Who doesn’t want to try to be even better than they were last year?

The last two months for my family has been a little nuts. I had a little hospital vacation and needed to gain some weight when I got out. Turns out laying around for a couple of weeks fighting off pneumonia made me lose enough weight to actually look sick. So I gained weight the best way I know how; modern diet! I gained my weight back, but unfortunately, so did my husband. It was impossible for him to stick to paleo when I was ordering food we had been addicted to for years. Nobody’s perfect.

So, new year, same old challenges.

Hubs knew how he broke his new, slimmer body, but he also knew how to fix it. And knowing is half the battle.

We are on Day 1 of our whole30. I’ll keep you posted during the month on how we’re making out. My husband also started a new position with the fire department today which means more steady, longer hours and dinner at home with us. The new routine should help in the long run but this first week or two is going to be hard with his carb/sugar withdrawals and long work days.

Are you ready for your paleo challenge? I promise it is worth the work and we can feel great by next week.

Later today (hopefully) I will be putting together my menu for the next 2 weeks. One of the most important pieces of the paleo lifestyle is planning. You can plan for a week, or two or a month if it helps. I usually take two weeks at a time because that’s when the paychecks come in.

If you are just starting paleo or you have fully embraced the life and never faultered: I wish you a happy, HEALTHY New Year!

Need some Whole30 info before you get started? Here you go… http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

I wish there was place that we could go for food rehab. A place where they cook for you, and let you sit quietly by a creek and ponder your eating habits. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so busy this week, or because I’m walking a friend through the first week of paleo, but I just wish it could be easier.

I will lose a lot of credibility if I don’t tell you the truth about complex carb/sugar withdrawals. It’s hard. It feels impossible. I’m surprised at how much I craved cookies when I never really ate them pre-paleo. The other side of this truth is that while it is so hard, it is SO rewarding. Once you break through the other side of the cravings, you WILL FEEL AMAZING. That is a 100% money-back guarantee.

Be Prepared:

The first week of paleo was so confusing and so much more work than I expected. I didn’t have any “go-to” snacks in my house, so when I was hungry I would open my cabinet that had beautiful dishes in it, instead of snacks, and I would still just stare into it. Why? Because that’s where my food used to be! How many times a day do you wander into the kitchen thoughtlessly, open a cabinet or the refrigerator , stare and then eat a cookie, or take a spoonful of ice cream. I was a total grazer, and pulled that move several times a day. My husband snacked differently. He would eat a meal before dinner. I don’t mean lunch; I mean he would eat two breaded chicken cutlets while I was cooking dinner. Again, mindlessly. So, once my cabinets were empty and my fridge was full of home cooked food I felt like I had nothing to eat. Sound familiar?

Eat the food you have! So what if you are having leftover cauliflower for a snack. Or meatloaf. Does it taste good? Do you feel better after the snack? Then do it! Have hard boiled eggs in the fridge for a snack. Have a pear. Or, try a glass of water. Studies have shown that sometimes when we think we are hungry, we are actually thirsty.

That empty, nauseous feeling that I used to get between meals doesn’t happen anymore and I know what to do for snacks now. I eat what’s in the fridge. I will be honest and tell you that it took about 10 days for me to stop feeling that.

Another truth is: YOU ARE ADDICTED TO CARBS AND SUGAR! YES, YOU!

My name is April and I am addicted to sugar. I had no idea how addicted I was. I was like the people in the smoking commercials, “I can quit whenever I want.” While that was true, I was ill-prepared for how bad I would feel. My body revolted against this new “diet”. I was exhausted, a little shaky, more clumsy (which is dangerous, as I’m really clumsy already!), and my brain felt empty. I can’t explain that last one except that someone tried to have a political debate with me and I almost changed political parties. And I am a very strong believer in my party. My husband would tease me during that first week and I would snap, “I’m addicted to carbs! Be nice to me!!” I know, it’s a little dramatic, but not at all exaggerated. The thing is that I knew it couldn’t last forever.

It doesn’t last forever. You know, like labor, or the flu. It will pass. I knew that in my soul and that’s what got me through. I knew that if I quit after a couple of days then I suffered for nothing. I also knew that if I quit, so would my husband. Full disclosure: I didn’t have any weight to lose. I know, gasp. I was happy with my weight. As a woman. It’s unheard of, but true. However, I am sure I have mentioned before, my husband had been struggling for years to lose weight and feel good. So part of me did it for him, and I’m so glad I did.

