{My Fridge Has Never Looked So Healthy}

Welcome back. Picking up where we left off. If you missed POSH Paleo Pt 1 you can find it here.

I was able to pick up The Paleo Diet, The Paleo Solution and Everyday Paleo at the library within a couple of days and I devoured them. I was blown away by just how misinformed I had been. Whole wheat bread? Turns out it’s not so whole. Reduced-fat milk? It’s actually missing a lot more than the fat. Now, let me be clear. The biggest thing I took away from my reading is it’s not that these foods are inherently bad, but what our culture has done to them over time (read processed) has made it such that there are far more efficient ways to get the nutrients you need from them like fiber and calcium without all the extra junk. We were sold.

That weekend I pulled out the trash can, and like a drill sergeant at boot camp, swiftly kicked out anything that didn’t qualify. If it wasn’t opened it went to the food bank and the rest met it’s fate at the bottom of the Glad bag. I threw out Doritos and Fruit Loops and Goldfish crackers and even the sugar and gluten masquerading as health food like Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pancake mix and Kashi cereal. When we were done, our pantry and fridge looked like it belonged to the Cratchett family. The plan was to follow the menu included in Everyday Paleo for 30 days–breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner and I’d prep food every day at least a day in advance. That was more cooking than I had done in my entire 30 years of life. To make things a tad easier I borrowed a food processor from a friend (which would turn out to be a lifesaver). With my menu plan in hand, I headed to the store. When it was all said and done I had spent enough to buy this and had bought things I had never even heard of. Jicamawhut? At least the purse I’d know what to do with…

I’m not going to sugar coat it, it was tough–I spent alot of hours in the kitchen and we had to up our grocery budget substantially. But the reward was worth it. As with any goal, I started out singing and dancing around the kitchen all happy pants while cooking but about two weeks in I was begrudgingly throwing fistfuls of green leafy crap into the processor and mumbling under my breath, “friggin’ Paleo…all I want is a piece of friggin’ pizza…surely there was a caveman equivalent to pizza…” About the time I wanted to give up I noticed something. Several somethings in fact. I was getting fewer headaches and migraines. My skin had started to clear up. I wasn’t feeling as tired and sluggish. My pants were no longer cutting of my circulation ala muffin top. I just felt clearer.

And the longer time went on, the better I felt. The headaches stopped altogether. My skin had cleared up completely. 2 pm energy crash was non-existent. The pounds were falling off. This is to say nothing of the long-term health effects (reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and more) this change of eating would surely have as well. Sure I’d have a craving every now and then but for the most part, I felt fuller and happier than I had felt in quite some time. I looked forward to our one treat meal for the week, it was something to be savored and while still bringing me that same old high…afterwards I’d start to feel some of those after affects from pre-Paleo days.  It was then that I realized, this wasn’t just a 30 day challenge but a true life change. When I began, I wasn’t sure I’d want to trade in the old model but with every day that passed, I was surer and surer this was how we were meant to eat. I felt it from inside.

I started to see that maybe that was my problem all along. Eating better to feel better wasn’t ever motivation enough. It was always about those 10 extra pounds or a dress I needed to wear to a special event. For the first time in my life, I GOT IT. Like really GOT IT. We should honor our bodies because it’s the only outfit we’ll have for a lifetime–and who wants to spend a lifetime feeling like crap when there is so much more out there to relish, gulp up, swirl, slice into?

At the end of our 30 day challenge, not only had the headaches stopped, my energy sky-rocketed and my skin completely cleared up but I had also lost 11 lbs.  I am happy to report that to date I have now lost almost 30 lbs since the start of this whole journey. I went from 155 lbs to 127 lbs. I am slack-jawed to think I am wearing sizes I haven’t worn since high school, let alone before I even got pregnant. My thought was to write this post when I had reached my long-time goal weight of 125 but then I remembered, it’s never been about the pounds, it’s been about the process. The process of learning to feed my body the fuel it needs, savoring new tastes, and feeling better than I ever could’ve imagined. Paleo may not be right for you but it was the exact right thing for me.

