Crib, Potty & Paleo...it was a big weekend for us

"Mom! I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" was the sound I heard during my proudest moment of last weekend.

And what was it that M was doing? Pooping on the potty. Giddy up! It took just a few short days and M is about 90% potty trained now. I say 90% because I still put a diaper on her for naps and night time, but we spend all day in big girl undies and only had two accidents since Saturday morning.

Our other big accomplishment was moving Val from our bed (and our arms) into her crib in her room...down the hall. It was a change we were not looking forward to, but one we knew had to come soon as with three in the bed, none of us was sleeping well. It is one of those things that we kept putting off because we thought it would be a challenge, but like most things turned out to be a smooth transition!

And the third big change is that my husband and I started a Paleo lifestyle as of Monday. What is Paleo you ask? It is basically eating like a caveman (yes I am living with a Caveman Lawyer now - there is some joke in there somewhere.) You eat everything they would have eaten back in the Paleolithic era - meats, vegetables and fruits. No processed foods, no sugar, no carbs, no legumes, no gluten, no dairy(you can eat eggs)...basically everything I was eating you cannot eat when you are Paleo.

I had read about a fellow bloggers experience with living Paleo and how it changed her life, and it intrigued me. I had been on a "diet" since the holidays, but was still stuffing my face with fat-free snacks and not getting the protein that my body needed. I mentioned the Paleo thing to my husband, who is a carnivore (this guy would eat steak for every meal if he could) and he was all over it. So we did some research, read Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso and off I went to Whole Foods with a grocery list that was literally two pages long.

On Sunday we cleaned out our pantry and refrigerator of basically everything - anything that had sugar in the ingredients was trashed and you would be shocked at how much sugar is in EVERYTHING!! I will say that I did leave snacks for M, and cheese and milk for her in the fridge as I am not making her eat as we are, until our 30 day challenge is up and we make a final decision to make this a lifestyle change. But everything that was tempting me went in the trash (or in a plastic bin to be donated at a later date). Out of sight, out of mind.

We restocked the fridge with nothing but meats, veg and fruits. Seriously, that is it.

We restocked the pantry with a trail mix that I made consisting of a variety of unsalted nuts and dried fruit (without sugar), organic almond butter, raw organic honey, other organic products and a vat of coconut oil which will replace olive oil we use every day to cook.

If I want a snack I head to the vegetable drawer, not the chip bin in the pantry. It is a big change for me.

But I am loving the fact that my husband is taking this journey with me. Living with a man that is almost 7 feet tall, and has never had a weight problem in his life is challenging when you yourself are trying to lose weight. While on Weight Watchers I would make meals, but would have to double them, or add things to them to be to his liking (he is not picky, but some WW meals are not good). This is a much more ideal "diet" to be on, especially when I have my best friend doing it with me!

My takeaway from the first 4 days is that it is time consuming to eat this way. Every meal pretty much has to be planned, and most are cooked, so it is a lot of prepping, cooking and cleaning. Our goal this weekend is to sit down and write out an actual meal plan for the week so that we can prep some things ahead of time and freeze them, which will hopefully make my already busy life a little simpler!

So that is the Mama J report...stay tuned for updates on the Paleo living. Off to hunt me some dinner!