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My Paleo overview after the 2 week challenge

Kelly @ The Fit Skool — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:42:06 +0000

After 2 weeks of super clean eating with my Paleo Food Challenge, I felt great. The first 3 to 4 days were tough. I was having trouble getting full because my meals weren’t organized properly. It wasn’t until I started adding in more veggies to my snacks and using a little more oil that I was more satisfied.

Once I got to the 1 week mark, I wasn’t thinking about what I was eating next or what I should grab out of the fridge, it became routine. I found what worked for me and went with it!!

My breakfast typically looked like this… or some variation of this!

I don’t necessarily agree with people that say white potatoes are bad. They are still a whole food, they have lots of potassium (they helped to keep me full!)

I didn’t eat them every day, but the days I just had eggs and veggies I was hungry earlier.

For snacks throughout the day and night, I stuck with fruits, veggies, salads, nuts, almond butter, muffins, plantain chips, smoothies, avocado, and roasted plantains. I did have coconut milk ice cream one night.. it was okayy.

Lunches were the easiest for me.. they always consisted of leftovers from dinner the night before. I love no-brainers.

Come dinner time I was always at a loss of what to eat, there were some days I didn’t want a single veggie!! Those nights ended up being take out like Thai Food, Salads, or from a prepared food place!

I made these zoodles and they are amazing, I will share the recipe with you soon.

I did have some cheat snacks... snacks that I wouldn’t even call a CHEAT. They are healthy to me and foods that help me enjoy life. I have low blood pressure so I craved salt during Paleo and I really wanted these things.

Here are a few!

PEANUT BUTTER seriously come on. It was 2 ingredients Peanuts & Salt.

Popcorn (homemade with popcorn kernels & coconut oil)

Brown Rice (I had a small serving) it just goes with spicy Thai food

Overall, Paleo made me feel better, I was less bloated, I felt good, and I loved that I was making smart choices. My workouts were full of great energy and I felt strong.

It did make me realize that I am a healthy eater and there are other foods I enjoy that are HEALTHY. The first thing I had that wasn’t paleo was a yogurt parfait… it tasted like heaven! I seriously thought I could eat them all day. HAHAH

I decided to keep with Paleo 80/20. I am still going to enjoy the foods that I think are healthy that are not on the Paleo meal plan but I like how I feel right now!

Have you ever followed a meal plan or diet and stuck with it for a lifestyle change??

What kind of foods in your diet are healthy and what are some things you should probably eliminate??

What I ate Wednesday… Week 2 of Paleo

Kelly @ The Fit Skool — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:27:07 +0000

During my second week of Paleo I am feeling great and I feel like I am in a groove where I don’t need to think about my food choices, it has become my second nature. I do miss oats, peanut butter, and yogurt to name a few but since we don’t have yogurt in the fridge I really haven’t thought about it much the last couple of days…

I will definitely be slowly adding them back into my diet once the challenge is over.

i did have a scoop of peanut butter and some home-made popcorn over the weekend but I needed it… my body told me to have it so I am okay with it

Here are my Paleo eats from yesterday

What I ate Wednesday… Week 2 of PaleoBREAKFASTFor breakfast I had pan fried potatoes with sauteed kale & tomatoes with 2 over easy eggs on top, plus some bacon (my breakfast has looked similar to this all week with different veggies but it’s so good and satisfying)MID-MORNING SNACKI had a banana & celery w/ Almond Butter and a Pumpkin Almond Muffinand… before lunch and a plate of Cucumbers & Tomatoes with Sea Salt & Pepper for a morning snack!LUNCH Lunch was leftover PALEO Shepherd’s Pie (the recipe will be coming soon, it is so good and there is a secret ingredient in this recipe)I also had some baby carrots with my lunchAFTERNOON SNACKPlantain Chips with Avocado and an appleDINNERSimple grilled garlic & herb chicken with olive oil , sweet potatoes, broccoli & brussel sprouts.. I went back for seconds (I like simple meals before my workouts)POST BOOT CAMP SNACKRaspberry Smoothie with coconut milk, egg white protein, and berries and a scoop of nut butter on the sideWhat did you eat?? Try taking pictures of what you eat through-out the day, it is a great tool to keep you on track!Check out more WIAW posts at Peas and Crayons blog

Day 4 of Paleo.. and it’s got me thinking

Kelly @ The Fit Skool — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:57:06 +0000

As many of you know already, I have been doing a Paleo challenge since Tuesday, and have also challenged all of you as well. I am very happy with the response and participation I have received from everyone and look forward to hearing from everyone as we continue on with the 2nd week…

WIth that being said, after Boot Camp last night I was able to get some feedback from some of you and it got me thinking! Yesterday, I myself found it hard to get full and at times I was sick of fruits and veggies as snacks. How many more nuts and nut butter should I eat?? I am not sure what I was looking for to feel full, but nothing I ate satisfied me. I started questioning if I was missing something in my diet.

