Day 24 of our Paleo Challenge

Are you an "overexerciser?" The Female Athlete Triad is a group of three signs commonly found in female athletes and over-exercisers that negatively affect overall health: amenorrhea, osteoporosis, and disordered eating. Literature suggests that up to 60% of female athletes experience at least 1 of the symptoms of the Triad. Read On

The Big Dairy Debate Milk is the  ranked #1 in the allergy food list.  Read More HERE This is a rather lengthy research article but it is worth sitting down and skimming through it.

Welcome to Day 24 of your 30 day Paleo Challenge. Today January 27th you will record your points from 1/26/15 by Midnight. (As a reminder I will not except posts after Midnight)

Day 22 of our Paleo Challenge

Today is Day 22 = January 25th of our 30 day Paleo Challenge. Today you will post your success from Sunday 1/24/16.

Since we are almost near the end - please share with us how you feel? Are you meeting your goals that you set for yourself?

Under the E = points please share with us what you  have been doing to earn the 2 points.

Fitness Challenge Begins Today.

You will perform As many Up-Up-Down-Down Planks as possible today. For every 10 completed up-up-down-down  you will record 1 point. 10=1 Record and Report your scores tonight before midnight. Try and stay as consistent as possible with this task. 

Along with this challenge you will perform  Wall Sits. You will hold the wall sit as long as possible and rest when you need to. When you are resting the clock stops...and restarts when you get back down into your wall sit. For every 5 minutes of wall sitting you will record 1 point. 5=1 Report your scores tonight before midnight. 

You are all Winners!

Paleo Challenge Points Jan 2016

Day 20 of our Paleo Challenge

Today is Day 20 of our 30 day Paleo Challenge. You will post points from 1/22. How is the sleep going? I find it very challenging because on the days that I work at most I get only about 6 hours sleep. I am really having to work at getting at least 7 or more hours on my off days. I take an occasional supplement to put me into a deeper sleep on my days off. My sleep is much better when my food is on target too! I am feeling so much better when I pay attention to my sleep. Here is an interesting soup recipe and article. I think I might try a small batch and freeze it when we need an immune booster. http://www.stayonthehealthypath.com/garlic-soup-a-hundred-times-more-efficient-than-antibiotics/

This is one of my favorite weekend recipes http://crossfitstar.com/2013/01/18/sheppard-pie-aka-cottage-flower-pie/ It does not last long in my house.

Day 18 of our Paleo Challenge

Welcome to Day 18 of your 30 day Paleo Challenge. Today January 21st you will record your points from 1/20/16 by Midnight. (As a reminder I will not except posts after Midnight) 

Tell us how many ounces of water you drank yesterday.

15 reasons to start your day with lemon water READ ON

If you are eating Lara Bars - skip them....give these a try? Raw Coconut, Orange and Date Bars with Pink Himalayan Salt - by Healing Family Eats

SQUATS!!! Today you will squat 1000 times. For every 2 squats = 1 point. You will squat a 1000 times for a total of 500 points. Be sure to post your scores by midnight tonight! GOOD LUCK!

Day 9 of our Paleo Challenge

Today 1/12/16 you will post your points from 1/11/16

Your digestive tract is probably the most under appreciated system of your body, often ignored until its screams of discontent become loud enough to grab your attention. By the time your gut reaches this degree of disgruntlement, the problems have usually been developing for months — or years — and are challenging to resolve.

Instead of waiting for obvious signs of a problem, why not perform some regular “gut maintenance” that will lessen your chances of developing a problem in the first place? Your gut is much more than a food processing tube — it houses about 85 percent of your immune system. When your GI tract is not working well, a wide range of health problems can appear, including allergies and autoimmune diseases.

