Meli's 30 Day Paleo Challenge: Meli's Day 1 of 30 Day Paleo Challenge. It's not a diet. It's a lifestyle clean eating.

Welcome to my CrossPaleo-According-to-Meli blog! This is my first blog, so bear with me here. I am still learning here.

This is me as of now. January 2014 at #155 First day back to Crossfit after 2 weeks post surgery.

I have decided to do 30 Day Paleo Challenge, again! Yes, again! Pathetic, right? But, you'll see why. Since my first foot surgery nearly 3 months ago (October 19th, 2013- on my mother's Birthday) and 2nd foot surgery nearly 3 weeks ago (December 20th 2013- on Kristin Granitz's Birthday!) I have gained weight, about 10-12 lbs. Eeeek! I wasn't able to crossfit at all for the first 2 months after my first foot surgery and 2 weeks after 2nd foot surgery (Right and left feet to be precise) My muscle started to deflate a bit by bit therefore my body fat started to increase. Oh! My boobs started to balloon again! So Dislike! But I accepted that. I had to get my problems fixed. My feet were getting worse and painful. I didn't want to do piss poor on crossfit in the future, so had to fix my cursed feet. Not only that, I wanted pretty feet wearing flip flops and oh God, those sexy high heels that Ive been so jealous looking at my girlfriends' pretty feet wearing high heels and able to tolerate them. Not me, I groan, curse, complain, and complain of my feet pains. Damn those bunions (ugly mofo looking aliens!) and flat feet. Flat feet, believe me, I never thought that they could fix flat feet! Flat feet cause knee, hips, lower back, and neck injuries or pain. That explains why I keep getting pains in my knees and lower back too! Not frigging kidding here! Anyway, this is off the point here, I had to state reasons here why I gained weight and not crossfit for a while since some of you probably know I've been hardcore with paleo and crossfit. During my recovery time, my mom cooked for us. Oh boy, were they so not Paleo at all! Once I tasted those, oh boy, how am I gonna get out of this cursed ASD! (American Standard Diet). We keep falling off the wagon off and on since my first foot surgery. Enough of that, right? Let's start the 30 Day Paleo Challenge right now!! Who wants to join me on this one??? You can do it!

Me as of Now #155 at Crossfit Strive Bastrop January 2014

My first Right Foot Surgery in October 2013. 2nd Left Foot Surgery December 2013 (picture not shown)

What?? What the heck is that- Paleo? Patience, my dear friends. They help you get rid of bad cravings and bad habits of ASD such as grains, dairy, sugar, and processed food. Here's the link on more information about Paleo. http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/ and http://www.paleoplan.com/resources/paleo-plan-food-guide/ They are great resources. I do not call Paleo "Diet". They are "clean" eating or " healthy lifestyle" eating which is how I think of these this way. It helps you not to stress yourself over "Oh I have to be on a diet, Oh I need to lose weight!" No, not this way. I think this way myself "I am sick of getting tired, fatigued, and weak" "I hate getting acne" "I hate seeing Doctors all the time to get pills to fix unnecessarily problems" "I hate farting all the time." "I hate not being able to poop regularly and I hate being bloated all the time" That. That! Think this way. Change your lifestyle for the health not diet. Sure, you can lose weight on this. Sure, you will gain lean muscle. Sure, you will feel SUPER!!! Sure, you will feel energized. Sure, you will be in a better mood. Sure, you will poop regularly. Sure, you will fart a lot less and odorless. Sure, you will feel a whole lot better eating clean. Trust me! For the past nearly 2 years, Ive been eating Paleo, I have felt super great until during my recovery time, my husband and I fell off the wagon, we have not been feeling so great. We keep on craving for more and more of ASD shit! Seriously, my acne have returned. No way!!! No way am I getting acne back. Back to Paleo again. But to begin eating Paleo again, you need to get rid of sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes. This is the way your body comprehend that it no longer needs these crap in your body. Therefore, you will be able to make good habits naturally once you complete 30 Day Paleo Challenge. You will naturally learn not to consume ASD. You will naturally eat clean.

Good habits! Right? Ready!? Let's go!

