How to fill your plate

I'm going to start this off by saying two words - EAT MORE.

You saw the pictures in my previous post of my Saturday breakfast and dinner, and I'm sure that is the equivalent of a day and a half worth of eating for some of you.

We've replaced grains and pasta with greens and other vegetables. And instead of 220 calories and 45g of carbs from 1c of cooked brown rice, we're trying to fill that 'calorie/carb deficit' with broccoli and kale. Sound impossible? It's not.

Remember, we're looking to remove sugar as our body's primary source of fuel, and start utilizing fat for fuel. Additionally, fat is not evil! Don't be afraid of full-fat coconut milk or a little extra dab of EVOO. It's not the 1990's and Snackwell's aren't on the shelves anymore (or are they??). We are eating real food... real, delicious food, that is full of vitamins and minerals and everything that is good for you. Nothing you are eating is bad. If we're going to use fat as fuel, you need to eat fat.

So now that that's out in the open, how do we eat to stay full?

1. Focus on the Big 3 - BLD (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
**But I've been told to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my blood sugar levels up and metabolism in check??

MYTH - What causes those up/down crashes throughout the day? Sugar! We're eliminating sugar so we shouldn't have those highs and lows throughout the day. Hungry? Snickers bar (bad); veggies and guac (better); tuna and avocado with celery (best).

2. Start each meal with your protein, preferably from an animal source.
- How much? Palm size, which is roughly 3-4oz. Hungry? Eat more.

3. Fill up on veggies
- How much? How much can you stomach to eat?? Use 3c as a baseline.
**Now think about that cup of rice at 220 cal and 45g carbs. The equivalent (1c) in broccoli would be 85 cal and 9g carb ---> 5 cups of broccoli. How hungry are you?? So I think 3 a good place to start, but if you're hungry, enjoy your veggies. Skip over veggies like celery and ice burg lettuce as they have little nutritional value compared to that of kale or brussels sprouts.

4. Fat!
- Here's where fat is good for you. Fat helps keep you satiated. It's that 'full' feeling so you're not eating every 2-3 hours.

- How much? Shoot for 1-2T for oils, butters; handful (closed!) for nuts/seeds; and up to a full avocado.


What does that look like?


**Drawing is for sale.



My usual breakfast looks like this - whole green pepper, 1/4c onion, small yellow squash, handful of grape tomatoes scrambled with 3 eggs and half an avocado with some spices. It fills my entire plate and *usually* holds me over until lunch at noon. I could probably go for another egg and a little more avocado, but on most days this is plenty.


The point of paleo is to get away from 'grazing' throughout the day; mindless eating. Your meals should be satisfying so you're able to go 4-5 hours without eating. Yes, I still snack from time to time, but I'm really trying to get away from it. On most days I workout after work, so I have a late afternoon snack that's more like a pre-workout meal to make sure I have a little fuel in the tank.


This is a long process, folks, which is why it's a 7 week challenge and not some 'get slim quick' scam. We're going to have ups and downs, hunger pangs, headaches, restless nights, etc, but it comes with the territory. It's what happens when change happens. This is a HUGE shock to they system and the body needs time to adjust. So give it time.

You may/may not know that your body really doesn't tolerate dairy products, or that acid reflux (gone?) was a result of eating rice everyday. We won't know until we remove that 'stressor' from our diet. After the challenge you can gradually add foods back in to see if there are any adverse affects (Yes? No?) and hopefully be able to stay paleo 80/20% of the time. And use your spreadsheet and add notes so you have something to reference if you're having a rough day.

I'm hoping to have a video posted tomorrow and will continue to add pictures to the blog so you can see (and critique) what I eat. Keep checking the Recipe documents as at one new recipe is posted every day.