Fermented Cultured Veggies are a Superfood read more here

Your Gut can make you crave sugar! have you tried Kombucha? it is so easy to make or you can buy it. Read more here

Do you have a cure-all-what-ales-you remedy? Try my Elixir

Maybe you entered this journey for fat loss. The path to fat loss is not necessarily a difficult one to traverse, but it is largely misunderstood.  The mainstream advice absolutely works, but only if your goal is temporary weight loss, not sustainable fat loss.  “Doing The Paleo Diet” can also be quite effective at making you feel better, improving health, and causing some fat loss, but I have never seen diet alone get anyone all the way to peak health or all the way to a body that looks great in a swim suit (which is actually two ways to say the same thing).  Those who focus on diet alone inevitably end up frustrated and/or short of their goals. Read On Here

Fitness Challenge

Today you will squat. Click here to see a demo of a correct squat. You have til midnight tonight to post your reps. Good Luck!

Paleo Challenge Points Jan 2016 Here are your standings

Day 7 of our Paleo Challenge

Today January 10th you will post points from Saturday January 9th. This must be done before Midnight tonight or a zero will be given.

"If I can't give it up for 30 days, then I might need a pamphlet"                 Michelle

ALCOHOL

How does it effect your athletic performance and weight loss goals? Alcohol can negatively effect protein synthesis. To achieve muscle growth, you must have a positive muscle protein balance. If you don’t consume enough protein or exercise enough, your muscle breakdown may exceed your muscle gains, leading to a catabolic state in which you are losing muscle tissue. In one study alcohol suppressed protein synthesis and caused myopathy in many cases. Myopathy is a condition in which muscle fibers do not function properly, resulting in muscle weakness or loss of movement.

Alcohol decreases testosterone. And yes even women need testosterone. Testosterone is a key hormone within the body that allows muscles to grow and regenerate. Decreases in testosterone are associated with decreases in lean muscle mass and muscle recovery, which can impair performance. The presence of alcohol in your body triggers a multitude of chemical processes, including the release of a toxin from your liver that attacks the amount of testosterone you have. In a 2009 study alcohol showed a decrease in testosterone and an increase in estrogen.  When estrogen levels are high an abundance of symptoms come about. Blotting, weight gain, low sex drive, thyroid dysfunction, hot flashes, just to name a few.

It causes dehydration and depletes your energy. A reduction in your body’s ATP can result in a lack of energy and loss of endurance. In addition, water plays a crucial role in the muscle-building process, as muscles alone are 70 percent water. So even if you are just slightly dehydrated, your muscles will suffer for it.

Alcohol increases fat storage.

Alcohol disrupts your sleep.

Alcohol delays the ability for your body to recover. Giving you long onset of muscle soreness.

Fitness Challenge

Today Sunday you will do as many burpees as possible in your awaken hours. Click on the word burpees to watch a demo video. Record your reps by midnight. Good Luck!

Healthy Eating Makes Good Medicine

Do you spend more time in the doctor’s office than you would like? Maybe your child does? My son was one of those sick kids. He always had a runny nose, his eyes were always red, he had eczema, unexplained rashes, and we discovered that he was allergic to our pets. His ill health turned into asthma.  If I knew then what I know now – we would not be trying to undo what was done so many years ago. Ill health starts in the gut.

The power of healthy eating, and the use of whole foods can rebuild total body health. Early in American history, people ate clean, nutrient dense food like grass fed meat, vegetables from their own gardens, butter, raw milk and cream, free range chicken and eggs. Before the 1900’s, Americans rarely died from heart disease or diabetes. Today, despite millions of dollars spent on health and research, we experience a much higher rate of heart disease, diabetes, and cancers. Foods are chosen for convenience instead of nutrition, and our government sponsors a healthy eating guide based on data not on the science of it all.

Return to the traditional diets our ancestors enjoyed. Begin with whole, real foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates, rich in protein, and natural fats. Avoid artificial and processed foods. These types of foods rely on chemical additives for flavor, appearance, and texture. They are genetically modified for a cheap price. Generally these foods have a long shelf life.

The main idea is that we are not genetically adapted to eat the processed foods invented in modern times, and when we eat these foods, they make us sick. Taking an antacid or an anti-blotting or gas relief pill is not normal and it may mean that you have intolerance to a particular food source.

Using whole foods as medicine to treat and heal chronic illness and to support health without the use of modern drugs. Most health problems are based on an unhealthy diet which is too high in carbohydrates, and low in real whole foods.

