Passionately Paleo ....

Hi all! It has been such a long time since I have posted! I have kind of been reluctant to post again as it's really hard to know if anyone is actually reading it and it takes such a long time to write the posts and then edit them that I wasn't sure if it was worth the time. But I have been assured by a few people that yes there are some people still reading so even if there are only a few, I'll keep writing for you :) (plus the fact that I have really missed writing!) I have tried to put lots of different gadgets down the side of this blog so there are lots of different ways that you can follow me and/or comment on the posts. Ideally I would love to have some discussion regarding the things I post about, that was one of the main reasons I wanted to start blogging was to open up conversation to a larger (or smaller .... not fussy) group of people. You should be able to comment on the posts without having a google account, let me know if you can't :)

SO first things first ...........

Yes we did it! We got there! It was more like the Whole40 by the time we were finished but we made it! It's hard to know what to say about it, I know you all will probably want to know the "results" and this is where it gets a little bit tricky because my personal results are fully individual to me. They are things that I am really excited about but in saying that I think that they might not be appealing or "wow" enough for everybody to think that it's worth it! But with all that aside I want to share it with you guys because for me it's exciting .. still!! And life changing!

So let's get the weight thing out of the way ... I know it's what your all thinking so I'll deal with that first! Yes I did loose weight. I had decided in the last week that I wouldn't weigh myself because I've felt so great throughout the 30 days, felt great about myself and my self image, I knew I had lost weight because I could see it and just generally it wasn't about loosing weight but it's always there at the back of my mind, a little crouching goblin just waiting to pounce. But I gave in, I wanted to know, on the last day I weighed myself. And I was happy, so it's okay! And no, I'm not going to share my lose because there are far greater things I got out of the Whole30 and I've already spent enough time talking about weight.

So my favourite thing that happened while we were doing the Whole30 was that we did it together! I am so proud of my family! They all made such a huge effort to stick to it and try to understand why we are doing it. Even my little 3 year old! When we go to the supermarket instead of asking for things, he asks if everything has sugar in it and when I say yes he'll put it back. (It can sometimes be just as tedious having little man asking if EVERYTHING has sugar in it but beggars can't be choosers!) The kids tell everyone they meet about it and were so awesome, facing school days and lunch orders, birthdays and parties, they got through so many tempting situations, I am one very proud mummy! I love that my kids want to know about their health!

Other things that I got from the Whole30 was healthier habits, e.g. eating together at meal times at the table, don't have the need to snack anymore, don't have cravings. I also think my cooking skills are starting to improve, now that I'm more comfortable with what we can and can't have, it's easier to be a bit more creative. There have been a few occasions since finishing up the Whole30 where I have thought, stuff it, can't be bothered, let's get take away! And I just can't bear to go through with it! That's what's really amazed me is just how powerful knowing your body and being a little more educated about food can be. I feel equipt now to deal with life and food. It is a really great feeling that I'm having trouble describing but I guess it's just that food doesn't have a hold on me like it used to! And that's the life changing results that has made it all worth the while. I have no doubt I will do the Whole30 quite regularly although we are still living a paleo lifestyle, just a little less strict. 

So that's it! I couldn't have ever imagined being happy living without cheese and bread and pasta and rice and chocolate but right now, I couldn't care less about those things right now. We eat lots of yummy food! And I know I'll probably eat these things again at some stage and when I do I'm going to enjoy it and not regret it! And I believe that's what being healthy is about, enjoying the food you eat and never feeling guilty :) I have become very passionately Paleo! I'd love to hear what everyone else is "passionately", even if it's "passionately chocolate" or "passionately sleeping" (That may be me as well actually), "passionately dogs" or "passionately swimming"! I love to hear about people being passionate regardless!

Last week was my Bella's 5th birthday! Big five and oh so beautiful! We finished the Whole30 the day before her birthday so it was a real celebration! She asked if we could have real sushi (with rice in it as apposed to the riceless sushi we've been eating throughout the whole30 :)) so that was our special treat for her birthday and the rest was "technically" Paleo! 

We had a super duper tasty (If I may say so!!) Chocolate, Coconut & Raspberry Cake - recipe from, Paleo Spirit with a few minor changes :) It was so moist and decadent and just plain yumminess! We also had special birthday pancakes - recipe from, Mark's Daily Apple. I just made these again yesterday and all I used was bananas and eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla and put it into the blender so they were really smooth and fluffy, and then served them with healthy Chocolate and Raspberry Ice Cream (will post recipe soon) and .... whoa .... amazingness on a plate!! So impressed that healthy can be so yummy and satisfying!! 

All the food stuff aside, at this stage in my life I am looking at self developing! I am loving finding things that I am passionate about and I want to continue along this journey, it's a very exciting time! I just recently attended a MOPS conference (for those of you who don't know, MOPS stands for Mothers Of PreSchoolers), where MOPs leaders from all around the state come together to learn and be inspired. It was such an awesome time of rest and learning and late night chats and fun with these awesome girls ....

I feel very blessed to be a part of MOPS, to be challenged to grow and learn and develop skills, and then to be able to see all of these amazing mums growing as well, it's such an amazing group! I am very much looking forward to the next chapter of MOPS! (And yes, look they gave us microphones and let us stand on stage!! haha ... suckers)

Well that's me for now! Please comment and let me know that your reading and what parts you like about the blog (please don't tell me the bits you don't like cause, well, honestly, I'm pretty vulnerable and emotional and I will take it personally! LOL! No really .... I don't want to know! :p)

Happy Thursday Y'all :D