Paleo?

Ok. So we have decided after a bit of research and encouragement from friends (for several different reasons) to try out the Paleo diet.  Not diet, as in "way to lose weight". Just diet, as in "what we eat".  Essentially this means that we are no longer eating breads/grains, and we are trying to focus more on eating veggies, fruits and grass-fed, uber-good-for-you meats/fish.  Not really much different than how we are used to eating, except that we (and by "we" I mean "I") love bread... We are one day in, and last night I was already daydreaming about bread... no lie.

I have decided that I need to chronicle this journey (we are trying it out for a month(ish) to decide whether we are completely on board or not).  We are also working out with the Ten Minute Trainer videos by Tony Horton, and we are working on a one month goal for that as well.  So far we are LOVING the workouts.  Easy, but surprisingly hardcore for ten minutes a pop!

My thought process is that if I update about this Paleo Journey we are embarking on, I am more likely to stick with it since I have more accountability.  So, here we go.  I think the easiest (and least boring - at least, to me) way for me to do this will be just to post what we eat each day.  If you know me at all, you know I love to cook/share recipes anyhow, so this isn't too much of a stretch, I feel. :)

I'm going to try and be good about taking pics of each meal as I prepare it, and just update each day's meals and a quick note as to how I've felt about it that day.  Here goes nothin'.

**Note that I am not going completely Paleo bc I have a hard time with producing enough milk for our little guy, so one of the things I am continuing to do is eat oatmeal for breakfast every day.  Also, some find dairy acceptable with the Paleo diet, and some don't. We are still eating dairy, but we will just be limiting it a little more than in the past.

Paleo Day One:  

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with Spinach, Chicken Sausage, Nitrate-free Ham, salt/pepper, and cheddar (and for me, I also had a bowl of oatmeal).

Yes, this does look kind of gross... sorry. I forgot to take a pic of it fresh.  This was the leftovers from the fridge.  Doesn't look as appetizing unless it's piping hot! :)

Lunch:  Salad with romaine, spinach, sunflower seeds, almonds, tomato, Nitrate-free ham, and instead of salad dressing, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt/pepper.  Also, I had some carrot slices with roasted red pepper hummus. yum.

Dinner (I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of dinner! We had friends over, so I'm using that as my excuse) :)- Maple/Dijon Chicken Thighs, roasted acorn squash, and cucumber/cream cheese/boiled shrimp finger foods.

Snacks:  Didn't have many snacking opportunities today with my stomach feeling the way it did (details coming up...), and with Rivers just being a babe :)  I think I may have had a few spoons of peanut butter to tide me over at one point.  Yes, I know... Peanut butter isn't really "allowed" on the Paleo diet track since peanuts are actually legumes (not nuts), but we have a half jar left, and I didn't pick up any almond butter when I was grocery shopping on Monday... So, it's going to have to be yet another "cheat" of mine until next grocery day. I'm ok with that...  I am trying to make large enough portions of meals that I won't feel hungry so easily since it's not always so easy to snack.

Loved all of the meals.  Only thing I would change about them, is that I don't think I'll use thighs next time I make the chicken.  It was the first time I'd cooked with thighs, and I didn't like how much fat was in them... yuk.  Next time I'll just stick with chicken breasts or tenders.

How I felt:  I won't lie, I felt not-so-great yesterday (day one).  I was going on just a few hours of sleep because of some random bouts of insomnia lately, and during the afternoon my intestines revolted against me. My thought is that I just ate way more fiber for breakfast and lunch than I was used to eating (there was a ton of spinach in breakfast and lunch...).  Hopefully I'll just get acclimated to the amount of fiber we're introducing again.  After stomach issues like that just drain your energy for the rest of the day, if you're anything like me, so that sort of zapped me.  LUCKILY I had already done my workout for the day, so it didn't keep me from getting that in. woo!

Workout of the Day:  Ten Minute Trainer videos: (2 today) Abs, and Total Body 2

Interesting Fact of the Day:  I learned that olive oil is actually NOT good to use when heating to extreme temps!  WHO KNEW?!  All these years, I've been thinking I was being MORE healthy by cooking with olive oil instead of veggie oil and the likes... In all actuality, olive oil (along with other monosaturated fats like oil from sunflower, sesame, flax, peanut, safflower, etc.) are not recommended to be heated to high temperatures because it can cause breakdown and free radicals. So instead of olive oil, I've been trying to cook with my coconut oil instead. :)

This is a great blog - it's where I learned the bit about the olive oil: http://wellnessmama.com/743/guide-to-fats/