Paleo Diet for Strength

It is time for a change.  That`s right it`s time for both you and me to make a change.  What kind of change you might be wondering.  Time to eat like our ancestors.  I have struggled with my weight at times in my life from being somewhat chubby in the 5th grade at 118 pounds to being in my late 20`s at 235.  I know what it is like to not be at the weight or in the physical condition that you want to be in.

I know what it is like to feel that you don`t fit in, that you are not young enough, skinny enough, fast enough, can not jump high enough, or just do not have enough endurance.  Notice I did not say strong enough.  I play a sport Australian Rules Football that requires all kinds of fitness disciplines.  One must be fast, have endurance, be able to jump, have lateral quickness, and be strong.  If you are lacking in any area you can and will quickly be left behind.

Earlier this year I lost 16 pounds and 5.8% body fat as tested by an Omron hand held body tester.  In the beginning of my season I was weighing in at 217 pounds and felt as quick as I have in the past 10 years.  However certain things happened such as two motorcycle accidents in 2 days, falling on my knee awkwardly in the first drill of our first game, and somehow finishing Tough Mudder in an 8 day span left me exhausted and not wanting to do any exercise whatsoever.  It also led me to consuming way too many empty calories through both food and beverages.

Here is how I lost 16 pounds in 6 weeks.  I cut out chips, cookies, crackers, colas, cakes, pizza, and alcohol.  I also limited my bread to roughly 2 servings per day.  Think about what you have had to eat in the last 36 hours how much of that food was actually good for you?  If more than 60% of it was good for you congratulations you are doing much better than most of America.

With Thanksgiving having just happened and me thinking of meat so much as well as having left over meat I figured now is as good a time as any for me to start doing Paleo.  I know it is huge in Crossfit circles but I find it strange that their is not much written on the subject in regards to strength.  My goal over the next 3 months is to change that.  I am going to do this by implementing a Paleo diet, recording my starting weight, my triple maxes for squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, strict curl, and pullup record.  I will also record body fat percent, various measurements, and before and after pictures.

Once I am ready I will find my triple max for the above lifts, get measurements, and a picture taken.  I do not have my diet planned out or my workout plan yet.  One thing I do know though is that when I follow a plan good no great things happen.

This is what I expect to happen in the next three months.  I expect to lose 10% body fat and 20 pounds.  I expect my pullups to go from 20-25.  I expect my squat to go from about 345 to 405.  I expect my deadlift to go from about 315 back to 415.  I expect a 3 rep strict curl with 115 and expect to overhead press 155 for a triple.  I guess I plan on improving by a whole 25%.  I  have no idea what I will be able to bench as I have not really benched this year or done much overhead pressing due to 4 shoulder injuries.

Are these numbers attainable you might be wondering?  Yes they are.  Am I going to have to work for them? Yes I am.  Can I blow these numbers away?  It is possible but not probable.

Here is what I currently know about Paleo.  It consists of anything a caveman would have eaten.  This means I can eat meat :) I can eat nuts, fruits, and veggies.  I am thinking lots of chicken and lots of eggs will be the staples of this plan.  Since I want to lose weight as well as get stronger I am going to try to limit my fruit consumption to before 5 pm.  I will eat veggies  with my protein and I will eliminate the worthless calories until !!!

Who`s coming with me?