Paleo Diet Mastery - 30 Day Challenge page

[paul900]

Well my goal is to totally implement paleo principles into my diet for the next 30 days.

I'm not going to give a life story.. nobody really cares anyway.

I am a very extreme individual and when I am doing something it has to be done 100%. For this reason I do not do alcohol or drugs as I have OD'd in the past. I seem to have an inability to stop. This addictive personality trait is dangerous, especially with food. If I eat some chocolate I feel as though I might as well eat the entire cake so I go ahead and do it. It's hard to describe my thought process but basically I need 100% implementation of something in order for it to go well. This addictive personality trait can also be a real asset if I focus on something I want to do and this is the case here.

I will be maping out my meals in here at the end of each day.

Today was day 1 and here is what I had

MEAL 1 - 100g Zucchini, 100g turkey breast mince, 10g garlic + 1 banana (94g).
It was all sauted together (not the banana) to give a very tasty meal indeed. I added some cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper spice and also garam masala for good measure.

MEAL 2 - 250g Vegetable mince mixture*, 100g beef mince (95% lean)

MEAL 3 - 250g Vegetable mince mixture*, 50g Turkey breast mince, 50g beef mince (95% lean)

MEAL 4 - 250g Vegetable mince mixture*, 50g Turkey breast mince, 50g beef mince (95% lean)


*I made a vegetable mince mixture. This consisted of the following
- 250g mushrooms
- 100g leek
- 200g radish
- 100g beetroot
- 100g Asparagus
- 30g Garlic
- 100g Onion
- 200g cucumber
- 500ml Passata
This was all dumped in the food processor and the magical apparatus did it's job, cutting the vegetables into fine pieces. I then sauted them with olive oil and added the meat (which I cooked in the george foreman grill). From there it was simply a case of portioning out 250g of it with 100g of meat for each meal. The spices from above were used. I also used paprika heavily as I am a big fan of spicyness.

Yes it's a hideous boring bland etc etc diet. I DONT CARE FOR PLEASURE, I CARE FOR RESULTS. It actually tastes ok too. I have no problem eating it.

I will continue to eat in this manner for the next 30 days and then reasses. I might get some pictures up of meals if I can be bothered. Probably not though but who knows, I may get bored. I must say I feel extremely good at the moment. It is such a filling meal.

I will be back tomorrow for another exciting update

[Goosejuggler]

Welcome to the primal life! A 30 day challenge is a great way to get started!
A few thoughts on your meal plan:

- Lack of fats. Your mince is lean and you are cooking on a foreman grill, doesn't look like you are getting any fats at all.
- Monotony. Eating the same meal every day for 30 days is not so primal. Being primal is about enjoying food, and it is all about pleasure! I don't see the need to torture yourself with boring/bland food.
- I don't know your stats etc, but this doesn't seem like very many calories.

Good luck

[paul900]

Welcome to the primal life! A 30 day challenge is a great way to get started!
A few thoughts on your meal plan:

- Lack of fats. Your mince is lean and you are cooking on a foreman grill, doesn't look like you are getting any fats at all.
- Monotony. Eating the same meal every day for 30 days is not so primal. Being primal is about enjoying food, and it is all about pleasure! I don't see the need to torture yourself with boring/bland food.
- I don't know your stats etc, but this doesn't seem like very many calories.

Good luck

Hello goose

Thanks for your comments, I will take them in turn...

1. Yes I agree and you have raised a point there. The only fat I have been consuming really has been the olive oil I am using to saute my stuff. I'm going to add walnuts to the diet and oily fish like salmon. Coconut oil also. Anyway, I am aware of it and I will try to add more good fats.

2. Monotony will set in (if it hasn't already) but as I say i am the kind of person who needs this type of routine. I will switch up the vegetables in my carb mix. Also I am going to try the Paleo Pizza recipe on youtube. Check it out. some black dude made it and its awesome and looks really good. Salmon/Broccoli or Cauliflower and that Paleo pizza are two meals I will be adding in. The truth is, I am a hideous cooker. I really have zero skills in the kitchen im afraid. But my goal is to get about 10 recipes together that I can cook and alternate. So far I've got that veg mix + meat, broccoli + salmon, cauliflower + salmon and also that paleo pizza recipe. So that's 4 things I can eat. The truth is I will probably have the veg mix + meat about 3 times per day and then throw in 2 other meals that I can have to break up the tedium. I will work on that. I'm rambling here. If you have managed to read to the end of this paragraph I have to commend you

3. Well this is a good point too. My stats are im 240 pounds at the moment and quite tall. Hence i need a lot of calories obviously. So I need to add more stuff. Like some scrambled eggs here and there and also increasing it to 5 meals per day rather than 4. It's a work in progress but I guess I have to keep trying.


