The Whole9 folks are doing another Pure Paleo 30-day challenge. You’ll find an explanation of it here, and if you’re looking to cut the crap out of your diet, there’s a lot of support available.
The “Tough Love” section applies to ANY dietary changes you want to make. The whole article is absolutely worth reading, but this bit is super important:
- It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. Because if we (Dallas and Melissa) can do this while living out of a car on our road trip, relying on a restaurant or a cooler for 90% of our meals, while constantly socializing for business, YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE. It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. So suck it up and join us.
- Don’t tell us you “slipped”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of Krispy Kremes, you DID NOT SLIP. You made a choice to eat something of poor quality. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit here, 100%, for the full 30 days, or go somewhere else.
- You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your Mom proud and say, “No, thank you”). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your sister’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company outing or the Fourth of July does not mean you have to eat anything. It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 10th grade.
- This does require a bit of effort, people. If you’re cutting grains, legumes and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are balanced, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. You’ll have to figure out what to eat for lunch, how to order at a restaurant and how often you’ll need to grocery shop. There are a ton of good resources search-able on this site, and Googling “Paleo Recipes” is a great place to start. We’ll give you plenty of resources here, but take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on chocolate milk.
I’m a big believer in the whole idea of diving into your changes 100%. Whatever you want to cut, CUT IT. There’s a lot to be said for making a decision and sticking to it. No tapering off. I’m not a smoker, so I’ve never had the experience of quitting smoking, but I’ve certainly seen a lot of people around me quit. I can tell you that the people I’ve seen who quit successfully do it cold turkey.
Step up to the plate and COMMIT to whatever it is you’ve decided to change about your life. It will boost your confidence, and it will make you feel better about everything you do.
I’m pretty much doing all that aside from abstaining from alcohol, coffee, dairy. I disagree with their take on dairy and the biggest problem I have with this list of forbidden things is there’s no justification given. They need to do some ’splainin.
I don’t use fluid milk (even the spendy raw whole fat stuff gives me horrific, um, you know) milk, but I eat hard cheeses, pastured grass-fed butter, and full-fat greek yogurt, from Greece even (Whole Fuds has Olympus brand on sale $1/6oz til tomorrow). I don’t know if it’s grass-fed, and I have never found an identified grass-fed yogurt except once and it never came back, probably because of the price.
I’ve found over the past few months that it’s hard for me to eat enough good fat, mostly because I just don’t like fish and I’m seeing too many conflicting types of advice on whether fish oil is even good and if it is, how much and what kind. Lately I take cod liver oil in caps 2x daily. Of course the ones recommended here are horribly expensive: http://thehealthyskeptic.org/the-definitive-fish-oil-buyers-guide . I try to eat more fatty cuts of grass-fed cow and cut down on pork because of the omega-6 load.
My appetite has almost vanished. Some days I just forget to eat and I don’t get hungry at all. But I’ve been doing this long enough to where it’s pretty much automatic. Now only if someone would gimme a gift card so I could replace all my giant billowing clothes… my pants size went from 36 to 31 and shirt from L to S or M depending on the cut and I’ve got a closet full of the old sizes. OTOH it’s nice to wear flattering stuff now instead of trying to hide it. Next project: build the muscle back up. Ugh. Just because I CAN lift heavy things doesn’t mean I like it! Now a skinny fat man, which wasn’t the outcome I expected on a primal diet.
That’s how I eat as well, except that I can (and do) drink milk. I have no problems with the raw, grass-fed milk I consume.
The whole9 people are OK with coffee.
I’m happy for you that you’ve lost weight so easily. That magic doesn’t work as well for women, but the HCG got me thinner than I’ve been since 1995, and keeping my weight down is easy is easier than any way I’ve ever tried.
Very good motivational advice. Thank you for posting this!