Week 2-3

Hey sis! That's great news! That's a significant drop in your A1C in such a short period of time, great job. With that said, I'm sure you can make even more progress on that. I'm no doctor, but if you stick to Paleo, and keep the cheating to a minimum, I have to believe you'll achieve that 4-6 range at your next checkup, so keep up the good work!

Anyways, the diet has been going pretty good for me as well. I've continued to feel really good, and have had no complications whatsoever. Energy levels have been high, and post-workout recovery has been above average.

Okay, now on to the meat and potatoes of this post... I wanted to share some of the really important things I've learned over the past two weeks. I'm actually quite amazed at how much learning, time, and effort this diet takes, however, I feel like I've finally begun to "get it." I've slowly crafted a basic weekly shopping list, put together some recipes I really like, and now have a decent camera to take pictures of some of my food :)

Also, my biggest stumbling block, breakfast, has been all but defeated. I've learned that apples and organic peanut butter, OR an ice and almond-milk fruit smoothie is really all my body needs to get through the first 2 hours of the day. This knowledge was vitally important for me because I was getting so sick of eggs, bacon, and the like, so this has really opened up some new breakfast avenues for me.

So, here's my basic weekly shopping list I put together, as I thought it might give you some ideas...

FRUITS

1. Frozen berries – 1 mixed bag

2. Apples – 1 bag

3. Fruit/vegetable puree (large bottle)

4. Lemon/lime/orange – 1 each

VEGETABLES

1. Organic spinach – 1 container

2. Sweet potatoes – 3 individual

3. Baby carrots – 1 bag organic

4. Cucumbers – 1 large organic

5. Tomatoes – 2 large organic

6. Onion – 1 white, 1 red

7. Green/yellow/red peppers – 1 each

HERBS

1. Sage

2. Basil

3. Oregano

4. Thyme

5. Flat leaf parsley

SNACKS/DIPS/SAUCES

1. Vegetable chips – 2 bags

2. Hummus with pine nuts (add my olive oil) – 2 containers

3. 1 container Prego type natural tomato sauce

4. Organic peanut butter

MEATS

1. 2-3 Natural chicken breasts

2. 1lb Laura’s lean beef

3. 1-2 Whitefish filets

4. 8-12oz Natural steak

OTHER

1. Almond milk – 1 large container (unsweetened)

2. Organic eggs – 1 dozen

Lastly, here's a little picture of my lunch today. Spinach salad with blueberries, strawberries, and pecans, yummy :)