Monday, May 31, 2010

Will This Really Work?

I feel like I am eating so much food. Will I really lose weight by eating Paleo? Interestingly I feel like at meals I am getting full...and I actually LEFT FOOD on my plate. But even so, I am not really watching my portions and of course am not counting calories so how can I be sure this will work? Ideally, I want my muscle to show, but I still have that weight loss goal in my head. To lose one pound a week I need to cut 500 calories a day and I certainly don't feel like I am doing this, especially when I snack on nuts! I really need to relearn to read my body's hunger signs and to honor them.

Well on a positive note, food today was delicious:) Here are the recipes below adapted from everydaypaleo.com:

EGG MUFFINS

12 eggs whisked well

2 green onion

2 zucchini

3 big handfuls of spinach

1/2 a jar of roasted red and yellow peppers (no liquid)

8 slices of COOKED bacon

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and grease with olive oil two muffin pans. Whisk all your eggs in a big bowl. In a food processor throw in the green onion, zucchini, bacon, and peppers and process until finely chopped but NOT smooth (yuck…). Add this mixture to your eggs. Throw your spinach into the processor and finely chop and also add to your eggs. Mix the egg mixture well and using a 1/4 measuring cup, fill the muffin pans (you’ll be able to make 20-22 cupcakes). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle.

This next recipe called for coconut flour or almond meal, neither of which I had. I saw almond meal at the store-- a whopping one pound bag for $12.00. YIKES. So I opted out, and figure 1/4 cup in a 4 serving meal wouldn't be the worse thing. I did it, I used Panko instead. I think I'll take to the internet to find some cheaper almond meal.

My husband would not stop raving about these!

MEATY Mushrooms (sorry the photo doesn't do the meal justice)

4 BIG Portobello Mushrooms

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 lb ground spicy Italian turkey sausage

3 celery stalks diced

½ green bell pepper diced

½ red bell pepper diced

1 red onion diced

Diced mushroom stems

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp tarragon

6 crushed garlic cloves

Pinch of sea salt

Black pepper to taste

1 egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup coconut flour (or I’m sure almond meal would work just fine too!)

Preheat oven to 400. Use a moist paper towel to gently clean the mushrooms. Remove the stems and set them aside and carefully scoop out the feathery insides of the mushrooms with a spoon. Rub the outsides of the mushrooms with olive oil and place cap down in a large glass baking dish. Dice the bell peppers, onions, celery stalks, and mushroom stems. In a large soup pot brown the sausage and ground beef, add the bell peppers, onions, celery, and mushrooms and cook until the veggies are tender. Move the meat/veggie mixture to a food processor and add all the spices, the egg, olive oil and the coconut flour. Process until the mixture is finely chopped but NOT mushy, it should be chopped fine but still chunky. Scoop mixture into the mushroom caps – make them really full. Spoon any remaining mixture around the mushrooms and cook your stuffed mushrooms in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Day #2 Meal Plan

I am looking forward to today-eating wise:

Breakfast: Egg Muffins with mixed berries
Lunch: Leftover tuna stuffed avocados with an apple
Dinner: Stuffed portobello mushrooms with Kale

More later:)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day #1

I made it through one day, but only with planning. Eating this way is not going to be easy unless I take time to plan meals each week. Eating plain old grilled hamburger and chicken would get old fast so I spent time looking for Paleo meals. A great site is everydaypaleo.com. Yesterday my husband also looked through some recipes to see what he would agree to eat and off we went to Dekalb Farmer's Market. This is no ordinary market folks: It is open year round 9 am to 9 pm and has a huge selection of fresh produce, live seafood, large meat counter, etc. It is the stuff! For $72 we walked out with food for the week. Yes this is more than we usually spend, but well worth it! I was fully equipped to begin today completely Paleo!

I slept in until 9 and went to Crossfit at 11. I made up an old workout that left my hammies (hamstrings) screaming! When I arrived home I found my husband in the kitchen making tuna salad stuffed avocados! He was starving. The dill in the tuna salad made it unique and eating it with an avocado was something I had never thought of, but so easy. My husband did it all and after marveling at how good it was he said, "I would damn near serve this to company." Simple food, simple pleasure:) Below is the recipe adapted from http://everydaypaleo.com. Keep in mind we only each ate 1/2 of an avocado stuffed. Afterwards we split a bowl of strawberries in almond milk.

