Day 8

Last night, Pat Roberton's CBN show was watching me as I cleaned my apartment (I hate him, I think he's extremist, I  had been watching something else and it came on afterward)   Anyway, it came to a point where a man had written a book, 150 healthy foods.  He INCLUDED BEEF!!!! I was shocked as well as the tv anchor.  He explained that it couldn't be any kind of meat.  It had to be grass-fed beef.  He said something about the oils & nutrients were better and good for our bodies. I feel so validated in the path I'm taking.  It makes me nervous but I feel validated!

I really don't like pork.  I realized that this morning when I was cooking breakfast.  I bought some sage sausage from the grass-fed meat guy on Saturday.  Well, I needed to make another breakfast casserole to keep me from cooking all the time.  As I dropped the sausage into the pan, the smell was just hideous. .. .it was like an assault on all of my senses. Seriously!  It made me not want to eat it.  It wasn't as bad when I ate the casserole, but I won't be eating much pork on this journey.  I've made up my mind to get/make a pork roast in the crock pot b/c I might actually like it.  It strange b/c I've always liked ribs.  Maybe its b/c they are covered by sauce.

I am out of meat.  Well, almost.  I have all that sausage I bought from Costco that I've refused to take back.  It's in the freezer.  I took it and my last package of ground turkey out of the freezer, I'll use it to make a meatloaf tomorrow.  I have some roast beef for sandwiches that I froze last month-I have no idea what I could do with it.  In sum, there are no steaks or chicken or even fish left.  I've gotta figure out how I can purchase meat for about $5/lb.

Breakfast:  

• Quiche with Crust topped with tomatillo salsa-I added coconut milk to the egg mixture.  I like this better than the casserole I made last week.  It had a sweeter taste, probably b/c of the coconut milk
• Left over smoothie--I mixed in 1/4 cup of coconut milk to restore creaminess & original texture.  It was really really delicious.

Lunch:

• Tuna mashed with avacado & onions & lime juice & cucumber slices
• 1/2 orange
• 1 zuchinni muffin

Snack-zuchinni muffin

Dinner:  

• Paleo Lasagna
• Large spinach salad with  2 boiled eggs, a peach, avocado, cucumber, sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, lime juice 
• left over sautéed veggies

Day 7 Dinner

I didn't plan well today, so I missed lunch.  I went to the library with the plan to drop back by home and have lunch.  Then go to the farmers market.  I stayed at the library wayyyy tooo long.  So long that when I looked at the time, I needed to go straight to farmers market if I didn't want to be left with the leftovers!!!

When I got home, I wanted to do a big cook but there was nooo energy to do it.   However, I made the zucchini muffins.  As a twist, I added the juice of half an orange.  Next time, next time, I'll add some zest from the orange and juice the whole orange for more flavor.  I also added some fresh ginger, next time, I'll add more ginger.   Instead of raisins, I added cranberries.  It is apparent...I CAN NOT FOLLOW A RECIPE!!! I am always trying to hook "thangs" up.  LOL!   I ate 2 of those right out of the oven!!!


I found dried cranberries at whole foods when looking for raisins.  Apparently, this company dries any fruit or veggie.  And can make it into powders.  WEIRD! But sooo COOL!!!  The nutrional information said that it had 3 grams of fat per serving.  I actually googled  the nutrional content of raw cranberries and wouldn't you know it, they have FAT!  When you dehydrate them, I guess you intensify the fat b/c the servings get larger.




Dinner today:

• Steak (at least a pound, it was grassfed meat and it was actually pretty good.  I can't speak difference b/c it was sirloin--tougher cut of meat.  
• Sautéed veggies in coconut oil. I was trying to recreate a stirfry.  It had cabbage, onions, peppers.    
• Roasted Broccoli & Eggplant--it was the best darn broccoli I have EVER made.  It almost tasted a little sweet. . .like broccoli has natural sugar????  I promise I didn't put any sugar on it, but it was a perfect balance. . . it was just good!

This is the first dinner, I've had since I went paleo that I BURPED at the end.  I think it was b/c I had to force myself to finish the steak.  I had about a quarter of it left when I'd finished all the veggies.  I knew I needed to finish it.  So, I did b/c I had skipped lunch..  My stomach didn't feel tight, but I felt a little something in my lower stomach. . . don't know what it was. . . but its gone now as I right this.  So, I guess it doesn't matter.

Morning of Day 7

Yesterday:

Lunch
Spinach Salad--contained raw spinach, tomato, left over salmon, sauteed mushrooms, peaches.  No dressing.  I am going to figure out recipes for dressing later.  Here is a picture:

Snack
mix of banana, apple sauce & pecans

Dinner:
Left over Snapper & Veggies with Mashed Cauliflower

This morning, I did not have an overwhelming desire to eat, but I forced myself to have breakfast.   Breakfast, this morning, consisted of:

• 1 boiled egg (I choked it down quickly)
• 1/2 of Smothie Mix (in the blender:  1 cup of coconut milk, half cup of water, 1 cup of mixed fruit, banana)  J keeps talking about drinking a cup of coconut milk (I drank coconut milk straight from the coconut in Jamaica and hated it.  Not much of a coconut fan.  So this is my concession to get the milk down!  I put the other half in the freezer for another day.)
• No-atmeal (I'm still eating from the pot I made Monday, I'll probably be eating the last of it tomorrow)

My body feels different, but my clothes do not yet.  It's like I actually feel pretty good in my skin.  I wish I could explain it better.  I don't feel as bloated.  And I have a surge of energy.  I miss chocolate but the feeling isn't as strong.  I still feel like maybe I'm having too much fruit.

