Hello and welcome to week 3 of my Gradual Paleo.
This is going to be the test for me as I am a complete sugar addict. I don’t actually recall a time in the last 12 months where I have gone more than 72 hours without chocolate so this is going to be interesting.
I think it is time the rest of the family moved out as I might be really miserable very soon. Or I might take to it well, only time will tell.
I have calculated and over the last two weeks during Paleo week 1 (no processed foods) and Paleo week 2 (no carbs) I have consumed 2423.50 calories in chocolate and other sweet stuff.
Now average this out and that’s 1211.75 calories per week that I have the potential of saving myself this week.
I will of course, be looking at sugar alternatives as I wean myself off the dreaded sugar and might look for some dark chocolate that is allowed, but even if I do I reckon I will still drop a certain amount of calories per week.
Also this week I am having it to that just one meal per day is not Paleo. But as I only have dairy left to go now to make me totally Paleo, I will probably find that some days will be totally Paleo. I do love my dairy but I don’t feel like it takes over my universe (well not as much as chocolate does) so it will be interesting to see how this week and next week pan out.
Day 1
It is day 1 and I keeping thinking that I have just signed up for at least six weeks without chocolate. Now that is scary and has me thinking about it already.
For breakfast after my morning run with the dog I have a pear. I don’t want to go to the effort of cooking something and a piece of fruit is ideal. Plus Dominic is cooking lunch and this is something I am looking forward to.
For lunch Dominic makes a lovely cottage pie and puts sweet potato mash on top so that it is Paleo friendly. I wash it down with a pear. I seem to think I need sugar from fruit because my body is in shutdown mode, but the truth is I don’t need sugar as much as I think I do.
Sometimes I find that I have sugar out of routine, not because I actually want it!
Then in the evening I have an omelette with salad. I am starting to wonder if my staple food right now is salad. Though I quite like it, though its not as nice as having carbs.
Day 2
I wake up feeling great and its amazing the new energy I have for a life without evil carbs.
I have a bit of green pepper and a hard boiled egg for breakfast and find that this is all I need. I keep seeing plates full of fry ups on Instagram and I just can’t eat that amount first thing in the morning.
Plus I wouldn’t want to have more than one egg as cholesterol is a worrying factor for me.
Then for lunch I make a Ragu with mince, courgettes, carrots, onions and a can of tinned tomatoes. A few spices later and I have a great diet Italian dish. Though I am shocked that I am not bothered that Dominic & Kyle have some white pasta to go with it!
Then in the evening I have a small plate of tuna salad with some non-Paleo treats. Well as I am on my last week with dairy I have a little bit of homemade pate and some cheddar cheese. Now I have not had much dairy these last few days and it’s a surprise how little I actually want it. It’s no longer in my daily diet and I am really not missing it that much.
Plus after a 4.5 pound weight loss last week, it has turned me into a Paleo addict
Day 3
Day 3 and what…..third day without chocolate? What is happening to me? I am actually really not that bothered (well not so far) and I am adjusting to the Paleo lifestyle better than I thought I would.
Because there are some chocolates that are Paleo friendly, I did from the start consider buying them, but I really don’t think I need to!
For dinner I make a chicken and vegetable Thai curry in the slow cooker. It is absolutely delicious and involves a can of coconut milk, carrots, courgettes, butternut squash, chicken breast, garlic, ginger and a few herbs and spices. I am really enjoying these kinds of meals and put the effort into the main meal of the day that way I don’t feel deprived and food is an occasion.
Day 4
Hello day 4 and day 4 is also known as Thursdays and shopping day in our household. What amazes me at the moment is the amount of fruit and vegetables we buy per week and that by the end of the week they have nearly all gone.
We are not big eaters (we have previously followed hypnotic gastric band discs) and to get through this amount in our world is amazing. I wrote the weekly food shop last night and it was all eggs, fruit and veg with a few non-paleo things for Dominic & Kyle.
