Day 5: Paleo Challenge Update

It's Day 5 of the Whole30 Paleo Challenge and so far, so good. However, I originally thought I'd use this as a way to curb my coffee addiction by cutting it out all together, but I couldn't fight through the blinding withdrawal migraines while attending classes and trying to research/write a term paper. So coffee came back on Day 3. To follow the Whole30 rules, however, I've cut out my tiny splash of half and half and am now drinking it black. It's not as awful as I thought-- I can do this. And who knows: maybe at the end of the 30 days, I'll never need to put dairy in it again! (Also: coconut oil in coffee is amazing.) Drinking coffee black, I've realized, doesn't make me nauseous like usual-- perhaps that tiny bit of dairy (which I didn't think was a significant amount at all) was the cause of the nausea. Remove the dairy, and the nausea goes away. Magic!

For the first time ever, I'm also keeping a food diary. Everything I eat is healthy, of course, and has been for quite some time-- however, I've become a notorious snacker lately (mostly on nuts and dark chocolate, and occasionally pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds), so I'm hoping that if I actually see what I'm eating every day, I can figure out what's maybe preventing weight loss or making me feel gross. If I've learned one thing from Paleo over the last year or so, it's to listen to my body and act accordingly.

I find it amazing that after only a few days of strict Paleo, I don't need to snack anymore. I attribute this to two different things:

1. The offending foods (dark chocolate and nuts) are no longer around. "Clean out the pantry" is the first step in switching to Paleo/Primal in the first place, so I should've just never bought them to begin with-- if I have these foods, I will snack on them, whether hungry or not. Okay, so nuts and dark chocolate aren't exactly on the same level as SAD snacks like chips, Nutella, and cookies; but snacks are snacks, and they needed to go.

2. I haven't felt nearly as hungry in between meals. Perhaps this is just a mental thing, as a result of #1-- food's around, so my mind tells me I'm hungry, even though I'm really not. Whatever the cause, though, I'm only eating meals again-- as a result, I just feel better.

Twenty-five days to go. No problem!

Quote of the Day:

"Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won't get any coddling, and you won't get any sympathy for your 'struggles.' YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE not to complete the program as written." -Whole30

Something to check out:

I did a guest recipe post on Hive Health Media a few days ago. It's a really great site with some fascinating articles about a lot of different health and nutrition issues-- I highly encourage you to check it out!

Two interesting articles connecting health and religion... in totally different ways:

-Are the Religious Prone to Obesity?

-^^Not if they're pole dancing for Jesus!

Today's lunch:

Baby spinach salad with egg, tomato, shredded coconut, flax seeds, and parsley in EVOO and apple cider vinegar. Yum!