Going Paleo - Sort of

My sister is a health coach, or as she likes to put it, a whole life coach. She's been recommending for years to reduce or eliminate foods that are inflammatory -- namely gluten, dairy, and sugar. And like a good sister, I've been ignoring her for years. 😆

But recently, I've gained weight (mostly from the holidays, which led to bad habits), and I've been having a lot of indigestion. It's not fun! So for whatever reason, I've decided to try out her advice . . . at least temporarily. It's basically an adaptation of the paleo diet. For one month, I'm not going to eat any dairy, gluten, or sugar as well as no corn and not eating starchy foods too much, but still allowing them. I can also have naturally occurring sugar, like honey and maple syrup, but I'm going to try to limit those in the hopes that it reduces my sugar cravings.

Last week, starting on the first day of Lent, I started reducing my carb-intake. I'm hoping that will help reduce the shock my body will experience. This shock can lead to what people have termed the keto flu, but really all it is is your body thinking that because of the reduction of calories and your normal foods, there must be some sort of emergency that is causing you to starve. This causes your body to go into a reserve of sorts to try to prevent you from dying. Not only does it make you feel sick (headaches along with fatigue and possibly diarrhea), but it can cause you to lose hair because your body is reserving nutrients for essential functions.

So I figured if I decreased slowly, that would hopefully not happen. I also bought an electrolyte supplement, Keto K1000 Electrolyte Powder, which can help decrease issues caused by dehydration, which often happens when starting and possibly on a low-carb diet. I'm not exactly keto, but there is some overlap. I'm glad I did, though. Last Saturday night, I was feeling really headachy and drained. I drank some water with the electrolyte powder for the first time, and my symptoms were gone by morning. I know that some people have complained about the symptoms lasting a week, so I'm glad I had it to drink.

Yesterday was the first real day of eliminating all foods (dairy, gluten, and sugar). Wish me luck! I have a week of meals planned out (all three), since this really isn't a diet where you can just grab something quick or on the run. Last night I made my dinner (which will also be two of my lunches this week) and then I prepped my breakfast for this morning.

If you're curious what I made, it was Sausage, Peppers, and Onions over Curry-Spiced Quinoa from the pretty bee. It was pretty good! But it's a good thing that I am not low-carb. That quinoa is packed (along with a lot of healthy stuff too). For breakfast this morning, I had chaffles (non-cheese version) with an egg and bacon. I also tried oat milk for the first time. It was, um, oaty.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. I might even eventually be willing to post a before and after pic, but for now I think I'll keep the before pic to myself.

Practicing Writing with Your Preschooler/Kindergartner

My daughter, BR, is four years old and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. Unlike her two brothers, she wasn't able to go to preschool. With just six months till kindergarten starts, working with her on some basics will help her prepare, so she's not too overwhelmed when she gets there.  One way to work with her will be teaching her to write her name every day. Plus, it can help pass the time while her brothers are in school.

Creating Custom Printouts for Your Preschooler or Kindergartner to Trace

At KidZone.ws, you can create custom tracing papers that can be used for practicing writing. This is especially helpful if your child is still working on the basics of writing. Here you can choose block, script or cursive writing (which is great for your older kids) and you can type in exactly what you want, so you can create pages with your child's name on it (first and last) or whatever you want them to learn. 

Writing time will be included every day on the daily schedule. Hopefully this will be a fun activity for us to work on together.


What have you done to prepare your preschooler for kindergarten? I would love to hear your ideas.