30 Day Paleo Challenge: Final Article
During March, I participated in a 30 day Paleo challenge. As you may have read in my previous posts, my experience was double sided. I did really enjoy some of the healthy changes I had to make, such as eating more fruit, vegetables, soup and nuts. This made a huge difference and got me more into a routine of eating these items, which are of course fantastic for your body and health. Please note I will not go into the details of the diet and what to do, this is purely about my experience and not intended to explain what you should be eating.
Other things, I wasn’t as much a fan of. So many things were cut out of my diet that it caused me to get very bored of certain foods. Also, dropping so much water weight (6lbs. at a certain point) wasn’t very fun. I was thirsty all the time and got dehydrated very quickly, not to mention I looked very deflated (since you retain more water when you eat more carbs).
During the challenge, I ran into a bigger problem though. Since my work requires me to stand, run, exercise and do many more things for long periods of time, my total exercise duration every week (with individual training as well) easily exceeds 15-18 hours of sports. Doing the Paleo diet caused my performance to go down. As I wrote in my previous article, I switched to Paleo for Athletes and reintroduced carbs to accommodate my high levels of exercise. This made a huge difference and got my performance levels back to their original levels (and went up since). This was more in line with how I normally cut weight and watch my food intake when cutting. It is a very manageable way of eating and fueling your body right. The right amount of carbs in the right times are hugely important, combine that with the health benefits of some Paleo ideas and you’re on the right track! Since starting on March 1st, I lost 10lbs, am close to my goal competition weight and did not compromise my performance or lean mass.
In my opinion, athletes need to eat more carbs than the Paleo diet can offer, that is why Dr. Cordain, who wrote the books on the Paleo diet, recommends athletes to make these adjustments.
Even though it was not ideal for me (which I knew beforehand but I considered this an experiment), the Paleo diet may work much better for others. Certain ideas of it make perfect sense and most importantly of all, it does not allow you to eat manipulated and processed foods, chemicals etc. These foods are a huge reason why so many individuals are unhealthy and obese. In my opinion, eating unprocessed foods is one of the most important changes you can make in a diet.
People need guidance. Perhaps that is why the Paleo diet is so popular and I am positive it works for many people. If you are looking to cut weight and you are not very active, it is likely to do just that for you. If you are very active, it may still work but I think there may be better ways. There are many articles and studies out there that tell you why to eat and why not to eat certain foods. Many foods have changed (the nutritional value) over the last 10,000 and even 50 years. However, for every pro study there is a con study. At the end, you need to do what works for you, using common sense.
You should strive to eat as healthy as possible, fuel your body and give it what it needs and don’t get frustrated along the way because if you do, you are likely to give up. Go ahead and cheat a bit every once and a while, just be smart and disciplined about it. If you need help or you plan on starting a new nutrition or training program, go to a professional and ask for advice and motivation, both for nutrition and training needs.
By Sander Vanacker, owner, head instructor and personal trainer of Define Defense Martial Arts & Personal Training.
Define Defense in Boulder, CO
- Modern Martial Arts
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA
- Self Defense Classes & Workshops
- Personal Training
- Cross Training / TRX Classes
1805 11th Street Suite B
Boulder, CO 80302
(720) 340 6254
Info@DefineDefense.com
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Switching to Paleo for Athletes!
Since my latest blog I’ve made quite a few changes in my 30 day Paleo experiment. I have also made a lot of progress!
In my second week of doing the Paleo diet, I found myself to be lacking energy to work out hard and also my performance went down. Especially with weight lifting, the difference was remarkable. Perhaps I didn’t eat enough of certain things or too many of others but whatever caused this, it was a problem. The fact that I teach martial arts and do personal training for a living has surely something to do with it. My body definitely needs more fuel than others since I am on my feet all day and I try to participate when teaching as much as possible. This easily adds up to 18 hours of training every week.
One more problem I had with the diet (which is a personal fault) is that I got bored of most foods. As mentioned before, if you are a picky eater it will become frustrating since you can’t eat certain things and you have to eat tons of others. This is of course a personal problem and most people are not as picky as myself (if in doubt, talk to my mom or wife about my eating pickiness!)
With these issues in mind, I decided to keep the general ideas of the Paleo diet but modifying it so I could again eat more carbs. Therefore, I switched to the Paleo for Athletes diet. This is a customized Paleo diet with the needs of athletes in mind. Our bodies need more energy and need quicker recovery. When training in and outside of classes as much as I do, I believe it is necessary. The first week I seemed to have no issues but after, I felt this was the right thing to do for me personally.
After the first week I dropped 7 lbs. As mentioned before, most of that was water weight, which I didn’t like. Once I started eating carbs again, I retained that water weight back (thankfully because I seemed very deflated!) Once retaining the water put to normal levels, I weighed 210.5 lbs. Since I switched to the Paleo for Athletes method, I dropped to 207 lbs. I feel great and energetic and feel like this is the best way for me to go Paleo. I can sustain my blood sugar levels, am not losing lean mass and am dropping the right weight. I’m looking forward to keep going on the Paleo for Athletes diet and continue to get leaner in my preparation for my triathlon races and Tough Mudder!
Again, this is my personal experience and does not reflect on anyone else and should not be considered nutritional advice.
By Sander Vanacker, owner, head instructor and personal trainer of Define Defense Martial Arts & Personal Training.