I like following Paleo and it has lots of benefits:

It increases fruit and veggie intake
eliminates all process foods and alcohol
helps you to focus on eating healthy fats & lean meats
it forces me to be creative in the kitchen

BUT I also like some of the stuff that is not on the diet. Things I think are healthy in moderation; yogurt, oatmeal, milk,and peanut butter to name a few.

“Eating everything in moderation” is the philosophy i use in my own life style as well as what I preach to my clients.

So the point of this post is to tell you that if you are participating in the challenge I think you should listen to your body. I learned to listen to my body when I was pregnant and since then I feel like that has helped me to feel satisfied with food & life in general. I don’t normally crave foods, but yesterday I really wanted some granola or oatmeal. I thought to myself why am I not eating this? I am doing this challenge for myself but if my body wants something maybe I should listen to it!

NOW… I am not saying to go eat a bag of potato chips (that is a craving you should fight) but if you are craving dairy, have a yogurt or some milk in your coffee…… just don’t go eat a cheese pizza!

I am continuing to do PALEO until the challenge is over, but I can definitely see myself adding in some things when needed!

Does following the Paleo diet make you crave other foods??

Do you like following the Paleo diet?? I would love to hear your feedback!

Check out more of my food pics for the challenge on Instagram @TheFitSkool

What I ate Wednesday- Paleo edition!

Kelly @ The Fit Skool — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:37:43 +0000

I am bringing to you a What I ate Wednesday post today. (really it’s what I ate yesterday and maybe I should’ve titled it that way!) I was overly pleased with my first day doing the Paleo, I never was overly starving except for after boot camp!

Here are my PALEO Eats!My breakfast started off with some Black coffee. I do like the taste, but I drank way less then I normally do!

I had sauteed spinach and pan fried potatoes in Coconut Oil and topped that with 2 over easy eggs. It was SOO Good, you need to try it.

For mid-morning snack I ate a banana, a homemade Larabar, and some baby carrots! Odd combo but the carrots came a little while later.

Lunch was some leftover grilled chicken with grilled veggies over a spring mix salad with a vinegarette dressing. I also had a baked Sweet Potato with olive oil & salt. Super healthy but filling!

I found myself eating an afternoon snack earlier, I guess I wasn’t really too full from that salad! I didn’t have almond butter so I had an apple with some mixed nuts on the side.

I made a crockpot PALEO Turkey & Bison chili for dinner. I will post the recipe this week. I liked it a lot!

After Boot Camp Marc made some Pan Fried Tostones (plantains lightly fried in coconut oil with sea salt) So sweet and salty!

(Missing from the pics was some plantain chips that I snacked on!!)

That’s it for today!

What did you eat??

For more food posts from WIAW check out Peas and Crayons Blog

PALEO Food Challenge Grocery List

Kelly @ The Fit Skool — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 14:34:59 +0000

Today I am going shopping for the week to get prepared for my PALEO Food Challenge. This list of groceries first shows my protein choices, then my carbs, and lastly my fats.

I am sure I am missing something! Somehow that always happens and I end up running back to the store

Are you in??

GROCERY LIST

o EGGS

o BACON

o LEAN GROUND BEEF & GROUND TURKEY

o CHICKEN

o STEAK

o PORK LOIN

o TUNA

o SALMON

o PEPPERS

o ONIONS

o POTATOES

o SWEET POTATOES

o BROCCOLI

o ASPARAGUS

o CELERY

o BABY SPINACH

o AVOCADOS

o CUCUMBERS

o TOMATOES

o ROMAINNE LETTUCE

o FROZEN STIR FRY MIX

o BANANAS

o APPLES

o ORANGES

o STRAWBERRIES

o ALMOND MILK AND COCONUT MILK

o COCONUT OIL & OLIVE OIL

o NUTS

o ALMOND BUTTER OR SUNFLOWER BUTTER

If you are looking for a couple on-the-go snacks some LARABARS & RXBars are Paleo approved!

I will be posting some meal & snack ideas tomorrow I hope you are having a lovely LABOR DAY weekend!