The Challenge in Review

The full dirty deets can be found here, but my summary of Paleo-Style eating is this: eating healthy is about the right type of food, not the quantity of food.

I was not allowed any: dairy. sugar. grains. legumes. processed food.
And I was allowed as much as I wanted of: Meat. Fish. Veggies. Fruit. Good fats (avocado, bacon). Natural food (like maple syrup, dates, cocoa).

Fun facts: Paleo comes from term the Paleolithic Era. It’s essentially: Eat like a caveman. There is no portion control on paleo (but I was super sceptical of this). Rob Wolf created the diet after many years of being on a low-fat, high-carb vegan diet. He went from 180 pounds to 130 pounds and developed severe digestive issues. He created the Paleo diet from going back to the basics of the human body (His book is an interesting read, even if you have no plans of doing paleo).

My Goal

My goal was a full four weeks of eating paleo. No halfassing it, but 110% actually doing it. My goal was to lose weight. Now please keep in mind this was quite the ambitious challenge for me as I’ve never (ever, ever) stuck to a diet perfectly before. And? I find it weird writing this out, but… I actually did it!

The Facts

I averaged 1,489 calories a day.
My lowest calorie day was 1,009 calories.
My highest day was 1,938.

NOTE: Despite Paleo being a “no portion” diet, I counted my calories every day using My Fitness Pal, but please note calories hardly played a role in the challenge. I just recorded them for curiosity sake. What I found is paleo essentially maximizes one’s daily calories. I’d even be so bold as to say it’s nearly impossible to go over 2,000cal/day because the type of food you eat is sooooooooooo filling.  

My Weight:
Start: (Nov 2): 178.2 pounds  | 81kg
End: (Dec 3): 168.08 pounds | 76.4kg

My Body Fat:
Start: (Nov 2): 43%
End: (Dec 3): 40%

My Muscle:
Muscle gain of 1.76 pounds (800 grams)

My Inches:
Down 2.5cm on my waist      

(All stats are from the Nutrionist)

General comments

That Sunday night before I started Paleo I was terrified. I had announced to you guys, my family, friends, work and CrossFit that I, Liz, was going to attempt a “paleo challenge.” I had tried it before, and I had failed before (twice actually), so to say I was nervous was an understatement. 

And then it went down like this (click on the links below for a more indepth review of each week):

• Week 1: Awesome! The plan was new and exciting & seemed fairly easy/doable. The blog helped too as it gave me motivation to prep my food properly, and make new and exciting meals. I blinked and this week was gone.
• Week 2: I started to feel sick this week. Nauseous. I wasn’t ever hungry, but around 3pm every day I felt sick. Eventually I pushed through this and it went away.
• Week 3: I found a routine for myself this week. I started to stop obsessing over Paleo as much. Week 3 was the first time I could see myself doing this long term. However, sugar & carb cravings were in full force at this point. They were HARD to deal with, but eventually I broke through them too.
• Week 4: This week was awesome. I had found my ‘regular, go-to’ meals and found making my breakfast/lunch the night before became second nature. I was in a good routine and found myself not even thinking about the challenge that much, I was just doing it!

(Want more food ideas? Week 1, Week 2, Week 3)

The Food

The food was delicious. There is no doubt about that: Steak. Bacon. Avocado. Fruit. Yes please! I think when most people think of Paleo they think of lots and lots of meat and plain veggies, but that certainly isn’t the case. I managed to find lots of creative ways to spice up the challenge and was always satisfied with my meals.  

I wanted to also send a special shoutout to Coconut Milk. Despite not liking coconut, it saved my taste buds and made some delicious, paleo-friendly meals (buy it. used it). They key to paleo is having lots of spices and herbs on hand!

Also, the desserts on Paleo are also absolutely divine – honey, cocoa, coconut, almonds = heaven.  However, I really restricted the paleo treats I made/ate as I still love sweet food and was nervous I’d binge on a tray of paleo brownies – so if I made them, I made them for other people.

I also wanted to share the below two graphs; before the paleo challenge, and during the challenge. You can see how much my carbs came down, and fat and protein increased - interesting! I think ideally it would be 33%, 33% and 33% - one day!

The Prepping

Without doubt one of the reasons I was so successful on the challenge was because I prepped so much. Every Sunday afternoon was devoted to paleo: Shopping-Cutting-Slicing-Prepping. Taking the time (about 2 hours) to get ready for the week made it soooooo much easier to stick with paleo. 

I also think the longer one actually sticks to paleo eating, the better they’ll get at knowing how much to buy, what to prep, & how to plan meals ahead of time. I never actually cooked food more than 24 hours before the meal, but I’d love to change this in the future (for example make a mass breakfast Sunday night for Mon, Tues, Weds).

Exercise

8 Rest days last month. Not too shabby. Not too shabby indeed. However, I still TRULY believe you lose weight in the kitchen, get fit in the gym, so me being a CrossFit ninja this past month was simply an added bonus, I really believe the scale went down because of my food.

Money

I saved money doing paleo! Totally not what I expected, but facts are facts!

Week 1: $120 (start up costs - like oils, nuts)
Week 2: $80 
Week 3: $100
Week 4: $90

I think because I ate out so much less, my overall food costs actually came down. Pretty exciting as I thought my bank account would really take a hit from this. I always tried to buy grass-fed meat, and free-range eggs, and the few times I did eat out, I had to close my eyes and point to the $30 steak and veg, but it really was worth it.

Going Forward

The first Monday after paleo ended was my first cheat meal. It was my birthday and although I had made myself a paleo breakfast, come lunch time I ‘gave in’ to a few French fries, and the homemade cheesecake someone had made me.  I felt full within 3.2 seconds. Like, whoa, stomach-is-about-to-explode full.

Since Monday most of my meals have still been paleo, with the exception of eating out (stealing fries, ice-cream with Matt, cupcakes from Danya, a piece of cake (or two) for my birthday & a chicken parma last night with some awesome ladies), but the exciting part is I am SO READY to get back to 100% paleo eating. It’s Friday today and I am ready not to eat crap. I feel more tired after eating sugar this week, and just all around blah, whereas I felt awesome on Paleo!

So with that, I am rolling into another STRICT 30 day challenge starting Monday (exception of Christmas day & NYE). My results were awesome, and I really enjoyed the challenge, so I figured why not?!  

Oh, and I should mention the absolute #1 reason I think I actually did the challenge 100% was because I had a defining start date. One day I was not doing paleo. The next day I was. No ifs. Ands. Or Buts.

Please feel free to join me! I’m no expert, but if you leave comment/question I’ll do my best to answer them. Let’s prep like all-stars this weekend, for a big, new start on Monday!  

The challenge
Week 1’s Review
Week 2’s Review

Click here to enlarge the chart above

The good came with the bad this week. And the bad was, well, bad. I hope I haven’t made Paleo look easy for people, because it hasn’t been. At all. Especially with working Monday to Friday, doing five CrossFit sessions a week, staying up to date on this blog (hi! sorry this post is so late), staying on top of fresh grocery shopping, prepping my breakfasts and lunches each night, trying to get enough sleep, skyping home, all while maintaining some sort of social/love life. Well let’s just say, it’s definitely been a challenge.

The beginning of week 3 was, without a doubt, the week I think my body went into sugar withdrawal - if that’s even a thing. I had afternoons where I would side-eye the office cookies and truly feel something from within me, which could only be described as “my body would feel better if I ate those cookie.” I never ate a cookie.

But the good news is that I certainly fell into a Paleo, real-life routine this past week. Cooking didn’t seem like such a big whoa-ohmigod-what-am-I-going-to-make? chore, which was a nice change from feeling like a slave to my kitchen.

Here are some of the Paleo meals I enjoyed:

And nope, I can honestly say I never once felt deprived while eating a meal.

My exercise was okay… I feel like I’ve hit this lazy level plateau with CrossFit where I never really push myself that hard. I watch others slowly master movements or increase their weights, but I’m always just so meh about my own workouts. Kinda sucks. But still, I can’t be annoyed about the number of times I went this week - 5 times!

I also have to admit my body has been a roller coaster of I-Feel-Great, and I-feel-nauseous. Truth be told, right before The Colo(u)r Run started on Sunday, I was amongst the crowded runners crouching down holding my knees as I felt awful. But every time I’ve felt sick, it’s passed, and it’s definitely becoming less and less frequent. (I assume it’ll soon pass for good). So yea, I know with the bouts of nausea it’s hard to say I felt great during week 3, but when I did feel great, I felt Tony-the-tiger, GRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

And finally, what more is there to say? Oh, right…. my weight. So my weight, eh? I’m going to do a big (HUGE!) post next week when all is said and done, and I’ll post my weight/measurements then. But just know, I’m happy with it. Real happy. 

I’m also really happy that I’ve stopped making excuses for myself, stopped saying ‘just this one time,’ and I’m actually putting in the work I need to, to get the results I want.

Week 3 Score: 10/10!!

As if I haven’t had time to blog lately. FO SHAME. But really, I remember many a weekends in Toronto coming to a close where the mere thought of sitting at a computer hadn’t even crossed my mind; horse riding, swimming, kayaking, running, y’know, suddenly filled all my moments.

And now, my friends, I’m pleased to report Melbourne seriously delivered on this past hot spring weekend; Dinner with Matt (X3), Country Music extravaganza, the hardest CrossFit workout I have ever encountered, anywhere, ever, the beach, city walking, the colo(u)r run, napping, and end scene.

SEEEEEEE? It delivered.

Except not without consequence because as I type this I am sitting on my bed on a Monday at 1pm trying to convince my body it does not need to swallow, as my tonsils and glands and all that fun stuff look like golf balls. <— Good times.

Anywho, let’s go pictures at it, because they’re more fun, aren’t they? (You’re welcome all you lazy readers, youknowwhoyouare, you’re welcome).

First up, was Saturday morning. I slept in, made a delicious paleo pancake breakfast, and then headed to CrossFit. I had no clue what CF had in store for me, and? And it was horrid. So horrid, in fact, I was THISCLOSE to puking the whole time. I managed to complete the 5 rounds in 50:56, doing 18” box jumps, and 3kg/6.6 pound (and 30 5kg/11 pound) wall balls.

But but but, I felt SUPER AWESOME when I finished. My body hurt in the good way, and I felt stronger, skinnier, sexier and all that jazz.

Then, to reward my morning awesomeness, AND because it was hawwwwt out, I headed to dee beach with my roommate, Bec. ‘Twas pretty & glorious, and my oh my am i going to miss having access to the beach when I go home to Canada.

Saturday evening was an early one (cough Colo(u)r Run in the morning cough) so Matt and I headed to dinner in the city, and then he sang me a lullaby as I took awkward photos of myself. Ha. Not really. He’s actually gonna kill me for posting that photo. But he did sing to me. And it was awesome (Sorry Matt, that’s what happens when you date a blogger. xo)

AND THEN ON SUNDAY I DID THE COLOUR RUN, BUT THAT DESERVES ITS OWN POST BECAUSE IT WAS SIMPLY THAT AWESOME AND I’M SORRY I’M NOT SORRY I’M YELLING, BUT I JUST FEEL LIKE ANNOUNCING IT TO THE WORLD!!

• The challenge I’m reviewing
• Week 1’s Review

This week. My oh my, what can I say about Week 2? It seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye, and? And it’s been easy, hard, and really, really annoying at times, but overall kinda awesome.

General thoughts:

• The hard: I’m out of the honeymoon phase, that’s for sure. I have had some intense carb & sugar cravings, and for lack of a better word, they’ve SUCKED. I’ve had afternoons where I just wanted to BITE into something (cough bread cough), or just wanted to go buy a treat and feel sugar on my tongue. Jeesh, I feel like a food addict writing this out… OH WAIT. And, of course, my post the other night needs to be mentioned - being social on Paleo is quite possible, but I don’t think I’m there yet. But soon children, soon.
• The annoying: Paleo is still a lot of effort. When you get home at 11pm, exhausted from the day, and still have to prep your lunch the next day, it’s just plain frustrating. So many nights I just wanted to fall into bed, but there I stood in my kitchen, cooking my lunch for the next day. I do, however, believe with time I’ll get better at this. As I type this, my chicken and steak kebabs are on the grill getting cooked for my lunch tomorrow. 
• The easy: The food!! I have yet to get bored from my cooking (& my cooking skills aren’t too stellar). Wa-freaking-hooooo! It’s because I’ve been putting a lot of effort into spicing up my meals. Literally. I’ve learned so much about spices and herbs lately - they can make or break my meals, and make repetitive meals, not-that-repetitive. Thumbs up for curry spice. Also, thumbs up for paleomg.com. 
• The other: Fruit. I am oh-so-very sadly consuming too much fruit. Or at least I think I am. Granted when I get into one of those, “nom nom nom I just want to bite into something” modes, I will eat fruit, but I think I need to cut down to 2 pieces a day max; at least 5 of the 7 days. Oh, and slowly, but surely I am coming around to the taste of coconut milk, which I think is crucial to the paleo diet.

(Click here to make the above chart larger)

My weight

• I’ll let the chart do the talking, but I definitely see why people say NOT to weigh themselves every day. It’s so discouraging when you see that little number go up (even if it’s only 100grams (0.22 pounds)).
• Please note that I’m weighing myself everyday more to record the stats for a graph at the end, than anything else.

Weight summary: down 7 pounds (3.2kg) in 14 days. My clothes are 100% fitting looser too - I ran for my train today and had to hold up my jeans. Yay!

The Exercise

• I GOT MY FIRST EVER DOUBLE-UNDER THIS WEEK!!!! What’s a “double under,” you ask? It’s when you are jump-rope skipping and let the rope go under your feet twice on one jump. They’re all about rhythm and good wrists, and both of mine suck. I was thrilled when I got one!
• The below was my CrossFit week:

So, is it sustainable?

• That’s the big question, isn’t it? From seeing paleo change many lives permanently (through blogs and my friends at CrossFit), I would say it is 100% possible to incorporate paleo as a lifestyle.
• But for me? It’ll definitely take time. I am on the whole (really!!) enjoying it, but I have also stayed very on top of things… I know eventually life would get in the way and it’ll come down to mind over convenience (as it always does with weight loss). So for now I know this: I like the food paleo offers, I have never felt deprived on this “diet,” I’m losing weight, feeling healthy & happy, and leading a better life all around, so it’s a win-win-win situation. So much so, I think I may extend this “challenge” until the New Year, wanna do it with me? We shall see, we shall see :)

Lunch today with the lovely Miss Katie on this hot-hot SPRING day. Excited to see what the the weather this summer brings.