February Paleo Challenge!

Hey Folks -

Margaret here. Sheena and I are going to be heading up the February Paleo Challenge for those of you who are interested. And you should all be interested. Cause it's gonna be awesome!

What is paleo? Paleo is the trendy diet name for eating real, whole foods that humans have been eating for 20,000 years. What are those foods? Meat and eggs (grass-fed and pastured preferably!), vegetables (non-starchy), fruit, seeds and nuts. As simple as that. True paleo diets are not concerned with the AMOUNT of food that you are eating but the QUALITY of food.

What is this paleo challenge all about? It's about taking your fitness, health and general well being to the next level. Where ever that may be for you. We want you to set realistic (but still challenging!) diet goals for yourself and stick with them for a month. Maybe the first step is just eating whole foods - cutting out processed foods and cooking with real ingredients. Have you considered cutting out grains? How about sugar? How about grains AND sugar? Have you already done both of those things and are looking to try to do strict paleo and cut out dairy, alcohol and starchy veggies too? Maybe you were at 80% paleo and you want to try 100% paleo for a month. Maybe you were at 50% paleo and want to try 80% paleo. Where ever you are - figure out a way to make this challenge an actual challenge for you!
Want to learn more about Paleo (and Paleo-modifications)?  Check out this post.  What Kind of Paleo are You?  Or check out Sheena's post with the "Paleo in a Nutshell movie."


What to do - How to start - and best of all - How to win!

1.  Set a goal for yourself. Make it a challenge - but make sure it's something attainable for you. Send Sheena and me an email to let us know what that goal is. It would also help if you gave us a brief idea of where you are starting from - What is your current diet like? (Margaret: margaret.kloster@gmail.com, Sheena: sjcamagong@gmail.com)
2. Pay up! If you want to be in the running for a prize at the end then give us (or Andrew) $20 the next time you are at the box.
3. Say Cheese! Take a before picture (optional). A great time to do this would be at the Grand Opening party (you're coming, right??) 
4. Document that shit. Start eating healthy and document it! We started a members blog for us all to document what we are eating on a daily basis. I posted a sample blog post. Check it out - it's so simple. If you want to participate we will add you as a contributor to the blog - you just need a gmail account. This will allow us to be able to see how well you are doing in keeping with your goals and will help with the judging. Just attach a label of your initials to everyone of your blog posts so we can track you - We will help keep you accountable! Here is the url for the members block - bookmark it - http://fcfpaleo.blogspot.com/  If you want your food log to be more private - you can keep your own blog or paper diary and share it with just the judges.  Whatever you are most comfortable with!
5. Ask for support and support each other. Have questions? Shoot us an email. Need tips on how to get past the sugar blues? Let us know! Did you just make something really awesome for dinner that was easy and paleo? Snap a picture and send us the recipe. We'll share it on the blog.
6. Stick to it! It's only 28 days! If you set an appropriate goal for yourself and stick with it then you have a real shot of winning - but really - everyone wins, right?? :)

If you can't start on February 1st (I know this is short notice) - no problem! Jump in whenever you can - but still try to go for 28 days. We will pick winners when everyone is done with their 28 days.

So let's do it!  We've already got a few people on board.  Andrew V. said he's up for it.  Cedric is going big or going home.  AB is even gonna do it!Sheena and I are going strict paleo - no grains, sugar, dairy, processed crap or alcohol! (Except I'm going to allow myself to eat whatever the hell I want to on Super Bowl Sunday!), Additionally I'm cutting out coffee. We are going big, but we really want to encourage you to do ANYthing that is going to get you closer to being the healthiest person you can be!


The prizes will depend on how many people participate and buy in, but we'd like to be able to have a couple prizes, maybe with different categories etc. so everyone has a chance to win, no matter what your specific goal is.  We plan on having gift certificates to health food stores, restaurants and fish oil supplements for winners! We will keep you posted on the judging part as we see who is participating and what people's goals are. The more people that buy in - the better the prizes will be!

Come on people. February is the shortest month of the year! No excuses!  Links to get you started and motivated!
Shopping at costco and wondering what to pick up? Check out what's in Cavegirl's shopping cart.

Feeling like experimenting? Check out Girl Gone Primal's recipe index

Have a craving to eat out - but are nervous about sticking with your diet goals? Check out What's In What You Eat? It's specific to Seattle!



If you want more info - please please email us. There's loads of info out there and we can help!