Eating Primal - Eat The Way Nature Intended

Welcome to Eating Primal!

Welcome to CrossFit Generation's Eating Primal blog. We use this blog as a way to link training with nutrition as it is understood that meeting health goals is accomplished by sound nutrition habits and exercise. The combo is necessary in order to meet goals! Use this blog as a resource for your nutrition. It's amazing what happens when nutrition is on point. Benefits are seen in training sessions, but also with sleep patterns, stress levels, energy levels and overall health. When everything is lined up properly- amazing things happen! You cannot out-train a bad diet, so get on board with a healthy nutrition plan to get the most out of your workouts and post-WOD recovery!

On this blog, there are tons of recipes, articles and personal experiences from past nutrition challenges that will help you organize your own thoughts on what plan is right for you. Feel free to explore around- check out the links, past posts and articles. If there is something you are looking for and can't find, let us know! Also, feel free to share any information you have found by emailing one of us. We will add to the blog for everyone to benefit from as well. Knowledge is power.

To continued health!

Staying Connected Post Challenge

Tuesday, October 18th is the final day of the official CFG Eating Primal 30-Day Challenge. Can you believe "the end" is already here? For a lot of you we KNOW this isn't the end and this "30-day challenge" wasn't about changing temporarily for 30 days, but about getting lifestyle habits back on track for the long term. For others, this was your first attempt at eating primal and cutting out some of the "major offenders" in the food world. No matter what your commitment was, we thank you for going along for the ride and either "testing the waters" with it or recommitting to this lifestyle.

In the past, we have found that once the 30 day challenge ends and the walls/rules of the challenge go away, it's hard to continue to do what was done during the challenge. In my opinion, this is where the "real" challenge begins. How to stay true to optimum health in the real world under real world happenings. Balance must be found - whatever that means to you. There are many ways to combat this issue of "life after the 30 day challenge". Sometimes people want us to keep their $20 for another 30 day commitment, we've even had people go double-or-nothing for another 30 days! Another way to stay connected is to visit websites, continue to share recipes and participate in webinars and podcasts. We have an amazing community of athletes at CFG to help stay connected as well, but sometimes outside influences can be amazing motivators too. Here are a few classics we love:

Robb Wolf's podcasts- Robb does a weekly podcast available on itunes and on his website. GREAT information is shared on various paleo topics as he answers questions from his viewers. His website and book are amazing too. We have a copy that can be loaned out if you would like.

Mark's Daily Apple- an oldie but goodie. This was our original inspiration for a 30 day challenge and a resource we continue to frequent for info and a kick-in-the-pants to say on track. He also has a great book out that we have and can loan out.

The Whole9- Dallas and Melissa have their own Whole 30 program that challenges people to stay paleo for 30 days. In addition, they do lectures and seminars in the CrossFit community. Their blog is awesome.

Well Being Holistic Pharmacy and Health Center- Brian Sanderoff works with Jocelyn in her corporate fitness job. He is a holistic pharmacist and has an awry of offerings to give. He does a series of webinars as well. They are offered 2 times a month on various health topics. Click here for the webinar series info for the schedule and descriptions. You can register for these FREE webinars on his website linked above.

Plan Ahead- Continue to plan out meals and try new recipes. The best way to stay on track especially outside the challenge is to continue to PLAN, ORGANIZE and EXECUTE meals in advance. Taking the time on the front end will save you in the end. It is well worth it. We have shared and collected many new websites and recipes for endless options in this regard. Continue to try new things and share results with the group!

An email will go out shortly to all 30 day challenge participants. We are asking for a reflection and a reality check into your commitments... did you stay true to your challenge 100%? Be on the lookout for this email. We are excited to hear from you all and sign off on this challenge. Again, congrats to you all. We've seen some AWESOME improvements in many different ways with everyone who really dove into this challenge and gave it their all. CONGRATS!

To health!!!

Less than a week left...

Are you counting down the days for the challenge to be over? Do you feel like you are just now getting acclimated to this lifestyle? What are your plans for life post-challenge? With 6 days left, these thoughts are becoming more and more of a reality... what will you do on day 31 on Wednesday, October 19th?

Another great website and resource for you can be found here- Well Being. Brian Sanderoff's office is located in Hunt Valley, MD, however he has clients all over the U.S. He is a traditional pharmacist by trade turned holistic pharmacist and herbal/nutritional counselor throughout his years of practice. He is an amazing resource. He sells high grade supplements and offers a wide variety of personalized services for whatever the health need. He is going to be doing some webinars in the near future that I will post information about. If you are interested in the topics discussed- feel free to join - it's free! His life mission is educating and he has so much to share.

To health!

Primal Challenge Update: Kari R.

    Can't believe we're nearing the end of the challenge. The time has passed relatively quickly for me and I haven’t felt deprived at all.  This is surprising because I am almost embarrassed at how far I had fallen off the primal wagon during my pregnancy and in the months that followed. Amazingly, I don’t really even miss the foods that I’ve eliminated. I chose not to eliminate dairy and I think it helps that I can still have cream in my coffee and cheese on my salads.  I did have one experience at a friend’s house where the dinner she prepared was a turkey bean chili. All of the ingredients were primal with the exception of the beans. I thought about it and I chose to eat the chili anyway. My rationale was that my primary objective going into this challenge was to get sane about food again. So even though the chili was not 100% primal, I felt a few legumes did not represent an all-out failure. It was not an emotional decision and that kind of rational thinking about food is a major win for me. Plus, I am feeling awesome -- I’m down to my pre-baby weight and back into all of my clothes! I only wish I had gotten back to primal eating sooner!

Primal Challenge Update: Bernadette C.

    I entered our first challenge in September, 2009 and have been 80%/20% ever since.  After the first month, I took it one day at a time.  What I began to realize was, if I had an illness, and needed to be on a particular medicine for the rest of my life, I would do that.  Why should I not take care of myself in a pro-active way?  So, instead of saying I can't eat this or that, I started saying this is how I eat.
Last year, my goal for our challenge was to eliminate dairy.  I actually found that harder than the original challenge.  I didn't realize how often I added cheese to things!  After that challenge, I did go back to adding cheese now and then, but not nearly like I used to.

    I have lost most of the weight I had gradually kept on after having each of my children, and feel better than ever - tons of energy, no spikes & crashes, no  sugar headaches!
Toward the end of this summer, I realized our schedule was changing at home, and I was not consistent with my meal planning and therefore, not eating enough.  My goal for this challenge was to get back to a "plan ahead/prepare ahead" regiment.  I have been happily successful, (and consequently so is the rest of the family!).  Hearing everyone's ideas, challenges, struggles and encouragement, and seeing the positive progress as we made our way further into this challenge has just reinforced what a good life choice primal eating has been for me.

    My congratulations to everyone who has entered this challenge.  Just making the attempt toward positive changes in lifestyle is so important and doing so with the support and encouragement of others with the same ideals is fantastic!  Grok on CFG!

Primal Challenge Update: Deb R.

    For me is was great because it got me to finally eliminate the little bit of bad that was left in my diet like the Starbucks Frappachinos and the nightly ice cream and the occasional grain.

    Mentally what is bad - well I have it in my mind that when I am sitting in front of the TV at night watching TV we should have dessert so I have replaced the nightly ice cream with a primal dessert. I feel like I am just swapping out really bad for a good bad. Is that OK? I make primal pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffins or something else and eat that. Yes it is primal but it is still classified as dessert and probably has a boat load of calories.

    What is the hardest part -- the thing that drives me crazy is all of the complaining from my husband. Yes he is doing it but I hear from him non-stop about how hungry he is and how this is not doable long term. Well I look at it as completely the opposite. I see it as doable long term. It is amazing how much better I feel. I have sooooo much more energy. Prior to doing the primal challenge I used to find myself always tired and taking naps. I have not taken a nap in ages and feel great.

As far as my commitment I feel over committed. I said I would do the challenge but allow myself one cheat day a week. But now that I am into it I don't even want to "cheat". I feel as though I would just be cheating myself and why do that? I am so committed that when I make the kids lunch and Jakob has a peanut butter sandwich I don't even lick the knife anymore, or when they have Marshmallows and chocolate chips for a snack I don't take a few for myself. It is amazing now looking back at how ofter I used to pick off of their stuff as I was packing their lunches or getting them snacks. No wonder they would always watch me or tell me not to take a bite ;-)

Also, for those looking for some of Deb and Jay's recipe's, here is the link.  You will need a gmail account to retrieve them.  It is free, so if you want them, sign up.

http://bit.ly/qHp4hy

 

Primal Challenge Update: Sam S.

Last week we asked for some submissions from you to check in with your commitments and write down some thoughts on your experience with the challenge so far. We are coming up on the 4th week, so it's time to start preparing for the 4th week and thinking about life after the challenge. Thanks for sending in your thoughts and experiences. We will post them this week. Continue to send them in for us to share. Much appreciated!!!

