Day 17: Just Breathe

As you may have noticed, some days in this Paleo Challenge have been more exciting than others food wise. I think this is pretty realistic in that I am looking to take Paleo living from this challenge to my everyday life. When I go back to work, we are not going to spend as much time on recipes and "special" meals. We will probably do a lot more basic foods throughout the week and leave the special high ingredient/time things for the weekend. Because of the challenge, we will have plenty of "go to" meals that have already been tried out.

In researching information on both Paleo and Primal lifestyles, I have found that both focus heavily on controlling insulin levels and reducing inflammation. Stress can affect insulin levels as well as blood pressure and other things so I have been trying to focus on reducing my stress. Here is a link with further information on stress : The Definitive Guide to Stress, Cortisol and the Adrenals. There are many more out there. As I find ones I like I will share them.

One super easy stress relief technique I recently learned by watching Dr. Weil on the Dr. Oz show is the 4-7-8 breathing method. I have found that this is one thing that has helped me immensely in getting a hold of my anxiety levels and reducing the stress response. Some breathing methods take a long time, a quiet, place, and are very complex. This is just the opposite. There are also 2 other breathing exercises that he explains on his site. I just had to share this. Let me know what you think!

Above is the video with Dr. Weil demonstrating 4-7-8 breathing. I also linked to his site where you can see a written explanation. If you try it let me know what you think! Better yet, try it at least twice a day for a week.

Breakfast: Sausage hash and leftover steamed veggies

Lunch: Green salad with deli meat (gluten free Applegate Farms turkey from Trader Joe's, fresh beets (love beets-you can buy them in ready to eat packages). Steamed veggies, mango. Check out some benefits of beets.

Snack: Canned tuna and cantaloupe, raisins for a later afternoon snack (tiny serving)

Dinner: Pecan Chicken (Everyday Paleo, 43). I know we have already done this one once but it is just SO easy! The recipe only used 4 ingredients (Chicken breast, pecans, honey or agave if you want, and spicy brown mustard).

Dessert: Baked Apples (Everyday Paleo, 209). These were pretty good. We baked apples with some chopped pecans and spices as well as some shredded coconut. The kids shared on for dessert. They weren't in love with the pecans in the filling, but they liked the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) There are so many things you can do with this idea to make it your own and tasty. Before I went Paleo, Scott would even put chocolate chips, peanut butter, caramel on top. This can be a fun thing to make on a camping trip, just wrap in foil and put over the fire. Yum! Reminds me of summer. Can't wait!