Paleo Failure

I keep eating bad food. Making myself sick. Need to restart Paleo.

1 year and more!

So James turned one....over two months ago. I got busy with stuff and, well, blogging is simply not a priority sometimes. I tend to go in bursts and stops with most things in life so it's not a big surprise my blog has the same output.

Moving along, James. Birthday was Monday, July 30 and we had a party with friends/family the day before. It was fun, exhausting and wonderful. James had a great time despite not napping well that day, however he slept like utter crap that evening due in no small part to the over-stimulation that comes with a party of 30 people. We did a sports theme, had lots of yummy food. We offered James cake and he wanted nothing to do with it. It was quite amusing actually. He got lots of presents: new clothes and toys, some books and a few stuffed animals. The weather was perfect so we had the backyard set-up for everyone. His cousins came and ran amok, chasing the dogs and each other. It was a good time.

Let's see, official stats 30.25in and 27lbs and 19in head. In his first year of life he more than tripled his body weight and grew just under 10in in length. Wowza. His growth has slowed, especially his weight, although he eats like it's his last meal. Now at 14months he is 31in tall. Not sure about weight but I'm guessing it's around 27-30lbs lol. He is starting to grow out of his 18m sized clothes and fitting into the 24m sizes!

He loves to run around, chase the dogs (and help feed them aka throw kibble at them), he loves being outside. I think he'd live out there if I let him. We definitely have to get some winter gear because I think he's going to love the snow. His favorite foods are meat and fruit. He eats some veggies, usually when that's the only thing left on his plate. And talking. Oh the talking. He says quite a few words: dog, that, yea/yes, hi, thank you, mama, dada, socks, ouch, and uh-oh/whoa. He can also sign eat and more, we're working on milk/nurse. He blabbles non-stop, and is always asking what things are with "Eh?". And it amazes me how much he can understand. I asked him to throw something away, he took it right to the garbage can. He is a little sponge!

Things he hates...diaper changes, coming inside, not getting to play on the stairs, and me/Dad leaving. All in all he's a normal toddler and we are so fortunate to have such a happy little monster.

Day 1 - Paleo

My husband has been (mostly) following this "Paleo" diet that seems to be very popular for the past few months. There's no one definitive set of rules, but generally speaking it is no grains, no legumes, heavy on fruits, veggies, fats and fish/meats, and limit processed foods and sugars. The basic premise is that humans evolved eating certain foods and the rise of various issues, especially obesity and autoimmune disorders, is linked to poor diet especially highly processed foods so many Americans eat. If you want a better explanation I suggest a few books: Everyday Paleo, The Paleo Solution, and The Primal Blueprint. Or just google paleo and you'll get tons of message boards, blogs, etc. Different people have different takes on what is/isn't paleo so you will see sometimes conflicting information. We practice no grains, few legumes (green beans, peas and peanut butter are the exceptions we make), and lots of fresh fruits/veggies, a variety of meats and fish, and almost no processed foods or added sugars.

In addition to losing weight, Husband says he's never felt better. While I'm a healthy weight I have spent most of my life dealing with blood sugar issues, specifically reactive hypoglycemia. When I eat a lot of sugar, especially grainy carbs like bread or pasta and of course actual sugar, my blood sugar crashes and I feel terrible. If I don't eat frequently, and lots of animal protein, throughout the day I get shaky hands, foggy-headed, mood swings, and general feeling of malaise. When I limit my grain-based carbs and sugar I don't get that horrible I'm-going-to-die feeling.

While husband has been fairly strict, I've mostly been tinkering around with Paleo, following the rules some days but not others. And this past weekend I went totally off-course and had toast, beer and (gasp!) pizza. Sunday night came and I felt awful. If you read about why grains are off-limits, you will see lots of discussion about "leaky gut" and how grains basically attack our intestines. Without getting too graphic, lets just say my intestines felt attacked. I was extremely bloated and uncomfortable. So I've committed to following a strict paleo diet throughout October. I will see how I feel at the end of the month and go from there.

I plan to post somewhat frequently about how it's going, try to post my weekly meal plans and probably will post some recipes. Oh and I'm working on an update about my kid's birthday and such. He's 14m now so I'm a touch behind lol.

Today I had eggs/bacon for breakfast, along with a few bites of melon. I have some almonds and a banana for my mid-morning snack. Leftover Roast, yellow squash, salad w/ hardboiled egg and avocado, and some fruit (melon and berries) with coconut flakes for dessert. Afternoon snack is an apple with peanut butter. Dinner is apple-shallot pork chops, butternut squash and green beans.