I did not make the 30 day Paleo challenge. However, I did learn a lot about myself, my eating habits, and my body during my short time on the diet. First and most importantly I was eating entirely too much refined sugar. The withdrawals were horrific! I am so grateful for that realization and for ridding my body of that addiction. I have a whole new awareness of what I put in my body. Before, I was eating yogurt with fruit almost every day. Seems harmless, right? Healthy even? Wrong! That yogurt alone had about 26ish grams of sugar. Combined with the fruit, NOT GOOD! I had gotten to where I would eat a piece of dark chocolate a couple times a day. There were lots of other ways sugar was sneaking into my daily routine as well. (Hint: check your cereal, oatmeal, protein bars, and even salad dressing)
Doing paleo, I also realized how important it is for me to be completely gluten free. My stomach pain was drastically decreased and there was very little bloating. For me, this is a big deal! I remember feeling the same way when I went gluten free originally. Why I continue to learn everything the hard way, I don’t know!! I am determined to stay completely gluten free from here forward.
Lately, I am feeling a bit frustrated with my health. Doing paleo, I had a lot of health issues and since then I’ve had more. I have been thinking a lot about when I was healthiest and feeling my best. It was when I first went gluten free. At that time, I was not eating many processed foods and I was exercising regularly doing Pilates. Somewhere along the way, I began eating processed foods again and then went back to gluten. Again, I am so grateful to God for making clear to me where I went wrong. I had also quit doing Pilates.
Moving forward, I have new goals for taking care of myself. Most importantly are maintaining a low sugar and gluten free diet. I aim to eat fruits and vegetables as often as possible and keep processed foods to a minimum. I will continue to use a lot of the tools I learned in Paleo. I totally love the recipes and will continue cooking them. I am officially hooked on Coconut milk for sure. Also, I love cooking with the almond flour. Many “gluten free” flours leave an aftertaste, not so with almond flour! I will continue to eat more healthy fats with each meal and very little grains. The main thing I’ve added back to my diet is dairy. Although, even that is to a minimum. I have done a lot of research and many paleo/primal dieters recommend raw cheese. I bought some today and look forward to trying it soon. Also, my protein powder is back! Gotta have it in my smoothies… I’ve also added in some beans, specifically hummus. Yum! Love hummus with carrot sticks!
Other goals include working Pilates into my regular bootcamp/crossfit routine. While it is not enough to build the muscle I like, it does do my body good. It really helps me with stretching, posture, alignment, and it helps relieve my headaches. Also, I am spending more time in prayer, the Word, and in my Savior’s presence!
