Switching to Paleo

I finally became sick and tired of being tired. At night that is. I would be SO exhausted at night around 7pm that I would sometimes go to bed with the kids. And still not feel rested in the mornings. And I finally got sick and tired of the tire of fat around my midsection. It is/was annoying beyond words and I declare war!!!

I had heard about the Paleo diet from a few friends and there was just something about it that kept drawing me in. The ONE other time I have been successful at losing weight quickly (post William) I had basically done the Paleo diet unknowingly. So it was a natural next step I knew my body already liked. 

Paleo in a nutshell:

NO grains

NO sugar (except raw honey)

NO dairy (except butter)

NO legumes

The common response (even from me) is: WHAT do you EAT?!

I'd like to steal a good line from one of my favorite Paleo cookbooks:

"Take a deep breath and think of every kind of meat, seafood, vegetable, and fruit you can. Now think of fat sources like coconuts and avocados and olives and nuts and seeds. Visualize your list. Looks great, right? That's a lot of delicious food. And that is what makes up the paleo diet." - Well Fed, by Melissa Joulwan

And that is what I am doing; while having 5 other non-Paleo people living with me.

I am one motivated person. ;)

I have lost 9 lbs and gone down 2 pants sizes. It's ALL worth it.

And the food is amazing. Come, journey with me through a few yummies....

Just discovered these babies. Amazingly sweet, crunchy and just plain perfection. A rad way for me to not feel deprived while others are eating chips. This totally helps those moments where I miss the crunch of grain products (tortilla chips, cereal, toast)

guacamole - I miss having real corn chips - but it's worth it.

pumpkin pie, better than the normal stuff - I swear! No one in my house likes pumpkin. What? How did 1/2 that pie vanish?!!! No I didn't. I swear. Stop saying that!

sautéed shrimp, mushrooms, onions. yum

Beet, cucumber, apple, lemon "juice" At first I wasn't too keen....now I am obsessed with it.

Creamy Almond milk........almost tastes like ice cream. So easy to make. For the record I was not an almond milk person before this.

watermelon and whipped coconut cream....heaven.

Bacon wrapped eggs (my new obsession) and sautted zucchini

easiest thing in the world to cook for a crowd.

baby greens, steamed beets, pine nuts, blueberries, peas

chicken breast, carrots, peas, celebry, broth + 4.5 hrs in crock pot = easiest dinner ever.

bacon wrapped eggs over baby greens, red cabbage and sliced tomatoes

"chocolate" treats that the Valentine Heart brought. :) 

BBQ ribs (dad's recipe), roasted brussel sprouts &veges. heaven divine. Those ribs give me heart palpitations they are so good.

zucchini noodles that are so good I want to weep. 

(picture from Well Fed cookbook)

coconut flour pancakes. I had been missing pancakes, a lot. Uuuummm syrup.....

 now I don't have to

Key lime dessert (using avocado!) 

Huge thanks to my mother in law for this recipe!

Did you just shutter because I said avocado and dessert in the same sentence? I did too, for 3 weeks. Then I got over it and made this, and well......licked the inside of the blender. Turns out avocado in desserts is just this amazing, creamy medium for making amazing things and there is no avocado taste at all. Who knew?!

It's been quite the journey - and will continue to be I am sure. This is going to be a slow but complete lifestyle change. My goal is to slowly make my whole house Paleo or minimally gluten free. It feels right.

I am finally making a permanent health change that I am so proud of.