So hungry you could kill someone and eat their brains?

Checking in this week, a couple of you mentioned that you were flat out starving. Here’s why you don’t want to go there:

1. The “I’m so hungry I could eat a skunk” stage means your blood sugar is low. Who needs dizziness, headache, disorientation or worse?
2. You are likely to grab the next available thing and shove it in your mouth.  This is a sure fire way to eat too much, too fast —  and something that is probably WAY off the Paleo list.

Here are a few hints to AVOID becoming Zombie Hungry:

1. EAT.  Remember, a Paleo Challenge is NOT A DIET.  You are not trying to eat less, skip meals, or count calories.  You should be eating 3 or 4 healthy meals a day, avoiding the eliminated foods, eating to satiety, meaning you feel satisfied but not stuffed. 
2. Are you hungry or thirsty?  Dehydration can trigger feelings of extreme hunger.  Clinical studies have shown that 37% of people mistake hunger for thirst because the thirst mechanism is so weak. Just before you eat that skunk, have a big glass of water instead.
3. Balance you meals.  When you look at your plate, is 2/3rds of it covered with heaps of veggies and a healthy drizzle of olive oil? Is the remaining 1/3rd a great piece of grass-fed protein? Awesome.  If not, you are going to tend to be hungry.  Macro nutrients (protein, fat and carbs) work with Micro nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc) to form a complete picture, including satiety.  Grabbing just a salad with no protein, or just a hunk o’ chicken with no veggies is going to leave you starving in an hour or two.
4. Fat is filling.  Remember, fat doesn’t make you fat.  If your meals are fat-free, you are going to be hungry.  Add some healthy fat to each meal: some ripe avocado in your salad, a splash of olive oil on your veggies, a dollop of coconut oil to sizzle up your eggs.
5. Keep healthy snacks on hand when the Hungry Horrors strike.  Don’t make nuts and fruits (which are high in calories, if you are aiming to drop a few el-bees) your only go to.  Keep some eggy muffins on hand; have some left over grilled chicken or beef in the fridge; steam up a bunch of broccolli or green beans to have at the ready.  You can throw together a healthy mini-meal quickly without eating half a pound of nuts and all the fruit in your fruit bowl.

So Mangia! Mangia! Eat well, often and enough and you should avoid Zombie Hunger, no sweat.

Keep track of your food each day.
Add 10 points to your weekly Challenge total.

Here’s another tip for success in any Paleo Challenge:

Write down what you eat. 

Many of you did just that this week and, not surprisingly, had really good, clean, Paleo eating.  Food journaling keeps us honest, on track and helps us dial in our nutrition.  So if you haven’t started a journal yet, it is not too late.  Jump in this week and see what happens. You can turn it in on Monday at the gym and get your 10 extra points.

Here’s what journal review revealed this week:
Everyone did GREAT!
Everyone could add more leafy greens.  Cauliflower and sweet potatoes are popular and tempting, particularly after a workout but eat them WITH green veggies and leafies:  broccoli, kale, mizuna, collards, spinach, etc.
Vary your diet.  Eating 6 or 7 eggs in one day, nothing but chicken day after day, ham for breakfast, lunch and dinner –  that’s, well, plain boring.  Boredom is the enemy and doesn’t give you the broad range of nutrients your body is craving.  Mix it up.
If you have a goal for weight loss, watch your fruit and nut intake.  We don’t count calories in a Paleo Challenge but truth is, nuts and fruit are high in calories. Limit or eliminate fruits and nuts for the 4 week challenge if you are looking for weight loss.
Have a great week and keep up the good work!

Best,

Kat

PS: Questions or comments?  Please email me katmansfield@gmail.com or Greg greg@gymcorecrossfit.com

Congratulations on completing the first three days of your GymCore CrossFit Paleo Challenge!

How are those 100 points you started out with this morning? Still intact?  Growing bigger?  Good for you. And good work pulling it together after a weekend of holiday indulgence!

So a bit of clarity as we begin:

Each week, you have 100 points to get started with.  Have a cracker? Take away 5.  Take some fish oil?  Add 5. Each evening, review your points to keep yourself honest and see how you are doing.  That’s also a great opportunity to write down what you ate in your journal — a 10 point gain at the end of the week when you pass it in on Saturday at the Group WOD.

If you have any questions or need support, please feel free to be in touch with Kat or with Greg.  Your buddy is also a great resource.

We are here to support you!

Here’s to your excellent good health!

Hello Paleo Challengers!

It’s here. Paleo Challenge 12.2. 

Anyone who was unable to attend the Introduction, Measurements and Benchmark WOD on Saturday, do not worry! You will be able to do your measurements and complete the WOD during the week (with or without your partner). And we will have your binder for you as well. The Food/Points portion of the challenge begins today, Monday the 9th.

Reminder: It is $50 for the challenge (majority of this money goes to the winners’ pot). The more challengers, the more there is to win! As it stands right now with the current sign ups, a winner will receive their $50 back plus an additional $133!

For first time challengers it is another $15 for the Paleo Binder. The binder provides you with all helpful information to support your adjustments to Paleo, as well as, food/shopping lists for the grocery store, daily journaling sheets and weekly points tracking sheets. (Returning challengers… you have your binder from the first challenge and you will receive any new information that is in the new binders).

If there are any questions regarding this post, the workout, your partner, the binder… Email Greg at greg@gymcorecrossfit.com.

Thank you all and let’s have at the competition! 🙂