Here's five things I've discovered through my experiments on being paleo in Korea.
1. It's tough, but possible. Being a teacher I have the same school lunches as everyone else. This means that some days are pretty good.
While other days can be very restrictive and down right depressing.
If you are looking to be strict about your paleo diet, then it might be worth thinking about opting out of school lunches and bringing your own. I did this during my whole30 and it made life a lot easier. I had to explain countless times to co workers about the concept but eventually its just became accepted and a thing that I do.
2. This ain't like healthy eating back home. With no oven, no slow cooker, limited fridge/freezer space and a shocking lack of knowledge about local produce, eating healthily in Korea can be a challenge. However, I learnt a few basics, such as making zoodles, pesto, pasta sauce and pulled pork in a rice cooker, and adapt those for a lot of meals.
3. Fresh, seasonal produce is amazing. I am lucky because I live just off a market street, so fresh fruit and veg is always available, and at much more reasonable prices than homeplus or emart. If you choose seasonal fruit and veg you usually get better value for money and a lot of the time its tastier too.
4. Organic is mindblowingly expensive. This is where I totally fail at the paleo diet. I actually live pretty close to an Orga. This is a korean organic wholefoods store, the organic food there looks beautiful, but is very VERY expensive. Also, this is NOT a healthfood store, which fooled and hugely disappointed me the first time I went in. This is where iherb steps in. I love you iherb (feel free to use my 10$ Iherb discount code: FWK839).
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| A glorious iherb haul. One of many. |
5. Korean BBQ is your new best friend. This is what's going to keep you sane, this blessing means that you can still have a social life, meet and eat with friends whilst sticking to your paleo diet. Just keep in mind the dips and doenjang jiggae will have soy bean in it, if you're avoiding it.
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