Update: Paleo Results

I have been officially starving eating Paleo for 2 weeks and guess what?  I am not starving,  I am actually eating a ton, making sure I'm getting enough calories for the nursling baby and all.  Mr. Pilot and I make passing jokes about starving, but we really aren't.  We are awaking new taste buds and learning to appreciate food.

I was doing fine, even though I had to bring my own food for our Wednesday night Bible study meal. I love potlucks.  Not as much here as in Mississippi, they sure know how to cook down south, but I digress.  I wasn't really missing food. At least not until I went to the farmer's market last night to pick up some grass feed beef and some veggies.  That is where I smelled the jalapeño cheddar twisty bread that I bought every week last year. That would taste really, really good right now. Scrumdillioumptious. And Boy smelled the carmel kettle corn.  He mumbled "6 months" and I reminded him it might be forever for me.  Ah, but it's worth it.

I had some super crazy stomach aches every day for the entire first week on Paleo.  I am not sure what it was caused by, but it made me scared to eat. At first I thought it was the ridiculously expensive almond flour, but I ruled that out.  Then I thought it was the Cod Liver Oil, ruled that out, too.  I next thought it might be the bovine adrenals, or the Green Tea extract? No...Blackberries, ? Maybe Paleo Flu, or a yeast die off? I don't know, but I was sweating! Seriously killer stomach aches every single day.  I was avoiding different things each day, keeping a list while doubled over... Thankfully I have been great for the last few days, I assume my body was adjusting to the new diet, and whatever nasty bugs were living in my gut were crying out.

I am not going to deny this has been challenging, primarily it is expensive.  Grass feed meat cost.  I have NINE people to feed.
My children are "hunry, hunry, hunry Mamma!"  I am having to pull snacks out left and right.

But the difficulty has mostly been emotional.  I tend to panic when I don't know what to make for dinner.  And I get food bored easily.  Anyone want to buy me a Paleo Cookbook?

~On to the Fantastic~

Some great things we have noticed:

We have been having lots of yummy snacks (Sis)
We have been having lots of yummy desserts (Sis)  (recipe ideas that I have tried to follow)

~Heightened Taste-

Boy remarked the other night that raspberries taste like candy now. (that explains the raspberry stains on the floor and the blue teeth, ha.)  We found some wild bushes and have several freezer bags full now, free food is extremely yummy!
Fast food looks disgusting.  Dad even had an emergency day (that means I didn't make him lunch) and he chose on his own accord to eat oatmeal instead of a cheesy-bacon drippy gross thing. Yes, fast food looks disgusting!

~We are trying things that we never would have before~

There a slew of recipes (at least a list of ingredients) to follow, but wow!
I never knew I liked butternut squash.
And we all like Pollock! I have made fish 3 times in the last two weeks.  That equals three times in the last 13 years.  (Once, my mom made some for us when she was visiting and I am not counting that because I didn't eat it.)

I haven't needed a nap.  At all.  I am still wide awake at 10 am and at 2 pm when 2 weeks ago I had to be scraped off the couch with a cup of extra strong coffee to drag my feet around.  (that was one reason I went to the doc.)

Oh, and I haven't had any coffee.  I thought that was going to be a killer for me.  I haven't even missed it.  When I realized I didn't have enough grocery money left for coffee for Mr. Pilot, he said no worries, just make the tea that we have.  What? Crazy!

~Reduced Cravings~

I no longer wake up looking for cookies at 2 am (my family has lovingly called me the cookie monster for years) and I haven't even missed my potato chips!
Mr. Pilot hasn't even had his chocolate-before-bed treat.  I really need to do this diet, but he does not.  I am so thankful for him sticking through this with me!

I have lost 10 lbs.  By doing nothing.  I actually can't exercise right now, doctors orders. That is because my system is so messed up that if I exercise, my body thinks I am running from a bear and stops metabolizing and starts panicking instead.  Nice, huh? I was discouraged about that. Who likes flopping around when you are used to being 30 lbs lighter?!

At least now I know why I have been hanging onto some extra weight for a few years and exercising wasn't helping. Right??

I thought my clothes were fitting a little different the other day and then I saw my friend Lacy's comment to my first Paleo post.  I hadn't even considered loosing weight, didn't really care about that actually, but imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale two weeks since my last time.  Crazy!  I got a little snicker across my face.  Who needs grains anyway, lol.

~Not "Eating" of this World~

No, seriously, If you know me well, you know that I already ate really, really healthily according to the Standard American Diet (SAD)

but obviously, my body was still being tore up by the 10% of junk I was eating.  I can't even imagine what my health would look like if I was eating SAD.   No wonder America is Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead!

This is the Paleo Pyramid:

Yum!


So far, I am in it for the long haul.  I know full well the Lord has already chosen what day I will go to glory.  I cannot add a single moment to my life.  But I have the responsibility to do well with what I have been given, and I have the choice to use what I have been given well. I often fail miserably.  I am so thankful for His mercy and grace.