As detailed in my regular blog I have decided to try the paleo diet for 30 days. This means changing my view on how and what I eat completely, in some ways drastically. However, my first thought when writing this blog is how my title is going to confuse American readers because of the date. Relax guys, there isn't really a 23rd month, it's just how we write it.
Anyway, the Paleo diet. First of all an introduction to what the diet is. The idea is that you can only eat foods that our cavemen ancestors would have potentially eaten. So that means no processed or refined foods.
What you can have is meat, fruit and veg. What you cannot have is legumes, dairy, grains, etc. The biggest change you face is dealing with having mostly no carbs - no pasta, rice or bread. No cakes, chocolate... wait, this is a terrible idea! I WANT TO GET OFF!!!
But hey, that would be a really short blog, so I will persevere. The reason I'm attracted to going Paleo is the testimony I've heard from people on the diet saying how great it makes them feel.
I've managed to lose weight over time and I'm in decent shape, my bloods are good, etc. Basically, I'm not looking particularly to lose weight, but I do want to care of myself. And by that I mean, I want to feel good.
In preparation me and my girlfriend went shopping yesterday (Sunday) to get food in for the week. Sally has been very supportive of me trying this diet, as she is in general anyway. That said, she did say she was annoyed that I had decided to do this just before Easter.
To me, my enjoyment of chocolate is rarely effected by having people around me also enjoying chocolate. Maybe I'm selfish, but I'm just bothered about my own taste buds, so it's not something I had thought about.
I suppose I should think about what kind of Paleo-friendly alternative treats I could have for Easter, to help get in to the spirit. Any thoughts, let me know.
So our shopping trip involved buying a lot of fruit and veg from Aldi, along with a large tray of chicken breasts. The leading Paleo gurus call for the best quality meat to be eaten, and certainly grass rather than corn fed. I think it's fair to say that the chicken from Aldi isn't going to be the very best, but hey, I'm going Caveman on a budget here!
Also from Tescos we got liver and tuna steaks. Matched up with what we already had in the freezer we have some nice food for meals together in the evenings.
Sunday night between us we prepared a large container of both salad and fruit salad to be eaten over the week. I did the salad and combined kale, spinach, carrot, radish, apple and avocado. I then realised I also had pepper and celery I'd forgotten about and cursed myself.
Today I took food to work. I had a pot of the fruit salad (mango, apple and kiwi), a pot of the salad along with a tin of salmon. I also took a pot for breakfast/snacks made up of assorted nuts, seeds and berries.
What to do for breakfast is a big dilemma. For every other meal I can easily have extra salad or veg, but breakfast for me is a strictly carb-only zone, namely porridge. Also, I don't eat at home but rather mid morning at work, so I don't have access to anything like a skillet.
I found it ok though. The nuts and seeds filled the hole the oats would have, and I just ended up starting my dinner earlier at my desk. It was in a tupperware pot so I could pick at it as I wanted it over the day. Same with the fruit salad.
I normally feel a bit of a drag in energy around 2.30-3pm, and today was no different, although maybe not as bad. Hopefully once the paleo diet has really kicked in after a few days up to a week I will feel different. Also had a bit of a headache around the same time. Is this the 'paleo flu' I've heard mooted?
I'm planning on keeping this blog as a journal of my 30 day challenge. I'm hoping to do it daily, although in practice I'm sure it won't be, but will certainly be at least a few times a week.
Any feedback or comments are welcome. Also, if you are or have been on the paleo diet, let me know what your experiences have been.
Day 1 done.
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