Day 7 means you are about to complete your entire first week!

Do a check-in with yourself today.

If you’ve been playing the game by the rules, then you haven’t had fruit for 7 days, not to mention any other types of sugar.  Holy Moly… did you think you could do it?  Being a sugar addict myself, I have cleaned up my diet before, only to the spend the entire time munching down a ton of fruit, thus never truly ending the sugar craziness.

Check in with yourself and be honest by answering the following question:

Am I still craving sugar?

If the answer is “yes”, then I would highly recommend keeping the fruit intake to zero until you can get through a few days without even thinking about it.  Make sure you are taking your L-glutamine at least 3X a day on an empty stomach before meals.  And make sure you are getting enough rest.  Sleep can make a huge difference in your cravings.

If you truly feel like you have no attachment to whether you eat the fruit or not, then start with zero to one serving a day.  And for the purpose of keeping things under control, go for an apple, or berries.

The same ole’ same ole’

If you look at my meals below, you will see they are quite boring.  This is on purpose.  There are a ton of studies to prove that keeping it simple, especially when big changes are being implemented, is the way to go.

And lets get real here.

You don’t need some study to prove this to you.  Your best intentions to try a new recipe each night and a new vegetable each day, and a grocery shopping trip every-other day…. yeah right!  If you just went from not cooking to having to cook… you need to keep this as simple as possible.  Because even the most well-intended person will easily fall of the wagon once the excitement wears off.

So keeping it simple is the way to go.  If you have 5-8 veggies that you love and are used to, stick with them for now.  If you have never cooked lamb, but know how to do up a mean sloppy joe (no bun… of course), then stick with what you know.    After a week or two, if you feel like you’re getting bored, find a new recipe and have at it.  I’m almost there.  It’s time to start looking!  And incase you are ready for a small change, make sure you check out the “Meal Of The Day” Tab to your right.

Meal #1: Left over dinner cold (I know!  I never thought I’d eat dinner for breakfast… but I was in a hurry and it did the job!)

Meal #2: 2 Tbl Almond Butter (I gotta be careful with this stuff.  I use a measuring spoon to keep me on track)

Meal #3: Left overs from last night, but I did it right this time:  Sauteed onions in coconut oil.  Added a head of Chard and let it cook down.  Ate the entire head of Chard with last nights taco seasoned beef and kale dish.  Added some Avocado slices on top.  So yummy!

It's amazing how a huge bunch of chard will cook down into maybe 1-2 servings.

Meal #4: 1 package of Almonds from Trader Joe’s

Meal #5: 1/2 cup sweet potato and the last of the beef/kale.  (this was a small serving, since I ate it about an hour before bed)

Give us all an update below on how your 1st week went.

1.  Reflect on the good and share any wins

2.  Share your Challenges… someone else out there is probably going through the same thing.

3.  Set you plan of attack moving into week 2.  Steady focus is all you need.

I can’t believe I made it through my 1st weekend and already into day 6! Whooo  Hoooo!

Although my food choices are very similar each day, I’m sure I’ll be getting very bored very soon.

Meal #1: Very Typical.  2 Eggs, avocado, chicken sausage.

Meal #2: Single pack of Trader Joe’s Almonds

Meal #3: Small pre-cooked grilled chicken breast with pre-cooked veggies from the Food Movement.  These pre-portioned foods have saved me in a pinch.

Meal #4: I finally got in the kitchen and cooked. : )  Unfortunately I was starving (note to self:  stop waiting too long to eat.)  So here’s what I put together completely on a whim:

Beautiful pic of one of my favorite veggies... Kale (My former 20 yr-old self can't believe I just said that! I used to be a fast-food junkie and the only veggies I ate were french fries! I've come a loooong way.

1. I sauteed coconut oil and onions in a sautee pan.
2. Then I added the organic (91% lean, grass fed, of course) ground beef.
3. Cooked it all the way through, then added taco seasoning blend, some tomato paste, a little water, and a whole head of chopped up kale.

If and when you can, go for organic, grass fed beef.

There you have it.  Dinner was served in about 15 minutes.

My ultimate intention was to put it all over a bed of salad greens, but as usual, since I wasn’t shopping with a list… I forgot the greens at the store. : (

Ended up being delicious and satiating. Even though I added a whole head of Kale, it felt like it needed some more veggies.

Which one of these do you think contains sugar? I opened them both, but ended up throwing one of them away because of sugar content.

Lets talk about seasonings here.

Eating this way really doesn’t have to be hard.  Seasoning make everything taste good.  So if you are anything like me and don’t have a clue how to mix and combine seasonings, just buy them pre-mixed.  There’s nothing like a label that says  “Southwestern Chipolte Grill”, or “Kick-ass New Orleans Chicken Rub” to give you easy ideas.  Do I have a clue what the different spices are?  No.  But they all taste good together.  The most important thing is to read the labels and keep an eye on a few things:

1.  Make sure you can read all the ingredients and that your 3rd grader can, too.

2.  Check the sodium levels.  I’m never overly concerned with this number, but if you find one with 0-90mg vs one with 600-800mg… steer toward the former.

