Today marks day 7 of my paleo adventure. Being a huge lover of dairy and bread I strangely don't find myself missing them at all. I am a small town Virginian girl who takes great pride in chugging a 16 oz glass of milk every single morning for breakfast. For years I couldn't begin my day with out this. I have gone 3 whole weeks skipping this routine. I don't even notice; to me, its an after thought at this point. 

Trying to eat healthy I notice one thing that I constantly struggle with. It isn't avoiding candy, sweets, or fast food. No, its eating with a pattern. I know that I should have three main meals and snacks in between. Basically I should eat something small every three hours to help regulate my body and my metabolism. This plays a huge roll in both being healthy and losing weight. I have so much trouble doing this. I need to find little snacks and munchy foods that are Paleo that I can indulge in during the "in between hours."  

The past seven days I have tried to start my day out with scrambled eggs and a steamed sweet potato. I top the potato with cinnamon to try and curb my appetite a bit. 

Above is a picture of my breakfast from day one. I made Bacon, a sweet potato and two eggs topped with fresh pico. ​(Recipe Follows) 

As I mentioned above I have been trying to manage my eating schedule. So far I have it to two main meals and about two very light snacks through out the day. Before starting this my eating was even more chaotic. I ate at all hours of the day or night basically what ever I wanted or craved in the moment. One horrible habit I had was going grocery shopping while hungry. Huge no no. Doing this I sometimes came home with super strange and unhealthy foods. I definitely ALWAYS came home with way more then I needed, which hurt my figure and my wallet. 

In my last post I talked about a cookbook I purchased to begin this adventure. So far I am in love. I love the variety of the recipes and the amount of recipes in general. You can purchase it on amazon here. One thing I was not too fond about was the pictures... they are in black and white. If you are looking for a book that can give you detailed pictures of each meal you make then this is not the one for you, otherwise give it a sho; you wont be sorry.

Monday I decided that in order to kick start my health even faster I would return to the gym. A friend and i are paying for a joint membership at Youfit. We bought it back in September and have been one time since. Not for lack of not wanting to go but because my friend had a seizure while leaving the gym the first time and it scared us from going back until his doctor Okayed it. After lots of tests and monitoring we felt it was safe to return and start slow. Well, I am glad we returned. My friend did great this time. No complications and tons of sweating done between the two of us. My plan on top of Paleo diet is to work out at least three times a week to start and then possibly more as I move forward. I also have the yoga trapeze so I try to use that at least once a day to kinda stretch things out and balance. One thing I tried at the gym that I need to work at is pull ups. Before losing feeling and muscle movement in my left hand I used to pride myself being able to do ten pull ups each time I walked through my bedroom door. I have always loved doing pull ups as a hobby and it greatly upset me tonight when I couldn't even pull myself up onto the bar. I never thought that would be something to challenge me. Maybe I will work on one armed pull ups. 

Now, back to my progress. Like I said I have been strictly paleo for seven days. Not a very long time but there is one thing I have noticed. It is something That is in a gray area when it comes to conversations because its very private but I promised myself before starting this blog that I would document everything that happens and not hold anything back or keep things to myself. It is good to share it all in case anyone else struggles with a common ailment so here goes. I mentioned in my first post that one of my issues was bowel problems. Mainly bloody stools every time. I have suffered with this for about 7 months and it has been a constant. My stomach is constantly churning and torn up. In the past seven days this problem has seemingly cleared up and I have also become more regular. Maybe it had something to do with sugar or dairy or even gluten. I wouldn't know for sure without going to the doctors but with out being able to afford insurance thats not an option as of now. The important thing is that it hasn't happened in a week which both amazes and excites me. 

Other then the bowel problem improvement there really isn't anything else to report as far as improvements go. I did weigh in an noticed I lost another 2 pounds putting me down to 166. Still a lot more to go but I will get there. More importantly then weight is Health. Getting healthy comes before losing weight but in this case I believe they are neck and neck.

​If you are interested in any of the recipes from week one they will be following this Post :) For now though here is the recipe for the Breakfast I consume. 