Nowadays, we still aim to eat Paleo during the week although now I prep a single breakfast for the whole week, make enough dinner for it to be lunch the following day and I wing snacks (fruit, nuts, beef jerky) to make things more manageable. I use eMeals for menus because they have a Paleo option. While I have aimed to eat organic, local and humane for quite some time when possible, my next goal is to become more serious about eating that way 100% of the time as well as educating myself better about regular practices in the food industry and danger zones like GMO. We still enjoy a treat meal or two on the weekends but as you’d come to learn in the Paleo reads, it takes awhile for gluten and dairy to get out of your system so I have to decide if it’s really worth it. I suppose I could be more hard-core with it but I have found a balance that works well for me and ultimately, that’s what it’s all about.

Here are a few tips if you’re considering Paleo:

1) Do your research. It has to be right for you and your body. Also, if you share with people what you’re doing, you’re going to get some strange looks. Our culture is quite “brainwashed” when it comes to really knowing what’s healthiest so I felt more comfortable not only knowing all the research behind it for myself but also so that I could share with others if they asked.

2) Get a food processor. Saves you loads of time.

3) Make sure you have loads of Tupperware in various shapes and sizes.

4) Be willing to spend some extra time in the kitchen. I spend about an hour a day prepping.

5) BE PREPARED. Prep your food for the next day and have plenty of snacks and back-ups on hand in case you fall behind.

6) Allot for it in your budget–eating fresh isn’t cheap but I would argue it’s 100% worth it.

7) It’s a lot easier to eat out than I thought. Most menus offer salads, fish/chicken and veggies making it a snap.

8) Treat yourself. I enjoy yummies at the occasional party or some dark chocolate or coconut milk ice cream. Most people follow the 80/20 principle unless they physically can’t handle it. For me, I’ve found that dairy has been causing my acne all these years so I have to be careful with that. MAJOR BUMMER.

9) Think about what you CAN have versus what will be a downer for your body. You can enjoy all the fresh fruits, veggies and lean meats that you want. Experiment and have fun with it! I was amazed at how many things you can still enjoy with a few substitutes.

10) Good resources- The Paleo Diet, The Paleo Solution, Everyday Paleo, Paleo Indulgences, Practical Paleo, Mark’s Daily Apple, PaleOMG, eMeals, my Instagram or Facebook pages if you want to see some of the yummy meals I’ve enjoyed.

This has been my soapbox over the last six months so if you have any questions or want to know more, I’m happy to share. Just ask!

{My Addiction Hits An All Time Low}

Paleo has changed my life. No lie. Before you think this is another one of my overly dramatized rants, hear me out.

If I’m blessed enough to call you friend, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat. Cheese, pasta, fries, bread*, chips, steak, cheeseburgers, potatoes, giant turkey sandwiches, nachos…I could go on and on but in the event you skipped breakfast and you’re so hungry your stomach is eating itself,  I’ll do you a favor and stop there. The point is, I treated my diet like a wild free for all weekend in Vegas but without the spike strip of  a Monday morning to bring it to a screeching halt–no limits, all of the guilt and I preferred not to talk about it after it happened. One time, to satisfy a (birthday) craving, I actually went to Burger King for the burger, Wendy’s for the Frosty and McDonald’s for the fries–who does that?!

Now while I did take better care of myself when I was pregs (because it was about somebody else and as you’ll hear, a wake-up call about how I too often put myself last) I had spent the last fifteen years of my life feeling (and looking) quite unhealthy. I lacked any semblance of balance and had gained and lost the same 20 lbs over and over and over. The results of my addiction had manifested itself as an expanding waistline, fatigue (can you say 2 o’clock crash?), migraines, acne for days, and perhaps the worst symptom of all–a shattered self-image.

So what changed? A hair salon, a Facebook status, and a particularly stressful Christmas. Do you ever (and I hope you do) have those times in your life when you feel like God first whispers to you, then talks, then shouts something into your life? That was Paleo. My beloved girlfriend from high school and hard core Crossfit queen had recently put a call out on Facebook inquiring about the lifestyle and whether or not it was worth it. I followed the post because I, too, was curious about the “caveman diet” but as all hopeless and insecure folk often do, was ready to sit back and watch (and maybe even partake in) the bashing. Surely people would reply saying it was impossible to maintain, completely flavorless and far too strict. Quite the opposite. People raved. And raved. And raved. “But what about baking?” she’d ask, or “What am I supposed to put in my coffee?” I watched as my disdain for yet another “diet” began to unravel.

