I also want to welcome my new readers. I have had several new comments lately and am excited to have new friends to share my blog with. There is a large and growing paleosphere out there. Ordinary people like me, who blog about their goals and experiences. Doctors, researchers and nutritionists who blog about the current research, and their own take on the paleo diet. Athletes, former athletes, and Crossfitters who advocate the paleo diet as part of a healthy lifestyle. We are part of a growing movement that realizes that the food we eat makes a big difference in our health. I am happy to be able to share with you what I do, and I hope that some of my experiences may help you in your journey toward good health.
At the beginning of the new year I always like to review where I am and what I am dong to clarify it in my mind, and to put it out there for anyone who might be interested.
I follow an autoimmune version of the paleo diet, as suggested by Loren Cordain. For Christmas, my husband bought me the new Paleo Diet Cookbook, which has Dr. Cordian's updated suggestions on what to eat. and he has dedicated several pages to recommendations for the autoimmune sufferer.
This is the Paleo diet as outlined in his book: Avoid dairy, cereal grains, legumes, potatoes, salt-containing foods, fatty meats, soft drinks, fruit juices, and sweets.
On top of that, as an autoimmune sufferer, I should avoid alcohol, NSAIDS, oral contraceptives, antacids, capaicin-containing chili peppers, certain saponin or glycoalkaloid containing foods and certain lectin containing foods.
The good news for me is that while Dr. Cordain cautions against green tomatoes, and potatoes for their saponin content, and peppers for their capsaicin content, he does not suggest that people suffering from autoimmune disease should avoid other nightshade vegetables. I love tomatoes, and eggplant. I have been avoiding them because of the idea that nightshade vegetables may make my symptoms worse, but as of now, I am including them back in my diet on a limited basis.
My diet is fairly simple:
I can eat any lean meat, fresh vegetable (that is not a grain or legume, or those mentioned above) or fresh fruit. I can eat eggs in moderation (4-7 per week).
Since I am also trying to lose weight, I should eat sparingly of high sugar fruits, and limit my sweet potatoes and yams to no more than one per day. For my "open meals" which I have mentioned before (I have 1-3 per week)I simply eat the fattier cuts of meat that I deny myself most of the time, and have higher-sugar fruits and some limited honey and maple sugar.
Then, there is the budget...
We are limited to about $70 per week for the two of us. The last couple of weeks, with Christmas and all, we overspent. Now that we are back on track, we must re-double our efforts to make up for it.
My New Year's resolutions are:
#1 To post my budget--how much I have spent each week at the end of the week.
#2 To take pictures of my food for each day and post them.
#3 To write down everything I eat each day and enter it into Fitday so I can keep track of nutrients, calories, and ratios.
So, to start with, here is what I ate today as a sort of brunch:
Warmed up leftover lean steak, (3 oz.) with leftover brussels sprouts (1/2 cup),5 asparagus spears, 1/4 cup of leftover green beans (We do not typically eat legumes), and about a tablespoon of chopped walnuts all warmed up and tossed with a little olive oil. Served with an orange.
Then dinner:
Tossed salad (about 1 cup romaine, and 1/4 cup chopped cucumber) with one small sliced campari tomato, and 1/2 an avocado. Drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice along with pepper and a little salt. (I typically don't add much salt to my meals, but I don't cut it out completely either). Then, 1 serving of Karney's Paleo Stuff: 1/4 pound lean ground beef, 2 sliced mushrooms, 1/8th of an onion, chopped, 2 cups fresh spinach, 1/4 of a sweet potato. Dessert was another orange.
I will keep this up each day for as long as I can to give you an idea of what we eat each day. Life tends to get in the way sometimes. :)
Go for it! I love seeing what other people eat!
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