“Don’t ever take the fence down until you know the reason why it was put up.” — G.K. Chesterton
A Further Comparison. My big Comparison of 4HB Slow Carb, Atkins, Paleo, and Primal diets the other day, combined with my plan to being Mark Sisson’s 21-Day Primal Transformation with the New Year, has led me to read more about the Primal program. (Yeah, yeah, I know: whodathunkit?!?)
Anyway, as I get deeper into studying this program, I am noticing that Primal seems to be a “go natural” version of Atkins.
- The emphasis on reducing carbs is there.
- The emphasis on adding protein and fat is there.
- Dairy is allowed in moderation.
- Beans are strongly discouraged.
The big differences I see are:
- Atkins stresses low-carb almost to the exclusion of any other consideration. Bread? Fine . . . if it’s low carb. Sweets? Cool . . . if they’re low carb. Artificial sweeteners / sugar alcohols? OK . . . if they don’t have carbs.
- Primal stresses the natural / few ingredients / no chemicals / pastured / grass-fed / hormone-free / free range / organic aspects of food and encourages paying a bit more for these attributes.
- Atkins suggests a “standard 3 meals + 2 snacks” meal timing. Primal says “eat when you are hungry, schedules be damned.”
- Primal allows for more carbs than Atkins does as a general rule (even after you’ve reached Phase 4, Maintenance).
- Primal stresses exercise as part of the program while Atkins sticks mainly diet advice (with a compulsory nod to “yeah, um, do some exercise because, um, it’s good for you and stuff”).
- Primal allows limited, proper fruits whereas Atkins avoids them all until later in the plan.
All in all, very similar approaches with a slight shift on emphasis.
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Salad. I’ve taken to making my one big meal of the day a really big salad + a big hunk of meat (3/4 pound of steak or a chicken breast or two).
I start with about 3 cups of romaine lettuce. Then I add:
- tomatoes (chopped or cherry)
- orange or yellow bell pepper (not green just because I like the contrasting color)
- sliced cucumbers
- sliced pepperoncinis
- pine nuts
- diced salami
- diced ham
- bacon bits
- sliced steak or chicken
- dressing
I need to take a picture of one of these salads. They’re huge and delicious. =)
To make this Primal, however, I need to change a few things.
- The ham, salami, and bacon bits are SAD affairs. Basic Hormel or Great Value brand meats with all the associated . Not natural. Not unpronounceable-ingredient-free. I can get better versions but am working my way through the remainder of my current supplies first.
- The salad dressing is not chemical-free, either. I usually use a Ken’s Steakhouse dressing (either Creamy Caesar or Northern Italian Lite). Both are perfectly acceptable on Atkins but not on Primal.
Luckily for #2, I made some Primal Creamy Ranch dressing last night. I altered the recipe only a little: I didn’t have any chives or dried dill so they got left out. I didn’t have the tamari, either, so I swapped in some soy sauce.
It tasted pretty good last night (immediately after mixing), but I expect it will be great tonight.
Tip to Make a Really Big Salad Better. Add half of your greens to the bowl then add half your salad dressing. Finish adding ingredients and top it off with the remainder of your dressing.
This way you rarely end up with a forkful of lettuce with no dressing at all.
Tip to Make a Really Big Salad Easier to Make. Mise en place. If you have room in your refrigerator, pick one night each week and prep all your ingredients. Cut up all your ham, salami, peppers, tomatoes, etc. and put them in the fridge in small containers.
That’s how Mark makes his 2-Minute Salad a 2-minute salad.
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UPDATE: I made a page for this salad recipe and added some pictures.
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Plan for Week 50. Going strong this week so far. =)
| Day | Fast? | SCD? | Run/Exer? |
| Sunday | Yes | Yes | No |
| Monday | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tuesday | Yes | Yes | No |
| Wednesday | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thursday | Yes | Yes | No |
| Friday | No | No | Yes |
| Saturday | No | No | TBD |
Red = a negative deviation | Green = a positive deviation | Blue = a note |
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New John for a New Year 
Yummy.
🙂
It is. I can’t wait to try it with the Primal Ranch tonight. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. =)
Your salads are SERIOUS, haha. I like your approach on comparing Atkins and primal (focussing on emphasis). What are you using for sources to research Primal dieting/ lifestyle?
K.
Yep . . . since I fast every day during the week from about 9 PM to about 5 PM the next day, I am pretty hungry when I get home. Add to that the fact that I workout in my fasted state on MWF and I am looking to make a big meal while still avoiding carbs.
Remember that I am generally eating 3/4 to 1 pound of meat with the salad. One of these days I’ll do a SparkPeople.com nutritional analysis of my standard meal to see how it stacks up. I’d bet it’s more than 1200 calories but not more than 1800.
For information on Primal living, beyond Googling the topic I want to know about, I use Mark Sisson’s site (Mark’s Daily Apple) and his book the 21-Day Primal Transformation. (My pre-order for the paperback version of The Primal Blueprint won’t arrive until the middle of January).
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