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August Whole 30 Paleo Challenge

borofergie

borofergie

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I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but I just noticed that August is the official "Whole 30 challenge" month, so I'm going to give it a crack.

The Whole 30 Challenge is a 30 day programme which aims to "cut out all the psychologically unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups for a full 30 days."

It's basically strict Paleo for 30 days with the following rules:
  • Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
  • Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
  • Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. Yes, we said corn… for the purposes of this program, corn is a grain! This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
  • Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
  • Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)
  • Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
  • Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold and fingerling potatoes off your plate
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http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/

Now I'd consider myself pretty strict Paleo, so most of this won't be much different for me, but I intend to dump my remaining vices:
  1. I'm kinda addicted to diet Coke
  2. I eat a lot of cream, some cheese, and a little milk in my tea
  3. I love sugar free jelly

I'm also starting my 12 week Half Marathon training plan, and I'd like to lose about a pound a week to help me get up the 150ft hill that is halfway around the course.

Wish me luck, I might be even grumpier than normal over the next few days.
 
Do you have a source for non-grain fed meat?

It is newly dawned on me that maybe grain fed meat and poultry is not a good thing - or have I got that wrong?
 
lucylocket61 said:
Do you have a source for non-grain fed meat?

It is newly dawned on me that maybe grain fed meat and poultry is not a good thing - or have I got that wrong?
Click to expand...

I don't think that Whole 30 is ruling out grain fed meat, but it is certainly less than ideal, because it's full of Omega 6 PUFAs. Most hardcore Paleo advocates do their best to avoid it.

I know for a fact that all NZ Lamb is grass fed. I'm fairly sure that most high-quality British Beef is largely grass-fed (but sometimes corn finished). I don't think that it's as much of a problem as it is in the USA where all of their beef is grain fed.

Chicken is the other thing I could do with cutting out, it's one of my lunchtime staples.
 
What no fava beans or chianti. What will I eat liver with now?.
 
xyzzy said:
What no fava beans or chianti. What will I eat liver with now?.
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Duh!

More liver. Preferably raw liver. Preferably torn out with your teeth. Trouble is, I'd have to find me some low-carb humans, cos the NHS ones are all grain fed.

Who'd have guessed that Hannibal Lecter isn't Paleo compliant!
 
Wow! Good luck Stephen! I'd join you if I got special dispensation to keep single malt whisky and Rioja on the menu! Without dairy, where will you get your fat intake from?
 
Absolute respect to you Stephen. I would join you, but couldn't give up the dairy produce, especially my Greek yogurt and berries.

I gotta hand it to you, you like the tough challenges. Good luck and keep us updated how you're doing.
 
Grazer said:
Wow! Good luck Stephen! I'd join you if I got special dispensation to keep single malt whisky and Rioja on the menu! Without dairy, where will you get your fat intake from?
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Meat and hopefully what's left of my belly.

I'll see how I get on, but if I'm lacking energy, I might up my carbs a little bit.
 
:shock: I didn't realise how close to the Paleo Diet I had got until I read the challenge. It appears that I would only really have to give up my SF jelly and cream. Oh and my one glass of red wine with my Sunday Lunch. Maybe next year I will go the whole hog but at the moment I need my treats to keep me motivated.

So, good luck Stephen and enjoy the extra cabbage. :thumbup:
 
Good luck with the new diet Stephen :thumbup:
 
Full Kudos to you! Hope you get some great results and the best of luck! :thumbup:
 
catza said:
:shock: I didn't realise how close to the Paleo Diet I had got until I read the challenge. It appears that I would only really have to give up my SF jelly and cream. Oh and my one glass of red wine with my Sunday Lunch. Maybe next year I will go the whole hog but at the moment I need my treats to keep me motivated.

So, good luck Stephen and enjoy the extra cabbage. :thumbup:
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I know what you mean. I am Paleo except for cheese, cream and Greek yogurt, and I just can't give them up. If there is a challenge next August, you and I could have a go then. We could be team Stephen with a supporting cast of the two Joanna's :lol:
 
Defren said:
I am Paleo except for cheese, cream and Greek yogurt,
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Is that a bit like saying "I'm vegetarian apart from steak, chops and chicken curry"?
Only asking, only asking....................
 
Grazer said:
Defren said:
I am Paleo except for cheese, cream and Greek yogurt,
Click to expand...

Is that a bit like saying "I'm vegetarian apart from steak, chops and chicken curry"?
Only asking, only asking....................
Click to expand...
On behalf of the other Joanna.
smiley1798.gif
 
Grazer said:
Defren said:
I am Paleo except for cheese, cream and Greek yogurt,
Click to expand...

Is that a bit like saying "I'm vegetarian apart from steak, chops and chicken curry"?
Only asking, only asking....................
Click to expand...

First Rule of Paleo: it's not about re-enactment. We're not trying to eat exactly like a caveman, but decrease the influence of neolithic pathogens on our health.

You can easily argue that cheese, butter and cream are more or less pure fat. Since we are more or less forced to eat low-fat (by modern lean cuts of meat, and because we don't eat much offal), then it's a convenient source of additional fat in your diet, and one that is tolerated well by most people.

I've never had a problem with it, but I do find that my weight loss in turbo-charged if lay off it for a while.

Technically Paleo + Dairy = Primal.
 
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