How I did it:     My husband really helped with this goal when he decided to start eating Paleo. The Paleo diet consists of fruit, veggies (except for potatos), nuts and lean protein. As a result I started cooking Paleo dinners, which was the easiest part b/c I just substituted any starch for extra servings of salad or veggies. After doing this for a little while I read The Paleo Diet and decided to start eating lunch and breakfast Paleo style as well. Now when I am hungry my brain tells me to go staright for a piece of fruit which has never really happended before this diet. Because I have eliminated so much else from my diet I have no problem meeting the 5 recommended servings of fruit and veggies per day.
    I feel so much better and did not even realize it unless I stray from the diet. You are allowed to have "cheat" meals 1 to 3 times per week, so there is reasonably straying allowed, that is one meal almost every other day. After those cheat meals, that contain refined sugars or wheat products I feel gross. I tried to think of a better adjective, but gross really captures the feeling. Its a combination of being sluggish, slow, bloated, etc.
    This diet is also a large part of Crossfit culture and since joining that gym it has become much easier to keep the motivation to stick with it.

Lessons & tips:

• Give yourself time - I started with dinner and then was able to fit in more fruit/veggies throughout the day after I had gotten used to making healthy dinners.
• Double (or triple) the size of the portions you cook for dinner (I cook for 2 so making bigger meals is an easy fix).  Immediately save half (or a third) for lunch or dinner the next day or two. That way when I am too tired to make something there is a good chance that something is already made in the fridge that I can eat.
• Eat protein at breakfast to keep your hunger satisfied all day long
• I use normal recipes and just modify the best I can b/c we still eat vinegar and what not to make delicious sauces even though vinegar is not considered Paleo. 
• grocery shop twice a week (grocery shopping takes less than 30 minutes b/c you are pretty much only in the produce section)

Resources:

• The Paleo Diet
• Marksdailyapple.com
• Paleodiet.com
• Crossfit.com blogs & Crossfit gyms

Aug 17, 2009, 02:27PM PDT | 1 comment | 15 cheers