My first blog post

Cottage cheese and spinach omlette with bean
shoots and mushrooms - a perfect lunch

I have started this blog to record the progress of my paleo (caveman/woman!) diet and my fitness programme.  I am Karen, aged 47, from north Wales. My daughter, Ruby, aged 18, and I try to follow a paleo way of eating as well as regularly training in our local county council gym.

A paleo diet is supposed to be like what a caveman/woman would have eaten - ie meat, fruit and veg.  We do our best to follow this regime, but allow ourselves a bit of flexibility, say 20%.  I find that bread, now that I have excluded it from my diet, can have nasty effects if I eat it.  I excluded tea and coffee for over a year, but since Christmas I have gradually reintroduced green tea.  (Currently my favourite are the ridiculously expensive Tea Pigs green tea bags, but I make a big pot from one bag which will last me all morning as it's nice luke warm!).

I don't feel deprived whatsoever on this diet.  I fact I feel so healthy and full of life compared to how I was 3 years ago that I wouldn't dream of going back to how I was!

I don't claim to have the perfect lifestyle, or the perfect body!! but I feel great and wanted to record and share my achievements.

The main changes I have made are 1. plenty of exercise 2. not eating simple carbs 3. not drinking coffee.

I've taken some photos lately of my meals to show how they can be delicious and fulfilling without a huge mountain of mashed potato or several slices of bread.  Cutting out simple carbs means that I never feel full, bloated, stuffed, just not hungry.  It also means that I don't feel hungry within an hour or two of eating either.  So no boom and bust!