a couple of months ago,
i decided to go paleo / primal for a few weeks
in an effort to try and heal certain issues i've been having with my body
i went in cold turkey
and suffered from some serious "carb flu"
(which i didn't even know existed before!)
but once i got through about a week of that...i actually felt better!
all of a sudden,
i didn't have to eat every 2-3 hours in order to avoid melting down
i didn't go to bed every night with an upset tummy
my energy and blood sugar levels "magically" evened out
my hair got thicker
my skin became less dry
etc
now, i've never been much of a bandwagon jumper,
but i was sold!
i've always eaten pretty well,
but drastically cutting back on grain and sugar
then focusing on eating high quality protein, as many vegetables as i could fit in + healthy fats instead
had made a HUGE difference in my overall well being
but let's be honest, here: i'm not always great at sticking to it
in fact, i tend to be an all or nothing type of person
so in order to help myself not let this new way of eating take over / stress me out,
i aim for the 80/20 rule
which means that i try and stick to it 80% of the time
and not worry about it the rest of the time
(although sometimes, it's more like 50/50 - hah! ...moderation, right? ;) )
at any rate, the toughest part of this whole shift
was coming up with grain free, nutrient dense meal ideas,
especially for breakfast
so i thought i'd share some ideas that worked for me
in case you wanted to give it a try!
(or if you just want some delicious / easy / quick / healthy meal ideas)
**note: having recently spent a lot of time researching meal ideas, i know it can be overwhelming to sort through a sea of recipes, so i decided to split this post into two parts - come by tomorrow for another batch of meal ideas!**
sweet potato hash
shred up sweet potato and fry it up in some bacon grease...i try to avoid constantly stirring so that it gets a bit of that charred flavor to it - delish! serve with a side of high quality protein (free range / local eggs, nitrite free bacon & nitrite free smokies with no mystery ingredients added are some of my favorites)
eggs + veg
sometimes, i stuff my eggs with vegetables, sometimes i just plop them on top of or beside them. if i feel like living it up a bit, i sometimes add a bit of goat brie to my eggs + veg...amaze-balls!
also, this is a great way of using up leftover veggies kicking around in the fridge
paleo shepard's pie
speaking of leftovers, this was one of those "lets throw whatever's in the fridge together" meals that worked out just right: leftover steamed cauliflower + leftover gaps friendly gravy ( both from our thanksgiving menu) + leftover seasoned grass-fed ground beef (from taco night). just heat and mix everything together for a delicious shepard's pie-ish bowl of comfort
breakfast bowl
this one was inspired by my sister's favorite breakfast, except i subbed out the hash brown base she usually uses with cubed and pan fried acorn squash. add some eggs, chopped green onions, plus a sprinkling of mozz and you are set! oh, and s+p, to taste
i decided to go paleo / primal for a few weeks
in an effort to try and heal certain issues i've been having with my body
i went in cold turkey
and suffered from some serious "carb flu"
(which i didn't even know existed before!)
but once i got through about a week of that...i actually felt better!
all of a sudden,
i didn't have to eat every 2-3 hours in order to avoid melting down
i didn't go to bed every night with an upset tummy
my energy and blood sugar levels "magically" evened out
my hair got thicker
my skin became less dry
etc
now, i've never been much of a bandwagon jumper,
but i was sold!
i've always eaten pretty well,
but drastically cutting back on grain and sugar
then focusing on eating high quality protein, as many vegetables as i could fit in + healthy fats instead
had made a HUGE difference in my overall well being
but let's be honest, here: i'm not always great at sticking to it
in fact, i tend to be an all or nothing type of person
so in order to help myself not let this new way of eating take over / stress me out,
i aim for the 80/20 rule
which means that i try and stick to it 80% of the time
and not worry about it the rest of the time
(although sometimes, it's more like 50/50 - hah! ...moderation, right? ;) )
at any rate, the toughest part of this whole shift
was coming up with grain free, nutrient dense meal ideas,
especially for breakfast
so i thought i'd share some ideas that worked for me
in case you wanted to give it a try!
(or if you just want some delicious / easy / quick / healthy meal ideas)
**note: having recently spent a lot of time researching meal ideas, i know it can be overwhelming to sort through a sea of recipes, so i decided to split this post into two parts - come by tomorrow for another batch of meal ideas!**
sweet potato hash
shred up sweet potato and fry it up in some bacon grease...i try to avoid constantly stirring so that it gets a bit of that charred flavor to it - delish! serve with a side of high quality protein (free range / local eggs, nitrite free bacon & nitrite free smokies with no mystery ingredients added are some of my favorites)
eggs + veg
sometimes, i stuff my eggs with vegetables, sometimes i just plop them on top of or beside them. if i feel like living it up a bit, i sometimes add a bit of goat brie to my eggs + veg...amaze-balls!
also, this is a great way of using up leftover veggies kicking around in the fridge
paleo shepard's pie
speaking of leftovers, this was one of those "lets throw whatever's in the fridge together" meals that worked out just right: leftover steamed cauliflower + leftover gaps friendly gravy ( both from our thanksgiving menu) + leftover seasoned grass-fed ground beef (from taco night). just heat and mix everything together for a delicious shepard's pie-ish bowl of comfort
breakfast bowl
this one was inspired by my sister's favorite breakfast, except i subbed out the hash brown base she usually uses with cubed and pan fried acorn squash. add some eggs, chopped green onions, plus a sprinkling of mozz and you are set! oh, and s+p, to taste
enjoy!
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