If I had to choose my last meal on earth, this would be a contender.

Nori wrapped salmon is quite simply, the bomb. Super healthy, super duper flavorful. My 23-month old son was like double fisting it into his mouth he loved it so much. I used this recipe from the amazing Feeding the Whole Family cookbook, minus the wasabi powder. For the herbs I used fresh parsley and a dash of dried basil and thyme. I cooked this twice in one week, once in the oven as the recipe suggests, and once on the grill. I’m cooking it again tonight. To make on the grill, simply wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and grill for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. I like it with roasted golden beet roots and greens or grilled zucchini and mushrooms. Mangia!

Side Note: Thanks to those who left such encouraging and thoughtful comments on my last post, and for sharing your experiences with food as well – it’s all so different for each individual for sure. It seems as though half the battle is finding what works best for you, and the other half is sticking to it! I included an update to the post to clarify a few things about why I’m on this diet, and thought I’d include them here as well.

I feel it important to note that I am truly not viewing this as simply a fad diet to lose the pounds (though losing weight is extremely relevant for me as I’ll chat about later this week). As a whole, I agree that fad diets are freaky (which is why I’ve never done one before) and so often unhealthy. While losing the pounds is of course a huge benefit of the diet, the weight loss is secondary to healing my gut, the major source of my health concerns. While I didn’t completely stay away from junk before this, I routinely cooked with whole grains, soaked and prepared at home: whole wheat you-name-it, rice, beans, quinoa, millet, to name a few. As it stands now, my body is unable to fully absorb the nutrients from my food, thus I’m currently depleted in vitamins and minerals. Symptoms (and tests) point to both dairy intolerances and grain sensitivities, namely Celiac Disease. The latter is more difficult to diagnose without gluten in the diet and I had already taken that out of my diet when tested. At this point I’m not willing to add it back in. My body really has quite a bit of healing to do.

One of the (many) reasons why the Paleo diet appeals to me, is for its healing properties, as well as it doesn’t tout itself as a weight loss diet, but rather a lifestyle diet – because it is. The weight loss is simply a welcomed benefit. I truly am in this for the long haul. I think the most difficult aspect of Paleo for people is the absence of grains. It certainly was for me. But after following the diet for over two months now, I’m not certain humans are meant to eat grains, of any sort, gluten-containing or otherwise. Honestly. I realize some appear to tolerate grains quite well, but so many absolutely do not (like me), and still others don’t realize that more minor ailments, both physical and mental, could be helped by changes to their diets. I truly do believe that so many of our health concerns in this day and age stem from what we’re eating: genetically modified organisms, artificial ingredients, and foods, even whole foods, that some bodies just aren’t able to fully process yet in this stage of evolution. So here’s to living healthy – whatever that means for you! And I DO want to keep reading about your journeys as well, even if they don’t jive with the method I’m following.