Paleo and Happy

photo from: Paleo Pulse

I'm lactose intolerant, have been for a long time.  I don't drink milk or eat yogurt or cows cheese.  I can tolerate sheep and goat cheese, but in small amounts.  I stopped eating dairy last year and it's been fantastic for me and my gut.  I also decided to cut out wheat, flour, processed sugar, bread, pasta and white rice.  Again doing this has made a huge different,  I sleep better, have no gut problems and actually feel amazing.  At 50 I'm in the best shape of my life, mind and body.

The way I eat now is called Paleo.  The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.  I've been Paleo for almost 6 months and I won't be going back to my old way ever!

I've made the most changes to the way I bake.  I use almond or coconut flour instead of all-purpose flour, coconut oil or grapeseed oil instead of butter or vegetable oil/lard.  And I use agave, honey or dates, instead of processed sugar.  Now you must be thinking...sounds horrible.  But actually the things I bake are wonderfully good and so much better for you.  You'd never know the difference.

There are many websites out there that I use for Paleo dessert recipes, but I think my favorite is Elena's Pantry.  All of her recipes are really good and Paleo.  I just made her Double Chocolate Mocha cookies and her Paleo Brownies.  We are taking them to our friends house tomorrow.  We are having dinner with them and we are bringing the dessert.  I'm not going to tell them they are Paleo, without all the bad stuff until after they are done eating them.  Now, I will have vanilla bean ice cream to go along with them, but sadly I won't be eating any.

Double Chocolate Mocha Cookies - photo by: Elena's Pantry

Paleo Brownies - photo by: Elena's Pantry

Other that changing my baking ingredients moving to Paleo has been very easy.  I make my own almond butter and have it with an apple and fried eggs in the morning.  Dinners are packed with vegetables and a protein.  I don't feel hungry or that I'm missing anything, I actually feel incredible.

I think the main ingredient I wanted to cut out was refined sugar.  It's the devil and so bad for you. Here are 10 things you might not know about refined sugar (source: article on Huffington Post).

1.   Sugar can damage your heart
2.   Sugar specifically promotes belly fat
3.   Sugar is the true silent killer
4.   Sugar may be linked to cancer production and may effect cancer survival
5.   Your sugar "addiction" may be genetic
6.   Sugar and alcohol have similar toxic liver effects on the body
7.   Sugar may sap your brain power
8.   Sugar hides in many everyday "non-sugar" foods
9.   An overload of sugar (specifically in beverages) may shorten your life
10. Sugar is making us fat

Now doesn't all of this make you want to cut out sugar from your diet?  You can click on the Huffington Post link above to read more about the 10 things.  It was a huge eye-opener for me and I'm really glad that I cut it out of my diet.

So if you're thinking of changing the way you eat the Paleo Diet might be for you.  You can check out Elena's Pantry,  Nom Nom Paleo, Pratical Paleo to name just a few.  Try it for 30 days and see if you notice and change....I bet you will.

Photo from: escali.com