Day 30

you did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can't wait to go eat like 5 loafs of bread tomorrow mmmm...jk..sorta

baguette; scones; bagels..

I'm actually in a pretty good routine finally.

Happy Friday everyone :)

Day 28- TGIPD

Nothing to do with Paleo, I'm just grateful it is pay day for me today :) My bank account was needing some love.

Check out my post on how to make the best spaghetti squash!

Day 27- Time flies when you're eating paleo

Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut Milk-
I winged it-onion, carrots, ginger, roasted yellow pepper, coconut milk

These were by far the best thing I have made recently-
Sweet Potato fries, I used a special good grips potato cutter (shown below) that cuts them rippled
and my recipe for sweet potato fries

Dessert at my parents- fruit and dark chocolate :)

Coffee with Almond Milk and a Paleo pumpkin muffin -recipe coming soon

Otherwise, not much to report. Are you all feeling tired from the time shift? I know I am! it is so nice for it to be light out after work though.

Oh check out this article from the Citizen. It talks about a foodie dating site where you can meet like minded eaters. The creator of the site is Paleo, and his description of how people react to him is hilarious and probably dead on-


Nimoy admitted to some eyebrow-raising reactions when he mentions his unconventional diet to dates.

"It's actually a two-pronged approach. The first part is they all look at me and go: `Wow, you look really fit and really healthy, how do you do it?' And then when I tell them how I do it, they say: `Wow, you sound really crazy and I want to get away from you," he said with a laugh during an interview from Los Angeles.

Have a great day!

Day 25- realization

I heard Paleo eating can help with migraines, which makes sense to me as a lot of trigger foods are excluded- cheese, wint etc. But lets take this one step further. Yesterday a friend was talking about advil and It made me think how I used to have to take a lot of it. At least one every few days,  to fight my constant headaches.


well strangely and miraculously enough I haven't had a headache or needed advil since starting Paleo.. yahooo!!!


I will try and go for a run later, but now, going back to sleep!

Day 23- colourful meals- TGIF

This sweet potato dish-from Jerusalem cookbook- with green onion, jalepeno and balsamic reduction-amazing

Stuffed eggplant with ground turkey- also from Jerusalem-

Happy weekend everyone!!! I for one, will be drinking some vino 

Red pepper stuffed with leftover ground turkey and fresh spinach, roasted carrots (Well fed) and green beans (Well fed)- they were delicious. 

I will be posting some of these recipes on double trouble kitchen edition.

Day 21- Paleo Memes

 Just because I love memes-

These made my day!!

Day-20

I'm not going to lie, I am looking forward to the end of these 30 days-

Things I miss and can't wait to reintegrate:
-Greek yogurt
-Quinoa
-Oatmeal
-Brown/wild rice

Things I miss but should definitely NOT reintegrate:
-Milk Chocolate
-Candy
-Sugary baked goods
-Baguette
-Bagels
-Chips
-Crackers

I am noticing how much baked goods at the office or free samples at Starbucks could add up. With Paleo,  It's easy enough not to think twice about it and just say no.

To keep motivated over the last 1/3 of this challenge, I ordered a new cookbook! Apparently its quite thin but has some tasty middle eastern recipes.

Thanks to amazon prime free trial, I should be receiving this in my mailbox in 2 days. woo!! Until then, hardboiled eggs, almonds, more almonds, more hardboiled eggs...

Oh and I did make spaghetti squash with pesto and turkey sausage. It was really good but isn't that filling. Maybe I should make a veggie side dish next time to supplement it.

Day 19- Weekend tidbits

Happy Monday everyone!!! wooooooooo. My weekend was all over the place and definitely not perfect in terms of paleo-ness. I ate steak twice in about 2 days, as it is an easy paleo option for eating out, although often accompanied with not such healthy french fries etc.. I had a slice of french bread and some crisps- no self control!!- at Canvas restaurant (amazing!!) and a little bit of wild rice at a friend's place- but i'm not letting it get to me. With 11 days left, I am determined to stick it out, and be more strict. After the 30 days I will re-evaluate, but I have to at least get there.

I think part of the problem is its hard for me to see what the results are, and results are a big motivator to keep with it. My skin definitely seems smoother and clearer, so that's good.

I found these cultured almond yogurts at the health food store, and tried the coconut one. with the least amount of added fruit juice etc. I had heard they are horrendous but it was actually pretty good. I can't tell anymore what is actually good, and what i think is good because I haven't had many sweets (aside from fruit).

I made this pumpkin custard, and it was good! I'll post the recipe one of these days soon

I also baked this recipe for "Quinoa blondies" but switched mine to "almond blondies" as I used almond flour instead of quinoa flour. I will be sharing the recipe, however i warn you, these are highly addictive. I shouldn't make them again.. 

