I'm honestly pretty happy to have taken that red pill. Going primal has opened up a brand new passion for me that encompasses health, (food) politics, and tons of new possibilities cooking-wise. Lacto ferments? Bone broths? hello!!

The only time I wish I didn't know is when I watch friends and family feed their babies and children horrific, glutenized, sugar-fied, trans-fatified garbage. There's something about watching someone unwittingly poison their offspring that just gives you the shivers. Especially when you can see the effects immediately.. hyperactivity, dark eye circles, rashes, etc.

Whenever I see other people my age just thoughtlessly stuffing whatever is easy/cheap/quick/convenient/delicious into their mouths, I envy their carefree attitude as I go back to considering the ethical and health implications of my choices and mentally planning how to fit being Paleo around having a social life.

Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on the "eat anything no consequences" phase of being young, and I wonder if I'll regret not having indulged once my metabolism has slowed down.

So do I sometimes feel that I should have taken the blue pill? Yes, but it passes quickly, and frankly I wouldn't trade feeling this good for anything!

EDIT: In short, I realise now that I miss my SAD attitude to food more than any actual SAD food.

I was thinking something like that last week, but I've since changed my mind. I went backpacking in Colorado over the weekend and hiked probably something close to 18 miles and 10,000 feet in elevation. Ate paleo the entire time thanks to Lara Bars and Primal Pacs.

Once I got back in Denver I when to Old Chicago and ordered a steak. Ended up eating a piece of my friends pizza and it all went "downhill" from there. I ordered some cheap ass cookie ice cream thing for dessert. Went to "taste of Denver" festival the next day and ate all sorts of crap (beer, margaritas, churros, nachos) went and played mini golf and ate two candy bars. Went to the movies and got ice cream afterwards. On the drive home I ate a burrito, two candy bars, ice cream and burgers.

And you know what, it was totally worth it. Besides being completely unhealthy it allowed me to understand that a slip up, hell two whole days of slip ups, aren't the end of the world.

The first day of being back home I ate a huge salad, worked out and then made some primal chili.

Everything is back to normal.

Not me. I wish I had heard of this sooner. I went my entire life (now 39yo, paleo for ~8mo) thinking you're supposed to feel bloated and gross and tired after you eat.

Of course, I am also not militant about this. Most of the time I have no problem making my lunch and dinner and adhering to the concepts. I am also social, and will have a beer or two, and a bun with my burger at the tailgate. I'm standing up and a bunless burger gets messy. If I'm out at a restaurant I can get a bunless burger or a salad, or figure something out.

I guess what I am saying is that I am fitter, more confident, and a better person to be around since finding this lifestyle, and I'm not going to let the lifestyle itself get in the way of enjoying my new found life.

Paleo becomes increasingly convenient over time as you find little things you can do to tweak it. For example, every day I eat a large steak for lunch which is impossible to cook in the morning and would be annoying to have to cook one by one the night before, so I just grill 3-4 of them and refrigerate them and take one in a pyrex container with me to work. It's even easier than if I went to a fast food place.

Regarding its lack of mainstream popularity, keep in mind that 10,000 years is still a long time, even though we dismiss it from our evolutionary vantage point. We're telling people that most of what they eat isn't really food, so don't expect it to catch on immediately.

Additionally, I think we're going to need to iron out a lot more of the details and increase the signal:noise ratio so we can give people clearer advice on things like weight loss.

Absolutely no regrets. The opposite, in fact. And last Sunday, I was positively gloating! I am 59, my partner 63. We had lunch with 4 slightly older friends who we have known 20 plus years.

And they were all discussing their ailments, their medications; one even said how boring not to be able to drink because of the pills! And there were my partner and I, the only two on no medication at all, the only two who were slim and feeling really vibrantly well - the only two well enough to have TOO MUCH champagne!

The best moment was during a "blood pressure discussion" - 3 of the 4 have BP pills - and I was asked if I happen to know what my BP was. When I said that it was usually around 110 / 75 they were amazed - just couldn't believe that simply not eating grains, or seed oils (I abbreviated things slightly!) could have such a profound effect on health.

But I am so glad to have found it. Thanks to all who have been posting and enabled me to find this amazing way of life.

No regrets, I don't believe in them anyway. Living the paleo lifestyle has never crated issues for me nor will it ever. How/what I eat are no one else's business, my lifestyle is not either. I do not care if everyone around me is eating pizza and swilling beer I will eat & drink what I want to, I do not life my life based on other people's thoughts. I am a free, carnivorous animal. If people around me object they can kiss my tight, muscular, low body fat, normal blood sugar, low blood pressure, high energy, high stamina butt.

I do not miss any SAD food, never have cravings. Life for me is simple and so is my food, low stress. Food shopping is easy, cooking is straight forward.

It is frustrating sometimes, to be hungry and open the fridge and look in the cabinets and not have anything there I want to eat. Or to be in an airport and walk past 10 "restaurants" and not see a thing that I want to put in my mouth. Totally hear you there.

But the simple Paleo diet plan has transformed my health, so what can you do. Maybe I need to find a place where I can buy 10 pounds of grass-fed beef jerky and keep stashes of it all over.

I'm glad I stumbled upon paleo. I wish the current American dietary guidelines (CW) didn't exist and that paleo was the norm.

Its pretty inconvenient to eat paleo sometimes and I can only imagine how much harder it is if your low carb, so yes to an extent I do.

At the same time I would never give up the health benefits.

Is eating Paleo more inconvenient & PITA than eating SAD? Without a doubt.

But it is like having taken the red pill, you are now "in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

Not me. I felt like crap every single day when I ate 'whatever I wanted' (while working in an Italian restaurant no less).

That said I am hardly strict "paleo". I eat dairy, white rice, corn tortillas, potatoes, hummus, smallish servings of other beans when the mood strikes, and am not afraid of sugar - milk chocolate, cheesecake, creme brulee, and other grain-free or mostly-so desserts are a regular treat. I drink coffee or tea every day, and alcohol (not beer tho, not worth it) on a fairly regular basis.

What is it that I'm missing out on again? I feel like I eat much tastier food, as well as more nutrients and less anti-nutrients, than anyone else I know.

No, because this is a case where ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is pain. I haven't had an eat-anything/no-consequences phase, maybe ever. I was a small child and went to bed with a queasy feeling in my gut every single night, and it just got worse from there. Can't say I'm fixed yet after six months of Paleo, but I now have hope that I can be.

And Chase, there are pro athletes and celebs in the Paleo way, but you don't hear about them because the journalist/editor/censor/fact-checker chain isn't on board to serve this news to you.

Meat is so delicious that I don't care about this at all. When I feel like cheating, I just think about the meat I can eat and I'm happy again.

Paleo made me feel better about myself : I always felt fat and stupid while eating potato chips, and I felt like I was wasting my life. Now I found "the way", and I'm not looking back.

It may be a bit weird, but paleo is a religion for me, and you don't see many christians "cheating", do you (eg. by turning into a muslim for one day)?

Tough question. I reckon gluten free would have helped with the inflammation to some extent anyway, and other than that it's mostly the weight loss and associated factors that keep me paleo. But really, much less inflammation, serious reduction in acne, an excuse to eat lots of red meat and butter, and significant reduction in flatulence all make it pretty worthwhile.

Of course it'd be nice to eat ice cream and chips and candy with impunity, but nobody can do that. You always pay the piper.

Yes, because I've always had an ethical issue with eating animals. Because of that, I was vegetarian/vegan for 20 years. Tho I was happy I wasn't contributing to the killing animals, this way of eating made me pudgy, gave me skin rashes and in general was not working. I've been eating paleo/primal for a while now and at age 61 my skin, hair and body are very happy. This way of eating agrees with me. I will always be ethically conflicted tho.

Although I know what you mean, because I had similar thoughts (but not that heavy). Now I'm over it, and don't really think about it.

My thoughts were more: 'why isn't everybody else paleo, that would be much easier?'

Because, let's be honest, for me, somebody with no particular health problems, following a paleo diet is easy.

Except for the social difficulties.

I would say no, never even considered it. I don’t get all stressed out by occasionally cheating (mainly only at restaurants), and I prepare most of my food for the week ahead of time so I don’t really feel inconvenienced. But my idea of “paleo” has always evolved and is constantly evolving. I eat rice now, so technically I am not even “paleo”.

I was a vegetarian for 10 years! Ha! I've been back on meat steady since 2003 or longer. I do eat cheese, but try a pizza full of toppings with a fork. Scrape it off the crust and throw the crust away. You can do it if the socializing is worth it. I've ready some of the other posts above. Cheat sometimes.

Thanks for throwing this question out here. I think it's an important one. Ignorance is certainly bliss and sometimes a big bowl of beans and cornbread sound awesome in the winter. I will probably actually indulge here and there in such things. Those are the foods I personally miss, not candy bars and other sweets. However, I am far healthier after having been Paleo for the last two years than I was when I was eating oatmeal and peanut butter every morning for breakfast and snacking on whole grain, high protein cereal and not being able to recall the last time I had eaten a steak.

Every decision in life has its pros and cons. In the case of choosing Paleo, the pros have far outweighed the cons for me.

I am so glad I found Paleo. No regrets whatsoever. I suspect a lot of us no so young Paleos (I'm 52) feel this way, because chronic annoying health problems start getting more insistent the older one gets. I wasn't over weight, but gerd, insomnia, borderline high blood pressure and chronic headaches are no longer making my life miserable. Sure, I have to socialize a lot, but I don't make any apologies for not eating everything on offer. If someone wants to know why, I tell them, but I don't make a fuss about it.

