*Read updates from some of our members who’ve taken the Paleo Challenge to find out how they’ve gotten on at the bottom of the page*

The Crossfit Ireland Paleo Challenge, lets make the month of August a big one.

Why:
This is how we all should be eating. Crossfit combined with Paleo nutrition will have a dramatic affect on your work capacity and performance. This increased performance along with a very healthy nutrition plan will see huge changes in body composition. Just look at the changes in some of your fellow Crossfitters. Simon Hancock’s workouts have improved hugely over the short length of time he has been here, as a result he looks like a diferent person.

How:
A benchmark workout announced on the day of the challenge, this workout must be completed by all participants on that day. We will not be hosting make up days or giving people a chance to have a go at the workout later on in the week. You must follow the Paleo nutrition principles for 30 days, no misses, no cheat days, no skips, no alcohol. This is a 30 day commitment to better health and performance.

Help:
Firstly we would encourage you to make yourself familar with the nutrition section of our website. Read the articles, watch the video’s and put your own plan in place. What are you going to have for lunch on day 3?? You need to be thinking that far in advance. Once you have the plan in place and made the commitment come along to the one hour talk on Tuesday the 3rd at 8:30pm after the intermediate class with any questions that have not been covered on our nutrition page.

Prizes:
Every person that enters the challenge will be investing €20 in their outcome.This must be paid before the bank holiday weekend break on the 30th July. At the end of the challenge the person that has honestly kept strict for 30 days and made the biggest improvement will get all the cash. If only half our members enter someone is still going to win €1000.

When:
Start date: Tuesday 3rd August (at your class time)
End date: Wednesday 1st September (at your class time)

The first few days took a bit of getting used to, and I found myself getting a lot of headaches for a couple of days (probably as the last bits of sugar left my body!!). After that though, I ‘ve gotten on much better than I expected. I really thought I’d struggle without bread and pasta, but I’m really not missing it at all, which is quite surprising. I am really missing drinks that aren’t water though, but I suppose it wouldn’t be a challenge without sacrifice would it??!!

Overall in terms of my training I feel fitter, leaner (well, less large!) and I have more energy, and this challenge has really helped me strike a balance between training and nutrition. I have always struggled on the nutrition side of things and the fact that I’ve dropped 6 kgs since the start of the month shows how beneficial it’s been for me. My own football season has just started back and I can see a big difference in my overall fitness during games, which was my main aim when I started in Crossfit.

One problem I have encountered is that in the last few weeks I’ve come to realise how awful a cook I am!! I’m sure that will improve over time though, and what I am making for mealtimes is ten times better than it was a month ago.

Overall big improvements in the last few weeks thanks to the paleo challenge.

Roll on Fran!! (Darren’s going down!!)

-Eamonn

Lets get one thing out of the way – the paleo challenge is not easy. Its is certainly interesting but not easy! But then again nothing good is ever easy!! One of the biggest factors in being able to stick to the challenge over the last few weeks in the need to plan and be organized. If you can plan out your meals, get the ingredients in and make time to do the cooking, then you are flying, but it’s the evenings that you come home are tired after a days work or a workout and there is little or no paleo friendly food in the cupboard that could be (and sometimes nearly was) the breaking point.

For me the craving of banned foods wasn’t too bad, after the first couple of days. It was the headaches that came from the lack of processed sugar that was nearly a killer, lots and lots of water is the only cure.

Reading over this, I am not actually painting a very positive picture of the paleo challenge, but as I said at the beginning it is worth it – I have rediscovered that I am actually a pretty mean cook, my skin and completion is a lot brighter, I can actually change my eating habits!! But the best of all for me is that the scales are moving in the right direction for once!!!

- Orla

I started my paleo challenge with a complete school boy error of lashing into the carbs as my last hurrah before the challenge and boy did I pay for it over the next 10 days ! The first week was okay as I’ve done Paleo before and was used to the regular eating and the food I was and wasn’t allowed eat, but going strict is a different ball game…..I think the pre paleo sugar buzz kept me going for about 5 days and then I hit a wall, I was in a foul mood I couldn’t shake, I would’ve killed someone for a bit of sugar and as I told Tom I had decided that ‘sugar makes me happy !’ I came out of that towards the end of the second week but became bored with it all and started to eat less meals, ate brekky quite late and dropped a lot of fats…….boy did I feel that when I hit the WODs, absolutely shattered and weak on the weights! Im now coming out the other side of it I think, and am getting back on track and really want to give it a good go before the end of the month. I‘ve lost almost a stone in weight but I know I need to look at this as long term plan not a short term fix so my focus now is going to be on bringing more variety to my paleo meals and snacks and setting several shorter term goals to keep me going. Onwards and upwards !

– Nickie

Embarking on the paleo challenge was a big deal – Will pointed out from the getgo that this was not going to be an easy challenge! What has surprised me most is that I actually dont miss the vast majority of the foods on the ‘banned list’ – I have had no cravings for bread, pasta etc. The major difficulty has been adjusting to planning meals in advance, being organised and trying to learn to cook proper food! I have also really missed Coke, Lucozade, ‘sports drinks’ etc – I did not realise how addicted I was to sugar – quite worrying. The result so far have been worth it – down 10 pounds in 15 days and looking forward to the final weigh-in and the dreaded Fran.

-Darren

Keep up the good work guys!!