Fourth Nutrition Challenge: Paleo & Zone-ish Eating for 8 Week Before and After Pictures

I lost 19 pounds, waist size went from 34 in. to 31 in… I found that it helped get rid of most of my sugar cravings. Giving up bread, pasta, and other carbs was not as difficult as I expected… My clothes are looser and I FEEL better overall

Like our first Nutrition Challenge, second nutrition challenge,  and our third nutrition challenge, we implemented a nutrition challenge for our members this fall. They had eat a strictly defined, but very maintainable, set of foods: naturally raised meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, little starch, no sugar and no bread or pasta. We refer to this as paleo or primal nutrition and is our basic nutrition recommendation for all people.

It’s so easy for people to fill their bodies with excessive amounts of carbs, gluten and other pro-inflammatory choices that are prevalent in Western society.  This challenge represents the beginning for some and the middle of a journey for many.  We seek the best for our members and as you can see from their testimonials, this is something they worked into their lives and saw meaningful improvements in all areas. It’s a choice for a healthy life and we hope you see that too.

Brett

I lost 19 lbs total. I went from 201 to 182. My waist size went from 34 in. to 31 in. I didn’t notice any significant loss of muscle mass. Energy levels were a little low at first but after two weeks I felt pretty good again. After becoming accustomed to the diet, I actually felt like I had more energy than before the contest. I definitely had fewer peaks and valleys during the day. My WOD performance improved significantly, particularly in bodyweight exercises like pullups, handstand pushups, and box jumps. They were much easier at the end of the 8 weeks than at the beginning. I’ve stuck with the basic parameters of the diet since the end of the contest, but have slightly increased my portion sizes and reintroduced more carbs like potatoes and fruit. I’ve put some weight back on, but I feel even better and my strength has increased. During the latter half of the contest I allowed myself one cheat day a week where I eat whatever I want and as much as I want. I have continued this practice. Ironically, I find that I don’t end up wanting much more than a cookie or a cheeseburger and a beer. I haven’t felt compelled to gorge myself or make myself sick. Feeling good just feels better than eating comfort food.

Kate

I didn’t notice a huge difference in my energy levels or performance at the gym, but there were a few weeks in there where medical school got in the way of getting to the gym so it was hard to measure progress. I didn’t really lose much weight- maybe 4-5 lbs- but that wasn’t really my goal. My clothes are looser and I FEEL better overall, which was more important. I’ve continued to follow a relaxed paleo diet, and definitely notice that I don’t feel great when I stray too far from the diet. I definitely plan to stick with it!

Rachel

Before starting the challenge I had already moved towards eating paleo, but the challenged helped me kick a few bad habits. I cut out my daily diet coke habit and nixed all artificially sweetened drinks- a big thing for me! I found that it helped get rid of most of my sugar cravings. Giving up bread, pasta, and other carbs was not as difficult as I expected (though I had cut a lot of that out of my diet already). I was much more proactive about cooking meals for the week and incorporating more vegetables into meals. Cutting down on fruit (I eat a lot of that) and adhering to the diet in social situations were the most difficult things-after the first 3 weeks I was much more lax when eating out or at friends’ homes, which may have diminished my results.