   I feel like I'm doing pretty good on this challenge.  My original goal was to cut out the major offenders (grains, beans, dairy and sugar).  I can say that I have successfully not eaten either of the first two, grains or legumes, however, I did eat some dark chocolate the other day and I think it had some small amount of milk in it and sugar as well.  I have also eaten foods once or twice that I know had butter on them, so if butter counts as dairy, I slipped up there.  I have not eaten sugar or dairy anywhere else though (at least not knowingly).  I guess technically that was a "fail" but I don't see it that way.  If I were to be concerned over the little things like that I wouldn't be able to be successful at all because it would just create a road block for me in the whole thing, if that makes sense.  So I still feel good about what I have done, how I have eaten, and the food decisions I have made over the past 19 days.

Continue reading

We want to hear from you!

We are entering into the 3rd weekend of the challenge. Since we are this far along, we'd love to get some emailed thoughts from you all to hear how you are doing. That's right, it's check in time. One thing we have learned from previous challenges is it's good to re-evaluate progress along the way. It's about checking in with yourself and jotting down thoughts analyzing where you are at, where you want to be and what action steps will be taken to get there. SO, how are you doing?!?!

Are the carb headaches over? Are you starting to feel any different? What are you experiencing?

Have you kept to your commitments? 100%? Are you still on track to get your $20 back?

What have you learned this challenge? Was it harder or easier than anticipated?

In addition, we'd like to hear about what your thoughts are for the final full week of the official challenge! It's time to start thinking about life after the challenge and what your plan will be. Do you need another 30 days? Are you going to continue with your commitments?

Email Barry and give us your feedback to share with the group. Remember, the more we share, the better we will all be and the more we will get out of this challenge!!!

2 weeks down and "2 weeks" to go

    We are going to reach the half way point of our 30-day Primal Challenge on Tuesday of this week.  I put "2 weeks" in quotes in the title because once the challenge is over, will you stop there, or continue to forge ahead with primal eating as a part of your life and not just for 30 days? 

Below are some primal dishes that our challenge participants have been cooking up over the past couple weeks.

Sam's sauteed cabbage and shrimp

Sam's grilled swordfish with roasted cauliflower and brusselsprouts

Patrick' coconut pancakes

Mary's seafood stew and side veggies.

Patrick's baked sweet potato chips

Making healthy decisions

While traveling for work this week, I started thinking about eating healthy and the decision to do so. To set the stage, I was in my car headed home after a full day of driving, meetings and more driving. When I set out early that morning, I packed with my lunch and snacks for the day. Everything had been eaten out of that cooler except for the baggie of orange, yellow and red bell peppers. Clearly, that was my least favorite thing in the cooler since it was the only thing left. I was hungry though and knew I needed to get the vegetables in. So I ate them. As I was eating them, I started thinking about how if this bag of peppers was really a bag of cookies, I'd be much happier! It would be more fun to eat cookies, they'd satisfy my taste buds more and would be a great "reward" after my long day. A much better ending. After finishing the peppers, I immediately felt amazing. It was like a shot of natural energy was racing through me. I really felt fantastic. I realized I would not have felt the same way if it had been a bag of cookies. In fact, I would have felt the exact opposite. But, in that instant of eating them, they would have TASTED good and been more "fun" to eat. Only that is the whole problem. That "fun" feeling and "good taste" literally last seconds, by the time you finish chewing and it's left the mouth, it's over. No more good taste, no more fun, just the nothingness afterwards - and maybe a stomach ache depending on how much you ate!! 

So here is where the thinking started. I wondered... what are strategies that people have to choose the healthy food over the junk food even when they want that instant satisfaction of the bad food? I ask this because as humans, we love that instant gratification and sometimes can't think more long term in that moment. We forget about our health goals and the big picture and immediately start making excuses for why it's okay to eat it in that instant we want a cookie. We want to feel good in the moment. In my mind, if we can stop ourselves before eating the junk, if we can talk ourselves out of it knowing that in the end, we'll feel much better eating the healthy stuff - that is the key! Staying mindful and in the moment... but how do you do it?

What are your strategies for having the ability to make a conscious decision to eat healthy, when maybe all you superficially want is to eat junk? Or everyone else around you is eating junk? How do you get yourself to realize that the end health goals outweigh that temporary good feeling?

Please share to comments. I think this will be a great brain storming session for everyone to pick up good tips from others to help prepare for life outside of the challenge!