Pale-oh I wish it was February

In my last post I mentioned that our household of 2 was attempting the Paleo challenge (not "diet") for 30 days. What is this Paleo food you ask?? Basically its an eating plan based on foods that were obtainable to the caveman; meats, eggs, lots of fruits and veggies. No sugars or processed foods or grains or alcohols (did you just check to make sure you were reading the Quinby's blog? Yes, its me.).

At first this may sound miserable, but the Paleo following has blown up in the past couple of years therefore providing TONS of resources for recipes and cheerleaders.  I bought a few cookbooks with some Christmas loot and have scoured the corners of the Internet for the best websites dedicated to this way of eating (Love this one)

One of our favorite meals was a BLT "sandwich" with avocados. The switch was using flattened out chicken breasts as the "bread". For breakfast one of our favorites was PaleOatmeal; ground up almonds, pecans, a banana, some cinnamon, almond milk and an egg. It was really filling and nice to get that cereal type of meal in the morning.

We've also been on a huge smoothie kick; The Gracious Pantry has some amazing smoothie ideas that are a fun twist on our "go to" smoothie, which in case you are wondering is a generous handful of spinach, a banana (frozen in chunks if I planned ahead), a scoop of almond butter, and some almond milk. Sometimes I add a little bit of honey if I'm needing a sweet fix.

I think the biggest lesson I have taken from this challenge is how to choose healthier options for snacking. I will never be able to cut cheese or bread from our diets, but now I understand even more clearly HOW those things make my body feel (not awesome in case you were wondering). Since January 1st I haven't felt too full or bloated, which was a common occurrence for me. I'm now craving apples, oranges, carrots, avocados and tomatoes for snacks. I drink a lot more water during the day and over-all I just feel better about the food I'm putting in to my body. BUT, let me repeat - I will never, ever, ever, ever be able to give up cheese or bread. Like, ever. But now I appreciate it more and will choose it in moderation.


Cheers from my spinach smoothie to yours,