Posts Tagged ‘Paleo Challenge’

Paleo Challenge Phase II: The Rest of Your Life

Uncategorized | Posted by Brian PCF
Aug 15 2010

The PCF Summer Paleo Challenge reinforced a couple of big lessons:

  • Everything’s easier when you do it as a team.
  • People want to change their diet, but diet is habit, and habits are hard to break
  • Some people are going to stay 99% Paleo for the rest of their lives…some people aren’t.

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    Here are the main things you need to keep in mind once you’ve gotten past your first 30 Day Challenge:

  • Everything affects everything. Food, Stress, Sleep, Stress, Exercise, and Stress, all affect each other. If one spirals out of control, chances are it’s going to pull something else out of whack. Control what you can control. Fix what you can fix. Don’t beat the shit out of yourself if you have some chocolate after your cat dies.
  • Have a buddy or a community that you can vent to and who can pick you up when you’re down, give you some advice, or just say “yeah, that happened to me too.”
  • Look to excel, not to survive. Those that get excited about the Paleo lifestyle stick with it. Those that look at it as a prison sentence are going to spend an inordinate amount of time figuring out ways to break out.

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    “Enough bullshit self-helpy stuff Brian, tell me what I can eat.”

    Here’s a list, in descending order of harm, of foods that you can probably reintroduce. I’ll warn you now: look at inputs and outputs. If you eat chocolate, and your head explodes, make a note of that data point:

    Speaking of chocolate….

    #1 Dark Chocolate, at least 85%
    #2 That’s it, there is no number 2.

    Grains, dairy and legumes will mess you up, period. Sugar will mess you up, period.

    Remember: Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squash, Fruit, and Nuts are all technically Paleo to start with. I’ll just tell you the same thing now as I said at the beginning of the Paleo Challenge: if you want to lose weight limit them.

    Now if you are still feeling tired after 30 days, you need to look at two things:

  • Increase overall caloric intake
  • Increase post-workout carbs in the form of sweet potato or winter squash

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    If you need to “cheat” though and want to dose yourself with carbs, hit a GOOD Tex-Mex restaurant. Some corn chips and salsa (thoroughly tested after the recommendation from Robb Wolf), a corn tortilla burrito with no beans, and a NorCal Margarita (or 5) makes for a good night with minimal GI issues the next day.

    Speaking of margaritas….

    “OK Brian, I am a believer and hence lean, strong, and super sexy. I need the proper venue to display said sexiness and not have people think I’m an alcoholic or pregnant.”

    First off, enjoy it. You can deadlift your bodyweight multiple times, and you’ve come close to meeting pukie multiple times. However, if you want to be this guy, just don’t do it in one of my t-shirts.

    Booze is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. As mentioned previously, the NorCal Margarita is good to go. However, generally low-carb booze has little affect when drank in “social” quantities.

    Mark’s Daily Apple sums it up nicely here, I’ll just add the addendum that if you are going to drink beer, I’d highly recommend either gluten-free beer or low-gluten beer.

    That’s it! Enjoy your new, totally livable, totally fun, Paleo lifestyle!

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    Paleo Challenge Info

    Uncategorized | Posted by Brian PCF
    Jul 10 2010

    Thanks for coming in today guys, me and Alison had a great time!

    Wanted to post some more info (which will also be posted at the Summer Paleo Challenge Comments Section) and resend the email that went out last night as we had several folks sign-up last minute.

    Paleo Shopping Guide
    Paleo Cooking Guide

    You can also look at past Paleo Challenge Question and Answers at the PCF Paleo Challenge page within the comments.

    Good luck to everybody.  Make sure to take your Before Pictures (see below) and use the Summer Paleo Challenge Comments Section to ask questions.  I’ll see you guys Tuesday at 7:15pm at Moby Dicks if I don’t see you at the box.

    ____________________________________________________
    Last Night’s Email:

    Congrats to all of you for taking the plunge!

    Pictures

    All you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO DO tomorrow is take THREE pictures:

    Front
    Side
    Back

    Here’s an idea of what we’re looking for.

    Gals where swimsuits or sports bra and shorts.  Guys where shorts.

    Get a buddy to do it or do it yourself (buddy is better).

    On August 7th, you’re going to do that again: Take Front, Side, and Back photos.

    On August 7th, we’ll get together and vote on a winner.

    Working Out

    It is certainly in your best interest to be working out hard during this period.  Heavy days are going to be the key for you to make significant progress.  These are the days that will cause your body to adapt THE MOST.

    Questions

    For questions now and during the Paleo Challenge – use the Summer Paleo Challenge Blog Comments.

    Missing Saturday?

    If you are missing Saturday, still take your pictures.  Light up the Summer Paleo Challenge Blog Comments with your questions.  We’ll be having our first “Check Up/Recap” meeting on Tuesday, 13 July, at 7:15pm at Moby Dicks.  So whether you missed the Kick-Off Meeting or if you just want to come in and ask some questions, we’ll be there to answer them and offer support.

    The Big Picture

    I’ll be going over a lot of this stuff tomorrow, but a couple of things to keep in mind:

    1) The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing.

    Don’t get wrapped around the axle on “Is Agave Paleo?” or “Is Coffee Paleo?”.  Eat Meat and Veggies.

    2) The Thing That Will Help You The Most Is The Thing You Least Want To Give Up.

    If you are looking at this and go “Well this doesn’t seem tough, except for Wine/Dairy/Beer/Etc” then whatever came out of your mouth as your Etc is the Number One thing that you need to get rid of for this challenge.

    3) Remember the BIG PICTURE!

    Diet
    Sleep
    Exercise
    Stress

    These are the biggest factors in your health and in your Paleo Transformation.  If you manage these well, you will do well.  If you don’t, you won’t.

    Resources and Tools

    Here’s some places to go to dig into this Paleo thing a little more:

    Basic Paleo
    Mark’s Daily Apple
    Robb Wolf Podcast

    That’s it.  See you tomorrow and GOOD LUCK!

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    Them’s With The Best Lifestyle Wins

    Uncategorized | Posted by Brian PCF
    Jul 02 2010

    I’ve coached a lot of folks through Paleo Challenges. I’ve had 3.6% report no change in weight out of 167 Athletes. Those are good odds.

    Paleo Challenges only last 4-5 weeks though. What about the long term plan?

    What I see most often is those that get fixated on what they “can’t eat” are the ones that have the most trouble.

    Those that look at what they can eat and try to make the most of it are the ones that find long term success.

    Take a look at PCF Coaches Ryan and Liz. They are Paleo Masters. They do a couple things to make sure it’s easy to stay Paleo:

    • Stock your fridge/freezer with Paleo Friendly Foods
    • Keep trying new recipes constantly.  Try for at least once per week.
    • Make your Paleo meals social, have some friends over
    • When you “cheat”, cheat Paleo

    The last point is very important.  You’re going to be much better off having some corn chips, salsa, Paleo Margarita’s, and ice cream than you are having bread and beer.

    If you’re going to go off the wagon, do it smartly.  Keep your diet interesting by constantly trying new things.  Some great places to find Paleo Ideas are:

    Everyday Paleo
    My Paleo Kitchen


    [Liz Squatting 195 lbs - once you can beat that you can argue with me about diet]

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