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Paleo Reverses the Aging Process

By Monica Bravo Leave a Comment

Today’s post is from Robert Louque, from New Orleans. We got in contact from a Facebook group called NOLA Paleo. 

My Paleo journey is not anything glamorous and did not involve any serious medical conditions.  It was sparked by photographs friends posted on Facebook during Mardi Gras this year.    I knew I was gaining weight but those photographs painted a complete picture and I could no longer deny that I had quite the gut.

I first heard about the Paleo Diet one of my law professors at a CLE late last year.  At that time, the Paleo lifestyle made a lot of sense but it did not seem realistic for a busy attorney juggling a full time private practice on top of a part time position with the Public Defender’s office in Jefferson Parish.  After seeing those Mardi Gras photographs, I started doing a little more research and came across one of Robb Wolf’s post about the 30 day challenge to change to a Paleo lifestyle.   That day I packed almost everything in my cabinets in Rubbermaid containers to be donated to family members and I jumped right into a Paleo lifestyle.   I have never been one to ease into anything and Paleo was not going to be any different.     That was in March and I have not looked back since that time.  

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Filed Under: Testimonial Tuesday Tagged With: before and after, Healthy Eating, healthy living, new orleans food, success, weight loss

Wrap Up: Paleo in Destin, Florida

By Monica Bravo Leave a Comment

This past week my family and I went to Destin, Florida for a beach getaway. Staying Paleo on the trip was pretty easy, since we were staying at a cottage with a full kitchen. We stocked up on plenty of food to cook for breakfast and dinner and some fruits and nuts for the beach. As for working out, we stayed active on the trip by walking,  going to the gym, and riding bikes.

beach4

Reed and I

Remember: When you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail! This quote comes into my everyday life, but it is also extremely important when traveling. When on vacation many people like to let loose mentally, but there’s no reason to stray from your healthy lifestyle. There’s a reason I call it the Paleo Lifestyle, not diet. When you have a “lifestyle” mentality you feel less deprived. 

Farmer's market 30a

30A Farmer’s Market in Seaside

Saturday morning felt weird without a trip to the Farmer’s Market, so Dad and I decided to go visit the 30A Farmer’s Market and see what they had to offer. We decided to buy a Small Sprouting Kit from the Moonlight Micro Farm (top left picture) stand. We plan on throwing these sprouts onto salads and such! Dad and I enjoyed trying raw milk for the first time (top right picture) and bought some raw heavy cream to take home for coffee! I was especially excited to meet Veronica, the creator of Veronica’s Health Crunch. This crunch is absolutely delicious and pretty darn paleo! It’s just nuts, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and a bit of honey. It’s a guilt-free crunch and MUCH better for you than any store-bought trail mix. 

beef tenderloinFor Father’s Day, we went to my dad’s friend’s house in Seaside. Dad wanted to spend Father’s Day at the beach and with good friends and food. We started with sausage as an appetizer, and the main dish was salad, sweet potatoes, green bean bundles, and beef tenderloin! To say the least, it was a Paleo feast. 

dinner collage 

Filed Under: Paleo Lifestyle Tagged With: Healthy, Healthy Eating, healthy living, Paleo, paleo travel, Primal, seaside

Sorority Girl Avoids the Freshman 15

By Monica Bravo Leave a Comment

 Amy Dugas and I are in the same sorority and found we share a love for health and nutrition on our spring break together. We both came to spring break prepared with our Paleo snacks and foods. Although most girls our age were snacking on chips and grilled cheese, we stuck to our healthier choices. Amy surprised me in her determination and gave me hope for others my age. She can you tell you that the Paleo diet will help you avoid the freshman 15. 

As a freshman in college there are many things to be worried about. As a freshman girl avoid the freshman 15in college one of the biggest fears is the dreaded freshman fifteen. For me, a former high school athlete who had been very thin my entire life, this fear seemed unreasonable. I had the mindset that, “It won’t happen to me”. However, by my second semester I noticed that I was already not as thin as I used to be. I was never the type to eat junk for every meal, but I was used to eating large portions, a lot of which involved pasta, because I was always practicing multiple sports.  Just by no longer being active on a daily basis I had gained 10 lbs. While this may not sound like a lot in comparison to other people’s struggles, as a very weight conscious girl in a sorority I panicked.

I tried several fad diets with none of them fitting my lifestyle. I love to cook and am used to GOOD food so eating a little bar as a meal, or warming up frozen junk wasn’t doing it for me.

Luckily I, just like most girls my age, am a Pinterest addict. This is where the idea of Paleo was first introduced to me. I was looking in the “Health & Fitness” section of the app when I stumbled upon a string of posts about the diet/lifestyle. The food looked delicious! I could hardly believe that it was for real.

After stalking Paleo board after Paleo board on Pinterest I decided I wanted to know more. So I did what everyone does when they want to know anything, I Googled it! There it was, everything I could ever want to know about the diet of my dreams. It was so simple, logical, do-able! I was convinced. I started that very day in fear that I may get dragged into the classic diet postponement of “I’ll start tomorrow”.

From then on I was committed to Paleo. For better or for worse, in moodiness and irritability, to love and to stick to; from this day forward, ‘til death do us part. Unfortunately, worse did come before better. I was tired, grouchy, and wanted nothing more than to eat a giant loaf of French bread.  But once the first couple of weeks were over it was nothing but blue skies. I was hooked! My energy was up, I felt wonderful and I never was upset with myself after a meal. As an added bonus, even my skin and hair looked healthier! After a month the weight was already coming off and by being healthy in what I was eating I wanted to make other healthy choices.

It took a couple of months for me to no longer crave carbs but when I did I instead started to crave good things. It was great and people were taking notice. Soon my sorority sisters were asking me what I was doing and they too decided to try Paleo. I was so proud of myself. Not only was I happy to look at myself in the mirror again, but also I was inspiring others to make healthy choices.

Paleo is about more than just losing weight. It’s about becoming healthy. This is not a fad, crash diet. It’s a lifestyle change. It may be challenging in the beginning, but the benefits are exponential. I no longer even feel as if I’m dieting, I’m simply living; healthier, happier, and Paleo for life.

Want to be the next Testimonial on my blog? Send me your story at bravoforpaleo@gmail.com, and I may feature you! 

 

Filed Under: Testimonial Tuesday Tagged With: freshman 15, healthy living, Paleo, Primal, success

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Monica Bravo Hi, I'm Dr. Monica Bravo! I am a Resident Physician working towards being a Board-Certified Dermatologist. I'm a real foodie enthusiast, aspiring cook, and long time food blogger. I want to help my readers eat healthier, one meal at a time! Read more!

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