It does Not matter

My clothes post 2 mile sprint, 8am, in the rain.

California turned into Seattle, its rained for what seemed like weeks; I still ran my miles.

My quads locked and my hamstrings got sticky; but I still lifted.

Work becomes more and more crazy; I still workout.

I had no energy; but I picked up the bar anyway.

It didnt matter. I still gained, each and everytime. I PR'd. I got faster. I got better.

Starting to see the picture. It doesnt matter. There are only a few good excuses, and you probably dont have any of them to use. All the simple BS that clogs our heads before we decide to even GO to the gym is nothing more than silly BS. Get in and get it done and get better.

Poor Bastards

Hey everyone. I hope you all are enjoying your warm sunshine and nice weather. Its 20 here and I cant tell where snow ends and the world starts. Its like living in a snow globe....and the devils holding it. Anyways, enough bitching.

I wanted to post this yesterday but I feel its still pretty important. The weekend is here and most of you are going to go running off playing and hanging out with friends. These "friends" probably arent eating paleo. Hell, there probably are a few significant others that arent eating paleo as well. For some of you its going to be tough hanging around these people. Its pretty much true that in a group setting, if a member tries to change the group setting, especially a change that might improve their position over the other members, the other group members may become upset or mad. They will use these emotions to say and do things that cause the other improving member to give up or not succeed. Its sad and it happens. Now not everyone is like this but some people may feel threatened or uncomfortable trying to make these changes and be around people who arent making the same changes. Melissa Byers wrote a really good article about being in such circumstances. Please read it because it makes a lot of sense for someone who may be around non-paleo peoples:

http://whole9life.com/2009/08/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-paleo/

Enjoy. PLease update me on how you guys are doing. We have almost wrapped up week 1!! Exciting. For those who are wondering, food logs will be submitted to me on Sunday (tomorrow). Email them to xfitnut@yahoo.com

You have to send in and keep accurate food logs in order to stay in the competition.

Keep up the good job everyone and take care,

ChRiS

Crystal

This is a comment because there has been some slight confusion.
Under no circumstance will any of the pictures for this challenge be made public or posted publicly UNLESS permission is giving by that person in the photos. WE WILL NOT POST THE PICTURES. There is nothing but respect for privacy. We have a trust with our clients concerning several issues and this is one of those. So please understand;
THE PICTURES WILL NOT BE MADE PUBLIC.

Thank you.

2nd Day of Paleo!!

Let a brother know how y'all feel!!! Write in comments!!!

Protein Powder

Ok, I know, they are tasty, convenient and easy to use...all things I have aspired to be in life (Wait..what??) Anywho here is the deal with the quick liquid meals.

Some people use this a supplement to their diets. Others make it the only thing in their diets (yes there are diets in which people drink shakes and only shakes for a month, dont worry about these people, they wont live long and when we are a little older we will do burpees on their graves).

From words in the herd, shakes release a high insulin response causing problems for those who already have problems in that department and a lack of the actual amount of protein to be digested. As Robb Wolf put it :"Why not shakes? I’ve not found them to be superior to solid food, I have noticed they make people fat. A new paper just came out comparing milk & cereal (shitty food) to a PWO shake (also shitty food) and the milk+cereal beat the shake with regards to glycogen repletion. Go figure. I’d wager salmon and sweet potatoes would be even better…not likely to see that study!"

As I told Cat tonight I occasionally make smoothies but you can also use meats that you can quickly throw down (think finger food ie sausage patties, chunk of steak etc). In all honesty I will resort to a shake as a last ditch effort. It is not my first go to. Because most diets we have encountered restrict food, and Paleo does not, if you can eat why not eat? If I do use a shake, as I have posted in the comments I try to go with a clean version like Isopure (Unflavored..really it has no flavor, its more bland than cardboard.) If I do use them I try to add coconut milk, water and cinnamon. Why cinnamon? Because most studies show that it blunts insulin from rising quickly ie blunts insulin response. Most powders contain sucralose, not good. If you are gonna bs me with Bodybuilders use shakes and theyre fine then you have no idea what a BB eats before competition when they look as lean as the do.

