Paleo Challenge Summer 2010
July 8, 2010 /
The official Challenge runs from July 12th through August 11th.
If you have to start late just run late and complete the 30 days.
To get started, email me at sk**********@gm***.com and I’ll send you a pdf of the food journal and schedule a time for you to get your body composition numbers for your before and after comparison.
There is a $10 buy-in for all participants and the money and prizes are divided among the winners. There is a point system to quantify compliance and a before and after body-composition test to reward your training efforts as well.
This will be a running posting throughout the month. Post your questions, recipes, and heart felt grievances to comments and I’ll post a reply. When you come across a novel solution to a Paleo-Problem: ie– “What on earth do I eat for breakfast when I am sick of eggs?” or “Where do I get macha?” or if you come across a good sale on meats at a local store please post that golden info to comments. This challenge can be difficult at first but it is a LOT easier when we share ideas and do our best to keep our diets diversified.
New Balance Paleo-Challenge
What is Paleo? What is Gluten, and why go through such an uncomfortable challenge?
Paleo is simple. It is eating in a way that is congruent to your genetic needs. You don’t have to hunt or gather. No raw meat or foraging for huckleberries. It is following a few simple rules:
No grains, No Processed Foods, No Dairy, No Legumes (beans and peanuts), No Salt
The Paleo Diet is not a weight loss diet. It has equal value for those trying to gain weight as to those trying to lose weight. The strength of the Paleo Diet is in the quality of the foods you consume, not in the amount of calories you take in. That is why it is not necessary to weigh or measure any of the meals we eat.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is the protein found in all grains.
It is a mild to moderate irritant on the stomach lining and in those who are vulnerable (due to increased stress, decreased sleep etc.) can lead to a condition called “Leaky Gut”- see the August 09’ cover article in Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=celiac-disease-insights
Leaky gut is a condition when the intestinal lining is so damaged that gluten protein passes through the stomach wall into the bloodstream before they are even digested! This results in inflammation as your body creates antibodies to these proteins to eliminate them from your bloodstream. The more protein antibodies that your body creates, the greater the likelyhood of creating an antibody that attacks your own body’s protein. This is the definition of an Auto-immune disease and is commonly referred to as Celiac Disease. There are some who believe that this sort of reaction is responsible for a number of auto-immune disease. For example- if your body creates an antibody for the mylin of your nerves the resulting damage is called Multiple Sclerosis. This is not an elimination diet. This is an insulin regulating diet that eliminates Gluten. The purpose of this diet is two-fold:
1) Lower blood insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity
a. Insulin is a master hormone. Your insulin sensitivity determines:
i. If you will be lean or chubby
ii. If you will live long or short
iii. It’s pretty important.
2) Remove Gluten from the diet to establish levels of gluten sensitivity which can lead to:
a. General inflammation/ Pain also Leaky Gut and Auto-immune disease
New Balance Paleo-Challenge
A guide to Paleo Points:
This is a game that is scored like golf: the lower your score the better. That being said you can achieve huge gains without ever coming close to a zero.
Points are awarded for every deviation from the Paleo Diet at each meal/snack/bender and tallied for the day. At the end of the month, the day’s tallies are totaled to give you your final Paleo-Score.
Organic foods are preferred but can be a financial stretch for many people. They are always encouraged but no points will be added for non-organic foods.
Points Guide:
50 points for every serving (approximately a handful) of:
Gluten Grains, Dairy, Refined Sugar this is the most important stuff to avoid- thus the 50 pointer.
Gluten Grains:
Slice of bread both white and wheat, ½ bagel, a pancake, slice of cake etc.
Cereal, non- gluten free Oats, millet etc. BEER.
Beer: Each bottle, can, or Pint is worth 50 points!
The only exception is Redbridge, a gluten-free beer by Anhieser Busch (they have them at the WestWood Village QFC) those are only worth 10pts.
Refined Sugars:
Candy, Cookies, Cakes, Artificial sweeteners- High Fructose Corn Syrup etc.
Dairy: Milk, Cheese, yogurt, Kiefer, Cottage Cheese etc.
10 points for every serving of:
NON-Gluten Grains, Starchy Vegetables, Non-Gluten Alcohol, Processed Foods/Meats, Food Coloring
Ie- corn, potatoes, hot dog meat, pepperoni, gluten free breads, oats, rice, yellow #6 etc.
