Yesterday was the start of the CrossFit Carmel “Fit by the Fourth” Paleo Challenge. I hope everyone had a good day and planned ahead so they had more than almonds and beef jerky to eat!
We are stoked to have so many of you on board for this challenge. It will make this process more fun and we can all learn from one another as well.
I want to remind everyone to think “big picture” which means focusing on removing grains, sugar and dairy from your food plans for the next 6 weeks. If you are able to do that I guarantee you will see positive results and hopefully enjoy the process along the way. What I want to avoid is calorie-counting and a micro-focus on food labels/ingredients. The links we sent out were the basic outline for the Paleo food plan; they are not the absolute standard, there can be exceptions. For example, one of the sites suggested only 6 eggs a week. I eat more than that and believe that it is ok to have 2 eggs 4-5 days a week if you really like them. I also am still eating bacon as I did the first time I did a Paleo challenge. In fact, I’m not sure I could have made it without bacon (and also coconut milk)! Stay focused on the main goal – to remove grains, sugars and processed foods from your food plans and don’t sweat the <1 gram of sugar in your favorite salad dressing.
Another suggestion: use variety in planning your meals! I know it takes a few minutes to think about what you will eat, but aren’t you worth it? No one wants to have tuna every day for lunch and baked plain chicken breast every night for dinner. One idea is to make a quick list of meats(proteins), veggies (carbs) and fats and then pick 1 from each list in planning your meals. For example:
Meats: Grass-fed ground beef, pork chops, tilapia, shrimp, chicken
Veggies: broccoli, peppers, cucumbers, squash, artichoke hearts, brussel sprouts
Fat sources: avocado, olive oil, almonds, sesame seeds
Take this time to try new veggies and recipes and make it a culinary adventure rather than some form of punishment – it will make a ton of difference and you might even end up staying Paleo after the challenge is done!
Also, Check out this article that Nick found:
Fat Carbs are the Culprit
Stay tuned for more ideas and recipes (and please share your own ideas/thoughts/struggles/joys)
Breakfast Recipe I pulled from a paleo site, feel free to put any veggies in there that you like. I went with spinach, green & red peppers. FYI-broccoli didn’t work that well…
Mediterranean Frittata
This is a great dish to make on Sunday and keep in the fridge. You can cut pieces of it to take to the gym/work each morning (or enjoy at home if you’re lucky.) It tastes ok cold or great heated up!
Cook 3 pieces of bacon until done, but not super crispy (it will continue to cook in the frittata.) We use a broiler pan and put the bacon in the oven at 400*F for about 20 minutes. Place several handfuls of spinach leaves in a microwavable bowl and cook on high for about a minute, until it’s bright green and wilted. Squeeze out any water and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut bacon, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts (drained) into bit size pieces and arrange along with spinach in the bottom of a lightly greased (I use coconut oil) casserole or pie dish. The amount you use is up to you—a good covering of the bottom of the dish is a good rule of thumb. In a bowl, beat 10-12 eggs and mix in 2-3 tsp paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and a dash of nutmeg. Pour egg mixture slowly over ingredients in pie dish. Bake at 375*F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cooking time will vary depending upon how much “stuff” you use and how deep the frittata is—mine took about 35 minutes, but adjust as necessary.
A great way to make your vegetables more fun to eat is to roast them. We roast lots of different things, and broccoli is probably our favorite. Set you oven to 425 degrees. Get a fresh head or two of broccoli. Cut it into smaller trees and throw it on a cookie sheet. Chop a couple cloves of garlic (not diced because it will burn), and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Use your hands and mix it all together on the cookie sheet. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are just turning brown.
You can do this to almost any kind of vegetable. We like roasted bell peppers alot as well.
One more thing, substitute cauliflower for rice. Throw it in your food processor and then in the microwave for a few minutes…you won’t know the difference, I promise!!
Ok, one more. Homemade coconut milk ice cream…this is one of my favorites, and I don’t even like ice cream. One can of coconut milk, be sure to get the true Thai kind, it’s in a brown can. Put it in the blender with two cups of any kind of fruit. We like strawberries and bananas. Put it in the freezer, stir it every once in a while or when you remember (stirring makes it creamier), until frozen. I usually do it overnight then take it to work with me in the morning. Let it thaw for an hour or so until it’s not so solid, and it makes a great snack!
When we did our last Paleo challenge it was tough, it was really tough actually. It’s been probably six months or so since our last one, and honestly we’ve pretty much kept our meals the same since then. Every once in a while we would treat ourselves to a dessert, or I would eat cheese. But it’s making this challenge much easier because we don’t have to change much. You’re going to thank yourself after doing this, because first of all you’ll notice a change in your appearance and also because you’ll try adding some things in after the challenge is over and you’ll find out what you’re body doesn’t like (for me it was any kind of dairy product). You won’t want to go back because you’ll remember how good you felt when you weren’t eating those bad things.
I have no recipes to add today (although, we have found some good ones). However, I must note, that I resisted, for the first time in my life, a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. This is progress.
Freshly baked is usually where I falter…
whit – thanks for posting those! y’all seriously need to try some roasted veggies… AMAZING!
nick – well done man! fresh out da oven is the biggest food temptation I face.
No recipes to contribute; however, a friend of mine writes a nutritional blog and has done the Paleo chalenge. She gave me a great piece of advice for eating throughout the day at work: overpack on the good stuff. You can always take it home. I graze all day normally, but now it’s fruits, veggies, seeds, Lara Bars… Instead of the sour patch kids that were passed around today… =)
I cannot seem to take fish oil without burping it up ALL day. Is it me, or is it the type of fish oil I’m taking?
I find that the better quality of the fish oil the less of an issue this is. I assume you are taking gel caps?
Get the enteric coated capsules. They will cost a little more and we have them in our brand. In theory, they should bypass stomach absorption; therefore, they will be absorbed in the intestines. This should stop the “fish burps”. All this for free from your local friendly pharmacist:)
Here is a good membership site that had lots of recipes
http://www.paleoplan.com/
http://www.paleoplan.com/recipes/
Cauliflower is my new friend. I did put it in the food processor and steamed it! Whitney you are right, just like rice. So I started to experiment with it. I fried it in a dry pan to add a toasted flavor, serve it with a stir fry or as couscous in any dish.
I found the Larabars at Whole foods in Carmel. They have a coupon for .75 off of two. Their regular price is 1.39 each. I found them at Walmart for 1.12 each but there were not as many to choose from as in Whole Foods. If you buy a whole box of 16( I mixed the flavors) you get 10% off the price plus use the coupon! My favorite so far Apple Pie!
Brenda, where did you find the coupon?
the coupon and others are in a booklet as you walk in the Whole foods store, it’ good until August so you can get multiple coupons and keep using them!
I found some recipes for Paleo friendly pizzas. I have not yet tried them. Please feel free to make them and let me know what you think.
http://gregcarver.com/blog/2009/ways-to-make-no-grain-paleo-pizza/
http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/07/paleo-pizza.html
http://www.norcalsc.com/index.php/index.php?/post/primal_pizza/
http://www.performancemenu.com/recipes/index.php?action=recipe&recipeID=9