Paleo Day 19 – Sold on Paleo!

I got up this morning at 5:45 and ran 5 miles in the dark! It felt great. I usually like to run later in the afternoon, but with work schedules, that sometimes is not possible. It’s nice to know I can still get up early and get in a nice run. I added strides the last mile and a half and felt wonderful. Grabbed an egg and some of my squash/apple/walnut mix (yummy) to keep me going this morning.

I also stepped on the scale today. I noticed the first few days of eating Paleo that I dropped about 3 pounds (from 118 to 115). Now the scale says I’ve dropped even more (down to 112). I find it somewhat amazing, since I feel like I’m eating all of the time (and sometimes high fat foods like nuts and avocados)! My goal in eating Paleo was not to lose weight. But I’ve noticed not so much a weight loss as a change in my body composition. I feel like a lean, mean, muscle machine now. My stomach is competely flat and I can see more definition in my stomach muscles and all of my other muscles. I intuitively know this is because I’m not “polluting” my body like I was doing for years with processed carbs and sugars! I keep wishing I had researched this and started eating better years ago. It also probably would have prevented me from having eating disorders. Now the only disorder I have is my OCD in keeping to my running, dancing, working, and now cooking schedules!

I’m totally hooked on this lifestyle and can see myself doing it for the rest of my life. It’s not impossible to maintain it in this society – a bit more difficult yes, and it takes more planning. But honestly I don’t miss the carbs and sugars and junk food. I crave fish, veggies, and fruit now! I support this change for anyone, runners or not, who want to be nicer to themselves and their body! Go Paleo!

My rough estimates:
Protein (ideal 20-25%): 15% (previous days: 19-20-16-25-26-11-18)
Carbs (ideal 50-60%): 47% (previous days: 47-65-54-33-27-41-35)
Fat (ideal 20-30%): 38% (previous days: 34-15-29-42-47-48-47)

Run 5 miles

Breakfast

• 1 boiled egg
• Squash w/ apples, walnuts, raisins

Lunch

• Spring salad w/ tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced almonds
• Banana
• Pear

Snack

• All Natural Cranberry Jubilee Mix (pumpkin seeds, cranberries, sunflower seeds, papaya, almonds, raisins, brazil nuts, apples)

Dance 2 hrs

Dinner

• Steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots
• Tomato
• Pure Protein bar
• Pistachios

			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
1.5	cup	Squash, winter, spaghetti, cooked, boiled, drained, or baked, without salt	63	1	0	0	42	15	3	6	2
1	1 apple	spiced baked apple	123	3	1	5	15	25	3	20	0
20	raisins	Raisins, seedless	31	0	0	0	1	8	0	6	0
1	serving	1 Lg Boiled Egg	78	5	2	212	62	1	0	1	6
0.2	oz (14 halves)	Nuts, walnuts, english	37	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
			332	13	3	217	120	50	6	33	9
Lunch
10	cherry	Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, June thru October average	36	1	0	0	15	8	2	0	1
2	3 cups	Spinach/Spring Salad Mix	20	0	0	0	130	10	8	0	4
0.7	1/3 cup	Sliced Almonds	140	12	1	0	0	5	3	1	5
1	medium	Pears, raw	103	0	0	0	2	28	6	17	1
1	1 medium banana 126g	Dole® – Banana – fresh produce	110	0	0	0	0	29	4	21	1
0.25	cup, pieces or slices	Mushrooms, white, raw	4	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1
			413	13	1	0	148	81	23	39	13
Dinner
0.5	cup slices	Carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	27	0	0	0	45	6	2	3	1
1	1 bar	Pure Protein Strawberry Shortcake	280	6	5	0	110	29	0	4	29
1	medium whole (2-3/5″ dia)	Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average	22	0	0	0	6	5	1	3	1
3	serving	Shelled Pistachios	300	24	3	0	210	12	6	3	15
0.75	cup (1″ pieces)	Cauliflower, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt	21	0	0	0	14	4	2	2	2
0.75	2 cups	steamed broccoli	60	3	0	0	525	8	5	0	5
			710	33	8	0	910	64	16	15	53
Snack
3	serving 1/4 cup	Cranberry Jubilee Mix	390	27	5	0	45	39	6	24	12
			390	27	5	0	45	39	6	24	12
* Water Tracker – Add / Delete
Food Totals Target % / Balance % / Balance			1845 1785 103 60	86 65 132 21	17 20 85 3	217 300 72 83	1223 2400 51 1177	234 300 78 66	51 25 204 26	111 50 222 61	87 50 174 37
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro

Paleo Day 18

Dance, dance, dance! I had three hours of dancing tonight and for most of the day was hungry. I snacked on probably way too many nuts last night while cooking up some trout and veggies for the weekend. Family is in town and I have to work, so I won’t have much time for cooking. I think that has been the most difficult challenge with the Paleo lifestyle – finding the time to cook all this good food!

My fat intake is higher than the “ideal” but I’ve also read that it’s not a huge deal since it’s good fat and I am very active so my body will use it for fuel.

My rough estimates:
Protein (ideal 20-25%): 18% (previous days: 19-20-16-25-26-11)
Carbs (ideal 50-60%): 35% (previous days: 47-65-54-33-27-41)
Fat (ideal 20-30%): 47% (previous days: 34-15-29-42-47-48)

Breakfast

• Salmon
• Banana

Lunch

• Spring salad
• Pomegranate seeds
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms

Snack

• Pear
• Boiled egg

Dance 3 hrs

Dinner

• Asparagus
• Almonds
• Dried apples
• Celery w/ almond butter
• Pistachio

			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro
Breakfast
0.5	fillet	Fish, salmon, Atlantic, wild, cooked, dry heat	280	13	2	109	86	0	0	0	39
1	1 medium banana 126g	Dole® – Banana – fresh produce	110	0	0	0	0	29	4	21	1
			390	13	2	109	86	29	4	21	40
Lunch
12	slice	Mushrooms, white, raw	16	0	0	0	4	2	1	1	2
2	3 cups	Spinach/Spring Salad Mix	20	0	0	0	130	10	8	0	4
0.5	pomegranate (3-3/8)	Pomegranates, raw	52	0	0	0	3	13	1	0	1
12	cherry	Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, June thru October average	43	1	0	0	18	9	2	0	2
			131	1	0	0	155	34	12	1	9
Dinner
6	strip (4″ long)	Celery, raw	4	0	0	0	19	1	0	0	0
0.75	cup	Nuts, pistachio nuts, raw	514	41	5	0	1	26	10	7	19
0.8	oz (22 whole kernels)	Nuts, almonds, dry roasted, without salt added	135	12	1	0	0	4	3	1	5
2.5	tbsp	Nuts, almond butter, plain, without salt added	253	24	2	0	4	8	1	0	6
1	serving	Dried Apples	110	0	0	0	180	29	4	21	0
1.5	cup	Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained	59	1	0	0	38	11	5	4	6
			1075	78	8	0	242	79	23	33	36
Snack
1	serving	1 Lg Boiled Egg	78	5	2	212	62	1	0	1	6
1	medium	Pears, raw	103	0	0	0	2	28	6	17	1
			181	5	2	212	64	29	6	18	7
* Water Tracker – Add / Delete
Food Totals Target % / Balance % / Balance			1777 1785 100 8	97 65 149 32	12 20 60 8	321 300 107 21	547 2400 23 1853	171 300 57 129	45 25 180 20	73 50 146 23	92 50 184 42
			Cal	Fat	Sat	Chl	Sod	Crb	Fib	Sug	Pro