Paleo Challenge – Week 4 (final week)

Week 3 of this Paleo challenge threw a few more obstacles in my path, but I feel like I’ve kept on track relatively well, despite illness, work stresses and the Australia Day long weekend.

In celebration of Australia Day I made some awesome little raw ‘lamington truffle balls’ from a recipe on the Skinnymixers website. They are so delicious! And so cute! Hard to just stop at one! Free from gluten, grains, dairy, refined sugar… basically Paleo… totally YUM!!

Skinnymixers' Raw Lamington Truffle Balls

I decided to relax a bit over the long weekend and have a few drinks, but I still kept my diet pretty well in check. No gluten or dairy anyway!

In 3 weeks I’ve lost 4kg and am feeling pretty awesome, getting lots of compliments from family, friends and even random people on the street. It’s very encouraging!

So there’s only one more week of the actual challenge, but I plan to continue on with the lifestyle as much as I can, although I may relax the legume rule a little (I really MISS proper hummus!!). I’ll slowly introduce a few different things and see how they affect me, and just take it slowly. I definitely feel that gluten has been a major irritant for me, so hopefully I can steer clear of it from now on.

This week Monday is a public holiday, and we’ll be having BBQ for lunch and dinner (possibly breakfast too – it is Australia Day after all). For the rest of the week I’m mainly going to be repeating meals that we’ve really enjoyed along the way.

• Tuesday – Prawn and chilli pasta sauce with zoodles
• Wednesday – Singapore Noodles with Kelp noodles
• Thursday - Beef madras curry with cauli rice
• Friday - Vietnamese Chicken Meatza
• Saturday – Steak with sweet potato chips and slaw
• Sunday – Lamb roast with pumpkin, parsnips, carrots and greens

I hope everyone's January has gone to plan, and that you're feeling confident and proud of your achievements!

I've linked this post to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Meal Plan Monday.

Paleo Challenge - Week 3

After two weeks following the Paleo lifestyle I’m feeling pretty great. The Keratosis Pilaris  (chicken skin) on my arms is clearing up, my IBS has calmed down completely, and I feel really energised.

Kombucha, Coconut Oil, Cacao Nibs and Kelp Noodles - Paleo staples

Last week we had a few unforeseen things come up which meant we went “off plan” for a few meals, but I still managed to keep within the Paleo guidelines. I did have a couple of glasses of wine out to dinner with a friend one night, but I’m OK with that! That was my only slip up, so I’m pretty happy with myself. I think the main reasons the Paleo lifestyle is working for me is that I can eat until I feel satisfied (i.e. I'm not hungry!), I’m not counting calories or weighing portions, and I can fit it into my real life.With a bit of prep and planning it's really pretty easy.

I’ve become a little bit obsessed with making Paleo waffles (using this Against All Grain recipe). I make them on the weekend and then freeze some for a quick breakfast during the week – they’ve been satisfying any lingering cravings I have for a piece of toast in the mornings. I might try them without the honey and make savoury ones… with bacon?  Mmmmm…. Bacon….

Week 3’s meal plan is below.

Paleo Challenge Week 3 meal plan

This week I’m using the Quirky Cooking cookbook and the Skinnymixers website for inspiration. They're all Thermomix recipes, which work perfectly in Boris the Bellini. These recipes are available freely online:

Beef Madras - I serve this with cauliflower rice, and it is AMAZING!

Vietnamese Fish Curry - I might do this with a broc-cauli rice combo, for a splash of colour.

Singapore Noodles - I’ll replace the soy with coconut aminos, and the vermicelli noodles with kelp noodles.

Mexican Pulled Pork - I'm serving this with some sauteed onion and capsicum, and a spicy guacamole, in butter lettuce cups.

Chicken Tikka Masala - also with cauli rice, and I might make some Paleo naan bread if I’m feeling decadent.

I’ve only managed to fit in two cross-trainer sessions this week, but have just tried to be a lot more active in general. Yesterday I walked about 30 minutes carrying Little Miss in the Manduca (baby carrier), which was quite a workout. At 16kg she’s pretty much at the max weight limit for babywearing, but it was actually quite nice to have her so up close and personal for our walk, we had some lovely little chats along the way. I won’t be doing it again anytime soon though, my shoulders are still killing me!

The main thing I’ve been missing is some kind of salty, crunchy snack, so I’m on the hunt for a tasty Paleo savoury snack recipe this week.

How is your January going? Are you still working on your New Year's goals and resolutions?

I've linked this post to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday