By Dan Finck
Congratulations to the participants of the 30 day paleo challenge! Here are the winners:
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| Chad rocked it! |
All Around Male Champ
Chad Moses: Perfect points, 25.5 pounds lost, and 15 inches lost
All Around Female Champ
Judy Barron: Perfect points, 10.7 pounds lost, 7.5 inches lost
Perfect Points
Tom Piekos: 7.2 pounds lost, 8.75 inches lost
Special Mention
Kody Riley: 24 pounds lost, 12.5 inches lost
Now that 30 days has come and gone, hopefully we’ve all cleaned up our diet enough to the point where we are chemically and hormonally balanced again. You've kicked the sugar addiction and you’re allowing your body to thrive off of natural, whole foods. Your energy levels are up, your body composition has changed, and you now know what it means to think clearly. You’ve seen and felt the difference your diet makes in your everyday life to continue down this path!
Obviously it is 100% impossible to do 100% Paleo, 100% of the time. If you actually accomplished this during our 30 Day Challenge (there was 3 of you), then you are a rock star! Hopefully the rest of you did enough to experience the above benefits for yourselves. For those of you who are enjoying these benefits and wondering how in the heck am I going to stick to this? Here’s a few tips to help you turn this 30 Day Challenge into a lifestyle that last the rest of your life:
1) Support System - we mentioned this at the beginning of the Challenge, but it’s important to continue to rely on your family, friends, and coaches. If your friends and family aren’t on board yet, make them join you! Challenge them to eat healthy with you for the next 30 days. Get them into NoCoast, where this kind of lifestyle is the norm. Ask us (coaches) question whenever you want, that’s what we’re here for.
2) The 80/20% Rule - This is a more realistic way to manage the Paleo Diet. 80% of the time you want to eat Paleo, while 20% of the time you can allow yourself to slide. This ratio can be broken up however you want; daily, weekly, or monthly. For those of you who need a little something through out the week like a portion of cheese, legumes, and heavy cream in your coffee may be the way go. If you can go the majority of the week without cheating, you may want to try having one or two cheat meals during the week. I like to try and eat as clean as possible throughout the week and reward myself with pizza and beer on Saturday night. A big cheat like this only works if you are able to stay discipline the other six days of the week. The only time I’d suggest the monthly option is if you are planning a vacation, where you’re anticipating a few drinks and non Paleo food while you’re away.
3) Testing Other Food Groups - If you decide to add non paleo foods back to your diet, add them one at a time. Do just dairy or just black beans. That way you know how your body reacts to a particular food. If you find you don’t react well; bloating, stomach irritation, rashes, hives, remove that food from your diet and try something new. We recommend waiting a week or so to allow your body to balance out again before trying something different.
4) Stay Prepared - We also mentioned this at the start of the Paleo Challenge, but it’s worth repeating. Set yourself up for success! Keep non Paleo foods out of your house, workplace, and car. If it’s not there, you won’t eat it. Make sure you keep good foods on hand for when you’re in a rush, this way you won’t resort to hitting the drive through! Make Sunday your prep day. Start your week by making a few big dishes that you can split up and store in tupperware containers. This way you have healthy meals ready to go when you don’t have time in the middle of the week.
5) Keep Things Simple - Finally, KEEP THINGS SIMPLE!!! Every meal doesn’t have to be a huge process or a new recipe from a cookbook. The majority of my meals are quick and easy and look something like this; breakfast is a few eggs, a piece of fruit or berries, and nut butter. Dinner is usually meat (chicken, turkey, fish or beef), a sweet potato, something green (veggie), and a healthy fat (avocado, almonds, or a few spoon fulls of nut butter). I use coconut oil when every possible and drink as much water throughout the day as possible. Processed food companies make a fortune off of us because they’ve made things simple for us. It’s not that much harder to keep it simple using whole foods. Not only will we avoid disease by staying away from processed and unhealthy foods, but we will actually strengthen our cardiovascular and immune system and allow our bodies a fighting chance if something ever does happen to us. It’s the best insurance policy around!