Tuna Stuffed Avocados

3 ripe avocados

4 cans of tuna packed in water

3 green onions

3 celery stalks

1 palm full of dried dill

1 tbsp garlic powder

fresh ground black pepper to taste

grape tomatoes halved

about 1 cup of Miracle Whip Light

Cut avocados in half lengthwise and remove the stone – leave the peel on. In a large mixing bowl mix together the tuna, celery, onions, and spices. Add the mayo to the tuna, mix well, and scoop onto halved avocados and top with tomatoes.

What a filling meal! Now I know Miracle Whip is not Paleo, but it is all we had and eating full fat mayo with a high fat (good fat) avocado seems like too much fat for one meal. Late that afternoon we decided it was snack time. I had been dying to try everydaypaleo.com's walnut red pepper dip. So naturally I did. We ate it with cut up cucumbers and yellow bell pepper. My husband said it was the best dip he has had in a LONG while.

Walnut Red Pepper Dip -

2 cups walnuts (I accidentally used roasted pecans-- delightful)

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 – 1/4 tsp. salt

1 jar (12 oz.) roasted red peppers – drained

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp. olive oil from pepper jar

2 tsp. lemon juice

In a food processor, pulse walnuts, cumin, and salt until walnuts are finely ground (like the consistency of Hummus). Add peppers, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Whirl until smooth.

That night my husband cooked up a pork tenderloin that had been in the fridge thawing for 3 days. Neither one of us really wanted to eat it, but I was too full to cook, so that was dinner.

After my husband left to go out with some friends, I reverted back to my old ways. No I did not cheat, but the second he left I went scrounging the cupboards for something to snack on. I ended with almonds and walnuts, bites of tuna salad, and couple spoon fulls of dip. I was not necessarily hungry when I took to the cupboards, but I have always had binge tendencies. So while I didn't eat as much as I normally would have (small step), I have got to figure out how to stop these boredom/lonely food rages! Ideas?

My first post!!!

Welcome everyone!

I thought I'd spend my first post letting everyone know why I've decided to 'Go Paleo' and how I plan to do it. I'll be posting recipes, pictures, successes, and failures, so join me as I transform myself into a modern cavewoman!

Few people know this, but I am actually a Registered Dietitian by trade. To most people this means I never touch sweets, know every calorie I eat, and am a beacon of health. However, as any RD will tell you, nobody is perfect, especially dietitians. Dietitians by nature obsess over food. We talk about it, count it, recommend it, and then go home and eat it. For many people this sounds great, but about 6 months after earning my RD license I realized that I was sick of talking about food all of the time when I felt like I couldn't even control it in my own life. I was telling patients what they should be eating, but I was a classic emotional eater: boredom, happiness, sadness, you name it. Everything was an occasion to eat, and I'd always feel guilty afterward. So, I decided then that nutrition was a personal interest, not a professional one and I moved on. After a couple of stints in retail, I finally found my passion as a teacher and am looking forward to the start of fall classes.

Throughout my life I've been into athletics and exercise. I was a two sport athlete in high school (soccer and basketball), took up running in college (ran a 1/2 marathon), and after college trained for a marathon. I used to love running, and prior to training for Grandma's Marathon, it was something I could do every day. However, as luck would have it long distance running isn't compatible with my body. You see, I have ulcerative colitis (an inflamed lining of my colon) and after a 20 mile training run I became ill and had to see my doctor. Long story short, my doctor and I decided that long distance running was not going to work for me. So...I took up walking...and ellipticaling...and lifting weights. I had a routine that I liked, but after awhile I realized I didn't like the results (or lack thereof). Sure, I was putting in the time, but something was missing. So, with much encouragement (read: convincing) from my husband, I finally decided to give Crossfit a try in October of 2009. Let's just say that after 20 minutes of working out I was hooked! Sure, I was sore for a week afterward, but I love the results and the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a workout. Oh...I almost forgot, and Crossfit is where I first learned about the Paleo diet.

With a nutrition background I felt like I knew what to eat: Protein, Carbs, Fat, all in moderation. However, as I Crossfitted, used muscles I didn't know I had, and created new ones, I was having a hard time recovering from workouts. Not to mention that even though I could feel the new muscle, I couldn't see it! It is still buried beneath the flab of my thighs and buttocks! And damn it! I have those muscles, I want to show them off! So, I am going to live what I preach (nutrition), embrace a new lifestyle, and step up to the Paleo challenge!

Food will no longer rule my life, I will eat what is good for my body, I will perform better at my gym, and I will lean out to show off those muscles!

So join me for what I am sure will be an interesting adventure... did I mention I convinced my husband to do it with me:)

Here's to a Paleo lifestyle,
Angie