30 Days

At it again.  Going strict paleo for the next 30 days.  For some reason when the challenge was over I couldn't keep to it.  And not because I really needed the bread and butter and candy that I indulged in, I just really wanted it.  I experimentally ate everything I wanted for the last week and lo and behold, I feel horrible.  Not guilty, but bloated and tired and sick.  I can't wait to start exercising again today as well.  It's been too long.  I took a bit of a vacation from healthy.  Odd, because I really love being healthy.  I love exercising.  I love yummy healthy food, good old plain meats and vegetables make me very happy.  Starting again today, and we'll see how it goes. 
Starting weight, just for the record- 130.

Bring it back, Baby!

Wow, so I fell of the proverbial wagon a bit.  The first thirty days of paleo were fantastic and then I started to reintroduce a few items.  Then I went way overboard on my "cheat" days.  I can certainly tell that dairy foods make my stomach cramp up.  I can tell immediately when I've had something highly processed, my stomach is not a fan.  For better or for worse, McDonald's does not taste good to me anymore.  I can taste the fakeness of it.  I am so in love with meat and vegetables of all kinds, especially since I am no longer scared to use enough olive oil and coconut oil.  I used to hold back and only use a tiny bit back when I was counting calories.  Now I use the right amount, the food is great, I am full, etc. 
For the past couple of weeks I have been drinking a lot of wine and snacking on a lot of grains.  Not a terrible thing, I didn't gain a whole bunch of weight or anything.  But I can tell that I am more bloated.  I feel less energetic.  I feel how it affects my body.  So I am going back to 100% paleo until March 31.  That's Nathan's birthday, and it's a 23 day total of going back to eating really simply.  This should help as I transition from being a kickboxing member to being a member of the Y.  I am so excited to take a yoga class soon. 

And life goes on....

Kept Paleo yesterday and paleo for breakfast this morning.  Nathan brought home sausage, biscuits and gravy to make.  I made it, and made myself eggs with spinach and salsa.  Did not miss the other breakfast at all.  And I feel so full right now, still.  It is a fantastic thing to eat a big breakfast and stay full.  Too many times I've had monstrous breakfasts of pancakes of french toast or oatmeal or toast and butter and an hour later, I was hungry again!  I know you know what I'm talking about.  Not starving, but you want more!  It doesn't satisfy for long.  Well, I have to get used to being full all day.  It's pretty awesome.  Sometimes I'll look at the clock and think, I should be hungry, cause it's such and such a time of day.  I have to slow myself down and do a body scan.  Ever heard of HALT?  Check to see if you're Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.  I also add Thirsty.  Sometimes I could just use a cool drink to satisfy.  So, no real cravings to give in.  It's freeing to be able to make the choice now.  Before I refused on principle, because of the challenge and all.  Now I get to decide, do I really want that?  Maybe, maybe not.  I may have some dark chocolate later today.  I bought pretzels and dark chocolate before the challenge began to make chocolate covered pretzels.  I'll make some of those later today for Nathan and dip a few strawberries and maybe some banana slices in there for me.  Guaruntee Nathan will want some too.  Does the thought not make you drool a little?  I'll have to take some pictures and display for next time.

Day 30, the Last day of the Challenge

Day 30 is the last day of the challenge, but I do plan on keeping on.  Not sure how I'll feel tomorrow.  Will for sure be checking in soon my pretties!

Day 29, One More Day or the Beginning of Something New?

So for the last 29 days I have been eating like a champ.  I accepted the Whole30 Challenge with friends from New York.  Meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts.  No alcohol, dairy, grains, sugar or legumes.  Some sweet potato.  I have been eating for energy, eating for health, and listening to my body instead of giving in to cravings or starving myself.  The beginning was hard.  That's for sure.  Try smelling pizza and not having any.  But I made a commitment, and I will forever be grateful that I did.  I feel freaking awesome.  I lost 6 pounds this month.  Not because I was trying to, but because my body likes what I'm eating.  I am not hungry, I'm full all the time, I eat a huge breakfast, a pretty big lunch, and a medium sized dinner.  I actually eat more than I think is necessary, and still I lost 6 pounds.  But, like I said, it's not about the weight loss, that was just the icing on the cake.  First of all, my abs look great.  The best they've looked, ever I think.  Even in high school.  In high school, I was in shape.  I exercised a lot.  But I ate a lot of bad shit, and now I can see the difference.  I workout hard now, but not as much as in high school.  My legs actually look good.  I know most people have that body part that no matter how much weight they've lost or how in shape they are, it just never seems to match the rest.  My legs were that.  I remember looking in the mirror lifting weights in early college, with Angela and noticing that I looked great- except my legs always seemed stocky.  I figured that was just me.  Which is fine for me.  I love my legs, they were just stocky.  My legs are not stocky right now.  Pretty cool!
My energy during my workouts has been phenomenal.  Not the crazy energetic highs that I used to get.  More like a steady drive through the whole thing.  My body gets tired, but not a give-up tired.  More of a, yeah, you've been working your muscles hard, but you can work them a little harder tired.  I was told several times this month that I've been like the energizer bunny at kickboxing.  I keep up a hard pace.
So... The thirty days are up tomorrow.  What's a girl to do?  It seems pretty obvious.  Keep going.  I am going to stick with this lifestyle.  I look at some of the food that I used to eat, and I know now how poisonous it can be for your body.  The processed stuff, the sugar added stuff.  Even a lot of the "health food" stuff.  I don't want to be an asshole to people and tell them what they're eating is wrong.  But I also don't want to eat it now.  It's more of an emotional connection to things like ice cream, chocolate and bread.  These items will be for special occasions only- maybe.
Anybody reading this, feel free to comment.  I would love to have others join me in my journey to health.  It feels good and I want to share the good feeling.

