The Skinny On Me Week 20: Practically Paleo

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Good morning, loves!

I'm so, so happy to be back in the swing of things and able to post on a proper schedule again. Thanks so much for your patience as I hammered out the details of my life. Again, I promise to be a bit more straight forward with y'all about what is going on as soon as I can.

Secondly, I want to say a very, very big thank you to each and every single one of y'all who took the time out of your busy day to vote for me and my Summertime Succotash Salad for the TODAY show's Home Chef Challenge...because I WON!!!! I won! I won! I won!!!

I absolutely can't believe it, and I'm so incredibly excited. I give full credit to my sister-in-law, Kristi, for giving me the heads up about the contest in the first place as well as all of you for voting for me each and every day. I want y'all to know that it really and truly means the world to me that people would go out of their way to help me win a contest that I'm hoping will help push this blog to the next level!

So, what does winning mean?

It means the Home Chef Challenge winner will be announced on the TODAY show and there will also be a blog post about me on today.com (squeeeee)!

It's not up yet, but I will let you know when it is! I'm hoping that wee bit of exposure will garner new readers and possibly open up big opportunities for me!

*fingers crossed*

Ok...so the Paleo diet...have y'all heard about this "new" diet yet?

Well, it's not really new, it's more of a revamp of the Atkin's Diet or any other low carb/high fat diet out there.

Anywho, I was reading a post on Itty Bits of Balance where Brittany was talking about testing out the waters with the Paleo diet and how she had seen some very positive results. I was intriqued, I started to do a bit of research and found some pretty interesting articles about the benefits of this diet and how it can dramatically change a persons life, health, and appearance.

Ever since I got pregnant and started worrying more and more about my weight, I've really wanted to implement a cleaner eating and healthier lifestyle for myself, my husband, as well as our future children. When I get pregnant again, I don't want to be eating over processed crap and meat and produce overloaded with pesticides and antibiotics and hormones.

I want to be the healthiest I can be when I'm carrying our new little one, so over the past few months I have been slowly implementing all natural & organic foods into our household.

After I read Brittany's post, I really, really wanted to test the Paleo diet out and do our own 30 day challenge.

Now, to those of you who have no idea what the Paleo diet is, the basic theory is to only consume foods eaten by our hunting & gathering ancestors during the Paleolithic period way back when.

Uuuum...yeah...so we are supposed to "eat like a caveman".

Hmmmmm...that idea is a bit proposterous to me.

I mean, have you seen any mammoths or saber toothed tigers roaming around these parts lately? Uh, huh...me neither. So, I'm not really sure how the theory of the diet even makes sense, however, I am absolutely all about the diet & or lifestyle itself.

No processed foods laden with fillers, chemicals you can't pronounce, and high fructose corn syrup.
Only grass or vegetarian fed, cage-free meat, poultry, and fish allowed.
Eat only all natural, pure, raw and organic fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds.
No processed grains, legumes, or peanuts.
No hydrogenated oils and fats.
Eat when you're hungry.
Don't overexercise.
Get plenty of rest & sunshine.
No dairy, sugar or sugar substitutes, or alcohol....

Wait, what?!?

Ok, listen...the first part of that diet sounds absolutely perfect and exactly what I've been searching for, but no diary?!? No sugar substitutes?!? No booze?!?

Let's be real.

That's just not going to happen. Could you imagine SPK with no Sassy Hour?!?

Psssssht...I don't think so.

Buuuuuut...I do think I could totally cut back on those things and only eat them in moderation. That I can do.

For starters, I don't drink cow's milk. Ick. I have never been the girl to have a glass of milk with cookies or with breakfast. Blech. It's just plain gross to me. Especially after one of my ex-boyfriends told me the chocolate milk you bought in the store was made that way to cover up the blood that had made its way into the milk because of the hormones & antibiotics that are squirted into the cow's veins. Oh, vomit. I can't even think about it without retching. So yeah, milk has always been out.

I do use almond milk in my recipes which is totally allowed, so I'm good to go there. Plus, I have no problem cutting back on cheese either. Why? Because good, quality cheese is EX-PEN-SIVE. I love buying quality ingredients, but...sheesh...cheese can break the bank sometimes, so I can definitely pull in the reigns a bit on that, but cut it out completely?!? Not happening.

And last but not least...no alcohol...

*blink, blink*

*a dumbfounded stare on my face*

Ha! As if.

I am willing to compromise here, but let's be realistic. I'm a 31 yr old newlywed with no kids who writes a blog where an entire day is solely dedicated to frou-frou dranks, and I'm supposed to give that up because a cave man wasn't lucky enough to have whipped cream vodka and birthday cake vodka?!?

Riiiiiiiiiight...

So, to compromise, I have decided that I will try my dang-dest to only have two drinks whenever I have them, and I will only use mixers that kinda, sorta fall within the Paleo guidlines.

Caphiche?

Word.

Lastly, if anyone thinks I'm going to give up on my pumpkin spiced coffees with Stevia in the Raw, especially when fall is about to arrive...Ha...you best think again! Those two things will be in my diet forever and ever amen.

The hubs and I have slowly started to implement these rules into our lives, making us follow a "practically Paleo" diet. Today is day 4 for me, and I have cut back majorly on carbs in general and the only processed thing I have eaten are Kashi bars in the morning and Sam Adam's Octoberfest. I woke up with a *KILLER* headache this morning which I was expecting, but I have headaches all the time so I'm pretty much used to it. I'm going to give this diet a full 30 days and see how I feel.

I can't wait to report my results!

Until then I will end today's novel now.

Getting to know you...

Have you ever tried a low carb/high protein diet?

Have you heard of the Paleo diet?

Could you give up booze?