Day 10

Today is officially day 10 for the Paleo diet and my personal 30 day challenge. Things I've noticed so far:
 - My energy level has increased.
 - I've been sleeping a heck of a lot better then I have in the past 2-3 years.
 - I'm naturally tired by 10pm and I am sound asleep until at least 5am. That's seven solid hours without   
    ANY interruption. I don't even feel Marley jump up to join me anymore.
 - My phisical activity has improved. I feel stronger and seem to be recovering faster
 - Several people have commented that my face appears thinner and not as swollen
 - I see more definition in muscle tone and less fat (especially that lovely back fat!)
 - Not to gross you out, but I am more regular now...
 - The patches of acne that developed a few months ago are now gone. My skin looks much more clear.

What do I attribute this to? Well, for starts, a NO sugar, gluten, caffeine, cereal grains, legumes and dairy.

What's that you ask? You're 28, how are you surviving without drinking? For starts, I need to save money anyways and this is helping. But, I am allowed wine and the occasional beer. Keep in mind though, beer does contain wheat and since I'm REALLY trying to cut gluten out of my diet, I am staying away from beer.

Last night for dinner I made Pork Fried Rice for dinner from Health-Bent.com. Yeah yeah, we can't eat rice. So... the substitute was cauliflower throw in the food processor then cooked! It turned out REALLY yummy. There's enough left over to last a few meals too. Here's the recipe:
http://www.health-bent.com/proteins/pork-fried-rice

I was able to find wheat free soy sauce at Fresh Market. Overall, a great meal!

As the weekend closes

Today - weather not so hot.

But the run - AWESOME!

I'm 14 days away from the Pittsburgh Marathon and after today, I am pumped. I felt so good after the 13 miles, I even went in to the gym and did a past WOD. There was only one other guy in there, which was kinda nice too.

I don't know what made the run so fantastic. I ran from my house in Hampden, to Penn Station, up Charles Street to the Inner Harbor. Came back down Calvert Street to Penn Station and back to home. I love this route. It's scenic and there's just something about running through the city. Last summer, every time I ran it, I'd stop at all the Subway Restaurants along the way and they would let me have a cup of water. Today I opted to run with my camelback. I've been training for this race entirely alone, so my camelback has become a close friend. I'm almost thinking of wearing it race day. It might be weird without it and you know how us runners are addicted to "race day rituals". After all, I've worn the same underwear on every long run. Changing that could impact A LOT! :-)

Anyways, today I noticed that every hill I always walk, I was able to run. I ate a banana while on the run and felt more energy. Usually, banana's are just something to eat for me. Keep in mind, I haven't had any sugar, caffeine, gluten OR dairy for the past week.

Whatever it was, I hope I can pull it back out on race day!