Life just goes on....

I can't believe I've been away from the blog for so long. But life just has a way of moving on doesn't it. Since I last wrote, I turned 30, got sick, found awesome paleo food blogs and got better! I know, what an exciting life!

Turning 30 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was a mellow day that was spent with the family. Since we were on the strict paleo diet, we really couldn't go anywhere to get food we can have. Which is ok with me since most restaurants serve overpriced versions of what I can make at home. Plus, paleo has been good for the family. We all have more energy, are more alert during the days and don't have the random stomach issues that plagued Jason and I. I do have to say that the most inhibiting factor of paleo is cost. Nut milks and flours are much more expensive than dairy and unfortunately it costs more to eat healthy in the States than to buy processed junk foods. However, I have found out how to cut the costs by making my own nut milks, nut butters and nut flours. That alone has saved us lots of money and the end product was way tastier. I've even found some desserts that we can have that uses fruits as sweeteners. I can have treats again! Like regular desserts though, we only have them sparingly because they still aren't all that great for us. But they are amazing!

The kids have done well with the change and we have started to slowly add food back into our diet to see if we have any adverse reactions. But Jason and I think that we will probably be eating the paleo way from now on. We will probably modify it so it's not as strict, but it's definitely been treating us well.  A lot of my clothes are loose now and my body is definitely shaping up quite nicely.

I'm hoping that all this extra energy will help me out when we run Tough Mudder next week. I can't believe it's only a week away! While I could have trained more for it, I'm pretty confident that I will have lots of fun and make it though unscathed. Well, that's the hope anyways! I'll let you know how it goes next week!

How Paleo is going...

I have to say that Jason and I decided to go on the Paleo Diet to figure out our tummy issues. We put the kids on it too because we wanted to make sure that they don't have any food sensitivities. While there are a lot of iterations of the diet, we decided to go on the strictest one for about 30 days and then slowly reintroduce foods to see if we have any problems. The diet that we decided to go on consists of meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts , seeds and healthy fats. No grains, dairy, processed foods, potatoes, legumes and most oils.

To start with I made a lot of grilled foods and salads with fruit for snacks. But you can only make grilled chicken differently so many times and the family was getting bored after a couple of days. My breaking point was when I thought we couldn't have sweet potatoes and Audrey's breaking point was dairy. She loves her cheese. But after coming to terms with the fact that we could reintroduce stuff in a little while, we were able to handle it. Since then, I did some research and have put sweet potatoes to the diet. I've also stumbled across health-bent and it's been a lifesaver. The recipes are yummy and it took me out of my rut. I have tried her butternut squash lasagna which is delicious! I've even found a brownie recipe that we can have even on our super strict diet! Yea, we can have dessert again!

I have to say that the hardest part is making sure that the kids understand why we are doing this. I took the kids to see a movie today and Aiden was sad that we couldn't have popcorn and a drink when everyone else around us did. Or that we have to bring a special snack with the kids for Sunday School. But it gives us another opportunity to tell them why we are doing it and how God can help them through it and that they should be thankful for what they can eat.  God is definitely using something as simple as a diet and making it something that we can use to glorify Him. Praise God for that opportunity!