50 day challenge : Here we go!

Starting today at the Mo, we’re doing a 50-day challenge to improve our health… and since it went so well posting our paleo* adventure here on the blog, I thought I’d do the same for this 50-day challenge!  I was overwhelmed by how many people followed our little paleo* experiment (which we’re still sticking with today, by the way), so I want to challenge YOU to join us during these 50 days and make some changes in YOUR eating and exercise habits too!  (C’mon… you know you’re curious about it… just try it!!) Each day I’m going to post some of the info that Mitch (the main trainer at the Mo) compiled for this 50-day challenge, as well as what I ate and how I exercised that day.  That way, you can follow along and try it for yourself!  Seriously… if I post recipes and grocery lists and meal menus, the only way I could make this easier for you to try is if I came to your house and made the meals for you (and that’s NOT going to happen!)  If you decide to try this out and want some real accountability (which really helps me stick with commitments like this) then add a comment here on the blog or on this Facebook note, and I’ll check in with you from time to time with encouragement! Okay… here are some (abridged) thoughts from Mitch about this challenge…

While it is awesome that working hard and eating right makes us lose weight, what’s really cool is the impact it has on our long-term health.  Hopefully the habits you develop over the next 50 days will stick with you for a lifetime that is long and healthy. We’re going to do our best to stick to a Paleo diet (here’s a list of paleo foods that can be a good grocery list) and track what we eat each day – trying to get a balance of protein, carbs, and fat. Our hope is that you use a food log on a daily basis so that you begin to familiarize yourself with what each type of food is, as well as what you are putting into your body. Tracking your progress through these 50 days will prove to be the most interesting part.  At the Mo, they are offering a few ways of doing this.  The easiest way of tracking progress is to take a “before” and “after” picture.  Additionally, Mitch will take a picture once a week to see how your body changes over the 50 days.  The second way of tracking progress is to have your % body fat measured on day 1 and on day 50.  This can be done in 2 ways, one more accurate than the other.  The more accurate measure requires 9 points of measurement with calipers, while the other requires just one measurement.  The final option is to strictly track weight.  If you aren’t comfortable with the caliper thing, just hop on the scale.  A couple of recommendations…  1) Rid your house of sweets and other things that you know will be tempting to you over the next 50 days.  Simple idea here, but if you don’t have bad foods, you can’t eat them.  2) Consider subscribing to the CrossFit Journal  at http://journal.crossfit.com/.  For $25 you receive access to the journal for one calendar year.  Mitch will be suggesting readings and videos from the journal in the food log / day tracker, and reading or watching these will only help you along the way for the next 50 days.

So… there you have it. Personally, I’m going to try to get back to our paleo* diet with less cheats (Sky and I just did no grains and no sugar through the month of April, and once that paleo* adventure ended, we have stuck to this diet with some cheats like ice cream a few nights a week, etc.). I’m also going to do the caliper measurement to track progress, because I don’t really want to lose weight… my personal goal is to look fit in a bikini for our trip to Hawaii later this year!

It would be awesome if you’d join me in this challenge, or if you want to step it up a notch, then join me at the Mo as well! Next up… day 1 of 50!