Paleo

Back in the good ol' days of my blog (when we lived in Korea) I used to blog about everything we did. Almost on a daily basis. I credit this to having only 1 or 2 children and having a house cleaner who did my laundry every week. Also, the fact that I did not have a car most days. I had a lot more free time on my hands and I kick myself every time I think about it for not taking more advantage of that time. Okay, maybe that's the wrong word. I kick myself for not appreciating it at the time.
But, here in America our schedules are busy and my time is a little more limited. (I'm plus one kid and down one house cleaner.) I used to especially look forward to something BIG to talk about. You know, any kind of big changes.
Now, I look at something BIG and think. Ugh, that's going to be a long post. I don't want to get into it tonight.
But, I've held off long enough and ready to talk about the fact that we made a big change in our lives this year.

We went Paleo.

I'm sure most of you have at least heard of the Paleo diet, or caveman diet by now. It seems to be in style these days and I'm totally getting why. Our whole family has been Paleo for about 10 weeks now, and we've never felt better.
It all started with our friends Bob and Karen who had started Paleo several months back and lent Cory the book The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolfe.

I hadn't been completely convinced because I hadn't read anything about it. To me it sounded like the old Atkins Diet (Not healthy!) and I wasn't interested in reading anymore about it. I wasn't motivated to diet, and I just wanted to eat chips and salsa for the rest of my life thankyouverymuch.

One night when Cory was reading the book, he was reading a particular chapter and woke me up to read it. Whoa, let's back up here. NO one WAKES ME UP unless there is blood, or puke, or someone is on fire. Otherwise, I am OFF LIMITS. And Cory knows this. So in retrospect, I have to realize how important he thought this was, so important that he woke me up to read a chapter of a book I didn't care about.
 And It was like Robb Wolfe was describing Clay.
I'm sure all of you know the trouble we've had with Clay. He has no serious diagnoses, but he has a sensitive and mysterious gut that has lead to numerous procedures, several hospitalizations, minus a gallbladder and years of his life spent in gastrointestinal agony. If you want to read about Clay's previous GI issues you can basically search my archives for anything I wrote from 2009-2010. We thought we had it all figured out  last spring when he was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. But as the fall approached in 2012, he started to get worse again and had recently started choking and not being able to swallow his food. (This is a brand new symptom he's never had before.) We were in the process of getting a new GI referral, but specialists in the state of CA take 3-4 months for new patients. So at the time, we were looking for SOMETHING to do to help Clay so he could eat.

This chapter that Cory was reading was it. This person he was describing was Clay. And I remember the last part of the chapter was something a long the lines of, "...If let to continue the person may even began having trouble swallowing. They may begin to choke at meals as swallowing becomes difficult."  And it was like he had described Clay's symptoms to a T for the entire chapter and then culminated with his brand new symptom. It felt like maybe this guy was worth a shot.
The next morning I spent all morning online researching the Paleo diet and if it was possible or even advisable for kids to be on it. The first thing that scared me (and I'm sure any adult) is the word "DIET". I don't need to put my kid on a diet. He has a hard enough time keeping the weight on. But as I read on....this "diet" has nothing to do with restricting calories or losing weight. It has to do with the quality of the food you consume.
When Cory came home from work, I still wasn't head over heels convinced that this way of eating was "better" or if this way of eating was even sustainable for a family of 5. I'd heard it was really expensive and it's not like we live in a booming metropolis with lots of fresh meat and produce choices. I didn't even know if we could make it work. But I thought that for Clay, we at least owed it to him to give it a try. What if this relieved even some of his symptoms? Didn't I owe it to him to give it a shot?
And so that's what we did. We gave it a shot for 30 days (This is how long Robb Wolf suggests giving it a go) and we never turned back.
I don't even care or know if I believe we were made to eat 'like cavemen'. That doesn't concern me at all. All I know is that Clay has had remarkable improvement and I have never felt better.

I'm going to write an entire post just dedicated to my transformation with switching to Paleo, (along with some examples of what we eat during the day) but I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is. But let me tell you. I've noticed more changes than I ever thought I would. And the best results aren't even the pounds lost. It's my mental state. It's my energy. I can't wait to tell you about it.

Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday was actually a few weeks ago and my parents, in laws and husband all gave me great gifts. Gift cards! I actually LOVE gift cards. I am indecisive and hard to fit clothes wise. So I love being able to have a gift card to pay for the *thing* when I find it! It's the gift that keeps on giving. Because I forget about it until I think, 'Eh, I shouldn't buy this. I should save the money." Then I remember, "But, I have a gift card, yay!"

But here's my predicament. I have all these gift cards (they are almost all generic, meaning I could use them anywhere.) but I can't decide what to use them for. It's not even what item I should use them for. But what kind of purchase I should use them for.

Like, should I go out and buy something really nice. Something I probably wouldn't buy at all. Maybe a nice purse? Maybe a nice dress from the full price clothes rack? If I buy something expensive and luxurious, I'll probably only be able to buy that one item.
Orrr, do I go to someplace like Target and buy several items, but not as good quality? Which do I want? One really nice thing? Or a few still kinda nice things?

Should I go in search of these items without having something in mind that I really want? I'm not 'in the market' for anything in particular right now. There's nothing that I've been thinking, "Oh, I really want that I just don't have the money." Or should I wait until I happen upon something I really, really want.
I think that's one thing I'm afraid of. That I'll spend it on something nice but nothing I had planned on actually buying. But then a week later, I'll find something I feel like I can't live without and be mad at myself.

Should I spend it on things for the house? I've been wanting to switch over to glass 'tupperware' and I want some canisters for spices and bulk items. I need some new spatulas, or I could get a dehydrator!
Or do I spend it on fun things like clothes, shoes and sunglasses?

I know, I know, what a horrible problem to have right?