It's been a little over a week since my 30 day Paleo challenge began and it's been harder than I thought! BUT I do have to say that I feel more lean and energetic!

I went on a road trip last weekend with my family and being on vacation always makes eating healthy harder.  My mom and I packed some food in a cooler for the road though--there's really no other way to stay on track! We brought hard boiled eggs, BBQ chicken breast and celery to snack on during our 5 hour journey to Oregon. If it weren't for that stuff I probably would have broke down and got the chips at the gas station--phew!

Road Trip!!

The hardest thing to give up so far has been peanut butter(huge sad face).  Who knew that a peanut is a legume not a nut!!??  This is one thing I'm not sure I can give up for good...might have to integrate that into "my" paleo diet! I'm sure most of you are thinking, "just eat almond butter" but it's just not the same.  Peanut Butter-I love you!

This might be the only way I would give it up!

I've been trying to cut back on drinking because...well...it's just not the best thing for ya! BUT I'm all for balance so you have to let loose here and there.  I did some research on what alcohol is Paleo friendly and one big no-no is beer. Beer is made from grains(hops, barley etc) so that's a no go.  I do like beer but I'll live without it! Wine on the other hand is acceptable--yahoo! I LOVE a nice glass of red wine with dinner and I indulged on a few this weekend. The area we visited in Oregon is a big wine growing region and the people we visited make their own wine so I had to try it out--duh! 

Red Lily Winery was GORGEOUS- It felt like we were in Napa!

Another hurdle I'm facing is protein powder.  I drink whey protein which is a dairy product and therefore not a part of the Paleo way.  I decided that if I was sticking to the rest of the Paleo principles that I would let this one slide for now.  I'm going to look into getting egg white protein powder but in the meantime I'm still drinking the CytoSport Whey Protein.  I'll keep you posted on this!

I'm not going to lie...I did have a handful of tortilla chips(eekk) but other than that I've stayed on track! None of us are perfect and I'm not going to punish myself for one moment of weakness. One week down, three to go!

Salmon with kale and cucumber salad-boom!

Spaghetti squash with marinara, chicken and asparagus -YUM!