Thank you all SO much for your kind words and support about my Paleo and weight loss post last week.  It is SO nerve racking to talk about that kind of stuff in a “public” forum, and it makes it soooo much easier when everyone is so stinkin’ nice and encouraging about it:)

As promised, I wanted to put together a few questions and answers.  These are questions that we get asked a LOT by friends, family, and sometimes even complete strangers and we love talking to people about the changes that we’ve made:)  Here are the top questions we get asked:

1.)  Can you have__________(fill in the blank)?  This is the #1 question that we get asked.  Can you have cheese?  Bread?  Rice?  Cream in your coffee?!  No, no, no & nope.  We CAN have, meat, poultry, fish, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats (coconut, olives, avocado, nuts).  Also, on a regular Paleo diet you can have raw honey, pure maple syrup, ect.. to sweeten things, but you can’t have those on a Whole 30.  To see what we aim to eat in most of our meals look at the Whole 30 Meal Template and Shopping List.

2.)  Do your kids eat Paleo too?  This is the 2nd most common question we get asked, and the answer is, yes and no.  We have definitely implemented a lot of the principals of Paleo into their diets, and we hope to ease them more and more in that direction, but at this time they don’t do it 100%.  Honestly, I struggle with wanting them to be super healthy, healthy, healthy, but also wanting them to be balanced and be able to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a cupcake at a birthday party, or a slice of pizza while watching football with their Grandpa.  We ARE definitely more aware of what is going into their bodies on a daily basis and we are trying to teach them that what you eat directly affects the way you feel, and I think that they are getting it more and more:)

3.)  How long are you going to eat this way?  Honestly, we would love to eat this way forever!  We can’t say for sure if we will, but at this time, we have no intentions or plans to “stop” eating Paleo.  These past 6 months we have just felt so awesome that we can’t imagine going back to our old way of eating (shudder), at least not completely.

4.)  Is it more expensive?  Yes.  It’s more expensive to buy high quality meats, fresh produce, and healthy fats than to buy processed, foods.  No question.  But, like anything else, you get used to the extra cost.  It becomes the norm, and you find ways to save.  We clip coupons, shop sales and discount grocery stores, and stock up on clearance items when we find great deals.

5.)  How much weight have you lost?  Not everyone asks this – some people will just say, “Wow, you look great!” or “You’ve lost a lot of weight!”, but they won’t always ask for the number.  I don’t mind when they do ask, because I’m super proud of my hard work, and it has definitely shown in my body!  Currently, this answer is:  I’ve lost 48 lbs.  Tristan has lost 30 lbs.  (Yay!) :)

5a.)  How much MORE weight are you trying to lose?  I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t hoping to lose some weight when starting the Whole 30 last June.  Even though they warn you over and over that the Whole 30 is NOT a weight loss plan, and that some people don’t lose any weight at all, I still wanted and needed to lose weight.  I remember thinking that I would love to lose 20 lbs or maybe even 25 if I could stick with it that long.  I NEVER in a million years thought that I would end up losing 48 lbs.  Never!  I honestly haven’t been “trying” to lose weight – I’ve just been eating healthy.  I don’t starve myself – I eat until I’m full.  I don’t count calories or measure portions or even exercise everyday.  My body has lost what it needs to – sometimes that only .5 lb per week.  On average, I’ve lost 5-8 lbs per month, and that’s perfect for me.  In the past, I would have never sustained a diet losing only 1-2 lbs a week (even though that’s the healthy rate that you’re supposed to lose at).  I was always wanting a quick fix, and never felt like I could “stick it out” to get to where I wanted to be.  I’m just so glad that I have made the connection with this eating plan and have stuck with it!

6.)  But you can go “off” Paleo for holidays/birthdays/special occasions, right?  Yes, you absolutely can, but 99% of the time, we choose not to, and that is our personal choice.  If we allowed ourselves to go off plan every time there was a holiday, birthday, or special occasion, we would ALWAYS be off plan.  Believe me, we allowed ourselves to have every treat and dessert and heavy meal for years and years and that’s exactly what we are trying to get away from.  For instance, tomorrow is Thanksgiving – usually, we would gives ourselves a mental “free pass” to eat as much as we could possibly stuff into our mouths because “that’s what you are supposed to do on Thanksgiving”, but this year, we are eating Paleo.  We will have turkey, sweet potatoes (no sugar or marshmallows), Paleo cranberry sauce,  brussels sprouts with bacon, and Paleo pumpkin pie.  This is a lot more than we are used to having at one meal, and it all sounds incredibly yummy to us, so we are completely fine with not eating all of the other foods.  And you know,  if we really feel like we need to sample some mashed potatoes and gravy or green bean casserole, then we absolutely can.  And we definitely don’t judge anyone else that IS having all of the yummy Thanksgiving food – this is just our personal choice – for us and us alone:)

I hope this post was informative for you, and if you aren’t interested in all of this healthy eating talk, don’t worry – this isn’t turning into a weight loss blog!  ;)  Thanks for letting me share friends! ♥