Frustrating

I'm just going to complain for a sec so if you don't want to read it then don't, this is more to just vent than anything else. So we're approaching like day 30 or something in the paleo challenge and except for four instances, I have kept a strict paleo diet. despite doing this I don't feel any better than I did on day 1, I haven't lost or gained weight, and I really don't think I have lost much of my body fat. I am continually forcing myself to not eat all these unhealthy foods and I begin to wonder why.

again I'm not writing this for commiseration or criticism, I'm just frustrated.

That's All She Wrote?

The Paleo Challenge has come to a close and I feel great. In under six weeks my body fat percentage decreased by 3.1% - which is freaking awesome. I think the biggest thing I learned is that Paleo can be part of a BALANCED lifestyle and you don't need to be in a Paleo prison to succeed (or at least that is the case for my body). As dutifully chronicled here, I wasn't always the perfect Paleo person and certainly had red wine once if not twice (on rare occasion) a week. There may have been some other failures as well (champagne, pizza, BREAD!). However, my eating habits overall changed for the better including cutting out glutens and dairy - both of which I credit for my fat loss. I have done the Paleo/Primal thing in the past but maintained a pretty steady diet of cheese and dairy and didn't see near the gains I saw this time around. Live and learn!

So the biggest question is will I keep this up? I think so. It has become routine now and frankly, I don’t really think about the things I no longer eat/drink (other than pizza). That said, I also won’t let myself get to a place where when I do cheat I will go crazy. That is probably the biggest lesson of all.

If any of you following this blog are on the fence about challenging yourself this way I encourage you to go for it. Even if you aren’t perfect, I guarantee you will make improvements – and isn’t that what life is all about?

PS - for anyone interested, we are going to keep up this blog - mostly as a place to share recipes, resources, websites, progress reports etc. I loved seeing what everyone out there was doing and want to keep it going! I even loved Suburb's fact checking! Keepin it real Suburbs!

A nerds time to reflect

Congrats to everyone who stuck with this for the 6 weeks. Everyone did very well and lost body fat %. Alright, so I don't remember the correct numbers, but I went down from 17.3 to 14.4, and I gained 6 pounds of lean body mas while losing 8 or 9 pounds of body fat. When my sister and I previously measured our body fat before and after a previous paleo challenge I believe I lost 4%, but I lost lean body mass. I am pumped that I gained lean body mass while still remaining to be an adult mail. **Adult male > 200 pounds**.

I remained silent because I was trying new things during this paleo challenge. I am no stranger to paleo, but this is the first time I remained strict. Other times I would still drink and eat pizza once a week. This time, money talked and bullshit walked. I was stricter than comrade Stalin and his daily vodka regiment. I did not partake in booze accept during the pumpkin carving party at Moe and Drew's and one beer and tequila after Colorado USAW/XFIT event.

So what are my sweeping changes?

1. I cut out the booze. This is a no brainier. Sorry Yaz, you can't dance with the buffalo stance. I have used that song lyric twice in a day! I know what you are thinking, I cannot give up my booze. Why not? You can enjoy booze every now and then, but do not drink booze daily.
   
2. I ate real food. I did not use protein powders or any other synthetic foods.
   
3. I always ate a big breakfast. For those who don't like Breakfast, get over it and eat a large meal every morning.
   
4. I did not count calories or worry about my protein intake. I made sure I ate satisfying meal with protein as the center piece of the meal.
   
5. I left intermittent fasting alone. I had issues with this in the past and do not want to revisit.
   
6. I did not snack. I left the fruit and nuts at home. I ate three meals a day. This was very important as snacking can get out of hand. I would recommend increasing the amount of food eating for every meal.
   
7. I did not eat many fruits or nuts. Both are calorically dense. I would recommend picking up Robb Wolf's paleo solution. It has great chapters on how the body handles different sugars and fats.
8. I did not supplement my meals with paleo treats such as paleo muffins, paleo cakes, paleo pudding, etc. Only one weekend did I enjoy paleo crackers and a paleo pizza, but I would recommend staying away from consuming paleo substitutes to real food sparingly. And when I mean sparingly I don't mean Tiger Woods sparingly. I mean once in a blue moon.
   
9. I worked very hard on sleeping 7 to 9 hours every night. This ties back to the no drinking. Alcohol impedes sleep. On the weekends I would try to sleep in and shoot for 10 hours.
   
10. I worked hard on minimizing stress. I always see this guy on Cuyler Avenue around 8 or 9 pm in a business suit, smoking cigarettes, and looking haggard. He looks like a prime candidate for an early heart attack. While I enjoy my job, I am learning how to say no, and I prioritize my life accordingly.

