Day 8

Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. - Brian Tracy, Eat that Frog

What's up everyone? Thanks for continuing to follow along. Still amazes me how people let me know they're following the blog, keeps me motivated. Anyways, it's starting to really pay dividends for me. It's only been a little over a week now, but I sleep better through night, and my energy levels are through the roof. I play in a weekly basketball league, and sometimes a flag football league, and I used to only be good for a few minutes at a time before I had to take a break. The past 2 nights I had a game for each and I was able to play the entire game without taking a break. It's only been about 2 weeks of Crossfit and 1 week of the diet, so I'm excited to see the progress after the full 30 days.

Before I go on to my lineup, I wanted to clarify something. My buddy Chris mentioned yesterday that the Protein Shakes were dairy, to which I had no idea. I did some research, and talked to my trainers they informed me that Whey Protein is indeed dairy, which technically isn't Paleo. My trainers told me to ignore that small aspect of the diet, because of the heavy workouts I am doing, they said to keep the whey protein, but only take it with coconut milk.

Here's my lineup:

Breakfast
Fruit Salad with Apples, Carrots, and Raisins with a dash of Cinnamon
2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites
2 Turkey Sausage Patties

Snack
Unfortunately skipped because I got busy at work

Lunch
Spinach Mexican Salad with Spinach, Chicken, Guacamole, and Salsa

Snack
Banana
Handful of Walnuts

Dinner
Paleo Chicken Cacciatore
Mashed Cauliflower
Leftover Spaghetti Squash
Broccoli

Megan was back over for the night, so she was able to cook a good dinner. She was actually already here and cooking by the time I got back from work. She spent the day on google trying to find Paleo approved recipes, and it was greatly appreciated because I ate like a king again tonight. To please my mom, I am going to cook my own dinner tomorrow night, so we'll see how that goes. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great day people.

Day 7

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. - Nelson Mandela

Sorry for the late post, I had a very busy night. I had Crossfit, then I went to go play some flag football with my old team, and then came home and had to make breakfast/lunch/snacks, so I just now have time to sit down and type. It will be a relatively short post tonight, so don't get your hopes up.

Here is my lineup for the day:

Breakfast
Fruit Salad with Apples, Shredded Carrots, Raisins and a dash of Cinnamon
2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites
2 Turkey Sausage Patties

Snack
Banana
Handful of Almonds

Lunch
Mexican Salad with Chicken, Guacamole, and Salsa

Snack
Protein Shake with Coconut Milk
Handful of Almonds

Dinner
Spaghetti Squash with a Grilled Chicken Breast and Salsa

As you can see, I am starting to eat a lot of the same stuff over and over again. I am finding my niche foods, so it is my next step. I started bland, now I have expanded it a bit, but keep eating the same stuff. Eventually I will branch out and start to eat some more recipes. That will also coincide with when Megan comes back, haha. My mother gets angry when I say I can't cook. It's not that I can't, I'm just not good enough at it yet with these foods to really feel confident in making my stuff. I'll learn.

Anyways, thanks for the continued support, Have a great day!

Day 6

No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or 'get rich' in business by being a conformist. - J. P. Getty

And we're here for an exciting 6th day of the Paleo Blog. I am now officially 20% done with the challenge, and it's actually quite funny how accustomed to the diet I am already. I keep finding ways to tweak things here and there. I have also found some "comfort" foods and meals that I will rely on to get through the challenge. The foods are Salsa and Guacamole, and the meal is a Mexican salad. It's pretty simple, all I need is lettuce, chicken, salsa and guacamole. I can pile on all the lettuce, salsa and guacamole I want, so that keeps me full.

