I also have to plan what I will eat when I go out so that I am prepared with snacks or food options. Experts in nutrition recommend bringing your lunch and snacks if you are trying to eat healthier. So it seems that would be a given in any "diet." My OB actually said she brings her lunch on most days because she has more control over eating healthy. She is able to balance her nutrients and her portion size.
But in reality, this challenge is not as difficult as I may have made it seem. There are ways to simplify the recipes so that they are less time consuming and even less expensive. Taking a little time on the weekends to prepare things we need for the week can go a long way when we are just too tired to do a lot of cooking after work. For those who like quick snacks, you can actually buy Primal and Paleo snack packs. Two online places to buy them are Steve's Original and Primal Pacs (if you are limiting or watching salt content you may want to go easy on these though). Also, Trader Joe's has almonds in small little serving bags that can be used easily. I think the point is that it is all very doable, it just takes a little practice.
As for the actual eating part, it hasn't been extremely difficult for me to not eat certain foods. I don't really crave them very much because I know I could eat them if I really wanted to. As I read in some of the books, there is a kind of momentum that builds and after awhile you don't want those foods (at all or as much) anymore.
Today, for breakfast I had 2 eggs scrambled and some apple slices. For a snack I actually just had a spoonful of almond butter (not the best snack but time effective). For lunch I planned on having Salmon Rolls (Everyday Paleo, 199) which involve salmon (canned), zucchini and some spices. I realized that I didn't have a mandoline, nor did I know what one was. I guess it is something that can slice things thinly-like the zucchini that I needed. So I modified the recipe and just chopped the zucchini and mixed it in with the salmon and the mix. It was still tasty. We will be looking into getting a mandoline though, because this would be a great recipe to take to school for lunch. It was easy to make and filling.
For dinner we made a Red Curry Beef Stew (Everyday Paleo, 165) in the slow cooker with some Thai red curry paste and sweet potatoes and cabbage. Scott prepped the veggies and I put everything in when it was time. Well, actually my mom helped with the very raw stew meat-yuck!. I will have to get better with the whole raw meat issue. Overall, it was such an easy meal for us to make. A couple hours after everything was in it smelled soooo yummy in our house. My mouth was watering and
I couldn't wait for it to be ready. We didn't know what to expect because neither Scott nor I had tried Thai red curry paste before. Turns out, you couldn't really taste it. The recipe said to half it if you didn't want as much of a kick. So I did. We probably didn't need to. We ended up putting the Thai red curry paste on the side and kind of dunked the meat in a little to get the taste. Scott really liked the sauce and said he will use it for a lot of things in the future. I thought it was OK. Scott also sauteed some spinach and mushrooms with some lemon pepper and garlic. That was incredibly yummy.
I am looking forward to Valentine's Day tomorrow!
