Many of you are almost a week into our annual Paleo Challenge and are already feeling the positive changes.  Whether it be a loss of the first few pounds, less sugar cravings or increased mental clarity, rebooting your eating habits is worth the effort (and the chance at some great prizes too).  But don’t worry, if you’re not ready for our full-on challenge, we still invite you to make some small Paleo-inspired changes to your dietary choices this month.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what we’re avoiding:

• Processed Foods
• Sugar
• Grains
• Soy
• Diary
• Chemicals, additives, dyes
• Commercially farmed meats, fish

Our goal is to eat 80-100% of these (organic if possible):

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Nuts, Seeds
• Wild caught fish
• Free range meats
• Free range Eggs

This Paleo thing is a bigger undertaking for some than others.  In general, we shop the perimeter of the grocery store and make some substitutions to standard recipes.  There are some fantastic paleo cookbooks, websites and Pinterest recipes to try.  I also find that eating out is still enjoyable, convenient and delicious with easy substitutions like extra vegetables instead of the starch and asking for no bread basket at the table.  Below are links to three of my favorite paleo recipes.  You don’t need to be on our challenge to enjoy them!

PALEO CHILI (no beans, instead it uses butternut squash cubes)

http://paleotable.com/2013/01/paleo-chili/

BREAKFAST CUSTARD (good enough to eat as dessert)

http://www.louisianabrideblog.com/2015/07/breakfast-pumpkin-custard.html

CROCKPOT CURRY CHICKEN (great for a potluck)

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/254821/paleo-chicken-with-apple-and-sweet-potato/