I'm not sure if I'm primal or not.
I know I'm not paleo because I drink coffee w/hwc, and eat cheese.
Other than that though my diet is pretty on track with what I know of primal.
Grass fed meats, lots of fresh or frozen veggies, nuts, berries, coconut oil and evoo
Oh and some yogurt.
So I don't know .....Am I primal?

Sounds like it to me. I don't get too fussy over labels.

I hear ya about the label thing.
For some reason though this one matters to me.

I eat exactly like you (except almond or coconut milk in tea or coffee) plus some sugar/grain free cocktails and dry wine and consider myself more primal than anything else. I think people like the structure of plan telling them exactly what to do (and they turn like to tell everyone else what to do ), but in the end you have to do what works for your body and long term way of eating. I used to identify with Atkins, but I tired of all the talk of fake foods and pretend desserts (and perhaps tire even more, listening to people complain about not losing and then falling off the wagon ...most likely becuase
these foods triggered addictive behavior-I know they did with me)If I make the
pretend desserts, they send me over deep end metobolically. When I started in 09, I was making the fake induction pancakes and such, and didn't lose an OUNCE until I pulled it together and ate clean.

Question about fake foods here......

Whilst I agree in eating 'clean' I was on Mark's DA website briefly earlier and noticed there were dessert / treat recipes too?

Where is the line drawn?

I'm currently Atkins, and looking at switching it up a bit - the carbs they allow I enjoy (rice etc.), I've cut way down on my dairy recently which I never thought I'd be able to do!!! And I'm wondering about their fitness model too - I don't have much to loose, but I have a tonne of toning up I should do!!

Thanks....

It depends on who you ask.

And who's making the money I guess !!!!

Primal, paleo whatever- I think a one size fits all approach definitely needs personal tailoring. We are all different, with different daily activities, different health back stories and access to different real foods. 80/20....95 /5...... 70/ 30. We all tweak and hack for what suits us.
But importantly we're on a journey away from pretend food and towards informative choices.

Paleo and Primal are just convenient labels really, as an aid to communicate with other people. They are trademarked, I suppose, but I guess there are thousands of people around the world eating these same foods who have never heard of the diet/books etc. There are certainly many people who would be eating this way but who do not buy into the paleo diet evolutionist dogma and all that.

I am following Primal Blueprint, but agree with girlgerms on them just being convenient labels. As far as "treats/desserts", I try to view them as just that... Something that isn't necessarily a daily thing if you are looking to drop weight but something that adds some extra incentive for times when you need something without going "off plan". I make Paleo candy and love it, but have to limit it. I don't have a lot of weight to lose, but I"m hypothyroid and post menopausal so losing weight is really hard for me... I'm having to really tweak and try to figure out what foods work for me and what ones work against me and try to fit everything into the calorie range I need to help me lose weight and also turn into a fat burner vs. carb burner.