Friday, July 23, 2010

Day 33: Still human

Although I would say that "eating real" has gotten much easier, and that we do plan to stick with it the majority of the time after the challenge is over, I haven't become some super-human being. I still crave sweets from time to time. The cakes I'll be baking this weekend are bound to look really good. But, if anything, the challenge has kept me from falling victim to my cravings and has reintroduced me to restricting myself. I'm sure there will be times after the challenge that I will fail, but I have confidence in my ability to make good choices most of the time. I don't want to live my life without occasionally enjoying a food splurge, because I love food. But that's the key: occasionally. Now I know that I can go a while without it and I'll be fine. The food will still be there. And, hopefully, eating this way will give me that many more years to enjoy myself.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Day 29: Getting Creative

As we get closer to the end of our 40 days, I'm finding that I don't necessarily miss all the processed junk and grains, but I am getting a little tired of eating the same foods all the time. So, I've been digging for recipes again to shake it up.

This weekend, we went to Joe's Crab Shack and got some really tasty steamed crab. We also got some turkey with no added preservatives and had that for lunch with avocado, sundried tomatoes in olive oil, cucumbers and watermelon.

For last night's dinner, I found this recipe actually by going to the website featured on the sticker on my Dole banana. I modified it slightly to make it Paleo, and it turned out GREAT.

Chicken Coconut Columbo

Overview
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Serves: 6
Ingredients: 12

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
1 pound butternut or acorn squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (2-1/2 cups) (I used butternut)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (I used allspice as a sub)
1 small green or red bell pepper, cut into short strips (I used small sweet red, orange and yellow bell peppers)
2 medium, firm bananas, sliced
2 tablespoons lime juice (from fresh limes)
Hot cooked rice (I substituted cauliflower. Just put in the food processor to give it a rice-like quality, then microwave for 5-8 minutes with no water or anything)

Directions
1. Cook and stir chicken and onion in hot oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is browned. Stir in coconut milk, squash, curry and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until squash is tender.
2. Stir in bell pepper; cook 2 minutes or until pepper is tender-crisp. Stir in bananas and lime juice. Serve over (cauliflower) rice.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Day 25: Lighter

We're over halfway there, and when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was officially down 10 pounds since we started. Granted, a lot of those first few pounds was water weight lost by eliminating salt, but the rest are real, honest-to-goodness fatty pounds.

I'm getting used to the way foods naturally taste, without a lot of salt and/or sugar. I've stopped seasoning my breakfast omelette at all, and just adding either a piece of bacon or a heaping spoonful of sausage and a whole cup of frozen spinach. I can eat steamed broccoli without anything on it and actually enjoy it. I have decided that salmon, fatty ground beef, steaks and pork all have some inherent saltiness and don't need much seasoning to be tasty.

I do miss being able to eat out whenever and wherever we like. It's difficult now to find a restaurant that serves food we can eat. We tend to fall back on steak restaurants, since they serve good meat and usually at least one steamed veggie side or baked sweet potato. However, I don't find that I'm missing the "forbidden" foods nearly as much...although I still occasionally dream about junk food.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day 18: Piece of...well, not cake.

Eating Paleo is getting easier. I've gotten over my little period where I felt sorry for myself for not being able to eat junk and felt frustrated with all the cooking and preparation.

One of the things that really helped was cooking two meals on Tuesday. We made a double batch of stuffed bell peppers to put in the fridge and eat for lunches and dinners. Then we made this awesome shrimp scampi dish and served it over sauteed zucchini. It was probably the best meal we've had so far, and it was fairly easy to cook. Plus, after one night of cooking, we haven't had to cook much since, aside from the occasional bacon and eggs for breakfast.

I've been trying to limit my intake of dried fruit and nuts because I know I ate them too often during my first two weeks, and they can be both calorie dense and bad for your digestion. They're often the easy choice, though, so I've been trying to grab a piece of fresh fruit or a vegetable, like a cucumber, when I need a snack.

As far as exercise goes, we went on a two mile run last night, and it was just okay. I still don't feel that massive energy boost that one is supposed to feel when eating like a caveman, but then again, David commented that maybe it's because our diet wasn't that bad to begin with. Maybe if we were going from McDonald's every day to Paleo, we would have felt a more drastic change. Still, I have lost 8 pounds so far!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Day 16: Learning to celebrate

One of the things you get from growing up in the South is a reverence for food. Food is the central part of all celebrations and happy memories: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, vacations, birthdays, weddings. Food is also what you turn to in times of crisis, such as a death in the family. Rich comfort foods are as much a part of Southern culture as the word "y'all."

So it was hard to imagine a Fourth of July celebration at my house without all the typical fare, especially with my 17-year-old brother coming to visit. Luckily, traditional Independence Day barbecues lend themselves to Paleo eating. And, I did make cakeballs on Corey's request, but I didn't try one. I didn't even lick my fingers.

Paleo fare on the Fourth: steaks, hamburger patties and sausage on the grill; sweet potato hash; Ashley's guacamole with veggies for dipping; watermelon. I found that I didn't really miss the food much and was still able to really enjoy the party...even without partaking in the beverages.

I tried to make things Corey would eat the rest of the weekend as well. For breakfast, we had bacon and almond flour pancakes with bananas and raisins in them. For dinner, I employed the almond flour again for Paleo fried chicken. Both were very tasty meals that felt like cheating, but weren't. Foods like that keep me from feeling stuck in a rut.