Whole 30 paleo Challenge - Week # 1

After completing seven days of the Whole 30 Paleo Challenge (perfect eating for one month) I can say my motivation to stay on track has improved. Once a goal is set and you start making progress it helps when progress comes quickley. As my colleague Victor Hall reminds me "Success breeds motivation". Victor is my model for success. After transforming himself from 180 lbs and +20% body fat down to a 155 lbs. and 7% body fat using these methods of clean eating, carb restriction, and exercise how could I not follow. Here are my numbers for the week.

• Start weight 8/1 - 186 lbs.
• End weight 8/6 - 179 lbs.
• Start Body Fat 8/1 - 17.2%
• End Body Fat 8/6 - 16.2%
• Ave Calories - 1684 kcal
• Ave Protein - 122 grams
• Ave Fat - 112 grams
• Ave Carbs - 46 grams

Being that it was week #1 i am still playing with my numbers. I started out with my calories very low and let them creep up over the week as my body dictated. I would like to bring my protein up while keeping my carbs between 50-75 grams. My appetite is increasing with the addition of cardio. I am using an unweighed and unmeasured approach for the most part. But I do track my calories so I can see where I am at by days end using Daily Burn . Additionally I track my weight daily as part of Pirate Project 3.0 even though the Whole 30 says not to. I will be adding my Strength / Fitness/ Skills Training to the blog in a future post. Here is a peek at what I am gunning for.

The 3 Month Goal - October 30th

Body Fat - Sub 10%

Body Weight - ??? This is a mystery. Somewhere between 170- 180 lbs.

Strength

• Deadlift 400 lbs.
• Clean and Jerk - 200 lbs

Fitness

• 5K Run - 25 minutes
• 5K Row - 19 minutes
• 10K Row - 45 minutes

Skill

• Handstand Push Ups - 5
• Muscle Ups - 10

Train Fun!

Going All In - The Whole 30 Perfect Paleo Challenge

We Pirates are at it again. After the past four months of experimenting with some Paleo protocols I feel I have the last few pieces to implement for best results. For the next 30 days we are attempting the Whole 30. Eating only whole, non processed foods while excluding all dairy, legumes, and grains. This is a "reset" to get things in order for a 3 month performance challenge. I need to lose fat to gain muscle. Goal is 10% body fat. Additionally my joints simply feel better on a carb restricted, high fat, high protein diet. Not to mention my ADHD brain. More on that in another post. This week is baseline testing and getting my food dialed in. Here is a peek at my proposed nutrition for week 1.

• Protein - 175 grams /700 kcals
• Carbohydrate - 50-75 grams / 200 - 300 kcals
• Fat - 75 grams / 675 kcals
• Total calories approximately 1700.

Based on the research, personal experimenting, and reading from the following authors we are ready to give this a go.

Loren Cordaine - Paleo Diet For Athletes

Robb Wolf - The Paleo Solution

Mark Sisson - primal Blueprint

Gary Taubes - Why We Get Fat

Barry Sears - The Zone

John Berardi - Articles from his website

The only difference between this month and the following 2 months will be a weekly cheat meal / day. It has been my personal experience that if I run my diet at 90% compliance all goes well. At 89% compliance or below the wheels fall off the bus. Go figure. I have learned this lesson the hard way in many aspects of life. It is impossible to be perfect but if you are serious and want to do this or anything well you better go all in. I am not opposed to keeping balance but it doesn't seem to work well for me. Ha.

Again this is a personal experiment. I will likely be adjusting the protocol every two weeks as I check my results and look to improve on my findings.

Train Fun!

Joshua