100 Things Not To Do When Eating Paleo #4 – High Fat Is Not The Answer For Everyone!

I don’t know about you, but if I eat more fat in a meal than carbs I don’t feel very good!  I tried for a very long time to eat what I thought was the “paleo” way.  Sure, while there is no one size fits all the majority of what you read about is people eating lots of meat and fat.  I don’t see many posting about the banana smoothie they had for breakfast with a sweet potato and turkey, but rather the eggs/bacon/grease/nuts combo that makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it!

Give me an almond flour baked good and I am asleep – seriously!  I feel better eating high quality ice cream once in a great while due to the sugar/carb content.  I just can’t handle all the fat without the carbs.  I guess it keeps me straight and narrow on paleo since I can’t make all of the baked goods, but that’s ok as I feel good about what I eat and don’t often want to eat anything else anymore…

I have done a lot of research on paleo and have read a ton of different blogs and  message centers trying to figure out why I didn’t feel good on paleo in the past.  I know that once people go downhill as I did they start displaying hypothyroid symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, etc.  Many at this point turn to grains – I have not.  I believe at this point that the best way to heal the adrenals is through nutrition, not carbs.  This includes many raw foods, as well as tubers to supplement at each meal.  I don’t limit my sweet potatoes, nor do I not eat bananas because of the sugar content.  In fact, I thrive on these foods!  I like this variety and feel and look great.  Why would I want to go through life worrying about the starch or sugar levels of foods.  Life is too short, and I already eat great anyway – what a waste of time!

When I tell people I eat paleo, they think oh – you are eating a low carb diet, or you really eat all meat!?  I say, “No, but I have tried it in the past.”  I really don’t like eating tons a meat, and when I eat a lot of fat it makes me sluggish. Contrary to what may be, I enjoy eating carbs and I feel lean and healthy with all the fresh foods I eat.

All in all I have found that a plant based diet works best for me and maybe not everyone will consider this paleo, but I think it is time for the paleo world to embrace this way of eating more as I think a lot of people are finding this out.  I don’t even like to say I eat paleo because of the reputation.  I just say I don’t eat grains/sugar/dairy- unless raw.  I think there is a middle ground for everything and I sure feel best standing on it even if I am in the minority.  I have always liked being different anyway!

Which leads me to my next post where I focus healing from a high meat/fat diet – “Any Lifestyle Of Eating Where You Severely Limit Any Macronutrient Can Not Be The Healthiest.”

100 Things Not To Do When Eating Paleo #3 – Every time you eat something and you don’t feel well, don’t blame it on one particular food!

I got into the trap of thinking every other food I ate was giving me trouble.  First I thought meat was a problem, then I took out nightshades, then I cut down on my fruit after reading a blog on fructose intolerance which pretty much left me with very few foods.

Since I wasn’t feeling well I was trying to find the culprit food that I could take out of my diet and would magically make me feel better.  Well, it doesn’t work like that…

The problem with trying to guess which foods cause you issues is that you can have effects from a food for up to 72 hours after you eat it making it almost impossible to tell exactly which one is causing you issues unless you go off of it for a while and then reintroduce that particular food.

I guess I was just reaching for straws trying to find anything I could that would make me feel better.  However, in return all I did was make myself crazy obsessing over what I ate and even more sick as my diet was way too rich in meat at that point.

All in all, if you are not feeling well it is likely that not one or two particular foods is causing you problems, but rather your macronutrient ratios are off for your particular body’s needs.

Which leads into my next post “High fat is not the answer for everyone.”

100 Things Not To Do When Eating Paleo #2 – Don’t Try To Outsmart Yourself!

How many times do you think that you know more than your mind.  We think we are SO smart (I know I do!) and know what is best for us instead of just listening to our bodies.  When we eat the right foods, our bodies will tell us what we need.  I tend to forget this often and keep running into the same problems with my paleo eating.

I might go through a week with about a two hour span max of feeling good-amazing, and then it will bother me for hours on end on why during that particular time I felt good, and then didn’t feel good again.  The biggest takeaway here is that maybe I was on the way up and on to more times of feeling good than bad, but I have to try to outsmart my body and over-analyze and stress about why it didn’t last, which in the end results in another downturn of my health as stress is never good.  Our bodies will heal if we let them, stop stressing, and eat the right foods.

