September's Goal: Paleo Diet

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day! It's safe to say Tuesday is the new Monday today.

Now that we've started a new month, it's time for another monthly goal. 

September: Paleo! Otherwise known as "The Caveman Diet."

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Paleo Diet, there is quite a bit of information here. 

But just as a brief overview, the basics of the diet instruct that you only eat the following:
- Lean proteins (such as beef, chicken, fish, eggs, etc. It's important to pick grass-fed vs. grain fed)
- Fruits and Vegetables (natural fruits and nothing deep fried)
- Healthy Fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, etc.)

It suggests avoiding certain kinds of foods, such as:
- Dairy
- Grains
- Processed Foods & Sugars
- Legumes
- Starches
- Alcohol

For the most part, my diet already fits fairly well into this lineup. But there are a few foods that I do regularly eat that aren't allowed, such as beans (sad face for no hummus), quinoa and rice, and peanut butter (yep, peanuts are actually a legume/bean). 

I'm going to try and be realistic here and know that I won't be able to go 100% Caveman (another month of no alcohol...not gonna happen). So instead of setting myself up for failure, I'm going to approach this with an 80/20 mindset. 80% of my diet will be on the Paleo track, while 20% will most likely be "whoops" incidents. I still view certain beans, grains, and other "off-limits" foods as healthy, but my main goal here is to avoid the processed fake "food" as much as possible, and stick with all-natural, multi-ingredient-free choices. If the name of the food isn't actually the name of the food in it, it's not happening (ex: a banana is a banana...chips are not just chips). 

I've heard a lot of pros and cons regarding this diet, so instead of being confused about it, why not try it myself and see how my body reacts? 

Good news - Bacon is allowed.