I have never been an advocate of it just for the simple fact that it really cuts out carbs in the diet. I have always been very strong on sticking to basic nutrition; whole grains, lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and some dairy. So by cleaning up my diet a little bit it meant taking out all of the processed foods that I eat; I love my fiber one bars and my pepper jack cheese. I rarely eat out and most of the time when I do it is healthy choices, but I did have my cheat days on Sunday which would involve a lot of bread :)
I have always been again Paleo because it took away my bread, mostly for the whole grain factor, and those whole grains are good for people with high cholesterol, which I have inherited.
So I finally decided that I kind of wanted to try the Paleo diet and had for about 2-3 weeks. I didn't really have anyone to push to do it and wasn't just willing going to throw away my food that I loved; i.e. my favorite Sunday lunch sandwich haha. So when I had a friend mention he wanted to lose some weight, so I decided well here is a reason not only to support a friend who is a fellow CrossFitter but also to clean up my diet. I told a friend that we were doing it and she was all on board to jump in. We decided to start our "Paleo Challenge" on November 1st so we have been going for 14 days now.
I have made tons of chicken in the crockpot (haha my favorite has become Embarrassingly Easy Crockpot Salsa Chicken from skinnytaste.com), Paleo chili, and version of Paleo bread (chai pumpkin bread and banana bread).
I posted a picture earlier last week of myself mixing the ingredients for Paleo Chai Pumpkin Bread. I have made 3 loaves now and the people I have given some to have not complained that's for sure. I got the recipe from paleOMG.com
Chai Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond butter (or other nut butter or seed butter)
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 banana, mashed
- ¼ cup honey (optional- i like it sweeter)
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 2 chai tea packets (tea spices removed from packets)
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together almond butter, pumpkin, banana, and eggs.
- Cut open the two tea bags and remove all the tea spices from the tea bags and add to almond butter mixture.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Grease a bread pan and then line it with parchment paper.
- Pour batter in pan and place in oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Let rest before slicing.
The only thing I did different from the recipe is I used maple almond butter, and did between 40-45min in the oven. It stays super moist just wrap it and put it in the refrigerator.
So I have been going strong on this Paleo thing for the past 14 days, but still feel like I'm not doing it correctly. As most people struggle with their weight, I do as well, but not as most people think. I struggle more mentally with gaining weight. I have actually had a couple times where I have lost weight from where I have gotten myself comfortable and been upset about it. I currently weight 116lb, and for me to be upset about losing a pound or so was rare back when I was in college.
Getting to 116lb has been a struggle for me mentally and being able to feel comfortable with how it makes my body look, one extra lb or even a fraction thereof at a time. I want to get stronger and that involves gaining weight, but I seem to be fluctuating a lot between 116lb and 114lb. I'm and trying to at least stay at 116 and maybe even gain just a little more to gain some strength. It's always going to be a stubble, but this Paleo thing hasn't really helped me with being comfortable.
So whether you are on a weight loss journey or a weight gain journey (for me to gain strength), we all struggle and have our mental battles along the way. I don't want people to think that it is just those that are trying to lose weight are the ones that struggle mentally with weight as well.
