Today marks one month since our family made the switch to a Paleo lifestyle and I am happy to say that for the most part, the last 30 days have been so much easier than I thought that they would be! There have been a few bumps in the road to be sure, but they were small and infrequent. I am so proud of my whole family for being so willing to try this, and am really excited that we are already seeing the huge benefits of a grain, dairy and sugar free diet.
Before we started eating like this, both Matthew and I had a host of problems that we never would have attributed to our diet. Since I had a sinus surgery to remove a cyst (the first of two) in spring of 2009, I have continually had pain and swelling in my left sinuses. At times it was so sore and swollen that it felt like I had a big marble jammed up there. It hurt! I have also had problems with my lungs for the last 6 months or so. One doctor I saw was convinced that I had suddenly developed asthma, and I was having such bad coughing episodes that I was put on two different types of inhalers. The asthma diagnosis never quite added up to me, so I pursued additional testing and a couple months later it was decided conclusively that I did NOT have asthma. So while I still struggled with the symptoms, I stopped taking the medicine because, yuck. I don't want to breath in steroids if I don't have to! Bloating and stomach pain rounded out my list of complaints and Matthew had a similar list of his own. He has been struggling with the pain and discomfort of IBS type symptoms for years, even though we have cut out all the offenders that everyone tells you causes it - dairy, greasy food, onions, and spices in an effort to help him feel better, nothing ever worked.
Within 2 weeks of eating Paleo, every single one of the ailments above are totally gone for both of us! Its been AMAZING! I have no bloating, my sinuses haven't given me a second of pain, and my asthma symptoms have totally and completely disappeared. As have Matthews IBS problems, which is absolutely mind blowing to me. All these years that he has been suffering, and he could have avoided it all by not eating grains and refined sugar (he has been dairy free for years). I never in a million years would have said that our diet was the cause of any of these things, but the evidence speaks for itself. It really is shocking how the body reacts to those toxins (yes, grains and sugar are toxins to your body!), and how fast it can begin to heal itself once you remove them from your diet. I am even finding that my skin, which has been horribly plagued with acne since I was 14, has started to clear up. That was a completely unexpected, but very welcome bonus. Finally, I may manage to have skin like a 33 year old, instead of a 16 year old!
The kids have been doing really well too. They didn't eat a lot of sugar laden food before, no pop tarts or sugary cereal for breakfast, no lunchables or chips and candy for lunch. But they did eat a lot of grains in a day. Starting with toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, spaghetti with dinner...it all added up. So that has been the biggest change to their diet, and it has been a little rough for them both. The first week Rowan had a couple of absolutely terrible meltdowns, literally screaming and crying because she wanted to have a cheese quesadilla. Killian had a few moments of crankiness too, although I cant remember what food was his trigger. Matthew is mourning the loss of beer, and I have surprised myself by really not missing that much. I thought for sure Smartfood, that delicious cheesy popcorn snack, would be on my mind, if not "everything" bagels and jelly beans. I do think of them occasionally, but its brief and the thought is gone almost as soon as it comes.
The downsides of a Paleo diet? DISHES! When you cook 3 meals a day for a family of four, plus snacks, all from scratch, you use a LOT of dishes. I think I run a full load at least twice a day. We also spend more on food. We are up to 5+ dozen eggs a week now, which means we spend about $100 a month on eggs alone. We found an amazing source for free range, corn and soy free eggs though, so I would definitely pay more for them if I had to (but don't tell our farmer that!). They are delicious, and the cornerstone of our breakfasts and snacks. We already bought mostly organic veggies, but we are buying more, so that adds up. We are blazing through the 1/2 cow we got in the late fall, so we are going to buy a whole cow this year, as well as a pig and hopefully, a lamb. We go through a lot of grass fed meat these days! Neither Matthew or I eat dairy, and the kids mostly eat just yogurt and cheese, so we are spending about $80 less a month on raw milk. Those savings are eaten up by the higher cost of ingredients (almond and coconut flour for baking are super expensive) and of course, the increase in eggs that we buy. There is no social downside - we have some amazing and wonderfully supportive friends who eat Paleo, and the ones who don't still don't have a problem with it because you can make some seriously delicious Paleo friendly foods. In fact, I think that has been one of the best parts about this change - we are having so much fun in the kitchen! I used to think of cooking dinner every night as a necessary evil, but I have found lately that I have found a new love for cooking because we are trying so many new foods and recipes. Who knew there were so many veggies that we had never even considered before!?
And saving the best for last....a side effect of eating real, whole, unprocessed, grain, dairy, and sugar free food is that we are losing weight. A bunch of it! Just in the last 4 weeks, I have lost 16 pounds and Matthew has dropped a staggering 20 pounds. By doing nothing other than changing the foods we eat! Neither of us is working out, or changing our activity level at all (though that will come shortly). Its all food! I am so happy for our family to be on this journey, and so excited to see where it will take us in the coming months. I know for sure we will be happier and healthier than ever before. I know without a doubt that this is the very best thing we can be doing to keep ourselves healthy, and to start our kids out on the right path towards being healthy and happy adults. I saw this picture the other day, and it resonates with me on so many levels. After so many years of eating garbage food and seeing and feeling the negative results, I am ready to use food to heal instead of hurt.
