in the paleo sphere.

I'm think a lot about Paleo because like everyone else, have realized that it alone is more powerful than all other strategies to getting the health we want. We are all dissapointed when it doesn't make us completely how we want to be, however, it's still justifiable to be fixated on because, cmon, what else does a better job than paleo?