Paleo Challenge for 30 Days, Who's In?

I am planning on re-dedicating myself to a strict paleo regimen in the new year after a few weeks of indulging in Christmas cookies and candy canes. I don't feel bad about the indulgence, mind you. For me that's part of the joy of the holiday season and with kids who love to do the holidays up big, I don't feel like being the Paleo Grinch who won't eat a bite. I also don't think a couple of weeks of eating a few cookies here and there is going to kill me. Still, I can feel that it's starting to wear me down (for one thing, I got my first cold in about 10 months, and I don't think it's any coincidence that it comes after two weeks of eating stuff like sugar and grains.)

With my new-found optimism about my improved thyroid function and the fact that even my lifelong battle with anemia rarely rears its head any more, I can see how much my health has improved during the months that I've focused on a more paleo-centric diet. Plus, I have a couple of friends who want to do a Paleo challenge, so this seems like an appropriate time to start.

Luckily, the folks over at Crossfit Love are doing a 30-Day Paleo Challenge starting on January 3. It's always nice to have some support and enthusiasm when you're challenging yourself, so I'm going to participate. They're doing to have interviews, give-aways, and recipes to keep us motivated. So if anyone's interested in joining me and seeing how the Paleo lifestyle can improve on your own health and fitness, let me know! Last year I started in Feburary after breaking my arm, figuring that since I couldn't exercise at that point, the best thing I could do for my fitness was to eat very very well. It made a huge difference in how I was feeling, so even when I could go back to exercising like I used to, I've kept most of the eating habit changes I made.

Here's the challenge details. Take a deep breath and jump in with me!

Join us for the THE WORLD’S LARGEST PALEO CHALLENGE.

Simply, 30 days of eating real food. Along with your high quality eating, you will have the ability to be a part of great giveaways, daily Paleo blogs posts, expert video interviews and much more. Expect to learn awesome knowledge, be ready for sweet giveaways and get an inspiring start to 2011.

Get Some.

On 1.3.11 you accept these challenge rules (Whole 9 Inspired):

1. Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee or tea). Dairy Penalty = 100 Pushups 2. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, corn and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa and sprouted grains.  Grain Penalty = 100 Burpees
3. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (soy, black, kidney, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.) Legume Penalty = 150 Walking Lunges
4. Do not eat or add sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Sugar Penalty = 200 Situps
5. Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc. Processed Penalty = 100 Air Squats
6. Do not drink alcohol, in any form. Alcohol Penalty = 50 Pushups
7. Do not eat white potatoes. It’s kind of arbitrary, but one, they’re a nightshade, and two, sweet potatoes and yams are a more nutrient-dense option, so go for those instead.  (On that note, if you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding all nightshades for 30 days.) White Potatoes Penalty = 20 min run

Each category has a separate penalty, if you break that rule please preform your penalty before rejoining the challenge. Penalties are cumulative. Ex: If you eat bread with butter, the it is a 100 burpees and 100 pushups.