Jeez, did I learn a lot in a week and a half. Not only is this Paleo diet an eyeopening experience, I have learned a boat load of nutritional information that I never knew existed. So here is what I got out of it.

Apparently, your body needs about 100 grams of carbohydrates a day for your brain to function properly. Without it, you will encounter mood swings, over heating and even dizziness. I like my brain to function as properly as it can, because I am already insane. With this diet, I am not consuming any carbohydrates. None. No rice, bread or gluten, for that matter. Now, instead of burning carbohydrates for energy, my body is essentially eating itself. My body is burning protein instead. I am burning my muscle that I am working so hard to gain, slaving away at the gym with free weights, next to body builders and women who can snap me in half. It is damn intimidating working out next to these people, which is why it is infuriating learning this diet is contradicting itself, literally. My boyfriend has told me he feels like his beloved muscles are shrinking. This explains it.

With all of the negative things that I have heard about the diet, I have decided to tweek it to make it more sustainable. Now, I am eating whole grains once a day. That can be a sandwich, or a bowl of Special K cereal, with almond milk (by the way, Almond Breeze is the best out there). Sticking true to Paleo may work for other people, but from my experience, it needs some reworking.

So far, I have made the most delicious meals that I think I ever have. Thanks to Pinterest, I have learned how to make homemade chocolate. YES, chocolate. This recipe is not only genius, but I have no guilt eating a ton of it. There are so many more recipes I want to try.

3 tablespoons of Coconut Oil

3 tablespoons of Almond Butter

4 tablespoons of dark chocolate, unsweetened cocoa power

2-3 tablespoons of agave or honey (depending on how sweet you want it)

Chopped up fruit or almonds

I added chopped up strawberries, raspberries and almonds which made it only that much better. I even tried putting it on bananas and freezing it. Oh yea, all you have to do is melt all the ingredients together on the stove top then put on a cookie sheet, and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Voila! No baking necessary. It is chocolaty goodness without any added sugar. Seriously though, you need to make this regardless if you are on the diet. I sure will.

Other things I made over the past week and a half included baked cod encrusted with olive tapenade and sun-dried tomatoes. This was so easy and packed with flavor. And get this, I made cauliflower fried rice. OH EM GEE. I used this as my "starch" for my coconut milk and curry chicken stew that I made in the crock pot, which I also found on, you guessed it, Pinterest. I even made a pinning board exclusively for Paleo recipes.

(check out my Pinterest for some of the recipes I found.) www.pinterest.com/anitabaffoni

After weighing myself at the gym, I lost 5 pounds. Damn, it is so nice seeing the weight come off. This is why I can't give up on the diet because it's working, whether I like that it or not. In words from The Little Engine That Could, "I think I can, I think I can". I won't cave in. I KNOW I can do this. A diet is what you make of it. Some things work for people so you need to design it in a way your body will accept it. For me, eating a small amount of whole grains will help my month long diet, without losing the precious muscle that I have so little of. Lets see what happens.

Until next week...