Welcome to my strictly Paleo meal plan and this is week 1.
You’re probably wondering if you just landed on a Paleo diet site with a title like the one above. Well you didn’t and you haven’t. This is till RecipeThis.com where we share with you mostly healthy family recipes using our kitchen gadgets.
But we wanted to dedicate the month of October to healthy recipes and expand on our Paleo recipe portfolio. We love Paleo because it allows us to be super healthy and at the same time reminds us about how much we love our meat, fish and vegetables. Also there are certain times in your life when you need to be healthy more than most.
One of those times is when you welcome a new child into your life. The sleepless nights, wanting to make sure the breast milk is at its best and a time when you need extra energy from food.
Introducing Jorge
Jorge was born (our third child) at 8.58am on the 26th September weighing in at 3.3 kilos.
So as you can see we need our energy we want to get back in shape and lose a few pounds at the same time and we wanted to share this part of our life with you. What you can expect for this month is 4 weeks worth of these diary entries.
They will include:
A daily diary of what we have eaten
Grocery shopping list
Tips for creating meals in a flash with little preparation
Then after the 28 days you will be able to download everything in a PDF and follow what we did. Whether you want to lose weight or not, for me this is all about being healthy, keeping your kids healthy and enjoying slow cooker meals that have been made in less than 15 minutes preparation time.
Forget ringing up a takeaway or going to McDonalds on the way home from work, this is how you produce delicious food without spending all night slaving away in the kitchen.
What Is Paleo?
But some of you that have not heard of Paleo are probably wondering what it is all about. We have developed a nice infographic below that explains everything:
Day 1
For today I had sweet potato hash for breakfast. Though, unlike the recipe I also added a couple of hard boiled eggs for an extra protein kick.
Then for lunch we had a chicken thigh each with some vegetables and a side order of some sweet potato fries.
Then in the evening our slow cooker meal for day 1 was a delicious sausage casserole. However with our casserole it was all about a vegetable kick and there were 90% vegetables and 10% sausages so that we could have a really good boost.
Then in the evening it was some chocolate mousse made with coconut milk and cocoa powder that was 100% Paleo and perfect for when you are craving chocolate.
I also managed a 1 mile walk in the morning which made me feel amazing.
Day 2
For today I had a banana for breakfast. I know not exactly a filling breakfast but due to night feed times I was not dressed and up and about until gone 10am and with lunch at 12, it was a case of if I eat more now for breakfast I wont manage lunch. But if I am hungry later the plan will be to have a supper or afternoon snack to make up for the lack of breakfast.
Lunch = broccoli and salmon. This has to be one of my all time favourite lunches and a great health boost!
Dinner for us all was some slow cooked pulled pork with our favourite Indian spice blend along with roasted butternut squash and a big salad. It was delicious though our daughter who is only 22 months decided to go and help herself to the spicy part of the pork and there were a few tears and a lot of water drank afterwards!
Then for snacks I had some dark chocolate along with some fruit with coconut milk and honey.
Day 3
For today I had some leftovers for last night for breakfast. This included the pulled pork along with some of the salad. I added some extra avocado and homemade salad dressing to it and it was perfect.
Then for lunch we go out to one of our favourite cafes for some Saturday lunch. The only problem is finding something Paleo. I eventually go with the salad and end up leaving a 1/3 of it because it is not Paleo.
There are potatoes and beans and sweetcorn in the salad and I end up feeling deprived. I have a small fruit salad afterwards while I watch the boys eat chocolate cake. Then when I get home I have the last of the leftover salad from yesterday. It is delicious and is followed up with some dark chocolate.
Then in the evening for supper our slow cooked meal of the day = 10 second marinated chicken. The idea here is that you can prepare your chicken in 10 seconds or less and not have the hassle of waiting around for your food, or be able to say that you don’t have the time to cook.
Then for snacks I have some dark chocolate and feel really satisfied for once. Over the last 3 days it feels hard balancing the extra calories burned from breast feeding with a big boost of calories.
