Pictures of Paleo Dieters

Paleo dieters

Heath Putnam Farms donated a bunch of food to WOD Fest. We fed the volunteers and some competitors.

The food was paleo. Mike Porter, the guy behind WOD Fest and WOD Club, prepared some fresh ham and cheeks. We also served slices of cured Mangalitsa loin (aka "loin bacon"), roasted sweet potatoes and watermelon slices.[1]

People particularly liked the Mangalitsa. They hadn't eaten it before; the first time is usually amazing. Now we've got photos showing people eating the stuff for the first time.

Child eating Mangalitsa for the first time.

I asked people if they were paleo. Many said yes.[2] I took photos, shown below, of the self-reported paleo dieters.

Many of the self-reported paleo dieters, particularly the guys, said they eat high-fat and low-carb.[3]

Athletes need a lot of calories, so when they eat low-carb, they necessarily eat high-fat. CrossFitters who eat paleo and low-carb show that it is possible to eat a lot of fat - an amount of fat that most Americans consider excessive - and be fit.[4]

So below are some photos of paleo dieters, many of them who consume what typical Americans would consider ridiculous amounts of fat.

Besides the free roasted Mangalitsa ham and lard-poached cheeks which they ate on the spot, I gave out some free lard and lardo to take home. Many of them are pictured eating the Mangalitsa or holding Mangalitsa products like lard and lardo:

Eating fatty roasted Mangalitsa ham

Eating sweet potatoes

[1] Mike put a rub on the ham and slow-roasted it. Then he sliced it up. The day of the event we reheated it in an electric skillet. He confited the cheeks in Mangalitsa lard. We served that out of crock pots. People loved Mike's cooking. He emailed me later:

I wanted to thank you for coming out to the WOD event yesterday and your meat was a hit. Everyone who ate it loved it. Thanks a lot and look forward to doing it again next year.

[2] All the paleo dieters I asked said they knew of Robb Wolf. Many said they listened to his podcast.

[3] One person, pictured above, explained that since switching from a standard American diet to a paleo diet, she went from 230 pounds to 155 pounds. Another woman is 40 pounds lighter.

[4] One of the athletes explained that since going paleo and low-carb (and high-fat), his triglyceride levels and blood pressure improved.