We have been living Paleo for 2 weeks now! Time has actually gone by pretty fast- probably because I keep trying out new meals and every day is a new exciting challenge. We have successfully been moving forward towards 100% Paleo, but there are still some difficulties that we are facing. Here are some things I have been thinking about this past week:
-I started to notice about a week ago that I was getting really bad stomach aches whenever I was eating a lot of almond products. I looked it up online, since the internet always has a diagnosis for health problems, and it turns out that a lot of people have these problems with almonds. Something about digesting whatever almonds have in them... Well this started to freak me out! Almonds have been my go-to substitute for almost everything that I used to inhale. Almond flour, almond butter, etc- I have been eating almond products multiple times a day. So, the fact that my stomach may be rejecting them kind of freaked me out. Luckily, the past 2 days have been a lot better with little to no stomach pains. Perhaps my digestive system has gotten used to them?? I hope so. It may just be a sign that I need to branch out even further and eat more meat & veggies rather than just hiding behind my almond crutch, and I think I am going to work on that. Hope the pains stop for good!
-In related news, I have realized that I have been eating mostly fruits rather than vegetables, which isn't the BEST way to do Paleo. The problem is, I have a strange aversion to the most common/easy veggies to snack on during the day: carrots and celery. I cannot explain it- I wish I liked those veggies, and I have tried to like them. I just can't do it. I'm going to have to find a way to bring the veggies that I DO like into work for lunch and as snacks, and I will try to do that in the coming days. I love cucumbers and bell peppers, so I may try to go that route... I'll keep you posted!
-We have both had occasional MAJOR cravings for certain foods that are off limits. The other night, I had trouble falling asleep because I couldn't get the thought of cheese out of my mind. My husband has had similar problems thinking about things like burgers & fries (not the Paleo version- like, the processed stuff). I have been hoping that after many days without these foods, my body would stop craving them, but that has yet to be the case. Maybe it needs to be a full 28 days to break my cheese/pasta addiction. We'll see...
-We've still been consuming some of the "forbidden" items minimally. Mainly, finishing up the dairy products (especially milk) that were still in the fridge. It will all be gone in the next few days for sure. We have also been drinking alcohol a bit, but primarily red wine which you know, I've already decided is legit- grapes, of course! I know we will never fully get rid of alcohol (I mean I already gave up pasta, cheese, sugar, and my other favorite things), but I do think we have done well to cut it down. The various Paleo experts out there disagree on the issue, but many say that alcohol is fine in moderation, so that's what we are going with. One of our biggest problems with Paleo is that there are so many gray areas, and so many foods that are being debated as to their Paleo-ness. There are only a few hard steadfast rules, but the "iffy" things are difficult to navigate... I am proud to say, though, that I have not touched any grain or cheese for 2 weeks! Crazy.
Well, there you have it. 14 days down, many more to go. We are still really enjoying trying out new meals and eating natural foods, and it makes me feel better knowing that we aren't eating anything processed (as hard as it might be). We are hoping it gets easier the longer we stick with it... so keep reading for more recipes and thoughts about Paleo!
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