I finally hung up this message bulletin/white board from Kristin- love it!!

This salad was a success- spinach, walnuts, artichoke hearts and orange- then i added avocado and hard boiled egg. It would also be good with chicken or steak. I made a new dressing- 2 tablespoons orange juice (freshly squeezed); 3 Tablespoons olive oil; 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dijon mustard; salt and ground pepper- its very refreshing! 

My attempt to plan out my meals- I will probably deviate from this, but at least it's a general plan.

How was everyone's weekend? Plans for the week?

I am addicted to the show Sons of Anarchy- Love it!! Have you seen House of Cards? It's amazing. I can't wait for the next season. 

Day 17?- Life in the gray zone

As the title of this post alludes to, this week has forced me to take off my rose coloured paleo sunglasses a little...all I can say is thank goodness for the gray zone.

In hindsight I haven't done too badly, but I have definitely been finding it more difficult to feel full this week, and been irritable to the max (I woke up every morning this week from a sore throat, partially from my body crashing I think but also largely from raising my voice (ok maybe even yelling) in class.

Anywho it's the weekend! And even though it will be spent working it's all good as I've come to terms with the fact I will have no life until March 15th..which coincidentally (or not) is around when this challenge will end! I was telling my wonderful co-worker and friend Andrée-Anne this while we made a (totally amazing) paleo diner last night, and it hit me that it's already March! Craziness...

So yeah our paleo diner, was so good as we were starving after an insane day or running with our students/ teaching and hot-yoga ing. We decided to make steamed cauliflower, yam fries, and chicken fajitas with laituce wraps. Andrée-Anne said that it was even better with laituce than with normal wraps (still not sure if she was just being polite and supportive but I agree they were amazing!).
 I've included some pics, there may or may not have also been some red wine invloved. Oh and maybe also some dark chocolates...yay gray zone!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend its many potential shades of grey :)

Day 15- These abs don't come for free

That's my problem. Here I have been wishing and hoping for a 6 pack- or some resemblance of abs- will just come to me. I completely forgot the words of wisdom from JM- these abs don't come for free. Time to step things up. This morning I un-buried my 6 weeks to 6 pack dvd and will and try to put it to good use. 

Speaking of Jillian, have you heard about her new body shred class coming to Goodlife fitness? I am really excited about this. It will be a 30 minute class that incorporates her trademarked 3-2-1 interval approach- 3 min cardio 2 min strength, 1 min ab. Woo !!! 

I also ran into an inside source at goodlife- L- an instructor there who will be teaching this class. She said I am the target demographic for it and that its designed for ppl with not that much time who want a high intensity workout. Perfect for lunch break perhaps? The schedule is not out yet, so I will have to wait and see. 

L said she could never be as in your face as Jillian but does hope to motivate the class without yelling and shouting. I wonder if she has to study up on catch phrases- don't phone it in;  why do we work the small muscle groups in with the big ones?; why choose failure when success is an option?; this is where change occurs.. yada yada. I think i'd have a good handle on those. 

What do you think of JM- love her or love to hate her? 

Paleo Day 14

Been trying out lots of new recipes. Check out doubletrouble  for a crock pot recipe, cauliflower rice and chocolate chip cookie. These cookies are better than my non-paleo cookies. They also put the brownies I made to shame!! I may have to experiment until I finder a better brownie recipe.

I think last week I was in honeymoon phase of Paleo, I didn't want any snacks, let alone cookies or brownies. This week I'm back to some baking.

Otherwise, not much to report!! Still waiting on a 6 pack..

Day 13-Paleo Shmaleo

 

Hahah just kidding I am nowhere near bashing paleo- quite the opposite in fact, I have nothing but positive things to say about it. However, I have noticed that people often have a lot to say about it, and not all of them are positive. That being said, a lot of the time people just tend to be really interested about the concept of paleo (or any lifestyle different from their own I suppose) and what it entails.  Unfortunately, I don’t yet have all that  many answers or explanation as to all of the why’s of paleo (especially not in French, which I’ve been called upon to do many times over the past couple weeks and have somehow managed most of the time. )

I’ve noticed that people also seem to think that the paleo lifestyle is pretty extreme, and I feel like it’s my duty to tell them that it really isn’t, and that it isn’t a fad diet or restrictive at all…I guess that’s part of what makes it difficult to explain or justify, is that I don’t feel like I should have to, it all seems pretty natural and obvious to me (which probably is a sign that it may be extreme…)

However, luckily for me, there is a TON of information out there! Just need to find the time to read it, and wait until the 47 people ahead of me at the Victoria public library are done reading Practical Paleo, Paleo for athletes and The paleo solution!

