Monday:
Breakfast: Fruit salad from Pret. I wasn't prepared for Paleo until the Sunday afternoon, therefore nothing in the fridge could allow me to cook a home-made brekkie. My usual daily routine is a cup of soya flat white, but now I change to a Nespresso in the office (luckily I ordered a pack of capsule already).
Lunch: It was a long morning for me as fruit salad doesn't take long to digest and half of my brain had been occupied by the idea of where to get lunch. At 12:00 sharp, I rushed to a Japanese take-away in Liverpool street arcade. They have yummy Miso Chicken, usually with rice. Now I had to order a portion of Chicken without rice, and a mixed green salad. Hmmm that seemed a lot.
Snack: Meals without grains and starch make me hungry quite easily. I brought lots of fruits with me: apples, peaches. Nuts apparently are a bit tricky. I want something meaty! After checking out the website, I ordered a few packs of beef jerky...
Dinner: It wasn't very difficult in the afternoon. For dinner, I made a pork broth with carrots, mushrooms. It was a big portion and I guess I could have them for two days almost.
Tuesday:
BreakfastI: I was better prepared this time! I cooked a mushroom omelette at the night before and brought it in a bento box to the office. This morning was beautiful!
Lunch: Take-way black pepper chicken with steamed vegetables from ASAP, a pan-Asian take way close to the office.
Dinner: Same as Monday
Wednesday, the fun part started. You know, it is always difficult to follow certain type of diet when you are travelling. And I had to spend 1.5 days in Paris for a client event.
Breakfast: I was sitting in a Eurstar train to Paris at 06:50 (lucky me, didn't have to take the first train this time). Breakfast was served shortly after the train took off. Coffee? Yes. Bread basket? No. Juice? No. Yogurt? No. Finally hot food was served: Baked tomato, sausage, canned mushroom and potato wedges. Carefully putting the potatos aside, I started swallowing the Paleo compliant breakfast, feeling sad on the one hand and satisfied on the other hand. I had never been a huge fan of bread although I was very fond of potato. But I believe that I craved for them only because they were forbidden.
Buffet lunch was served in the hotel where the conference was held. Yeah I thought at least I could choose what I could eat. The starter plates have various dishes which I couldn't really figure out: mixture of different ingredients and I was quite sure each dish includes at least one forbidden food for me...bloody French food! Well, let me skip to the main course instead: baked salmon was tasty in the end. Then the most annoying thing happened: half of the buffet table was occupied by different deserts and I could not take any of those. Considerably, they had fruit basket. My lunch finished with a few grapes, figs and a cup of espresso.
Dinner: I was lying just now. The worst part was just about to happen. Apparently it was a tradition that the first night of the event included a cooking class of French food in the evening with all guest. I had to be there. It was always a fun thing to do: You messed up with all the foods you were given and in the end you had to eat them. The problem for me this year was that obviously I did not know what to cook and eat. After I deboned a few squids, sliced a bunch of rhubarbs, Chorizo, tomatoes and red peppers, there came the menu:
Starter: Pan-fried squid cooked with red pepper and chorizo served with a chilled tomato soup and rocket. Yum!
Main: Carnaroli rice risotto with sliced asparagus served with pan-fried king prawns and asparagus tips, all finished with a spinach cream. Rice! Cream!
Dessert: Layers of poached rhubarb and shortbread finished with a zesty chantilly cream and rhubarb drizzle.
“I will be hungry tonight.” I told myself.
Thursday started from the Eurostar journey back to London. Instead of sausage and mushrooms, the “edible breakfast” was a small herbal omelette. After cups of coffee, I was able to take a morning nap before a hectic day.
Lunch: ASAP take-way again. I think lunch is the easy part, as long as I dont take bread, noodle or rice. Maybe also those Eat / Pret soups full of beans...
Dinner: Rushing into Harvey Nichols for a fashion show. Among all the guests with bubblies, holding a glass of water didn't look cool. A light dinner in the Cafe: Baked Hake with vegetables.
Friday finally came.
Breakfast: Mixed leaves with quail eggs and salmon flakes. All materials available in Waitrose.
Lunch: Pret Chicken salad with Miso soup
Dinner: a Sichuan dinner in Bar Shu after the Degas exhibition, the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever been.... Boiled fish, marinated chicken, jelly fish, pork knuckle, and fried vegetables.
Saturday
I opened my eyes at 11:30, realising that my lunch with friends will take place in 2 hours in Chiswick, a place I have never been. The rushing started again after I had a cup of black coffee. After more than 75 minutes, I finally arrived at Hedone, the venue opened by the Swedish chef Mikael Jonsson. For people on diet in such a big lunch in a desired restaurant, finding an excuse to forget about rules is easy. I skipped the bread, which looked really special and tasty. Wines were brilliant, so I heard. Then came the five courses. Instead of their signature dessert Chocolate Bar, the restaurant offered me fruit salad. In the end, I had a bite of the Chocolate Bar, heaven!
The lunch lasted till almost 5pm. All were full and tired. I had a very nice meal, very satisfied but not feeling my stomach too heavy. I start to believe that Paleo diet will help you enjoy food more.
Sunday is usually a lazy day for me.
A salami omelette starts my day.
Lots of fruits
Dinner: pork rib stew.
Have a nice week to you all!
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