A New Way Of Eating - Weight Loss Journey Week 43 - Day 1

Week 43
Day 1 - Wednesday
12/11/2014

A New Way Of Eating

Under the recommendation from my Neurosurgeon,  I have started the Paleo diet. The Paleo (Paleolithic) diet, also known as the Caveman diet as it eliminates modern/processed foods.  I was never interested in it as I thought it was just another fad diet.  However, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me.  I think of it rather as "clean" eating or getting back to basics. 

It hasn't been much of a stretch for me as for the last few months I've removed Gluten and Dairy from my diet.  It does take time to get use to not having Cereal or Bread for breakfast (especially after being on Lite n' Easy) but I enjoy the challenge of finding new ways of eating so that it's exciting.  Who wants to be on a boring diet?  So, as always, I'm going to share it with you all, my experiences, thoughts, feelings and recipes during it all.  Hopefully you will get something out of it too! 

Paleo-NOOOOOO!

No more Peanut Butter! :(  Yes, that's right!  Peanuts are a legume and therefore not allowed on the Paleo diet.  If you know me or have read my blog, you will know that Peanut Butter is my favourite food EVER!  But for my health I am willing to sacrifice it.  Goodbye Peanut Butter, I love you <3

Mmmm Pancakes!

Breakfast: 2 Ingredient Banana Pancakes

Recipe HERE

Starting on Paleo I thought that having Pancakes would be a thing of the past, turns out I was wrong!  I try not to think about what I can't have and try to think about what I can do with the things I can have.

This recipe is just a Banana and Eggs, that's it!  They are surprisingly tasty and the Banana gives them a great sweetness.  I topped mine off with Honey, Walnuts and a little Strawberry from the garden :) YUM!

Leftovers never looked so good!

Lunch: Mustard Chicken and Guacamole Salad

 Guacamole Recipe HERE

I like to think ahead and be prepared as preparation is the key to success and it's also because I'm pretty lazy.  So I like to cook up extra Meat/ingredients at dinner and use it to create something for lunch.  Last nights dinner was a Chicken Stir-Fry, the sauce was a throw together that consisted of Garlic, Ginger, Lime, Lemon, Mustard, Honey and Cayenne Pepper, it turned out pretty tasty.  

For today's lunch I made up some Guacamole, threw together a Salad of Baby Spinach, Tomato, Carrot and Capsicum, topped it with heated leftover Chicken.  It was delicious! Who knew Salad could be tasty?

I have always hated the taste and consistency of Avocado but I've always enjoyed Guacamole.  Recently I went to a seminar about nutrition and Avocados kept coming up for their good fats and nutritious properties.  They are also frequently featured in the Paleo diet, so I knew that my long fight with Avocado would have to come to an end.  I don't think I will ever be able to eat chunks of it in Salad or use it like Butter but I'm trying to think of new ways to include this bland boy in my food. Suggestions?

Meat and many veg

Dinner: Beef Stir-Fry

Dinner was another throw together...did I say I was prepared? Ha ha! I just cooked through some Beef  and Vegetables with Ginger, Lime and Cayenne Pepper, it wasn't as tasty as last nights dinner though.

Glasses of water: 8

Getting back out there!

Exercise: Walking! (Brisk)

46 Minutes, 430 Calories Burned 

I know some of you may think that walking is not exciting and until a few weeks ago, neither did I.  I have been too sick and weak to get out of bed even to be able to walk and even when I could walk short amounts, I couldn't breathe. Unfortunately you don't appreciate the things you do have until they are gone.  I felt so blessed that I was able to get out and walk again!  To be able to be outside! To be able to exercise!  

I'm still not healthy, I still get Migraines, Vertigo, Numbness and Nausea every single day.  But I still go for walks.  Sometimes I have to stop and get my balance or take some medication for the pain but I'm still going to do it.  My other option is to stay at home in bed.  Exercise sometimes makes my symptoms worse and I can end up ill after a walk but I'm not letting it stop me.  Every time I think how tired I am and that I'm too lazy to get off my butt and go for a walk, I'll remember the months I spent in bed not being able to do anything.