Posted by
Jennie on Feb 14, 2012 in
Interview Series |
4 comments
There are so many bloggers, writers, and smart “paleo-people” out there! I thought it might be fun to ask some of them a few questions to see what is going on in their “neck of the woods.” I am hoping to make this a weekly element on my website… If you are a blogger, and would like to be featured on EasyPaleo.com, be sure to comment on this post so I can contact you.
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This week we’re talking with
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I found these guys as I was browsing for Paleo Pages on Facebook. I was immediately impressed by how consistent they are with their Paleo life, even with three busy boys. The biggest excuse I hear from people who are on the fence about going 100% Paleo is “but I have kids!” Well, that excuse is no longer valid. Check out this interview with Paleo Parents, Matt and Stacy, and be sure to check out their website and Facebook page too!
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Easy Paleo: Tell us a little about yourselves…
We are Stacy and Matt, the Paleo Parents, and we chronicle our experiences with paleo and with our 3 young children (all active boys!) on our blog at PaleoParents.com. In many ways, we’re fairly typical suburban parents with a few twists. First off, we managed to switch our entire family away from a typical American diet and to a grain-free, legume-free, dairy-free and refined-sugar-free diet. The result of that has been increased health and well being. Our kids no longer have many healthy ailments, and we have lost 200lbs with solving life-long chronic health issues. The second thing that makes us a little different is that Matt is the one who stays home and Stacy is the one who brings home the bacon, so to speak.
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Easy Paleo: Tell us your Paleo story/stories…
After every pregnancy, Stacy has had to give up dairy or else our babies have had serious gas issues for the first 6 months of their lives. Just before our third son was born, while looking up dairy-free recipes, Stacy stumbled on the term “paleo diet.” Curious, she did some research. Within a few days, she had tossed out most of the food in the pantry and had committed to changing her health. Before the first month was up, Matt saw how much success she was having and jumped on board as well. That was 21 months ago. Since then, we’ve lost 200 pounds, cleared up depression, allergies, symptoms of ADD, and much more. Our kids, too, have benefited, resolving excema, asthma, ADD, and behavioral issues.
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Easy Paleo: Tell us about your book!
After all the changes that happened in our family, we really wanted to share it with the world. We thought that children, in particular, could benefit the most, but would also be the hardest to convince. Cole, our oldest, was a big inspiration to us. He really embraced healthy eating once we were able to explain it to him. We thought, why not write a book for him?
That’s where the idea of eating like a dinosaur came in. It’s simple to explain to a child that “We will only be eating things a dinosaur could eat.” So we set about to write a book for kids on eating the paleo way. There’s an illustrated story in there, plus a lot of kid-friendly recipes and projects and, best of all, we wrote it for kids, not parents.
Click Here to watch the preview!
Easy Paleo: What is your favorite Paleo recipe/menu item?
We really enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and finding new and creative things to make. We love making egg muffins for breakfast, or our grain-free granola. For dinner, everyone freaks out about Brussels sprouts and hamburgers (with guacamole, of course!). In our book, we have some cool recipes for chick nuggets and Samoa cake balls that we’re really excited to share!
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Easy Paleo: Tell us a little about your website…
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We started our site just to chronicle our journey for the handful of friends who expressed interest. Somehow or another we’ve snowballed this thing into the wonderful community of readers we have today. Paleo has brought so much joy into our lives that we can’t help but share it with everyone. We write about our food, our family, our lives, anything that comes up! We hope it’s all interesting and helpful for any other family that is struggling to convert to real foods!
Easy Paleo: As parents, what has been your biggest Paleo obstacle, and how have you overcome it (or “how are you overcoming it?”)?
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At first, it was hard to get grandparents and others friends to respect how we wanted our children to eat. Cole would come how excited by all the junk food his grandpa got for him (and also driven bonkers by it!). Eventually, we had to be frank with all of them; “If you want the boys at their best, don’t feed them that stuff! They’ll stop behaving well AND they’ll be on the toilet all day!” After a few incidents, they were able to understand the profound correlation between food and behavior.
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Easy Paleo: What do you wish everyone knew about Paleo?
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You would not believe the far-reaching effects of changing your diet! Matt can now go off ADD medication because of Paleo. Stacy solved a decade-long issue she had with a high white blood cell count. One of the children stopped wetting the bed. Two of us had severe, can’t breathe, fever-inducing pet allergies every time we visited a family member who had large dogs. The first time we went after paleo? No reaction at all!
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Easy Paleo: What would you say to parents who use their kids as excuses to avoid jumping on the Paleo bandwagon themselves?
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You are the boss and your kids are unlikely to starve just because you present them meat and vegetables instead of pasta and cheese. It’s not okay to feed your kids food you know not to be healthy just because you’re afraid they won’t eat it! Keep presenting them with healthy food and eventually they’ll know you’re right!
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Easy Paleo: Paleo-eating does not have to be difficult… how do you make this lifestyle an easy element in your life?
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It’s been pretty simple for us, but only because we learned how to cook! It’s much easier than you think to learn the rudiments of cooking and we definitely recommend getting in touch with the “rules” and techniques of traditional cooking.
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Easy Paleo: How have you been able to make Paleo-eating a family affair?
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Our kids are in the kitchen just as much as we are! It’s always been important to us that the kids help us cook as much as possible. They always pull up a chair and help us prepare foods and cook it. We love it and always encourage them to help us!
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Easy Paleo: What are a few of your Paleo goals/resolutions for the new year?
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Keep on this journey and accept where ever it takes us!
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Love it! Thanks so much, Matt and Stacy! You two are definitely inspirations!
