Paleo - Day 7

So here we are at day 7 of a Paleo diet.  It has been going well for the most part.  On day 4, I felt better than I have in a really long time. I woke up feeling like I had actually gotten a full night's rest. This is HUGE!!!  I haven't felt as desperate for sleep all week.  I am hoping the progress keeps up!  We have been very good at sticking to it, minus 2 dinners that we already had planned this week, so we are at 93% for our first week.

Since the Paleo diet is a pretty restrictive diet, a lot of people have been asking me what we can eat. I have taken a few pictures of some of our meals from the last week to demonstrate.  I have gotten most of my recipes from primallyinspired.com.  I highly recommend it, even if only for just REAL food ideas.

Our first day:  Chicken Bell Pepper Nachos and a Strawberry Breakfast Cake 

BLT Chicken Salad

We also had a Pumpkin and Pork (no bean) Chili, also from Primally Inspired that is not pictured.  It was delish, but doesn't photograph well.

Tonight, I went about Paleo-izing a meal that I've wanted to make for a long time and made it for my Daddy's Father's Day dinner.  Here is the original link.  Basically, I used coconut oil to fry the chicken in and I made a plum sauce from a Paleo book that Justin got me because we can't have any form of sugar, including artificial that would be in Smucker's jams.  Plus, since reading the plum sauce recipe, I wanted to try it.

5 Spice Chicken with Plum Sauce

I also had to get a little bit creative with our breakfast this morning.  Unfortunately, I took this picture after I had flipped my eggs over to use the yolk as part of the dressing.  It really was beautiful, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Sunny side up eggs on top of spring mix, avocado, and tomatoes with an olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette

I am excited to see what a difference another week can make and here's hoping for 100%!  So far, I don't feel like I'm missing out on much and I think you can (largely) agree!  :-)

Tomorrow, we are having Justin's family for dinner and I am planning on making Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa Verde.  We'll substitute Boston lettuce for the tortillas, skip the rice, and have a great salad along side it.  Should be great!

Paleo - Day 1

For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have been having a really hard time with energy for awhile now.  You may also know that I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Disorder.  Chronic Fatigue Disorder is one of those diagnoses that you are almost more loathe to get because throughout the medical community, like fibromyalgia, it is controversial on whether or not it is a "real" diagnosis.  I assure you that the affects that I have felt over the last year and a half are very real and worse at sometimes than others.
After quite a few visits to the doctors that have been less than helpful, I have decided to take my health into my own hands.

You may also know that Justin has been experiencing some stomach problems for the last year or so as well with just as few answers as me.  He has even had a CT scan for kidney stones!!!  When I approached him with the idea of going paleo, he was very accepting of the idea.

So what is paleo???

A Paleo diet involves eating meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, little starch, some fruit and no sugar.  It means no grains, legumes, dairy or alcohol. 

That may sound pretty restrictive, but I am hoping that it will help Justin and I feel better - and if we feel better... then isn't it all worth it?

I'm hoping to keep an diary for at least the first 30 days of what I am feeling and whether or not things are getting better.  .

Here is what today is looking like:

B:  Sweet potato with coconut oil and cinnamon
L:  Steak salad from Chipolte (No rice, no cheese, or sour cream)
D:  Loaded Mexican Bell Pepper Nachos

I'm feeling pretty good, though also pretty tired.  I took a long nap today, but have managed to stay up passed 10 p.m... so far so good.

If you are interested in any of the recipes I list, feel free to leave me a comment and I will direct you to it.