My wife and I decided to give Paleo a try for 30 days. She is journaling her experience, how she feels and what pisses her off about it. Here is her take on Week 1.
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“Lindy-eo”
I call it Lindy-eo because I am not 100% paleo. I have a few items that as of right now I have not removed from my daily consumption and I am totally okay with that. I didn’t start this to fail and I know myself well enough to know that if I restrict everything I love, I will quit. I still have my morning coffee – with creamer. I don’t allow myself anymore creamer than that one sitting though, which is a huge change. And let’s face it, without my morning coffee/creamer mixture – innocent people could die. I also still use Mio to flavor my water. Mainly, I started this, not for weight-loss (although that will be a hell of an incentive to keep going if that happens) but to see if over-all, I feel better (cleaner) on the inside.
Day 1: I feel pretty good. I’d like to know what the hell I’m supposed to eat but I feel good. I’m guessing my body is still hungover from the carb-fest I had last night before starting this “lifestyle change.” Mmmmmm…..french fries are still living large in my memory bank at this point.
Day 2: I felt very tired today but Ryan and I still went mountain bike riding. Before our ride I ate some gummy fuel things (which are most certainly not paleo but I needed something before our ride). We went 8.5 miles on the wooded trails so I’m guessing I burned those puppies off pretty quick. I felt really good after our ride. I stopped at Moe’s for my dinner, which will probably be my go-to eat out place since I easily know what I can and shouldn’t have there.
Day 3: Crash and burn. I think I went to bed at 8:45 and slept soundly all night. I think this is a combination of no carbs (I love and miss you so much white bread!) and our intense cardio workout from the night before. I did manage to get to Barnes and Noble and get a Paleo book (Practical Paleo – I recommend it – and not just because there is a page dedicated to your poop and what it should look like – shout out to ‘Ms. Right’!). We ate some spicy ass meatballs with steamed green beans and watermelon for dinner. I also made some Blueberry/Lemon muffins – with coconut flour. Move over Barefoot Contessa, I be baking my shit with coconut flour. Of course – I also realized just how expensive this weird crap is. I mean really? Grade B syrup? Coconut flour? Grass-Fed Beef? – This is shit that’s coming from a co-op which stands for get ready to lose your paycheck in here.
Day 4: I feel less tired. I also feel lighter. Maybe not lighter as far as my weight is concerned (although I’d swear my shirts are feeling less restrictive) but lighter on the inside if that makes any sense. I made an egg salad using Dijon mustard (organic, thankyouverymuch), bacon grease, egg yolk, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper (instead of mayonnaise). It was a hit – possibly because it resembled something I would be used to eating before which I have found is key for me right now. I saw it written somewhere and I agree – trick your eye, trick your mind….make the food look like something you would have eaten before and you are likely to enjoy it’s paleo version. I wonder what food I could use that resembles a deep fried potato in fry form? We also ordered a sampler of Paleo friendly condiments and snacks since it’s the in-between meals and my lack of being able to dunk any food into an accompanying liquid that is causing me the most problems right now. I have also found that I have a love-affair for espresso with steamed chocolate almond milk. This has become my nightly treat and something I look forward to….which I think is hugely key for me as well. I tried blueberries as a mid-day snack for the first time today, and realized that I dislike blueberries a lot, unless they are in the muffin form.
Day 5: I felt pretty good this morning and I realized that I have been sleeping better since I started this. I also noticed while at work that thanks to the bacon I cooked last night, I smell like a bacon grease oil pit. I think there are worse things in life than smelling like bacon though. I feel like I have more energy and for longer periods of time. I also find myself not thinking about food between meals. We ate dinner at a nice place in Winona Lake - this was the first time I ordered from a restaurant. It was actually easier than I thought and the meal was fantastic. Later that evening we did a 7.5 mile MTB trail ride and that was when I realized just how much I wasn't eating. We were no more than 2 miles in and I was physically drained. We made it through the rest of the ride but not without a lot of bitching from me. I noticed, however, that I also recovered a lot quicker than I normally would have. We were standing around the bike shop talking to the owner and I was already feeling much better.
Day 6: It's Saturday - I figure Saturday and Sunday will be the hardest days for me this week. I woke and felt great - had my morning coffee and hit the grocery store. A lot of the recipes I've been looking at have said that using a food processor is a lot easier so we also went to buy one of those. There are many things in this life that I would spend $200 on - never in my life did I think a food processor would be on that list. Today was the first day that I also got completely frustrated with this paleo thing. My day started off so great and then at dinner time I tried two new recipes - one was our meal (tangy taco salad) and one dessert (vanilla almond sponge cake). Neither of them really impressed me and I instantly felt discouraged. I pouted about it for a little bit before Ryan convinced me to try another dessert. We tried pumpkin muffins and my faith was restored....it literally tasted like pumpkin bread. Which was exactly what I needed - something that look and tasted like a food that I use to enjoy. I ended the day having redeemed my attitude.
Day 7: I was worried about today because it was dreary and rainy outside and it was Sunday. That usually means the couch, the TV and a snack-fest for me but overall the day went easier than I thought. I made a sweet potato, ground lamb and egg casserole which was surprisingly good. This was made entirely easier by our new food processor which shredded the potatoes in no time flat. I haven't weighed myself but I feel like I've lost weight....my clothes hang looser on me and oddly enough, I've noticed that my seatbelt in the car fits around me easier as well.
Recommendations after Week 1:
1. Get a pay raise before you start this.
2. Make one shelf in your pantry ‘kid-restricted’ and put all of your Paleo groceries there. Damn kids can’t be cookin’ shit with your $8.99 coconut oil.
3. It’s much easier doing this when your spouse is doing it too. Do it with someone for mutual bitching opportunities!
4. In all seriousness – don’t weigh yourself. Listen to your body and how you feel rather than a number on a scale. I don’t think this tidbit of advice is exclusive to this paleo thing.
5. Stay active! If for no other reason than because before you trail-ride you get to eat those gummy fuel packet things and they taste eerily similar to gummy bears and damn….you miss gummy bears.
