Paleo Challenge Day 1 Journal

I woke up late today so skipped breakfast and for lunch I just had an orange and some slices on salami because I was in a hurry to get somewhere. I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in probably 10 years and met a new friend too. We met at a coffee shop so I did get a latte but with almond milk. While not considered totally paleo I’ve decided I’m not going to give up my coffee and tea because I like them and they are healthy drinks in my mind. Have  to be  careful of the syrups though. I picked up almond milk at the store because it does add a nice flavor to coffee.

I went to the local coop to pick up some of the items I felt I needed to properly eat during this challenge, like almond milk, sun butter, avocados  etc. I picked up a couple bacon cranberry burger patties because they looked good and I’m having those for dinner plus asparagus cooked with a little bit of ghee. This is the first time I’ve ever used ghee so but it does have a light buttery-ish flavor to it. The cranberries in the burger patties have a little sugar in them so it’s not completely paleo but compared to how I’ve been eating I don’t think it’s a big deal at all.

This is how my dinner came out, it was quite tasty.

Sample Meal

This is a picture of what I had for dinner tonight. Grass-fed grilled beef patty, mixed greens, and mashed butternut squash. Pretty tasty!

Food Plan

I came up with this food plan yesterday and decided to put it into practice today. It may seem extreme but now I’m looking at it as an experiment so I am going to track my progress and see how it goes. The plan itself is actually really simple and below is a list of foods I’m going to eat:

• Proteins (chicken, beef, pork and eggs)
• Vegetables (as much as I want)
• Fruit (only once or twice a day)
• Olive oil as needed when cooking

That’s it. I am going to focus on what I am going to eat versus thinking about cutting anything out because I want to help minimize the feelings of loss. This is actually easy to work with in my mind because it’s a limited list with a lot of different options. Since I already have regular doctor appointments to monitor my nutrient levels and the likes that will help me see how this is benefiting or hurting my overall health. I would like to get some baseline readings at the start but I might have to just use the information from my last doctor visit.

I’m also trying to eat less often during the day and just eat meals and regular intervals. The hard part might be eating out however I don’t have a lot of money for that right now so that is helpful. Plus, I can pick places that serve foods I can eat with some modifications.

Grocery Shopping – What I Buy

Today I did my large grocery shopping trip for the next week or two. I like to do large trips weekly or less and then make side trips when I need more fresh things. Buying fresh fruits and vegetables means going to the market more often but it’s totally worth it. I decided to line up my haul and post a picture.

This food is shared between me and one very greedy little guinea pig, she really only eats vegetables though and the bagged lettuce is mostly for her, I prefer spinach.

Here’s a run down of what I bought:

• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Pears
• Apples
• Nectarines
• Classic Romaine Lettuce Mix
• Spinach
• Green Peppers
• Baby Carrots
• Provolone Cheese Slices
• Turkey Burgers
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Unsweetened Chocolate and Vanilla Almond Milk
• Earth Grain Multi-Grain Thin Buns (which had a $1 off produce coupon)
• Reduced Sodium Pinto Beans
• Frozen Broccoli
• Frozen Stir-fry Vegetables
• Hard Boiled Eggs (Yes, I buy pre-boiled eggs. Boiling eggs ends in disaster for me)

Total cost: $53.43

This was a little over the budget for what I wanted to spend but I know if I don’t have healthy foods in the house I end up going out and getting junk. I was getting really low on foods to make meals the last couple days.

So – what are your favorite healthy foods to stock up on? Let me know in the comments!