DAY 89 – Defining Paleo

What is Paleo?

Since starting the 90 DAY Paleo Challenge I have tried to figure out what I can and what I can’t eat on this new diet. Whilst there are a lot of books available to purchase and many blogs and websites about the subject of Paleo – it is still very difficult to find a clear answers to my questions. The blog fitbomb explains it best for me!

Basically, Paleo is about eating mainly meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables. What Paleo excludes is anything that has been processed, cultivated, or sealed. Now that’s the simple way to understand Paleo.

For a more detailed understanding about Paleo, I would suggest watching this youtube link to Robb Wolf’s explanation about the diet.

On DAY 89 of the 90 Day Paleo Challenge, I did three things: I cleared my fridge, I went shopping and I cooked dinner for my family!

1. Clear the Kitchen

Let’s get real. If those tiny teddy’s and packets of pasta are in my pantry or if I have yoghurt or chocolate in my fridge – it will get eaten! If I have fresh fruits and vegetables in my fridge then that is what I will eat. Temptation is just too difficult to deal with. It is better for everyone if the “bad” non-paleo food is just cleared away.

Here is what you can do with the non-paleo food in your kitchen:

Bin it
Give it to a charity
Give it to your neighbour
Give it to a family member
Ask someone to store it for you until the end of the 90 Day Paleo Challenge (non-perishable items only)
Eat it (before starting the challenge)

Whatever you do with the food – just clear it! This will make the next 90 Days much easier.

2. Go Shopping

So now that my fridge and pantry are both completely empty I needed to refill it with fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. I tried to find the best fruit shop and butcher in my local area and I went shopping.

I think I purchased almost every variety of fruit and vegetable that was available at the local store. I felt like a kid at a candy store – except now, im a Paleo challenger in a fruit shop. I filled my fridge with:

brussel sprouts
silverbeet
blueberries
strawberries
brocoli
cauliflower
potatoes
sweet potato
dragon fruit
langons
grapes
pomegranate
cucumber
tomatoes
onions
lemons
apples
kiwifruit
eggs
watermelon
oranges
garlic
peaches
zucchini
beetroot
avocado
bananas
carrots
celery

Yep, you could say that I went a little crazy as this list is so long – but it was so much fun! Two tips about fruit and vegetable shopping from me:

Locate your best local fruit and vegetable store for better quality produce
Try something that you haven’t tried before

3. Cook

I cooked dinner for my whole family. They all heard about this new diet that I’m on and I wanted to give them a taste of it. I think I used almost all of those fruits and vegetables on the shopping list so that I could show them all what Paleo really is. Everyone ate so much food that there wasn’t enough room for dessert.

Here is what I cooked:

Entre – Sweet Chilli Eggs wrapped in Smoked Beef

Now this photo doesn’t really do the eggs any justice but they were probably the most popular meal of the night.