Final Stretch For The LB(A)N Challenge

We are almost done with the Look Better (Almost) Naked Challenge. Here are some things that you need to know:

As described in the original post, you must have “after” pictures in for judging by Wednesday eve at 8 PM so that the participants can vote for the winner all day Thursday. No exceptions, seriously, we have to be on this.

Also we are having the MDF 4th birthday party starting at Thursday, March 4 at 8 PM, so bring a salad or something good. I will supply meat, utensils, plates, napkins, etc.

If you can’t make the party, voting will be available all day.

Finally, I got this email from Gwen who just finished doing her own Paleo Challenge in L.A. I would love to post your story so send it in!

hi saul, hope you’re well. i thought it would be cool to fill you in on some of my progress while on paleo b/c i was such a non-dieter in all my days in your gym.

first off, i lost 10 lbs in the first 7 days. this is coming from somebody who has been the exact same weight for like 10 yrs, even when i ran a half marathon and joined cf. i used to say “i am incapable of losing or gaining weight.” so much for that! i think i was eating waaaayy too much salt b/c i’m guessing it’s mostly water weight. but today is day #29 and i’m still 10 lbs lighter. i do look the same though (at least to me) so i don’t think i would win your challenge.

second, i rarely get sore anymore and i always sleep through the night now (used to wake up intermittently). i don’t quite have the “wow, my energy and strength levels are so much better now” claims of many people who go on paleo, but i think that’s prob due to the fact that my night-owl body is going to be eternally pissed at me for going to 630 am cf so many days during the wk, so i’m always going to be semi-tired.

lastly, and this is the crazy one, my cholesterol went down 32 points to 150 since august 2009 when i gave blood and it was 182 (i got it tested 2 wks into the diet as part of my yearly physical). this is the lowest cholesterol i’ve EVER had. just a few years back my cholesterol was as high as 293! kind of insane it dropped so much given that i’m eating about 10 lbs of meat a wk while on paleo, right?

oh and importantly, i can actually stand the diet now. it’s made me a much better cook and i’ve figured out ways to make asian food. i definitely use some salt and things with vinegar, but overall i try really hard to stay strict. to be honest i am looking fwd to 2/20/10 after our 40 days are up (i’m calling it my day of freedom), but i will prob stick to this as much as i can. my friends do all think i’m crazy and i get a lot of “what are you going to eat, dinosaur?”
jokes, but otherwise it’s fine. except the part where i think about food and eating enough to survive all the time …

and that’s the update! say hi to everybody for me please … Gwen