Here's my lineup for the day:

Breakfast
Fruit Salad containing chopped apples, shredded carrots, and raisins with a dash of cinnamon
2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites
2 Turkey Sausage Patties

Snack
6 Small Pieces of Celery with SunButter on them

Lunch
Mexican Salad containing Lettuce, Grilled Chicken, Guacamole and Salsa

Snack
Protein Shake with Coconut Milk
10 Roasted and Unsalted Almonds

Dinner
Spaghetti Squash
1/2 Serving of Leftover Ground Turkey and Spinach from last night
1/2 Grilled Chicken Breast
Salsa

I had someone ask me what I'm drinking with this diet, and I decided to go strictly with water. I try to drink at least a gallon a day and that's it. I have had pressure to drink alcohol and eat outside of the diet, but it hasn't been too hard to say no. It's a slippery slope for me, if I have one bad food or drink, then I start rationalizing why it's OK to keep doing it.

Anyways, thanks for following here people. Let me know what you think.

Day 5

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy - Bill Blackman

Happy Sunday Evening! I had a pretty sweet weekend, and did a ton of exercise, without even trying. I walked up and down Main Street 3 times, and then I had to walk up and down the hill all those times. As my buddy AJ said, my calves should be looking pretty sweet soon.

Another thing about this weekend that kind of pumped me up was hanging out with all my Villanvoa Football buds last night. We all got together at my buddy Zach's place, and then went out on the town. It was a lot of fun to catch up with the guys. Another cool thing was hearing how many people actually follow this blog. I've had people come up to and say that they have been checking out my blog since the beginning. I must say, that means mission accomplished! I have enough people following that I won't/can't quit.

To answer the most common question I get, "How hard is it really to do it?", I say it's rather easy. I wasn't a huge dairy and grain guy before this, so that wasn't hard to cut out. The hardest thing, like I've stated, is variety. Thank god Megan has been back, because my meals have been pretty amazing since then. She even made the big stuff for all of my meals this week, so I should be set, which is amazing.

Here's my lineup for the day:

Breakfast
Slept right through it. Wasn't even upset by it

Snack
Didn't bother, I wanted to have a big lunch

Lunch
Had a nice burrito salad from a burrito bar on Main Street. It had lettuce, grilled chicken, homemade salsa and guacamole. It was rather delicious.

Snack
Handful of Almonds
Fresh Fruit Mix

Dinner
Beef and Spinach Scramble
Steamed Asparagus
Savory Warm Mushrooms in Wine Sauce

Dessert
Baked Walnut Cinnamon Apple

Dinner and Dessert for tonight came from a Paleo Diet book that I bought last week. I am just not smart enough to cook this stuff myself, so again, thank god Megan was here.

Thanks again for following and make any necessary comments here.

Have a great week.

Day 4

Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price. - Vince Lombardi

Welcome back to another exciting addition to the blog. Let me start off by saying I really appreciate all of the followers and comments I get. Whether they are followers or just simply read the link, I am getting a lot of people that hit me up about my blog. Good to know there are a lot of people that "got my back".

Anyways, it was a pretty nice Saturday. Started off with Crossfit, which was the hardest workout I've done so far. Let me see if I can explain this, we broke off into partners and I was with my buddy Zach Mariacher, who is a fellow Villanova Football Alum. So I had to run 1/2 mile, and Zach had to flip a HUGE tire as many time as he could while I ran the 1/2 mile. Then we switched, Zach ran and I flipped the tire. We added our tire flips together and then, without break, I went back to run another 1/2 mile, while Zach did 50lb Kettle bell Swings. A kettle bell swing is you take the kettle bell in both hands, get into an athletic position, let the kettle bell hang between your legs, and then you thrust your hips forward, raise the kettle bell over your head, and then bring it back down. After I finished my 1/2 mile, I grabbed the kettle bell from Zach, and he went on his run, and I did as many kettle bell swings as I could. As soon as he got back, I went off on my last 1/2 mile, and Zach did as many burpees as he could. A burpee is where you stand up, drop your hands to the ground, kick your feet back, do a push up, then jump up and clap your hands overhead. As soon as I came back, I did my burpees while Zach did his 1/2 mile. That was the end of the workout, and it only took about 20 minutes, but man was I spent.