Day 27 for me!

This paleo thing has been really good for me.  I feel healthy.  I am going to continue it.  I have figured out many tasty recipes and they're GOOD!  I went to the grocery store today, and although I only have a few days left, technically, I didn't buy anything to reintroduce.  I just bought paleo stuff.  I'm not really feeling motivated to eat the other stuff.  I can't believe it.  I believe it was really important to do this for at least 30 days, any less before reintroducing and I may not have been able to control myself.  I'm feeling like I could continue to refuse shit food for the rest of my life.  I am going to try like hell, anyway.  I'm going to keep my coffee black, and I'm going to do my best not to eat any grains.  Definitely only when it's a treat for me.  I may have some dark chocolate first.  We have a big block of it, that I bought before I started the challenge.  It was meant for chocolate covered pretzels.  I will probably still make those for Nate and dip some fruit into it for me.  Now that sounds yummy.
Yesterday I made the most delicious bacon wrapped steak cubes.  Freaking delicious.  Today I made pumpkin coconut soup, also really, really good. This afternoon I put together some paleo chili, and easy paleo coleslaw.  For those of you who don't know much about paleo, check out the whole9 link on the side of the blog.  This week I've got an eggplant to cook up for lunches, some top sirloin for lunches, and ground meat for hamburgers on Tuesday.  I've got my menus all planned out.  I totally encourage people to give this a whirl.

Feeling Freaking Great!

Today is day 21 of the Paleo Challenge.  I keep getting compliments from people and they ask me what diet I'm on.  I want to stress to everyone, that weight loss should never be done by dieting.  Dieting is bad for you.  At least the word "diet" as we use it these days.  A diet assumes a short term change in your eating habits to help you lose weight.  The problem with "dieting" is that the dieter plans on going back to eating what they want when they lose the weight.  Just the word brings up thoughts of starvation and unpleasant tasting food.  The very idea of a diet seems to bring along with it a feeling of "I must do this very difficult and unpleasant thing for a little while to get skinny."  I do not ever endorse changing your eating habits short term for a weight loss goal.  You set yourself up for failure- you will gain the weight back when you resume your prior habits, your goal is to get "skinny" instead of healthy, and the emotional rollercoaster takes a toll on you.  I am doing the Paleo Challenge, not because I wanted to eat like a caveman, or because I thought I would lose weight.  I am doing it because when I looked at the lists of foods that you can eat, what is not allowed for the strict 30 days and the reasoning behind it seems sound to me.  If I thought the challenge would have a detrimental effect on my health at all, I would not have taken the challenge.  Even if I would have lost weight.  I take my health much more seriously now than I ever did.  I would rather be healthy and bigger than unhealthy and skinny.  Skinny, it turns out, does not fix any of your problems.  I've been there before, it's the same old me, in smaller clothes.  I do encourage a healthy eating program for weight loss for anyone who is overweight and unhealthy, and for anyone who is too thin and unhealthy.  And for anyone who looks just right, but eats unhealthy.
I plan on keeping many of the rules of the paleo diet even after the 30 days.  I think it's dangerous to change to a healthy eating plan and then changing back to unhealthy.  I want to use this opportunity to listen to my body and find out what it really needs.  Not what all the experts say it needs, but experiment with different foods and find out if it is good for my body or not.  I'm surprised at how good I feel.  I thought I was eating very healthy before, but I was tired much more often and I got headaches more frequently.  Even my monthly cramps don't seem to bad today.  I am curious to find out what it is that I've taken out of my diet that feels so much better.  I'm sure there will be things that I can add back in, but I'm wondering what was making me more sluggish.  Even today, I'm stuffed up because there's a flu-like cold going around the island.  Everybody is dropping out like flies, calling in sick.  I have a runny nose, and that sucks, and I have a bit of a headache, but I actually don't feel all that bad.  I don't feel like I need to run home and lay in bed.  I could feel better, sure, but I think my immune system is busy kicking the bugs ass right now.  I predict a short-term sickness, rather than being down for the count.  I guess we'll see, I'll have to post whether I get real sick or not.  I still haven't decided whether I am going to try to reintroduce dairy or grains first.  I believe legumes/beans will be third and sugar will be the last thing.  I have 9 more days to go before I begin to reintroduce, so there's time to research.