Plant based Day 1

    Yesterday I started my 30 Day Plant Based Challenge. As I pointed out in the rules you don't have to follow the days strictly by the calendar, unless of course sticking strictly to the calendar helps you stick with the plan. So, anyways, I started the challenge yesterday by only eating bananas and peaches. I was only going to eat only bananas but I had to save some peaches from bugs and other critters. Animals were starting to eat the peaches on my tree, so I picked the peaches and ate them before the animals had a chance. I also picked up some peaches at Whole Foods.
    I ate a total of 9 bananas and 8 peaches over the course of the day. Here is the results from MyFitnessPal:

Click on picture to enlarge it.

    I stuffed myself with bananas and peaches and still only ate 1,249 calories. I normally wouldn't recommend this low of calories for myself. As you can see on the chart I had set a goal of 1,600 calories but I just couldn't stuff myself any more.
    I took my BGL three times yesterday. My morning fasted BGL was 87 mg/dL. After breakfast it was 93 mg/dL. Then I took it before bedtime and it was 112 mg/dL. For those of you that are new to my program, I'm not diabetic but I track my levels when I do experiments so that I have the data.
    So how many calories did I expend yesterday? I'm glad you asked. Because I got a Polar Loop for Father's Day. The Polar Loop is a piece of wearable technology that allows you to track activity, steps, and calories. It will also link up with a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) to allow you to track your heart rate. I got a Polar H7 HRM for Father's Day also. Yay me!
    My Polar Loop said I expended 2,629 calories yesterday. This is about my normal expenditure. It is usually somewhere around 2,400 calories. So I consumed 1,400 calories less than I expended yesterday. But, the scales show an even bigger difference.  A pound of fat contains around 3,650 calories. Tuesday morning I weighed 174 lbs. This morning I weighed 168.5 lbs. That is a lot of water weight, huh? The Loop says I was active for 6 hours and 53 minutes yesterday.

   Today I taught two class and ran before I ate my first meal. I ran 6.32 miles in 58:19 minutes, which is about a 9.25 minutes per miles.

So it wasn't too bad of a run for someone who consumed 1,400 calories less than he burned the day before. Running in a fasted state.
    I'll be posting my diet and exercise over the next 30 days. I might even take a picture or two. But here is the thing. I know that I'm going to be eating at least 2 or 3 meals per week that will not adhere to the program. I know that. I'm planning on it. But over the course of the week I will have at least 30 feedings, 28 at the very least. That is 4 feedings per day for 7 days. I aim for 80% compliance. So I know I'm going off the plan for a couple of meals. I'm not perfect and don't intend to be. Plus I can't afford to lose much more weight.
    I'm having black beans and tortillas today. Be sure to check back tomorrow and see what special tortillas I'm eating. See how many calories of beans and tortillas I can stuff down. See how many calories I burn and what my BGL are.

30 Day Plant Based Diet

Everyone seems to love a 30 day challenge. So here is one for everyone.
This is a 30 day plant based diet challenge. You can only eat a plant
based diet and can only use the foods listed. Eat only the foods listed for
that day. If the calendar reads "watermelon", then you only eat watermelon on
that day. Do not eat any other foods on that day. Eat as much watermelon as
you want on that day. You eat as much of whatever food is listed on that day,
as much as you want, unlimited. But, only eat the listed food. Only drink
water, tea, or coffee during the challenge, nothing else. Why not try it? You
have nothing to lose except 15lbs of fat. Well, you will probably lose aches
and pains too. No alcohol during this challenge.

More Austin Spartan Pictures

Amazing fire jump, thanks to Corel Draw.

Mud, barbed wire, and quartz rocks.

More on PaleoFX 2014

So what is Paleo? More correctly what is the Paleo Movement? How do we define it. It starts with self improvement through diet and exercise. But it doesn't stop there. To me Paleo is about giving up nonscientific thoughts about our origin, about what we are and our place on this earth. We are animals on this planet and we evolved with all the other animals on the planet. Its not only about improving our own looks, health, and performance. Its about helping others improve their looks, health, and  performance. Its about improving the earths looks, health, and performance. What did I learn at PaleoFX 2014? Paleo is now really a movement not just a diet and exercise program.