2 Large Eggs
2 Tbsp Coconut milk or cream (I use milk but its also good with cream)
One sweet Potato
Bacon (optional)
Cinnamon
Ghee or Homemade coconut butter (if you have it. Butter substitutes will also work)
Fresh Pico (I usually make pico but for time saving I buy the no salt version of pico that my store sells, They make it fresh and its delicious with only veggies)

Heat a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Place bacon in skillet and cook to desired crispness. Line a heatproof bowl with paper towels and drain the bacon grease slowly making sure to seperate out the burnt bits and keep the grease at the bottom of the bowl or container. Wipe pan slightly then throw out paper towel. Keep bacon grease in a sealed container to use for cooking abother recipe. Put skillet back on medium low heat. Scramble both eggs with the coconut milk. Once fully srambled and combined pour into hot skillet. Once the eggs begin to bubble up its time to flip the egg mix and break slightly with the spatula. (About three minutes) If pan starts to get too hot put it on low heat. Once eggs are fluffy and fully cooked put on plate. Top eggs with the fresh pico. While the bacon and eggs are cooking take sweet potato and dice it into chunks. Place in a microwave safe bowl and top with a small amount of ghee (about 1 tbsp) or butter substitute. Place in microwave on one potato setting. Once done top with desired amount of cinnamon and stir. Serve along side the scrambed eggs and bacon. Enjoy!!

​I started Paleo lightly two weeks ago but was forced to stop after a wisdom tooth extraction so I could eat soups and bread to give me substance since solid food was not an option. I have had trouble eating anything solid for the past six months due to nerve pain in my face so my dentist thought having the tooth removed would alleviate that over time. The sucker in my mouth was HUGE. It even had a curve to the end of it. I had bad tetracycline staining on my tooth from taking tetracycline as a teen. The tooth however was 100% intact and healthy, it was just too close to a nerve. Currently the hole in the back of my mouth is 70% closed and I am finally able to eat fairly solid foods. I still have trouble with nuts and what not but I make it work. Anyways Today i decided it was time to give the Paleo Lifestyle my all. There is so much research out there about Paleo and the health benefits it can have especially with people who have Autoimmune disorders and nerve issues. It is actually quite fascinating to read about how changes in diet and nutrition can change a persons life so drastically. 

In case you arent aware there are a lot of things you can and can't eat on the Paleo diet. It is actually quite simple since basically you are eating like a caveman. Some say its more expensive but honestly if you deal search and use coupons I feel it can actually cost the same as any "normal" diet.

Today begins day one of full on Paleo. I started limiting dairy two weeks back to maybe once every three days and switched my coffee to using coconut cream but now it is time to fully say good bye to dairy. For breakfast I started with an veggie fritada, Paleo French toast, and a steam sweet potato. It was quite tasty. The paleo bread was a bit odd to me since it is made entirely of seeds and other paleo products but once cooked tasted good. I found the recipe for the Fritada in the cook book I bought and the sweet potatoes were steamed in a tiny bit of coconut butter. Tonight for dinner we will be having a Paleo Tangy Beef and broccoli dish which I will either pair with cauliflower rice or quinoa. 

I started the morning by taking some before pictures. After a baby, numerous health issues, steroids to help my problems, and less then healthy eating habits I have unfortunately not kept the body I want. I definitely don't feel comfortable in my skin. I am 5'7" and back in 2012 I was a size four weighing in at 138. Today I weigh 168 which is actually 12lbs lighter then I was a month ago. I wear between a size 8 and 12 depending on the manufacturer, however I wear bohemian style dresses so on average those are one size fits all which makes sizing myself hard.

I kind of hate sharing before pictures with the world and escpecially when I am far less then my best self. I am not unhappy with my body due to societies standards but because, personally, I dont feel myself. I love being fit and being able to walk miles without falling over from exhaustion, something I havent been able to do in a few years. 

Honestly It is kind of hard for me to talk about all the issues I face on a daily basis between my health and my body image issues. I do hope though by keeping this journal of my journey and hopeful improvements I can inspire those with similar ailments to make a life change for the better. 

I would love to hear in the comments section from others who may have had similar issues and switched to Paleo, other success stories inspire me to keep trying. I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have for me. I am very new to this lifestyle but I am learning more and more each day.