Every small change I made was not that difficult, sure it took commitment and sacrifice. But, I feel it is important that everyone answer this one question. Why did you join the paleo challenge? My answer is simple. I want to live a healthy and independent life.

My goal is to get to 10% by July 2011. I will post a follow up on my new plan of attack. I am going to make some small tweaks during the next month and track my progress.

Drew's Weekend Update

As we enter into the 3rd week of the challenge, I’ll make note of a few observations that I’ve had over the past two weeks.

My food choices have been pretty damn good. I don’t get enough vegetables in my diet, but the grains and sugars have been all but eliminated. Until just a few days ago, I would have a small chocolate milk after some heavy workouts. It was my treat to myself until I decided to look at the nutrition label. Oops. The second ingredient after milk was High Fructose Corn Syrup. DAMMIT. I believe the fourth ingredient was Sugar. DOUBLE DAMMIT. I expected a little sweetener….didn’t expect to see it twice. Luckily, my lovely wife concocted a decent substitution for the sweet chocolate fix after a workout. Unsweetened Almond Milk, Unsweetened Cocoa, Stevia. Mix in the Magic Bullet®….sweet tooth satisfied.

For reasons that I have complained about all too often, I have not been able to spend a lot of time in the box. One of the great things about CrossFit is that it is a full body workout almost every day. Unfortunately, if you are dealing with an injury to a significant part of the body, in this case shoulders, finding good substitutions can be difficult and repetitive. Through the recent shoulder bias into the mix and it make for Drew spending more time away from the gym than in the gym. Yup…I just went 3rd person.

With the diet alone, I feel like I am starting to lean out…getting back toward the pre-surgery numbers, albeit slower than the Diet/WOD mix. I am still mixing in my 2-3 WODs a week, but hopefully with the right rehab, those numbers (as well as WODs Rx’d) will get back to the 5-6 number. Lungs, on the other hand, still have a long way to go.

Still need work on my sleeping habits. I am a major night owl, and lucky to get 6 hours a night.

Still drink my Coke Zero. Don’t plan on changing that. I’d like to turn this into a lifestyle change, and I’ll consider Coke Zero that in-law that you just have to deal with, b/c they aren’t going anywhere.

On to week three.

Oh, and Pebbles....just my two cents.

Hello Paleo World...Are You There???

I am going to make a list today:

1. I am making a list because I haven't seen Jacob post anything in quite some time. How is the challenge going, buddy?
2. How did the weekened go for everyone? Are you still going Paleo strong? Did you cave in?

3. Congrats to those who lifted at the USAW/Crossfit Open in Co Springs (Doogie, Leo, Cheston, McLar). It makes me want to compete in USAW again. Speaking of, I am going to sign up for the Nov 6th meet in Buffalo Grove. Who is with me? Let's win this thing.

4. I really miss Collin's Paleo video of the day and expect to see a new one before the end of the day.

5. Is everyone keeping up on their exercise? At least 4 times a week, right?

6. Pick up a copy of Robb Wolf's new book, The Paleo Solution. I just finished reading it last night and it reaffirms why we need to do this challenge and also why I might just keep doing this forever...

7. I need help deciding what to be for Halloween. In true Paleo fashion, I would like to be Pebbles, Wilma, or Betty. Votes please! :)

Additional Paleo Challengers!

Hello Paleolas!

We have added on to our original line-up of challengers. As of today (Sunday, Sept. 26th), here is an updated list of competitors along with the originals that started last Sunday. As stated earlier today, please do not forget to put in your part of the $ if you have not done so yet. The pot is getting bigger (but don't tell Pat that). Also, if you just started and feel comfortable doing so, please send us your before photo for the blog!

The Gang:

J-Po

Lean Body Mass: 117 lb

Fat Mass: 44 lb

Body Fat: 27.8%

Laney

Lean Body Mass: 105 lb

Fat Mass: 28 lb

Body Fat: 21.2%

Mo

Lean Body Mass: 113 lb

Fat Mass: 27 lb

Body Fat: 19.5%

Beck

Lean Body Mass: 110 lb

Fat Mass: 22 lb

Body Fat: 17.2%

Drew

Lean Body Mass: 150 lb

Fat Mass: 29 lb

Body Fat: 16.4%

Doogie
Lean Body Mass: 173 lb
Fat Mass: 36 lb
Body Fat: 17.3%

Ashley
Lean Body Mass: 106 lb
Fat Mass: 38 lb
Body Fat: 26.5%

Jacob
Lean Body Mass: 175 lb
Fat Mass: 17 lb
Body Fat: 9%

Dangerous
Lean Body Mass: 126 lb
Fat Mass: 40 lb
Body Fat: 24.1%

Collin
Lean Body Mass: 179 lb
Fat Mass: 25 lb
Body Fat: 12.3%

PC
Lean Body Mass: 140 lb
Fat Mass: 20 lb
Body Fat: 12.5%

K-dog
Lean Body Mass: 100 lb
Fat Mass: 16 lb
Body Fat: 13.8%

Yaz
Lean Body Mass: 98 lb
Fat Mass: 39 lb
Body Fat: 29.0%

Dingo
Lean Body Mass: 225 lb
Fat Mass: 35 lb
Body Fat: 13.6%

Let's stay stong and bust right into WEEK 2! Keep up the good work, ladies and gents! Be prepared.

Paleo = What I do when I write my friend Leo a check!

The title comes from a joke I found quite funny that my friend's grandfather told me.

Anyway on to my Day 2 food followed by some random musings and finally a music video.

Breakfast
- Pineapple slices
- Progenex shake
- Lots of black coffee

Lunch
- Sliced roast beef
- Baby carrots
- Left over flank steak
- 1 12oz diet coke (don't you judge me!)

Snack
- A really good trail mix I found at CVS. I had lots of good dried fruit, almonds and walnuts in it.

Dinner
- Grilled chicken
- Edamame

Random Thoughts
- I heart Costco.
- I did my first paleo challenge one year ago, started 9/1/09 and went through 9/30/09, and what I can tell you is the first 10 days are the worst. If you can make it though 10 days it will become habit. I promise you that!
- Yaz, do not go anywhere near a scale! Scales are the devil and will not show your true progress.

Paleo Music Video

The MUPPETS!

Cori Dangerous nearly gets in trouble...

I thought that today was the hardest day yet. Mostly because I locked my keys in my car, pushing my time to cook way back and I had to rush my cooking to get it all finished in time before my clients showed up. For breakfast, I had 2 eggs, salmon, a yellow bell pepper, and an orange. Despite my setback this morning, I have not cheated yet and that makes me excited!

I also found that my snack of raw walnuts today was NOT satisfying and I wanted to barf all over the CTA bus while I was eating them. I also wanted to get off the bus and get tasty food. Carb craving for sure. You would all be proud though, because I didn't cave, I went home and had some chicken and vegetables. Dinner is the same tonight. Afternoon snack consisted of an avocado.

Lessons learned:
1. Prep your food the night before.
2. Don't eat raw walnuts on the CTA, or at least pair them with something, they are nasty alone
3. I need to eat more protein - are you keeping track of yours? I need 150 grams, I have been around 100 the past few days.

How are you guys feeling today? I think if you can get through 3 days of anything, you can get through 40...

Rock on.
-Cori Dangerous

Beck soars and falls

Day 3 of this Challenge was meh.

Mon
Great day with a fasting AM WOD. (Rx'd - Holla. Is there a KB devil whispering higher kgs into J$ ear? 24kg Rx'd? Sheesh)

Didn't have time to cook the meat portion of dinner. So I had roasted beets and sweet potatoes in Olive oil and Italian Seasoning. Had some leftover. Maybe the low cal is what led to my demise on Tues. Meh.

Tues

2 eggs + 1 yolk scrambled. Glass of water
Red Eye Coffee

Tuna and a Brat (I was improvising)

2PM. I had to get a kid home from school, sick. I stopped to get makings of an Oreo shake (I'm not a big fan of ice cream or dairy or Oreos really). So I had a solid 8oz shake with whipped cream. And liked it. Wanted more. Oh, and there was Splenda in the Ice cream. *sigh*. Go BIG!

4pm Brat with mustard and small circle of Bonnie Bell Cheese

Re-rack for dinner

Shepherd's Pie (MDA recipe but add, 1 TBL Worchestshire sauce and 2 TBL Soy or Liquid Amino). Eat after Oly or after I get kids to bed.

Shepherd's Pie is great to have in the freezer. You store in a ramekin or glass bowl and freeze with the lid on or with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 min from frozen state and dinner is served. Great Fall/Winter go-to. 1 lb of meat makes 3 dinners.

I braise the cauliflower in chicken stock and then use a blending wand to make it mashed. Good gadget. I used beef broth today and it changes the color of the mash cali but still provides the flavor required. Chicken stock is preferred and better. I say that everytime.