   What did I learn at PaleoFX 2014? I learned that Paleo is still growing and it is only going to get bigger. I learned that Paleo is more than a diet and exercise. Its about community and making this earth a better place to live.

   It was hard for me to go to PaleoFX this year. Money aside. Let's talk about the other reasons why I put off making reservations and my heart wasn't in it this year. It was because the paleo way of eating wasn't working for women. This sucks, I still haven't found what works for every woman every time. This is what I must have; a way of eating that works for every woman every time. This is a constant source of irritation for me. Why can't women drop the fat like men do? I think I have my  program dial in now. I have huge confidence in my ability to control my fat. But I have little to no confidence in my ability to help women lose fat. This makes me very angry.

   So after that rant let me follow it with this, I think leaky gut and unhealthy gut flora are to blame for the variations in results with the Paleo diet. I've been thinking this more and more. Listening to Dr. Michael Ruscio talk on "Why Paleo isn't working" further my belief in the idea that the gut is to blame for problems with losing fat and being healthy. 

   One of the things I want to write about is the candy cigarettes at PaleoFX. The expo floor was full of people peddling goodies. Some of you may remember Dr. Kurt Harris blasting the Paleo sphere about artificial sweeteners back in 2010 with his article, "Smoking Candy Cigarettes". Meat treats, pastry treats, and drinks that were soda replacements were everywhere on the expo floor. There were so many free samples I did have to buy a lunch. I filled up on free samples. It was great and thank all of you that supplied the samples. But that is what they were, candy cigarettes. Wholesome paleo treats to replace the commercial big agriculture treats of mainstream. There is no doubt that these products are far more healthy than what else is on the market. They are gluten free, diary free, grain free, soy free, and GMO free. They are certified organic. But for me this are still trigger foods. They are foods that take the place of the other truly healthy foods I should be eating like; green leafy vegetables, cruciferious vegetables, other true vegetables, and whole fruits.

    It worries me that these sort of treats will further prevent people from having success with the Paleo way of eating. You don't want to just replace commercial junk food with Paleo junk food. But at the same time I realize that these products make it easier for people to transition to a health Paleo way of eating (WOE). I used this sort of foods in my transition into a Paleo WOE. But I had to make the treats because at that time these sort of foods were not on the market. 

   The good news is there are several companies that are producing ready made meals for people following a Paleo WOE. These meal come in boxes or tins that you heat and serve. They are made with the finest ingredients available. They are all Paleo compliant. This can be of real benefit for newbies and those that are just too busy to cook from scratch. The cost may be a prohibiting factor though. This leads me to another thought on what I learned at PaleoFX. Food quality is king. 

    If you get nothing else from Paleo, learn that it is about eating the freshest most nutrient dense foods you can find. Eating foods that haven't been made by man. I've know this and taught this for a long time but it really hit home at the conference.  

The Events at PaleoFX 2014

Paleofx 2014 more thoughts

The categories from PaleoFX:

Diet/Nutrition
Health/Wellness (not specified but included physical, mental, and emotional)
Community Building
Cooking Demos
Fitness/Exercise
Sustainability
Think Tank
Families and Kids
Women’s Health

Here are some of the titles from the talks:

Why we really get fat and what to do about it.
Cherry tarragon breakfast sausages
The gut and gluten
Carbohydrate cycling for Health, Performance, and Longevity
Building Incredible Willpower
Hacking Stress
Miserably Healthy
Salmon Cakes
Sleep and performance optimization
When sugar is your Mother
The Road Ahead: Obstacles to Popularizing the Ancestral Health Movement
Ketogenic Diets for traumatic brain injury.
Examining the physiological effects of Crossfit
Building not burning Bridges in the Paleo Movement
US healthcare: in Crisis or Chaos?

