The Paleo Pact

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

A New Year, A New You

It’s the New Year! Even after two weeks it’s still hard to believe that another year has gone by and a new one has started. Every year the transition into a new year seems to creep up on me and then fly by before I even realize what has happened.

I’m encouraging you to set aside time right now and think about your coming year, because we know we won’t actually do it later like we say we will. A New Year offers so many possibilities, you can adopt a new look, start a solid exercise plan, do better at eating well, basically become a new person. So what are you going to do to become a new you?

Pick three things to focus on this year that will help you become a new you, a you that is more inline with your goals and dreams. Then do one thing today for each of those areas of focus. To help you with this I’ll show you my focuses and tasks.

The three things I will do to become a new me this year…

Focus more on my yoga practice- today I’ll go to the hot yoga class I haven’t had time for, for the past week.
Focus on reducing stress- I’m not great at meditating but today I’ll take 15 minutes and try my best to meditate.
Focus on enjoying the moment- today I will go for a walk and not spend the whole walk thinking about what I need to do when I make it home but instead enjoy being outside and having time to myself.

Now it’s your turn. Don’t over think it, just write down what’s on your mind, there is no right or wrong answer here. Now tomorrow do one thing towards each of your areas of focus and so on. This are slightly different than health goals because they are broader, don’t need to be as defined and don’t need to be health specific.

Happy New You!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Setting Health Goals For The New Year

A New Year will be here before you know it and it’s important to start it off right. To do that you need a plan of action and to make a plan you need to know what your end goals are. So lets work on setting some goals.

As you prepare your goals for the New Year especially the ones that are health related there a few ways you can look at it, you could have a goal focused on loosing weight, on improving your fitness, or even eating better. It could even be a combination of the three.

With whatever goal or goals you choose you should make sure they have these 3 success factors in common.

They’re specific- they are clearly defined. For example, “I will lose 10 pounds or I will eat no wheat”.
They have a time frame- you can provide a date by which you plan to achieve your goal or a specific time frame.
A list of actionable steps to achieve your goal- you can create a list of steps you need to complete to reach your end goal, each step should have an action associated with it.

When setting your health goal or goals for the New Year make sure they adhere to the 3 success factors. As a final note about selecting your goals, make sure that you don’t exceed 2 or 3 goals total. The more goals you have the less likely you are to complete them because of a lack of focus. The best practice is to pick one goal and go for it.

Happy New Year!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Our Top 9 Holiday Recipes

No holiday would be complete without a favorite dish or meal. To help celebrate this year we’ve pulled our top 9 favorite recipes perfect for a holiday meal to share with you. These recipes are exactly what you need to serve the perfect paleo holiday meal.

Our top 8 favorite holiday recipes are…

Try serving up one of these dishes this holiday season and everyone will be happy.

Happy Holidays!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Our Top 5 Pie Recipes

Sometimes a treat is just what you need, especially during the holidays. So in honor of the holidays we’ve created a list of our five favorite pies based on recipes featured on our blog. So in no particular order because picking five was hard enough, here are our 5 favorite pies.

In addition to our favorite pies we also think they pair perfectly with our Paleo Pie Crust and Coconut Pie Crust recipes!

Happy Baking!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

@camillacarboni | camillacarboni.com

Vitamin D and Winter Darkness

It’s the onset of winter for all of us in the Northern hemisphere and we’re experiencing cooler days and earlier sunsets, causing most of our activities to transition to the indoors.

We don’t often think of it, but the lack of sunshine on our skin can cause deficiencies, which can of course be made up for with diet. Vitamin D is one such concern during the dark winter months. It is essential to the human body and it is typically synthesized when we expose our skin to sunlight.

What exactly is vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a hormone, produced by the body as it is exposed to sunlight. In technical terms, it’s a group of fat-soluble secosteroids that aids in the absorption of minerals. Because it is naturally generated by the body as the suns rays reach it, vitamin D is sometimes referred to as the “sunshine vitamin”.

What does vitamin D do for our body?

Vitamin D is essential to the proper absorption of calcium and phosphorus, which are needed to ensure healthy bones.

How can we be sure to get enough Vitamin D during the winter months?

Most vitamin D is created by the body during direct sunlight contact on the skin. During the winter when sunshine hours are limited and it can be too cold to venture outdoors, vitamin D supplementation can help to ensure the body has enough of the vitamin to support its needs.

Eating Vitamin D rich foods is a great way to keep your body healthy.

Vitamin D-rich foods include shiitake mushrooms, eggs, animal protein and fish that is rich in omega 3 fatty acids.

The below chart is a great guideline for ensuring you are getting enough vitamin D all winter long:

To your best health,

Camilla Carboni

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

The Paleo Guide To Making It Through The Holidays

Every holiday season we like to cover this topic particularly because being paleo during the holidays can be difficult. There are all kinds of non-paleo goodness about and if that wasn’t enough you have to deal with the stress that comes along with the holiday season.

So to help you out we’ve compiled our best tips to help guide you thoroughly this holiday season. Here’s what we recommend.

