No, not about “Momentum on Monday”. I’m regrouping after our little weekend trip to see my aunt. It was great, I’m so glad we went and it was so nice to have everyone home together for President’s Day. So, here are some thoughts about flinging myself into paleo madness.I haven’t given up. I’m not craving things (surprisingly) BUT I am spending more time than I’d prefer-especially during lent-thinking about food. This paleo thing takes lots of planning and preparation. I do think the money that we spend on cereal, snacks and the very few convenience foods we end up buying could definitely go toward a quarter of a grass-fed beef. The problem with that notion is that I’m not inclined or prepared to impose my little experiment on the whole family. It is just not practical or realistic for us, at least right now. Also, there’s something about buying and storing more than 100 pounds of animal that turns me off. I simply don’t want the responsibility.
That grass-fed and wild animal thing is huge. My reading tells me this….fats from grass-fed and wild meats are great for you, fats from industrialized beef aren’t. Oh, and chicken, not so good. Whatever Omega6 is, chicken’s got a lot of it and it isn’t a good thing.
I am majorly humbling myself here to show you my rosacea the day before I started this paleo thing. This doesn’t even show a bad flare-up but it’s about the state of it most days. How I envy clear, smooth skin. Damn, I’m getting OLD!
As I suspected when I decided to try this to see if my aches, pains and rosacea would improve, I’ll likely end up just limiting grains, dairy and sugar overall in my diet rather than eliminating them completely. I don’t think I suffer adverse reactions to those things (that I know of).
For now, I’m doing my best to stick to it. Not sure I’ll be getting through the 6 weeks. Eggs and/or meat everyday for breakfast is not appealing, I really don’t want to get sick of salads and I don’t have enough beef recipes in my repertoire to get us through. I don’t think eating less pasta, bread and sugar will hurt me, though.
I’ll keep you posted.
Kelly any input you have is much appreciated. I am marveling at how you made such a big switch but then again, your boys never struck me as complainers and always seem enthusiastic about new adventures (even in food). Maybe that made things easier.
Hi Beth,
Yea, it hasn’t been terribly easy figuring out what to eat at times and especially transitioning into meat was trying for Nico and me. Enzo, like his dad has enjoyed meat very much for a long while, so before when we would eat out of the house, they would usually eat it. Nico and I, on the other hand, are now enjoying it, but it took a while to acclimate our taste buds, especially since it’s pretty much at every meal. No, he’s not a complainer, so I worried that I was taking advantage of his nature and forcing him into something. But, I’m feeling pretty strongly that this is what’s healthy for us and have held strong knowing he’d adjust. There are quite a number of meals he really likes now.
That being said, the boys are not eating as strictly as Jt and me. They definitely still partake of grains and sugar, though much less than before. For example, we make a taco salad for dinner, which for Jt and me is ground meat with taco seasoning on a bed of lettuce and a bit of cheese on top. For the boys I wrap all of that into a warmed wheat tortilla and we’re all happy. Most dinners they eat just what we do, but they might have homemade granola or even waffles for breakfast and pasta or bread included into their lunch. As for sweets, their banjo teacher has donuts for them every week after their lesson. (!) Otherwise, they’re mostly turning down sweets on their own when offered them outside of the house. All Halloween, Christmas and Valentine candy was given/thrown away without my input.
I’ve been asked a lot whether we’re spending more money on groceries and I think I can honestly say, without intense study, that we’re about breaking even. I really am shopping the perimeter of the store, so all boxed food is gone from the cart and I’m buying much less produce (just lots of greens and a bit of fruit), which has resulted in much less waste, which always drove me crazy. I also think we eat less in terms of volume, so a small piece of meat replaces a plateful of carbs and veg/fruit. We bought the 1/4 grass-fed beef at about $2.50/lb. which is a huge savings over just buying it in the store. We also bought free-range chickens at about the same price in the fall, but, needless to say they didn’t last as long so we’re buying store-bought until the next batch is raised and ready. (I have to say though, we got our beef right before Hurricane Sandy was threatening to hit and we were worried sick that we’d lose our whole freezer’s worth of meat if we lost power for a considerable amt. of time. Oy. Very stressful. We contemplated buying a generator, but couldn’t find an affordable one, since lots of other people had the same idea. LOL But, thankfully, it never hit here.)
We’re doing the best we can in terms of buying “clean” meats as the Paleo diet dictates, but we can only do what we can, both in availability and affordability. I believe that even eating commercial level meat is still better than filling in with low-nutrient carbs. What a 180 degree turn for me, but it makes so much sense in that as much as I followed the rules of the calories in/calories out, high complex carb, lots of fruits and veg. dogma, my body still fought me at every turn when it came to weight, energy and hormonal issues. Now it’s all just falling into place and I’m not obsessing at all about what I eat (I’m not hungry) or worrying: am I getting enough of XYZ nutrient without partaking of too many calories.
I have slight rosacea on my face, too, though it’s never been painful. I sure hope it clears up for you. That would be wonderful. (Your photo is beautiful, by the way.) I think I can say mine has improved, but since it has always come and gone it’s hard to pin down with certainty. But, I think I’m seeing less of it and less often. I do know my skin is less dry and my hair seems stronger.
Thanks for the update. I’m rooting for ya! Let me know if you’d rather I didn’t comment here, but in an email instead. 🙂
Aw, Kelly, thanks again for chiming in with such thoughtful comments. Lest you think I only approved this comment because you said I was beautiful (you’re sweet-and biased), your insight is so encouraging and helpful. The only reason I publicly solicited comments from you is that I emailed after your comment last week, didn’t hear back and figured I had a wrong email. We’ll hash that out. If anyone read this blog, I’d do a whole interview with you but that would be a waste of both of our time, especially since your current comment is so informative and I think only a few people read this blog.