Jake mentioned the challenge, and I ignored his enthusiasm. Cutting out sugar, dairy, grains, wheat, potatoes and legumes sounded crazy – what was left to eat? Meat, eggs, fruit, veggies and nuts. It sounded like an impossible diet. But Jake told me it would only be difficult the first week – then my cravings would go away. If I could make it thru the first five days, I could make it for 7 weeks.

The first week of Paleo was the most difficult. I was not used to eating so much protein. I was starving the first two days because, as Jake said, “You need to eat more food with eyes and a soul.” I never realized how often I snacked on crackers, cookies and sweets until they were forbidden – making smart food choices took effort and planning.

Three weeks into the diet, I lost 4 pounds. It became easy to make good food choices. My body craved veggies and protein instead of sweets and crackers. My pants started to feel too big for me for the first time in 10 years.

Five weeks into the diet, I lost 11 pounds. I started to feel lighter – it clicked in my body how my food choices were literally weighing me down in my life. On a couple occasions, I ate restaurant food that had white flour in it, and was amazed how terrible I felt right after eating it and how the sweets craving kicked in immediately. I never really understood how sweets were running my life until this. I thought some people were just more disciplined, but now I realize that what I put in activates a different response.

When we took the “after” pictures, I did not expect to see results – I’ve always had this big stomach, and I expected to be disappointed. It is the strangest thing to see a picture of myself from the side, and not recognize it as myself. I still have a lot of work to do, but the results so far in just 7 weeks are so encouraging. I plan to continue on the paleo diet indefinitely – I will allow cheat days when I go out with friends, but I like the way I feel now more than ever. I am lighter, happier and more alive, and I have the Paleo diet and Jake to thank for it.

Tuesday:

Breakfast: paleo muffin, scrambled eggs and coffee w/ almond milk

Lunch: ground beef, cabbage and scrambled eggs (gross!)

Dinner: meatloaf

Wed:

Breakfast: Paleo muffin, scrambled eggs and coffee w/ almond milk

Lunch: I think I’m going to make a big salad

Dinner: grilled steak w/ steamed broccoli

Saturday
Breakfast: banana and paleo muffin + coffee w/ almond milk
Lunch: sashimi ahi, salad and miso soup
Dinner: shrimp, grilled chicken salad and steamed broccoli

Sunday:
Breakfast: spinach, bacon and mushroom omelet w/ fruit and coffee
Lunch: skipping lunch because having early dinner w/ neighbor
Dinner: lots of BBQ food w/ eyes and a soul.