When you wake up on the eighth day, or fourth day, or tenth day (like me) and you feel the worst has passed, you will be so glad you didn’t hit up carvel on day 3. I promise.

Day 1 of our paleo lifestyle

On a personal note: we have been paleo for 56 days (with a cheat day or two in that time) and yesterday my husband hit a huge milestone. Last January, for his birthday, he received some money from family to buy himself some new clothes. As a relatively new dad, he hadn’t bought himself anything in a couple of years and was really excited to go shopping. He used to love dressing nice and even shopping. We went to the mall together and very quickly realized that this trip wouldn’t be like the shopping trips he used to have. Not a single item fit him. He tried several stores before leaving the mall with nothing but a truly broken spirit. He did buy clothes that day, but online from Gap Big & Tall. As his wife and biggest fan it was hard to watch.

Now jump ahead to day 55 on paleo: We are planning a night out in NYC tonight and seeing some old friends. I got a new outfit and since my husband’s clothes are hanging off of him we figured we should pick something up for him too. We went to the same department store as we did in January and oh my word was it like night and day. Everything he tried on looked amazing. I am actually a little choked up as I write this. He looked like a new man. And I don’t mean because some trendy clothes fit him. He stood taller and looked so proud and happy. That is why we stuck it out. The look on his face was worth more to me than any donut or pasta. I am the proudest wife there ever was, and a true believer that paleo changed our lives. It can change yours too.

Day 56

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I “need” milk, or I “need” to eat bread, I would have a stack of nickels to be envied. To be honest, back in the day my husband tried the “no carb diet” and he was quite successful for the few weeks he ate only meat. You know what else? He fricken smelled like meat. Eh, you are what you eat. Anyway, I was one of those people that told him you “can’t sustain yourself on meat alone” and “take a shower!”. He knew that he didn’t need bread or pasta to live. It turns out, we were both right. We wouldn’t know that for sure until we read Robb Wolf’s book, “The Paleo Solution” and saw the handy little chart that I posted below.

Moooove over dairy: If you are not drinking milk, or eating yogurt, or for the love of food, cheese!!, where is your calcium coming from? I can’t have brittle bones, so pass me a bowl of cereal, right? So wrong! While whole milk does provide your body with the highest concentration of calcium, vegetables run a  pretty close second. I would never claim that there is no benefit in dairy, but consider this; there are almost 2 times as many Omega 6 fatty acids in whole milk as there are Omega 3′s.

On the difference between Omega 3′s and 6′s our favorite television dr, Dr. Oz, said this

“Omega 3 Fats are essential for your brain and nervous system.  They also reduce and prevent stress from damaging your body and are called calming fats.  You basically cannot get enough Omega 3′s to ward off all types of diseases and health problems including Heart Disease and Alzheimers Disease.”

“our bodies are made up of Omega 3′s and a lack of it is linked to preterm labor, obesity, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and other health problems.  On the positive side, Omega 3′s actually make your skin, hair, and nails beautiful!

“Omega 6 Fats are oils in our diets that cause inflammation and lead to problems including Heart Disease, Arthritis, and Diabetes”, “If you eat too many Omega 6′s, it cancels out the benefits of Omega 3′s.”

Vegetables do not contain Omega 3′s or Omega 6′s, however they can convert some other stuff into it. If you haven’t fallen asleep yet, explaining that will definitely do it. If you are interested, follow this link http://www.livestrong.com/article/354938-which-vegetables-have-omega-3/. 

But what about whole grain?! The government told me to eat it! Do yourself a favor and take a gander at the chart below. See the column labeled “Whole grains”? Scroll down and see what kind of nutrition is provided by whole grains. Comparatively, there is nothing in it! It wins in zero categories. So what is it then, these whole grains being shoved down our throats?

“Although the carbohydrates in whole-grain breads turn into glucose at a slower rate than those found in white breads, heavy reliance on whole-grain breads in your diet may contribute to hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar. Also, your body stores unused glucose as fat.”

AS WHAT?! For those of you that were lucky enough to not have to take a course in anatomy and physiology, you might not be aware that your body does not “waste” glucose. You don’t lose it by any means but literally burning it as fuel. No pee or sweat contains glucose, unless you have kidney damage or diabetes. Keep that in mind for every cookie you ate while watching a marathon of Breaking Bad on Netflix. Unless you physically shook it out of your body, you are still sitting on it, literally. Yikes.

Alright, I have bullied enough for today. Enjoy the chart, and I have posted some links below that are packed to gills with information on everything I just wrote about. Information will save your life.

Nutritional analysis of Paleo foods vs. whole grains

Mean nutrient density of various food groups (418-kJ samples)*

* Food types within food groups are based on the most commonly consumed foods in the US diet. Values in brackets represent relative ranking (7=highest; 1=lowest). The micronutrient concentrations for each food group were derived from reference 64. RE, retinol equivalents.

An interesting post on the food pyramid (I will battle the pyramid on another day): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/dairy-free-dairy-6-reason_b_558876.html

http://www.drozfans.com/dr-ozs-advice/dr-oz-omega-3-vs-omega-6-the-big-o-know-your-omegas
/

http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/links-resources/

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/446767-does-whole-grain-bread-turn-into-sugar/#ixzz2A8eFujYT

There was a boy who could not lose weight and a girl who was always tired. That boy came home with a word that would change our lives: Paleo.

What do you do when you can’t lose weight? No matter what? No matter how dedicated you are at the gym, and you stick to what you think is healthy eating? You try and try and lose 2 pounds only to see it back a couple of days later. What are you supposed to do?

Throw everything out and try something completely different.

That’s what we did and, holy crap, did it work. We don’t count points or calories and we don’t follow charts. We cook, and we eat. And with all the extra energy, it’s not a chore to work out. It’s as simple as that. Blog over.

Okay, so it took a little more than that. Here’s what we did:

1. We got excited. We really had a ton of hope boil up to the surface and got really, purely excited.

2. Bought and read Robb Wolfe’s book “The Paleo Solution”. We highlighted and made notes and really took in as much information as we could. And then we were even more excited.

3. Cleaned house. We decided to go 100% paleo for at least the first 30 days. This would end up being a great decision. This way we would detox from our carb/sugar cravings and have a lot of practice cooking and trying new paleo recipes. If the non-paleo food was in our house it would be too easy to eat it! If it’s not in your face it’s easier to make the right decision at each meal. (Please, don’t throw unopened food away. Take it to a shelter and donate it. There are so many people who need food and would be grateful for your complex carbs)

4. Panic. Total panic. I’m not going to lie, looking at empty cabinets is scary. What the fridge are we going to eat?!?!

5. We shopped. Before we shopped we looked online for paleo recipes. There are millions!! After drooling over several sites we settled on a few dinners and breakfasts and made the list of what to buy. We shop at a couple of different stores because I am a crazy person when it comes to spending money. I will not spend a penny more than I have to. We checked the circulars for the three most local stores and made our shopping lists for each store based on sales. If you are not a crazy person, or you are lugging 4 children, this may not be an option for you. However, you can still eat paleo shopping at one store. You can shop online and have your food delivered. Every store sells meat, seafood, vegetable, fruit and nuts. The only change in your food shopping will ultimately be that you are buying nutrition, not garbage. (I know garbage is yummy, but it doesn’t serve a purpose past your mouth.) Check out http://paleodailyo.com/paleo-must-haves/to see some of the basic items that should end up in your kitchen making your paleo life easier.

6. We found a new use for our cabinet. Turns out, after food shopping, there wasn’t anything to put in the cabinet!! We received the most beautiful China for our wedding over three years ago and it was sitting in boxes in the basement. Well, that day, our China was called up to the majors.

7. We lived. The major difference between pre-paleo and paleo is how much we cook. We don’t eat food out of boxes. We buy meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit and nuts. We shop about every 10 days as this food doesn’t keep like macaroni and cheese does. We don’t have cabinets full of food that doesn’t move. You know the stuff, it’s there every week. You never cook it and you never will. I had expired cans of vegetables. Do you know how long that takes?! We buy food we are going to eat, and we eat the food we buy. Every week. We have very little waste.

And that’s it! Okay, okay, that’s not totally it. If I could fit everything in one blog I wouldn’t need more. That was the first day. We have been almost 100% paleo for 7 weeks and have lost 44 pounds collectively. We feel better and we are still committed. It’s hard to go back to eating foods that you know hurt your body.

So really there are two steps: Commit and Do It. You are the only person controlling what goes into your body! Own it. Oh, and read my blog.

This is a conversation that we have with every “diet”. Fortunately, paleo is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. Right? It turns out that it is not that easy.My feeling is that if you are looking for fast results, increased energy or weight loss then cheating is just not an option. But if you are at your goal weight and feeling good then how could it hurt?

