Hi friends! Meet a fellow blogger, Andrea of Pencils and Pancakes.
Andrea and I first met in middle school, and both share a passion for food and living a healthy lifestyle. Andrea is now an English teacher in Western New York, living a whole food paleo “diet” while taking on a journey of homesteading. See below for Andrea’s guest post:
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Hey there Whatlolalikes readers! I’m Andrea. Lauren and I go way back to high school before
either of us were concerned much with healthy eating (at least I can speak for myself)
….and I’m super excited to be guest posting on her blog today. I am inspired by her
creative recipes and ahhh-mazing food photography skills (that I lack). Lauren asked
me to write about my Paleo lifestyle and how it changed my life…and I was shocked
because normally when I start talking about Paleo nobody wants to hear it. “Life without
cereal?!?! Noooooooooooo…..”
It’s called the Paleo diet but I can’t even begin to tell you that the word diet doesn’t
scratch the surface. Eating this way is about choosing whole, nutrient dense food such as
meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Things that your grandparents would recognize
as food. For me, it’s not about what I CAN’T eat, it’s about trying new things and finding
ways to eat amazing whole foods that make me feel great.
Let me back up a bit….I will admit I came to the Paleo diet for the wrong reasons. I
was trying to eat as clean as possible for my wedding last year and back then it was all
about weight. I didn’t want to gain weight because I wanted to fit in my dress. But that
soon became tiresome. Sure, I lost a lot of weight but I was killing myself with exercise
and low calorie foods and I was miserable. My husband bought me Practical Paleo by
Diane Sanfillipo for my birthday and I continued to read and learn about a whole food
lifestyle. The more I learned, the more it became about quality of food and not quantity.
About finding local, fresh produce and animals that were treated respectfully- not about
just finding food with the lowest amount of calories. Ever since then I have dropped my
calorie counting and chronic cardio ways and focused on eating whole foods and just
listening to my body. What’s amazed me in the past year that I have been eating this
way is how great I feel. I have struggled with anxiety and sometimes depression (for
seemingly no reason…because my life is pretty great!) for my whole life. Eating this way
has significantly alleviated most of my anxiety symptoms. I also find I have way more
energy and can go longer in between meals without constantly thinking about the next
time I can have some 200 calorie snack. Calorie counting is LONG gone. All I worry
about is getting the best food possible- which works out for someone who loves to cook.
Recently, my husband and I have taken it even further and started raising our own
animals for meat….talk about local food. After learning so much about where my food
comes from I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Paleo to me is so much more than people make it out to be. I don’t even like to use the
word anymore because people perceive it to be just a fad diet. It’s not like I never splurge
on beer or ice cream every now and then- I believe indulging is also part of a healthy
lifestyle. For me it’s more about being conscious about the things you put in your body
most of the time. When you feel great from eating whole food it’s pretty easy to quiet the
naysayers!
Follow my whole food and homesteading journey on my blog at PencilsandPancakes.
Andrea’s contact information:
For recent updates, visit Andrea’s Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.
Be Kind,
Lola