Day 15 - The Halfway Point & Some Ponderings Thus Far

Heyho Paleo Peeps!

Today marks the half way point of my 30 day journey of strict Paleo eating (and hopefully day 15 for those of you joining me on this journey).

At this point I am very proud of myself for succeeding thus far. It has been easier than I thought and harder than I thought, in equal measures, if that makes sense!?

Easier because I had been pretty strict since July anyway. Apart from alcohol of course, but hey never trust an Irish person who doesn't drink! haha (and Paleo advocate Lorein Cordain enjoys a glass or two of vino so why not!?) I had therefore got most of the fundamentals in place all ready. Sure it is challenging taking it to this level of strictness - but not impossible.

I would say it is harder in ways - especially when it comes to eating in other people's houses or restaurants for example.
While I always endeavour to stay true to my normal Paleo eating habits, sometimes it is unavoidable to cut some corners. Like the kind of fats your food is cooked in, or having a small piece of someone's cake so as not to be rude. But when undertaking a 30 day programme you can't make these tweaks or you are breaking the programme and ruining its good effects on your body.

What this Whole30 HAS done though has made me realise that I CAN eat the best way for my body without feeling I am missing out on tasty and satisfying food. It also makes me proud of myself to know that I am reducing my chances of a whole plethora of diseases as well as the big C (*gulp). I mean at the end of the day wouldn't you like to know you were doing everything YOU could to reduce your chances of becoming unhealthy?

Today I also clarified another batch of Kerrygold and cooked a lovely chicken thigh casserole.

Here is a breakdown of what I have been devouring over the past two days:

Day 14

BF: Smoked Salmon and Asparagus with tomato and mushroom

Lunch: Roasted Squash, Carrot and Garlic Soup

Dinner: Salmon, Stir fried Greens and sweet tatters

Snacks: Banana,

Day 15

BF: Bacon, Onions and Mushrooms

Lunch: Leftover Salmon & Veggie Omelette

Dinner: Chicken Thigh Casserole

Snack: Apple, 2 x mandarin's

So, that concludes my Day 15 post! Hope your day has gone well so far.

Talk soon, and remember, Keep it Paleo! :)

Day 14 - Update

Hi Paleo Pals!

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days. Unfortunately my internet access was gone all weekend (major inconvenience!) but I have solved the problem and I am now up and going again! (Yes I am a technical genius!!)

The weekend was fairly uneventful and went well again, I wasn't tempted by anything per say although the roast potatoes my Other Half cooked yesterday for our roast chicken looked damn good.

I still have to admit I am happy tomorrow is the half way point on my Whole30. While I find the week days fine and easy to keep 100% Paleo, the weekend can be a right pain in the bum - especially when in other people's houses or when meeting friends for coffee etc. Worrying about what is in EVERYTHING in a restaurant/other people's food can be tough. I am not the type of person who likes to complain or make a fuss so it usually means eating nothing. Sometimes this is fine, other times, when you know you won't eat for a long time, this can be troublesome.

My food intake over the past few days has been as follows:

Friday

BF: 2 x fried eggs, liver, 1x piece of bacon and tomatoes

Lunch: I met my OH (other half) for lunch and couldn't eat anything on the menu really. So I choose an egg mayo salad. I left much of it behind me (much to his annoyance!) Salad should not be 50% potato salad ffs! GRR

Dinner: Homemade beef burgers with sweet potato fries and sauteed spinach on garlic

Snacks: Dried, unsweetened banana chips, apple,


Saturday

BF: 2 x fried eggs with asparagus and bacon.

Lunch: Nothing :(

Dinner: Leftover beef burger, steak, sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil, onions, mushrooms, and spinach

Supper: 2 x scrambled eggs with smoked salmon


Sunday:

BF: Banana (I wasn't hungry and I had supper late the night before)

Lunch: Roast Chicken with mashed cauliflower, turnip and carrot and parsnip
Dessert: Fresh Pineapple

Supper: 1/2 an Omelette (we didn't have enough eggs leftover! So about 1 egg worth)

 So there you go! I have finally updated! I promise not to leave the updates so far apart in the future.