5 points for every serving of:
Natural Sweeteners Agave, xylitol, raw honey etc.
tofu
Single pointers: 1 point-
Legumes: That’s right all beans: soy, pinto, black, lentils, all of them even the dreaded peanut can mar your perfect scratch round of the paleo challenge.
Black Coffee, Quinoa
Salt- Condiments, Salted Meats- bacon, salted salmon, marinades etc.
100 point Extra-Bonus points will be added for the following heinous aberrations from all things Paleo:
McDonalds and GrandeFrappaMaciato, Pizza, pre-packaged foods with Trans Fat or hydrogenated oils.
The Common Sense Rule:
If you eat something that would have been inaccessible to your paleo-ancestors who were operating without sharp metal tools and fire- give yourself a point.
If you have a question about a specific food that I haven’t addressed, look at the ingredients list and add up the points. Ie- Almond Milk. This could be clean and zero points. It could be 50 points or more. It depends on what they use to sweeten and preserve that specific product. If you are hoping to keep a scratch score, play it safe and make it yourself: blend raw almonds and water.
You can get around all of the above rules with packaged products that are largely processed. That may be a significant step in the right direction for you at a level of comfort you are comfortable with. If you feel you are too busy to do this challenge any other way then go the prepackaged route. Just mark a point with it to document your level of compliance.
Example: tofu/mushroom noodles- with a low sodium marinara from the jar. 5 points tofu and whatever you get for the additives in the sauce.
Example day:
How to earn 238 points in one day-
Breakfast (Total points 165)- Ham, Cheese, broccoli quiche (crust=50, cheese=50) seven grain muffin- no butter (50 pts.) orange juice, non-gluten oatmeal with soy milk (15pts.)
Snack- Cliff Bar (10pts) -depends on ingredients
Lunch-Cesar Salad with water (cheese=50, salt=1)
Snack-apples and peanut butter (1pt)
Dinner- Chicken Fajita (1pt salt marinade) no tortilla, 1 shot of tequila with soda and lime (10pt)
Total Points: 238
New Balance Paleo-Challenge
Before you begin stock up:
Supplies List
STEW, STEW, and STEW. This is the only effective way of satiating the Carb hungry pizza/ sandwich cravings of the first couple weeks. My favorites were of tuber base (rutabaga +turnip+parsnip+buffalo steak in a tomato base= Happy PaleoPerson.
Stew is great until it is 95 degrees out. The stew of Summer is the same ingredients on the grill or roasted in the oven. Oven roast 2-5 of your favorite vegetables with a meat in herbs, spices, and olive oil. A favorite example from last challenge was pork chops with apple slices, cinnamon sticks and brussel sprouts.
Meat and Eggs!
I prefer the Omega-3 eggs.
If you can get it unsalted and without sugar- Eat Jerky!!! Beef, Buffalo, Salmon, Deer, Rattlesnake, Human, whatever! (special prize may be awarded for most unusual jerky consumption)
Canned Salmon (Costco’s is MUCH better thanTrader Joe’s Wild salmon), tuna (low sodium in water), sardines etc.
Have lots of chicken, buffalo, fish and other lean meats around both frozen and fresh
Fruits and Vegetables
Sacks of easy peeler oranges and little organic apples are your friends
Bags of frozen broccoli and blueberries from TJ’s are lifesavers
Unsweetened Apple Sauce
Dried figs, prunes etc. help with the sweet tooth. No points for dried fruit but they are dense sugar sources so use with fats and proteins and in moderation.
Nuts and seeds
Walnuts, macadamias, cashews (raw and unsalted) they are expensive if you plow into them as meals but they are so calorically dense that a small handful at a time should suffice- you’re going to want tins of these at arm’s reach 24 hours/day
Quality fats and oils
Walnut Oil
Coconut Milk (Thai Kitchen has no preservatives)
Coconut oil- excellent for curries, high heat tolerant
Flax Seed Oil
Olive oil- no salad is complete without tons of this on it
Fish oil- .5-1 gram per day of DHA/EPA per 10 pounds body weight
Ie.- Dr. Pond weighs 180 pounds so he needs 9-18 grams/day of EPA/DHA. In the product that we stock, that means 2-4 tbs./day.
This won’t be fun without a solid supply of spices- double check that you are well stocked
Curries, Basil, Dill, Tumeric, Coriander, Nutmeg, etc, etc.
J Replace your beer supply with some Vodka and Tequila, wine- these are only 10 pointers so have them around for “cheat days”
Green tea is not a point gainer so find a good strong one (Macha will rock your socks off)
Quinoa is an essential quasi-grain. Many challenges allow it on the grounds that is gluten free and is classified as a seed. I’m giving it one point just to keep us from getting too lazy and going on a 30 day quinoa bender. It can be used in the place of rice but I’ve never had quinoa sushi.
Don’ts —
Lock these up for the month-
Grains
Lock them up- Whole grain breads, pastas, cereals, Rice, millet, etc. etc.
The only “Good Carb” in the month of January is either a fruit or a veggie
Dairy
All milks and cheeses are banished in January. Get used to espresso! \
As an alternative, try unsweetened almond milk.
Refined Sugars
“Cookies?” “No.” ______“Cakes then?” “No Zach, no cakes either and get rid of that Grizz.”
New Balance Paleo-Challenge
How to cook like a Cave Man:
For many of us this challenge will be a welcome opportunity to simplify in the kitchen. For them, every meal will be a combination of the following equation:
meat + vegetable+ some kind of cooking oil+ spice + hot pan= FOOD
Get LARA BARS. They are clean power bars (nuts and fruits) sold at Trader Joe’s
For some (my wife) the thought of giving up complex and interesting meals for a month is unbearable. She found the following website that has TONS of options and recipes that meet the Paleo parameters www.paleofood.com
Here you will find recipes to make your own low sodium condiments also breads, pancakes, muffins and the like using nut meals (make these by roasting raw nuts and grinding them into a meal using a sharp food processor)
Here is an example from the site that my wife made last summer:
We made it with macadamia/cashew butter and they are pretty good. It would have been even better with fresh blueberries or dried apricots though. Add cinnamon for flavor too.
Almond muffins
————–
1 cup almond butter
1 cup sliced raw almonds
1 cup pure coconut milk
2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
3 eggs
Beat and pour in muffin cups. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes.
Paleofood.com also has recipes for low salt, homemade ketchup and salad dressings.
Replacements and Recipe ideas:
Vinegar: No need. We’re allowing vinegar. I know, it is fermented but we can’t put the cork back in the bottle on this one so apple cider, balsamic etc.-enjoy.
Butter: I was recently asked how to get away from using butter. If you are using it for cooking that’s easy, substitute it with olive, walnut, canola, flax seed, avocado oil or coconut oil depending on the taste you are going for. In this case it was being used for flavor over steamed carrots. No need to replace the butter on this one. Instead of flavoring bland steamed veggies, try pan frying or oven roasting your vegetables with onions, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, black pepper and other spices. You’ll never go back to steamed.
Salt: This is everywhere. Have you noticed? If you are preparing food from home you can avoid salt by using: 21 season salute (a Trader Joe’s product), Powdered garlic, powdered onion, lemon juice, lime juice, lemon crystals, lemon pepper free of salt, cayenne pepper, chili powder, commercially available salt-free spice mixes such as TJ’s 21 season salute, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, ground cloves, oregano, ground allspice, celery seeds, coriander seeds, ground cardamom seeds, or any spice or combination of spices can be used to replace salt. I do not recommend using any of the so-called “lite” salts or potassium chloride salts because chloride, like sodium, is undesirable when it comes to your health. Braggs liquid Aminos (still get a point on this because it is processed from soy but is very low sodium compared to table salt)
Breakfast: For those of us who are unwilling to let go of the “breakfast foods” notion here are a few ideas in a pinch:
Almond Flour Pancakes (cook down some frozen berry blends for a syrup)
Breakfast Smoothie (anyone else like raw eggs?)
Carrot Banana Muffins- These look well worth the one salt point- or leave the salt out.
thepaleodiet.com is my favorite inline resource. This site has a lot of unique condiment recipes for making your own ketchup, mayonnaise, dressings etc.
http://paleofood.com/ This site has a huge selection for the adventurous types. You’ll need Arrowroot and nut flours/meals (ground almond, walnut etc.) You can buy the arrowroot and almond flour from PCC on California Ave. Or you can make your own almond and walnut flours and meals in your grinder at home from fresh unsalted nuts.
