Primal Blueprint 21-Day Challenge

I mentioned in an earlier post that the husband and me were considering doing a Whole30, which is essentially eating paleo approved whole foods for 30 days (that's seriously a nutshell explanation, see the website for more info).  I've been a primal eater for about a year, so for me, it was mostly a tightening up of the sloppy eating habits and eliminating sweeteners and dairy for a month.  Since the whole family is gluten-free by necessity, the jump to paleo/primal eating for the husband was mainly cutting out grains.  Which doesn't sound like a huge thing but in actuality was posing a pretty big jump mentally.  Since his metabolism is through the roof high (lucky guy), keeping him satiated on a daily basis is a real challenge. He literally eats four to five meals a day plus snacks, so things like rice, potatoes and bread help fill the gaps of keeping him full.  The idea of exclusively eating straight up meat, veggies and healthy fats was giving him pause (would he starve? could he survive on celery and nut butter?).  In the midst of deciding how to plan our Whole30 and discussing whether it would really work for the husband or not, Mark's Daily Apple announced their yearly Primal Blueprint 21-Day Challenge.  Phew!  What a relief!  Twenty-one days felt like a much more doable length of time for the husband, and since my eating style falls more into the primal camp, it felt like second nature.  Plus the exercise component of the 21-day challenge appealed to us (especially since we've fallen off the daily exercise wagon over the summer).  About the only tweak I've made to the challenge for myself is eliminating dairy and not using any sweeteners (bye-bye dark chocolate, sniff sniff).  We're also eating our largest meal of the day at lunch time, which is not part of the challenge, just something we're trying on our own.

We're three days in and so far so good.  I'll try to chronicle this current (mis-)adventure as we go along and will keep you updated on whether the husband is making it on celery and nut butter (I kid, he's really eating very well).  If you're interested in the Primal Blueprint 21-Day Challenge, head over to Mark's Daily Apple for information and to enter all the super cool contests he's running.

Grok on!