Part II

I finished my induction diet well over a year ago and since then, I have not been eating paleo...I've hardly even been active. 

I'm the most unhealthy I have ever been in my life, right now. It's incredibly frustrating for me.  I feel like I've lost connection to my body.  Part of the issue stems from a miscarriage I suffered in November.  I was abut 3 month pregnant when I experienced a delayed miscarriage.  I think that subconsciously I am ANGRY with my body--but then again, I have always been in a battle with my body, being angry at it isn't exactly a stretch from the norm.  I'm pretty tired and fed up with this state of things.  I'm the only one that can make these changes for myself.  I know that "dieting" doesn't work.  I know this.  I just feel like I need to do something to jump start getting healthy and prepare myself for a future healthy pregnancy.  I feel like I'm not fully living my life right now.  I actually avoid things because I feel uncomfortable and insecure as myself.  I feel like I need to go back to what worked.  I think I want to do this paleo thing again with a big focus on mindfulness.

MY Rules:

No booze.
No dairy.
No sugar.
No grains.
No fruit-except a bit of berries.
No processed foods.
No starchy roots.

I'm starting officially on March 1st and will do it for 30 days.  At 30 days I'll reintroduce apples and other medium-sweet fruits.  I'll also reintroduce some grains--of the "ancient" variety.  Teff, quinoa, wild rice, amaranth.

I will post "before" pics soon!









  

DAY THIRTY

A big review on the last 30 days and details of my results coming soon. For now, scope the before and afters. I kinda might have cried a bit when I saw these because HOLY MAN...I can see a difference and I feel really awesome about that.

DAY TWENTY EIGHT & NINE

Feeling sick. Stayed home from work. Headachy, bummed out, cold, no energy.

Am I getting sick or is this the way this thing is going to end?

DAY TWENTY SEVEN

Since before I was born, this time of year has been a time when my family goes out to get deer and moose and partridge for eating. We never bought meat at the grocery store--besides the occasional pork product. We would get half a beef from a farmer friend and fill our multiple chest freezers with all kinds of game meat. I grew up in Northwestern Ontario. A tiny village outside of a small town near the Minnesota border. My dad is a logger which means he knows where the best blueberry picking is and where the deer run through the forest.

When I went to university, I remember a professor trying to convince the class that Canada had no real food culture of it's own. I was shocked to hear this. Where I grew up there was a deeply rooted food culture. We had walleye and trout. We had wild saskatoon berries, strawberries, hawberries, highbush cranberries and chokecherries. We had moose roasts! I thought this was Canadian.

I have been lucky to be able to bring back meat from my parents. Each time I visit I fill a suitcase! It's super flavourful and lean meat that I love to cook with. I can't wait to stock up at Christmas.

I still remember the time that I came back from the city a "vegetarian" after my first year away. My dad must have been heartbroken. Good thing it only lasted until Thanksgiving.

My brother in the 80's!

My brother last week.

DAY TWENTY SIX

We are so close! J has amassed a small collection of fancy beer to drink on Friday at midnight. I won't be diving back into that pool so quickly! I'm still sticking to the apple plan. Just an apple to start! Im going to get some raw milk to see how I respond to that. If it works out I'd like to experiment with cheese making! Let's be honest- I miss cheese! I can't believe I've gone almost 30 days without it! I guess I haven't been writing so much about all the things I've been missing. Maybe I didn't miss them so much?

I can't believe it's been twenty six days!

DAY TWENTY FIVE

On Saturday I made soap with pals! J and I had bacon and eggs for breakfast and then he made a speedy escape to the garage. The girls came over at around 9am and we didn't get finished until after 5! It was epic! During the day, we snacked on celery and almond butter and I made up a salad with avocado, leftover roasted chicken from The Big Carrot and some canned salmon that Hannah brought over. It was quick and very tasty.

Crafting is an awesome way to keep busy and not think about all the food I'm not eating. That reminds me...I should probably try to finish that knitting project I started!

Keeping myself busy by going to see bands and hanging with pals has helped so much this month. I think at first I was worried that going out would be too hard. I was worried that I would want to drink or eat something gnarly. I think it's been the opposite and I've realized that those things are not the problem. The problem is when I stay home and eat because I am bored, sad or feeling unfulfilled. It's a nasty habbit that perpetuates itself because when I feel bad about myself, I don't want to go anywhere. I've been feeling really awesome about myself through this whole thing and that has been majorly motivating to go out and do shit. It's also motivating me to keep it going after the challenge is done. I think that's the whole point, right?

RIGHT!

DAY TWENTY FOUR: Working Blues!

This weekend kinda sucked! Work is so busy right now and I had to put in some time on Saturday. I really hate working weekends and I hate having our staff work weekends but it was necessary. I was sad to miss the markets and even more sad not to have the time to make up some deliciously elaborate and photographable meals.

In some ways, being this busy at work is keeping my mind off of the snacking that I would be doing otherwise. I ordered pizza for the team and even though they were super happy with it, I felt bad feeding them so much "non-optimal" food! I don't know what a good alternative would be that would be quick, afforadable and appeal to everyone. What kind of paleo option would you feed 15 hungry people who are on their feet all day?!