Anywho, one of the only challenging things I’ve found about this challenge it being invited over for brunch/dinner and not wanting to be rude by not trying something a host has prepared….I’ve usually been able to compromise though. I made El’s signature Egg-Nana pancakes (the link to her recipe is the first thing that comes up when you google eggnana!!) to a brunch recently and they were enjoyed (I think!). 

I added some cinnamon, shredded coconut and almond butter. We put frozen fruit on top- and a bit of non paleo greek yogurt!

Figured I would end my way overdue post with a song for the day, nothing to do with paleo but It's my go to song during a crazy week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s

Paleo day.. 12? I'm losing track

Song of the day!! just cause I love it. Got her head in the clouds, and we're not coming down

So Paleo-vegetarianism is doable-at least for 1 meal. I ate out at the Green Door- here's a snapshot-

avocado, olives, sweet potato, potato and kale, kale salad, eggplant, green beans, broccoli.. yummy yummy!

How was everyone's weekend?

mad props to my mom for making paleo cocoa for cross country skiing- cocoa, water and honey (instead of milk, sugar and cocoa)..she was skeptical but it turned out pretty well. I was over the other day and was hungry so she said, hmm how bout a little snack of smoked salmon? She is definitely catching on to this yay :)

Oh,  I also posted on the recipe for vanilla almond sponge bread - on doubletroublekitchenedition blog- so check it out!

Paleo- Day 11- Costco FTW

I am going through eggs and meat so quickly..so I hit up costco with my dad this morning and majorly stocked up!!! The lady by the exit told my dad she hadn't seen him in a while. He was like umm 2 days? My dad shops at costco a lot..and more so lately as my parents have been getting photos developed there quite often.

Heres a snapshot of my goodies

The ground turkey came in a package of 4 so I gave 2 to my parents. I separated the chicken and steak into smaller bags to freeze. I should be good for a while.

I saw Paleo slow cooking cookbook and was tempted, but I already have a lot of the recipes, courtesy of  S and his amazing google drive spreadsheet, so i resisted. I also resisted buying a workout top.. are you impressed yet?

Last night my parents came for dinner and I made zucchini turkey burgers- they loved them. Instead of the sour cream sauce, I served them with avocado. I didn't use a bun,  but had PC flat buns (love those) for my parents. Hey, I dont push my food habits onto others.

I also made some paleo brownies, that were pretty good. Very dark- chocolately. Sign my taste buds are adapting- i used to find dark chocolate not sweet enough but it has definitely grown on me.  I will post more about my experimentation with paleo baking soon.

I quit!

That’s right I’m writing my first post on a habit changing challenge blog about quitting! It’s really more about finding balance which I don’t feel like I have a lot of in my life currently.

So I quit the paleo challenge.

I already eat a fully gluten free diet (no cross-contamination, no “may contain traces” and this goes for all products I use on my body). Eating and living gluten free is a necessity and is almost second nature, but I continue to feel pressure not to screw up and get "glutened". I have found in the past week that the added thought process of eliminating dairy and sugars has increased my stress around food and I have been cheating more frequently and thoroughly (a full pint of Haagen Dazs for dinner is not something I would normally do). I would never cheat and eat gluten so I've been annoyed with myself for cheating on the paleo diet. 

What I've determined for myself is that I know that I’m an all or nothing kind of girl, so I need to challenge myself to try something and commit to it at a lower level. I will continue to eat paleo breakfasts (excluding one breakfast out a week) and when I cook for myself I will prepare paleo meals. The remainder of the time I will do what I can but I won't stress about it. The funny thing is I may even do better now that I’m removing the pressure.

I will also continue my personal challenges – oil pulling every morning for a minimum of 20 minutes then drinking a glass of warm lemon juice. I’m not sure either of these are making real differences in my life but I will explain why I chose to do each soon.  

How are you finding balance with the paleo challenge or your personal challenges? How do you cope with the almost inevitable slip-ups? 

Paleo Day 9- the When

I haven't had a chance to read all of my Practical Paleo book, so last night when i finally had a few minutes, I read up.  The key takeaway from what I read is above WHEN to eat in relation to when you workout. Of course it all depends on what your goals are, if you want to maintain your weight, lose weight, etc.




Eating a Paleo diet is supposed get your body used to burning stored fats, rather then grains and sugars. If your goal is to lose fat, then having a snack pre-workout is not a good idea. Your body will burn the grains or sugar that you have just eaten before they burn any stored fats, as its more quickly available.  If you find you are lightheaded or very tired without a snack, then likely your body hasn't adapted yet to burning stored fats.

If they are not burned, carbohydrates you consume become stored as fat ( am i right here?). This applies to all the times except post workout. 30min -2h post workout, the carbs you consumed will go to your muscles to help them recover.[ we are talking about good carbs here- squash, sweet potato, etc, banana etc]  If you are looking to build muscle, then this is a good time to eat carbs.

