The Weekend Check-In

Happy Friday. I'm off to coach the CrossFit Kettlebell Instructor Certification, down at North Shore CrossFit. (That's my boy Danny Vee's joint, which is what is going to make this gig extra fun.) Vee and I will be helping Martone sling some 'bells and teach some stuff all weekend, which means the blog will be without parental supervision until Monday. You kids better behave yourselves.

Also, I know there are a bunch of you coming up on your 30 day mile marker. I'm drafting a post now about what NOT to do when those 30 days are up, but I won't have time to get it up on the site until Monday or Tuesday. So, for those of you whose 30 day period may be up before then... wait for me. Seriously - what's another day or two? You really don't want to waste the last 30 days, and I'm going to help you make the most of them. But I'm busy, and I can't do it this weekend. So... wait. That's an order. No complaining, either.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Jesse's Story

Here's another email I received, from Jesse Richards. Jesse has been with us from the start, beginning his 30 days on July 5th. He shared his experience with me as a testament to how this process is about so much more than just your diet. For Jesse, this really has changed his life. Read, and be inspired.

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Dear Melissa,

I just had to tell you how wonderful this Paleo journey has been for me, and what a great impact it has had. I've been doing CrossFit since January and have gotten stronger, faster, and better at everything, but I was still gaining weight. Life has been really stressful for me the past several months, and doing this challenge has helped me put myself on the path to a better me. I started on July 5th, and as of today I've lost 17.5 pounds. I'm down from 241.5 (the highest I've weighed in several years) to a much healthier 224. I feel wonderful! I look better as well, which I know isn't the point of the challenge, but it certainly has helped me stay focused. Finally, there has not been a single workout that I haven't PR'd while I've been doing Paleo. This first week or so I had some problems with recovery, but then I upped my fat, and everything has been taking care of itself. I put 25 pounds on my deadlift last week alone (375, heck yeah)!

However, the single biggest thing for me has been that I have re-evaluated how I interact with food. I no longer feel cravings for something whenever I walk by. My friends can be having my favorite pizza, brownies, and cookies and I'll just watch them and eat my tasty meat and veggies or fruit. I am no longer bound by my past habits, and after a little over three weeks, I'm not even looking forward to that perfect cheat meal that I planned and savored to get me by in week one. I don't want to cheat anymore. This isn't a challenge to me. It's just how I eat now. For a guy who has been overweight his entire life, after 23 years I'm the one who is in control. Not the food.


So keep the tough love, sassy fun, and good information flowing! You've started something really great. I can't wait to see where it goes. Stay awesome Moxy-Boss!

Sincerely,
Jesse

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The last few highlighted lines make me want to hug Jesse, wherever he is. I GET what he is saying, and I am so glad that particular light bulb came on for him, as it did for me, and as it can for you. Thanks for sharing your story, Jesse. If you promise to keep us posted as to how things are going - I will make a giant flippin' announcement here the day you pull 4 bills off the floor. Deal?

Paleo check-in, Monday 27 July

Good morning! It was a busy weekend, and I didn't have a lot of time to check in. For those of you still holding strong 20-plus days in, I'm happy to hear that some of the original concepts are now starting to click. It's not a diet. It's not a challenge. It's a new way to think about food and your health. It's a new, better way to take good care of yourself. For some, that's starting to make a lot more sense a few weeks in.

For Jessica, and Robbie, who had a rough weekend and fell into old patterns of behavior... take a moment to think about what thought process led you there, and how you felt during your indulgences, and how you felt after. And then, once you've thought about it, BE DONE with it. The past is the past, and all that counts is what you do today. If your self-described poor choices didn't make you feel better, didn't make you feel healthier, then learn from that. The next time you are tempted to make those choices again, remember how the end result you hoped to get from those choices (satisfaction, comfort, enjoyment) never materialized. And then make a different, better choice, and find satisfaction, comfort and enjoyment elsewhere.

Start over. Welcome back.

Alex's story

Happy Thursday. I wanted to share with you an email I received from someone about 2/3 of the way through this 30 day process. It pretty much made my day. I like hearing about all the good things that you are making happen as a result of your hard work and dedication, so keep the comments coming.