I am currently at my goal weight and feeling pretty energized so I gave myself permission to cheat last week. I didn’t have a whole cheat day where I ate cheesecake and cream sauces, but I had some cheese (answering the question that I cannot, in fact, live without cheese) and a couple of McDonald’s fries. And I loved every disgusting second of it. Some people wouldn’t even consider that cheating. My husband also took a “little” liberty with his food and ordered a pizza while I was at work. Not to be judgy but I feel like my cheat was a flirty conversation, his cheat was at least second base. But it’s not my job to police his food, he is thirty years old. I’m a little jealous that he cheats better than I do, that’s for sure. The things is, we both felt fine the next day. We weren’t bed ridden (or worse; bathroom) but we also didn’t have that burst of energy we had gotten used to. We felt better than a normal day pre-paleo, but not as perky as we had the day before. The positive thing is that we both returned to our new normal paleo eating habits the next day.

The thing I would like to mention is how that little cheat has given a new vigor to my cravings. I spent a couple of weeks detoxing and thought those little bastards had been mostly defeated. Those sneaky jerks were hiding deep below my cauliflower faux-tatoes and almond milk. A handful of french fries was just what they were waiting for to plan their revolt. And now I want a cookie. Bad. My husband actually called me from work to fill me on his craving attack as well. We are doing our best to make good decisions until the cravings pass, but it’s harder than it was last week, for sure.

So the question becomes, was it worth it?  Yes and no. I loved my snacks. I also loved being over the cravings and keeping my focus on food that served a purpose. We are all surrounded by temptations and have to make conscious decisions all the time not to give in to it. How many of us work in an office and watch muffins and cakes pass by us all day? I for one work in a restaurant! I am serving delicious food and I’m expected not to eat some?!

How do I manage?  I have two guards against diving mouth first into a plate of mushroom ravioli in a truffle cream sauce. I ask myself in a lot of situations, “Does this food help or hurt?” The answer to that question makes the decision for whether or not I’ll eat it. Cheating is a slippery slope as the more crap you eat, the more crap you wanna eat. Figuratively speaking, obviously. Another method is accountability. Tell people that you are living a paleo lifestyle. Explain what it means and wait for them to ask about cheese. Then, try to eat something in front of them that isn’t paleo. They will call you out before the fork passes your lips. People are so helpful.

What do you think? Does cheating take you off course,  is it a treat for all of your hard work, or do you need it to survive?

I would like to say that on Thanksgiving day I will be living a “paleo who?” lifestyle and eat sweet potato casserole and stuffing until I am literally sick!

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. I love, love, love the fall and my favorite day is pumpkin picking. It ran a close second to Christmas tree day until we bought an artificial tree. Growing up in southern California I was robbed of the beauty of seasons. Not that I didn’t love the weather, but I had no idea what I was missing. Having lived in Iowa and now New York for the last 15 years has turned me into one of those people that complains about the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter, all the while loving boot season equally as much as flip flop season.

So yesterday afternoon my husband, daughter, mother in law and niece and nephew (who we totally surprised and pulled out of school early) headed out east on the island to Stakey’s pumpkin farm. The weather was crisp and the sky was blue and had those perfect marshmallow clouds. Stakey’s is the last farm that lets you pay one price for all the pumpkins you can carry. Challenge accepted. This is not as easy as it sounds. There is an architecture in stacking pumpkins in your arms for a great carry and we were going to perfect it! And boy did we. My husband is 6’2″ and the only man on the adventure so obviously he would be our “muscle”. My mother-in-law was responsible for quick stacking in his arms and I had scored the best job; photographer. “If you insist.” After stacking and re-stacking several times, the arrangement was complete and my husband stumbled the 15 feet to the scale. SUCCESS! He carried 87 pounds of giants pumpkins. Saving us about $25 and providing us with some good ol’ family entertainment.

We took the kids through a giant corn maze, let them jump in the bounce house and loaded up on some locally grown mums for the yard. It was the perfect, wholesome day. I’m a little fruity when it comes to holidays so, for me, it was the very best day.

Now I need to find some paleo pumpkin recipes as I have 87 pounds of pumpkin to find a use for. Paleomg.com has a whole section on pumpkin recipes so I will be borrowing some ideas from her.

For dinner last night we made grilled pork chops with beets and apples in a balsamic reduction. I couldn’t stop eating the beets and apples and will be sneaking into the leftovers all day to pick them out for snacks. The recipe is from (surprise!) paleomg.com and here it is:

http://paleomg.com/pork-chops-with-grilled-beets-and-apples-in-a-balsamic-reduction/

I’ll keep you posted on what happens with my pumpkins!

Happy fall!

http://www.stakeyspumpkinfarm.com/