Week 4 recap… the end?
06. Dec, 2009 
8 Comments
Good evening sports fans, week 4 of the Paleo Challenge has officically ended. Georgia and Lisa both quickly pointed out that 4 weeks is not 30 days (it’s 28, if you’re counting), so technically this thing isn’t over.
But that begs the question… should it ever end? Kind of.
Certainly after 30 days of pretty strict eating, I am going to loosen up the diet a bit. But I also want to focus on the point of this blog, and the point of this challenge (IMHO)… sustainability.
First off, I’m going to come clean… I ended my challenge on Saturday evening, around 6pm, at 24 Diner. I tried to eat paleo at this place, and it’s certainly possible (they serve breakfast all day, most of their food is locally sourced, and there are a few things that are greenlit for us). I had the no bean chili, and I asked for mashed sweet potatoes, but it came out with regular mashed potatoes and a slice of cornbread. And I stared at it and thought, let’s see what happens. So I ate the chili — excellent. The mashed potatoes, not as life-changing as I wanted them to be. And the cornbread, simply no interest, just didn’t work. I rounded out my first cheat meal with a slice of chocolate pecan pie. And I felt my heart beating through my chest for the rest of the night, which I can only attribute to the glycemic load I just threw at myself. I did not feel awesome, and the expense didn’t pay off with a culinary dream like I was hoping (not saying anything bad about 24 — the food is great).
I actually returned to 24 two more times in the following 24 hours. One drunken brunch (fried chicken and waffles, with chocolate syrup), and one post-workout brunch (fried egg sandwich). I figured I can cheat for about 1 day and just go big. All in. And then… back to clean eating (dinner was lettuce wrapped brisket with guacamole and 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon). We’ll save the cheat meal concept for another post.
Before the paleo police arrest me, let’s hold our judgment, because I want to highlight a few things.
- Did I fail? Hell no. I proved to myself that I can create an easy model for eating and living over 28 days, that included traveling for work and some stressful times. All I need to do is think about how I feel and perform when I’m eating clean.
- Is this (or any) cheat meal going to completely derail me? I don’t believe so. I like eating paleo. It tastes good, it makes me feel accomplished because I actually cooked something (most of the time), and I know how much better I operate on it. Moreover, I have a great support network of like-minded friends. The Team TLSP dinners need to continue. And we should have a Team TLSP brunch soon.
- Do I consider this a success? Totally. Not only have I improved my life in an operational sense (I always have food in the house, I spend less money on food, and I’m never stuck trying to figure out what to eat), I have actually lost about 5-6 pounds of body fat, and I’m stronger than I was a month ago. Rock on.
So TLSP, how was week 4? What’s your plan for cheat meals… or do you have one? Personally, I think having a plan is going to help us stay on track, because if you can plan for it, you can plan around it.
Happy eating!
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Eric, I think you felt your heart beating through your chest because of the guilt of knowing that I was avoiding Christmas cookies as you enjoyed your pecan pie
Joking aside, I agree with a lot of what you said. I’m working on a day-30 reflection of my own, so I’ll save some of it for that, but I am really proud of myself, all of TLSP, and anyone else who tried this out with us. I love having a little paleo-supportive community and a place to vent frustrations, share information, and post iphone quality food porn. So I also hope that we can keep this going.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying some form of birthday dessert on Tuesday night…
This weekend was the HARDEST of the entire challenge and your tweets about the pecan pie did not help at all. Neither did Lyssa’s tweets about vanilla cinnamon smores. Despite that, I still love you both.
I agree that we should keep up with the dinners. That might have been my favorite part of the challenge. Well, that and learning how to cook
Not down any weight but think that might be due in large part to overindulging in almond butter. hmm, almond butter…
PS – I’m eating at Trio this weekend and having dessert! I might also have a slice of pizza and/or a stout at some point this week.
Hahaha, I read this post and was mad at first. My first typed comment went, “I definitely think the rapid heartbeat was from the threat of Team TLSP’s judgment …”
But when I went to follow up that comment, this is what came out:
That’s really the best thing about this whole thing: we DON’T in fact judge, we SUPPORT. It’s allowed us all to explore, try, fail, succeed, grow, lose, and on and on. We’ve kick-started a lifestyle, and it’s a hard lifestyle to lead without the people you’re around being on board. Yes, let’s continue TLSP dinner. Yes, let’s continue to cook and food process and blend and try new recipes. The sharing of that, and sharing our goals and dreams and results, is what this challenge is about.
So maybe I was jealous, at first, that Eric ate chicken and waffles. But I don’t necessarily WANT that, so when I do get my cheat meal, I will make sure I get what I WANT.
I think it’s going to be gluten-free pizza.
Lyssa, I think if you gave the chicken and waffles a try you would understand the magic. That was my post Spartan challenge celebratory cheat meal and it was glorious.
Although I have to say the thought of more than a few bites of chicken and waffles makes me feel a bit sick…
Week 4 was the best week for me for a number of reasons. Week 1 was figuring out how to shop, cook and eat strict Paleo. It took me a while to figure out my meal options (the no Muscle Milk and Cliff Bars took out 2 of my regular meals) and how my body would react to no Sugar. I spent parts of weeks 2 and 3 on the road flying from Austin to NYC to Vegas which was really really hard. Food choices on the road are super hard and I’m pretty sure I drove a number of waiters crazy when I ordered meals. By week 4 I was back home and in my comfort zone – having the TLSP crew for support and leveraging them is a great benefit. I’ve been bouncing ideas of food choices, workouts, and pretty much anything Crossfit
There is not a sillier or more knowledgeable crew around.
The weekly dinner ensures we stay committed and a chance to toast our success and support each other through the rough patches.
I’m feeling stronger and much healthier in the 30 days since I started the challenge – I’ve got a body comp coming up this weekend so we’ll see if there are any physical changes. I’ll save the rest of my reflections for a longer post.
Oh, I WANT the chicken and waffles, believe you me! Thankfully, no one fries free-range chicken, so I probably will never try it