Define Defense in Boulder, CO
- Modern Martial Arts
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA
- Self Defense Classes & Workshops
- Personal Training
- Cross Training / TRX Classes
1805 11th Street Suite B
Boulder, CO 80302
(720) 340 6254
Info@DefineDefense.com
In my second week of doing the Paleo diet, I found myself to be lacking energy to work out hard and also my performance went down. Especially with weight lifting, the difference was remarkable. Perhaps I didn’t eat enough of certain things or too many of others but whatever caused this, it was a problem. The fact that I teach martial arts and do personal training for a living has surely something to do with it. My body definitely needs more fuel than others since I am on my feet all day and I try to participate when teaching as much as possible. This easily adds up to 18 hours of training every week.
One more problem I had with the diet (which is a personal fault) is that I got bored of most foods. As mentioned before, if you are a picky eater it will become frustrating since you can’t eat certain things and you have to eat tons of others. This is of course a personal problem and most people are not as picky as myself (if in doubt, talk to my mom or wife about my eating pickiness!)
With these issues in mind, I decided to keep the general ideas of the Paleo diet but modifying it so I could again eat more carbs. Therefore, I switched to the Paleo for Athletes diet. This is a customized Paleo diet with the needs of athletes in mind. Our bodies need more energy and need quicker recovery. When training in and outside of classes as much as I do, I believe it is necessary. The first week I seemed to have no issues but after, I felt this was the right thing to do for me personally.
After the first week I dropped 7 lbs. As mentioned before, most of that was water weight, which I didn’t like. Once I started eating carbs again, I retained that water weight back (thankfully because I seemed very deflated!) Once retaining the water put to normal levels, I weighed 210.5 lbs. Since I switched to the Paleo for Athletes method, I dropped to 207 lbs. I feel great and energetic and feel like this is the best way for me to go Paleo. I can sustain my blood sugar levels, am not losing lean mass and am dropping the right weight. I’m looking forward to keep going on the Paleo for Athletes diet and continue to get leaner in my preparation for my triathlon races and Tough Mudder!
Again, this is my personal experience and does not reflect on anyone else and should not be considered nutritional advice.
By Sander Vanacker, owner, head instructor and personal trainer of Define Defense Martial Arts & Personal Training.
Define Defense in Boulder, CO
- Modern Martial Arts
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA
- Self Defense Classes & Workshops
- Personal Training
- Cross Training / TRX Classes
1805 11th Street Suite B
Boulder, CO 80302
(720) 340 6254
Info@DefineDefense.com
30 Day Paleo Challenge: Day 7
07/03/12 14:07 Filed in: My experiences | Nutrition
Let’s start with the numbers: 7 lbs. in 7 days! I know, I was shocked too. However, keep in mind that a big part of this amount is water weight. Since I eat much less carbs, my body also retains less water. Fortunately, I still feel energetic and have no dips in my energy levels throughout the day. Also, after weight lifting my muscles seem to be recovering at the same pace as they did before the Paleo diet. This seems to demonstrate that my post training recovery is similar and this should prevent muscle atrophy (I hope)! I am keeping a close eye on feeling weak or lacking energy since that may be a concern (although there are no signs at all yet).
As I mentioned before, Saturdays are a pretty intense workout day for me. This is what I did last Saturday:
- Youth martial arts class (teaching and joining in the interactive games)
- 60 minutes of weight lifting (chest and shoulders)
- 30 minutes of a Modern Martial Arts class (Drew taught the rest of the class)
- 30 minutes of a Strength & Conditioning class (instructed the rest without joining)
- 1.5 hour Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, of which about 40 minutes rolling (grappling with your opponents)
As you can imagine, I was eating all day (to a point that my clients said: ‘Are you eating again??’) Nonetheless, I dropped a good amount of weight that day, mostly because I couldn’t keep up with my water intake vs loss.
Sunday and Monday I was mostly out of town, which did not make this diet any easier. Luckily, we were able to bring a lot of previously prepared foods and we had access to an empty fridge where we stayed. This made it more manageable but it was still not easy at all.
So far I have been able to keep up with the diet but it is definitely a challenge. This is not how I normally eat at all. I can imagine the Paleo diet is a slight change for many people but for me it’s pretty much a complete turnaround. The temptation is not a major issue right now, however the biggest problem is variety. This is why we’re exploring more options to cook the same foods, the problem is that I am a picky eater so I am forced to resort to the same foods pretty often. I have to say I am eating many different things but considering the amount of food I have to eat, it gets quite boring.
So far this week these have been my workouts:
Monday:
- 45 minutes weight lifting (chest and shoulders)
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class (60 minutes)
- 30 minutes Strength & Conditioning
- Modern Martial Arts (60 minutes)
Tuesday:
- 30 minute run
- 45 minutes weight lifting (back)
- Modern Martial Arts (of which I joined 30 minutes)
Wednesday:
- 60 minutes weight lifting (upper back and shoulders)
- 60 minutes Strength & Conditioning
- 60 minutes Modern Martial Arts
I have not yet measure my body fat % but will most likely do tonight. I will keep you posted!
By Sander Vanacker, owner, head instructor and personal trainer of Define Defense Martial Arts & Personal Training.
Define Defense in Boulder, CO
- Modern Martial Arts
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & MMA
- Self Defense Classes & Workshops
- Personal Training
- Cross Training / TRX Classes
1805 11th Street Suite B
Boulder, CO 80302