Meatatarian

I have finally got around to updating the blog.. Life has been crazy crazy busy and we've been jet setters over the past month or so.. Amsterdam, Italy and Brighton almost back to back! All those pastries, pasta and pizza were so delicious, but really left my body in a disgruntled state, which made me start doing a bit of research into a lifestyle I have been interested in finding out more about for a while...

I have always had a low tolerance for things like white breads and pasta. If I eat them more than once in a blue moon I get headaches, lethargy, eczema and even sometimes hives! About four or five years ago, as I was planning to walk down the aisle I decided to make a few life changes in the hope that I would be looking and feeling my best on my big day. So, it wasn't about a weight related thing to me, it was more about gaining strength and energy, getting rid of the eczema that was plaguing my arms (the only part of my body people would actually see in my dress) and generally feeling better. At the time I was a reasonably fresh teacher with a huge workload, terrible eating habits - we're talking two plus cans of coke a day - and a habit of napping before dinner just to make it through the evening before bed time! Let's just say I was feeling pretty rubbish and not treating my body very well at all..

So I signed up with a personal trainer - the amazing Sarah - who single handedly put me on track to a better quality of life... Since Sarah taught me the skills I needed in the gym I have been enthusiastic about working out ever since and never lose momentum like I used to before she walked into my life. Even moving across the other side of the world I've  managed to continue with my exercise regime using the tools Sarah gave me. (Sarah, if you're reading this can you tell I miss you!)

Something that was tough for me was definitely changing my diet.. Slowly but surely over the past couple of years I have cleaned it up and eliminated things like KFC and minimised fizzy drinks (my massive weakness). I definitely feel better for it! But there are still a lot of things I eat that don't make me feel well at all, which is where Paleo comes in.

Over the past couple of years I've heard a lot about "The Caveman Diet" (or a Paleo lifestyle as followers call it) and I never paid that much attention to it, not being a fad diet fan.. I had a friend or two try it and swear by how it made them feel but they bemoaned the difficulty of sticking to such a lifestyle long term. Then, while we were in Italy last week I read a magazine article about one man's experience taking on Paleo. As I sat there, lethargic from so much pizza and pasta, I thought it sounded amazing! I jokingly told the people I was with that "come next week that'll be me!" And they laughed and probably rolled their eyes at me while I harped on about what I had just read.. But I decided, you know what, I'm gonna try it! I'm going to go Paleo for one month! I got home from Italy and started reading up on this lifestyle (I don't think of it as a diet because it's not about weight loss) and began finding out all I needed to get started on Monday. I found recipes, meal plans, ways to avoid pitfalls, pros, cons, arguments for, against, scientists raving and others scathing but I decided I would do it for a month! The best news is I've got Andrew on board! He's a bit weary about giving up legumes (one of his favourite meals is beans and rice) but keen to give it a go.

We have just been to stock up at the supermarket and the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs and meat we now have is ridiculous!! We're ready and raring to go for tomorrow! I'm expecting the first week to be hard as my body craves the high GI carbs I usually feed it, but we're going to push through!

Wish us luck for day one, will keep you posted on how it goes. I have already found some awesome sounding recipes online that I can't wait to try out! Some links to come next time... Xxx