Good, Clean, Food!!!

Now, doesn't this look like a satisfying heaping plate of goodness that is sure to fill your belly up??

Well,  it is AND it's ALL Paleo!!! I know you must be asking yourself how can this be with those creamy mashed potatoes on top! Well, looks can be deceiving...those aren't potatoes...it is mashed cauliflower!! Chef Matt whipped up this delightful meal of Shepard's Pie with mashed carrots and turnips as the side. When your eating meals that are good, clean, and flavorful like this you don't miss the mash potatoes being on top or the cheesy garlic bread as a side. I know, I wasn't sold on the idea at first either. ...I really wasn't but Matt and I made a packed to get healthy together in order to better ourselves individually, our relationship, and our future family. We realized if we didn't do it now then when would we? So, we have been Paleo and I learned that when you start fueling your body with simple good, clean, food and cut out all the processed unholiness your body starts craving the good food. By "good clean food" I mean all the veggies, fruits, grass fed meats, oils, and nuts! The beauty about Paleo is that there is no counting calories!! There is no need to because everything you are eating is good for your body. Of course,  everything in moderation but you eat till your satisfied and I started finding recently that I am full a lot faster now than before.  In the past I thought I needed a potato or piece of bread to help satisfy my hunger and you really don't...honestly. In this new way of eating I have never felt deprived and to us this is important b/c we enjoy eating food and with Paleo you can still EAT & ENJOY...best part... guilt free!! Dr. William Davis wrote a book called, Wheat Belly and in it he said the follow which is so true.

“When you remove wheat from the diet, you’ve removed a food that leads to fat deposition in the abdomen. Factor in that the gliadin protein unique to wheat that is degraded to a morphine-like compound that stimulates appetite is now gone and appetite diminishes. The average daily calorie intake drops 400 calories per day–with less hunger, less cravings and food is more satisfying. This all occurs without imposing calorie limits, cutting fat grams, or limiting portion size. It all happens just by eliminating this thing called wheat.”

 So, that in a nut-shell is my soapbox on eating Paleo. Onto, something that goes pretty much hand in hand with Paleo is CrossFit. I am in my first week at East Dallas CrossFit in the the big kids class and it is whooping my hiney!! It is challenging but in a good way. You def go to CrossFit to do work and "train dirty" as they say. Nothing glamorous about it. I come home with blisters on my hands and black knees from burpees (my least favorite). I don't think I have sweated this much since I did Hot Yoga and even then I think that I'm sweating more now. However, I am going at 5:30pm and it is still 100 degrees and there is no A/C.  I'm not complaining though, it feels good to sweat and everyday brings a new challenge for your mind, body, and soul. I do get nervous everyday before class though. I want to do everything right and I don't want to be the last one done with the workout. Once I get started I forget about all that b/c at that point all you want to do is to finish. There are people there at all different levels and they have ways you can scale back if your not able to do a certain workout yet. So, so far so good... almost 1 week down....many more to go!

 “To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.”  ~William Londen