I've been pretty vocal about how much my life has improved since adopting a Paleolithic lifestyle. My overall health is probably better now than it has been most of my adult life. You can go back and read some of my personal health struggles in previous blog posts. I truly never imagined that I could live a life free of chronic pain and fatigue. My friends and family are happy for me too. They are also seeing changes in my children, which means whatever I'm doing is working, so keep doing it!!
I truly don't understand how friends or family members could not support something that so positively effects someone. But I read about it all the time, "I can't go to my in-laws because everything they eat is junk, and loaded with grains." "I can't go to the company picnic because no one understands how I eat and they think I'm a freak." Really?? Why can't people be more supportive?? I'm not saying everyone should move mountains for one persons lifestyle, but no one should be labeled a freak. And would we say that about someone who was anaphylactic to say, peanuts? I guess my point is, support for positive changes in someone's life should be supported and encouraged, rather than belittled and berated.
I'm super-duper thankful to my friends and family who have supported the changes in my life. I knew it would be hard to travel, eat away from home, have meals prepared by others and be semi-reliant on whatever food was available. I talked with our gracious hosts and my mother before our travels and discussed how we eat now, and hoped this could be somewhat accommodated, but we would eat whatever they felt comfortable serving us. I was assured by both parties that it would be no problem. Of course you don't always know what to expect.
I should have known that the people who love me and love my kids would make sure that our needs were met abundantly!!!
Sharon, our wonderful hostess, made sure that we had eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit for every breakfast. My kids, who are no strangers to helping me prepare food, jumped right in and helped her everyday with breakfast and meal prep. It is overwhelming to go from cooking for two people, to cooking for 8, but Sharon flew through it with ease!! The other meals we ate with them were deliciously "paleo" as well!! Ribs and chicken on the grill. Veggies. Fruits. And even a batch of my chunky monkey muffins!!! Yum!!
Since we were in KC for James' graduation, we had two events surrounding food for the weekend. One was James' open house, the other a large family meal with our extended family. Mom provided veggie trays, fruit trays, pickle trays and deli sandwich trays, along with the usual party fare of cake and ice cream. I was able to remove rolls from sandwiches and eat to my heart's content from the various trays. For our large meal, she had more trays as well as a large ham, salad and green beans. I do believe there was another non-paleo dish and rolls. And of course cake and ice cream. Another meal success!!
There was never a question if I, or my children, would be hungry, or have reactions to a bunch of grain laden food. My kids did overdo their 20% of cake and ice cream....but they are kids. I enjoyed a small piece of cake, no icing and no ice cream. I still live life. I still enjoy celebrations. I take my 80/20 very seriously. I eat about 98% most of the time, so I allow myself to splurge every once in awhile. And this was the time to do it!!
I will say that all my meals stayed on track over the course of those four days. I did have some alcohol over the weekend, and gas station coffee twice. When we got back home, we also went out for pizza and I ate regular pizza with my family. I'm glad to say that with the amount of healing my body (gut) has done over the past three months, I did not have any adverse reactions. I did gain 2 lbs, but that was gone again within a few days of being home. This truly says a lot about my health and where I'm at compared to a few short months ago! I don't intend on having splurges very often, as my goal is to maintain this good health, but it is refreshing to know that they 80/20 rule can apply to me.
Thank you again to our wonderful hosts, The Wilson's, and my mom and John, for all their efforts in feeding our family healthy delicious foods over those four days!!!
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