Update on Paleo Diet - One Week Down!

As I brew my umpteenth cup of tea, I thought I'd sit down and write an update on how the paleo diet is working for me. In one week, I've strictly adhered to a diet of poultry, meat, veggies (excluding potatoes and sweet potatoes), and fruit with a small amount of walnuts thrown in. It's been somewhat easier than I'd imagined. I suppose since I'm already used to cooking most foods from scratch it wasn't too much of an adjustment. For mealtimes, I just give myself an extra vegetable instead of the grain or potato I'm feeding the rest of the family. I've lost about four pounds and I think my face looks a little leaner. I've been doing Wii Fit for five days and have managed to do my little calisthenics, yoga and strength training routine every morning except for Saturday. I've found that I enjoy that time to myself and it helps me to wake up slowly. I'm drinking a lot of tea (mostly herbal) but have not had a single cup of coffee. Something I'm even prouder of is that I haven't had any sugar or stevia all week and, starting yesterday, I gave up the honey.

So, how am I feeling? Pretty good considering that I started this whole quest with a nasty chest cold. Doug has been diagnosed with bronchitis and it's pretty likely that I have it too. However, it seems to be getting better on its own. I've been sleeping good at night and my aches and pains are reduced a bit. I'm still looking forward to my chiropractor appointment tomorrow evening but I'm not going to be as desperate for it as I was earlier in the week when I had what Doug diagnosed as sciatica. I have been hungry at times but I'm not getting the irritable hunger that I had from the sugar crashes. I'd say that overall my mood has improved. What's most amazing to me is that I took a look at my tonsils today and I couldn't see them. For the past year they've been enlarged and usually had some kind of crud packed in them (how's that for gross-out factor?). The fact that they've reduced in size has to be a good sign.

One thing that I have found to be critical for my success with this plan of mine is to make sure there is something prepared for breakfast the night before. Most mornings I'm having some kind of leftover greens (i.e., kale sauteed with garlic and onions) and a few slices of turkey bacon. I love butternut squash in the morning as it satisfies the sweet craving I have at that time of day.

And, in case you think I'm suffering with bland choices look at what I had for dinner tonight - half a roasted turkey thigh, a cup of acorn squash covered in sauteed onions (cooked in olive oil), and a cup of broccoli.


I left the table with a very happy tummy. For my snack tonight I'm going to have a banana, 1/2 an apple and 1/4 cup of walnuts with my cup of tea.

So, I am going to continue with this eating plan for the foreseeable future as I think it's working for me. I've been tracking my nutrition online and the only thing I'm consistently coming up short on is iron and calcium so I'm taking my supplements for those. Frankly, I wasn't doing too good with those nutrients before I started this diet so I'm not all that concerned.

I will continue to keep you updated on a weekly basis as I continue my pursuit of better health.