NEW DAWN FITNESS: July 2009

We got this idea from Melissa Byers at Crossfit 603 up in New Hampshire and wanted to try it out.
We would like to challenge you to join us in an attempt to change your life in 30 day's. Why, you ask, why not? For most of us, our attempts at following a diet in the past have, not worked so why not try something new? At the very least it will be an exercise in self-discipline and at most it will change the way you think about food and it's function in your mental, emotional, and physical health for the rest of your life.

There are all the other more obvious reasons for accepting this challenge as well, such as losing weight, preventing disease, increasing athletic performance, etc. but we want to focus on the addiction that many of us have with food and the power it holds over us, as our primary goal for sticking this out for the 30 days

Many of us have been eating dairy, gluten(grains), lectin(beans), and alkaloids all of our lives and have become accustomed to the associated affects they can have on our bodies; inflammation, bloating, foggyheadedness, energy swings, etc. The goal of this challenge is to get your body back to a normal state so that you can see how that feels. We can than start fresh and reintroduce some of these foods while monitoring how we look, feel, and perform when eating them. You may find that some are fine, while others cause major problems, but you will never know unless you start with a clean slate.

We are asking you to commit to 30 days of eating nothing but Paleo friendly foods, cut out all the junk, and see how you feel. It's that easy.

So what are Paleo friendly foods?

Meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, oils (like coconut, or olive) That's it!

Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they're fresh and natural.

Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee).

Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn, oatmeal, and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains.

Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter)

Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.

Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.

Do not drink alcohol, in any form. (Yes even Paul is going to do this)

Before you say no way after reading the above, remember we are here to help. Use this blog as a support system, let us know what is easy to give up and what is hard by checking in at least twice a week. We will have posts up to motivate you and we will share recipes to help get you through. You can check in as often as you like to post your progress or ask questions. Share your successes and if by chance you have a failure, we are going with the tough love policy of making you start over. We want 30 days straight no excuses.

We will provide you with all the tools you need to set up your diet in the coming days. You just need to let us know if you are in. We are going to start this whole thing on Monday August 24th. This will give you plenty of time to read up on the Paleo Diet and prepare yourself to change your life.

It's only 30 days and just like most things worthwhile in life it is simple but not easy to do. Trust us when we say the sacrifice will be enlightening, terrible, fun, difficult, but most of all worth it!

Now that we have talked you into it leave a comment in the comment box to let us know you are in and that you figured it out. If you want to lurk your way through and not participate in the comments you are welcome to. We hope that together we can make this an enjoyable experience for everyone.

We will send e-mails out to remind you to check in on the blog.