Day #1

So it's official!  Bear and I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start our very own blog.  How sweet... We thought this would be an opportune time to begin sharing with you our lives as they change.  I'm just 3 months away from graduation, a soon to be PA-C, and even Bear has career growth opportunities in the near future.

One of the most exciting things for us RIGHT NOW, is the Paleo Lifestyle we have adopted.  It all began one rainy night... But seriously, Bear and I have been "Paleo" since May 9.  For those of you who aren't too familiar with what the Paleo Lifestyle entails, it is basically living similar to how our caveman ancestors lived, eating a diet mostly of meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.  I'll blog more about this later.  Bear has been favoring the idea of eating this way for a few months before I was on board.  I so loved my Cheez-its, brownies, fresh baked breads, etc, and shuddered at the notion of giving these comfort foods up.  I think what finally swayed me was the fact that I ALWAYS felt sluggish.  I was getting a decent 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and at first I thought it was just due to the demands of my rotation schedules, something like-2 hours of driving each day, 8 hours of screaming children in between-but after I began working at a very, very laid-back dermatology clinic, I still had no energy.  Bear suggested some pro-paleo sites, and I did an enormous amount of research, and jumped in head first.

I can say that it has been much easier than I thought to avoid grains, soy, legumes, and beans.  I haven't felt the desire at all to eat any of that junk because I know I get plenty of nutrition and feel full without it.  The one time Bear and I did re-introduce some Tempeh (a soy product), we both felt awful. No thanks.  I feel great, have more energy, and I feel closer to Bear than I ever have before.

Now that we have been about a month on Paleo, and we've decided to fully embrace this new lifestyle, we are changing the way our Westies eat too.  Buh-Bye dried kibble, hello raw meat!  Yes, that's right, this morning was our first experience feeding Elinor and Caillou a meal of raw chicken (bone-in, skin on) and some carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes because we know they love them so much!  We were worried they would try to swallow the pieces whole, or drag the meat up onto the bed (GROSS!) so we monitored them outside.  It was funny how excited they were to be getting this food, but they didn't quite know what to do with it.  They both finally finished their meals, and seemed really happy about it.  We're hoping to help Cai's itchy spots and Eli's bad teeth...stay tuned for updates!