Megan Flynn Peterson ’10 is author of The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook and two other cookbooks related to the Paleo diet. Courtesy Megan Flynn Peterson ’10
You’d have to be living in a cave not to have heard of the Paleo diet craze. Loosely based on the menu of our prehistoric ancestors, the buzzy new regime that promises weight loss, healthy skin and increased energy by eliminating all grains, alcohol and dairy is all over TV, the Internet and social media.
Writer Megan Flynn Peterson ’10 is riding the Paleo wave with two cookbooks and a one-woman business, Cave Girl Consulting, which helps those transitioning to a Paleo lifestyle.
But Peterson didn’t always eat this way. Growing up in Roanoke in an Italian/Irish household, nightly dinners were a big deal — lots of pasta, meat and vegetables. As a Longwood undergrad, Peterson’s mother delivered care packages filled with individual servings of homemade pasta pesto. And later she followed a not-great vegetarian diet with lots of wheat and sugar.
“Both my love of carbs and later to the Paleo diets both come from my mother,” said Peterson. “While training at a CrossFit gym, my mother and some other people did a group challenge surrounding the Paleo diet. She suggested I give it a try. After a month, my anxiety decreased, my energy increased and a longtime alopecia condition cleared up.” In addition to her affordable and user-friendly Paleo cookbooks, Peterson has authored a cookbook about the ketogenic diet (high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet) and, most recently, a book about transforming vegetables using a spiralizer (a handheld cooking gadget that turns fresh veggies into faux-noodles).
'Her first book, The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook, is such a strong title that it’s still on the first page of Amazon search results a year and a half after it came out.'
ELIZABETH CASTORIA, EDITOR, CALLISTO MEDIA
“Megan’s cookbooks have done quite well for us,” said Elizabeth Castoria, senior acquisitions editor at Callisto Media. “Her first book, The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook, is such a strong title that it’s still on the first page of Amazon search results a year and a half after it came out.”
Peterson’s other ongoing gig is a blog focusing on life, love, personal style, nostalgia and food. It’s called Freckled Italian (freckleditalian.com), a nod to her Italian and Irish ancestry. While living in Charlotte, the blog really caught on, she said, attracting a large audience (8,000-9,000 unique readers each month) and several substantial sponsors, enabling Peterson to carve out a successful writing career that’s both portable and fulfilling.
When her husband’s new job with Facebook took the couple to the famously expensive San Francisco Bay Area, Peterson sought to establish additional streams of income. Last year while expecting their first child (daughter Sophie was born in November), Peterson added the title Pure Barre (a total body workout using the ballet barre) instructor to her résumé.
“This year is going to be as slow as last year was busy—and then I’ll get busy again,” she said. You know you have a busy life when caring for a new baby is considered taking a break.
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