I hate calorie counting and the last time I tried, it actually had an adverse effect resulting in weight gain. Not good. Adding to my workouts is extremely unlikely. What's left to try? The Paleo 30 day Challenge.
I first heard about this diet (seriously hate that word) through Tonja at SolaFide. Over the last week I've done a bit more research. Other than breakfast and cooking with olive oil, it's not a huge stretch from where I'm at when I eat at home. Basically, all processed foods are cut out, leaving you with meats, veggies, fruits, nuts and some spices. Might sound kind of blah, but there's no calorie counting or portion control. If you're hungry, grab some food! There's also studies showing it helps with auto-immune diseases. I'm already dealing with 2, so I'm very curious to see how accurate the studies really are.
Starting now, and continuing for at least the next 30 days, I will be eating Paleo.
Drinking Paleo? Probably not so much. I will continue to have my cup of coffee every morning, which I already drink black with cinnamon, so I'm somewhat ok there, but I cannot cut out alcohol. Well, I can, I'm just choosing not to. Why would I take away all the fun? I've found a few sites which allow alcohol in moderation (aka vodka mixed with club soda, not juice or tonic, and wine), just no beer. I can handle that...I think.
Some of you are going to say, Hutch you're crazy! Well, duh, but I'm putting this out there to hold myself accountable. I did the same thing with P90x, I'm hoping the approach works again!
18 comments:
Good for you and good luck! Craig found that he burned too much with his exercise regimen, that the Paleo just didn't give him *enough* to maintain that intensity. I told him that Cavemen didn't train for adventure races or half marathons back in their time.
Let me know how it goes! I hate calling anything a diet. I get less motivated in the summer too.
I don't think it sounds boring! At least it's going to be real food and not some weird crap. :)
good luck friend! although you always look faaaaabulous to me :)
You are a braver woman than I!
I'm sure those last 5 lbs will drop off in no time - I've heard great things about the Paleo diet.
I tried. I failed. But good for you. I think it makes sense, I just couldn't do endurance training without grains. It made me mean.
Black with cinnamon, huh? I drink mine black--the cinnamon is intriguing. Do you just sprinkle some on there after you pour it in a cup? Weird. Tell me your secrets.
I wish you the best of luck, girl. I've also tried cutting out processed foods from my diet; some days are better than others. I don't eat meat so I feel as though I need something to switch up the ol' routine every now and then, but at least this diet you're on sounds healthy. Have you tried Skinny Girl margaritas (from Bethenney of Real Housewives of NY)? I heard they're actually really delicious and not so bad on the calories! Definitely something to consider :)
For your friend Liz, there is a book called Paleo for Athletes that addresses the fact that cavement didn't do endurance sports. It's all about eating carbs with the correct TIMING.. and still good carbs, like sweet potatoes and starchy vegetables :) Our bodies simply don't use carbs we load up on all the other times during our times of great physical activity. It's a very interesting book and leads out with the story of an endurance athlete who gave the diet a try in order to prove the author wrong. Anyway, thought you might pass that on to her :)
BUT, so happy you're trying it! I hope you notice a difference. I haven't been hardcore for 30 days, but enough so to just feel better. If you can, try to limit the alcohol drinks with excess sugar... that's the whole idea behind not consuming it as most are highly processes/refined.
Yay! :)
I think this is great, and good for you! I have a friend at work who has the cray crays and was just on this insane cleanse diet...she gave up after a few days because she realized she was insane...but anyway the point is, she did the paleo before and really liked it!
I'm going to look that up. I do best with calorie counting, but only when my brain is in the zone. I'm so hard to work with. Good luck!
Good luck! I pretty much always fail at diets other than calorie counting. But I do like the idea of eating less processed foods and sugar.
I try to cut out as much processed foods as possible, and going organic has helped me a great deal. I struggled with thyroid disease in my twenties and diet and exercise have helped me get things under control.
Ally did Paleo in order to lose weight for our bet. She did pretty well on it and she managed it without cutting out alcohol. She even has a recipe for Paleo brownies.
Good luck...I can't wait to hear about the results!
I'm excited that you're doing the testing on this for me. I hate trying diets that no one I know has done.
I guess it all depends on how you define "processed". I consider processed to be when chemicals are added to preserve things, or make them "lowfat" or sugar free. Or when sodium and sugar/HFCS is added in excess or when it isnt necessary. All black coffee is is a coffee bean that has been roasted (just heat) and then its flavor extracted by water...sounds pretty unprocessed to me. :) And the majority of wine and beers are all natural so why eliminate them, unless you are calorie counting. Haha! :)
I couldn't cut out the alcohol. I could possibly live on fruit though.
I've been toying with my ice cream maker lately . . . I think I need to try wine-flavored ice cream.
I've been pretty strong lately, diet-wise, but I'm nowhere near my "happy place" (I refuse to weigh myself, so I have to go by the mirror, and I'm not close when looking at the mirror). I work out when I can (loved c25k before I outgrew it). But my quest to eliminate processed foods, entirely, has gone by the wayside. Seriously. I'm horribly weak in a binge moment.
Hang in there, though - and let us know how the diet works out.
Try different approach and see if it works to your body.
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