So I am into week 3 of the "challenge" and still really enjoying it - I look at food and nutrition in a whole new light.
Active Life Conditioning is having its annual Holiday Challenge - basically to get people thinking about the holiday season and being responsible and this years focus is on food and eating healthy and making healthy choices. check out the blog for some great recipes and tips. My girlfriend Lesley put together some great tips to help get started.
Top 10 Tips for moving to a Paleo Type Lifestyle:
1.
Don’t be too hard on
yourself. Some paleo purists make this about perfection but we are not perfect.
You will eat something you should not but will learn over time. Making
incremental changes in my health was more important than no change at all.
2.
I have a family who is
not Paleo so getting rid of everything in the house that was a temptation for me
was not realistic. We just moved it into one cupboard that I still don’t go in
to. We also moved the cold/frozen stuff to the basement fridge. It took some
willpower at first but as you transition the sugars out of your body, you will
care less about those foods. REALLY…you will…
3.
PLAN your meals! Invest
one hour each week in yourself. Sit down and plan what you are going eat for
every meal and every snack. I use a large calendar on my fridge to mark in my
meals and the meals my family will eat. My meal is always a variation of what
they are having with some modifications.
4.
While you are meal
planning, create your grocery list so that you have the foods you need for your
menu. I decide what I am going to eat and if it is a recipe, I look up the
recipe and then mark down on my grocery list what I need. If it is not a
recipe, I still ensure that I will have all the parts of the meal in the house.
5.
NEVER RUN OUT OF
FOOD!!! Always know what you are going to eat especially on the run. For
example: When you make dinner, make enough for your lunch the next day. When
you cook meat, cook it all and then freeze! For example: I buy a flat of
chicken breasts every week and cook them all on Sunday night. I spice each of
them up a little differently for variety. I buy 18 eggs every week and hard
boil one half for a grab and go snack. We use the rest for regular meals.
6.
Forget the traditional
notion of what breakfast should look like. Cereal and toast are no longer
options so that leaves eggs which if eaten everyday can get a bit tired. Branch
out and consider chicken salad, full of chopped veggies and home-made mayo. I
also love canned tuna in a lettuce wrap.
7.
Coconut is your new
friend. Coconut water, coconut milk, shredded coconut, coconut oil…all of it
should be used in the unsweetened version. Coconut water with no pulp is a
refreshing drink served over ice. Coconut milk is a great thickener for soups
and stews. Shredded coconut is delicious sprinkled on a bowl of chopped up
fruit (or go buy the dates rolled in coconut from Bulk Barn…yummo!) Coconut oil
is a great oil to cook with.
8.
Nuts & seeds are
good for you…despite what you have been taught about them being high calorie,
high fat. It is about portion size! Buy some high quality, unsalted mixed nuts
(make sure there are no peanuts in it…peanuts are legumes!). Buy an extra set
of measuring cups from the dollar store and just leave the 1/3 cup in the bag
or container of nuts so you can easily measure out the appropriate portion
size. I limit myself to no more than 1/3 cup per day so doing this ensures I
don’t eat too much!
9.
I buy all my veggies
for the week on Sunday. (Your veggie list will probably triple. For example one
week for my family of 3 looks like this: 3 english cukes, 1lb bag of carrots
(the big kind…they taste better, trust me), 3 containers of cherry tomatoes, 6
peppers (two of each colour but not orange), a whole head of cauliflower.) Then
I take half of what I buy when I get home and I chop it all up and put it in a
big container so I can easily munch away and so I can easily dump it into
smaller containers for my lunch. I also cook a whole spaghetti squash on Sunday
so it is an easy side for dinner throughout the week. Half way thru the week, I
chop the rest of the veggies and refill my container.
10.
Move your body
vigorously every single day for at least 30 minutes! (and don’t forget to drink
water…lots of it!) - this one really fits with what I have tried to achieve this year (almost a whole year - 38 days to go!!!)
Here is what I have been up to this week!
Monday Day 324 - a little tired this morning and slept through my morning workout at Active Life so had to fit in a run during Kade's hockey practise. A great 5 km run.
Tuesday Day 325 - got out of bed early this morning and made it to Active Life for a fabulous workout. We had the pleasure of having dinner with Sue and Lari - friends here from Australia on a teacher exchange - a great night - not a paleo menu but I really enjoyed myself and did not feel guilty for enjoying myself - right back to it the next day!
Wednesday Day 326 - got in a 5km run late in the day
Thursday Day 327 - Active Life workout
Friday Day 328 - got out of bed early again today - although it was hard today - Lorraine was waiting for me so I had to get up - our 5 km run was hard on the legs but the temperature was so nice that I continued on and walked for another half an hour.
Krystin
get active NOW!
