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.  

THE RESULTS

Here is a spreadsheet with the different results (there are different tabs for Points, WOD & Composition)

Day 1	Day 30

Day 11 : Paleo Challenge

I am feeling good, actually...REALLY good.  I have been eating "clean" for 11 days (with one small cheat - a piece of cake at my "farewell party" at work because I am switching teams in the company).

Here is a breakdown of everything so far

Day 1-2: Awesome! I can do this!

Day 3-5: Dragging, Hungry, Tired... I felt VERY hungry on day 3-5.  In retrospect I was not eating enough, I actually am allowed carbs, but just in the form of fruit or squash..not bread or cake.  On my lowest day, I gave in and had a delicious piece of chocolate cake.. Nummy..until it wasn't and made my tummy all grumbly.  After that I haven't had as much craving for sweets (maybe my cheat was actually a blessing in disguise).  I struggled at my crossfit workouts, too..but I got through them

Day 6-today - I have been staying healthy and feeling great.  I don't have any "crashes" in the day.  even when it is dinnertime, and I am hungry, I don't have that crankiness that goes with it.  I am alot happier... I giggle with my kids more, have energy to just play with them.  I also haven't had my "hives" (which those of you who know me well happen all the time when I am happy/sad/have a glass of wine/whatever).   Overall things are going REALLY well.

Overview of Challenge Point System (per day):
1 point: Hydrate:  Wake-up - drink 12oz water (I get points for that!)
5 points:  Eating Clean (deduct 1 pt for every cheat meal, deduct 2 for alcohol consumed, deduct 1 if you don't have 4 meals)
3 points: Exercise (3points per day for a workout)
1 point: Stretching( 0.5 points for every 15 min - up to 1 pt)
1 point: Sleep (0.5 points for 4-7 hrs, 1pt for 8 hours)

Here is a sample of what I eat
Meals
- Bfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs with either veggies or meat and black coffee
- Snack: nut bar
- Lunch: Chicken/Pork and a lot of veg
- Dinner: Beef and veg (Very similar to lunch)


Results so far:  My clothes are already looser around my legs and belly.  I have lost 4 lbs and already see a noticeable difference... This helps with the whole process :)

I have a feeling that, although I may not be strict paleo the rest of my life..this will have a huge impact on me eating healthier for the rest of my life.  I haven't felt this good in a while.

Here are some interesting articles that may be worth a read:

What is Paleo? - balancedbites.com

How to Prevent Spending the Last 10 Years of Your Life in a Diaper and a Wheelchair - chriskresser.com

10 Psychological Hurdles Keeping you from Losing Weight - marksdailyapple.com

 

Here's a post from Whole9 about Crossfit Stamford first Paleo Challenge ever back in 2010!

Paleo Challenge and Crossfit - a quest to not be the thyroidectomy statistic

Since my thyroid was taken out, I have gained weight.  I haven't gained a ton of weight and I am not "overweight", but I am on the border and currently in an upward trend.  I feel like I need to do something.

I tried training for a half marathon (and completed it), but this did not give the results I would have liked.  I didn't lose any weight, so it was frustrating (considering the time I put into it).

I need to do something more drastic.  I need to change my diet and I need to find an exercise program that I like and gives results.  After some research, it seems the Crossfit/Paleo Diet combination is a good contender.  Let's hope it works!

I have already started the Crossfit ramp-up (a 3 week program that introduces the skills for the normal class and ends this Thursday).  I have also started the 4 week Paleo Challenge on Saturday. 

The Challenge is hard and simple at the same time, for 30 days (in priority order):
1) Try to sleep 8 hours
2) Eat food that is both Nutrient Dense & Gives Energy and not processed in any way (basically only Meat, Veg, Nuts and Fruit)
3) Exercise
Note: No weighing/Measuring for 30 days

I am on Day 4 of the diet and, so far so good... I have heard the first 2 weeks are really hard - I have a feeling that is coming soon!   I can only update on how I am feeling...but we will see the results on November 19th!

There is a secondary reason for me doing this - the Paleo diet is supposedly good for autoimmune diseases.  Graves disease is an auto-immune disease, and gives me a greater chance of having another auto-immune disease.  Hopefully eating this way will reduce those chances...