My work has quiche on Fridays. I like quiche. I cut the crusts off now, but one thing begs the question: DO I WORRY ABOUT THE CRUMBS!?!?!? Crumbs can come from anything. I’ve stripped a sandwich for it’s insides, I spent about 10 minutes harvesting meat from pizzas in the office (after everyone had had their fair share of intact, unmolested pizza). The answer is a resounding
I have no idea.
What do you do? Are you so stuck on the plan that even crumbs stop you in your tracks? Or do you plow through and try to avoid them? Does an errant crumb blow the whole thing or am I just over reacting?
I mentioned Pizza day on Friday, but I’m going to go back there for a minute. I’m not entirely sure the overall stance of paleo/primal is when it comes to dairy. I have been avoiding it when I can but I will put a little feta on a salad or not dust each piece of stolen pizza meat of it’s cheese hangers. I’m thinking I’m in such bad shape to start, I’ve got a bit of wiggle room for crumbs right now. But am I doing something to the potential ketosis my body is going through?
Primal Fatso 
I don’t know the “real” answer when it comes to dairy I can only speak to my experience. I went full on paleo for 6 weeks when I first started. Not even the slightest morsel of grain, starch, sugar, dairy….the nutritionist I was working with said that after those 6 weeks I could begin reintroducing the healthier organic side of those things back into my diet. I’d had such success in those weeks I didn’t want to add all that junk back (they were why I was so fat, after all) but my one weakness is cheese. I LOVE all things cheese. So I made a choice to add cheese back to my diet I continue to lose the weight. I still follow the rest of the paleo lifestyle (even using cauliflower to make pizza crust) and I buy organic cheese and shop at the cheese place in the area that sells the nice aged cheese (which are somewhat healthier than the less aged). I’m down 40 pounds so far and feel so much better. I think you need to find what works for you when it comes to living paleo. I know many will disagree with me but I’m seeing results even with cheese.
As for the crumbs….it depends on what day you ask me and how much I want whatever the breading/bread/crust was on/under.
Ketosis is about the amount of carbs you’re taking in, so crusts would affect your carb level, but “cheese hangers” would not. In Primal Blueprint dairy should be eaten rarely and should be of excellent quality, full fat, and when possible raw and local. Paleo, I’m learning, seems to have many manifestations. Most paleo-ers eat zero dairy.
I would say if you’re following the PB then the crumbs & cheese would fall into the 80/20 rule. I don’t eat dairy as I’m lactose intolerant, but I wouldn’t sweat it too much as long as you’re losing weight. The biggest problem I have with 80/20 is that it’s easy for the 20 to turn into 25,30,40 ect. So that’s what I try to keep in check and try to push it to more of a 90/10.
My goal is to try to stay 100% for the first 30 days (barring HONEST mistakes)
Those 4-6 edamame I ate were honest mistakes (I forgot they’re beans and not veg)
and that small amount of crumbs I ate in one quiche was another (I later cut the quiche up on one plate and moved the ‘clean’ quiche to another.
Yea I’m thinking of starting a Whole 30 next week to try to kick start some weight loss & try getting it out of my system.
Well, as far as weight loss goes, crumbs would increase your carb count and therefore slow weight loss…but I imagine by only a tiny bit. The thing that would concern me is that by cutting out gluten or dairy COMPLETELY we find out how much better we feel without it! That may not be the case for you, but it is for many of us.
I have to admit that I’m gluten intolerant and so avoid crumbs like the plague. In the beginning (before I realized gluten was Satan to my innards), I would also cut the quiche crust off and eat the hamburger from out of the bun. I still lost weight that way. However, one of the tenants of Paleo is to avoid all foods that are known to cause intestinal irritation and allergens. Dairy is one of those to many people. Therefore, they are strict with no dairy. Now, I call myself Primal and do “limited” dairy… mainly the fermented kind that includes yogurt and hard cheeses. I do find when I slip a little and have the softer cheeses I get… well, gassy. Considering changing my lifestyle to no grains or legumes, that is no longer a common occurrence for me, so when it happens… I know I’ve slipped with something. 9 times out of 10, it’s cheese or cream in my coffee. So… all this boils down to, how strict you plan to be for these first 30 days. If strict… time to make your own lunches. Yep, even the quiche will have no-nos in it like wheat stirred into the egg mixture just from cooking in the same pan or wrong dairy cheese… THAT was the most difficult part. However, THAT is also the part that I’m proud of doing… “I can only control what I cook myself” is what I’m teaching my teen. (and this is from being a woman who ate cafeteria lunches, fast food, etc for YEARS). Keep up the GREAT work Jared!!
in the larger picture, crumbs (literally, the small stuff) is what often keeps us from following through. At the same time, they can be a gateway back in any diet. People want to be absolute purists, but that’s often next to impossible (short of direct and dire consequences such as extreme allergic reaction)…however, crumbs (in moments of weakness–which we all have), can open the idea to larger portions slipping through…
Sure, I’d say do your best to avoid (I’m similar with meat–occasionally, it slips in unexpectedly), but no one will revoke your primal membership if some crumbs enter in (and by some here, I’m qualifying that to mean akin to when something gets sandy and almost next to impossible removing all the sand–not say, the breadcrumbs that coats something like chicken fingers). I think that to have the inner (and now outer) conversation and awareness is the bigger important goal. Regardless of the type of dietary approach one takes, it’s the idea that you’re making conscious food decisions that also helps to trigger attention to eating, satiation (filled, but not overfilled), and good eating habits.
Speaking of chicken fingers… New post.
I applaud you for going all out on this. I think there’s one thing you’re not considering as you eat quiche, pizza topping, and sandwich innards. You don’t know what’s in there. Consider quiche. I make mine crustless with pastured eggs and coconut milk. Most recipes call for dairy, and you haven’t established yet whether dairy is a problem for you. Yours may have something exotic like powdered soy milk (who knows)? The same with the “cheese” on your office pizza. Who knows? It’sone of the reasons we’re encouraged to shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Pre-packaged foods are filled with all sorts of unknown junk. You’re doing the best you can with what you have, but you might consider a bit of brown bagging.