Let’s Get Paleo…

A couple friends of mine and I started a 30 day Paleo Diet Challenge on January 2nd. The diet will run through the 31st of this month and requires you to give up processed food and caffeine. So what can you eat? Most fruit, but they say eat mostly berries. Lean Meats, so no bacon or pork products – and nuts. So that leaves you with no bread, no dairy, and no sweets. Today is day 6 of this diet and I don’t feel any lighter. I sleep really well at night, but I can’t see any weight loss – which I think is why it’s so hard to spot weight gain!

My friend Jes asked me to post my daily menu which has proved harder than I expected cause I’ve been so busy, but, my days consist mostly of this:

Breakfast:

3-4 Eggs scrambled with onions
Snack – Cashews and Pineapple

Lunch:

Grilled chicken breast
Avocado
Mixed veggies – squash and zucchini

Dinner:

Fajita meat, brisket or some type of beef. I love beef. It’s what’s for dinner.
Vegetables – broccoli and cauliflower

I have not been weighing every day. In the past I have found that to be detrimental. If I see no progress I get very discouraged instead of just digging in and realizing that it is going to take time. I plan to weigh once a week and be happy with whatever weight loss I have. Loss is loss.

What do I miss most? McAlister’s Sweet Tea. I used to drink 4-5 glasses a week. I would order it half sweet half unsweet and I plan to get some on Superbowl Sunday. That will be my first “cheat” day after this 30 day challenge is up.

But… this “diet” is supposed to become a lifestyle. I’m still trying to mentally wrap my head around never having dairy or sugar or bread or anything artificial again for the rest of my life, but maybe I can cut those things back to like 10% of what I used to eat. So the occasional half-and-half and cup of coffee instead of 2-3 cups every morning. I’ve spent 36 years learning how to eat poorly, it’s going to take some time for me to figure out how to enjoy eating like this. Variety is the spice of life and right now mine is lacking variety for sure – but part of that has been because I have been really watching my carb intake as well. The fruits that I have eaten have been in moderation just so that I don’t get too many carbs and I burn the fat a little faster.

For now, wish me luck, I need to get below 300 pounds this year. It’s been too long that I’ve put this off… too, too long.