Once again, thanks for your comments

[reynoldrraine8]

So it might be helpful but it certainly isn't NECESSARY.

[Goosejuggler]

It's ok if you are not the best cook - everyone has to start from somewhere! I'd really you suggest you experiment as much as possible - how bad can things really turn out? Find a veg/piece of meat in the store that you don't know what it is or how to prepare it. Take it home, google it. I've found one of those most valuable and fun parts of the whole paleo experience so far has been experiments like these!
As you say:

Well my goal is to totally implement paleo principles into my diet for the next 30 days.

So remember your sleep hygeine, play, activity etc etc.

re: fat. Will you eat dairy? If so Its good way to get fat into your diet - scrambled eggs with butter and bacon, full fat yogurt and berries, cream in your coffee/tea. Coconut milk too, in curries. If you can make that veggie mix, you can make a curry
There are endless paleo oriented blogs out there - get excited about food!!

[NZ primal Gwamma]

.. nobody really cares anyway.

hey welcome Paul, actually yeah we do care, that is why this forum is so successful. Alot of people lurk and read - doesn't mean they don't care, just means that they don't have the confidence maybe to comment ????? Alot of people DO comment and offer words of wisdom. This is also great because yes they care also. So first thing, well done you, and fantastic that you are gonna go 100%.
second thing - Good luck
G

[paul900]

It's ok if you are not the best cook - everyone has to start from somewhere! I'd really you suggest you experiment as much as possible - how bad can things really turn out? Find a veg/piece of meat in the store that you don't know what it is or how to prepare it. Take it home, google it. I've found one of those most valuable and fun parts of the whole paleo experience so far has been experiments like these!
As you say:


So remember your sleep hygeine, play, activity etc etc.

re: fat. Will you eat dairy? If so Its good way to get fat into your diet - scrambled eggs with butter and bacon, full fat yogurt and berries, cream in your coffee/tea. Coconut milk too, in curries. If you can make that veggie mix, you can make a curry
There are endless paleo oriented blogs out there - get excited about food!!

I will browse some blogs and some youtube channels and try to get some good recipes together. I know there are loads out there so I have a lot to choose from. My first goal is to get the paleo pizza made. I'm going to do that on Monday.

I will work on sleep and activity and so on. I really will. I am giving this paleo diet a real go!

[paul900]

hey welcome Paul, actually yeah we do care, that is why this forum is so successful. Alot of people lurk and read - doesn't mean they don't care, just means that they don't have the confidence maybe to comment ????? Alot of people DO comment and offer words of wisdom. This is also great because yes they care also. So first thing, well done you, and fantastic that you are gonna go 100%.
second thing - Good luck
G

Thanks for the kind comments my friend.

Well maybe my 30 days of paleo will inspire some people. I have been overweight for the past 8 years. I say overweight but understand that if you saw me you would think I am in good shape. I carry it very well, however underneath my clothes there is a lot of flab that shouldn't be there! I have tried different diets here and there. Some worked, some didn't. I was doing well on tim ferrisses slow carb diet but the cheat day was killing me and once I cheated once, I kept cheating. No discipline really. it wasn't a good diet anyway, lots of legumes.

I tend to lose weight quite quickly. I weighed myself on the 20th of November and I was 234.5 pounds. This morning I was 231.5 pounds. Tomorrow morning I will be about 228 or 229. And I can visibly see that it's mostly coming off the midsection. I also put on weight really quickly too. If I totally pig out tomorrow and eat chocolate/ice cream/etc etc, I'll put on 2 or 3 pounds in that day.

Anyway, enough mathematics. My next post will be about Day 2!

[paul900]

DAY 2

Another successful day.

