Paleo Diet, Copycats, and Banana Pancakes

In three days, I will have officially completed a whole month of eating paleo! It was really hard, but I'm glad I did it. I feel so much better, and there's nothing better than a sense of accomplishment. I've decided to keep eating paleo, but on the first of every month I get one cheat meal. I won't be posting just about paleo anymore, but when I find good recipes I will definitely share them with you.

Speaking of food, this morning I just tried a new banana pancake recipe. I even fed it to my non-paleo friend and they were a hit! I added them with a side of bacon though, so maybe that was the real winner, haha. Anyways, here is the recipe I used. I would also recommend listening to Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes song while you make them.

The original recipe (found here) for this "Primal Fudge" didn't call for a filling of peanut butter or anything and this was a little boring to me. I've changed it a little bit to make it more like a candy rather than just a fudge. I added some almond butter in some of the centers and a mint filling in others. They are VERY rich, very chocolatey, and extremely delicious. It makes for a very good after dinner dessert or something sweet to go with coffee. These are great because you feel like you're really pigging out on dessert but really they're actually healthy.

Paleo (Part 1)

All my life I have been known for my insatiable sweet tooth, but believe it or not I have actually done a lot of studying on healthy eating. This last month I've been trying to get healthier and just eat better in general. One of the things I've experimented with is called the Paleo Diet. Starting in February I'm going to be on it exclusively. The principle is fairly easy: eat like a cave man would have! Seems simple right? Wrong! Some of the things I'll have to cut out is all dairy (sob), peanuts (yep, that means peanut butter too), and even oatmeal!

Since I'm probably not going to be able to keep track of every single little thing that's Paleo and what's not, I bought an app called Paleo (io) for about  $.99. This will help me make sure that what I'm eating is actually Paleo. I also have an app that I got for free called HealthyOut for when I'm going out to eat with friends. Dieting can be so hard when you eat out often or if you don't want to feel left out. So this app shows me restaurants in the area and I can type in what foods I'm allowed to eat and it will pull up meals available at those places. It even has a Paleo option to make it that much easier!

If you're not really sure what Paleo is, let me break it down into the very basics:

EAT THIS

• Fish & Seafood
• Meats
• Fruits (but in moderation, as sweets are high in sugar)
• Veggies
• Eggs
• Nuts & Seeds
• Healthy Oils (like coconut oil, olive oil, etc)
• Natural Sweeteners (my personal favorite is Stevia)

NOT THIS

• Grains
• Legumes (beans, peanuts, peas, etc)
• Dairy
• Refined Sugar
• Potatoes (I know, it's devastating)
• Processed Foods
• Refined oils (canola, corn, grapeseed, hydrogenated, etc.)
• Soy

This diet is pretty straight forward, with no weird hoops to jump through that a lot of extreme diets have. You could live on this diet, and actually I believe if more people did they would be healthier and happier. But just like with any life changes (especially ones that affect your health), make sure this is right for you and wouldn't have any bad repercussions before you try it.

For me personally, I like this diet because it's fairly easy to remember what's ok to eat and what's not. Not only that but it cuts out all the stuff my body reacts badly to anyways (all the delicious stuff of course,).

Like I mentioned earlier, I'll be starting this diet at the beginning of February. I'll write a post at the end of the month to tell you how it went! Throughout the month I will also be posting Paleo friendly recipes that I find and try out to make sure they taste good enough for you to try (if you're so inclined).