Anyone Wanna Do A 7-Day Paleo Challenge With Me?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

So I'm wrapping up my week today! I did really well yesterday, I had a very busy day on call, a 26-hr shift. When I started, I hardly sat down from 7 AM to 11 PM, then had to get up 3 times at night. I ate some fruit, roast chicken/veggies, and leftover burrito bowl sans beans/rice, as well as some trail mix. Today I've had some yogurt, an omelet with chicken sausage and various veggies, fruit, almonds, beef Jerky, and a latte, and then I treated myself to a cheat meal of pork and cheese pupusas (they are made from corn flour, which is verboten). Then we're going for oysters later, so that'll be diet-approved.

I've lost 2-2.5 lbs this week - my scale is not electronic, so I can't be too precise - and am pleased to say that I've had NO bread at all, no rice, no legumes of any sort, and my only real cheats were that marzipan (the only stuff I've had with sugar all week!), sambucca, and then the corn in the pupusas today. Save for that drunken craving for marzipan, I've had ZERO trouble staying away from sugar this week. Going without bread or Beans is also quite easy, craving-wise. It does complicate eating out a bit, but so far I've found that every restaurant has something that tastes decent and will satisfy me without me veering from the eating plan. If everything fails, there is always the option of chicken wings (not breaded) or a burger without the bun.

I'm planning to stick to eating this way, with a cheat meal or two per week, much like I did this week. I'll keep you posted on how it's going, although now on a less regular basis.

[Jswilbur 42]

Good job! My book came yesterday, so I am preparing.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Hey team, still sticking to the plan about 90%. Had some semi-sweet fudge from Rocky Mtn chocolate Factory today; Wednesday, I had a few bites of a dark chocolate pistachio tart, and Monday, I had a few squares of dark chocolate. Still finding it easy to be grain/legume/processed food-free, and there's been no other sugar in my diet except the aforementioned treats.

Went and bought some cool stuff, like duck eggs and quail eggs, frozen oyster meat, escargot, etc - keeps things exciting.

[sleevemeup 41]

I am so glad I found this thread! I am pre-surgery, but I eat mostly paleo due to my celiac disease. My splurge is kifir and some gluten free goodies. I have lost weight, but I feel I need to go through this procedure to finally kick this thing. All of the Primal Blueprint books are amazing, another awesome cookbook is Make it Paleo. Blackberryjuice- are you Crossfitting? You look amazing. I hope to start Crossfit when I loose 50 lbs.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I am so glad I found this thread! I am pre-surgery, but I eat mostly paleo due to my celiac disease. My splurge is kifir and some gluten free goodies. I have lost weight, but I feel I need to go through this procedure to finally kick this thing. All of the Primal Blueprint books are amazing, another awesome cookbook is Make it Paleo. Blackberryjuice- are you Crossfitting? You look amazing. I hope to start Crossfit when I loose 50 lbs.

Hey, thanks! And yes, I'm Crossfitting, been for about 9 months now. It's definitely a tough program if you are very heavy, but even so, we have some folks at my gym who are 50+ lbs overweight, and they are still able to do 90% of the stuff and modify the rest (mostly things like pull-ups that are extra-tough if you are obese). On the upside, those of us who used to be fat are usually pretty strong, haha.

I've followed the diet about 95% this week, I had 3 squares of Ritter Sport chocolate on Monday. I also had some 86% dark chocolate, but considering the nutritional value, I don't really think it qualifies as a cheat. I'm down 5 lbs in 3 weeks, which is crazy considering I'm not eating fewer calories than I did before this - I'm still in the 1800-2300 range.

I just splurged on a large freezer from Kijiji so I could buy meat in bulk for less....excited! I threw out a lot of my grain-based groceries because now that I've been at it for 3 weeks, I don't think I'll be going back to my old eating habits any time soon. I'm just keeping a few things in case I have a friend over or something, and that's it.

[sleevemeup 41]

Hey, thanks! And yes, I'm Crossfitting, been for about 9 months now. It's definitely a tough program if you are very heavy, but even so, we have some folks at my gym who are 50+ lbs overweight, and they are still able to do 90% of the stuff and modify the rest (mostly things like pull-ups that are extra-tough if you are obese). On the upside, those of us who used to be fat are usually pretty strong, haha.

I've followed the diet about 95% this week, I had 3 squares of Ritter Sport chocolate on Monday. I also had some 86% dark chocolate, but considering the nutritional value, I don't really think it qualifies as a cheat. I'm down 5 lbs in 3 weeks, which is crazy considering I'm not eating fewer calories than I did before this - I'm still in the 1800-2300 range.

I just splurged on a large freezer from Kijiji so I could buy meat in bulk for less....excited! I threw out a lot of my grain-based groceries because now that I've been at it for 3 weeks, I don't think I'll be going back to my old eating habits any time soon. I'm just keeping a few things in case I have a friend over or something, and that's it.

I knew it! I can't do Crossfit until I loose at least 50 lbs, as I have had multiple leg surgeries over the years. The last 2 were from doing sports that I did when I was thin and certainly should not have been doing at my current weight. I hope to be doing Crossfit by the first of the year if all goes as planned. I love eating paleo, I feel so much better. Better than years of gluten free eating. I am glad to hear that you are able to be so active and eat paleo. I am not much for synthetic anything or chemicals- I am not looking forward to the Protein shakes that you drink post-op. I will of course choke them down, but do you have any suggestions of something I could make that would have the Protein without the artificial stuff?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I am not much for synthetic anything or chemicals- I am not looking forward to the Protein Shakes that you drink post-op. I will of course choke them down, but do you have any suggestions of something I could make that would have the Protein without the artificial stuff?

Well, I haven't tried it yet, BUT I did buy an all-natural Protein Powder from whey Gourmet - who I know makes very good shakes, I have their regular protein powders. http://www.wheygourmet.com/products/wheygourmetnaturelle.php It has a minimal list of ingredients, it's basically just whey isolate, flavor, and stevia for a sweetener - so about as natural as it gets for artificial sweeteners. I haven't tasted it yet, but someone rated it 8/10 on this one website, and given how good their other shakes are, I'm assuming it's above average.

[Globetrotter 1,340]

Hey Blackberry - you started this thread over 2 months ago, how's Paleo going now? Sleevemeup - Tara's Whey is an all natural, organic, fair-trade etc. etc. Protein powder. The dark chocolate one is really delicious, it's just like Ghirardelli cocoa powder!

Blackberry, that story of the wierdos and marzipan is great, but also scary! I almost feel like that guy was "casing" you, like him and his gf were lurking for ... something! eep! I'm still crossfitting btw, although between having the flu and going on vacation I haven't been to the gym for more than gentle yoga in .. 4 weeks, cripes! I'm actually afraid to return to crossfit, it will be so painful, but I miss it terribly.

Also, I have a question that may be indelicate so private msg me if it is - how did paleo, and then cheating, affect your um, digestion?? Any issues?

[sleevemeup 41]

Thank you for the suggestion- There is also Vegasport, which is gluten free too. Kinda gritty, but the taste is great! I will try Tara's!

[Catracks 865]

I came late to the party, but would LOVE to try this. I know raw meat is not required, but my meat is cooked so rare that it may as well be. I like blue/red centers on my steaks.

I think this will work because I lost 1.2 pounds yesterday and all I ate was 8.5 oz. of tri tip and 1 cup of broccoli.

I only worry about doing long hikes without the sugar. Last time I tried that after 7 hours of hiking, I got really cold, got the shakes and had some intense muscle pain.

P.S. The dark chocolate probably helped. I eat 72%, but maybe I should look for a higher cocoa content.