MORNING WEIGHT - 231.5

MEALS
1. 250g Veg mince, 100g turkey mince, 1 whole egg
2. 100g cauliflower, 1 Salmon fillet
3. 250g Veg mince, 60g turkey mince, 60g minced chicken breast
4. 250g Veg mince, 60g turkey mince, 60g minced chicken breast

Each time I ate until I was full. I still get the feeling that I am not getting enough calories though. Maybe I should add a dessert meal or something? I've also got an idea for paleo burgers. I have been looking up how to make paleo bread and I think I have it down. Hopefully I can add that recipe to my skillset this week. Paleo burgers and Paleo pizza are my next two goals!

As for the meals today, well it was fairly easy to be honest. I have had some cravings but I beat them. I am eating every 2.45 hours. So I set my alarm on my phone and when it goes off I eat immediately. I find that in the past I have binged or fallen off the wagon when I haven't eaten as regularly as that.

So far so good. I feel like I'm not getting enough carbs or calories in what I am eating though but on the other hand I am full of energy and feel good so I suppose I will keep going. I guess I know I could add one more meal and maybe eat every 2.5 hours instead. I'll think about it. Maybe add a desert? Some pancake recipe or something? I'll do a search.

I'm interested to see what my morning weight is going to be tomorrow because I know that I drop weight really quickly. I am 231.5 now but I'm sure that I would be at my target weight of 200 in about 2 weeks if I kept this up daily.

I'm going to have my blood pressure checked tomorrow. It was elevated the last time I had it checked (a few months ago). I think it was over 140/90 so that is stage 1 hypertension. It's something I have really been neglecting but I need to get that in check.

I will give an update of how Day 3 went tomorrow...

[paul900]

Day 3

My worst day. I've slipped

Nothing too bad though.

After my last post last night I couldn't sleep for a while and got really hungry. I ended up having a late night bowl of Alpen cereal. Bad idea I know.

Still I woke up this morning and saw 229.25 on my scale. So I still lost over 2 pounds in 1 day. My weight loss is crazy when I put the effort into it. I don't think I'll weigh myself til after the 30 days are up now.

Anyway onto my poor day today...

MEAL 1 - Another bowl of alpen cereal (lost my discipline once again)
MEAL 2 - 250g Veg mince mix + 100g turkey mince
MEAL 3 - 250g Veg mince mix + 100g turkey mince
MEAL 4 - Smoothie (Strawberries (60g), 1 Pear, 1 Banana and some milk)
MEAL 5 - Bowl of Alpen again (oh dear)

basically I am unfortunately living at home and my mother and father are not primal eaters. I've done quite well so far to even get this far. My mother is slowly trying to kill herself it seems and has declared that she doesn't care about her health and just wants to enjoy her life. She smokes constantly (2nd hand smoke in the house almost always) and stocks the fridge up with chocolate/ice cream etc, buys fast food constantly, loads up the presses with cereal etc. I really hate her for it. However, it's her house and I have to respect that. I won't be here for long though. She makes it hard to stay on this kind of primal eating because I know all I have to do is walk downstairs to the fridge and there is some chocolate just there... lovely chocolate.. cold chocolate... fuck im getting cravings

It's much better to REMOVE this stuff from your environment. I constantly expend energy NOT eating it. And don't get me started on the second hand smoke I inhale daily.

It's awful living with my parents, it really is and once I get out I'll never be back. I think in the past she has rejoiced in seeing me eating the shit she buys as it makes her feel good to see shes not the only one doing it. When I eat healthy foods, I think it makes her conscious of her own failings. I don't know. I hate even having to waste mental energy trying to know...

But the fact is, what I eat is my responsibility. Nobody has a gun to my head telling me to eat anything so I will endevour to eat as well as I can from here on out. No excuses.

Anyway, that was my rant. I'm still on course to do this.

I'm going to cut asparagus out because i think it's making my urine smell weird. I looked it up online because I noticed my urine smelled almost vegetable-like and it seems like its the asparagus. I don't like it. I'll cut it out and see how I feel.

A slight hiccup but I did eat some good vegetables today.. more than I have in the past thats for sure, so I will plow on!!

Bring on Day 4!!!