Day 5 ~ it's the weekend

Another great site! I plan to list all these links on the right side of this page next week. I spent $73 at the farmers market this morning! I got $60 worth of grass fed local beef (a combination of steaks, ground beef, brats and a roast). I got my usual $3 bottle of farm fresh whole milk (for the hubs) and a $10 jar of delicious local honey! Yum!

I am currently looking for easy avacado recipes. Anyone got any?

Recipes

Printing paleo recipes from  this site to try out!  Exciting!  Gonna pick a few out that have similar ingredients and slowly build up my "paleo pantry".

Honey!

DAY 4 ~ Friday, March 30, 2012

I had to change up my smoothie this morning because I realized that the half packet of sugar-free jello that I sprinkled in it has artificial sweetener (duh!).  So, this is what I threw in the blender this morning:

1c. frozen blueberries (checked the package to be sure no sugar was added)
2c. spinach (I bought it fresh and then portioned it and froze it)
1c. Fage 0% plain greek yougurt
1c. Silk Original Pure Coconut Milk
1T Ground Flax seed

It was actually not bad!  I couldn't taste the coconut milk today (only difference was on Wednesday I used blackberries instead of blueberries and used some strawberry jello).  It wasn't very sweet, so I am thinking that a little honey added might do the trick.  I hear that there will be local honey available at the farmer's market this weekend!  I'm going to pick some up, along with my grass-fed beef!

I have been trying some different citrus fruits in my water jug.  Yesterday I put half of a blood orange in it (and ate the other half.  YUM!!!).  Today, I did the same thing with a honey tangerine (also, YUM!).

And the best part of today is that it is "cake day" in my office. The last friday of every month we have cake to celebrate the birthdays that month.  Thank God for Nikki who is willing to walk to the farmers market with me and get fruit for her and I to eat instead!  It's awesome to have someone else in my corner! :)

Information and Artificial Sweeteners

DAY 1 ~ Tuesday, March 27, 2012

So, I am calling this ‘day 1’ because it’s the first day that I have seriously considered really going paleo.  I paid for and downloaded the e-book Rob Wolf’s 30 Day Total Transformation which I came across after perusing this site.

It’s also the first day that I committed to not using any artificial sweeteners.  So, instead of coffee with milk and sweet & low (or splenda w/fiber), I am having Tazo AWAKE Black Tea from the Keurig and instead of pouring a packet of generic water flavoring (similar to crystal light) into my 8 cup jug of water, I am using lemon & limes to “flavor” my water.  Since it’s been in the mid 80s out almost all this month, this is very refreshing!

Goals & Reading Material

New Reading Material here!

My current goals:

• Eat 125-150g of protein/day
• Eat 20-25g fiber/day
• get most (if not all) of my carbs from fruits & veggies
• continue to avoid artificial sweeteners
• continue trying new foods
• feel good about the changes I am making :)
• read new material about paleo every day (this should be an easy one!)

...and who wouldn't want to live/eat paleo when your breakfast looks like this??!!!

Right & Wrong

DAY 2 Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I tried coconut milk in my smoothie this morning in place of my whole farm fresh moo milk.  YUCK!  It tastes like coconutL.  I will finish the half gallon because I paid for it, but I will try Almond milk next.

Things I feel I am doing right:

·         Drinking at least 8 cups of water a day (I fill my jug up at work in the morning and finish it before I leave for the day).  I also try to drink a cup or two of filtered water first thing in the morning.

·         Avoiding sugary foods and artificial sweeteners

·         Getting more fiber

·         Buying grass-fed beef (yum!)

·         Using coconut oil

·         Using My Fitness Pal to track everything that I eat & drink (I highly recommend some sort of “food diary” for anyone who wants to make healthy changes!)

·         Trying new foods

·         Avoiding processed foods (although I still have a ways to go on this)

Things I still need to work on:

·         Omitting grains all together.  I still “cheat” and occasionally have a wrap or whole grain pasta.  I want to go grain-free for 30 days, but I think I need to experiment with making my own grain-free sauces, seasonings and marinades first.  I want to be totally prepared so that I don’t “cheat”. 

·         Omitting (or reducing) dairy

·         Buying ORGANIC coconut oil

·         Buy cage free chicken & eggs

·         Eating more veggies

·         Educating myself.  I need to finish reading the 30 Day Total Transformation and read other material as well.

·         Omitting processed foods altogether.

·         Finding, buying and eating more organic food (being able to pronounce and understand EVERY ingredient on the label of my peanut butter, for example)

*I tried guacamole today at lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!  J

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

I think my path to Paleo actually started nearly a year ago (April 2011) when I began eating a low carb/high protein diet.  I had never even heard the word “paleo” at that time.  I saw immediate results and felt much better!  I have used a food/exercise diary (www.myfitnesspal.com) nearly every day and through this I learned a few things:

1)      In order to get my “pie chart” (an illustration on the mobile version of the site that shows how much of your daily calories come from Fat, Protein & Carbohydrates) to look “good”, I had to eat more than the recommended 1280 calories per day.  By “good” I mean Protein having the biggest pie piece while carbs have the lowest.  Or around 30% carbs, 30% fat and 40% protein.  The reason for this is that protein is “denser”.   Fat has the most calories per gram, then protein, and finally carbohydrates have the least calories per gram.  So, basically, I throw the calories out the window.  I still pay attention to them, but I care more about my “pie chart”.

2)      If you don’t pay attention to fiber and just eat a ton of meat and not enough fruits and vegetables, you’ll be very, very sorry.  Or at least I was.  I have been having chronic extreme constipation for months.  I am still seeing doctors to determine what the cause is, but in the meantime, I’ve taken it upon myself to increase my fiber intake and drink a ton of water!  I will update here when/if I learn anything new.  My next appt. is with a gastroenterologist.

3)      Trying new things is awesome!  Since starting all of this I have discovered that I do in fact love almonds (especially the Blue Diamond Bold flavored ones, which probably don’t fall under “paleo”, but I’m taking baby steps here!). 

4)      Not eating bread is only hard for the first couple of weeks, after that you don’t even want it anymore.  And even though I do occasionally still eat a burger on a bun, I find that eating meat without the bun allows me to really taste the meat and it’s good!