_____

Melissa,

I just wanted to drop you a line to say thanks. In January of this year, I was hovering around 200 lbs. Then in March I hit 205 and I had, so I started a modified Zone diet. This modified Zone plus some basic exercise got me down to 169. Not bad... but I did not learn anything about what got me to that number.

Eighteen days ago, I stumbled onto your blog by way of CrossFit NYC. I was going to start on August 1st, but then my partner said, "Start now. Don't wait." So I did. Here is what has happened in the past 15 days.

• I gave up my addition to caffeine, along with a very harmful attachment to Splenda.

• I learned how to read labels - who knew that a basic plum tomato in a can contains sugar and salt?

• I've learned to love veggies (something I have never done)

• I am down to a lean 158 pounds
  

• Being a creature of habit, I always ate the same thing for breakfast and lunch. Now I am searching out new things and new textures. Can you believe I have never had a blueberry or an avocado before last week?
  

• I follow your instructions to the 'T' and shake my head when I hear questions about cocoa powder and coffee with cream.

Thank you very much for leading this journey. I am looking forward to the second half of MY journey.

Alex

_____

Thank you so much for the note, Alex. I am so happy for you, and for the positive changes you are making. Keep up the strong work, and keep me posted as to how things are going.

Best to all of you.
Moxy-Boss

Paleo check-in, Monday 20 July

Happy Monday! Lots of comments on the last post, and we've got people just now getting on board with their 30 days. Welcome to all the new people. Spend some time reading old posts and comments. There's a wealth of information to be found - from the community, for the community. And repeating questions that have already been asked and answered is boring.

To answer a few recently asked questions:

1. At this point in your 30 day period, what do you THINK I'm going to say about any recipe involving cocoa powder?

Edit: The same applies to booze of ANY kind. I don't care if it's "Paleo", it's missing the bus in a giant way. Good lord, people.

2. Be patient. This process takes TIME to work. Do the work, and wait for it. It's worth it.

3. At this point in your 30 day period, don't worry about saturated fat, or your Omega-3 and Omega-6 intake. Just eat what I tell you to eat. Don't try to make it any harder than it has to be.

4. To be clear, the prescription is, "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, SOME fruit..."

5. It's not your job to tough love each other, although you are certainly welcome to throw your two cents in anywhere you like. But don't feel like you ever need to play the bad guy. That's my responsibility here. Your role is to support, encourage, motivate and inspire. And you are all doing a fantastic job of that.

Paleo Check-In, sponsored by Melicious + Moxy-Boss

I had to put up a new post a day early, considering Monday's check-in has almost 150 comments. As my friend David said, this blog is practically writing itself these days. Sweet.

If you've read all the comments, you must have noticed my girl Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan by now. She's been a faithful devotee to this effort, posting recipes, meal ideas, food suggestions and general encouragement. She's also been offering up some sweet-as-Larabar butt kickings. (Didn't notice those? That's because she's so good, you didn't even realize you were getting your butt kicked.) But there's another reason why you should be paying attention to what Melicious has to say.

This superfit, dressed-to-kill, glossy-haired, tart-tongued, rock-n-roll, hard-boiled RollerGirl GETS IT. She's been successfully living this effort with me as her nutrition coach for the last seven weeks. Which means she's about five weeks ahead of you. Which, in this effort, is a LONG TIME. And to say her results have been amazing is an understatement. She looks better. She feels better. Her performance is better. And, according to her, any unhealthy ties she may have had with food and eating have all but disappeared. So when she posts, listen to her. Read her comments, try her recipes, follow her example. She's walking, talking bombshell proof that this effort really CAN change your life.

And for a little fun and inspiration, cruise over to her blog (linked above). She is pretty much the coolest girl I've ever met, and her blog is full of hilarious observations, smart musings and honest introspection. And her Texas RollerGirl history is FASCINATING. I had no idea that sub-culture even existed... but after reading her book, I've become inspired to adopt a RollerGirl persona. I'm thinking "gym teacher gone to hell". Short shorts, tall socks, wrist bands and pigtails... which may sound like my normal training attire, but the way I'm picturing it in my head, it's more "Mark's Showplace" than "CrossFit 603". I've even got a RollerGirl name - Moxy-Boss. Which is what Melicious christened me when I started coaching her. (I didn't make a big deal out of it, but secretly I love it so much I've been signing all my check requisitions that way at work.)

SO... keep up the hard work, and take advantage of the resources you've all been sharing here. And a big thanks to Melicious for being such a big part of this effort.

Paleo check-in, Monday 13 July

Happy Monday. Sounds like everyone's weekend went well - I'm happy to see the Paleo ball rolling so fast for everyone! For those of you just joining, welcome. Spend some time reading the past week's posts and comments. There is a TON of good information in there from the community. (I'm sort of just the conductor here - y'all are the orchestra. And you sound GOOD.)

Today, I want everyone to commit to trying one new vegetable this week. Choose something you've never had before, or maybe had once and then abandoned because you weren't sure how to cook it. Share what you'd like to try, and maybe someone can offer advice or tips for how to prepare it. We've got some damn good cooks around here - my girl Melicious has all kinds of good recommendations, both here and on her blog. In fact, she's a bit of an inspiration all around... stay tuned for more on her special brand of Superstar later this week.

Weekend motivation

I'm throwing up a weekend post because it sounds like some of you are feeling the pressures right about now. The newness of your shiny new Paleo toy may be wearing off. You're a little cranky these days, aren't you? You're JUST far enough into this experiment to be FEELING like you should be feeling great, but you're still having some unhappy side effects (headaches, cravings, trouble recovering). Which, I assure you, is totally normal, but still... Grrrr. And now, events over the weekend (parties, cookouts, dinners out) may be tempting you to take just the tiniest little break from your initiative.

You listen to me right now - all of you. You are NOT going out like that. You will NOT cave to buffalo wings so processed, they're not even chicken. The lure of a sugar-bomb pancake or waffle at breakfast has nothing on your rockin' energy level and clear-headedness. And a cocktail at this point will both make you feel like super-extra crap in the morning AND make you mad at yourself for giving in to something so cheap and dirty.

So rally, people. You've got this. I'll help... Take a minute today and list, here, one thing that is significantly BETTER now than it was a week ago, thanks to your diet. Maybe it's your energy, maybe it's a flatter stomach, maybe you've PR'd on a workout or maybe you're happy coming here and seeing 100 comments from people who UNDERSTAND what it is you are trying to do. Share something, and remind yourself why you are doing this, and how important it is to push through these difficult times. Because, trust me... once you get over that hill and things start clicking (and THEY WILL, I promise you that), you'll be so, so glad you stuck with it.

Motivate now, and then get out there and enjoy your weekend.

Paleo check-in, Thursday 9 July




It's not you. It's us.

We're doing a check-in today (instead of tomorrow) so I could draw your attention to the CrossFit 603 site, and our Dairy Manifesto. Dallas summarized his rationale against consuming dairy products in a concise, not-too-science-y three part format. Interestingly enough, the often cited "lactose intolerance" reason doesn't even make his list. (By the way - everything I learned about diet and nutrition, I learned from Dallas first. His thoughts are my thoughts, which is why I asked him to help me out with this topic.)

One word of caution... there is a LOT of information out there. Some of it doesn't seem to fit together very well - and some of it is straight-up conflicting. It's easy to become confused, frustrated, paralyzed with information overload. So, again, I caution you to use your heads. Educate yourself. Gather information from sources you trust. Process that information against your own experiences. And then make up your own damn mind. How do you do that? BY TAKING ACTION. Is dairy a good thing or a bad thing for your health, wellness and performance? Despite his vast personal experience, all his years of formal and informal education and the many clients and patients through which he's drawn his conclusions, Dallas can't decide that for you. So figure it out for yourself. Stop eating dairy for a while (like you're doing now). Then, reintroduce it and see how you feel. That's the only way to know for sure, right?

At some points along your health, wellness and fitness path, it's okay to do stuff just because someone you trust tells you to. But there comes a time when you need to take a stand, based on your own experience. And that is part of what you are doing here. So read our Dairy Manifesto,
and post questions, thoughts or your own experience to the 603 site.

Does this feel TOO easy? Read on...

I could not be more surprised - or more thrilled - at how this adventure has taken off. I am in awe of how many people are taking this concept, this change, to heart. We've got entire GYMS working this 30 day program! And the level of support you are giving each other in the comments is amazing. AMAZING. It brings me joy - and I say that in all seriousness . Thanks to everyone who is posting, sharing, encouraging and generally holding each other accountable.

Now, for a word of caution... the first few days - the first two weeks, even - are always easy. You're fired up, you're committed, you're a part of something bigger than yourself. You get caught up in the excitement of this new, shiny, life-changing toy, and so you cruise along with practically no effort at all. You should have done this YEARS ago! It's really not that hard.

I would like to think that the positive experiences you are all having right now are going to carry you along through the whole month. It's hard to argue with looking, feeling and performing better - why wouldn't you want to keep it up? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There are plenty of other factors, and stressors, that can influence this process. Two weeks from now, when this is no longer a new, shiny toy, and it is perhaps not quite as exciting, and you're being faced with more challenge and more temptation - it may not be this effortless. You may start to struggle. You may think maybe it's not worth it. You may think you've done enough, and what's the harm in relaxing just a little? You've earned it. You deserve it. What's the big deal? You may start to slack off in posting comments, asking questions, offering support. I will warn you of this, right now, so that there are no surprises... Changing your life will not always feel as easy as it feels right now.

So remind yourselves now of the commitment you've made here, to yourselves and and to each other. Be aware that there may be challenges ahead. Plan for them. Mentally prepare for them. Set yourselves up for success, if things start to get harder. Use this forum and each other for support. It's nice to have someplace to go, where you KNOW people understand. Rely on this, because I suspect at some point, you'll need to.

Keep sharing your experiences. Encourage us. Motivate us. Inspire us. Because someone, somewhere, will need that to carry them through.

Paleo check-in, Monday 6 July

Happy Monday. How did everyone survive the 4th of July weekend? I gave myself the weekend off, so I have a LOT of comments to review and questions to answer. I'm working on them.

One word of advice. For the next 30 days, your ONLY job is to eat clean. That's it. Don't even THINK about trying to incorporate some new dietary strategy like Intermittent Fasting (IF) at this point. IF is a relatively "advanced" dietary concept. You don't start playing around with fasting and feeding until your food quality, quantity and macronutrient proportion are good and dialed in. At this juncture, especially for those of you having some trouble adapting to this new way of eating (headaches, lethargy, crankiness, etc.) IF would place a significant amount of stress on an already stressed system. Not a smart choice, at this juncture. Just focus on your food.

I'm going to call in the troops for the headache questions. I've skimmed the responses, but I owe this one some time, so give me a day or two to pull something together. In the meantime, stick with it. Drink plenty of water. Make sure you're eating enough. Get plenty of rest. To quote Robb Wolf, if you eat a Paleo diet, sleep 8 hours per night and exercise, I’d be shocked if the rest of your life does not dramatically improve.

Paleo check-in, Friday 3 July

Let's talk about sticking with Paleo during all the 4th of July festivities.

The good news is, cookouts are your best friend. Burgers, chicken and steak on the grill, plus a side of salad, vegetables or fresh fruit and you're good to go. Not sure what your friends will be serving? Bring your own side dish - something you KNOW you can eat. Skip the beer in favor of mineral water with a slice of lime. And bring some snack back-up in case you get stuck... fruit, nuts, jerky.

Not sure what to say when someone pushes you on your food choices? "Oh, come on... you can have ONE beer!" or "What, you don't eat bread now?" can be tough to handle in social situations. These three little words will be your best friend in the next 30 days.

No, thank you.

That's all you have to say. Just keep repeating it, politely, with a smile, over and over, until the person takes the hint. No, thank you. Or, I just don't want any. Or, I'm good, thanks. Any variation of the phrase should do. If you feel the need to say something else and you think the person is receptive, you can try explaining what you're doing, and why. Or you can tell them that you're allergic. Or you can tell them that your (very expensive) nutrition coach would kick your a** if she found out you snuck a beer. Whatever works. Just don't let people pressure you into second-guessing your choices. You're tougher than that.

Post thoughts, questions and your best holiday weekend strategy recommendation to comments.

Paleo Resources

First, for those of you committed to changing your life... sweet. Welcome. Don't make me tough love you. Just do what you need to do for the next thirty days.

Here are some basic Paleo resources to get you started. You may need to search around on these sites to find specific information, but these are all resources I trust, and follow myself.

• Dr. Loren Cordain's site (author of the Paleo Diet for Athletes - check out the FAQ and Nutritional Tools on the left)


• Robb Wolf's blog (start with the FAQ)


• Good Harvest Market's shopping list (a simple, detailed, by-the-book list of foods to eat and foods to avoid)


• Nightshades (for those of you choosing to opt out of this food group, remove all these listed foods from the above shopping list)


• A Paleo introduction (a nice, general summary of the Paleo lifestyle - not sure who put this out, but it provides a lot of information and links)

For the next 30 days, Byers Gets Diesel is hereby known as Byers Goes Paleo. No, the site address won't actually change. But for the next 30 days, all my posts on the blog will be nutrition related, and the rest of the posts will be devoted to you and your awesome adventure. You'll have a chance to check in as often as you like for the next 30 days to post your progress, ask questions and share results. Even if you're not officially joining us, you should still keep an eye on how things are going around here. Maybe you'll learn some stuff... but at the very least, you WILL be inspired.

Also, I know I am behind in my review of the PR Party Playlist! I'm not ignoring the songs... in fact, I've hit a BUNCH of new PRs thanks to your tracks. But I have so many songs to go through, and I've decided to test drive them all personally, so I'm not all the way through the shuffle yet. I'm going to take another month with these and report back at the end of this Paleo thing. So if you haven't yet downloaded your tracks... you still have time. Rock on.

Change your life in thirty days (The Whole30)

In Part II of my Guide to Eating Dirty, I recommend cheating smart – indulging in those foods that aren’t going to knock you out of energy, wellness and performance commission for days on end. The concept sounds pretty easy, and it is… as long as you know how various food groups like gluten, dairy and legumes affect you. So how do you figure out what foods are okay to cheat with, and what foods will never be worth it?

I can tell you where it STARTS... strip out all the crap from your diet and let your body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may be provoking. What, exactly, does that mean? Super strict, no cheat, by-the-book Paleo for the next 30 days. Cut all the foods that could be kicking you in the crotch without you even knowing it for the next 30 days, and see how that feels. (To be clear – this is NOT a “30 Day Challenge”. This is so much bigger than that. And it's not really even about cheating. I kind of tricked you there. I'm not sorry. Read on, please.)

Why?

First and foremost, it will change your life. I cannot possibly put enough emphasis on this simple fact. This. Will. Change. Your. Life. It will change the way you think about food, it will change your tastes, it will change your habits and your cravings. It could, quite possibly, change the emotional relationship you have with food, and with your body. It has the potential to change the way you eat for the rest of your life. I know this because I did it, and it changed my life, and it changed the way I eat on a very permanent basis.

I promised you some cheat-tips, so here's how this ties in. The only way you are going to know if something is having a negative effect on how you look, feel or perform is to take it out for a while, then try it again with a fresh perspective. Think of it this way – if you’re allergic to pollen, and you are exposed to pollen every day, that means every day your nose is a little stuffy and your head is a little achy. You probably don’t even realize how crappy you feel, because a stuffy nose and achy head is just normal. Now, take a vacation somewhere pollen-free. Allow your body to experience a month without that irritant. Then… come home. Imagine how aware you would be of your allergy then. Your first few days back, you would be miserably in tune with how your allergy is affecting your everyday life.

Same concept here. Dairy, gluten, lectins and alkaloids may be provoking a similar autoimmune response in your body today – and you don’t even know it. Certain sugary foods may send you running for the nearest candy bowl, while others may satisfy you with just a small amount. So take a vacation from those food groups. Give your body a break, and then, if you so choose, come back to them with a fresh perspective. You’ll be able to immediately see if – and how – they really do impact how you look, feel and perform.

There are other reasons for doing a super strict 30 day Paleo program. For one, there’s an excellent chance that this little adventure will jump start fat loss. And I’ve seen really good results, especially in women, of body shapes changing just by eliminating these foods. Does your stomach look flat in the morning and chubby by day’s end? Try cutting dairy. You’d be surprised how an irritated digestive tract can manifest into a muffin-top over those low rider jeans in just a matter of hours.

What?

So what does strict Paleo mean? You'll get a different answer depending on who you ask, but this is the plan I followed back in April.

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 (hard and soft), yogurt (even Greek) and milk (including cream in your coffee**).


3. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn (I count corn as a grain), oatmeal, and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains. That's not real food, right?


4. Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds, lentils, and peanuts. (No peanut butter, kids.)


5. Do not eat sugars*** of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc.


6. Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, processed bars (like Zone bars), dairy-free creamers, etc.


7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.


8. If you have serious inflammation issues like arthritis, you may want to consider avoiding nightshades for 30 days as well.
   

*I ate organic chicken sausage during my 30 day period. They are nitrate, dairy, gluten and casein-free and all natural. I did not eat bacon, but I’d be okay with bacon if it didn’t have any nitrates or other crap in it.

**I drank coffee in moderate amounts. Since I was drinking it black, I really didn’t want that much anyway. If you really want to go hard core and reset your body’s tolerance to caffeine, skip the coffee for the 30 day period as well.

***I used reason when avoiding sugars. For example, my Sunbutter includes some cane juice, which means there are 3g of sugar in each serving. Since it’s such a fantastic fat source and the only other ingredient is sunflower seeds, I was okay with that.

How?

So now that you have the basic plan, you need to know how to implement it. I’ll help you.

Start now. Today. This minute. Count out thirty days, go immediately to your grocery store and stock up on things you can eat, and begin. Cold turkey, just start. It’s the only way to do it. Give yourself excuses, reasons to put it off, and you may never begin. Do it now.

The only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days. Anything less and you are selling yourself, and your results, short. You may start to see and feel improvements within just a few days, but according to Robb and Matt, the healing process takes significantly longer. And... no cheating. Just ONE cheat could irritate your digestive tract, promote an inflammatory response, upend your insulin sensitivity and send you running for the nearest Dunkin Donuts. It will ruin the effect of the “reset button” you are trying to push. This isn’t me being a hard-ass, or insisting that you tough it out to prove to yourself you can do it. This is a fact – the only way this will work is if you give it the full thirty days, no cheating.

Where?

Right here. Come to my house, sign up for the month and then post back here as often as you like. I’ll provide the forum, every Monday and Friday, for the next 30 days. Post your progress, your results, share good recipes, ask questions. Tell us how good you look, how much better you feel, how much energy you have. Inspire each other. Support each other. Fist bumps all around for those of you who finish out the full 30 days. Right here, right now. Let’s do this.

Tough Love

Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here)”. This is for you.

1. It’s not that effing hard. (Yes, I wanted to throw an f-bomb in there.) Don’t you dare tell me this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Drinking your coffee black is. Not. Hard. Substituting Sunday morning French toast in favor of a giant omelet and side of crispy bacon is not hard. Eating fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables every day is not hard. So I don’t want to hear one single complaint. You won’t get any coddling from me on this one, you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”, and you won’t get any second chances. Not in my house. It’s thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. So shut up and do it.


2. Don’t tell me you “slipped”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of Krispy Kremes, you DID NOT SLIP. You made a choice to eat something of poor quality. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. You make a poor choice, even once, you’re out. You don’t get to re-start, you don’t get to keep posting. Commit here, 100%, for the full 30 days, or go somewhere else.


3. Don’t lie to me. Don’t even try.


4. You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no. Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your Mom’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company outing does not mean you “have” to eat crappy food. It’s always a choice, and I would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 7th grade.


5. This does require a bit of effort, people. If you’re cutting grains and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are balanced, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. Don’t expect me to fill in the blanks for you. Figure it out. There are a ton of good resources out there. I’ll list some in my next post, to get you started. But take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on chocolate milk.

Summary

So there you have it – my thoughts on changing your life in 30 days. If just one person makes this happen – just one – this entire four page post will be well worth my time and energy. It’s that important. I believe in it that much. It changed my life, and I want it to change yours too.

Post questions to comments so I can answer them for everyone. Post your commitment, if you’re up for it. Just make sure you re-read the Tough Love portion again before you sign up. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.