"Find what feels good..."

About mid-January I found a 30 Days of Yoga challenge on YouTube. Yoga with Adriene features the sweetest girl from Austin, TX.  She reminds me of my college roommate, Patrice, in our younger days!  Super encouraging and funny - doing her yoga videos is a lot of fun.  And guess what?  I made it through all 30 videos.  Not in 30 consecutive days because sometimes "life" and then there was a nasty little fall on the ice that held me back for a week.  But I was proud of myself for actually doing yoga 30 times...and within a couple months not a couple years!
Adriene's mantra is "find what feels good".  She tells her viewers to put some movement in their yoga postures, to make it more organic and to listen to what your body is needing...what areas might need an extra stretch or maybe a little less.  Her approach to yoga is my current approach to food...finding what feels good.

My food journey and paleo path might not look the same as yours - or the paleo experts out there. But that's the joy in finding what feels good...individuality!  Here are some "findings" from recent experiments with what foods feel good and which ones don't for me:

1.  Almond flour...not a good one for me.  Makes my mouth feel weird and numb..not sure if there might be naturally occurring xylitol in it (which I am allergic too).  Eating almonds doesn't seem to bother me so this is a mystery.  For paleo baking, coconut flour "feels" much better in my body.  For pancakes, Pamela's mix works well and while it has a bit of almond meal, I don't get a reaction. It isn't "paleo" because rice is a grain but I seem to do okay with rice in moderation PLUS the whole family will eat the pancakes so I don't have to make two separate recipes!
 
2.  Dairy...sadly it's gonna have to go.  I grew up getting raw milk straight out of the tank at the dairy with an inch of cream on the top.  So good.  And we can eat a serious amount of cheese in my house.  I am finding some aged cheese and butter "feel" okay.  But milk and ice cream...no bueno...lots of stomach "issues" and ice cream sends me into waves of hot flashes.  I think it's the dairy and sugar together.  I am getting used to coconut milk - it has taken awhile.  I've tried Starbuck's Sumatra coconut milk in an iced caramel macchiato and it is pretty good...although I feel like I'm getting way too much sugar.  Might just switch to a splash of it in an iced coffee!  At home, this is the one I like best so far vs. the aseptically packaged or carton kinds.  (I find those have a lot of additives and not a great flavor).  I also like coconut ice cream although not all brands are created equal.   Luna and Larry's is my favorite.

3.  Alkalizing Cukes:  If I eat something that doesn't agree or creates inflammation and swelling, I begin to crave cucumbers!  I find that cucumbers have an almost diuretic effect.  I eat them in a salad or float several slices in a glass of water along with lemon.   Here is one of my favorite ways to eat them:

Cucumber/Tomato Salad
1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber (peel on or off - personal preference)
1 cup of halved cherry or grape tomatoes (or slices of regular or heirloom tomatoes if in season)
1/4 of a sweet onion (thinly sliced)
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 t honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Place veggies in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Mix vinegar and honey together and pour over veggies.  Toss to combine and let the salad set for at least 20 min at room temp or longer in the fridge so flavors can marry.   (Serves 2)