Rules of 30 Day Paleo Challenge:

No Sugar (that's right, no chocolate) No Grains. No Alcohol (oh come on, stop whining. You'll live). No Starches (potatoes, rice, etc...) No Legumes.

No Cheating at all. Only for 30 days. I will blog again on how to maintain your lifestyle continuing Paleo after you complete 30 Day Challenge.

What you can eat:

Meat, Vegetables (fresh or frozen), Fruits (fresh or frozen in moderate), Fats (in moderate- EVOO, coconut oil, nut oil, nuts but not peanuts) Meat, buy organic or natural. No added seasons made by store. Season them yourself! Seriously, go clean!

What you can drink:

Water (2 liters a day-- oh come on befriend your toilet), coffee, and teas (go easy with caffeinated drinks a day)

What you CANT have:

sodas, alcohol, fruit juice, potatoes (except sweet potatoes if you are training or exercising) rice, honey, maple syrup, coconut sap or sugar, etc...

"Before" weigh ins and photos must be taken on the first day of 30 day.

"After" weigh ins and photos must be taken on the last day of 30 day challenge. If you like, you can take "After" photos and weigh ins on the 15th day of 30 day challenge.

Sample of First Day of Meal

Day 1:

Breakfast- 2 eggs, scrambled. 2-3 bacon strips. Half of an avocado.

Snack- an apple with 1-2 TBS of almond butter (no sugar)-make your own nut butter. Or softened coconut oil sprinkled with cinnamon. Or a cup of blueberries with 1/4 cup or less of chilled canned coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk if you cannot have coconut oil. Some people are allergic to coconuts. Or sliced banana with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Pick one of these. You get an idea. Don't over consume.

Lunch: homemade chicken wings. (buy spices from bulk at Whole Food Market or Central Market or your local natural food store) I use Herb De Provence or New Mexico Chili powder or Oregano. I season chicken wings or any kind of chicken with sea salt, black pepper, and oregano. Make sure they are well covered with seasonings. Bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes-1 hour or until they are crisp. A side salad with homemade salad dressing such as lemon juice and EVOO or LVOO (extra virgin olive oil or light virgin olive oil) or any veggies of your presence

Dinner: leftovers from lunch if any. If not, Salmon or any fish, steamed or broiled or baked with seasonings of your own. Asparagus, or wilted spinach or roasted veggies, etc..

Drink Herbal Teas or Water throughout the day. They will help your body rid of these toxins/fats.

For pre-workout meals:

An apple or 2 scrambled eggs, or a tablespoon of each almond butter/coconut oil. Or half a banana with little bit of almond butter. Don't eat too much. Eat 30-45 minutes prior to workout. Or you can have trail nut mix (no chocolates no candied or sweetened dried fruits.)

Post workout meal: L-Glutamine and unsweetened almond milk (within 30 minutes post workout) and eat protein/carb/fats meal immediately following. (see carbs? I don't mean rice, potatoes, bread, etc.. I mean vegetables or sweet potatoes)

DO NOT EAT AFTER 7 PM. But if you are ravishingly hungry after 7 PM, go ahead and have an apple or drink herbal tea. Apples help burn fat.

KEY: Do not over consume your meals. Eat in moderate portion. Eat like a child would eat but eat big on meat and veggies. Eat small on Fats and Fruits. Drink BIG on water!

TODAY IS MY FIRST DAY OF 30 DAY PALEO CHALLENGE, I weighed myself at #155. 3 weeks ago I was at #159. Yikes! Still stuck on #155 since then. That is when I have decided to do 30 Day Paleo Challenge to get rid of dairy because my acne has returned and sugar and grains (oats, rice and potatoes- SOB!!!)

I had coffee with 3 tbs unsweetened vanilla almond milk (foam) and coconut oil (2 tbs). 2 eggs, scrambled with 1 1/2 bacon strips and half an avocado. Water. Lunch is next, I need to go and make chicken wings!

Join me! You can start tomorrow!

Ohhhhhh, the most important thing is, log in your weight and meals in the journal book. I write mine in the journal book. It does help! Also, you will need to log in your meals on my blog. It will help us motivate each other. And to help you to stick with your challenge together too!

I'll be back for more blogs!

Meli Emmons