I have been delinquent. I have moved on to something spectacular, and I've left you all behind. Well, my friends, now I am going to try to catch you all up. My friend Keely came up with an exciting challenge...and I have accepted her challenge because challenges are fun, and who couldn't use a little fun mid-February in Minnesota?
You know I've went from vegan to Paleo. My husband has joined me and he reports feeling much better, being less bloated, and not having the crazy 8pm cereal cravings. I can tell you that he is looking QUITE AWESOME. I'm a lucky girl for sure.
In my quest for Paleo perfection, I have made the most common mistake that most newbies make. I was nut and animal protein heavy. Don't get me wrong, protein is VERY important, however, you CAN have too much of a good thing. When I was eating too much protein, I didn't have much room left for the most important part of the diet: veggies! I was reminded of that when I watched this fantastic video. Watch it! Watch it now! This woman CURED her MS by changing her diet. Can you imagine the effect it might have on YOU, if you are feeling relatively good right now?
Well...if you can't imagine that, you're in luck. Me and my friend Keely are going to try our best to "eat for our mitochondria" for, oh, I don't know how long... 30 days? To be honest, I will continue on with this whether I post about it or not. For me, doing so the past couple of weeks can be likened to having spent my life sleeping on a rock floor, and then one day discovering what a good mattress is. After a night or two of luxurious slumber it would be hard to ignore just how unyielding and uncomfortable the rock floor is and how horrible you feel in the morning. Yep, things you don't know are even "wrong" become magically "right". Disturbances that you think are "just the way you are" disappear! Crazy? No. I dare you to try it. I dare you to try to prove me wrong. What's the worst that can happen? You'd just eat better for a while? It's not that hard. It's just about establishing different "routine" foods that you "go to". It's about thinking outside of the box you've been in, for how long now???
So, follow me. I'll tell you what I eat, even when I cheat. I'll tell you how I feel. I'll share recipes with you. Stay tuned, because Keely herself just might be joining us too. Double your pleasure, I say!
So here's how my day went so far:
Woke up 6 am
Had 2 cups of decaf organic coffee
Had a mug full of chicken bone broth
(I did this because my daughter has been sick, and I made it for her. I let it simmer for two days. It was ready this morning and so we both had nice sized mugs. Mmm-mmm good!)
Went to crossfit for my on-ramp training. Had a nice, explosive cardio workout
Came home and drank P90X recovery drink (I will try to find some whole food way to replace this, but until I do, I just can't give it up!)
Took a dose of fermented cod liver oil/royal butter, probiotics, and vitamins.
Enjoyed a great big salad with poached eggs and smoked fish (recipe below)
Had another cup of organic decaf along with 2 Godiva chocolates (yes, please!) and 4 sticks of watermelon
Tonight I plan on making some sole with butternut squash and cauliflower. I'll let you know the reality of my evening in my next post.
I'm feeling pretty great, especially considering the butt-kicking I embraced at my crossfit class. If you haven't tried crossfit, you should check it out. It is so FUN! It makes me feel like I'm a kid again. We hang from bars, and try to do pull-ups with the help of stretchy, elastic bands. We flip tires and smash them with sledgehammers. We throw weighted balls up on a wall and catch them. We row on rowing machines and do handstands against the wall. We jump up on boxes and...oh, I'm sorry. This is a diet blog, not an exercise journal! But seriously, if you are bored, tired and sick of the same-old-same-old, this way of exercising provides functional fitness on ALL levels: strength, endurance, flexibility, etc.
Wow. This post is WAY longer than I meant it to be. I'm just so excited to share this with you. That's what happens when something is incredible, like Godiva chocolates...you MUST pass it on!
Speaking of passing it on, here's my salad recipe:
Rebecca's Smoking Salad (served 3 today)
Ingredients:
a huge bunch of greens of your choice. Today my choice was spinach
3 green onions, sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced
12 black olives, sliced
a handful of sliced raw almonds, toasted
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1/2 large orange bell pepper, sliced
1 large avocado, sliced
6 mushrooms, sliced
zest from 1 lemon and juice from 1 1/2 lemons
a sprinkle of Bragg's liquid aminos (not Paleo, I know, but it's in my fridge, gotta use it)
fresh ground black pepper
sprinkle of garlic powder
6 poached eggs (I use a pan similar to this) with a sprinkle of Fox Point and black pepper on them
1 fillet brown sugar lake trout (any smoked fish is delis)
Directions:
Put it all together! We each ate two eggs and 1/3 of the trout fillet. It is so delicious, satisfying and nutritious. And look, we've fed our mitochondrias. We ate all of the greens we needed for the day, at least half of the colorful things, and half of the sulfur-y things. Between the fats from the avocado, olives and nuts and the protein from the fish and eggs, this meal kept us full and happy for quite a while...much longer than if we had eaten cereal or doughnuts or a bagel....
What are YOU going to do? What do YOU choose for today? Don't worry if you aren't happy with earlier choices...you always get another one! Leave me comments, share your journey with me. :-)
