Fuel

The day that I signed up for my foundations class, I noticed a sign next to the counter that was "advertising" Paleo snack kits. Intrigued, I googled it when I got home. The hunter-gatherer diet seemed very interesting, but at first glance it also seemed very limited. No beans, wheat, sugar, processed or dairy? What was I supposed to eat? Constant salads would surely drive me completely bonkers. So then I googled some Paleo before/after photos of people to see if this really made a difference (apparently so) and I found a couple of real people blogs about eating and living Paleo. I say real people because there are some bloggers forget about the budgets and schedules of people with jobs and families. I'm talking to you PurseBlog... how do you afford all those designer bags and nail manicures? Do you just walk around all day eating and taking pictures of your purses?

Enough ranting, sorry. Back to Paleo. My trainer friend, Lea, also suggested some blogs and that I also look in Zone. I did and at first was really excited about it. The restricted food list isn't as large. It's more of a balanced-everything-in-moderation type diet focused on macronutrition. Then I was faced with the daunting task of figuring out how to zone my meals including measuring and weighing the foods. In the end I think I just got a little too freaked out about the "if I eat an apple, I have to find some fat and protein to go with it" mentality.

So, I gave Paleo a shot. I got some great recipes from Everyday Paleo and also Pinterest.

side note: I LOVE Pinterest... I just searched "Paleo." Not a whole lot, but some good ideas.

My first Paleo meal was a warm bacon and spinach salad with avocado. I baked some porkchops too. The salad was amazing! Hmm... maybe this wasn't going to be so bad afterall. The next day I made some garlic and cinnamon sweet potato to go with the rest of the porkchops. Also very very tasty. During this time, I didn't eat any wheat (shocker for someone from Hawaii) and stopped snacking on chocolate and freezer pops. I could immediately feel a difference in my body. I didn't feel bloated all the time and I wasn't immediately exhausted after getting home from work.

I've been taking things slowly. I couldn't do the no wheat at all thing for long, I was craving it, but I did make the transition to whole wheat when I do crave it. I don't eat much of it and slowly it'll make more of a permanent exit.

For now, I'm going to keep exploring all things Paleo.