There are several things you “give up” when you do Primal, but the one thing that causes the most trouble is grains. The American diet is entirely built around it. You only think meat is the centerpiece of your meal. It may be your starting point, but look at your plate when you eat next. What is the one thing you are never without?
Even salads are generally served with bread, crackers, or croutons.
And potatoes, really, are only a substitution for a grain. They serve the same purpose in a meal.
My meals always look to others like there’s something missing. I’ll have a heaping pile of vegetables, a generous (forget deck of card-size) serving of some kind of meat, maybe a bit of cheese, and some kind of non-floury sauce drizzled over the top. Jeff still cannot comprehend that a person can lose weight eating as I do. I don’t think he’ll really believe it until I drop quite a bit more.
“Trust you to find a diet you can pour bleu cheese dressing all over.”
But the thing that’s hardest is just finding things to eat in public. I am not supposed to be eating out of convenience stores because all that’s available is processed food, but when I’m caught without, and I’m hungry, I’ll make the best of a bad situation. I’ll get some cheese or some lunch meat or even, if I’m really desperate, a hot dog, and brave the nitrites rather than the carbs.
Because what else is there to eat in a convenience store that doesn’t have flour or sugar in it?
And when I take my bunless hot dog in the little tray to the counter, I get the look. You know, the sideways look with the smirk. And they ask, “Doing Atkins, huh?”
No, I am not doing Atkins, where I can eat nitrite-filled garbage, but no bun, as long as I keep within 20 grams of carbs or less, and things like cheese, carrots, and tomatoes are verboten.
And I just look down at my hot dog that I am not supposed to be eating, but am, because I was in too much of a hurry in the morning before driving 45 miles to work to fix myself a proper salad, and I know I’m going to pay for it later and say…..
“Yeah.”
Like Sunrise 
“Trust you to find a diet you can pour bleu cheese dressing all over.”
Best description of this lifestyle ever.
I didn’t realize Atkins cut out some veggies. Huh.
I have a small–okay, maybe not so small–addiction to bleu cheese. I’ll eat the crumbles right out of the container.
And yes, Atkins disallows any of the “starchy” veggies, and tomatoes have too much sugar. You are only allowed to consume 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. It works, and works well, because it puts you in a state of ketosis (which is not the same as the very dangerous ketoacidosis), but it also puts you in danger of malnutrition.