sunday dinner

we are about one week into the whole 30. Feeling pretty good. I went to trader joes today for the first time and found all the delicious dried fruit without sugar...whoa i gotta be careful of that. Anyways we had grass fed london broil and made a sweet potato/apple/raisin/pecans/cinnamon and allspice casserole. we had it  during the holidays with maple syrup on it. that is disallowed during the whole 30....coconut oil it is...and it was very good. We all agreed we didn't even miss the syrup. steak was good as always. Here is the pic.

Eating Out in a College Town

I'm hungry, but I'm also poor. I guess that Lifeguard wage isn't so substantial. To mix it up for a fun date night, Joey and I went out to dinner. Too bad I can eat practically nothing at a restaurant without breaking my diet or the bank. We decided on Panera. Good/Terrible choice. I mean, have you ever had a bread bowl? It's heaven. Needless to say, temptation ran wild. I settled on a salad. I ordered the Fuji Apple Turkey Salad, but with Balsamic dressing (I asked, completely free of corn syrup.) It was actually really good! The only downfall was that I forgot to order it without the cheese! So I spent the first 10 minutes picking out the Gorgonzola cheese pieces out. Rather than come with actual apple pieces in the salad, it came with apple crisp things, and I was 100% sure they had added sugar. Thankfully, I ordered an apple as my side, so I cut it up and threw it in my salad instead of the sugary alternative! After a little bit of work, I got to enjoy a fresh, yummy paleo salad!

dining out

well you will be glad to know that shant discuss my lavoratory accomplishments. Last evening my daughter allison and i were looking for a place to eat and the shortest wait was at uno's. Chicago pizza....one of my favorites. Well this trip was going to be sans pizza. I ordered a cobb salad minus the garganzola and creamy avacado dressing opting for olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was really good and whole 30 legit. see one can go paleo even at a pizza joint if they try.

Did My Dad Really Just Post About Poop?

Before I begin, I would just like to say that the apple does not always fall far from the tree. Please excuse my father, he's new to the blogging world.

So...day 6. I'm hungry. But I'm okay. The biggest complaint that I have is that because I live in a dorm, I am restricted to dining hall food. I don't think it's a surprise when I tell you that the majority of our all you can at section isn't paleo. Even the fruit they lay out has been canned. Joe and I have been forced to eat flavorless, rubbery chicken cutlets for the past 6 days. There's a salad bar, too. So we eat a lot of that. This morning's breakfast was "protein on deck" as Joey calls it. Protein is all that I can eat here, really. Chicken and hard boiled eggs.

We found these at Wal-Mart! Yum!

We have found ways to make snacking a little easier, as well (particularly for those late-night study sessions). We took Tupperware containers into the dining halls and stole literally a dozen hard boiled eggs and  a pound of deli meat. I know that due to the preservatives deli meat isn't totally paleo, but let's be honest, we're working with what we've got. We've also found this awesome freeze dried fruit snack called "Crunchies" that are so good!

Lunch the other day! Sweet potato, grilled chicken, kale, and hard boiled eggs!

My cravings are slowly starting to fade, but don't get me wrong, I'm dying for a Panera Bread bowl.


Good luck fellow cavemen!

xoxo

5 days in

I just wanted to talk about my poop..LOL. I have always been pretty regular...3 times every morning. The first one was usually the best and most solid...the next 2 were...well...lets just say not as solid. Since Monday there has been a slight change in this "dookie" department...if you will. I am only going once..maybe twice in the morning but the quality has changed dramatically. If you are from upstate NY or been through this area you must have heard Fucillo car commercials. Their "catch phrase" sums up my new morning constitutional..."HUGE..UH"!
Why am elaborating so much on this somewhat social taboo conversation...because GI health is probably the best marker of your overall health. The ability to absorb nutrients and eliminate waste is tantemount to health. Not only that, but the balance of intenstinal flora is so critical to your body being able to forify itself for normal function. This new change has me pumped.
Honestly, the change to total paleo was not that hard for me. The thing I cut out most was sugar...in the form of Ben and Jerry's cinnamon buns ice cream. I ate some most nights before bed. That has wheat, dairy and sugar and the repeated interaction between my GI tract and ice cream was not helping it's function. Now...my hope is to be able to control my sugar cravings better but I do not plan on never eating C.B again...it's just too delicious.

College Cavemen

This is us. Joey and Julia. We're freshmen at Penn State University and both attempting to make college eating healthier. It's not going to be easy, but we're determined to keep off that freshmen 15!