Prepare ahead of time- The more you can prepare in advance the better. Try cooking and freezing your meals for the week or make sure you’re loaded up on healthy snacks. If you know you’re going to a party, think about bringing a Paleo side dish or appetizer, that way you know there will at least be one option for you there.

Cheat days- Sometimes you’re going to have non-paleo friendly meals. It’s human and that’s ok. To help minimize how often you cheat during the holiday season try to plan your cheat days ahead of time and limit them when possible.

A special treat- The food is often a staple of many holiday celebrations, think about making yourself a special paleo treat to substitute into your celebration this year.

Stay hydrated- We’re so busy some days that we forget to drink water. Often times when you’re thirsty your brain will get mixed signals and think it’s hungry, staying hydrated will help to prevent these mixed signals.

Simplify– The easier you make things for yourself the more likely you’ll succeed at it. Don’t get crazy with your meals during the holidays. Keeping it simple like a piece of protein and a side of steamed veggies will keep you from wasting time or getting off track.

Don’t stress out- Stress for most people is the number one factor for eating poorly. Try to keep from stressing out, maybe take a walk or a few deep breaths when you feel the pressure.

Restart- Sometimes no matter what you do you get off track. If you get off track, acknowledge that it happened and try to figure out what caused it. Then get back on track(restart), PALEO Cleanse is a great tool to help you get back on track after the holiday ride.

Follow these tips and you’ll keep yourself on track this holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

The Pasta Alternative

We always receive questions on substitutions from our readers, which makes sense because if you’ve found something you really like you don’t want to give it up. One request in particular that we receive regularly revolves around options for paleo approved pasta.

Many people will automatically assume that because you’re paleo you can’t have pasta…pasta is generally made out of wheat after all so it makes sense. Not to worry though, there are many alternatives for pasta that are paleo approved.

Here are the top options you have for paleo approved pasta.

Spaghetti Squash- it’s easy to cook and when it’s done it’s a perfect replacement for pasta. You can also use it as lasagna noodles by layering the squash and creating it’s own layer to act as a traditional lasagna noodle.
Zucchini- If you have a spiral slicer or salad shooter you can make noodles out of zucchini. It’s similar to the spaghetti squash but it another great option.
Make it yourself- if you’re up for the challenge there are tons of recipes out there to make you own pasta with coconut or almond flour as replacements for traditional pasta flour.
Buy it- If you’re looking for a more hearty pasta but don’t have the gumption to make it yourself you can find what you need at the local health food store. We buy a brand of pasta called Cappellos Pasta, they use paleo ingredients and it’s delicious.

These are some of the top options for paleo pasta alternatives that you can use when preparing meals. We encourage you to try them all, you may find that you regularly use more than one option in your meals.

As a side note, make sure to read the instructions when cooking your own or store-bought paleo pasta. The cooking times can vary greatly from what you may be accustomed to with traditional pasta.

Happy Experimenting!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

PALEO Cleanse: Best Practices

It’s hard to believe that PALEO Cleanse has been on the market for over 10 months now!

To all who have read it and supported us, we are forever grateful.

For those of you embarking on your PALEO Cleanse journey, or perhaps redoing it, here are our top 5 all-time best practices:

1. Prepare ahead of time – you’ll be less likely to cheat if you have plenty of good pre-made food options on hand.

2. Carry snacks with you at all times – then there is no excuse for a quick stop at the donut shop!

3. Drink plenty of water – you are about 60% water and your body needs replenishment, plus drinking water helps your body get rid of toxins more quickly.

4. Carry the book/meal plans with you – use the book as your guide and your support–it’s there to help you get through the Cleanse and includes numerous tips to help you along your way.

5. Understand the basic principles of PALEO and review the PALEO FAQ section in the book – beginning with a clear goal in mind and a good foundation on the benefits of Ancestral eating will help you through those tougher times. Confidence and commitment are key–we know you can do it–we did!

And as always if you ever run into questions or want to find out about substituting an ingredient, or if you just want to say “Hi”, we’re here to answer your questions and help you along the way.

Here’s to you!

Camilla and Melissa

thepaleopact.com

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

PALEO Cleanse: Summer Solution

We know that biting into a big juicy piece of steak while your friends are picking away at a tiny summer salad always makes for a table turner. Nobody can ever get over just how much we eat, but the fact is, if you eat the foods that our human digestive system can easily breakdown, you can eat a whole lot more than you ever thought (without the guilt).

But we know it’s summer–the season of more outdoor time and a whole lot less clothing–and we all want to look our very best. The good news is that gone are the days of heavily restricted eating, calorie counting, liquid diets etc. The world has finally figured out that by following a diet similar to our Ancestors, we can happily eat solid, seemingly fatty foods and still look dashing!

In PALEO Cleanse we walk you through 30-Days of Paleo eating with customizable weekly meal plans that are easy to make but delicious and varied enough to keep you from getting bored. It’s a great way to detox this summer without deprivation dieting. Plus, most people drop pounds, enjoy clearer skin and more toned bodies after just a few weeks on the Cleanse.

So now, when everyone is salivating at the grass-fed steak you are happily devouring you can think to yourself, “you need a copy of PALEO Cleanse”! 😉

Happy summer eating, the healthy way,

Camilla and Melissa

thepaleopact.com

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!