Why Paleo?

Twice since I started paleo I had ‘nightmares’ about eating sweets and I got mad at myself and felt guilty IN the dream! How silly is that? It’s probably because when I was picking up some toilet paper at Shoppers Drug Mart, I spotted some Cadbury Cream Eggs on steep discount for $0.25 each, so I picked up a few to have as a reward AFTER my paleo challenge ends.

Maybe this is where all my dreams nightmares are coming from. When I bbm’ed my Boyf the nightmare story, he said “Give me the cream eggs for safe keeping, lest you wake up with one in your mouth“. Which made me laugh so hard my tears welled up. So true, never know with me.

I’ve been uploading photos on instagram, my personal FB page, doing a weekly chat about it on my blog and documenting it in my book for my CrossFit coaches. But I’m still getting questions online about why I have chosen to do this Paleo Diet — and while I hate the word Diet. I still consider it one.

But why Paleo?
I am in sugar rehab. I had an unhealthy amount of sugar on a daily basis and I wanted to stop it. The Paleo Challenge was just easy for me to choose because I have to actually show the CrossFit coaches (at the end of the 30 days) what I’ve done to achieve not eating junk food, and it just so happens I’m not allowed dairy, wheat, legumes for these thirty days, too. I suppose you could say I just wasn’t motivated to change my diet until now.

Any diet that includes bacon is okay in my eyes.

How I’m feeling:
I went into Paleo knowing very well what to expect. People kept telling me that the first two weeks were going to be hard. Hard? Hard is such a relative term. You cheat? That is your choice. It’s always a choice, so don’t say it was an accident. No one forced you to eat chocolate. I’m committed to finishing Whole 30 with zero cheats.

Sure I wanted sugar but it wasn’t enough to make me go buy one, cheat on Paleo and then feel guiilty about it. I know what that chocolate bar tastes like. So I just imagine it. I know that sounds ridiculous but if you remember one thing: cravings only last ten minutes, you’ll do fine.

I’m not going to turn into one of those hardcore paleo eaters. I still want a sandwich every lunch time (from Ace Bakery – the best kind…) and I plan to dig into one on May 8 along with some Smokes Poutine for supper. From there? I’ll probably still keep a relatively healthy paleo diet 90% of the time because of the changes I’m liking in my body and we’re only at day 16. My pants are a little looser, and I’m seeing baby abs come in.

I also don’t know how people can go out to eat and be strict paleo. If I’m invited out to dinner, I’m going to indulge in that one glorious meal of whatever it may be, and enjoy it. I’m not going to ask the waiter if something was cooked in coconut oil, or if there is any dairy in whatever the cook serves. Know what I mean? It’s all a healthy balance at the end of the day, and I’m not about to deprive myself of some mouth watering food. I am totally salivating right now and I don’t even know what kind of food I’m thinking about. 

My Performance:
I’m still waiting for my performance at CrossFit to improve. Last week I had to really drop low in my weights and use a piddly amount. I was feeling lethargic, tired and lazy. Apparently at some point “the magic will happen”. This is when you sleep better (I have the best sleep all the time…) and you’ll feel just as good as when you wake up as you do at the peak of your day. I cannot wait for this.

Food right now tastes great. I don’t even have salad dressing on my salads anymore! Weird, right?

Someone mentioned drinking protein smoothies for breakfast to fill me up. It’s not really recommend I do that on paleo because they want you eating whole foods that includes the juice and fibre. Not just extracting the juice and throwing away the fibre. Your body digests juice much more quicker than whole foods so you’re not staying as full, for as long. 

I hope this answers any questions people may have of the reasoning behind me doing the 30 day paleo challenge.

Any more questions, just leave them in the comments below!