My Paleo Pilgrimage
I went Primal…
One year ago if you had asked me to go on the Paleo/Primal/Caveman “diet” I would have laughed. Not only because I was 8.5 months pregnant, but I couldn’t even imagine myself making the changes I thought the diet required. Fast forward to February of this year: I was cleared for exercise after delivering another handsome baby boy, and I was determined to lose the baby weight and then some. It was also nine months until my big 3-0 birthday, and eleven months until I was celebrating the marriage of a close friend on the beaches of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Motivation? YES!
Soon after his sixth week, we started to notice that my son was having quite a few stomach issues. I started to eliminate things such as dairy and grains, and soon after we noticed a big difference in his attitude and tummy issues. I also noticed an improvement in my stomach problems, not that I had many, but I felt “lighter” already. Did I mention that I LOVED milk and bread?!? It was rough for a few weeks.
After a multitude of requests from our readers, I finally proposed to take on testing and researching what the Paleo/Primal/Caveman diet and lifestyle really was all about. And could it really be freezer friendly? After all, how hard could it be when I was half way already with the eliminations I was making for my son. I was able to finally get the books from the library, and I was instantly hooked. My preconceived notions of having to actually go out and eat only what I could hunt and gather were out the door. Granted, I have a garden, and we are a hunting family, but my thumb is far from green, and game isn’t easy to get!
I created the May Mini Menu and soon realized there are many options out there for my whole family to enjoy. Not just mock favorites, but new ones that were simple and so delicious! I began to really start to dig deeper and deeper. I started to follow some bigger paleo blogs and a few smaller ones to help gain more knowledge. I soon became hooked and found so many new favorites to fill my pantry and refrigerator. Almond flour for regular flour. Arrowroot for cornstarch. Looking at breakfast as a fuel meal as opposed to an out the door quick fix. The question, “what starch can we have with this meal?” turned into, “what other sides can we create and enjoy?”
The pounds started to fall off. My husband started to notice a big difference in his stomach issues and energy levels, and he began to lose weight at a healthy rate. Was I working out? Yes, but with little to no sleep, working full time out of the home, working on a blog, being a doula, a mother, and a wife – my time was very limited. I found myself really enjoying the at home CrossFit type of workouts. They are under 25 minutes and can be done with little to no equipment. Again, I was and still am not working out anywhere but my home or small office gym. And I’m lucky if I get three days of workouts in. I attribute 90% of the weight loss to my diet and lifestyle choices.
We went to bat again with the September Mini Menu, and again you raved and begged for more.
Well we have news…starting in January, we will be adding a Paleo Menu to our monthly menus. Yes a new FULL Paleo Menu EVERY month! I would highly encourage you start your membership soon as we will have some fantastic holiday deals coming your way.
And as you can see from the photos above, I have results I can be proud of. And yes that is my son Marcus, “photobombing”. I have energy even when my baby still isn’t sleeping longer than 3.5 hour stretches. I find myself snacking on almonds, cashews, and macadamia nuts. Yes I’ve had “cheat” moments. Yes I still feel like I have work to do to be where I really want to be. I like the 85/15 rule outlined in The Paleo Diet because it works for me, but I still make real food choices. Most importantly it’s not a diet that I will crash from. It’s not a system I have to pay someone to teach me. It’s a lifestyle change that is working for me.
I love my body more than I ever have, and at 30 years young, I say that’s an accomplishment in itself.
awesome!!! great work – I did Paleo for about a month (and LOVED it) and lost 2 dress sizes, then got pregnant (oops) and fell off the wagon since anything healthy just wouldn’t stay down or make it past my thoughts… but hope to get back to it soon – having these meal offerings will make it much easier!
Congrats Jennifer! Yes babies are a side effect of looking and feeling good. :)
Thank you. I am excited to hear of monthly Paleo menus. I do Paleo and use local CSAs and farmers’ markets in the northeast. I tried the September menu but not the other as I need to stay with in season produce. I joined OAMM in October and have not seen Paleo since. I was on the verge of canceling my membership but now I will hang in there until next year.Yay!
Thanks for hanging in there with us Marlice!! We promise we won’t disappoint.
I’ve been holding off on the membership too waiting for Paleo. If your site will join forces with the Paprika app, I’d be sold, signed, delivered lol.
We won’t be joining forces with Paprika, but soon our site will be even better than that!
I am so excited about this! Seriously, I have been waiting and hoping for months!!! The timing is perfect.
Two things, how far apart were the before and after pictures taken?
And seriously, I did sign up to be a tester and am hoping to hear back but THIS is the one I want to test for. I would love to test the Paleo recipes for January. :) Just making sure you know that.
Thank you for offering this. Have I mentioned that I am excited and thrilled?
~Tan
Tandy thank you! The first picture was taken end of February the second was just last Thursday, roughly 8.5 months. And sign up again we’ll add you to the list! http://onceamonthmom.com/become-a-once-a-month-mom-test-kitchen/
Done and seriously, GREAT JOB! It’s not easy, I know!
YAY! you go girl. i’m so excited for the paleo menus. i’ve been waiting you girls to do one regularly. I had my son a year ago and still working on getting rid of the baby weight and I know that paleo/primal is really what works best for me. what a great way to start the new year!!
Woohoo! I went paleo and dropped my OAMM sub after the first month. Now I can’t wait to come back!
Oh, you made my day!!!! I have gone primal a few weeks ago and was so sad that I couldn’t use this site so well any longer! I can’t wait for January now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
Yay I am so excited been Paleo since Sept and been patiently waiting for OAMM to go too!!!!
This is really great news! I am not living a total Paleo lifestyle, but have incorporated the concepts into my everyday choices. I am really looking forward to the menus! Thank you!
I am so excited about this!!! I’ll be joining on Cyber Monday.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! We are so excited for this!!! We are a Primal Household and I just joined this site last week. I have two toddlers and new baby on the way, due in Feb, and needed a way to keep up with the meals. I am so thankful to be able to stick to our Primal/Paleo lifestyle!! I lost a ton of weight after my second baby on the Primal diet but more than that I felt SO MUCH better. I am totally excited for this!!
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Thank you so much! I am so excited to check out the Paleo Menu Plans! I am also pregnant and looking for Paleo freezer meals for when the baby comes. Yay!!!!
I joined OAMM solely because of the promised paleo menu. I am sooo excited for it!
I started Crossfit in July 2012, and I was putting in at LEAST 5 to 7 hour long training classes a week and I wasn’t getting the results I was looking for. I realized it was my stubborn food habits of eating processed junk that has been preventing me from the results I deserve. I’m VERY EXCITED to start my membership with OAMM and I’m going to kick it off with the Paleo Mini menu from September. I think you have an amazing niche market to tap into with Crossfit gyms around the world, whose members would truly benefit from this program. So THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for adding the Paleo menus to your monthly programming!
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I’ve been wanting try the Paleo lifestyle, but have been hesitant as a busy working mom. I was feeling overwhelmed with all of the cooking required, and meal planning. The idea of no longer being able to fall back on boxed snacks and other short cuts is intimidating…but I just happend to come across your site and the Paleo menu. What a relief! Now that I see your photos (amazing!) and have your menus I am encouraged more than ever. I start today! Thanks for all your hard work!!!
Way to make a girl tear up! You can do it! I promise it does get hard at times but you push through and the results are worth it.