Paleo Awesomeness: DIY Ham

I've been eating paleo for 8 months now. Three of it was very strict since Husband was deployed, and since I've been about 90-95% paleo. We go out once or twice a week, so I have a few cheat meals here and there....that's enough to keep me level, rather than loosing weight and getting down that last size that just won't seem to melt off my legs (bastard athletic legs)!

Over the last week, I've taken a hard look at what I'm eating on a daily basis: My attempt to figure out why I'm not getting smaller, given the cajillion calories (yes, I in fact burn 1 cajillion calories. Not thousand. Cajillion. Get it right) I burn at CrossFit each day. I determined I'm eating too much fruit, and too much salt (and obviously the cheat meals each week don't help either).

The fruit is coming from my smoothies. While they are the most delicious thing I've ever tasted (with the exception of Coldstone Creamery chocolate/peanut butter milkshakes), they give me 3-4 servings of fruit in one pop. Not good for blood glucose levels, which means not good for weight loss. *Insert sad face with tear running down my cheek*

The salt is coming from deli meat. I know deli meat isn't Clean; it comes from animals shot up with hormones, fed God knows what, and processed to the Nth degree to get it looking all nice and perfect before it hits the grocery stores. But, to my defense, it's ridiculously easy to roll up and take with me on the road for work every day. I'm not blessed enough to be able to cook each day, so I need meat/protein that is transportable. Deli cold cuts were my answer. Until I talked with Mama Bug about the sodium content and havoc it can wreck on weight loss attempts. I looked up the sodium of my favorite Boars Head Maple Ham, and of course realized I was consuming 48% of my daily amount, in 4 slices of meat! EEK!

48% isn't awful for someone not eating paleo and trying to loose a size (I'm not saying weight anymore, it's not the number I care about, it's the size-- CrossFit doesn't allow small numbers, it allows mass amounts of muscle). For someone like myself, who does not get sodium from anything else in my diet, nor uses salt on ANYTHING else, that's a huge amount of sodium in my diet. My body is essentially holding onto all of that and soaking it up.

My solution- buy an uncooked Ham and make my own lunch meat (I will also make turkey and chicken each week for variation). Doing this takes my sodium levels from: 1, 710mg (6oz Boars Head Honey Maple Ham) to 1,400mg (6oz Organic Ham Butt). Not a huge change, but that little bit of sodium supposedly (according to paleo "experts") will make a huge difference. Here's to hoping they're right!

Here's how easy it is to cook your own ham; not to mention it comes out to be $3/lb this way, vs. $8.99/lb when it's on sale in the store!!!!!