foodfavesfun: A Change Will Do You Good.

Over the last 18 months I have managed to move my two person family to a more Paleo or Primal lifestyle. I first read about Paleo October 2012 which is weird because I heard about it at least six months prior and I usually try to check out these new "diets" to see what they are all about.

My first encounter was through co-workers who briefly explained they were only eating natural items like nuts, and vegetables and agave/honey instead of sugar. At least that is what I got from their explanation. During this time I was still trying to eat a low carb/fat or South Beach type of fare. It might be that I was not ready.... OR that I saw them chowing down on processed foods (bags of chips, "natural" packaged cookies) and eating items in general they had told me were not in the "diet". I immediately took this diet as a joke and blew it off. Who wants to diet anyways? Don't get me wrong- over the last ten years or so I have tried and been successful at Weight Watchers, South Beach and Lo Carb in general. I have cut out pasta, then potatoes, then bread; I have been to the gym (mostly) regularly for the last seven years. Because of this I have had a natural progression from the prepackaged food of my college days to completely homemade meals of today.

Today's frozen food were last weeks left overs.

In 2012 one of my girlfriends was losing weight; every time I saw her she looked healthier and healthier. She was positively radiant. When prompted, she briefly mentioned that she was cutting out legumes, sugar, alcohol, dairy and grains. (I am sure I gave her a crazy "O-Kay" look because it sounds like a lot of items, I mean dairy!!!) She followed up with "You know like the Paleo diet?". This was the second time I heard about PALEO so I immediately went home to check it out. I obviously wanted to lose a tiny bit of weight so that was one reason I needed to look into Paleo plus eating on a South Beach like menu was leaving me not satisfied. I found myself straying from what I thought was ideal and feeling like I was "cheating" far too many times. I also started to think "what is the meaning of life with out good food"... sometimes I am so dramatic.

So last October when I ran into this video- it spoke to me OR at least made me do more research.

Throughout this journey I realized that I don't want to diet, I want to have a healthy lifestyle- and what I think that looks like has changed over the years. I am still not a perfect Paleo/Primal eater. It has only been a year people! You can't change your whole lifestyle in one year but I have been working my way there. I am lucky that unlike the majority of people who have switched to this way of eating, I do not have an illness or autoimmune disease (at least that I have noticed). Since I am overall pretty healthy (I know I am lucky!) I do sometimes find it hard to not eat foods my friends or family and the general population of America consume. Eating this way has done several maybe-not-so-noticeable-to-others things for me. I do generally feel better about myself. I have reduced those afternoon cravings/ hunger pains. I don't have to snack, although sometimes I do. I do not all of a sudden get hungry and in the *kill-all-things mode. (Seriously, there was a time when I was like a ticking time bomb and would suddenly get really hungry and grumpy at the same time. Mr. FFF always was a little bit afraid during this time. But this doesn't happen anymore. Thank goodness.) I get to eat real bacon, but try to only do it once a week. I can maintain my weight more easily and not feel deprived.

For me, these things alone are worth the change.

I do still drink (its soo hard to give up craft beer), eat something on the no no list if it is a special occasion IE in a new town, new restaurant, or in general when I really really want too. I also go on little spurts of time when I am very strict just to keep myself accountable and as a reminder why I have aimed to change. Everyday Is a new chance to reinforce my health and fitness goals. Always aiming for a better me! Isn't it great to have goals?