Here are a couple of my favorites that you can purchase from one of my favorite websites:  vitacost.com

Document your eating below if you want accountability.

Today was probably the hardest day and a good reason to have not started this program until AFTER the weekend!

But, I will use today as a great example of how LIFE WILL ALWAYS HAPPEN.  You get to choose how to show up.

It's only 10 minutes of work, but holy crap is it hard!

post 10-minutes. Glad it's over.

So, I did my first ever crossfit competition today.  Normally, in the midst of being nervous, I would have probably had oatmeal loaded with sugar for breakfast, and I know for sure I would have relaxed and ate whatever I wanted for the rest of the day feeling that I “earned it”.

None of that happened.

The hard part was figuring out what to eat and keeping it simple.

This must look gross since I already mashed up the eggs! But it did the job!

Meal #1 and #2: 3 eggs and egg whites, piece of chicken sausage, and probably a half cup of sweet potato.  I ate half of this meal in the morning before the competition, and then finished it after.  I felt pretty good all day.

The next big hurdle was a wedding reception.

I guess what made this harder than usual for me is that literally… I haven’t gone out to a fun event since last year!  It’s been a while!  And while I don’t think I would have gone “hog wild”… I would have liked to have nice glass of red wine, and one of the mini cupcakes for dessert.

I said "No Thank You" to all passed Hors D'Oeuvres

None for me tonight... The funny thing is that I probably haven't had a sip of alcohol since I was in India this past December! Funny how you don't really want it until you can't have it!

But I didn’t.  Instead, I drank sparkling water with lime, savored every bite of a truly delicious dinner.  And while some were chowing down on sugar-laden cupcakes, I was getting funky on the dance floor!  I was a little concerned with dinner, but as you’ll see below, they offered a perfect selection of foods that any of my hunter-gatherer ancestors would have recognized as food.

Dinner: Mussels and butternut squash, chicken onion and spice dish, steamed spinach with tomatoes and onions.

This dinner was Paleo-friendly and so delicious!

getting ready to chow down!

Helllloooo Day 3!!!

Yesterday was a little rough for me.  With a mile headache and a little brain-fog, I definitely wasn’t performing at 100%.  I go through “dairy kicks” where I’ll look at my diet and realize that I am consuming dairy every day.  Then, I’ll go through periods of time where it’s just never in the house and I go without most of the time.

For the past year, I have noticed it creep back into my daily diet.  When certain foods, like dairy, gluten (think grains and flour), and sugar become a staple in your day to day regime, you can rest assured that you are creating daily inflammation in your body, which over time leads to compromised health.  This 30-day program is disguised as a “caveman” diet, when in actuality, it’s the best possible cleanse/detox you could ever do.  Giving your body a break from the foods that cause inflammation in your body allows your body to heal.  We’ve essentially gotten rid of all foods that our body just simply is not equipped to handle in large loads.

Dairy

Glutenous grains (like wheat and wheat flour), and ALL grains (including Oats, quinoa, rice, corn)

Sugar (in all forms for the first 7 days, then 1-2 servings of fruit are allowed after 7 days)

Beans/Legumes (one my favorite foods on earth, but can cause some tummy upset in many people

Soy (the most genetically modified food on earth and extremely processed)

So I am using this time to get a grip on my thoughts and beliefs.  ….”I HAVE to have a glass of milk!  What about cottage cheese…why can’t I have that?  Wait… what if it’s a gluten-free cookie?…”  And the dialog goes on and on and on.  When it’s all said and done, by cleaning and detoxing my body, I’ll be in a better space physiologically AND psychologically to be able to make smarter choices that are guided by my BRAIN and not my CRAVINGS.

Please note:

You should NOT be going hungry! If you have the mentality of “dieting” and you are purposefully starving yourself… remember… In the words of Geneen Roth in the book Women, Food, and God,”every diet has an equal and opposite binge”.  Eating REAL FOOD is not a diet.  It’s a way to LOVE YOURSELF and give your body what it needs to heal.  If you need to, go back and read my hunger scale that I wrote after returning from a sugar-laden family reunion.  This is NOT a diet and you SHOULD NOT be starving yourself.

Now…with that said…. it’s 3pm right now, and because I STILL haven’t really gotten to the grocery store or planned any real meals, I sat here in my home quite hungry because I didn’t want to make the wrong move!  The best advice I can give you is to be prepared (which I am fully not…yet).  You shouldn’t go hungry just because you didn’t prepare, and you DEFINITELY shouldn’t mess up and eat something you shouldn’t because you let yourself get too hungry.

My solution:

I bought a month’s worth of food from the Meal Movement and I keep it in the freezer for situations like today.  The Meal Movement is an attempt to get busy people eating REAL FOOD instead of processed, filler crap (read:  pasta).  Your meals are basically any combination of veggies and a meat entree.  Now, I’m not a fan of using this as your sole source of food, but I AM a fan of having something like this around for when you are in a pinch.  So there’s really no excuse.  Check out my meal #3:

Left over Salmon with 2 big servings of veggies from the Meal Movement. This really did the trick this week since I was unprepared and didnt' hit the g-store yet!