I'm excited b/c today is the Farmer's Market.  I love going.  It makes me feel like I'm doing good in the world.

Morning of Day 6

When I got up this morning, I was starving.  Really hungry. So, I fixed a really large breakfast.   Still have diarrhea.  I resisted the urge to get on the scale.  I know I shouldn't be focused on the scale.  But I can't help it.

Breakfast

no-atmeal

vegetable & sausage fritata topped with salsa & avocado

honey dew melon

This morning, I was watching the today show and they were talking about weight loss.  The lady said that plant based oils were fine in diet--things like avocado, olive, nut oils . . .she said animal oils are bad when consumed in excess.  This seems contradictory to what I am doing now--although, I am eating a lot of plant based foods.

Day 5 Dinner

After an email from J, I have decided that I will start posting a detailed diary of my eating.  Today, I didn't eat that much, mainly b/c I wasn't hungry.  I can't explain why I'm not as hungry today.  Come to think of it, I didn't even crave snacks.  There are no snacks to report.  But no naps today either.

Breakfast-noatmeal 1/3 of the pot made.  I snacked on the chopped nuts as I whisked and mixed the liquid portion.

Lunch-Tuna fish with cucumber chips (used mashed avocado as the creamy base, it had onions & boiled egg in itl)

Dinner- 1/2lb of Jerk seasoned Snapper Fish.  Mixed veggies (peppers, zucchini, onion), Cauliflower Mash, Spinach Salad with Sautéed Mushrooms.  Here are pictures of dinner.  **I found a Jerk Seasoning a Fresh Market that has no salt in it, but I dashed a little sea salt in the pan**

After posting this, I decided on a late night snack.  I'll be munching on some honey dew melon & paleo lasagna.

Day 5

Let's see:

• This weekend, I found a meat man. It great, but waayyy expensive. I don't know how I'll afford meat every month. I've really got to give this some thought. How will I purchase meat grass fed meat? When my friends and I went to the farmers, they spent close to $100. I spent about $50 and brought home onions, eggs, snapper, sirloin, sausage, scallops. I've decided that I DO like going to the farmers market once a week to get veggies. But I notice that the veggies are a bit wilted after a few days. Maybe thats b/c I'm putting them in the frig. I'll leave them out next time and see what happens.

• Yesterday, I had 3 fruits.  I know its not recommended, but I couldn't resist.  I wanted a snack.  And celery and carrots as snacks-YUCK!  I had a 2 servings of honeydew melon.  One in the morning, one in the evening and a banana with almond butter before dinner.  I need snack ideas.

• Last night, I had paleo lasagna for dinner. The next time I make it, I'll include more veggies. I tried to make it exactly according to the recipe, but I bought crushed tomatoes instead of diced. Also, I was trying to use up the ground turkey that was in the freezer, so I substituted that for beef. It was bland b/c I'm still getting to this whole idea of low/no salt. I'll kick it up a notch next time with some herbs & spices.

• This morning, I think I'm experience hunger pains, but I don't feel like eating. I think its b/c I'm tired of the diarrhea. Yes, I still have it. And I'm urinating more, too! I know its gross to discuss body functions, but its a big deal to me, going to the bathroom EVERY SINGLE HOUR! Maybe, its all the liquid from the veggies.

• For lunch today, I'll probably have tuna again, b/c its quick and easy.

• For dinner, I'll have the snapper. I think I'm going to put it in the oven surrounded by a ton of veggies on high heat for a quick cook. I have some leftover mashed cauliflower that I'll eat with it.

• Sleep: I find it interesting that if I don't eat first thing when I get up, I typically go back to bed/nap. However, when I eat, I just keep going and going. This morning, I'll be napping b/c I don't feel like eating.

Day 4

I decided to accept a challenge of eating Paleo for 30 days. I felt like I couldn't do this without writing about my experiences or documenting my meals. Paleo seems sooo unlike anything I've ever done before.

I've had diarrhea for the past 3 days. I am not one to look at my poo. I just think its disgusting. But I did yesterday b/c I worried if something was wrong with me, I was thinking "paleo" might not help me. When I looked like dark green marshmallow with chunks of stuff in it. I googled it, for suggestions. Turns out, it may not be as bad I thought. After some reading, I discovered that it was green b/c of all the green roughage I'd been eating. And it was marshmallowy because of all the fat my body was excreting. So, I think my body is just adjusting to new diet. I thought the scale would have reveal something, a weight loss or gain, but nothing. It's only been four days.

Here is what I noticed on yesterday: Normally after a large meal, I'm ready to sleep. But after yesterdays, large meal, I had energy. I wanted to do something. WEIRD!

For lunch today: tuna w/slices of cucumber & honey dew melon. For my tuna salad: I mashed half an avacado with lime juice, dill and pepper. I chopped in some onion and boiled egg. When I finally tasted it, it was bland, so I put in a few grains of sea salt. I had never eaten tuna salad without crackers or bread. I saw the cucumber sitting on my counter. I sliced it up and used it as crackers. It actually was a pretty refreshing meal.

Things I'm struggling with: not adding salt to food and desperately missing chocolate