We bet you’re wondering by the title how Paleo and Vegetarian can even be in the same sentence together.  You’re probably also looking at a pack of bacon and wondering: “Is this vegetarian”?  No my friends, bacon isn’t veggie friendly but (GASP!) a Paleo lifestyle is possible without meat!  We were actually snooping around the internet to see if such a thing existed (like unicorns!) when the nutrition Gods dropped a gift of Dena Harris’ book, The Paleo Vegetarian Diet: A Guide for Weight Loss and Healthy Living, to review.  Harris’, an endurance athlete, award winning humor writer, blogger and workshop presenter, explains how Paleo Vegetarianism is possible without deprivation.

Now, let’s preface this with a fun fact: Getting us to have the time to sit down and read a book is a miracle in itself given our time constraints.  Harris’ book, however, is an easy read and her funny conversational writing style makes you want to keep digesting the info even if you’re not sure you can swallow the idea of Paleo Vegetarianism.

Here are some book bites:

Benefits of Paleo Vegetarianism (PV)

Proponents of both meat and non meat Paleo lifestyles agree on the basic tenets of Paleo living.  At its’ core, a Paleo nutrition base includes encompassing oneself with whole foods while avoiding dairy, grains and legumes.  Such choices could lead to better sleep, reduced bloating, improved mood, weight loss and OH, the easiest guarantee, you will be eating a ton of vitamins from all your veggie love.

Levels of PV Commitment

In this section, Harris outlines all the different levels of vegetarianism and how this might affect your approach.  Vegetarians, vegans, and semi veg peeps, known as the only fish or only chicken eaters of the world, all have separate needs.  She also primes readers for what is typically part or not part of a PV lifestyle.

Adjust Your Mindset

Many reviewers note that Dena’s writing style is like sitting down and chatting with your friends which makes you more open to taking on her challenge.  She helps you along by providing universal advice regarding health choices and is realistic about the difficulties of ending bad habits.  One of our favorite tips was the idea of writing down how you feel before you eat as opposed to the common adage of writing down everything you eat.  This method can shed light on your “whys” for indulging and keep you aware IF you are actually hungry.  She also recommends an 80% Paleo Vegetarian/20% other principal so you don’t have to ban peanut butter forever just because it isn’t Paleo.  You just save it for you 20% of “Eat Whatcha Want” time.

Now, What to Make?

The book has a hefty section of recipes categorized into A typical categories like “Just Try It” and “Classic Standbys.”  Harris contends you can think outside the typical breakfast-lunch-dinner format and eat Paleo pancakes for dinner and salads for breakfast.  She’s also an advocate for the B@S: Big A@! Salad.  Here’s our first foray into Paleo Vegetarianism, a B@S with berries, avocado, sunflower seeds and veggies with olive oil drizzled on top.

Final Thoughts

While we haven’t surrounded ourselves with PV tenets just yet, we are certainly curious.  Harris does not come off as preachy or pre-judging and recommends you evaluate your current behaviors before jumping into your veggie crisper drawer and never looking back.  We like the flexibility of her methods and it’s simple to augment her directions with other supporting websites and PV recipes to tickle our food fancy.

Giveaway!

Now you can win your own copy of Dena Harris’ Paleo Vegetarian Diet book.  Enter with our rafflecopter giveaway from Monday June 29th – Monday July 6th to win!  Click here to enter the giveaway.