Workout of the Day

Lets not just ditch all the processed foods at once and go full Paleo right away. You’ll find yourself in a world of hurt. Rather, lets ease our way into this new lifestyle. For week 1, replace 1 meal per day with a Paleo style meal. Week 2, replace 2 meals with a Paleo friendly meal, and week 3 have all 3 main meals Paleo friendly.

What exactly is a Paleo meal?

As mentioned in the introduction, cut out processed foods completely. To simply define a paleo friendly meal: If you can’t hunt or gather your food, DON’T EAT IT! Focus on every meal containing meat/fish, veggies, and a source of good fat. If you stick to that golden rule, you are eating paleo! Not that hard right? Here is an example of how to begin paleo eating:

This is a typical American diet compared with Paleo diet:

Notice week 1: you replace 1 typical meal with a Paleo meal.

Notice week 2: you are replacing 2 meals + snack

By week 3, all 3 meals should be paleo + snack

Feel free to mix and match what you eat. This is just a rough example of a typical Paleo meal plan. Do yourself a favor, google “Paleo meals” and get creative! There are hundreds of recipes out there to get your taste buds going. Also note, if you eat a ton of fruit you are adding a ton of sugar to your diet. Though fructose (fruit sugar) generally does not cause significant spikes in blood/glucose levels, if you are trying to lose fat, I suggest limiting yourself to 1-2 pieces per day. You’ll get a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals if you are eating veggies with every meal.

To athletes or people who train like athletes:

Your protein and caloric needs are higher than that of the average person. Lets try to keep our protein intake at about 1g/lbs. of bodyweight. Though not Paleo, I do recommend adding protein shakes as a post recovery meal. Concentrate on the majority of your protein coming from food, rather than supplement sources. Speaking of supplements, I personally recommend supplementing fish oil, protein powders, BCAAs, and a multivitamin. Thats all I got for ya! I encourage everyone to do their own research. There is a ton of information out there, some true and some well... not so true. If you have a question, try finding it out for yourself. I love helping people, but I am by no means an encyclopedia of information. Not sure if I heard this quote or made it up, but my philosophy on life is "it isn't about knowing all the answers, it is about knowing how to find the answers". It is pretty self explanatory. So take it and run with it...

Stay classy,

Coach A.