The paleo-vegan hybrid diet that ends hangry

Hybrids are everywhere these days and we love them… My sister has the cutest little sheepadoodle you’ve ever seen… my cousin drives a hybrid car… and now there’s a new hybrid diet on the scene — the pegan diet.

It’s a meeting of the minds between two diets you’ve probably heard of — the paleo diet and the vegan diet.

Yes, that probably sounds really strange since they’re pretty much at opposite ends of the diet world spectrum. After all, paleo dieters embrace all things meat and animal products and vegans avoid those things at all costs.

Yet, the pegan diet is a real thing…

And, it could help you to lose weight without those feelings of irritability and anxiety that so often accompany dieting.

Let’s break it down…

Pegan diet 101

They key to any diet that promotes good health is avoiding highly processed foods. This is one point where both the paleo and vegan diets came together. And in this respect, the pegan diet is similar.

Another great thing about the Pegan diet is that it’s plant-centric (75 percent of your protein will come from plants), and plant-centric diets consistently come out on top as far as helping avoid disease, maintain a healthy weight and promote longevity. But that doesn’t mean meat is off the plate… not by a long shot.

The basics of the pegan diet are as follows –

Each day you will eat:

• Vegetables – 5 daily servings
• Carbohydrates – 4 daily servings
• Protein – 3 daily servings
• Good fats – 2 daily servings
• Dairy substitute – 1 daily servings

Pretty easy to remember, right? It’s just 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

There are just a few other things to remember, starting with your vegetables…

For the veggies you need to remember that you should stick to ones that aren’t starchy. This leaves out the potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and beets.

But, you can eat all of the other veggies, like broccoli, kale, asparagus, carrots, eggplant, bell peppers and mushrooms, up to those five daily servings. A serving size is one cup of veggies. And remember to eat the rainbow!

What about carbs?

Overdoing carbs is never a good thing, so if you thought that was part of the paleo diet that got ditched, think again…

While you may think of these servings as just breads and grains, your fruits are included here too, so don’t go overboard. The key here is to avoid gluten since it’s not allowed on the pegan diet, and that means you’ll be skipping all wheat-based breads and pastas.

For serving size when it comes to carbs, it’s one medium-sized fruit, one piece of bread or a half-cup of whole grains (this could include gluten-free grains like rice, quinoa, or farro). And remember you get four whole servings.

Protein, fats and dairy, or not?

Your three servings of protein can include chicken, fish, eggs, grass-fed beef or vegan protein options like beans and legumes (limit these to one cup or less per day), seeds, tofu and traditional (naturally gluten-free) tempeh.

You also need to add in two healthy fats to your diet each day. This could be avocado, olive oil, nut butter or nuts.

And, finally you’re allowed one serving of a dairy substitute each day. You’re probably not surprised that diary didn’t make the cut, since both paleo and vegan diets don’t do diary. But it’s a little controversial among nutritionists. But if you have an allergy or intolerance, and unless you just adore milk and cheese, switching to diary substitutes shouldn’t be that hard.

Good choices include nut or coconut milk, nut cheeses and coconut yogurt. For the yogurt, you just have to remember to choose the plain, unsweetened version without fruit. Otherwise, you have to count the fruit toward your daily carbohydrate serving.

The extras

On top of the rules above, you also need to limit the amount of alcohol you drink to just two drinks per week.

For reference, one drink is equal to a five ounce glass of wine, 12 ounces of beer or an ounce and a half of liquor.

You’re also allowed to have desert two times per week but need to keep in mind the no dairy rule when choosing your sweet treats. Good choices are dark chocolate and non-dairy ice cream topped with fruit and nuts.

And most importantly, the pegan diet, like the vegan and paleo diets, is about clean eating. That means grass-fed, free-range, wild-caught and organic where possible.

But, don’t despair…The pegan diet isn’t all about rules!

You also get a cheat day each week – a day to eat what you want, when you want without feeling guilty. Just be sure to keep track of your cheat days to make sure you don’t go over your one day per week limit.

With all of the veggies, protein and good fat built in along with the bonus cheat day each week, the pegan diet is a great way to get healthy and lose the extra weight without feeling hungry and irritable, (that dreaded hangry feeling).

The hardest thing may be saying no to convenient pre-packaged foods, but that just might be your biggest winning factor not only for health, but for lasting weight loss, too.