Later that week I was getting my hair done at a new salon. The stylist, out of nowhere starts telling me about how she’s been feeling so great because of…you guessed it…Paleo. She rattled off a bunch of books she’d read, how much more energy she had and how surprised she was at all the options. Poised to thump her down (politely) like the whack-a-mole game, I asked lots of probing questions. “What about rice?”…”Don’t you miss cheese?”…”How do you live without french fries?” Her answers were good.

Score so far. Paleo-2 Lacie-0.

Fast forward a few weeks later. We had family coming to visit for Christmas and wanting to appeal to everyone’s appetite, I headed to the grocery store to stock up for a myriad of tastes. I piled my cart high with everything from gourmet cheeses to Coca Cola. Then, for Christmas dinner I bought a huge family size Stouffers lasagna because lasagna was a tradition we started when KP and I moved out here on our own several years ago. It’s easy peasy convenient (no need to climb out of your pile of presents to cook for hours and hours), makes for great leftovers (when your curled up on the couch watching movies on the days between Christmas and NYE) and paired with steaming hot french bread*, it can’t be beat. Well, long story short, Christmas didn’t turn out exactly like we had planned. Little boy was very sick with an ear infection and after a trip to Leavenworth, our family ended up getting stuck in Cle Elum on Christmas night. Lasagna (and most of the other food I bought) was a bust.

After everyone had gone home, a dark cloud (not just the Seattle kind) had settled over Chateau Powell.  The presents had been opened, Ken and I were knee deep in the flu, and I had a fridge full of well…crap.  The straw that broke the camel’s back ended up being a particularly filling trip to Qdoba. Now, I don’t mean to blaspheme here–I keep them in business but we were just DONE. We looked at each other on the drive home and I said, “I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t eat like this.”

I hopped online when I got home, reserved some books at the library (it was crucial to me to do my research first) and Ken and I committed to 30 days of clean eating. We put some ground rules into place–we’d allow a treat meal a week and Ken said his coffee creamer was a non-negotiable. We shook hands and agreed if we didn’t feel better and look better at the end of our challenge, we’d drop Paleo like a hot steak queso burrito.

We’d begin the following week.

 |Stay tuned for more on our Paleo adventure|

This blog post is both a recipe (no way in hell am I calling it a how-to because no one should cook how I do) and a confessional.

In case you weren’t already aware…I hate cooking. And it wasn’t until today that I finally realized why. I hate it because I’m completely out of my element in the kitchen. Put me in front of a boardroom and I will give a kickass presentation no problem. Put me in the kitchen and I will fall on my ass because I spilled flour on the hardwood and slipped on it in my UGG slippers. (I actually did this today by the way).

I used to be a dancer for cripes sake and yet for some reason, the kitchen is the one place I have no grace; neither physical (I flicked hot and sharp cookie crumbs into my eye while trying to break the cookie free from the cookie sheet) or emotional ( I can often be heard saying things like, “What the–?? DID I REALLY JUST DO THAT?!” while cooking–and that’s the G-rated version.)

Today, while making cookies I; knocked over the salt and pepper shakers no less than seven times, dropped eggshells into the batter, stirred a spatula full of flour onto my sweatshirt, totally melted–not softened the butter, seared my thumb, substituted marshmallows for chocolate chips which I thought was brill but really was stupid because they literally glued the cookies to the sheet and subsequently caused me to shred 1/2 my batch, ripped the spatula handle out of the spatula head, came thisclose to dumping more flour into my recipe instead of the sugar I was supposed to use, and as I already confessed, slipped on flour I spilled on our hardwoods. And this isn’t even everything. The rest is too painful to bring up again.

So no, I don’t like cooking. Nosireebob. Will that ever change? No. Am I much happier getting yummy take-out and putting it onto beautiful Kate Spade china, yes.

Here are my sad, sad little cookies.

*What the French