I never had a sweet tooth and think bread and potatoes are overrated. I have always loved meat, cheese, and salads so I love that I found Paleo/Primal. I am not going to say that I have always been glad though. Sometimes when it comes to eating out and drinking alcohol I tend to think that "...ignorance is bliss..." but hey, it isn't a religion and I am just practicing (for 15 years because I always come back to it) anyway.

I am 21 and understand where the OP is coming from. I would not give up this lifestyle and am absolutely happy I found it. What I have learned from reading your answers is that in many ways cheating a little to go out with friend or be more social has more benefits than staying strict 24/7. When I say cheating I usually mean eating meat at a restaurant cooked in veggie oil or eating a salad with subpar dressing but even if it means eating a sandwich once in a while I can see why it would be worthwhile. The advantages of not cheating even once in a whole month are outweighed by the advantages of not stressing about it and enjoying your time out with family and friends. Nice reading your answers and nice to know that this is a lifestyle that condones chilling out. : ).

Paleo is more difficult, but it definitely is better in a lot of ways vs. my living with the SAD

1. Meal planning/cooking means I have to think ahead and shop in advance, which is not really a bad thing (less trips to the grocery store)
2. Cooking my own food is really a lot cheaper than eating out or buying fast food (which I might be tempted to otherwise) Despite the somewhat higher price of some paleo food, it really does equal out (or come out actually a lot cheaper in my case)
3. When eating out, eliminating a lot of the choices on the menu helps in terms of alleviating decision fatigue.
4. By eating Paleo, I'm getting a lot of nutrient dense foods. In essence, it's the best bang for your buck - no grain or soy fillers, and the best absorption of nutrients.
5. By eating Paleo, I don't get as sick as often as I used to due to cold and flu viruses. Great for when taking a sick day means rescheduling a dozen patients.
6. By eating Paleo, I have more control over my eating schedule. Due to my line of work, that's a great thing. If I need to skip lunch, I can. If I need to eat dinner later, I can. I'm not dying of hunger or snapping at people because I didn't get my sugar fix.
7. I find when eating Paleo that I am much more enthusiastic and able to focus on my professional life without having that awful insulin crash after eating.
8. Last, and most importantly, discovering the Paleo diet/lifestyle has opened me up towards taking a different/alternative approach towards my own personal health, diet, and the way I view science and evidence based research in general. Reading up on diet has really helped me sharpen my analytical skils and make reading journals FUN and interesting. Going paleo has been one of the most inspiring and powerful decisions that I have made in my life, and I am applying the same principle (Research, ask questions, do more research, experiment with n=1, do more research and record results) to everything from healing cavities to enhancing my social interactions with others to figuring out what is science and what is bullshit regarding growing tomatoes. Most of the things I've done in life that were meaningful required quite a bit of effort and time and falling off the bandwagon multiple times. I would encourage you to see the effort as something productive, something helping you to be a better version of yourself, and less as a chore or a handicap. After all, the person you are doing Paleo for mainly is yourself!!

The idea of eating food that our body is better able to utilize doesn't have much of a downside to me. I was always on the path toward "paleo", I just didn't have the knowledge necessary to eat healthy. The only downside I have noticed is that I'm a bit more of a food snob (this is a social problem, not a personal problem). And I'd consider myself rather liberal on food choices for myself and others, but others perceive your knowledge of food to be snobbish regardless.

Not me. I've spent my entire life with stomach aches and weight issues and heartburn and headaches... I don't miss that at all!

My 14 year old once wished that we hadn't gone paleo, because before we did he could eat grains and not get a bellyache.

The longer we eat paleo the more bothered we are when we do eat grains and veggie oil.

BUT he stopped saying that, now he feels sorry for those other people who do not eat paleo because our food is so much more tasty and flavorful and filling than theirs.

we will never go back to SAD.

I love it. I started Paleo for weight-loss and found something more important - control. Not to say I don't have my cheats, I do. But before Paleo I was like a junkie with carbs, never satisfied and always scrambling for my next fix.

Nope- I was SUPER sick. I found out I have celiac and I've felt AWESOME ever since.

Problem is, when I cheat on paleo, I go on a carb binge with the family over the holidays and because of the celiac, I sometimes feel it for a week or two. There's no small cheat. Even if I eat rice!

-Kara 21 y/o female

I've often wondered what it would be like waking up one day and not caring the least about what I eat and just live happily with that.

I've always been lean despite eating to my heart's content and only having very minor symptoms of autoimmune diseases so in that sense I didn't have the big incentive to change my eating habits other than I wanted to try it out.