I’m trying to do vegan paleo. Why can’t I have grains? Is sugar really bad? Help!

Paleo is a vanity diet (the new Atkins) that might make people skinny by forcing their body into ketosis, but it won't improve their insides -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other food-related illnesses exist if you eat animal products. Last I checked, there are no any scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals that support the paleo diet and Anthropologists don’t agree that’s how our ancestors ate.  There is no basis not to eat whole grains or legumes aside from carb phobia. Both whole grains and legumes are very healthy and have been eaten by people for years. Some of the healthiest peoples on the planet eat lots of grains and legumes. Sugar and flour are scapegoats, not the problem. For more information, I highly recommend reading The Starch Solution ; “The Paleo Diet Is Uncivilized (And Unhealthy and Untrue)." I also wrote a post about a vegan paleo diet. I can't recommend the links to articles at the bottom enough -- several link to articles by doctors and other nutrition experts and the dangers and fallacies of paleo.  Side note: Everyone I know on “paleo” cheats like crazy which makes me think the diet is not realistic -- I never cheat or feel the urge to following my healthy plant-based diet and lifestyle.. Perhaps because I’m actually satisfied and eating the way our bodies were intended to? Just a thought.