The list is very long for a full list and description go to:

http://www.paleofx.com/paleo-events/2014-austin/sessions

   I was at PaleoFX from Thurdays to Saturday. I had to get home and missed all of Sunday. I also attended a couple of the movement/exercise classes so I missed out on at least 4 lectures during that time. But this is the list of events and sessions I attended:

Thursday I attended the Opening Night Party, Powered by Pecha Kucha. It was a great party with paleo drinks and Heavy hors d’oeuvres.

Heavy Hors d'oeuvres Menu:
Presented by Caveman Cafeteria
Carmines Spicy Italian Sausage Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms***Chafer roll top-palm plate
Rock Shrimp Ceviche, Coconut-Lime Marinated***palm bowl
Chicken satay with pineapple red fresno coconut flake **chafer-palm plate
Italian style braised lamb shank-Rosemary sprigs-Chafer-plates
House Made Paleo Bacon Candied***toothpicks, serving platter room temp, banana leaves, Orchids
Stuffed Artichoke Heart bruschetta*****platter cold, grilled artichokes, balsamic reduction, Olive oil


This is a list of the sessions I attended on Friday:

Carbohydrate cycling for Health, Performance, and Longevity by John Kiefer

Primal Playout Intensity session with Darryl Edwards

Evolve, Move, play with Rafe Kelley

Hacking Stress (Under Pressure) with Jolly, Ben Greenfield, Nora Gedgaudas,
                                                    Sara Eye, and Evan Brand

Building not Burning Bridges in the Paleo Movement with Robb Wolf,
                                                     Mark Sission, Dr. Deborah Gordon, Diana
                                                     Rodgers, and Jonathan Bailor

Adrenals; Key to Restoring Optimum Health with Dr. Daniel Kalish

Ketogenic Diets for Traumatic Brain Injury: Keeping the Baby with the
                                             Bathwater by Robb Wolf

   Friday night we had supper at the Whole Foods Headquarters with some other PaleoFX quest. It is a huge store, bar, and restaurant. They were having a movie on the second story patio that night. They were showing “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. Weird, Huh? You would think they would be showing “Forks over Knives”.

    Here’s the list of sessions I attended on Saturday:

Ask the Paleo Experts Mastermind with Dr. Terry Wahls, Dr. Kirk Parsley, Chris
                                 Kresser, Dallas Hartwig, and Nora Gedgaudas.

What to do When Paleo Fails with Dr. Michael Ruscio


Primal Playout Intensity session with Darryl Edwards

Evolve, Move, play with Rafe Kelley

The Ketogenic Athlete (How Low Can We Go?) with Ben Greenfield, Dr. Rocky
                                     Patel, Nate Miyaki, John Kiefer, and Joe Johnson

Living a Happy and Intentional Life with Michelle Norris, Darryl Edwards,
                                    Dean Dwyer, Hilary Bromberg, and Dr. Nicole Avena

The Robb and Mark Show with Robb Wolf and Mark Sission

   Saturday Night was the Farm to Table Charity Dinner Benefiting Urban Roots Austin at Brazos Hall on the Roof. 

Paleo Menu Created by Pink Avocado Catering

COCKTAIL HOUR PASSED APPS

APPETIZERS
Roasted Tomato & Brisket Tart
Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs


ENTREES AND SIDES
Baby Green Salad
Apples, Roasted Beets, Raspberries, Roasted Fennel, Lemon Herb Dressing

Braised Beef Short Ribs
Wilted Kale, Roasted Mushrooms

Grilled Pork Chop
Apple Butter, Wilted Arugula, Topped with Crispy Bacon

Crispy Brussels Sprouts
Bacon, Drizzle of Balsamic

DESSERT
Fudge Balls
Some with Shaved Coconut
Some with Nuts on Skewers
Chocolate Dipped Fruit

Live music was provided by Abbi Walker. Abbi Walker is a fresh, edgy, country and southern rock artist with the talent and personality as big her home state. Raised in South Texas as a Preacher's kid, Abbi was heavily influenced by gospel music, Southern culture, and Texas grit. An independent artist and songwriter, Abbi is confident, funny, and as sassy as they come. She was really good.

    Stay tuned for the next blog which will be what did I learned at PaleoFX.