Foods should be as close to their natural state as possible. Poultry, including organ meats, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey are good choices and grass fed meats and poultry are preferred. Choose to eat any wild game, fish, and eggs. Include salad greens, celery, carrots, mushrooms, cucumber, spinach, broccoli, summer squash, peppers, onions, tomatoes, chard, avocados etc. All fruits, all nuts such as cashews, filberts, pecans, walnuts, macadamias, pine nuts and pistachios are great choices. Choose seeds such as pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower. Keep grains and dairy to a minimum or avoid them all together. Grain based foods, and dairy sources cause gut inflammation, leakage and heart burn, which necessitates the use of antacids, interferes with pepsin, and this starts a cycle of gut problems.  Switching to healthy eating which emphasizes healthy fats and protein can transform into good medicine.

“Our digestive system holds the root of our health.  If those roots are not healthy then the rest of the body cannot be healthy.  So the treatment of any disease has to start in the gut.”  Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD.

original source www.theindnews.com

Day 30 of our Paleo Challenge

Today 6/2 you will post your points from 6/1. Don't forget to log in tomorrow and post your final points, fitness test, and measurements.

January 13th 2015 Day Two Paleo Challenge

Welcome to Day 2 of your 30 day Paleo Challenge. Today January 13th you will record your points from 1/12/15.

Facing this week's challenges... click here to read more.

Did you forget what to record?

DAY 2-31:

1. Daily Entry of Points

On each day, from Day one (1 )thirty-one (31), challengers log into this site and report a score for all of their activities from the day before.

1. Scoring is open (for the previous day) between midnight and 11:59pm (23 hours and 59 minutes).
2. If a challenger fails to log their score within this time frame, they will receive zero (0) points for that previous day
3. ALL SCORES ENTERED ARE FINAL. There will be no altering of scores once they have been entered.

2. Points Categories

• Three Standard Point Categories: Nutrition, Exercise, and Lifestyle Challenges

 Nutrition

Challengers start each day with 5 nutrition points When a challenger breaks a nutrition rule, they lose a point. When a challenger has a sip of alcohol they lose all points. A loss of all 5 points, results in a zero (0) for the day When entering the nutrition score, enter the number or points KEPT out of 5

Exercise

• Challengers start each day with zero (0) exercise points.
• Earn two (2) points for exercising (working out) for at least 20 minutes
• Criteria for determining “what counts as exercise”:
  • This is NOT a game of doing a crazy exercise routine every day, score keeping, or judging.
  • Here it is, plain and simple: Did you intentionally spend 20 minutes doing something that YOU would consider exercise?
  • If the answer to that question is yes, then score yourself a “YES” for that day.
  • How does the Paleo Challenge define “exercise?” Something that elevates your heart rate, helps build any of the 10 general physical skills (strength, endurance, stamina, flexibility, speed, power, balance, coordination, agility, accuracy), or gives you a chance to actively recover.
  • Active recovery must be of a duration of AT LEAST 20 minutes.
  • This means that some days players will do a regular workout – go to the gym or put on running shoes – and some days they will just move – take a light jog, do yoga, ride their bike, skate at the beach, play frisbee or soccer, go surfing, or even walk to work rather than drive.
  • It is up to each individual to determine if they exercised or not.
  • Rest Days are important. Can exercise hinder your gut health? Read here to understand more

BONUS Points

• Players start each day with zero (0) Bonus points.
• Earn bonus points for completing the prescribed challenge for that week
• The challenge category rotates periodically and will include things like drinking water, sleep, exercise, mobility, etc.

Note: DAY 30 is the last day players follow the required daily check-in rules of the game. DAY 31 is the last day players enter their daily check-in score for the previous day.

