Okay, so don't really need convincing anymore, that living primal (paleo) is the one ultimate way to live your life. I know, conventional wisdom would disagree, and I know that vegetarians would disagree even more. But well, I've done my homework. I read a number of books, worked myself through a number of studies, observed the world around me... and well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand, that the Paleo movement is good and right and here to stay. Go ahead and disagree with me all you want. :)
Of course, actually living this lifestyle with all the temptations all around you can be a bit of a challenge every now and then. And this weekend I got a taste of just how nasty these temptations are for the human body (specifically MY body!)
Saturday night my/our homeschooling learning center had its big yearly fundraiser. What a blast. Talented children performing their acts, trivia games, raffles, finger foods and wine made this evening a smashing success. I managed to eat things that are actually allowed... fruit, veggies, just a spoonful of hummus, and some smoked salmon. And I had three glasses of wine. The wine left me happy and tipsy, but not drunk.
Saturday night I slept kinda so so, but woke up fairly rested.
And then came Sunday. I drove my husband to the airport, then stopped by IKEA, where my kids begged for a number of different sweet treats. And of course, since I also love all of these treats, I bought them all. No need to point out how dumb that was of me, thank you very much.
After IKEA we drove into downtown Portland and had lunch at Kells, our favorite Irish pub. I ordered Chicken Curry (cooked with coconut milk and dried cranberries, so still harmless, right?) over French fries. Why yes, of course, they're Irish, so no rice. What a feast! I enjoyed every bite of it. It was incredibly delicious. My children insisted on having bread pudding for dessert. SURE!! Have some!! As a matter of fact, let ME have some too!!!
You see where this is going, yes? Back home we did a little clean up around the house. And then of course it was time for a snack. I had TWO different pieces of candy from IKEA. And I'm not talking two small pieces of chocolate or something like that. I'm talking a total calorie count of about 500 calories. (Are you gasping yet?) What a trip! By dinner time I felt pretty darn miserable. I ate some meat and a couple of tomatoes, drank a ton of water in hopes of cleansing my body with it. (Yes, you may now make fun of me...)
I hit the sack around 10:30... woke up every couple of hours or so, tossing and turning. Woke up at 5:45, which is pretty much my usual wake up time. In my foggy brain I debated whether or not to get up and go to the gym. And finally a voice of reason (where has it been all weekend?) reminded me that if I didn't work out today, I would probably end up being miserable all day. I dragged my sorry self to the gym. I was just picking up some weights when Dave (a guy who also works out every morning) approached me and noticed that I looked tired today. I looked in the mirror... and boy, was he right. Big bags under my reddish eyes, and looking kinda pale.
Yep, I looked like shit, only Dave was nice enough not to put it that way. Back home I made myself some eggs with spinach and drank a big cup of water. I'm back on track, and that's a good thing. Who knew that after just a few (9) weeks of living this way, one weekend of the wrong foods could throw me off like this. And what's worse, I used to feel like this pretty much all the time, and thought it was normal. Welcome to the real world SLF... isn't it so much better???
