On Monday, March 5th my husband and I began our Crossfit Box’s Paleo Challenge.  This weekend we finished it.  We both lost about a dozen pounds, and are seeing the difference in how our clothes fit.  At the beginning of the challenge I was doing crossfit twice a week, and am now up to three times, and I would go more often if my schedule permitted.

I have to admit, that I did have a hard time with the challenge, because I was a HARDCORE carb junkie prior to starting the challenge.

After doing the Paleo Challenge, I can now emphasize with people who have problems giving things up because I am a bread addict.

I can give up booze with barely a thought. I found I do not miss pasta.  I miss the ease of making pasta, and the joy of making a meal that I know everyone loves and will eat, but I do not crave pasta.

I also thought I would miss dairy, since I love cheese. However, I found that as I stopped eating cold cereal, cookies, baked goods, french toast, waffles and pancakes, that I don’t miss dairy.  I missed the foods that went with the dairy.

I don’t even miss the baked goods too much, because I recognize that one cookie is too much and a dozen cookies are not enough, especially if they are my chocolate chip m&m oatmeal cookies, warm from the oven. (Ok-I miss baked goods a little)

And I don’t even miss bagels, chips, or crackers.

But real bread is hard.  Some sourdough baguette, a nice semolina loaf, warm pita, or a slice of pizza and I am drooling.

But I also must admit that I feel like shit after eating pizza, so I think if I can remember the pain prior to dialing I will be ok, but bread is still tough.

The other big challenge are trying to get the kids to come Paleo too.  I find that I am frequently cooking more than one meal, or several sides so we can have a dinner in peace.  I also find that there is a bit more involved cooking (and cleaning)  with this diet, since the quick pasta dinner is off the table.

•  A whole new way of cooking, and have enjoyed searching the internet for new recipes and look for ways to adapt what I do cook.
• I discovered new vegetables I might never have tried, like sunchokes and parsnips.
• Artichokes in the crock pot are made of awesome.
• The many joys of bacon
• If I am serving turkey breast for dinner that I need to serve some sweet potato with it, or the whole family is hungry an hour later, and susceptible to bad food choices.
• After I have served my kids a Paleo meal and they eat it, to NOT point out that its a Paleo meal, because then they won’t eat it again, because they are trying to kill me.

I will keep up with the eating plan, and continue to make my sweet husband his daily cooler since it keep him on track.

The only changes I will make is to incorporate some greek yogurt into my diet and the occasional bowl of oatmeal, since I really love plain oatmeal with fruit.   I am also thinking of doing a 30 day Paleo challenge, as I felt the grind of an 82 day challenge was a bit much, and I did cheat several times.  I think on average I was 75-80% Paleo each day, and I am going to shoot for 85-90% going forward.

So thanks to Glen, Linda and John at Crossfit Synergistics for showing us a new way to eat.

If  you look on the blog, there are several yummy Paleo recipes.  As I discover new recipes they will be up right here.