1. Stay somewhere with a kitchen so you can cook breakfast and stock up your fridge with Paleo/Primal-friendly treats. Here on Maui, we’re staying in a place with a full kitchen and gas grills outside. This way, we can always eat breakfast in (or not eat it if you’re Fitbomb) and cook one or two nights during our stay.
2. Find grocery stores that offer good local and/or organic produce and proteins to stock up your fridge. Yelp and Chowhound are my top two resources for finding great local shops. On our first night, one of us always goes to the grocery store to stock up on essentials after the rugrats are sleeping. Our favorite store used to be one nearby called Lahaina Farms. Yes, it was expensive but it was a local, Hawaiian version of Whole Paycheck/Bristol Farms. The produce was impeccable and the meat and fish counters offered really phenomenal stuff. But since our last visit, it’s been bought out by Foodland and renamed Foodland Farms. It kind of sucks now. It’s still expensive but the pickings are really slim – with very little in the way of organic or local products. And no coconut products except for the sweetened stuff. Wha? I left disappointed.
This morning, I took a walk to one of our old standbys, Farmers Market and Deli Store in Honokwai, and was happy to find it was still as hippy-dippy as ever, and stocked with coconut butter, coconut oil, coconut flakes, organic produce, and yummy homemade guacamole. No meat in sight since this is strictly a vegan/vegetarian place, but at least you can stock up on some basics.
3. When going out to eat, check out the menu on the restaurant’s website first so you have a game plan before you even get there. I did this pre-Paleo because I’m food-obsessed, but nowadays I do it to make sure that the places we do go to have enough options that are Paleo AND tasty.
4. If you want to order something with no grains or potatoes, ask if you can sub them out with veggies or salad. Most places are very accomodating.
5. Enjoy yourself! But make sure the cheats are worth it. You know what I’m talking about. Back away from the chocolate molten lava cake. That’s so fricking early-‘90s, Roy Yamaguchi.
