April Fuel Challenge
I challenge all of our PAX to a little clean eating competition. How this may look for you may be different than YHC. Let me start off by giving the disclaimer. I am not a nutritionist or a health professional. If you are diabetic, and maybe if you aren't, you may want to consult with a professional before beginning a challenge like this. I will probably get flamed by Calypso, already did on Slack, but here it goes…
Beginning April 2nd, the day after Easter, or maybe another day works best for you, begin a 4 week diet. Not just a diet, a lifestyle change. In the average American diet we eat a lot of things that aren't food. When did chemicals become food, or food treated with chemicals? Read your labels, what's the ingredients? My challenge to you is go 4 weeks on the Paleo diet. Invite the M as well because the more the merrier. You can download apps, search pinterest (flame on) or google and find Paleo recipes, but in general eating things that are naturally paleo friendly is going to be easier and cheaper. In the end you may find new foods that you actually enjoy that you used to despise, maybe even lose 10-20 lbs. While many think Paleo means eating a lot of meat, this is just wrong. It does include unlimited meat, but probably a much higher quantity of veggies.
FAQ's:
Can I eat Tacos? Yes and no, mostly no. No traditional Taco shells, no Cheese, No sour cream. But you can load up on the Guacamole. Taco Tuesday will turn into a taco salad.
Can I drink beer? NO, but one bottle of preferably organic no added sulfites per week is generally acceptable.
How can I do this and run long distances? You can't…just go join CG. Actually you can, but your fuel is completely different. Google it.
Planning:
Download some apps. Search your app store for a few good apps for meal planning and foods list. I like "Paleo Leap" and "Paleo Diet Plan".
There are many opinions on what is included and what is not, but the basic list of what's in and what's out is below. There are some exceptions
Buy some emergency meals and meal staples. Walmart is great for this. They actually have frozen paleo meals for $6 each that are what I call "the best frozen dinner I've ever had" Maybe get a loaf of Paleo bread (it's $10 and you can't call it bread…so real emergencies here) and tub of Almond Butter. YHC recommends making some snacks ahead of time and planning your meals a week in advance to increase your chances of success.
What's In (In general/summary)
- Any meat, preferably organic and pasture fed (grass fed)
- Any vegetable, but no legumes and limit your starches except of days that you exercise. Good snacks are carrots, peppers, broccoli.
- Limited Fruits (you can eat lots of carbs, especially for exercise days)
- Nuts (not peanuts since they are legumes)
- Coconut oil
- Avocado
- Coconut water (to replace sports drink if you are into those)
- Lara Bars (or other fruit/nut bars)
- Dark Chocolate (80%+)
- Most real foods that aren't processed or at least minimally processed.
- Herbs and Spices
- Black Coffee (or bulletproof coffee)
- Salsa (but no chips unless you make some paleo ones)
- Up to 4 glasses of wine/week
- One energy boosting staple I like is coconut butter stuffed dates.
What's out
- Grains including wheat and oats (except for rice for carb loading) Almond flour is a good alternative but is $$$$.
- Bread, if that wasn't obvious from above
- Corn, Beans other than limited green beans. If going hardcore Paleo none allowed
- Dairy (exception is "Grassmilk" and Kerrygold butter and only in small quantities) If going hardcore Paleo none allowed
- Sugar Cane (may substitute small amounts of honey) If going hardcore Paleo none allowed
- Beer, liquor
- Peanuts
- Salad Dressing (Use a little olive oil and lemon juice)
- Potato Chips
- Food dyes
- Preservatives
- Processed foods (at least aim for minimally processed)
What to expect
- If you go full on Paleo expect to transition to keto as your body moves to burning (converting) fat for fuel. This transition peaks around 2 weeks in (at least for me) and your energy level is low at that time, just eat good fats, and plenty of them.
- Around day 1.5 to 3 cravings will be high. Will power must be strong. Everything tastes like crap because you want sugar and you want it now.
- 1 week in and you are down a pound or 3.
- 2 weeks in and the weight starts to drop more, but maybe the energy is low. More will power needed.
- 3-4 weeks in and you feel great, your taste buds no longer crave sugar and you see that the weight has flown off.
- Now what? Do you adapt some of these new eating habits or go back to the way you were before?
- As you transition back add things in slowly to see if certain foods have been affecting you.
What's the Q's story
I started Paleo about 4 or maybe 5 years ago because I noticed something in my diet was causing me to feel horrible, every day, around the same time. It had to be something I was eating. I did a very hard core Paleo diet for 8 weeks and lost about 30 lbs and starting adding things back in to find my problem. For me it was Gluten. Since cutting it out completely I've felt much better, and have done several 30 day challenges for myself to "sugar detox"
SC or HC to the comments below..question…