Mommy gets her groove back: Paleo Challenge Results

In the beginning of October, I was out of shape and my weight was trending up while my health was trending down. I needed drastic change, but it needed to be manageable, too (balancing a full-time job in the city and two kids leaves very little time for food-prep and exercise).

I joined Crossfit On-ramp on October 9th, and heard about the Paleo Challenge in my first week. I thought - this is my chance to make that change. I signed up and never looked back.

The first week was hard - very hard. I was dragging, tired and, what's the word...oh, HANGRY! It was difficult to figure out what to eat to make me full and I struggled a lot, but after 6 days (and a few good Paleo food blog recipes), I felt like a million dollars.

What changed — the biggest change for me was mood and energy levels. I have so much more energy - it's insane! I actually play with my kids so much more (plus, some added strength let's me do a much better airplane!). My patience has gone up ten-fold (probably because I am not sugar-crashing all the time). I am noticeably happier and my "Mom anxiety" (you know when you think 10 steps ahead of what your kids are doing) has gone down significantly. Also, I sleep so soundly now and wake-up feeling rested.

Hardest Moment — Halloween. Damn you Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! I tried to hide them, give them away, throw some out, but little kids (and Peanut Butter Cup loving husbands) don't like me giving away or throwing out their hard-earned candy . So, I got creative and started an internal competition, Debbie vs. Reese's. I kept a score of how many times I wanted one and didn't have one (1pt. Debbie) vs. when I did eat one (1pt Reese's). Final Score Debbie 20 : Reese's: 1 (I lasted a 1.5 weeks until I broke and had one with my cheat meal). I consider it an overwhelming win that I ate only one because pre-Paleo it would have been Debbie 0: Reese's: 21.

Most rewarding moment — Final WOD test. I felt knocked to the ground and on top of the world all at once. I more than doubled my pull-ups and improved on every level in KB Swings, Rower and Burpees. I felt in-shape, healthy and strong for the first time in a long time.

Oddest improvement — Pink Tongue. I noticed it and did some "Googling": Eastern medicine is big on tongue color and pink color is the healthiest. Like the heading says, this is an odd improvement, but supposedly a pink tongue means I am in excellent health!

Words of advice — Don't pay attention to the scale. My results say I lost more muscle than fat, but when I look at pictures I see a big improvement. When I workout, I feel stronger (and my results show it). Don't let the numbers on the scale determine whether this challenge was successful.

The Future: I believe this Paleo Challenge has changed the way I look at food for good. Why would I want to trade all the positives that I have experienced for temporary fulfillment that actually makes me feel worse in the long-run?

I'm going to continue with Paleo on the 90/10 rule… it's not that hard once you get into a groove.