Paleo Week #1 Recap

Today marks the start of Week #2 of my 30 Day Paleo Experiment.  What does that mean?!

I've survived one week of a being a caveman.

 ...nutritionally that is.

Therefore, I have to reflect on what the first week was like.

The worst part in the last seven days was Day #1, as seen HERE.  Without proper planning for how much or exactly what I'd be eating, my energy dropped low and that first day was a struggle.  Come Day #2, however, I did my best to eat more frequently and it seems to have worked so far.  On the opposite end, though, I haven't felt full since the day before the experiment began.


Having grown up being used to eating until I'm full, it has been odd to go so long without that familiar (and admittedly comforting) feeling.  On the positive side, I have not felt any heavy feeling in my stomach after a meal.  I honestly feel like I could go for a run or workout after any meal and what I just ate would have no ill effect on me as my normal meals before would have.  That alone made the entire first week worth the struggle.

Week #1 also brought a couple of other struggles.  I had to make a last minute trip to NY to see some family; none of which knew about my new diet.  While I watched everyone dig into plenty of processed foods and also felt the pressure of a time crunch on meal prep, I made it through with making all of my own meals.  YAY!  I was impressed.

Then less than 24 hours after making it home from NY, I had my first 2011 Thanksgiving Dinner.  And let me start by saying that the hosts were I-N-Credible!  Almost the entire meal was made caveman friendly - salad, green beans, turnips, squash, baked potatoes, turkey, cranberry/pomegranate sauce, and a fruit mix dessert.  I have such great friends!!  Thank you Chels and Maddy for helping me make it through Week #1 without caving!


Lastly, the only concern I've had thus far is my weight.  I started Day #1 at 170.5 and by Day #7 I was 166.5.  Fluctuation is always inherent, but as I said before, I'm keeping a close eye on my weight to make sure I'm eating enough.  I do also have to admit that I expected to lose a bit to start.  I've always felt our bodies fall in a balance.  Having taken all the processed sugars and foods off the scale is forcing my body to re-balance and I believe we would all assume that balance would be to the healthier end.  I just hope I stay more consistent in Week #2.

So here's the short hand on what I've learned this week...


Things I've learned about food...
- Pomegranates are a mess, yet delicious.
- Limes work great as a salad dressing
- Lemons and Limes squeezed into a jar of water also make an 'okay' version of lemon/limeade
- Fish (swai) and eggs mixed together taste great.
- I am not a fan of hard boiled eggs.
- Yellow bell peppers work great as snacks

Things I've learned about the Paleo diet...
- I spend at least 3 times as much of my day in the kitchen preparing and cooking meals
- I am never full
- I am never tired after eating.  I feel as though I could even workout.
- I eat much more frequent meals; frequent snacking.
- I eat fruit at every meal as a flavor boost.  Veggies don't have much flavor and aren't as delectable.
- My thirst has diminished dramatically; my guess is due to the absence of salty foods
-

And here is a look at what I've eaten in Paleo Week #1.

Monday
Breakfast
Clementine
Banana
3 Eggs with spinach & green pepper
Lunch
Banana
Clementine
Cantaloupe
Dinner
Spinach salad with granny smith apple and lime
Cantaloupe
Beef strips
Chicken medallions
Banana

TUESDAY
Breakfast
Banana
3 Hard boiled eggs
Lunch
Baked sweet potato
Baked eggplant with peanut crumbs
Dinner
Baked eggplant with peanut crumbs
Guacamole
Chicken medallions
Yellow bell pepper
Banana

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Baked eggplant with peanut crumbs
Banana
4 scrambled eggs
Lunch
Peanuts
Swai (fish) fillet
Broccoli
Dinner
Spinach salad with chicken, granny smith apple, and lime
yellow bell pepper
peanuts
guacamole
Snack
Banana

THURSDAY
Breakfast
5 scrambled eggs
Lunch
Spinach salad with chicken and guacamole
2nd Lunch
4 Eggs
2 Bananas
Grapes
Fresh broccoli
Dinner
Banana
Tilapia
Baked sweet potato

FRIDAY

Breakfast
6 eggs
yellow bell pepper
Snack
banana
raw cashews
Lunch
Tilapia
Baked sweet potato
yellow bell pepper
apple
salad with lime
Snack
Salad with lime
Raw cashews
Banana
Dinner
Raw Cashews

SATURDAY
Breakfast
5 Eggs
Banana
Snack
Cashews
Lunch
Spinach salad with chicken & guacamole
Cantaloupe
Peanuts
Snack
Cashews
Banana
Dinner
Spring mix salad with onion, yellow bell pepper, granny smith apple, & lime
Green beans
Turkey
Pomegranate
Turnips
Butternut squash
Baked russet potatoes with garlic and rosemary
Baked apple with walnuts, almonds, and grapes

SUNDAY
Breakfast
2 eggs
Cantaloupe
Lunch
Spinach salad with chicken, yellow bell pepper, and lime
Snack
Cashews
Dinner
4 eggs
Swai fillet
1/2 green and 1/2 yellow squash
Pomegranate

Only 21 days left!!

Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard.