Week 3 Meal Plan | #30daysofpaleo

One of the best ways to plan for success is to plan… I can plan 4.5 weekly menus…! Easy peasy! It’s following the plan that’s the hard part, of course.

Here’s my plan for this week:

I am starting the week off by cooking 1lb of ground beef and 1lb of nitrate-free bacon to have ready-to-go in the fridge (used most with breakfast omelets and lunch meals). I will reserve 1 spaghetti squash and 1 whole chicken for meals later in the week.

Sunday

Breakfast: Eggs with roasted garlic, spinach and ground beef Lunch: Grain-free porridge and roasted sweet potatoes to snack on later (I'll be at the Lynchburg Bridal Expo so this is quick and easy if prepared ahead of time!) Dinner: roasted whole chicken with vegetables (onions, carrots, broccoli) (plus rice for Tommy)

Monday

Breakfast: Eggs with roasted garlic and spinach, strawberries Lunch: Taco salad with salsa & avocado Dinner: Leftover chicken sautéed with brussel sprouts, white onions and grass-fed butter

Tuesday (early gym day, quick breakfast)

Breakfast: Grain-free porridge and fruit (Recipe can be found in practical paleo) Lunch: Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce & grass fed beef Dinner: almond breaded chicken with steamed vegetables

Wednesday (traveling mid-day, easy to-go lunch)

Breakfast: Omelet with ground beef, mushrooms and spinach, grain-free porridge (and fruit for Sunday) Lunch: Green smoothie (home made almond milk, spinach, frozen banana and almond butter) Dinner: Chicken breasts over strawberry and spinach/romaine salad

Thursday (early gym day, quick breakfast)

Breakfast: Grain-free porridge and fruit Lunch: Leftover spaghetti squash with tomato sauce & grass fed beef Dinner: taco veggie lettuce wraps (tortillas + cheese for Tommy)

Friday (traveling mid-day, easy to-go lunch)

Breakfast: Omelet with bacon + spinach, grain-free porridge Lunch: Green smoothie (home made almond milk, spinach, frozen banana and almond butter) Dinner: Sundried tomato bacon chicken salad crostini

Saturday

Breakfast: Paleo pancakes Lunch: Chicken breasts, strawberry and spinach/romaine salad Dinner: Leftovers

5 new foods I love because of the Paleo Challenge

A few weeks before the Paleo Challenge kicked off, I attended a small paleo workshop presented by one of the owners of my Crossfit box. She shared a lot of information and encouragement during the workshop, but one thing she said really stuck with me. I kind of think about it daily. She said, "I get so excited when I hear someone is going to do a paleo challenge because I think they are finally going to taste food."

At first I thought… Blah. I am not looking forward to tasting those foods. Veggies… ew. Chicken liver? Bone Broth? Suaerkraut? So gross. And, anyway, I really like my sugar, salt and cheese.

But, 5 days in I can tell you she was right. I have a handful of new favorite foods already. Guilt-free, good for me, delicious and savory foods. Foods I never would have tried had I not taken on this challenge!  If you've never tried these foods, I challenge you to pick one from the list below and make it this week!

Spaghetti Squash - The best kept squash secret!! There are a ton of ways to make spaghetti squash (just as there are a ton of ways to make spaghetti pasta). I simply substituted the squash for pasta in our traditional spaghetti dinner. But you could sauté it with garlic, grass-fed butter, and salt... or sauté it with olive oil, basil and tomatoes. The list could go on. I used this recipe for our dinner the other night. So, so good. I won't miss pasta at all! (Actually, I already miss cheese-stuffed pasta. :))

Sweet Potatoes - These were instrumental in my survival of the paleo diet. Sweet, savory, filling, and can we say CARBS?? Emotionally needed (comfort food!) and guilt-free. I love to peel, cube, and sauté sweet potatoes in a pan with a chopped white onion, coconut oil, salt and a dash of cinnamon! It's like candy!!

Grain-free Porridge - I thought I would never get to have a creamy, warm, filling breakfast cereal again (I am a huge oatmeal and cream-of-wheat fan!). Well... who would have thought that almond butter + coconut milk + coconut flakes + vanilla would be a delicious and creamy winter breakfast? And it seriously leaves me satisfied for hours. (Warm it all up on the stovetop, of course!)

Onions - Anyone who knows me well know I do not like onions. Or peppers. At all. I'm kind of a texture weirdo and I have avoided them my whole life. Now, I've always been able to appreciate the taste of onions (but not peppers) and in the past few months I started recognizing the flavor of onions really added to a meal. So, I started using teeny, tiny onion pieces in my meals. Until this week. I made a roast the other night with large onion chunks (for Tommy - he loves them) and those slices of onions were super delicious. The next night I served sauteed onions as a side dish to our meal. Hah. I am SOLD! So, so good!

Grass-fed Beef - When people would tell me how much more delicious grass-fed beef was versus simple generic ground beef, it would totally go in one ear and out the other. I'm not a ground beef fan. I find it pretty much tasteless and I have never been a big burger fan. When I made spaghetti in the past, I'd use italian sausage instead of ground beef. Until now! This stuff is PACKED with flavor!! And truthfully, it may just be that my taste buds aren't coated with salt and sugar so I am finally tasting the meat. It doesn't matter. It's delicious.

So there you have it! Five new favorite foods in five days! It's like I'm becoming an adult or something. :) You should really give one of these a try!

I made it through my first weekend...!

Well. I mean, I survived. Like, I'm still alive and all. But I don't know how to tell you that I cheated. Twice.

Oh, that wasn't so bad. (Confessions!)

I totally ate one of the donuts my mom brought with her. (However, she is pretty much uninvited from my presence until the paleo challenge is over. Just kidding. Sort of. Wait, life is too short to be serious about that. So yeah, just kidding.)

I also completely planned to cheat (and definitely did) during the Super Bowl. And here I am about 12 hours later to report that apparently my body can already tell the difference between clean-eating-Liz and crappy-food-eating-Liz. Not feeling so hot this morning. Oops.

So! Back on track this morning for sure! The overall challenge hasn't been as bad as I expected. I have already slowly been weaning myself off of sugar and gluten filled foods over time. While I am always "making exceptions," right now, the motivation to complete the challenge has been enough to push away those cravings. Plus, there are so many delicious foods that I can eat. More on that in another post.

On Friday I took the train to Charlottesville to stock up on paleo-friendly foods. Some people at my Crossfit Box had mentioned that Whole Foods had "the best" kombucha on tap. First of all, I had no idea what kombucha was. (I know I'm not alone here, so check out this link for a quick overview. In essence, it's fermented tea.) I did know it was a fermented drink. And I know eating fermented foods is really good for you, but this chick is so not a fan of sauerkraut. So I walked up to the bar at Whole Foods and hesitantly asked to sample the kombucha. You guys, as soon as that stuff hit my mouth my absolute first thought was "Woah. I forgot that wine is fermented grapes." As in... this tastes similar to wine. This is good!

I walked away with a growler full of kombucha. When I got home I helped myself to a wine glass serving size right before bed. And here is what I learned:

It's tea, you all. Like... has caffeine. Right. And...! Apparently you shouldn't just jump right into it. You should only drink 2-4oz a day at first. Not, you know, 8+. Your body needs to get used to it.

Ughhhh.... I was wide awake at 3am feeling pretty ill. That set off my Saturday on the wrong foot and I ended up taking a 2hr nap later that afternoon and going to bed at 8pm that night. So, Saturday was definitely the hardest "stick to paleo" day I had. When I'm sick I just want to eat what I think will make me feel better. In the past that's been saltines... or chicken noodle soup. Or maybe caffeine (to help headaches). It was actually kind of interesting listening to the inner battle going on... wanting to feed my body with foods I know will not nurture it, knowing it was actually a bad idea. I knew I needed to be drinking fresh juice or eating greens... but all I wanted was some buttered toast and saltines. It's crazy, the things that are truly engrained in our minds.

I think this is going to be so much more of a mind battle than a food battle. I'm looking forward to learning more in the coming weeks.

'Til next time...!

My 30 Day Paleo Challenge Journey | #30daysofpaleo

Alright, friends. I think I have figured out a way to share this journey with you and really only share it with those of you who care. :) I set up a category in my wordpress back end for the challenge and this category (30 day paleo challenge) will not be showing up on my homepage or in any of my RSS feeds. If you would like to follow along with this challenge, you can do so by using this link. I also added a fun Paleo Challenge button in my sidebar so you can hop over to my site and click through to see what's going on.

Okay, so, this is going to be harder thanI thought. See, I own the book Practical Paleo... which is kind of the bible of Paleo eating. And IN the book the diet allows fruit and sweeteners (natural sugars like maple syrup, honey and dates). So I figured... I can do this. It'll be tough, but I know I can do anything for 30 days. And at least I've got my escape of warm, sweet tea. Yummm. I am excited, I want to learn to listen to my body and understand why it does/feels the things it experiences. Yeah! Let's do this!

