May 2015 Challenge: Paleo and Push-ups Challenge

It’s time for our May 2015 Challenge! If you are participating, I want you to leave a comment below and tell us why.

Eating Goal: Your goal will be to go Paleo with your eating for a minimum of 14 Days.  You can follow the simple guidelines we provide below or pick an actual book/guide to help you  (examples below).  We will start on May 6th so that you have time for grocery shopping and meal planning.

Exercise Goal: Your exercise goal will be 10 push-ups for beginners, 20 for intermediate level exercisers and 30 push-ups for more advanced people who’ve been working out regularly and have more arm strength. That’s push-ups in a row. You will be committing to doing (or try to do) push-ups at least every other day so that you can reach our group goal by the end of the month…or go way beyond it.  On days where you don’t do push-ups, we suggest you do the exercise listed on the calendar for that day (2-3 sets). Download the Calendar.

Going Paleo for 14 Days – Starting April 6th

Suggested Guides  for Going Paleo

Join our May DietBet and Lose to Win $$ (affiliate links above)

What should you eat? – This simple list is just meant to serve as an example of the types of foods you could be eating during your 14 days of Paleo. These are not the ONLY foods you’ll be eating and how much you actually limit beans, grains, dairy and processed foods is ultimately up to you. For a more detailed list, print out this Paleo foods list from the book “Practical Paleo“.

• Eat a variety of meat
• Eat a variety of fish
• Eat vegetables – no limits
• Eat fruit – Unlimited, but you may want to cut back at little on high sugar foods like banana, peaches and mangos and eat more low glycemic index fruits (apples, berries).
• Eat nuts and seeds
• Eat natural oils

What is Paleo?: Paleo is a popular eating plan that has a focus on eating “real”, unprocessed foods that our primal forefathers and foremothers would have had access to. The concept is that you will be eating foods that your “ancestors” may have secured by hunting and gathering. You can eat foods such as fish, lean meat, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits. On this plan, you will not eat foods that are made by modern means of production such as processed foods/oils/sugars, grains and dairy.  Many people on the Paleo plan also stay away from legumes (beans and peanuts) but that is up to you.  The focus is on foods that are specifically made for the human body to burn fat, recognized by the body as food more than as chemicals or toxins and that help you to have optimal energy.  Vegetarian or Vegan? You can still try Paleo by cutting back on grains (bread, rice, etc). Check out our article on Paleo for even more info.

Here are some benefits that you may encounter from eating this way:

• Identify food intolerances or allergies – #1 benefit
• Removes most trans-fat and processed sugars from your diet
• Healthy fats from fish, nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil
• More stable blood sugar
• Reduced allergies, especially for those with issues with dairy and wheat products
• Weight loss due to cutting out a lot of junk and processed foods
• Clearer skin
• Less inflammation
• Eating more nutrient dense foods

How does Paleo help people lose weight? – Paleo is an elimination diet.  Basically, people lose weight from not eating processed foods, carbs from grains and beans, as well as calories and fats in dairy (such as ice cream and whole milk).

How can Paleo improve your health? – Many people have found that by eliminating chemicals, additives, dairy, grains and other foods that are restricted that they feel better overall. Some people have realized they have gluten issues or lactose intolerance.  We’ve all heard about people who’ve seen improved health by avoiding wheat gluten or dairy, so this is not a new concept.  As you try Paleo for 14 days, we want you to focus on how going Paleo impacts you in terms of health, as well as weight. If you are concerned about not have calcium due to reducing dairy, I suggest that you take a multi-vitamin with vitamin D and calcium during the 14 days.

So, for 14 days, we will say no to… Here is a detailed list of foods to avoid.

• Highly processed foods of all kinds – Fast food, fried food, frozen dinners, soda, commercial juice, etc.
• Grains – Wheat products, rice, bread, crackers, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, quinoa, rye,
• Dairy – Milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, half and half, etc.
• Beans
• Added sugar/Processed sugar
• Processed oils – Trans-fat, canola oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, margarine, corn oil, etc.  Cook with olive oil or coconut oil.  Many Paleo lovers also use real butter.

Foods to limit

• Peanuts and peanut butter
• Potatoes and Yams – High sugar/high glycemic index

Pushup Challenge – Click here to download our push-up tracking calendar (PDF).  By the end of the month, the goal is to be able to do 10-35 push-ups in a row with good form, depending on your level of fitness.

Can’t do a real push-up right now?  Not even one? You are NOT alone.  Doing push-ups is not easy when you haven’t done them regularly or built up the upper body strength needed, but we want to help you change that.  For some, the goal will be to do modified push-ups instead of regular pushups. If those are challenging for you, it’s still a challenge.  It’s all about your level of fitness.  If you go from being able to do 5 modified push-ups to doing 1 full push-up…that’s progress.

How to Participate: You will commit to doing push-ups every other day or at least 3 days a week to build up strength.  Each Saturday you will record your personal best on your copy of our workout calendar.  On the days that you don’t do push-ups, add the exercise of the day to your regular workout. Make sure that you take at least one rest day per week.

Muscles used when doing push-ups

• Shoulders (Deltoids)
• Chest (Pectorals)
• Back of the Upper Arm (Triceps)

How TO Videos – Regular pushups and Modified Push-ups

Additional Exercise Demo Videos from April

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