Jumping right in...or taking it slow and easy

Okay folks - we're 20 days away from the start of the 30 Day Paleo Challenge. That's almost 3 weeks to get your mind made up and focus on committing to the challenge. It's a lot easier than you might think.

What to do during the next 20 days

Are you the kind of person who likes to rip the band-aid off all at once, or do you prefer to take it slowly and carefully? Do you jump in the pool to get the shock over with right away, or ease in? With paleo eating, I'm a "jump right in" kind of guy. For strict paleo challenges like the one starting in 20 days, I like to just go whole hog and switch entirely to an all meat, veggie, fruit and nut diet with no transitional phase. But to be honest, I'm usually pretty close to paleo even when I'm off the strict plan, so it's not that big a change for me. Maybe you're the same...but maybe not.

If you're currently eating a very non-paleo diet (lots of bread, pasta, milk, cheese, and other neolithic foods), you might consider trying a phased approach. Going from a standard American-style diet full of grains, dairy, soy and sugar straight into a strict paleo plan can be a big transition. You may notice a few days to a couple of weeks where you're not hitting on all cylinders while your body adapts to using the correct fuels rather than the junk fuel it normally gets. After that intro period you should start to notice improvements in the way you feel, the way you look, and the way you perform (at work or in the gym). After about 3 weeks most people are functioning at a better, more efficient level than they were before they started the plan.

If the thought of a week or three of adaptation worries you, there is an option that may help avoid or reduce the impact. Instead of going 100% paleo all at once (like me), you can ease into it gradually.

The Paleo Breakfast Phase-In

The recommended method for easing into a paleo eating program is to start with breakfast. Basically, start your day (every day) with a meat and nuts meal. The meat can be anything from eggs (yes, they count as meat) to some leftover steak or chicken from the night before. Toss a handful of nuts (almond, macadamia or walnuts) into the mix and you're done! This is a simple, inexpensive way to get one paleo meal a day, and it won't jar your system since you're only doing one per day. One thing to note: if you normally don't eat breakfast, you should quickly notice an improvement in how you feel and function during the day. Sometimes just adding this one meal can make a huge difference. Even if you already eat breakfast, switching to a meat and nut meal instead of bagels, toast or cereal will be a big improvement. I usually eat a big breakfast with meat, eggs, and loads of veggies. For those of you new to the idea, a load of vegetables at breakfast may be too much to deal with. It's perfectly cool to start without them.

Ideally, after a week or two on the Paleo Breakfast phase, you would add in a paleo lunch so that 2 of your daily meals now fit the plan. After that, the transition to full-on paleo will be much easier.

I recommend that you try doing the paleo breakfast phase-in as soon as possible. If you feel like you're doing well after a week or two, add in the lunch. By the time the June 30 Day Challenge kicks off, you'll be most of the way there already. And you'll be less likely to notice any major energy issues during the early part of the challenge because your body will already be accustomed to running on a partial paleo fuel mix. Remember - the further you are from paleo eating now, the more a gradual easing-in will help.

Robb Wolf's Paleo Solutions podcast

I have to give a shout out to Robb Wolf, who has a great website and also does a very informative podcast. Robb is a former research biochemist specializing in lipid metabolism, he's a co-founder of one of the earliest Crossfit affiliates, and he's a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. He has more academic and street cred than I'll ever have. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes - just search for "Paleo Solutions" - but some of the older podcasts (#1-#12) don't show up there, at least for me. So here's a link to the first podcasts if you're like me and like to start from the beginning. Listening to one of Robb's comments is what made me think about putting in all this info about a phased approach rather than just jumping in with both feet - so thanks Robb!

Workout

I spent all last week digging and planting my new vegetable garden. Now that the plants are in the ground and thriving (so far - thank you rain and sun), I'm back to more normal workouts this week. Yesterday I did a heavy lifting workout of squats, hang power cleans/push presses, and deadlifts. I added a few bench presses at the end for extra fun. Today I'm just greasing the groove a bit with pull ups. Basically every time I walk past my pull up bar, I do a couple or three pull ups to improve neuro-muscular adaptation. Good stuff.

Good luck and happy foraging!