You Are What You Eat

According to my husband, I've been on every "diet" known to man. Although this is not true, I have tried many different - I'll call them "ways" of eating. I've done no red meat, no meat, lots of grain, no grain, vegetarian, and so on. And I'm telling you this because I want you to know I'm speaking from experience.

What works best for me and my family is a [mostly] paleo lifestyle. 

I do not call it a diet. That's not what it is. It's not a fad or 90 day program (there is the Whole30; I'll get to that later). It's our lifestyle. The way we do things.  We don't focus our world around it (it has become second nature to plan ahead when I know food options will be limited or difficult).  We don't count calories.  We live like everyone else; we just choose to leave out some foods that are marketed as "healthy" but don't make us feel that way.  My general rule of thumb: if you don't know what all the ingredients listed on the label are, don't eat it. Best practice would be to buy nothing in a package, but this is so hard in our society and lifestyle. I do the best I can. 

Let me give you the basics:

What we eat - meat, veggies, eggs, fruit, nuts, seeds

What we don't eat &/or limit - grains, dairy, legumes, sugar

Are we perfect at this? - not even close!

But the closer we follow these guidelines, the better we feel.

We live in a world of convenience.  Every food you can imagine is already prepared, seasoned, cooked, & loaded with chemical preservatives!  This is such a new thing in our world. Could you imagine your great grandmother buying box of cookies? 

This is a passion of mine [or soapbox :)] - our world is so loaded with chemicals that are PROVEN & KNOWN carcinogens BANNED IN OTHER COUNTRIES!  Why on earth do we put them in our bodies?!  Because it's more convenient?  Because the FDA approves them, so we think they're safe?!  I want to do everything I can to help my family live the healthiest lifestyle - this includes foods, cleaners, and anything that come in our home. [rant over]

I say "we" because even though Paul Michael called me crazy for going through all my crazy recipes in the first years of our marriage, he knows & experiences that this paleo lifestyle works best for his body.  I know this is the best for Luke's body - he is very sensitive to corn (a grain, not vegetable) & dairy.  

How I found paleo - 

July 2012 I was 5 months postpartum. I could not lose the last 10-15 pounds of baby weight. I had also been reading and hearing "paleo" diet, but I didn't really know what it was. My best friend (who had a baby 3 weeks before me) said she had been eating this paleo way & dropped the last of her baby weight. That got my attention. I read The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf and It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I soon thereafter started a Whole30 - http://whole30.com/new/ .  This was one of the hardest but best things I have done for myself. The weight fell off (and stayed off)!!! I learned what foods make my body work and feel great. And what foods make me feel awful!  I didn't know I was even feeling so yucky until I felt better!!!!