Modifiied Paleo: A recap of my first week

  • Posted on: 4 August 2015
  • By: jessica

Hi all! Thanks for stopping in. This week I felt motivated to switch over from 80/20 "clean eating" to 95/5 "modified paleo" and journal the challenges and victories with my readers! To give you a little background, I usually eat a clean diet 80% of the time and eat out, enjoying whatever I like 20% of the time. This eating plan this week specifically excluded sugar and gluten.

Typical day

Breakfast: Smoothie

1/4 cup yogurt
2 handfuls frozen fruit
8 ounces Coconut water
1 small banana

Lunch: Salad & Kombucha

Bed of lettuce
1 can tuna
2 tablespoons whole fat greek yogurt
1 carrot
1 radish
apple cider vinegar 1 tsp

Dinner: Roast

Grass fed beef roast
1 sweet potato
3 carrots
4 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
various seasonings to taste
1/2 box bone broth and equal amount water

Snacks

Soft boiled pasture raised, local eggs
Handful cashews
4 Coco-Roons 

Every day was a little different, but stuck to a lot of the same concept. Whole fat dairy, pastured eggs and meat, a lot of fruits and vegetables, 1 (occasionally 2) glasses of wine a night and a very limited amount of coconut sugar or maple syrup. I am writing this on Day 5 and I can finally say that I feel 90% less bloated than I did before starting this plan. I feel that my thinking is more clear. I feel that my emotions are more stable than when I started. But, that was not the case on days 1-4. Here is how those days were.

Day 1: Sugar cravings like crazy, but no apparent physical issues.

Day 2: Random sharp headaches throughout the day, bread cravings like mad!

Day 3: Anger, Sadness, Anxiety (withdrawel symptoms, I'm assuming) sugar and bread cravings. Headaches, slight cold and flu symptoms. Major bloating. Constipation.

Day 4: Extreme cold and flu symptoms. Headache all day. Slight anger, but better than previous days. Major bloating. 

Day 5: Constipation gone. Cold and flu symptoms gone. Bloating gone (better than it has been in almost a year!!!!) Anger gone. Cravings almost entirely gone. Emotional state improved more than previous 4 days and better than normal eating also. 

My overall experience was difficult, overwhelming at times, but very rewarding at the end. I experienced clarity of mind and less bloating than I have in a very long time. 

How will this effect my eating for the future? I haven't completely decided yet. I try to live an 80/20 lifestyle most of the time. (80% of the time healthy and clean, 20% of the time whatever is convenient), but after this 95/5 experience, I may increase my healthy food intake on a daily basis and limit my sugar and gluten to almost never. The results seem very worth it to me. 

I hope my experience has been helpful to you, wherever you are in your food journey. No matter what foods you choose to include or exclude, always listen to your body! Everyone is different and you have to do what is best for you. Have you ever tried a clean eating, modified paleo, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo or any other specific eating plan?

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Comments

This was very helpful to me. I try to eat clean most of the time, I can't really put a percentage on it at this time. I have heard of the paleo diet and have always been afraid to try it. I may incorporate some of these aspects into my eating habit; I feel it is worth a try. I will refer back to this post when I go to the grocery store. Thanks

Thanks, Tracie! I am really enjoying my journey and so glad to hear that this helped you! Tweet me if you ever have questions. I'll do my best to help! 

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