And then... you guys... I got the email about the challenge on Tuesday night. Here is a brief overview:

How to Earn Points during Days 1-7:

• 1 point for each meal you eat clean (NO: sugar- including honey or maple syrup, grains, gluten, legumes, dairy, or alcohol). Refer to page 10 of the resource guide. Each meal must have a protein, veggie, & fat. (You can’t eat just sweet potatoes for breakfast (What! This is nuts!!)). Also no fruit for the first week. (Are you KIDDING ME?!!!)
• ONGOING BONUS: add 5 points for each super food you eat (organ meat, homemade bone broth – not boxed or canned, sea vegetables - dulse, kelp, seaweed) There are a few more super foods, but we will add them in the coming weeks. (How about I don't eat any clean meals but I just add a super food to each day of the challenge?? That's like... more points than just eating clean meals!)
• Weekly challenge- track your water intake. 1 point per day that you get 64 oz of water (not including water consumed at the box)
• On the 14^th day (Valentine’s Day) – Dark chocolate will be allowed without penalty.  Must be 80% or higher.
• Fruit will be added back the 2^nd week (post wod only).

When I read that right there about no FRUIT for the first week... I wanted to quit then and there. I can't do this. I don't WANT to do this. You-have-got-to-be-kidding-me. And then... oh, look! It comes back the second week! But only after I have completed the Workout of the Day (WOD). 

And I mean... that kind of puts a major damper on my 30 Days of Juice challenge I'm in the middle of. What did I even get myself into here?! Imagine me right now... kicking and screaming and throwing a fit. (If only Sunday could see me.) I wish I had never even mentioned the challenge on my blog. Because now I have to do it. And I really don't want to. But... I really do want to. I want to break my addiction to sugar. I want to learn to eat three meals a day without snacking between them. I want to learn to love clean, rich foods. Foods that are so good for my body. Yes it's going to be hard... but it's going to be amazing. And... well... I am really looking forward to the results in my after pictures. Maybe, if they are good enough, I'll share the pictures with you guys, too.

So - the challenge kicks off tomorrow. I'll be sharing exactly what I am eating and how I am feeling over here. Feel free to follow along. I could use any and every bit of encouragement, even if it's just click throughs to the blog posts. :)

30 Day Paleo Challenge | #30daysofpaleo

Alright, friends. I think I have figured out a way to share this journey with you and really only share it with those of you who care. :) I set up a category in my wordpress back end for the challenge and this category (30 day paleo challenge) will not be showing up on my homepage or in any of my RSS feeds. If you would like to follow along with this challenge, you can do so by using this link. I also added a fun Paleo Challenge button in my sidebar so you can hop over to my site and click through to see what's going on.

Okay, so, this is going to be harder thanI thought. See, I own the book Practical Paleo... which is kind of the bible of Paleo eating. And IN the book the diet allows fruit and sweeteners (natural sugars like maple syrup, honey and dates). So I figured... I can do this. It'll be tough, but I know I can do anything for 30 days. And at least I've got my escape of warm, sweet tea. Yummm. I am excited, I want to learn to listen to my body and understand why it does/feels the things it experiences. Yeah! Let's do this!

And then... you guys... I got the email about the challenge on Tuesday night. Here is a brief overview:

How to Earn Points during Days 1-7:

• 1 point for each meal you eat clean (NO: sugar- including honey or maple syrup, grains, gluten, legumes, dairy, or alcohol). Refer to page 10 of the resource guide. Each meal must have a protein, veggie, & fat. (You can’t eat just sweet potatoes for breakfast (What! This is nuts!!)). Also no fruit for the first week. (Are you KIDDING ME?!!!)
• ONGOING BONUS: add 5 points for each super food you eat (organ meat, homemade bone broth – not boxed or canned, sea vegetables - dulse, kelp, seaweed) There are a few more super foods, but we will add them in the coming weeks. (How about I don't eat any clean meals but I just add a super food to each day of the challenge?? That's like... more points than just eating clean meals!)
• Weekly challenge- track your water intake. 1 point per day that you get 64 oz of water (not including water consumed at the box)
• On the 14^th day (Valentine’s Day) – Dark chocolate will be allowed without penalty.  Must be 80% or higher.
• Fruit will be added back the 2^nd week (post wod only).

When I read that right there about no FRUIT for the first week... I wanted to quit then and there. I can't do this. I don't WANT to do this. You-have-got-to-be-kidding-me. And then... oh, look! It comes back the second week! But only after I have completed the Workout of the Day (WOD). 

And I mean... that kind of puts a major damper on my 30 Days of Juice challenge I'm in the middle of. What did I even get myself into here?! Imagine me right now... kicking and screaming and throwing a fit. (If only Sunday could see me.) I wish I had never even mentioned the challenge on my blog. Because now I have to do it. And I really don't want to. But... I really do want to. I want to break my addiction to sugar. I want to learn to eat three meals a day without snacking between them. I want to learn to love clean, rich foods. Foods that are so good for my body. Yes it's going to be hard... but it's going to be amazing. And... well... I am really looking forward to the results in my after pictures. Maybe, if they are good enough, I'll share the pictures with you guys, too.

So - the challenge kicks off tomorrow. I'll be sharing exactly what I am eating and how I am feeling over here. Feel free to follow along. I could use any and every bit of encouragement, even if it's just click throughs to the blog posts. :)