In regards to meat we buy it monthly from the cash and carry and then portion it up so that we can have a portion of mince, or chicken, or sausages whenever we need them.
Today we have fresh vegetables made into a delicious Spanish Omelette. There are loads of veg in it including onions, broccoli, cauliflower, leek, carrots and then some extra virgin olive oil and a couple of eggs and it is DONE.
In the evening Dominic does me some sliced salad bits and I have them with some pate and cheese. They are lovely and I am enjoying cream cheese and butter while I can still have it.
As from next week I am ditching the dairy.
We have now passed the halfway point this week without sugar. I thought by now that I would be heading for the honey and even buying maple syrup (which I hate but would give me a good sugar hit) but I am not.
Maybe I don’t need chocolate after all?
Day 5
Wow day 5 and my food heaven day. I love Fridays because I can make a lovely homemade supper for when Dominic finishes work late at about 7.30pm.
But first during the day I have a pear late morning as a late breakfast, then for lunch it is an egg salad.
Then in the evening we have tapas. I call it tapas because it is small portions of lots of our favorite meals. For example we have some thinly sliced sausages, some cauliflower sauce in the fondue, cauliflower rice with fish and seafood, some new potato fries and lots of other things.
I sit there and watch the boys tuck into homemade fresh white bread and have a bit of jealously going on, but the sweet potato fries soon cheer me up!
Day 6
I am out with Kyle, Sofia and the puppy this morning for a long country walk. I have slept in this morning so it feels fantastic and so relaxing. We end up doing a 5km power walk and I also have the weight of Sofia in her baby carrier to help me burn even more calories. The views are amazing and its my favorite kind of exercise.
For lunch (when we return) Dominic does a lovely green pepper omelette for me. I made a very high calorie dressing last night that I know I shouldn’t have. But with chocolate now banned it’s the best way for me to get my sugar hit. But looking at how much more calories are in my salads, it wont be staying in my kitchen for long!
In the evening we have a BBQ and I simply don’t feel hungry (which is so not me) and I have just a couple of sausages and a chicken wing. Talk about depressing for a plate of food but because I am having chicken I feel much fuller than I should!
What is worrying me with Paleo (so far) is that I have never been a big eater I have just eaten the wrong things. This means that I am losing the bad things but not replacing them with more good things and I need to work on this. Looking at my calories I am going through less than 600 most days and this scares me. Yet, at the same time I feel fully satisfied!
Day 7
So we are on day 7 and after discovering honey dressings (honey mixed with olive oil and mustard) I am concerned that this dressing is sending my calories up too high. Though only time will tell and I am hoping and wishing for a 1.5 pound weight loss tomorrow as this will bring me into a normal BMI.
Today I have a very weird Sunday dinner. We have leftover fish, sweet potato, salad and a duck to cook. The end result = fish pie (with a sweet potato topping) becomes our side and we have it with salad and a roast duck.
Dominic has a few choice words for me that its not with his super fattening roast potatoes, but we are on a weight loss focus at the moment and I don’t cheat when I follow a diet.
But having said that, our lunch still comes at over 600 calories so with roast potatoes it would put it well over 1000 for just one meal!
I am also on my last day of dairy so I make sure the sauce for my fish pie includes butter and milk, seen as it’s my last time having them.
The Results
We are here and results are in for week 3 of my Gradual Paleo. I thought it would be amazing to get to an ideal weight (BMI of below 25) and all I needed to do to achieve this was to lose 1.5 pounds (0.7 kilos) so when I jump on the Wii Fit and it says I have lost 1.9 kilos I am shocked.
Not only am I at an ideal weight but over this week and last week on my Gradual Paleo I have lost nine pounds.
NINE POUNDS
Now that is amazing and something I never thought I would see. And even though Dominic is not on Paleo with me, because the meals are centred around it and his only chocolate is some dark he has also had a big weight loss this week and is at his lowest ever.
Now watch the video:
You can find out even more about how I got on via our week 3 video: