Fall LEANing Challenge: Update 1

Whoooo! It's day 12 of being on the Paleo Diet for my gym's Fall LEANing Challenge and its been a busy 12 days. I've been wanting to post an update since the weekend but it's amazing how much time I spend at the grocery store and kitchen cooking, conjuring and cleaning now. I obviously depended too much on both prepared food and eating out (although it felt liked I home-cooked plenty beforehand) that I have had to retrain my cooking and shopping habits. I think I am starting to figure out the right amount to purchase and cook for us at home so I don't feel like I am cooking and eating 24/7, lol.

Guess what? As of today, I have lost a total of 9.4 pounds since the start of the challenge Friday, September 18th!!!! This is all due to how I am eating. Y has lost 6 pounds. Now I know I may get worried comments regarding healthy weight loss should be at 2 pounds per week but this way of eating makes your body normalize/lose weight until it approaches its ideal weight. So the more you have to lose the more you tend to melt. This is totally what is happening with Y and I. I definitely shed more pounds as I have way more to lose. I also suspect Y will not only get to his goal faster but he will be able to go on maintenance as opposed to weight loss mode months before I can. I really recommend you get the book if you are at all interested as I found it easy to read and full of good information. I also use my own common sense and my own past experiences to do what I think is best for myself and Y.

The first weekend, the first 5 days really, were TORTURE. OK, exaggerating a bit. Both Y and I discovered we were grumpy monkeys and all we could think about was all the food we wished we could gobble up. Even food we normally don't eat, crave or ever think of, so awful. We felt weak and basically whined. I was sure there was no way I could eat like this for 7 weeks let alone the rest of my life!! Then slowly we started to feel better and not really think about all the 'bad' food. We are now at the point that we feel we could eat like this or close to it forever!

I am not normally a salty person, I use it moderately to cook & that's it, same with butter. However, those two things have been the things that I am missing the most flavor-wise. Not cooking with salt and not being able to have it is pretty darn sad and frankly has made my cooking lack flavor. I only used a little butter in the past as I cooked our veggies or eggs. I don't like butter spread on anything and too much butter flavor makes me gag so not being able to use it has surprised me in how much I miss it. The veggies are lacking butter and salt and it's sad. I found out I can make Ghee (butter with milk solids removed) and use that so I will try this in future but I don't know if I can give up using salt while cooking forever. During the challenge, Y and I decided to go all out hardcore so we are being strict about not eating the forbidden food items. No matter how much I tinker with my spices, nothing comes close to the flavor salt adds. BUT I have melted 9.4 pounds in 12 days, so it's give and take :P

WE GET TO CHEAT!!!! Thank the heavens above!!! One meal per week we are allowed to cheat. Last week, our first cheat involved burritos. I ate a whole carne asada super burrito (no chips!!) and Y had 1/2 a carne asada burrito and half a basket of chips. I gained 2 pounds back :( and it made me feel all crave-y again. Worth? the jury is out on that. Tonight we are trying for a bit 'cleaner' cheat by going out for sushi. We will allow ourselves soy sauce and the rice and condiments in the rolls we like. Luckily we really like sashimi so I am hoping this cheat doesn't knock me off the track I am on too much. By the way, there are three levels of the Paleo Diet. Level I you are allowed three cheat meals/week, Level II has two cheat meals/week and Level III one cheat meal/week. Level III is for when you really want to work on weight loss, Level II is good for maintenance and Level I is if you want to ease yourself into this type of eating. You can't have all your cheat meals on the same day though!

New things I have learned: certain fruits, for me bananas, hinder my weight loss. You can find which fruits you should avoid until you reach your goal on the website. I love bananas and I have noticed that I really can't have more than 1 per day. I may have an extra half banana on my workout days. One day I ate 3 and I gained weight. Also, nuts are super satisfying (no peanuts, those are legumes and not allowed) but also need to be eaten moderately. If you feel hungry or weak an ounce of nuts does the trick but although according to the book you should limit to 4 ounces/day when trying to lose weight, I find more than one ounce does me in. So I limit my nut intake unless I really need them. By the way, fruit juice is basically candy. Eat whole organic local fruit when possible, it makes a big difference. When I make our smoothies, I now use Ceres Fruit Juice, which has fruit puree and some fruit juice. We also have had to limit the smoothies to after workout only as the juice, mangoes and pineapples I like to use will hinder my weight loss as well. If anyone knows of a pure fruit puree available out there I would love the information.

We are now working out twice a week by going to the CrossFit group classes. OMG! I almost feel like Sean was coddling us, LOL. Sean teaches the group classes we go to and our first class involved burpees, basically one of the hardest best fat burning moves invented on this planet. I asked him why he hadn't shown us this move prior and he said he was afraid we may not come back, LOL. The workouts are brutal but doable at every level of fitness as you adjust for your level. That first group class had us doing 12 burpees, 15 kettle bell swings and 10 barbell thrusters (my group of girls did just the barbell no extra weight) one after the other, it kinda looks like this except we had the kettle bell swings instead of air squats. You kept going from one move to the other and when you finished the three moves you rested until the last person in your group of three finished the round and then repeat for five rounds. I got 2 almost full rounds in with burpees minus the push up (I jumped back with both feet just no push up) and then 2 rounds more minus the burpees all together. You get your money's worth and then some. We have had three group classes and they have all kicked our butt but that first class was the hardest. Even the regulars were feeling sorry for us having that as our first class, LOL.

I'm off to Whole Foods!