Starting a Paleo WHOLE30 challege today! Day 1

Today I'm starting a new challenge! You know me, I LOVE a good challenge, especially when it involves food!

Since my Marathon is over, I don't plan on spending hours and HOURS on the pavement anytime soon. I'm still running (don't worry), just not at the lengths I was required to do for my Marathon training.

So now, since I don't 'need' all those carbs, and I still want to challenge my mind and body with something new, I am trying the Paleo diet, or Caveman diet as most have heard it called.

I have been researching this diet/lifestyle for a few weeks now, and I am anxious to see how I feel about it.

I found a great site, called Whole9 it to me is pretty much the key to getting started with this lifestyle. If you can stick with it for 30 days, you'll be able then to see if this lifestyle is or isn't really  for you. I purchased the Whole30 success guide, read it and feel like I am ready to roll! So far all my recipes are coming from the Whole9 website and Whole30 program. So check them out for all the foodie details.

So what did I do today, on my first day?

The guide says to eat 3 meals a day, starting of course with breakfast.

I did this, but I also ate 3 snacks....not 100% part of the plan, but let me explain...

Breakfast was Turkey Apple Hash, it's scramble type meal. I also added my favorite ingredient Spinach to the recipe. This meal tastes amazing! I really loved it!

Sadly, I felt hungry a few hours later, and lunch technically was still another couple hours away. So for my snack I ate a Larabar, and a very tiny peach, which was more of an apricot. Larabars (without chocolate or peanut butter) are aproved in this lifestyle. Fruit is also approved, as long as it's not your main source of carbs. So it was at least a good choice "snack" to have. However, what I will try in the future is to have a larger breakfast so that I don't get hungry a few hours later.

Lunch I had a chicken vegetable stew with 1/2 avacado on top- again, I LOVED this meal! I get to eat avacado and not be worried about the calories!?!? SCORE! Lunch kept me fuller, and I was very happy about that.

I was heading to the gym tonight to do a Crossfit workout and Hot Yoga. So according to the diet, I needed a Pre-Workout snack. Something with fat and protein. No carbs from veggies or fruit is required for a Pre-Workout meal. So this was a little tough for me to come up with...what was I to eat....I finally decided on 4 sticks of homemade deer jerky, and a handful of almonds. I hope this was a good choice!

After my workout, I get rewarded (yes, sometimes I like to be rewarded like a dog) with a Post-Workout (PWO) snack. For this I had a pumpkin smoothie, which was 1/2 cup of pumpkin, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 5 egg whites, blended well. Added spices of nutmeg and cinnamon. It was missing the 'sweet' factor that I'm used to when it comes to smoothies, but overall, it was do-able. Next time, I think I'll either blend longer, to make it into a pudding, or add ice, to make it colder!

Once home, I had to help get the 3 kiddies, dinner and ready for bed, and then it was time for my last meal of the day, Dinner!

For dinner I had Veggie Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce. Instead of regular spaghetti noodles, full of carbs (sugar), you can either use spaghetti squash or a bed of spinach. I chose the Spinach option- much easier, and I LOVE spinach!

I am now sooo full of good healthy food- my belly is totally satisfied!

I feel really good about my first day on this new lifestyle. Tomorrow I will try to do better by not snacking, unless it's a pre or post workout snack.

I will try to explain different points of this lifestyle as I go, and will try to "blog" about my days as much as I can. I know by being accountable (even via this blog) will make the next 29 days go by quicker and smoother for me!

One aspect that is really going to be tough..(as if not eating carbs from grains, and no dairy, isn't hard enough), I'm not allowed to weigh myself until day 31....I better have the hubby hid the scale!

Have you ever tried Paleo or a low carb diet? What did you like or dislike about it?