How are you doing so far? Does the halfway point tomorrow excite you as much as me!!?

Day 10 & How I Came To The Paleo Lifestyle

Hey guys,

Happy Day 10 for those of you joining me on this November clean eating challenge.

I hope it is going as well for you as it is for me. I have to say it has been fairly effortless so far. I am not really craving anything too badly, although I am looking forward to a glass of Pinot Grigio when I finish! I always give up drink for November (call it a detox, call it a subconscious effort to do good by my Catholic roots, who knows?!) But it is something I always do. I find the first week or two are usually fine and then I am looking forward to a night out! So far so good though!

The weather at the moment here is unseasonably warm and sunny, so I have been enjoying the weather and going out for long walks with my dog. We done 3 miles the past few days, and 2 on Monday. Tuesday I was active too, helping out with fairly manual work (loooong story).

How I came to the Paleo Lifestyle
I have been active for the past couple of years. I gave up smoking almost two years ago, and was fearful that I would gain weight so I got into running. I ran in a couple of 10K runs and a half marathon but I found that I wasn't a natural runner, and despite running for miles a week, I wasn't getting any faster and I wasn't loosing any weight. Although I looked more toned I knew I needed to loose a few pounds on the scale, but if I cut down on my calories I was exhausted and run down (pardon the pun!). Something wasn't adding up for me.
So I decided to look at my diet as I figured all this exercise was not seeing results, so I would have to look at my food.
I have always eaten "healthy". I always make meals from scratch for my partner and son, and we eat home prepared food the vast majority of the time. (We eat out seldom). I ate salads for lunch and home prepared dinners, rarely including sauces or anything processed during the week. Perhaps pizza at the weekend and a dessert on Sunday. But I was a slave to refined carbs, in particular bread and toast and pasta. I really believed I could never live without my toast!
I spent a few days inputting my daily food intakes into "Fitday.com" and soon realised I was eating far too many carbs. I worried about this as I was also a slave to "lowfat" eating so I did not know how I could drop the carbs and stay full.
I done some google searches and Paleo came up. I think it was actually Sarah Fragoso's "Everyday Paleo" that came up - and I liked the sound of it.
Eating real, unprocessed foods, low in refined carbs but including plenty of fat, protein and veggies. I bought Lorein Cordain's book "The Paleo Diet" and read it but I must admit I was fairly dubious about how I would manage without my bread and toast!
But here I am - almost four months later and more passionate than ever about my journey and doing my first Whole30!
If you are new to this I hope that you too are enjoying it so much you keep it up!

Anyway, enough talking rubbish!

The past 2 days have gone like so food wise:

Day 9
Breakfast:
Liver, bacon, spinach, tomato and onion
My first time eating liver since childhood - it was better than expected, but it might take me a while to love it!

Lunch: A Chicken Indian thing I threw together including spices, coconut milk and ground almonds. Tasted delish, but it didn't agree with me for some reason. Bad digestive issues afterwards. The spices??

Dinner: Minced Lamb Stew
Snacks: Apple
Exercise: 3 miles walk

Day 10
Breakfast: Bacon and Veg Omelette with avocado

Lunch: Smoked Paprika Chicken with Green Bean, Broccoli and tomato salad.
This was a little bland. I tried adding coconut milk as a dressing but it kept sliding off. I needed a dressing!

Dinner: Pork Loin with unsweetened apple sauce, mashed cauliflower, buttered carrots and turnips.

Snacks: Apple, 2x scrambled eggs (maybe!)
Exercise: 3 miles walk.

Ill finish with the following:
Remember - It is important to include exercise in your lifestyle - in particular light exercise like walking with occasional sprints is good. And lifting something heavy. I plan to do some lifting tomorrow. While in my opinion weight loss and a healthy lifestyle are as a result of roughly 80 diet 20 exercise ratio - so you should not use your seemingly easy weight-loss (if that is your aim) as an excuse NOT to exercise. Our Paleo ancestors were not sedentary so include exercise!

That is all for now!

Remember - you are 1/3 of the way there! Keep it up and keep it Paleo :)