Dispatches from the LuRong Living Paleo Challenge

Last week a few of us from the gym decided to participate in a 2-month nutrition challenge. Whittney, Brittany, Lindsay, Jon B, and myself signed up for the LuRong Living Paleo Challenge. This is a 60 day challenge to eat only Paleo foods (meat, veggies, nuts, seeds, fruit – no sugar, no grains, no beans, no dairy).

As part of this challenge we were asked to perform 3 separate workouts this week and will continue to perform workouts throughout the rest of the challenge.  We were also tasked with taking body measurements and photos “before”.

For those of you on the fence about whether or not to try the nutrition challenge, I would like to post a weekly summary of how those of us on the LuRong Challenge feel.

From:  Whitney

Just writing to check in on my first week of the challenge. Here’s what I have noticed after this first 7 days of eating clean:

- preparation has been key – having easy food in my fridge that I could grab, and packing my lunch every day for work has been critical to keep me on target.

- for this first week I have avoided eating out just to get used to this way of eating before venturing out into the world of ordering Paleo when someone else is cooking my food. One exception – a salad at chipotle

- having other goals that support my diet has been hugely helpful. For instance, having exercise goals and sleep goals has supported my overall commitment to eat clean.

- I feel really great! Lighter and faster. More alert. Can’t wait to see what week 2 brings.

I can also share recipes if you’d like.

Whittney 

From: Brittany

100% Paleo all day every day. Stopping at a lot of groceries stores to get fruit, veggies, and roasted chicken. Making a lot of salads on the road. Not really able to WOD. Not really struggling with cravings but could use a nice warm meal. So
far so good. Hope your Paleo challenge is going well!!
-Britt
Sent from my iPhone

Gonzo’s note:  For those of you who do not know, Brittany is currently on a road trip to the East Coast.  She has been on a separate nutrition challenge prior to this one, for about 17 days prior.  This is her 3rd week of eating clean and she is proving that even while traveling she can maintain the diet.

From: Lindsay

I chose to do this challenge because I like the fact that it measures our results. Everyone had to take body measurements before and after and  do 3 wods at the beginning and repeat the same 3 at the end of the challenge. During other nutrition challenges I always felt that I looked better, performed better, and slimmed down. But by forcing myself to do this challenge I will know for sure how much my performance has increased and how much weight I’ve lost (if any at all).

From doing the Living Lurong Paleo Challenge, I hope that my performance in the gym goes up. My goals are to achieve:
unassisted hand stand push ups, PR on my deadlift, clean and jerk, and snatch, and to eliminate processed sugar from my diet.

The first week of the challenge was hard. I admit I was not mentally prepared for the challenge. I went into the week without preparing my meals/snacks properly. I was also faced with the challenge of eating clean during a 3 day work meeting. It was hard turning down chips and salsa, beer, and mexican food. I did cave and have guacamole that had sugar in it but I needed something to go with my carrots and deli meat! I also cheated the other night after the gym. I was starving and had a salad with candied walnuts and dried cranberries that 99% had sugar in them. Making sure I always have food with me is key to stop me from devouring anything in front of me. But I feel good that my cheats weren’t pizza and cookies and can live with my two cheats. I already feel like I have more energy, I’m not crashing mid-day, and have more mental clarity. Knowing what I need to do so I am not tempted to cheat, I feel I am better prepared for week 2.

Sent from my iPad

From: Rick a.k.a. Gonzo

This first week has been miserable.  Apparently, my diet was a bit more haphazard than I had originally thought.  I have always considered myself “80%” paleo… which meant that I could cheat anytime I wanted.  I would eat the occasional pita bread at a greek restaurant, the flour tortillas at a mexican joint, and about a basket of chips at Norte.  I also added about a 1/2″ of heavy whipping cream in my coffee every morning.

Even though my diet has not changed much, the mental aspect of hunger and knowing that you have to make your own food can be daunting.   It’s easy to leave the gym and stop somewhere.  So Lindsay and I have to make the conscious effort to prepare dinner prior to going to the gym.

I also gave up heavy whipping cream in my coffee.  So for the first 3 days I decided to forgo coffee altogether.  This was stupid.  Probably the worst decision I have ever made in my life.  By midday Thursday I found myself curled in a ball sleeping on the floor with a pounding headache.  Apparently the fetal position is the way your brain makes you feel emasculated so you don’t do anything stupid again.  I reintroduced coffee.  Iced Coffee, black.  I am feeling much better.