Paleo: Month 1 Overview

Weight loss: 

January 5th: 216.8 lbs

February 2nd: 207.0 lbs

Rest days: 10 of 28 days

Exercised: 18 of 28 days

I think it's fair to note the food items that I still consume that aren't Paleo:

-85% dark chocolate sweetened with sugar

-A tablespoon or so of 1/2 and 1/2 every day in my coffee

-Cheat times: I ate two chocolate chip cookies on January 11th, and a brownie on the 16th

BEFORE: Nuts, cheese, fruit, and 85% dark chocolate for snacks at work between meals.

AFTER: Mostly veggies and some fruit between meals. 

BEFORE: Hair dry and wouldn't hold curl for more than 2 hours.

AFTER: Hair shiny and healthy looking, will hold minimal curl for days.

BEFORE: Dinner plate would be 1/4 meat, 1/2 'healthy' starch, and 1/4 veggies.

AFTER: Dinner plate is 1/2 meat and 1/2 veggies.

BEFORE: Never noticed being dizzy

AFTER: Dizzy/black out multiple times during the day for a second at a time. Normally happens when I bend over and stand up quickly. 

BEFORE: Healthy snacking all day between meals, resulting in a lower caloric intake at meal time.

AFTER: No snacking between meals, but eating same amount of calories spread between three meals. (Note: I started this approach on week 4 of Paleo.)

BEFORE: Snacking on fruits and nuts after dinner for night-time snack.

AFTER: No eating after dinner or before breakfast the next day.  (Started on week 4)

BEFORE: Regular menstrual cycle.

AFTER: Menstrual cycle came twice in one month.

BEFORE: Painful bowel movements at times.

AFTER: Smooth moves! (No, not even with the help of Traditional Medicinal's)

BEFORE: Small breakfast, medium size lunch, and large dinner. (calorie-speaking)

AFTER: Even amount of calories/protein at each meal. 

BEFORE: $75 per week for groceries (for two of us, of course)

AFTER: $100 per week on average 

Thoughts to note:

• I have been pretty strict with staying on track with Paleo... mostly because I really wanted to dive in and make sure I have a realistic idea of the way this works with my lifestyle/body.
• It's been easier than I thought it would be, but I still have to remind myself daily that food will not control my life. 
• I've enjoyed making lots of new recipes, and not feeling bad about eating a lot of healthy food at each meal. 
• I'm going in another month at this, and I will be just as strict! However, I'm still not committed to make Paleo my lifestyle after month two. 
• February is now the beginning of month 12 of my strict weight-loss/health journey, and last month was certainly my most strict. I really stayed on track. Interestingly enough, I also lost the most amount of weight so far last month. Here's to reaching my weight loss goal of under 200 this month!!!!!

Yay for healthy hair!

 Note, the lower picture is also 3 days post-wash! 

September 2012           November 2012           February  2013