In any diet plan, no matter how simple and easy as it may seem, it is never without its challenges. The Paleo lifestyle is no exception to all of this and the transition to this lifestyle can tend to get rocky. While its ideology is so basic and simple to follow, anyone who is new to this plan will always encounter some challenges. The principles of the Paleo diet may seem easy theoretically but once you actually start to incorporate it in your daily routine, that is the time when the real problems will start to arise. The Paleo diet has many challenges to its beginner followers and the greatest problem of which is the inability to run into the nearest gas station or a favorite fast food chain when you need a convenient bite to eat. This is the first major obstacle one must get accustomed and overcome it.

In this fast-paced and modern time, convenience is a luxury that almost all of us are willing to spend money, time, effort, and even our health just to have this. But once you go Paleo, you need to let go of this luxury. You’ll be eliminating processed foods and for some people, that takes away a lot of the convenience and requires much more food preparation than they’re used to. The enemy here is time constraint. Many individuals don’t have all the time in their lives to get in the kitchen and cook a Paleo meal. This can be solved by allotting a certain time or day each week when you can prepare your meals ahead of time. You can also make a journal or to-do list of all your preparations and list of ingredients, so that you can save yourself from the hassle of deciding which meal to cook or ingredient to buy all the time. This also saves up a lot of time. All your meals for the week must be cooked ahead of time, and then placed in the fridge until they can be eaten. If you have leftovers, you can store them back in the fridge and eat them up again the next day so as not to waste any food you made. This can be very helpful for busy working individuals who are not at home most of the day or those who don’t have ample time enough to cook up something.

 

The next obstacle one must overcome is the budget. This diet can actually cause you to increase your food budget. Let’s face it, the processed foods that aren’t allowed on this plan tend to be much cheaper than organic or grass-fed products. Since the Paleo is rooted on unprocessed and high-quality food, you can’t expect to have your budget stay the same as your old lifestyle. You need to adjust your budget or your shopping list before you go to the grocery. You could also make a weekly menu ahead so that you can have your list of ingredients ahead when you make a visit to the market. You can also look out for sale and promos in your local grocery or you can directly ask your local farm to give you discounts for their fresh goods. It is also important to buy only what you need for each week rather than stocking up because chances are, those goods will only go bad quickly.

Lastly, keeping true to the Paleo diet can prove to be a real obstacle because of so many temptations surrounding us every day. You see temptations almost in everywhere, in some television ad about the latest soda drink, the Instagram food blogs you follow, or in the Facebook post of your friend dining at the recently opened fast food chain on your street. The best way to stay focused and stay on track in the Paleo lifestyle is to get rid of everything non-Paleo out of your kitchen, and out of your social media following. The thing is, social media nowadays is like a gateway to all temptations out there, which is why it is adviced to tone down social media a bit and focus more on the real life, like how you can focus on Paleo more or try to learn how to make your very own Paleo meal. Keeping on track can be very hard to achieve but if you have the right mindset, anything could be possible.

But as you get past the first month or two of the program, those temptations become fewer. Despite all the obstacles and challenges the Paleo have in store for you, its fruit is still sweet.  You’ll find that you get that investment back in good health and fewer medical bills. People who had gone a long way with Paleo find that their weight have dropped and they have reached their prime state of health. The Paleo benefits do outweigh its challenges and it is only up to you to face them head-on or turn back to your old lifestyle. No matter what the challenge is, careful planning can help you have a better experience with getting started and with sticking to the program.