As I mentioned, two of my coworkers and I are doing the 21 Day Challenge together. My friend want to lose some weight and get healthier, and I want to reboot myself. My 80/20 has been slip, slip, slipping, and I’ve added about 3 lbs as a result. I want to get back to my fighting weight so my clothes fit better.
So far the challenge is going pretty well! My friends have lost 8 lbs and 5 lbs, respectively. I’ve lost ZERO pounds. I’m super happy for my friends – they say they have been sleeping better, and they enjoy not being miserable and bloated after every meal. I think that feeling so much better after just a few days of eating differently has really opened their eyes. They are full of questions and good meal ideas and helpful websites!
One of the sites they found is Paleotrack. It’s kind of like MyFitnessPal, but it’s tailored more for the paleo client. For example, it doesn’t encourage you to eat more carbs and less fat. It also doesn’t tell me I will weigh 2 more pounds in a week if I continue to eat this way. 😛 The site also provides the vitamin/mineral/macro nutrient ratios for your foods. It’s very helpful information. My friends especially like the way the site rates how closely your eating habits fall within the primal/paleo spectrum. If you do well, you get “Strict Primal!” written in green on your journal page. It also tells you if you are sugar free/grain free/legume free. The colors are incentivizing. And yes, I do believe that’s a word. We all want to be GREEN!
The site is so cool that I emailed the site creator, who quickly responded with a thanks for using his site and some encouragement for our primal quest. We also briefly discussed how quickly the 80/20 rule can get you into trouble. Hearing that from another primal enthusiast has really made me consider how I will eat, once this challenge is over. I think I’ll need to restrict my “cheats” to just one evening a week; otherwise, I just start to fall of the cliff.
I still feel a little off the cliff, actually, even though I’ve been eating pretty clean since Sunday. I’ve avoided grains and cheese overall, but it’s been an odd week in that I’ve done some work traveling, and we’ve had company, two things that mean I’ve eaten out every day this week for at least one meal. While I try to get quality food (salads, burger w/ no bun, etc.), you never know what chemicals are put into/onto the food, or what fillers are added. I’m wondering if that’s why I haven’t lost any poundage yet. Or, as Tim says, since I have such a small percentage to use, and I already ate PRETTY well, the weight won’t come off that fast for me.
I’ll keep at it for a few more weeks, until the challenge is over. I’ll see how I feel, not just how much weight I lose, and move forward with a game plan at that point.
That’s my update so far. Wish us all luck! I’m doing the Bix 7 (a local 7 mile hilly run) on Saturday, and I don’t get any beer afterwards. WAAAAAAHHHHH! Oh, and after this run, I’m going to focus more on walking/weights/sprints and see if not doing long runs at a high heart rates helps get me back in my old shape.
Good luck with your ventures this week!