3. Specific Nutrition Rules Any infraction of the specific nutrition rules costs a challenger a point. Will challengers “break the rules” and lose points during the challenge? Yes! This challenge is about choices, not perfection! Should challengers do everything they can to earn their points? Absolutely! That’s the game! CAUTION: READ YOUR LABELS    non paleo ingredients hide in the strangest places. Go Here for a helpful Shopping-List

1. Grains or Starchy Carbohydrates

Allowed: You may consume sweet potatoes and yams. Lose 1 point per infraction of: Any grains or starches, e.g. wheat, barley, rye, starchy potatoes (white, yellow, or purple interior), rice (white or brown), bread, pasta, quinoa, corn or soy (including their oils).

1. Sugars or Sweeteners

Lose 1 point per infraction: of any sugar or sweeteners (organic or not) e.g., honey, agave, coconut sugar, nectar, evaporated cane juice, stevia, anything ending in ‘OSE’ ,or artificial sweetener.

1. Dairy

Allowed: Butter Lose 1 point per infraction: of any milk, cheese, sour cream, fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir), or other dairy products.

1. Alcohol, Soda, Juice, WHEY

Allowed: Kombucha (unsweetened), fruit puree (i.e. apple sauce, whole fruit pureed, any fresh juices, or store bought veggie juice, lime juice, lemon juice. Unsweetened Almond Milk, Unsweetened Coconut Milk, Unsweetened Coconut Cream, Unsweetened Coffee, Unsweetened Teas Lose ALL pointsper ANY infraction of:  beer, wine, spirits (of ANY amount/size), soda, diet soda or fruit juice.

1. Artificial Ingredients or Processed Foods

Allowed: Nothing Lose 1 point per infraction of: just about everything that gets put in food that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen. From guar gum to red dye #5, if it’s used to “process” food, it’ll cost a point. If you don’t know what is in a food, it is the same as eating a food that contains a not-allowed ingredient. This will cost you a point. Be smart. Plan ahead. Call restaurants. “Be that guy”.

1. Portions Just like your workouts, the honor system is in place for all food reporting. Portions size does matter. 1 piece (or bite) of pizza counts for 1 point, 2 pieces counts for 2 points. A whole, un-sliced pizza is not one portion. The same rule applies for any drink alcohol, soda, or juice. One glass, shot, or portion counts as a total lost. So it’s clear, ANY amount of alcohol counts for a loss of ALL points, even if it’s just a sip of wine or beer.
2. Foods like sandwiches, pizza, cake, milkshakes, frozen yogurts, etc which contain more than one forbidden ingredients only count as 1 point per violation.
3. Do not consume carrageenan, MSG, guar gum, or sulfites. Do not try to re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients.

**Most canned coconut creams and milks have hidden ingredients. Carton coconut beverages also have forbidden ingredients. Ham, Bacon, and Beef Jerky have hidden processed sugars be sure to check your labels.

1. Do not  re-create baked goods, junk foods, or treats with “approved” ingredients. Foods that fall under this rule include pancakes, bread, tortillas, cereal, biscuits, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, pizza crust, waffles, cereal, potato chips, French fries, protein bars, ice cream, and this one recipe where eggs, date paste, and coconut milk are combined to create a thick, creamy concoction that can once again transform your undrinkable black coffee into sweet, dreamy caffeine.

*There may be other foods that you find are not psychologically healthy for your Paleo Challenge. Use your best judgment with those foods that aren’t on this list, but that you suspect are not helping you change your habits or break those cravings. Continuing to eat your old, unhealthy foods made with – Paleo approved ingredients is totally missing the point, a pancake is still a pancake.

DAY 31:

This is the day during which you measure and record exactly where you are at the end of the challenge.

1. Get Body Measurement – circumferential measurements in inches.

2. Test your current fitness level

1. Repeat the same workout you did at the beginning of the challenge.

3. Enter your score on this website on Day 31.

Day One

 

Welcome to Day One of your Paleo Challenge. Starting Today Monday, January 12th - January 13th at Midnight you can post your Day One Measurements and Fitness challenge reps. Did you forget what to post? Go here http://crossfitstar.com/paleo-challenge-rules/

Post your information to the comments below. You may have to wait for Admin approval before you see your comments - but once you are approved you can comment as much as you like. Good Luck and Lets Have Some Fun!