Primal Successes

A few months back I was watching some silly news/comedy show that Scott put on and found myself interested in a story about a guy who was playing all over New York City. I tip-toed my way over to Mark Sisson's site and have been making changes ever since.

I started with the way I was eating and I also began playing with my kids more. (Right now I'm neglecting them and the dishes for the sake of this post...but they don't seem to mind. There's a lot of giggling going on in the other room! From the kids, not the dishes...they're just waiting patiently for attention.) It's been about eight months now and we're still working on things.

I'm chalking up "working on things" as a success in primal living. Why? Because I haven't given up. I've thought about it, but not because it's not working...I'm definitely healthier, feel better, have more energy, am more active...things are going well, in my opinion.

Now, in the opinion of my family members...well, then you might find some different answers. With all the changes that we've gone through in the last several months, changing their diets (pretty drastically) hasn't always gone over well. But I've realized recently that even as a family we're having success in living primally.

Right now we're in the midst of a 30-Day Challenge that Mark is running. There's a contest every day and one of the recent ones is to take a picture of your groceries. Here's ours for the week...


Don't you love my totally cute posers? Well, I do, and shopping with them has helped me realize that a lot really has changed with my quest to make our family primal, and in turn, healthier and happier. Jace reads the ingredient list before picking up anything off the shelf. They get excited by fruits and vegetables. They still don't always eat them once their home...but good things come to those who wait, right?

We also walk more and play more. They're not as hungry as quickly. They don't know this, however, and it's pretty funny! If they can see a clock then they're hungry at all our old regular eating times. If they don't know what time it is they'll play and be happy for at least an hour longer than our old normal! They usually notice that it's past lunch time by then and are suddenly ravenous-in their heads!

As a family, we aren't eating 100% primal, which is fine. Mark suggests eating at least 80% and I'd say we're pretty close to that. We're doing well with the non-food primal rules too...getting our rest, moving slowly and frequently, lifting things, sprinting sometimes. So, I'd say things aer going pretty well on the primal front. Wouldn't you?

(And, just in case you were wondering what's in our groceries picture, here's the meal plan for the week:

Breakfast/Lunch (interchangeable) - primal cereal with almond milk, 100% juice for the kids, water for me, Tyler and Gracie still like toast with (100% fruit) jelly -OR- eggs (scrambled with cheese for the kids, sunny side up for me with spinach), bacon, avocado, fruit

Snacks - fruit, kefir smoothies

Dinner -
Tuesday - Parmesan and garlic crusted cod, carrots, and broccoli
Wednesday -primal pancakes and sausage with fruit
Thursday - tacos (kids will have flour tortillas Scott and I will have salads, but we're trying something new...provolone crisp shells)
Friday - Scott and I are going out (if he doesn't have to work) TBA
Saturday - ham bone soup with spinach bread and onion crisps (both are primal even though neither sounds like it!)
Sunday - chicken, salad, acorn squash
Monday - leftovers or if there aren't any, freezer schtuff

And now you know!)