Eleni has cake and eats it too

THEY may have roamed around in animal hides and had excessive facial hair, but fashion and grooming aside, cavemen and women sure knew how to eat.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Eleni Hayman began watching her diet because of health issues.

THEY may have roamed around in animal hides and had excessive facial hair, but fashion and grooming aside, cavemen and women sure knew how to eat.

At least that's what those who have jumped on board the paleo bandwagon think.

Dubbed the Year of the Paleo, the most googled diet in 2013 was the paleo, or Palaeolithic, way of eating, of which the focus is on real foods - meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts and no grains or processed sugars.

In a nutshell, if the Neanderthals didn't eat it, neither should you.

Eleni Hayman is one Grafton woman who swears by the diet and said it was nothing like a fad diet - more of a wise lifestyle change.

"I have been on it for about a year, on and off," Miss Hayman said.

"For the first six months I was pretty relaxed about it, but then I got really sick halfway through the year and had some issues with my bowel and thought 'right, something has to change' so I went completely paleo."

And she's never looked back.

"I feel better, I'm healthier and I'm not missing out on anything," she said.

An avid baker with a sweet tooth, Miss Hayman still bakes often - only with a few substitute ingredients.

"I love baking cakes and cupcakes so I was worried going paleo that I wouldn't be able to indulge in those things, but I have been experimenting a lot and my cakes taste just as good in paleo form," she said.

So what does one eat when she cuts out grains, bread, processed sugars and dairy?

"It's really not that hard once you know what you're doing - most of the things I thought I could never give up, I have found a way to remake them so they're paleo," Miss Hayman said.

The hardest part comes when you are out socialising.

"When you're out for dinner or at a friend's house you don't want to be that picky person who says 'I'm not eating that', so that can be a bit hard, but I have noticed the Clocktower Hotel has started doing paleo meals on their menu which is great," Miss Hayman said.

She said the smartphone app The Whole Pantry was the perfect place for any paleo-wannabe to get started with stacks of tips and recipes.

Substitutions

Peanut butter - almond butter.

Milk - almond milk.

Flour - almond meal.

Rice - cauliflower ground down into rice-like consistency.

Tortillas/bread - kale leaves or lettuce leaves.

Packet of chips - kale chips (just cut up kale and chuck in the oven).

Originally published as Eleni has cake and eats it too