How it all began
Paleo is a pretty HOT topic right now, and has been for sometime, I don’t feel that I need to do much explaining about what it is. Paleo is not a diet, it’s not a quick fix, it is a lifestyle. I struggle to properly word sentences discussing paleo, both in real conversations, and while typing this post, please forgive some of the odd and almost preachy phrases.
I would like to say, after careful thought and planning, we chose to change our eating habits, but I can’t lie. We know several people who follow a mainly paleo diet, we discussed eliminating gluten from our diet, but making the decision to COMPLETELY change how we think about eating was quick, and followed a conversation with a complete stranger. I’m usually the one to suggest these kinds if drastic changes, and Morgan usually comes up with a million reasons why not. But he said, lets do this, and I looked at him like he was crazy.
We decided the beginning of November, the day before a 14 hour road trip, that we would not longer eat grains, we would no longer eat processed food, we would drastically decrease our sugar consumption. So, a road trip, while trying to navigate the ins and outs of paleo was interesting.
Paleo eating is SO MUCH WORK. I am preparing food all the time. Our produce drawers in our fridge are overflowing. Out apple slicer has never seen so much time out of the drawer. I have skillets and sauce pots out for every meal. I’m cooking nearly every meal. Eating out is difficult, but do able.
We have some areas we need to work on, it is hard to change everything at once, and not have some backups. We are struggling to give up oatmeal. It’s warm, filling, and perfect on a cold morning. Its also not EGGS. We eat so many eggs. We have an obsession with Chobani Greek yogurt, especially the flips. Dairy is a debatable area, and I choose to include it. I don’t drink milk, I use cheese more than sparingly. I really like coffee. I really like coffee with a little sugar and vanilla soy milk.
The 80/20 rule is popular in the paleo community. Eat paleo 80% of the time and allowing yourself some leniency 20% of the time. I like this rule, I want to clean up a few areas, and have a cheat meal here and there. The problem with cheat meals, and I learned this the hard way, they are painful. After a few weeks, my body was already upset by breaded chicken.
We started this crazy paleo thing as a 30 day trial. I didn’t think it would stick. It’s been 30 days, and I think it stuck. I’ve learned a lot in this month. It is crazy how bread/pasta/rice/grains fill you up. Bread cravings are intense, but only last a few days. We are eating a lot more food, but it’s not reflected on the scale.
It’s going to be tough during the holidays, I love cookies, and candies and hot cocoa (although I found a paleo friendly recipe). Trying to get our extended family to understand has been tough, but my mom prepared a thanksgiving dinner that was very paleo friendly, and we gobbled it up (I had several helpings of turkey and green beans).
This is only part one of my paleo journey. Carb loading is pretty fun, and a recipe for banana muffins is next!
Half Marathon Mama 