I'm soooooo huunnngray!

Well day one on Paleo has officially come and gone and I made it.  Whoo-hoo, one day at a time, right?  The food was great and I really didn't have that much of a problem with what I ate.  I really enjoyed it actually-- the only problem was my own fault and that was I didn't eat enough.  I am not used to eating healthy and I forget that even with probably more options for purchasing snacks than most, since I work on a college campus with restaurants in the building over, the offerings were all still things I couldn't eat.  So other than my breakfast and lunch I didn't have anything to eat, which meant I spent most of the day starving.  Here's what my day one looked like:

Breakfast
I made a smoothie before leaving for work.  Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup frozen organic blueberries
• 1 organic banana
• 2 tb almond butter
• Coconut Milk
• Ice

Add blueberries, banana and almond butter in the blender.  Pour coconut milk over ingredients until      covered.  Add ice, I used 4 cubes, but this depends on how thick and cold you want your smoothie--       add more or less depending on desired consistency.  Blend.  Easy enough, right?

Lunch

I am normally an eat-outter at lunch and I wanted to make sure that didn't have to change.  So for lunch I went to Subway and did a chopped spinach salad with tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, and grilled chicken.  I had them put a little of the red wine vinaigrette on the side just to give it some flavor.

Snack

As soon as I got home I grabbed an organic barlett pear.  By this time I was starving because I didn't think ahead and the temptation to run through McDonald's or Sonic on my way home was intense, but I fought it and made it home so I could eat a good snack.

Dinner

I have to say our first Paleo dinner turned out awesome.  It was such a beautiful day so Chad fired up the grill and we had hamburgers and fries, Paleo style.  Here are the recipes:

Paleo Hamburgers--  you're going to need a knife and fork for this one!  :-)

• 1 lb grass fed lean ground beef
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt/pepper
• 9 free-range eggs

Mix ground beef, garlic powder, onion powder, 1 egg and salt/pepper to taste together.  Pat into 4 equal patties (about 1/4 lb each).  Grill to desired doneness (we did ours to about medium well and it took about 10 minutes).

While the burgers are on the grill, use bacon grease or coconut oil to fry up 8 eggs-- set aside on plate.

Place burger patties in between two fried eggs (imagine the eggs as your bun).  Top with mustard, guacamole, other Paleo friendly condiments of choice.  We used guacamole and it was a perfect addition!

Sweet Potato Fries

• 1 large sweet potato (if it's big enough that all you'll need... two smaller ones would be just fine)
• Coconut Oil
• Sea Salt
• Coconut Flakes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Coat baking pan/cookie sheet with coconut oil.

Peel sweet potato and dice into fries.  Put sea salt and coconut flakes (to taste) in baggie and add fries.  Shake until all pieces are well covered.

Bake at 425 for about 10-15 minutes.

     

Overall the day went great.  I learned my mistake and I have plenty of snack options with me today at work. Side note--  I slept through the entire night first time in several weeks without waking up... not sure if it was coincidence or if my body can already tell a difference.

And so it begins...

After some reading and discussion with some friends at church, Chad and I decided to make a lifestyle change by following the eating recommendations of the Paleo Diet.  Yesterday, I am happy to report, we began the first steps on our journey.  The evening was spent purging our kitchen of unhealthy food and restocking it with healthier options-- here are my thoughts and feelings about the process.

OMGee, THE EXCESS!!!

I spent over two hours riding our fridge and pantry of all the items that we could no longer eat-- out of sight, out of mind.  I just felt that as a family unit we would have much more success making this drastic transition by doing it.  After 3 garbage bags full of expired/opened and stale/two bites left of food I cannot tell you the incredible sense of guilt I felt over how much food we had wasted. Thankfully, I was able to donate several items of unopened can goods and etc to our church which helped to ease the guilt some, but the overwhelming sense of excess that we had in our pantry and fridge has continued to be heavy on my heart even throughout today.  As we move, forward in this journey I pray that God will help us as a family to reel in the excess and over-consumption that has flooded our home and minds from traditional American culture.

EXCITEMENT!!!

I am really excited to see how this journey will change us.  Though Chad or I neither one have ever been considered overweight we both could stand to lose a few pounds to be at our optimal appearance.  I am interested to see how our body's will shift and adjust as we make these changes.  I personally though I am more excited to see how these health changes will make me feel.  As a wife,  mommy of two rambunctious little boys, full time professional and volunteer for about six million other duties it easy too understand why I might stay tired, but the lack of energy I have had recently is overwhelming.  It seems as even when I have time to sleep I am not able too, so I am hoping that as I become healthier not only will I look better but I will feel better too.

WHAT WILL THE BOYS EAT???

As I dumped the remains of Easter, Valentine, Christmas and I ashamed as I am Halloween candy into the trash bag I began to wonder if the boys would strike a coup d'Éta against me... no more candy, no more chips, no more Pop-Tarts-- whatever shall they eat!?!  I was blown away to see that the boys came home after my purge and restock and were absolutely THRILLED to eat the fresh strawberries and apples I had picked up instead of Cheetos or Fruit Loops.  Basically-- I have been a lazy mom.  Yup, I said it-- LAZY.  It is actually not about what the boys will or won't eat, its about the time I am willing to put in to feed them.  Handing them a bag or Pop-Tart out of the pantry is much easier and convenient than cutting up some strawberries and slicing an apple to hand them.  With that being said, I did keep a few toddler friendly items around such as milk (dairy is not allowed on Paleo) and hotdogs, but for the most part I am going to expect the boys to eat what we eat.

My favorite memory of day one:  Noal asking Daddy for more "weafs" out of his salad.  The kid sat and ate raw spinach leaves like it was M&Ms.  And I though they were the ones who would complain...

Be sure to check out an Instagram of our new Paleo friendly fridge!

Beach Vacation

Life gets a little crazy sometimes so I haven't been the diligent blogger that I should have.  I did want to take the opportunity to share some stories from our beach vacation with you.

This year we went to Destin, Florida with Yaya and Poppy.  It was an AMAZING vacation.  Super relaxing, lots of yummy food, a little shopping, and some chubby, sandy toes on my little boys; it doesn't get better than that.  Trace absolutely loved the beach this year, even got out in the ocean boogie-boarding with Daddy.  Noal was still uncertain about the whole thing, but he didn't mind being outside hanging out with the fam.  We were able to see dolphins off our balcony every morning and that was probably my favorite part, I have never seen that many dolphins that close before.  Poppy even caught one (don't worry, he cut it lose!) while him and Chad were fishing on the pier.

It is hard to believe that right when we got back from vacation, Noal turned two.  The boys are getting big so quickly and the saying that the days are long, but the years are short could not ring more true for us right now.

Here are some pics from our amazing vacation: