Today I start my journey of eating well for the rest of my life. I know I’ve tried tons of time before but I really think that I can do this. I have eliminated soda from my diet for 6 years now so why not use that strength to choose the right food.
My brother-in-law has had a lot of success with the Paleo diet. It has taken me some time to warm up to it but I’ve been trying other things close to Paleo. He has been blogging about it and he has gotten me excited about trying it.
What is the Paleo diet? Before I give a description, let me tell you that I have not read much about it. I’ve read Janssen’s blog, Robb Wolf’s website and a few others. I have ordered the book from the library but it has not arrived yet. So if I get some information incorrect, please tell me and I’ll amend my statements.
Paleo is based on the caveman’s diet. What did the caveman’s eat? All things natural-raw. They ate meat, fish, chicken, nuts and berries.
So why aren’t we eating these things? I know we have evolved beyond the caveman and there are much more tastier things then what they ate. Here is where the problem lies…..most American’s are overweight. A lack of excise, sleep, and proper foods lead us to be fat. I admit that I fall directly into that category. I have the tools to eat properly but I lack planning. If I’m hungry I’ll just grab the quickest and easiest thing which of course my not be the most nutritional.
I have decided to take the Paleo 30-day challenge and I start today. From October 19 to November 19. Now I see some of you saying…what? This is the worst time of the year with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So why now? Well after turning 40 that has jolted me into a new mindset. My family’s history of heart-disease and other health issues in/around this age has me thinking. I want to be around to see my kids grow up, go to college, get married and have kids. If I continue this lifestyle of not eating well, I’m afraid I will not be around much longer. Also, my sister is going through some health issues as well right now that are very scary. We have both had very low blood pressure and now her blood pressure is very high. Now I know she eats far worse than I do, but genetics is genetics.
I “secretly” started yesterday to get my mind on the right path and I was also going grocery shopping. I wanted to ‘stock-up’ on all of the items I would need to keep me on the right path.
Here is what I ate:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with blue berries (oatmeal is not on the paleo plan but I was out of eggs)
Snack: 2 beef sticks (went to the grocery store)
Lunch: Salad that contained: spinach, peas, cucumber, hard boiled egg and meat from a chicken thigh. No dressing (I just didn’t want any and it tasted great)
Snack: unsalted/unroasted pistachios
Dinner: I roasted a whole chicken with a little olive oil, thyme and rosemary. I just ate a chicken breast and 1 cup of strawberries
I drank tons of water and 2 cups of jasmine tea.
Important tips:
Sugar: eliminate unnatural/processed sugar. Try to eat berries or fruit instead of anything that has sugar in it.
Meat: eating organic/ grass-fed beef or wild caught fish
Veggies: the rawer the better but if you must cook something lightly steam
The No’s:
No Sugar
No wheat
No diary
Now there are reasons for all of the above but remember I didn’t read the book so I can’t get into that argument at this time. But for me it makes sense. I will certainly share the who, what, where and how later.
So how am I doing today?
Breakfast: 3 eggs with green pepper and onions. 2 sausages
Snack: 1 cup of blue berries—all natural and not frozen
Lunch: spinach/cucumbers/tomatoes/carrots/chicken from last night and ½ of a clementine-again no dressing
Snack: pistachios and 1 cup of strawberries
This afternoon was difficult for me, I’m not sure why but I was definitely tempted but a lot of bad things. But I didn’t do it.
Dinner: yellow snapper with garlic and olive oil and ½ raw green pepper
Like I mentioned this afternoon was tough for me and perhaps knowing this I should occupy myself/distract myself.
I’m hoping tomorrow to exercise but this has not been the priority in life. We’ve been tight with money and can’t afford a sitter at this time. Rich has been working non-stop and so there is no one to watch the kids. It will all work out at some point.
More tomorrow…
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