I came across a list of quick snacks post workout- it does however say to consider your goals. I need to read more on this- protein, carbs or fat post workout?  There is some more info in this article- that I have not had time to read yet.

If anyone has any more info on this please feel free to share. If I have misunderstood or misinterpreted anything pls correct me. I still have a lot left to learn!

Paleo Day 8- Back on track

Not much to report- back on track. Paleo Slave Driver Sean suggested I restarted at day 1 to fully do the 30 days without cheating. I contemplated this challenge and then chose NOT to accept it. Sorry S.

So onward to day 8..

Here are a few more dinners I've enjoyed

my cousin Juliet- avid vegetarian- was worried I was eating too meat and reminded me I could eat fish! So I made these salmon cakes and asparagus- It was good and a nice change. Thanks JujuBrick- now cover your eyes for whats to come.

Salad, and chicken stew over sweet potato hash

Indian Beef burger (just ground beef with mixture of spices) with a portobello mushroom 'bun'

What new meals or foods have you discovered ?

Paleo Day 7- I'm not fighting temptation

I'm just waiting for the right temptation! love that song- Thanks Beyone

So this weekend was really fun but filled with soo many temptations. I'm not going to lie, it was tough. My sister was visiting, C and S were visiting, and we had family friends over for a big lunch.

What I resisted:
-cinnamon hearts
- milk chocolate
-bagels
-beavertails
-jujubes
-jelly beans
- cheese curds
-cream cheese
- hot chocolate
- my dad's banana bread - this was the toughest
-oatmeal
- rice
-ice cream
-hummus

What I failed to resist
- Apple Strudel made by my mom-she brought the dough back from Austria. I was served a piece at lunch when I was in the kitchen, and when I came back to the table it was there in front of my place and I could not say no..
- Mary's delicious apple crisp- After eating the strudel my resolve was down and the sugar must have been making me crave more sugar.

So I guess the damage- brown sugar, a tiny bit of thin crust, some bread crumbs..

I can definitely see how it's a slippery slope. I did not feel great this morning and hope I will be back on track today. Hopefully this will not sabotage everything. I am disappointed I didn't stick 100% Paleo but on the other, I am glad I only indulged in special treats, homemade, that I  rarely get. Sometimes you have to live a little. - Is this me making excuses for myself? possibly.

Another thing that was tough was trying to explain to everyone the reason behind doing this challenge, the benefits of Paleo, what is wrong with whole grains such as oats, brown rice etc. As much as I read about Paleo I am still not able to fully understand or explain this.

Despite all the skepticism, mocking ( I admit, i was laughing at myself a fair bit too), lack of understanding and temptation from my family and friends, they still tried to encourage me and made sure I always had suitable meals and enough to eat. It may be hard to resist treats but when It comes to meals, its pretty easy.

My parents were also open to trying my new Paleo recipes- They loved egg-nana pancakes I made them. "Nice and light". Also, everyone enjoyed the asparagus I made from Practical Paleo.

I may have stumbled a bit on this hurdle, but I am up again and ready to plow on.. bring on week 2!


How are you doing? What have you found challenging? Are your family and friends supportive?

La Vida Coco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO1q8Zwuc24

It's the weekend!!!!!!!! Have had this song in my head all week, and I think that and paleo have helped me get through the craziness that it was!

I have a lot to say about Paleo but not too sure where to start, and need to keep this short for right now...I am loving most things about it, particularly the joy that comes from getting a reply from El indicating that something I love is Paleo approved. I occasionally find myself pushing the gray area a little (Oh hello coconut water, red wine, and vanilla coconut coffee creamer! Is it strange that the things I find harder to give up are mostly liquids..).
The biggest challenge so far is probably the social/ eating out aspect of paleo, more to come on that later~!

Happy weekend to all!!!

Paleo Day 5-wish me luck

as I let this gem sit in my fridge for the next 2 weeks:


My cookbook and infinite guide of wisdom- Practial Paleo- stresses the importance of fermented foods as an addition to the diet. It provides a recipe for sauerkraut (roasted jalepeno and garlic)- which basically consists of cabbage, carrots, jalepeno and garlic.

I am to check it every couple days make sure the cabbage is below the water level ( as thats where the fermentation process takes place). The second photo shoes the use of a shot glass to hold down the ingredients (good thing I re-read the recipe, I completely missed that at first). Apparently, It's completely normal for some mold to form at the top and I just have to remove it..eeeek!!!

This will definitely be an experiment. It is supposed to stay in a cool dark place, but lets be honest, the only cool place in my apartment is the fridge. Hopefully it will be okay without the dark.  I can't promise to eat it when its "ready" ;)


Have you ever eaten or made sauerkraut before? Are you trying any new interesting recipes?