What it is?
It’s a 30 day hardcore paleo diet – short for paleolithic diet, or often called the caveman diet – which is a high protein, vegetable, and fruit diet. No grains, no sugar, no legumes, no dairy, no processed food. It’s often referred to as the caveman diet since you are eating the foods that were available during the caveman era.
How did we hear about it?
After we started crossfitting, we decided to start eating in a pseudo-paleo way – eating mainly meats and veggies on the week days, but all bets were off for the weekends. So I added a few blogs to my Google Reader to get some inspiration. And one of them, called EasyPaleo, had post about doing their second Whole 30 and linked to the post about their first Whole30, so I started reading more about it and was intigued. Then fast-forward a few months later, G$ emailed me about a paleo challenge that one of the other crossfit gyms was doing that required you to put $50 in a pot each week as motivation to stick to the diet. That got me thinking, we really should do it.
Why?
Eating paleo is big in the crossfit world, but that’s not why we decided to do it. There are a couple of reasons:
- I was intrigued the first time I read the Whole30 website in that the description made it sound like a cleanse. To force your body not to rely on sugars or processed foods, and learn to enjoy the natural flavors are often overtaken by the unnatural flavors as well as learn how grains, dairy, etc. make you feel. After the 30 days is over, you are supposed to gradually introduce those foods back. Day 31, eat breads, then wait a few days to see how it makes you feel. Are you bloated? Does it cause you to break out? Then Day 34, try introducing dairy back in, etc. etc. They even tout that seasonal allergies can improve! Fingers crossed!
- You often hear or read that exercise is only one step towards being healthy; the next step is changing your diet. Back in this post, I stated that one of my goals was to feel comfortable wearing a two piece bathing suit. I know I could put on a two-piece bathing suit whenever, but the key was going to be feeling comfortable. And in order to feel comfortable, I need to be leaner and lose some body fat, and I finally came to the realization that I need to eat healthier to do that.
How’s it going?
Okay. I'll be honest, it hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been painful either. Not being tempted by things around me isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. And I think part of that is because I know this is a 30 day regiment, with an end eventually in sight. The fact that it's very cut and dry and laid out also helps. In the past, I've just made internal goals to be healthier, but didn't make clear rules as to what that meant. So when there was candy at the office, having a piece here or there wouldn't be a big deal. Now, I'm looking at labels to see if the ingredients include sugar or words I cannot pronounce (i.e. not natural).
I think the toughest thing is planning all the meals and making sure they get cooked. Last night, I actually said to G$, "this is the third time I've cleaned this pan tonight" because I was prepping lunch for the next day. I have certainly learned some things in the first four days that will hopefully make next week easier. I'll share them next week sometime since I know some of you (ok, maybe just one, Heath) may be starting this after Easter.
Another tough area for me was my morning coffee. No dairy = no milk. No sugar (real or artificial) = no Splenda or vanilla syrup. Which really translate to drinking black coffee. You could put coconut milk in it, but I never brought any into work, so it has been black all week. Let me just tell you that black coffee is nasty! Because I'm no longer enjoying the morning coffee, I decided that I am going to use this month to curb my coffee/caffeine dependency, so hopefully no more afternoon headaches on days I don't get "the juice." I started the weening process this morning by making a half-caf coffee – half regular, half decaf.
On the positive side, I'm experimenting with different foods. I've had Kale twice this week, and actually enjoyed what is said to be a "super food" packed with vitamins and nutrients. Thanks for introducing us to the Kale/Avocado recipe Heath! :) I also made my own mayo! Never thought I'd say that. And it's not.hard. There have been some busts with experimenting with different foods as well - ground chicken, cinnamon, apples, and squash is not a good breakfast meal. The chicken tasted good, but it was something about the squash that just didn't sit well.
I took my measurements and fully plan on sharing my weight and inch changes after the 30 days is over. I'll keep you posted on how it's going and perhaps share some of our favorite recipes.
If you are interested in getting more information, let me know and I can send you some.
<3
K$
It sounds like you guys need more pans in your life. Now that it's almost over, how has the diet been?
ReplyDeleteI would hire a PI to follow Greg and make sure he isn't sneaking mcD's during lunch.