I used the left over salmon from yesterday, and because I haven’t gone veggie shopping all week, I heated up 2 servings of the Meal Movements yummy veggies.  Added a little avocado and… viola!  Meal #3 is served. : )

(Meal #1 was the same as yesterday’s, and Meal #2 was a single serving size of Trader Joe’s raw almonds.  Boring?  Yes.  But when you are starting something new, it’s a very good idea to limit your choices.  As soon as you get all crazy with choices, it’s easy to freeze and then do nothing at all.)

Also, I’ve been supplementing with L-glutamine and green powder 1-3 times a day on an empty stomach whether I workout or not.  Today’s workout will be an active recovery day, so I’ll be leaving for my Hot Yoga class in about 20 minutes!

Now… stay tuned for tomorrow.  Sincde I started on a Wednesday (how random is that?), tomorrow is my first Saturday.  The funny thing is… I NEVER seem to EVER go out on weekends these days, but of course, tomorrow night I have a wedding reception to attend.  Also, as luck would have it, I’ll be competing in my first Crossfit competition tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll make sure to take pics and keep you posted!

Post your food choices and questions below for the community to answer!

Okay… today was a bit harder than yesterday.  I was a  little brain-fogged-out all day and definitely messed up my food timing a bit…..but overall, I’m completely impressed with my ability to stay on track.

Before I keep going with Day 2, I want to make sure you check out the resource I’ve found for you for creating different “Cave Wo(man)” meals in LESS THAN A MINUTE!  This site, I believe, will become my savior as I get a little deeper into this.  It’s called TheFoodee.com

They have a daily blog and send out a fabulous, delicious recipe that is always very easy to make and will be perfect to eat for the next 30 days!

Meal 1: Same as yesterday, 2 eggs, egg whites, chicken sausage, avocado (still haven’t bought any veggies).  I also took my vitamins and downed an Emergen-C pack in a big glass of water.  (I do this a few times day if I’m healthy, or up to 5-6 times a day if I’m stressed or fighting off a bug)

Workout. If you’ve never tried “Death by Burpees”, I highly recommend it. : )  Great metabolic conditioning.  Only problem here is I should’ve had a little snack before the workout because I went into the workout a little hungry, which meant I was hurting by the end!

Postworkout: Scoop of L-Glutamine (6-7grams) 1cup coconut water, scoop of Amazing Grass Green Powder.  (normally, I would have added to this a little post-exercise recovery and/or my favorite protein powder, but since I’m going “cavegirl” for 30 days, I’m giving these up.

Now, the logical question to ask here is, “then why are you still using green powder and L-glutamine?”.  Great.  Glad you asked.

The post-workout plan while going paleo

L-glutamine is an amino acid (part of protein).  One of the biggest reasons to do a 30-day Cavegirl Challenge is to clean up foods that irritate your system or cause food sensitivities.  During this time period, you are giving your digestive system a break from the foods that cause the most damage.  L-glutamine is the preferred “fuel source” for the cells that line your small intestines, and it’s the only nutrient that these cells can utilize without first going through the blood stream.  This means your gut gets superior nutrition and thus has a greater chance to heal from all the processed crap-ola  you eat on a regular basis.  Healing your gut/digestive system is one of the most important things we are doing during these 30-days.  Chances are you are over-fed and under-nourished.  Part of this problem is our inability to digest foods fully because of a damaged digestive process.  L-glutamine will play a key role in healing your belly. : )

Green Powder is a mixture of the highest quality green veggies and super foods (all veggie, fruit, algae, etc).  This is extremely alkalizing to the system and does a great job of blunting cortisol after workouts, thus improving overall recovery.  So then guess what you can go do again?  That’s right… workout!  (I want cavegirl arms…I want cavegirl butt!)

Meal 2: 1/2 cup sweet potato and grilled chicken breast.  This meal is calculated and on purpose.  It’s the perfect post-workout meal if you are going for whole foods.  I much prefer my post-workout shake for convenience, taste, and exact science, but in my cavegirl state… I’m going for real food.

Meal 3: More of a snack… 1 package (single serving size) of Trader Joe’s raw almonds.

Meal 4: Grilled Salmon on top of big bed of salad and veggies (same thing I mowed down yesterday... except I increased the salmon to a 7oz portion and added avocado)

I coated my salmon in whatever spices I had on hand. And also cooked more than what I need for the day to make tomorrow's preparation a little easier.

These are from some random Pampered Chef Party I attended last year. Any spices will do the trick though. Check for salt content, and especially...SUGAR! We don't want no sugar, baby!

Not sure if I’ll eat again tonight…it will depend on if I get hungry, but as of right now, I’m not hungry or full.  Now that’s a nice feeling!

DIGESTION:  The focus for today for the remainder of your challenge is to do two things:

1.  Take L-glutamine 20min before you eat at least 3X a day to coat your small intestines.

2.  Sit down to eat.  Take a few DEEP BREATHS before you eat.  Chew your food S.L.O.W.L.Y.  Put your fork down occasionally.   This routine alone can have a profound effect on your body’s ability to digest your food completely.  Go gettem tiger.  have a great day!!!

Record your food and questions below.