It’s Been A Year….of Paleo Diet

Hey guys,

It’s me Be Ninja! Sorry that I fell off the face of the planet. Lots of new things have been going on. I just wanted to write a post on my paleo diet. It was last year in August 2011 I started a paleo diet to get ripped for my “Project Ripped Ninja”. Doing  ”Ripped Ninja” was such a great learning experience. I learned how to lean up and get abs (abs are made in the kitchen!) and that nutrition is the key to better athletic performance, focus and energy, and better health. And I achieved that by eating a paleo diet. At the end of my “Ripped Ninja” project…I came into a crisis of thinking…”Do I stop doing the paleo diet?” “Do I eat paleo 5 days a week and let loose on the weekend?” But I liked the health and aesthetic benefits that I got out of it, so I decided from then on I was paleo for life and it has been a year later.

Then August – September 2011:

So now that it’s been a year how has it been?

Sept 2012:

I’m not as lean as before. I realized to maintain 6 pack abs is SOOO hard. I ate a strict paleo diet that consisted of lean protein, lots of veggies, some nuts, and some starch. People that have the “ripped” look (including body builders as showtime) can’t maintain that “rippedness” all year around. When they get to that “ripped” stage it is a “peaking point for them”. Plus eating a diet to maintain abs is not sustainable. So I still eat paleo diet but not  geared towards being “ripped”. BUT the paleo diet has helped me maintain a consistent weight. At my peak “rippedness” I was at 146 lbs. Now I’m consistently around 155 -160 lbs and before paleo I would yo-yo in my weight. I will say I think some of that is muscle because back then I didn’t deadlift. But now I can deadlift 365 lbs and I do Crossfit.

Performance wise, I’m still improving and I don’t think I hit my peak yet even though I’m 30 years old. When I do Crossfit, I finish in the top of my gym but I know their are bigger beasts at other gyms that would eat me alive. I feel like I can still improve and I want to compete in Crossfit Regionals sometime to see where I’m at. I’m still lifting heavy at the gym. I know I can dumbbell press 100 lbs in each hand. I feel like my energy is still pretty high. People say paleo diet is not suitable for long distance races but I did a Tough Mudder Race (12 mile race) in February 2012 and I finished it a hour faster than the previous year. Now I’m training for Urbanathalon (10 mile race). And another added benefit of eating clean is more focus. I still feel like the focus is there and I feel like it’s helping me at my corporate job.

Maintaining the diet takes no thinking at all. It’s so automatic for me. I know for any new timers trying it, the first 2 weeks of going paleo would be the hardest. You hit a “paleo wall” and it’s a struggle. But now that I’ve been doing this for so long, it takes no thinking at all. I don’t miss bread or rice. Only thing I miss is pastry sweets and pizza but I haven’t caved into my desires. Friends and family know I eat paleo diet so they don’t even think of asking me if I want bread. I only cheated on a few occasions like eating a slice of cake on my dad’s bday, when coworkers bought me a cake and I had a slice of it, or hosting family makes me dinner.

Anyways, I still think it’s worthwhile to do the paleo diet. I reap so many health benefits and it’s definitely sustainable. You should definitely try it too!