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Dinner Diva: Make the decision-eat to live

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I often hear people talk about what they’re going to miss if they have to give up the grains in their diet. “I’ll miss my toast!” or “I’m going to miss my sandwiches for lunch.”

the-dinner-divaInstead of focusing what you can’t have, I encourage you to focus on what you CAN have! Like bacon and red wine, for instance! LOL

Trust me when I tell you that it will get easier as you go along so please don’t get sucked in by those highly processed, packaged gluten-free foods. If you read those packages you’ll see that most are full of sugar, corn and other non-Paleo ingredients.

Instead of scrambling and looking for replacements for bread and cereal, try to focus on eating for your best health.

Get out of the “live to eat” mindset and adopt the attitude of “eat to live.”

Make that your mantra and remind yourself when you’re making food choices that you have made the choice to eat to live.

Base your diet on whole foods and get away from the packaged stuff. Are those potato chips going to add to or detract from your health? What about eating apple slices dipped in almond butter or some raw vegetables that will send nutrients and vitamins to your body’s cells?

Fill your grocery cart with organic produce including loads of cruciferous vegetables, local fish, sustainably sourced seafood, free-range poultry and eggs, seeds, nuts and berries.

Rather than trying to find replacements for that morning slice of toast alongside your bacon and coffee, change that toast habit by eating reheated leftovers from the night before.

What nutrition would you have gotten out of that slice of toast? None

Most people find breakfast and lunch to be the hardest meals to figure out when switching to the Paleo diet because in our American culture, we’re so heavy on cereal and sandwiches for these meals.

Paleo dinners, though, really don’t look much different than you may have been used to, assuming you’ve already been cooking from scratch. Meatloaf with a medley of vegetables, chicken stir-fry, pork chops and apple sauce—these types of meals are still enjoyed by us Paleoistas. We just modify a bit by ensuring that our cooking oils are Paleo, that we’re not using grain-based breadcrumbs and that our meat and produce is organic and local whenever possible.

More from dinner diva leanne ely at www.SavingDinner.com.

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