Watch out for Stress and it's cousin "It's okay to eat that"

These past 3 weeks have not been kind to my new way of eating. Or maybe it isn't so much the busy schedule I have had but more the stress of getting all the events pulled together, getting the completed materials for each event together and delivering on the assigned deadline date. In other words my stress led me back to my old way of eating. I could actually feel my cravings start, and something in the back of my mind said "go ahead and eat some carbs, you have been good." I hate that voice because a little carbs turn into, a little ALL the time.

Breakfast would be a couple of eggs and maybe some bacon (if I didn't burn it while trying to reply to an email) but being a bit rushed made me think of stopping at Starbucks for a frappuccino. Or eating this cookie will be fine - okay eating the last 8 should be okay too.

Lunch is usually an easy option, unless you work right through it and figure you will eat when you get home. Well I did and I ate just about anything that wasn't nailed down. I am sure it is because I didn't have enough fats/protein. My body is yelling at me, "you dummy, I want meat and fat, not this sugar stuff. Stop listening to that voice that tells you to eat that crap!"

Dinner, another time to redeem myself. My poor family. I was so exhausted to do anything but through together a few simple things. One night it was a chicken and artichokes (from now on will be purchasing then already prepared) and as I put it on the table, I was running out the door to a meeting. Couple other nights it was "find you own food" night. Boy do I feel like a failure now, but then I was almost on "fight or flight" mode.

My animals just look at me like "who are you and are you going to feed me, walk me, pet me, hug me?" The crazy schedule seems to be coming to end and today I am making my meal plans for the upcoming week. I WILL GET BACK ON TRACK!

Off to walk my neglected dog and just a reminder to all, Listen to your body, really listen to what it does with the food choices you make. Say no to processed crap, it's summer and local WHOLE food is all around.

Can I eat snacks without it being meat?

With any lifestyle change the more you plan the better chance you will have at success.

Our snacks consist of a mixture of nuts, seeds, and good quality dried fruit. Good quality dried fruit contains like 2-3 ingredients.


Our mixture is walnuts, pecans,cashews,almonds,macadamias, pistachios,dried blueberries,dates, and figs.









You can also throw a cup of this mixture in a bowl with some vanilla coconut milk and have Paleo cereal.

Other snacks that you can purchase from the grocery store is Lara bars and Oskri coconut bars.



Of course the is fresh fruit and veggies to snack on (make sure to purchase organic if the they are on the dirty dozen list)

There are many sites that have more snack recipes. Just Google "Paleo snacks".

Happy eating.

What did we eat this week?

Sunday
B sweet potato pancakes without the maple butter.
L dont' remember...... :(
D Tacos with grass fed beef
Coconut Smoothie- 1 cup coconut milk (either carton or can) 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries.

Monday
B 2 fried eggs in coconut oil and 1 1/2 strips of bacon
L some left over taco meat and some raw veggies
D Julienne zucchini noodles, with diced tomatoes sauce (diced tomatoes, italian seasoning, garlic, onion)
coconut smoothie

Tuesday
B 2 fried eggs and 1 1/2 strips of bacon, left over diced tomato sauce from last night.
L Lara Bar and some nuts
D Carne Asada Make sure to use a big flank steak, why? so there are left overs!!! also had pico de gallo
Coconut smoothie

Wednesday
B Yogurt
L left over carne asada steak
D coconut smoothie - not hungry, lunch was late.

Thursday
B 2 scrambled eggs
L left over carne asada steak
D grass fed hamburger with roasted golden beets and cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

Friday
B 2 fried eggs and diced chicken breast with pico de gallo.
L Lara Bar
D Turkey meatza (altered from this recipe)
small glass of Patron tequila with lime

Saturday
B Yogurt with berries and nuts, bacon
L homemade jerky, nuts, and fruit
D Alaskan Cod (similar to this recipe)

All in all it was a very busy week for the family, thus our meals were kinda boring.

note: I have found that chicken meals do not stay with me as long as beef meals. Listening to your body after each meal is very important to find out if it was an adequate meal or if something else is needed. I am truly amazed that eating a bit of good meat and good fat takes care of the "I need something" or the "I need chocolate" cravings. As of today, its been a month, I have lost 10 lbs. Walking the dog and working have been my only exersice to date.

Why the Paleo journey?

My health journey is an ever evolving journey, as it should be with everyone. Everyone should be doing their own research, but I fear they are too busy eating at McDonald's and watching too much TV.

My daughter is now almost 14 and I weigh almost as much as I did when I gave birth to her. I have tried various thing to get the weight off, joined Gold's Gym (hated it), took lots of walks (probably walked to slow), ate the treats that people would bring in at work (seconds anyone?), so most people would say - "You don't have any willpower, girlfriend". I would tend to agree with you. I then decided to track all my eating. That was bullshit! How can anyone be forced to weigh, measure, and keep track of all this stuff and still be sane? I exercised at home 5 days a week, I figured if I started in February I would be great by May. Wrong, still only lost about 5#. Something was not working. I have stopped drinking cow's milk (except for the occasional glass), stopped eating bread (but not homemade pizza crust- yummmm)and tried to stick to dark chocolate. The exercise lasted about 1 1/2 months and then I stopped.

My husband, who is a fanatic internet reader, told me about the Paleo diet. Eating good meats (we already made the switch to grass fed/pasture animals and eggs), and good fats like cream, butter, avocados, nuts and seeds. I did some research and found many blogs and podcasts about Paleo and read/listened to them. My favorite that was right up my alley was "The Latest in Paleo" He talked about health stuff and gave his opinion and said "check this out on your own and let me know what you think" I was hooked. I then went to Savers (like Goodwill) and found "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf and reading that (thanks Savers for the 2.99 book). This book had not only the "how to do Paleo" but also a lot of science that is right now over my head, but I will go back and reread it.

So here we are to now, it has been 3 weeks of working on getting the meals right and only walking as my exercise. However I would really like to get a chin up bar and a kayak. The first 2 weeks felt incredible, I had no cravings for sugary stuff or grains, but this last week has been a lot of cheats and not in a good way. I can feel the cravings starting.

If you are still here, thanks. It sure feels good to get this all down on paper.