Before we started eating like this, both Matthew and I had a host of problems that we never would have attributed to our diet. Since I had a sinus surgery to remove a cyst (the first of two) in spring of 2009, I have continually had pain and swelling in my left sinuses. At times it was so sore and swollen that it felt like I had a big marble jammed up there. It hurt! I have also had problems with my lungs for the last 6 months or so. One doctor I saw was convinced that I had suddenly developed asthma, and I was having such bad coughing episodes that I was put on two different types of inhalers. The asthma diagnosis never quite added up to me, so I pursued additional testing and a couple months later it was decided conclusively that I did NOT have asthma. So while I still struggled with the symptoms, I stopped taking the medicine because, yuck. I don't want to breath in steroids if I don't have to! Bloating and stomach pain rounded out my list of complaints and Matthew had a similar list of his own. He has been struggling with the pain and discomfort of IBS type symptoms for years, even though we have cut out all the offenders that everyone tells you causes it - dairy, greasy food, onions, and spices in an effort to help him feel better, nothing ever worked.
Within 2 weeks of eating Paleo, every single one of the ailments above are totally gone for both of us! Its been AMAZING! I have no bloating, my sinuses haven't given me a second of pain, and my asthma symptoms have totally and completely disappeared. As have Matthews IBS problems, which is absolutely mind blowing to me. All these years that he has been suffering, and he could have avoided it all by not eating grains and refined sugar (he has been dairy free for years). I never in a million years would have said that our diet was the cause of any of these things, but the evidence speaks for itself. It really is shocking how the body reacts to those toxins (yes, grains and sugar are toxins to your body!), and how fast it can begin to heal itself once you remove them from your diet. I am even finding that my skin, which has been horribly plagued with acne since I was 14, has started to clear up. That was a completely unexpected, but very welcome bonus. Finally, I may manage to have skin like a 33 year old, instead of a 16 year old!
The kids have been doing really well too. They didn't eat a lot of sugar laden food before, no pop tarts or sugary cereal for breakfast, no lunchables or chips and candy for lunch. But they did eat a lot of grains in a day. Starting with toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, spaghetti with dinner...it all added up. So that has been the biggest change to their diet, and it has been a little rough for them both. The first week Rowan had a couple of absolutely terrible meltdowns, literally screaming and crying because she wanted to have a cheese quesadilla. Killian had a few moments of crankiness too, although I cant remember what food was his trigger. Matthew is mourning the loss of beer, and I have surprised myself by really not missing that much. I thought for sure Smartfood, that delicious cheesy popcorn snack, would be on my mind, if not "everything" bagels and jelly beans. I do think of them occasionally, but its brief and the thought is gone almost as soon as it comes.
The downsides of a Paleo diet? DISHES! When you cook 3 meals a day for a family of four, plus snacks, all from scratch, you use a LOT of dishes. I think I run a full load at least twice a day. We also spend more on food. We are up to 5+ dozen eggs a week now, which means we spend about $100 a month on eggs alone. We found an amazing source for free range, corn and soy free eggs though, so I would definitely pay more for them if I had to (but don't tell our farmer that!). They are delicious, and the cornerstone of our breakfasts and snacks. We already bought mostly organic veggies, but we are buying more, so that adds up. We are blazing through the 1/2 cow we got in the late fall, so we are going to buy a whole cow this year, as well as a pig and hopefully, a lamb. We go through a lot of grass fed meat these days! Neither Matthew or I eat dairy, and the kids mostly eat just yogurt and cheese, so we are spending about $80 less a month on raw milk. Those savings are eaten up by the higher cost of ingredients (almond and coconut flour for baking are super expensive) and of course, the increase in eggs that we buy. There is no social downside - we have some amazing and wonderfully supportive friends who eat Paleo, and the ones who don't still don't have a problem with it because you can make some seriously delicious Paleo friendly foods. In fact, I think that has been one of the best parts about this change - we are having so much fun in the kitchen! I used to think of cooking dinner every night as a necessary evil, but I have found lately that I have found a new love for cooking because we are trying so many new foods and recipes. Who knew there were so many veggies that we had never even considered before!?
And saving the best for last....a side effect of eating real, whole, unprocessed, grain, dairy, and sugar free food is that we are losing weight. A bunch of it! Just in the last 4 weeks, I have lost 16 pounds and Matthew has dropped a staggering 20 pounds. By doing nothing other than changing the foods we eat! Neither of us is working out, or changing our activity level at all (though that will come shortly). Its all food! I am so happy for our family to be on this journey, and so excited to see where it will take us in the coming months. I know for sure we will be happier and healthier than ever before. I know without a doubt that this is the very best thing we can be doing to keep ourselves healthy, and to start our kids out on the right path towards being healthy and happy adults. I saw this picture the other day, and it resonates with me on so many levels. After so many years of eating garbage food and seeing and feeling the negative results, I am ready to use food to heal instead of hurt.