Am I ready for this?

I’m feeling a little anxious, not sure how this is going to go. I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on what I’m absolutely not allowed to eat. No bread, no rice, no corn, those are the big ones. Okay, got it. So lots of vegetables, no problem. And protein? Luckily I’m not a vegetarian — going to cooking school cured me of that — so all is well so far.

I haven’t got any real plan for meals and snacks yet. I figure I’ll just focus on the things I enjoy and try not to think too much about what I’m missing. Like, well, you know, the B word. Yes, bread.

One thing I thought would be interesting is to track my weight this month. It’s normally steady, stubbornly so, staying within a 2-3 pound range all the time. But if this is supposed to be a life changing diet, will my weight finally budge a little?

On the eating front, breakfast was a big bowl of mixed fruit and an americano from our gorgeous espresso machine. Here I admit a deviation from a strictly Paleo diet that doesn’t allow any dairy whatsoever: I must have coffee cream in my americano, the full 18% fat kind. Not negotiable.

Lunch was a tuna salad with loads of fresh lemon juice and herbs, like a grown-up version of the tuna salad my mom used to make, on top of salad greens. Delicious.

For dinner I went to my sister’s place, a very safe outing since she’s adopted a strictly gluten-free diet for the past few months. I brought some Terra Chips for a pre-dinner snack and tried not to feel too guilty about eating them. They’re deep fried yes, but they are vegetables right? Later we whipped up a mango salsa that went perfectly well with barbecued chicken breasts and sauteed spinach. Yum. Not missing the bread at all. Did I just say that?

The bonus of the day was my sister lending me a few cookbooks — Make It Paleo and Paleo Comfort Foods — so I’ll be busy for the next few days doing some research. My favorite kind. Cool!

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the next 30 days

So when I say I’m following a Paleo diet, what exactly to I mean?

Good question. It is a diet that follows what caveman ate over 2 million years ago — meat and fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts. It doesn’t include any grains, legumes, dairy products, or refined sugar. But, like many things, it turns out there are several interpretations of what eating a Paleo diet really means.

To help figure this all out — and quickly, since I decided only a week ago to do this month-long challenge — I turned to a few sources. One was Mark Sisson’s blog Mark’s Daily Apple. Another was Robb Wolf, who sets some good boundaries around what a Paleo diet includes and excludes. A couple dozen more searches uncovered a number of basic guidelines on Paleo eating, and helped me determine my approach.

Giving up grains, for me, is huge. That will be my main focus, along with avoiding legumes (bye bye peanut butter..sob, wimper), processed food, and dairy. Avoiding dairy is actually a pretty big deal too, since cheese can be a key protein source for weeks on end if I’m feeling lazy about cooking.

Here’s what I’ll be eating:

• Meats & Seafood: Fish, prawns, beef, chicken, pork, lamb, eggs
• Fruits & Vegetables: All of them, including some dried fruits and coconut flour, as well as nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, the occasional white potato) which are frowned up on by more strict Paleo diets
• Nuts & Seeds: Raw or ground (almond meal, flax seed meal), but not soaked
• Healthy Fats: Olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil, lard, and yes some regular butter
• Herbs, spices and seasonings: Fresh from the garden parsley, thyme, tarragon, cilantro, chives, and definitely ginger and garlic
• Dairy: A minimal amount of cheese, cream in my morning coffee

So there it is. It’s not a super strict Paleo diet by any stretch. I’m not completely cutting out dairy, alcohol or sugar but I’ll do my best to keep cheese to a minimum, but it will likely sneak its way in. And having a glass of wine or some chocolate? For goodness sakes, something has to keep me sane for the next month.

Check out what started this all off, why I’m doing this in the first place:
The Paleo Diet Challenge