MyPerfect #Paleo Meal Plan Week 1 Thanks To @recipe_thisClick To Tweet
Day 4
For today I had a fruit salad for breakfast, though it was more like brunch than breakfast. Then for lunch it was a tuna salad with honey and mustard salad dressing. I love to mix olive oil with equal amounts of honey and mustard and it is absolutely delicious. Then in the evening we have a delicious meal of chicken legs and vegetables that is my ideal as an easy slow cooker meal when you can’t be bothered to cook.
Day 5
For today I had vegetable hash for breakfast, for lunch it was boiled eggs with cucumber soldiers, then for dinner it was meatball soup cooked in the slow cooker.
What I love about Paleo is how delicious the recipes are, that you really look forward to them and you really don’t feel like you have ever missed out on anything.
This meatball soup that we are having today has to be my favourite so far and so satisfying for those of you that is missing the bad foods that you used to eat. Plus because it is loaded with vegetables you would be amazed how easy it is to entice the kids into it.
Day 6
For today I had vegetable hash for breakfast again – just because I love it so much and it gives me a delicious veggie start to the day. Then for lunch it was a gluten free version of tuna pasta with some salad on the side. Then for dinner I had some slow cooked coconut vegetables with an avocado.
Today was one of those days when we had a lot of vegetables that needed eating up and I enjoyed every last mouthful of them. If you don’t eat a lot of vegetables then I urge you to do so as they can give you an excellent boost.
Day 7
For today I had vegetable hash for breakfast, fruit salad for lunch then in the evening I had some delicious spare ribs and chicken wings. Who said that you couldn’t enjoy Paleo and that it was like signing up for a diet club because it seriously isn’t.
I am sold on the fact that I can have delicious crispy skin from a chicken whenever I like with lots of coconut oil and salt and pepper. Talk about delicious food moments!
Tips For Week 1
This week is for our first week at home with our new baby. We are tired and the last thing on our mind is going into the kitchen and cooking a meal. We have a 15 year old son to feed (who eats a LOT) a toddler that turns two next month a dog to walk, a food blog to run which is a full time job in itself. Yet here we are with sleepless nights and wanting to be healthy.
This means that these recipes are as easy as you can get. Think throwing it in the slow cooker and letting the slow cooker do the work. At least 1 meal a day that comes out of the slow cooker and all three meals have less than 15 minutes preparation. There will be no cereal, no bread and other products that we just eat for the sake of it.
Our point to you is that if we can do it with our commitments, then I am sure you can.
For this week though I would suggest:
Don’t be trying to make everything in batches and creating loads of dump meals. It just isn’t necessary as these are so quick to make.
If you want more sides then we recommend that you make some extra salad or try out some more zoodles with your meal.
We are doing this as a family of four, so adjust if you have less or more mouths to feed.
You will often notice that leftover meals are taken into account here making the meal plan rather frugal.
Grocery Shopping For Week 1
We have put together a grocery shopping list for you so that you can go to the supermarket and grab everything you need for the week. Then tick things off as you get them.
You can get the PDF for it by clicking here and then print it off or put it on your phone for when you go shopping.
If you don’t like all the recipes we are featuring or have allergies to take into account then check out the rest of our Paleo recipes for other great ideas.
Talking Numbers
So here I am at the end of week 1 of my tailor made new mum meal plan. I have put this at the end as many of my readers probably don’t want to know this, they just want healthy family meals. But for those of you that want a weekly progress report then here goes…..
I am sure all you want to really know is my numbers. How much exercise did I do and how much weight have I lost?
Well without further introduction it is as follows:
Starting Weight = 13st2
Current Weight = 12st9
Jeans Size = size 16
From a point of view of a new mum I am two jeans sizes bigger than I was this time last year, but I also feel so healthy that I don’t really mind. It would be nice to be at least one jeans size down by the time I have finished this challenge so it will be interesting to see what the results actually are.
I also avoid counting calories as I find that not all food is equal and those that count calories don’t have good fats in their diets as they are too obsessed with calories. So 7 pounds down this week and hopefully next week I can shed a couple more pounds.