To get everybody motivated to give the Paleo diet a try, we’re going to do an 8 week Paleo Challenge.  The challenge starts on Monday, April 29th and ends on Monday June 24th.

You’ll be measuring your success over the 8 weeks of the challenge using a system of points. And no, these aren’t the Weight Watchers kind of ‘points’.

There are 2 ways that you’ll be able to earn points for the challenge.

1. Daily points for eating Paleo, along with bonus points for maintaining healthy sleep and exercise habits
2. Benchmark workout — performed at start and end

Daily Points & Bonus Points

Each challenge participant will start each day with 7 points. These points represent 7 aspects of the Paleo diet.

1. Eat real food. Meat, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruit, oils (like EVOO or coconut). Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re fresh and natural.
2. Do not eat dairy. This includes butter, cheese, yogurt and milk (including cream in your coffee).
3. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn, oatmeal, and also any gluten-free pseudo-grains (quinoa, etc).
4. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter!
5. Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup,  agave nectar, Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.
6. Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars like Zone and Balance bars, dairy-free creamers, etc.
7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.

So, if you follow points 1-6, but have a beer with your dinner, you get 6 points for the day.  Subtract a point for the day if you have cream in your coffee.  Eat a bagel – subtract a point. Etcetera. If you have a beer, cream in your coffee and a bagel in one day, you’re down to 4 points for that day. If you have a question about whether something counts as a point or not, ask and we’ll figure out an answer.

Earn one bonus point per day that you get 8+ hours of sleep.

Earn one bonus point per day (maximum of 4 per week) for each WOD you complete at CrossFit Ulster

Points are awarded on the honor system.

Benchmark WOD

To measure performance gains, we’ll be doing a benchmark WOD at the start and end of the challenge.

Prizes!
The top scoring participant will win all three prizes while the second place participant will win #1 and #2:

1. Free month of membership
2. A CrossFit Ulster T-Shirt
3. Massage Courtesy of Christene Spiezio LMT.

 Body Composition

You may have read the Paleo Challenge guidelines and thought to yourself, “Why aren’t we weighing in / measuring body fat / measuring waist circumference / etc?”

The challenge was designed to reward those who stay dedicated to maintaining healthy eating, sleep and exercise habits over 8 weeks. The reason it was set up that way is because eating Paleo isn’t a weight loss diet. The concept of Paleo is to provide your body with the optimal fuel that it was designed to run on.

Eating Paleo is primarily about feeling your absolute best, mentally and physically. Looking better in your swimsuit will just be a side effect.

That said, even though changes in body composition (weight/inches/body fat lost) will not be factored into the scores for the challenge, we encourage everyone participating to do before and after weigh-ins, measurements and pictures. These will just be for you, so you have a record of your success. Even for those who aren’t looking to lose pounds, changing how you eat is going to help your body build muscle, and those changes will be measurable.

Here are some links for more information about The Paleo Diet

-Paleo Diet Basics

-General Health, Metabolsm, Weight and Pregnancy

-Athletes

-Calcium and Bones

-Fats, Cholesterol and Heart Disease

-Fasting and The Paleo Diet

-Fiber, Cereals and Grains

-Rheumatoid Arthritis

-The Paleo Diet and Salt

-The Paleo Diet for Vegetarians