This is meant to be a food blog but it’s also a reflection of my life as food is a part of my daily life. I started it as a hobby to work on my photography and also to keep a record of the meals that I make. Since February, I started focusing more and more on the Primal/Paleolithic way of eating which is reflective of the recipes that I have been posting.

My diet and exercise regime was quite different at the start of the year as I was following the typical whole grains, low-fat diet split into 6 mini meals. I was also spending a lot of time at the gym on the cardio machines and doing some weight lifting. I love exercise but my routine at the gym was starting to bore me. My diet was bland and I started thinking about the quality of the food that I am eating. My breakfast consisted of a 1/2 a turkey sandwich on wholegrain bread with a spread of light margarine. I snacked on muesli bars and protein shakes. These are not Real Food.

So what am I eating now?

I start my day with coffee. I’ve become a coffee lover in the last couple of months and I don’t think I can go back. I love it. I no longer eat a big breakfast as I prefer to start my day with coffee and a small snack later on in the morning. I snack on nuts and hard boiled eggs and sometime fruit. My lunch is generally a large salad or leftover veggies with a tin of wild salmon. My favorite dinner is steak cooked in butter or ghee with a large salad.

It’s so true- Fat does make everything taste better. I make my own salad dressings using high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It makes lunch taste so much better and keeps me full for longer. I eat when I’m hungry which frees up so much time given that I no longer have to plan for 6 mini meals throughout the day.

I started going to BodyPump twice a week at my local gym. I’ve never been a huge fan of group classes but I’m really enjoying this class. It’s fast, intense, and it works all the major muscle groups and it’s fun. I also do short sprint exercises once a week. The rest of the time, I take my dog for long walks while listing to my Ipod. I’m no longer obsessed with spending 5-6 days at the gym.

I’m also not super strict with the type of foods I eat. If I want fast food, I’ll have it. If I want dessert, I will have it. But majority of the time, I stick to the real food and tend to keep my carbohydrate intake low. It’s pretty easy to lower the carbohydrates when you get rid of sugar and grains.

My job has exploded on me in the last 6 months so I’m really busy at work. This new way of eating and exercising works with my super busy schedule. I’m no longer tired and I’m so much more focused at work. I firmly believe that your overall well-being should take into consideration ALL aspects of your life- diet, exercise, sleep, stress, work, etc. The small changes I have made to my diet and exercise and how it has positively impacted on other aspects of my life supports this holistic view.

I FINALLY got the Primal Blueprint Cookbook in the mail. I have to say that the book isn’t the prettiest as the photos and the book design is pretty basic. I admit that like books that look nice. This is something I learned from one of my poetry professors when I was in college who used to say that books should be packaged to reflect the beauty of the words that is inside. Maybe this is more applicable to poetry books than a cookbook.

Regardless of how the book looks, the content is excellent. It has a comprehensive section devoted to meats of all kinds- red meat, fowl, offal and seafood. Majority of the recipes are relatively easy to make with matching photos accompanying the instructions. This is especially useful with the meat recipes as I find cooking large pieces of meat to be daunting.

Majority of the recipes are dairy free and all of the recipes are grain-free and gluten free. But really the heart of book goes back to the Primal Blueprint’s Law #1- Eat Lots of Plants and Animals. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase and I can see this book becoming a favorite in my cookbook library.