I have been through the same vicious cycle many times…  I always think I know what I need, and more than 90% of the time I am wrong.  Maybe if I would just relax more, stress less about what I am eating because no one should feel bad with the high quality whole foods diet we are all on, and stop over-analyzing everything I eat and how I feel after each meal and thinking – maybe it was this food or that food that makes me feel this way.  If you are doing this – just stop!  You are probably stressing yourself out and making yourself feel worse than any one food would actually do when you eat such high quality foods in the first place!

Which leads into my next post – “Every time you eat something and you don’t feel well, don’t blame it on one particular food!”

Having my life turned upside down when my 2 daughters Mia and Breanna were diagnosed with 12 and 28 different food intolerances, respectively, was probably a blessing in disguise because it changed our diet to paleo and helped them to get better – for a while…  However, it was also the one thing that stressed me to the max and got us into a low carb cycle for too long that hurt all of our health. The only thing that is going to get me back now is listening to my body, and focusing on starch at all of my meals…I think.

So, please stop stressing, and comment below and maybe we can help each other because I still struggle with  this.  If you are going through something similar to myself – 1. Keep reading all of the posts to come to see if you can learn more and relate to me, and 2. Stop worrying about why you are feeling bad and instead focus on how to feel good!

100 Things Not To Do When Eating Paleo #1 – Don’t Be Afraid Of Carbs

I have been gone for a while because frankly my health on paleo has been up, down, and all over the place.  I never know how I am going to feel at any point on any given day and am so frustrated that I am hoping by recording my thoughts I will come to some conclusion on what works for me.

I titled this blog, “100 Things Not To Do When Eating Paleo” because I think I have done about that many things wrong over the past 18 months.  My family started eating this way due to numerous food intolerances, and in the end we are still where we were a year and a half ago.  The most frustrating part is that we have all tried so hard, but just can’t quite fit all of the pieces together.

In no particular order I have decided to start going through all of the ways we have messed up on this paleo journey in the hopes that many of you don’t fall into the same traps we have.

Problem # 1 – You know you have issues eating paleo when you feel better after you go out to a restaurant for gluten free mexican or pizza than you do eating high quality food in your own home.

Solution – Eat more carbs!

Anyone else feel this way?  Hopefully not!!!   Don’t fall into the trap of going low carb and being one of those people that don’t feel amazing all the time and then keep going just because you feel you are “supposed to” on the paleo diet based on what you have read…Which takes me onto to my next post…

Stay tuned for “Don’t Try To Outsmart Yourself!”

Spaghetti Squash Meatzza

Here is one of our favorite dishes these days – breakfast, lunch, dinner it works for any meal!

Crust:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
Italian seasoning

Mix together (reserve 1/4 lb for topping) and press into bottom of casserole dish.  Bake 375 for 15-20 minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti squash and scrape the noodles into a bowl.  Mix with onion and oregano.  Drizzle with olive oil.  When the crust is baked, remove from oven and top with spaghetti squash mixture.  Top with 1/4 cooked hamburger.  Broil until desired doneness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top with fresh basil and enjoy!

Quick Peek!

Here is a quick snapshot of my breakfast pie – sooooooooooo good.  I am making a bunch more for lunch tomorrow during the move, so more pics and recipe to follow.  It has been an exhausting day – ready for the big house move this weekend!  Goodnight!

Bites and Casserole

Well, I know I am supposed to be away for the moment but I was up early today with a little extra time before the kids and thought I would post some quick pictures of my experimenting lately.

The paleo challenge can get quite repetitive with only meat and limited veggies due to cutting out nightshades among others because of possible digestive track irritation, so I got creative and put some more exciting dinners together with the allowed ingredients.

These are my patty pan squash turkey basil bites – I just browned the patty pan slices, and topped with olive oil, fresh basil and cooked turkey pieces and put them under the broiler – yumm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we have my modified zucchini casserole – I cut up zucchini strips like lasagna noodles and layered with cooked chicken, spices and fresh herbs, green onion, and olive oil – once again it was a great change of pace from stir fries.  The chicken got so crispy from the broiler that it almost tasted like bread crumbs on top!

 

 

 

 

 

So, if you on the extremely strict paleo challenge without tomatoes, eggs, nightshades and the likes, get creative as it makes the whole experience even more fun.

This morning I am making a breakfast pie (without eggs of course) and will post the results tomorrow – I am very excited and know it is going to taste great!  Off to cook!