Missing Favorite Foods on Paleo

Someone recently asked me how do you eat Paleo when you are out and don't you miss certain foods?

It was really challenging at first for me to eat out. I just didn't think I could ever eat out again. Once I was able to easily cook Paleo at home I was able to go out to eat. I just had to think outside the box. If I am eating out and the meal comes with a carb/starchy food I will ask to substitute it. Or I try to pick meals where I can pick the sides. I order a steak then pick steam veggies and a side salad. I order a salad and ask them not to put cheese on it. For a dressing I will ask for oil. 

The best thing for me prior to going out to eat is to look at a menu online. If there is nothing on the menu I don't think I can eat then I ask to go some place else. I met some friends for lunch one day. They wanted to go to Round Table. Just the thought of that sounded like pure torture. They have a lunch buffet with a salad bar which is awesome! I was able to get salad and as much as I wanted. The salad bar had a lot of different veggies, bacon, seeds, and oil for my dressing. I don't even miss eating pizza. If I start to miss it then I buy myself a Diaya pizza from Sprout's. It just helps get rid of the craving. 

I recently discovered my love for spaghetti squash. There are times I miss pasta. Like I just want a big bowl of pasta with some butter. I have found spaghetti squash takes care of my craving. I have put homemade pesto, red sauce and ghee on it. I don't feel like I am missing anything. I actually feel like I am getting pasta. While I like zoodles it just doesn't take care of the pasta craving. 

Sweet treats! Now that is a hard one at times. No matter how long I go without chocolate I still crave it. I haven't eaten chocolate now since May. Still I crave it! RX bars and homemade chocolate out of coconut oil with nuts seem to fix the craving. The other night I wanted some ice cream. Once in a great while I will buy the coconut, cashew or almond milk ice cream. The problem with those is there is still sugar in them. I really try to avoid sugar. I even limit the amount of honey and maple syrup I use in things. Back to the ice cream craving. I had put 2 peeled bananas in the freezer. I took them out and put them in a food processor with a little coconut milk and some sunbutter. O-M-G!!!! It tasted just like peanut butter ice cream. There is some sugar in the sunbutter =( I need to pick up some almond butter at the store to have on hand to make my ice cream. However I felt it was a good substitute for the time. George ate that stuff up! I made enough for both of us. I know I can't make a little bit because he will eat half of it. So now I just make enough for 2 people knowing he will eat half of it. 

There are times I cheat. Chips are my downfall! Tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant are like being tortured. The problem is the day after I eat them my entire body is achy. The first time it happened I thought it was a fluke or I just was achy. Well I did it again. The next day my entire lower body just ached. Almost like I had done squats for an hour the day before. The problem was I didn't do ANY squats. lol 

I will pin things on Pinterest that are not Paleo, but I put them on my Paleo board. I look at a recipe and see what I can substitute. Most recipes you can make changes to make them Paleo approved. I bought some sardines recently. I couldn't figure out what in the world to do with them. I looked on Pinterest to find a recipe. It had spaghetti noodles, so I used spaghetti squash instead. I didn't put any cheese on my pasta like the recipe called for. 

Do I miss eating certain things? Sure I do! The couple times I have given in to eat foods I have felt so horrible for the next 2 days it isn't worth it for me. When I was in ND I did eat some German foods. I felt hungover, bloated and headaches for days. I have found eating Paleo is best for my MS, I am able to lose weight easily and I feel amazing. Even my skin is clearer. I don't feel I have sugar crashes either. I get less hangry. It has also made me much more aware of what I am feeding George.