emily's 30 day paleo thread

[ebm1224]

ok, time to update this the best i can considering the site was not working yesterday.

sat night:

snack: cashews and sunflower seeds

sunday:

breakfast: sausage, bacon, apple

dinner: moe's salad with chicken, steak, pico, guacamole, olives, cucumber, vinagrette dressing

snacks: london broil, almonds, sunflower seeds, craisins, dried apricot

i feel like i ate other things too but i can't think of them right now.

today:

breakfast: banana

lunch: salad with london broil, evoo, and balsamic vinegar, almonds, sunflower seeds, craisins, dried apricot

snack: apple

[ebm1224]

cycle class! monday's class is the best.

dinner: chicken, mashed sweet potatos with cinammon, broccoli and carrots

[ebm1224]

holy crap! last day of the paleo challenge. it has been a serious learning experience. so, first off - food!

breakfast: banana

lunch: baked chicken, salad with some dried fruit and nuts with balsamic dressing

snack: banana, sunflower seeds, cashews

dinner is still to come.

so, i have to say, that i really wanted an "aha" kind of moment with this paleo challenge. i wanted the clouds to part and for things to just because completely clear and to see a montage and such. but life is not that way. but i think i have changed for the better. first off, the numbers: i don't know my starting weight but i think it was likely around 155lbs. although my weight seems to fluxuate a good bit, i seem to be seeing the upper and even mid 140s nowadays. so i think it's safe to say i've lost at least 5lbs. i've gotten a workout in 3 days a week since starting this challenge. (i think i may have missed one or two days but i think i also went an extra once or twice...so overall i think i worked out an average of 3x per week). i think my stomach has been functioning better overall. not perfect and there have been some bumps in the road...but all in all i think it's better than it was.

going forward here is my tentative plan: tomorrow, i will eat rice with dinner and then see how i feel for a day or two. if everything goes well, i'll add in something else in a couple days...beans or corn not sure which. after that i think will be legumes...peanuts and chickpeas (i miss hummus!). then i think we'll try some bread. then sugar. then milk. the basic goal is that i don't want to eat too many things at once that i've been avoiding for this past month. so, if i get mexican food, at least for now, i will likely eat paleo PLUS a tortilla OR paleo PLUS rice. i want to be able to look back and see where potential problems are if i have any sife effects.

so, i said above that i haven't had an "aha" moment...i'm not sure that's entirely true. today i stopped to get gas. it was after work and i was starving. as i sat pumping gas, i thought about how, in the past, i would have run in for a candy bar...a twix most likely. and it sounded amazing. but then i thought "would that twix actually DO anything for me?" yes, it would taste good. but i'd be hungry again soon. and, for 250 calories, i could have something that would provide me some nutritional value...and actually keep me full for more than 10 minutes.

i think i can do this. am i scared...yes. i'm afraid i'll mess up. i'm afraid i'll be back up 5 lbs in a week. i'm afraid that paleo is the ONLY way i can lose weight...even if it's not how i want to live. but i think i can do this. i think i can make better choices. i think i can eat a couple cheat meals a week and stick to healthy stuff otherwise. i've learned to cook so much better over this last month and i want to get better. i'm excited to eat some of my favorite things. but i'm excited to eat them more rarely than i have been. i dont know if i can do moderation. i want to eat half a pizza sometimes...but i think i can more easily say no to pizza the rest of the month now. small choices, big results.

i hope this is true.

btw, once i finish my last entry tonight, i think i'll start a blog. seems to be the way of the future around here

[Elastigirl]

Great job on the Paleo challenge. I think your gas station moment was a light bulb moment. That is really one of the big things Paleo did for me, help me to realize what was food and what was junk (candy bars sadly=junk) Maybe I'll still choose junk, but it's much rarer. Keep up the good work, I like your plan for introducing foods slowl.

[tymbles]

Nice going with the challenge. I'll be interested to see how you do once you start reintroducing the non-Paleo stuff.

I guess, as you say, the important thing is to realise you can do without. That should make it easier to control your intake in future. Hope it all goes well. =]

[ebm1224]

dinner: talapia, red potatos with rep peppers, salad with evoo and balsamic vinegar

snack: apple