Anyways, here is my lineup for the day:

Breakfast:
2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites
Handful of Blueberries

Lunch:
Delicious Mexican Salad, which contained lettuce, grilled chicken, peppers, onions, salsa and guacamole
Fresh Fruit Mix with Pineapples and Grapes

Snack:
Handful of Almonds

Dinner:
2 Pieces of Pecan Crusted Tilapia topped with Organic Salsa
Sweet Potato with Cinnamon
1/2 Cup of Broccoli

As you can see, my meals were a lot better today, and take one guess why. Megan was back, so she really took it to a new level. All of my Villanova buddies are in town tonight, so we are all going out, so it will be tough to not drink, since everyone else will be. My trainers will be there tonight, and they already said I'm allowed to drink if I'd like, but we'll see. When I start something, I like to go balls to the wall.

Have a great Saturday.

Day 3

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas Edison

Well here I am, another day, another blog. I really appreciate all of the comments and followers so far, it's making me motivated. It's becoming easier and easier to adjust to the diet end of things, the only hard part is finding where to get it. As I stated earlier, I wanted to start off pretty bland so I can get used to the foods I need to eat, and then I'll start getting creative with it. Well I think it's time to start getting creative. I don't mind eating the same food over and over again, that doesn't bother me, but I need to spice it up differently. For instance, I can eat chicken and fish everyday, but I need to cook it a different way so I don't drive myself crazy. Luckily for me, Megan came back tonight, and she started reading my Paleo book, so hopefully we can start to make some cool recipes.

Anyways, here is my lineup for the day:

Breakfast:
3 Hard Boiled Egg Whites
2 Turkey Sausage Patties
3 Strawberries and a Small Handful of Blueberries
1/2 Avocado (which I finally learned how to make, thanks for the suggestions)

Snack:
1 Apple
Small Handful of Roasted, Unsalted Almonds

Lunch:
Salad with 1/2 Grilled Chicken Breast and 1/4 Pound of Deli Turkey
Small Splash of Oil and Vinegar for flavor

Snack:
6 Baby Carrots
Tablespoon of Sunbutter for Dipping

Dinner:
2 Pieces of Sashimi Tuna and Yellowtail
Salmon
Side Salad with a Splash of Oil and Vinegar

As you can see, I am starting to eat the same things over and over again. For the most part, lunch and dinner are the only things I need to vary up. The hard boiled eggs and turkey sausage in the morning don't bother me everyday, so I'm good there. It's amazing how I am starting to find the taste in the things that I'd either load up with hot sauce or salt before. The salads are good, even with a little bit of oil and vinegar, as long as I have good chicken and turkey, that's all the taste I really need.

Anyways, have a great evening people. I am trying to drag Megan out to a movie because I have a Crossfit workout early tomorrow. Plus there's no drinking on this challenge, so I'd be a bore at the bars anyways.

As Ringo Star would say, "Peace and love, peace and love."

Day 2

The energy of the mind is the essence of life. - Aristotle

Well now that I have a few followers and people commenting on both Twitter and Facebook about this blog, I guess I have achieved my goal. I have enough people following/commenting/watching that I can't quit now. 2 days down, only 28 to go! I appreciate the suggestions, and I liked one that my Grandpa gave me, which is to list the foods I today, and then put foods I'd usually eat right below them. I had been calorie counting before I started this diet, so my foods weren't outrageous, but it definitely wasn't as healthy as it is now.

Here it goes:

Breakfast Today:

• 3 Hard Boiled Eggs
• Handful of Blueberries
• Handful of Baby Carrots
• Tablespoon of Nut Butter (like peanut butter, but made with sunflower seeds instead of peanuts)
• 2 Turkey Sausage Patties

Breakfast Last Week:

• 1 Fiber One Bar
• 1 Quaker Oats, Low Sugar Cookies and Cream Granola Bar

Snack Today:

• 1 Apple
• Handful of Roasted, Unsalted Almonds

Snack Last Week:

• 10 Ritz Crackers
• Spoonful of Peanut Butter

Lunch Today:

• Salad with Spinach Leaves, 1/2 Serving Tuna, 1/2 Serving Grilled Chicken, Carrots, Broccoli, Celery, Sunflower Seeds, Little bit of Salad Oil and splash of Vinegar
• 5 Small Pieces of Pineapple

Lunch Last Week:

• Foot Long Subway Club Sandwich with Provolone Cheese, Lettuce, Chipotle Sauce, Ranch Dressing
• Bag of BBQ Baked Lays

Snack Today:

• Protein Shake with Coconut Milk

Snack Last Week:

• Bag of Teryaki Beef Jerky

Dinner Tonight:

• 1/4 Pound of Deli Turkey Meat
• Sweet Potato
• 1/2 Cup of Broccoli

Dinner Last Week:

• 2 Ground Chicken Burgers with Cheese, Hot Sauce, and Ketchup
• Baked Sweet Potato Fries
• Buttered Corn

So as you can see, my diet has changed rather radically. I was told to expect some side effects, such as headaches, dizziness, and intense hunger strikes. So far, I haven't had any of them. And I'll tell you what, I had my best workout at Crossfit tonight in 2 weeks! Granted, it was geared more towards my strengths, which is power lifting, but still, I was very surprised with some of the weight I put up. I told the instructors that we need to infuse that place with some lineman drills. I suggested maybe some tire flips and truck pushing. We'll see if he listens, but I'd like to have some workouts where I shine!

Anyways, I really appreciate all of the followers and comments so far. It really is helping to push me. It's nice to know that if I fail, I let people down! You know what that means, failure isn't an option! Big shout out to my main men Zach Mariacher and Aaron Jones who got my hooked on Crossfit. They were bugging me about it for months, and then my brother came down for the summer, and it just jump started.

Thanks again guys, and if there is anything you'd change about the blog, let me know. I'm always open for suggestions to keep it fresh and interesting!

Day 1

"The pain passes, but the beauty remains." — Renoir

So I started my 30 day challenge today, and it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. It was tough to see other people chowing down on turkey sandwiches at lunch, but I was able to resist. Here is my lineup for the day:

Breakfast:
3 Hard Boiled Eggs
5 Strawberries
2 Cups Sauteed Spinach
2 Turkey Sausage Patties

Snack:
Handful of Roasted, Unsalted Almonds

Lunch:
Salad with Spinach/Spring Mix, Brocolli, Carrots, Grilled Chicken, little bit of oil and vinegar

Snack:
Protein Shake with Coconut Milk

Dinner:
Peice of Salmon with Lemon and Lime Juice
Sweet Potato
3/4 Cup of Steamed Brocolli

I have been getting a lot of instruction from my Crossfit instructor Jay about this challenge, because he has completed it and it was his idea for me to do it. I am going to keep it pretty tame and bland for the first couple of weeks, just to get used to the diet, and then I'll start getting more creative. I bought a book on the Paleo diet this weekend, and it has a great meal plan, as well as a ton of recipes, so I'll use those eventually. I also have a newfound respect for my girlfriend, because it sucks to cook your dinner and then do all of the dishes! Guess I better step my boyfriend game up and start to help her, because I know I hate it!

Anyways, thanks for following. I plan on updating daily. I figure the more I do it, the more strict I'll be in following it. There might be a few days I can't enter a blog, but if I don't do it for a couple of days in a row, I hope that you call me and bust my balls, and make sure I am still sticking with it.

Calm before the storm....

Well, I figured that the best way to keep myself completely honest while doing this is to blog about it. I have recently become a Crossfit nut, and to really get the workouts going, one of my trainers told me to check out the the Paleo 30 Day Challenge. It is commonly known as the Caveman Diet because the general rule of thumb is simple, don't eat anything that a caveman couldn't have. After doing some research, I figured, ah, what the hell? It will be pretty tough, but I don't do a ton of dairy and grain as is. The worst part will be my sandwiches for lunch. Oh well, I am just trying this thing out, but I plan on trying to blog every couple of days, so hopefully that'll keep my honest.

And in case you were wondering what the Paleo Challenge is, check out this website http://www.whole9life.com/ and then click "the whole 30" and read about it. Let me know what you think, some people think I'm crazy, but I'm willing to give anything a try!