Paleo (also known paleolithic diet) consists of eating mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts. It and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.
After reading that you may be wondering why anyone would submit themselves to what sounds like torture. Well, I eat pretty healthily and workout, and as it is and have seen a plateau in my results. Also, I have some digestion issues (sorry if tmi) and I'm hoping that this will help. We Americans tend to eat too many carbs and sugars and many of us are addicted to them. We eat more than our bodies need or can use efficiently.
It has been off to a great start; I have not cheated once, but it has been pretty hard… especially around 3:30 when my work day is dragging. I am using this blog as a way to track what I am eating and my exercises, and hopefully hold myself accountable.
I will start taking pictures of my food, but for now I want to list what I ate on the first 3 days.
Day 1, June 25
5:30 am (before workout) - banana
6 -7 am - boot camp workout (burpees and sexy back push-ups. We started with 1-1 and I ended at 13-13)
8:30 am (breakfast) - 2 eggs scrambled w/ salsa and sautéed swiss chard (in evoo). 12 oz of water.
8:30 - 11:30 - 16 oz of water
11:30 - blueberries and baby carrots
Noon - Chicken breast w/ chopped avocado, tomato, cilantro and onion.
12:30 -1:30 - 16 oz water
3:00 - almonds and cashews, and olives. 16 oz of water
5:00 - 16 oz of water
6:30 - beef short rib and steamed broccoli
9:30 - 12 oz of water
On the night of day 1, I prepared a whole chicken in the crockpot, so I could eat off that the remainder of the week. I get an organic whole chicken and use this great recipe. I add carrots and other veggies to the recipe.
Day 2, June 26
7:30 am - banana
8:30 am - 2 eggs scrambled w/ sautéed swiss chard (in evoo). 16 oz of water.
9 -10 am - 16 oz of water. blueberries
12:15 pm - 12 oz of water. Crock pot chicken w/ onions and carrots (recipe above). steamed broccoli
2:30 pm - 16 oz of water. Cashews and almonds. Olives
3:30 pm - 16 oz of water
5:00 pm - 16 oz of water. Cashews and almonds.
6:30 - 8:00- restorative yoga class
8:00 pm - Salad with mixed greens, albacore tuna, onion, tomato, banana peppers, olive oil and red wine vinegar (all veggies from our local CSA)
On the night of day 2, I roasted beets and cooked brussels sprouts to have veggies to eat during the week.
Day 3, June 27th
6:00 am - bootcamp (worked for 15 minutes to see how many rounds of 10 squats, 10 sit-ups, 10 pushups we could do. I did 9 rounds +10 squats).
7:00 am - banana
8:30 am - two eggs (over easy) with sautéed swiss chard (in evoo). 16 oz of water
10:00 am - 16 oz of water
10:45 am - blueberries and peaches. 16 oz of water
12:00 pm - crockpot chicken, carrots, and onions (recipe above). Brussels sprouts and beets.
1:15 pm - 16 oz of water
3:30 pm - apple, cashews and almonds.
5:00 pm - 16 oz of water
5:30 pm (meet a friend for appetizers) -peaches with mint and lime juice, cucumber and onion with evoo and vinegar. 12 oz of water, unsweet tea.
7:00 pm - grilled chicken skewers. raw veggies (carrots, tomatoes). 16 oz water
10:00 pm - 12 oz of water
Day 3 was the hardest by far. First, I was hungry all day, even though I felt like I was eating a lot. Second, it is really hard to eat paleo at a restaurant. Luckily we were just ordering appetizers so I found something that worked, but if I was ordering dinner, I would have had to ask them to make something that wasn't on their menu and would have felt awkward. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I also had a splitting headache most of the afternoon.
So far, I am happy with my commitment and dedication. I would really like to cut out some of the fruit I am eating. Strict paleo limits the amount of fruit intake and it should really only be berries. I will be back to describe the remainder of week 1 later in the week.
xoxo - Sarah