So youre probably asking still ......"so...can I use em...or not" and I will give you the same look that I gave the person who asked me ""I cant believe its not butter" is that a good butter to use?" It goes like this: we are trying to tighten the belt, suck it up, make you Look-Perform-Feel better, raise your standards, make a better you.....get serious, cut it for just 7 weeks and then considering adding it back in afterwards. When it comes to your LPF you have to ask yourself how serious are you about this. All the time and effort, why risk it for a f-ing shake.

Heres my newly created motto: Screw Shakes!! Eat Steaks!!

Boom!!

She doesnt like shakes...and she lifts more than you...get the hint??

With Holding Information

So as of late I have been accused of holding back tasty information. Something new to me with all of this is that I have come up with my own tricks my own tastes and certain things I add to meals that others would LOVE to know about. Ive been eating this way (85% of the time) for months now. I have made serious efforts to remove things that I know hurt my standards of LPF. The information with holding isnt intentional, it is just something I havent gone over with anyone yet.
Two days into it and some are already complaining of lack of "flavor" or "taste".......seriously?? Its called "spices." If you dont know what they are or how to use them, I dont see you making it through the challenge (sorry). There is a simple fact of when it comes to meat "EVERYTHING taste the SAME." It is only spiced to taste differently. The only difference between KFC and El Pollo Loco is spices. KFC has a "secret recipe" which they have used for years consisting of herbs and spices. EPL has there own (mainly lime). Chicken tastes like chicken. All meat has, pulled from the animal, a bland taste. You have to add spices to make it something special. To many this is a no brainer for others the are lacking the flavor. Food is food. You have to make it special you have to add things too it. As of recently you have just paying other people a lot of money to flavor it for you. How much sense does that make?

Also, try to come up with favorite meals. I was speaking with Brian about this the other night. I have certain bfast/lunch/dinner and snacks I have made that I LOVE. I replicate these meals often and Im usually excited and cant wait to eat them because I know how tasty they are. As Robb said eat Chicken for 1 week, Lamb the 2nd, Beef the 3rd, Buffalo the 4th and then cycle again, basically making it a month until you eat chicken again. Didnt sound like a bad idear.

So the things I have been with holding mainly involve condiments and information about protein powder. As far as condiments go Im a outspoken addict for ranch dressing. It was one of my things I didnt want to give up. When I use it I use Drews Ranch because it has all natural ingredients. I mainly try to use something else like CLASSICO instead of the ranch, especially when Im getting closer to or know of workouts that I need to be best for. For ketchup, Annies Natural ketchup is amazing and I like it more than than Heinz. Again, all natural and also gluten free. Whats wrong with both of these; Price and Volume. They are both more expensive and contain less volume than Hidden Valley and Heinz. But that should tell you something about the product; HV and H can make it cheaper and there for sell it cheaper because of the quality. If anyone else has more ideas or products or even products that they would like to look into let me know.
OH!!! ALso, butter....if you are gonna use it the running recommendation right now is KerryGold (I use unsalted, I liked the taste more) Its a great butter you can put on anything really. It comes from New Zealand or something (so its like $4) but comes from Real cows that are free range and grass fed. Bang!!

Enjoy.

I feel so warm inside

Hey every1,


I just wanted to throw an update out there, Nolan has jumped into this full boar. He has made a blog and promises to try and keep it updated. You too can do the same. Like I said the more community involved in this the better. Im posting his link here but it will also permanently be added to the side bar (underneath my info) on the right of the screen. Just wanted to congratulate Nolan on his pursuit to raise his standards. I think its awesome and as more results pour in from others its going to be even better. Today was day one, so Please let the others know how you're feeling.

Check out Nolans Blog here: http://nolanpatterson.blogspot.com
Good job/luck/times every1

Chris