Caveman Challenge. The Rules.
Stocking up at Costco.
As a preface, most of what is to follow is lifted unabashedly from:
1. Loren Cordain
2. Dr. Michael Eades
3. Robb Wolf/ Crossfit NorCal
4. Byers Gets Diesel
5. Dr. Barry Sears/ The Zone Diet
I am not a nutritionist, I’m an athlete. I’ve taken bits and pieces from a ton of different sources over my athletic career. To quote Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.” And I don’t even think I’ve seen further.
Paleolithic Diet Details (Loren Cordain)
Yes:
Plants, Roots and tubers, Berries, Fruits, Nuts, Wild terrestrial animals (including the muscle tissue, fat and organs, although the total amount of fat and the fatty acid composition were quite different than that found in modern domestic animals), Fowl, Insects, Fish and seafood, Eggs
No:
• Paleolithic people hardly ever ate cereal grains.
• Paleolithic people ate no dairy food.
• Paleolithic people didn’t salt their food.
• The only refined sugar Paleolithic people ate was honey,
when they were lucky enough to find it.
• Virtually all of the carbohydrates Paleolithic people ate came
from nonstarchy, wild fruits and vegetables.
————————–
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, I’ll emphasize a few points:
1. Quantity is not important. This isn’t The Zone. If you are hungry, eat a steak. Just don’t go for the Ben and Jerry’s.
2. Alcohol is no good. If you want to get the full dosage of this diet, I’m gonna tell you no booze for 30 days. Try it.
3. Try to get your protein from grass-fed….organic…. massaged (You get my point) meat sources.
4. Do not eat grains. This includes bread, rice, pasta, corn, oatmeal. I don’t care if its organic pasta. Its f*#king pasta.
5. No legumes. Any type of bean (including peanut butter) is a no go.
6. No sugars real or fake. This includes stevia, splenda, honey, agave nectar, or what ever else you can think of.
7. If it was processed, don’t eat it.
8. If you have to think too hard about whether or not you can eat something, its probably a “no”. Meat and vegetables people. Meat and vegetables.
——————————
Reality Check.
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”
Most people who are reading this are members of the larger Crossfit community. Think about what makes us different than most people out there. Besides our love of partial nudity during workouts, it is our commitment. Crossfitters (not exclusively of course) recognize the reality that to get anything of value you have to work for it. If you want 10 pullups, you are going to have to bust your ass to get them. If you want a sub-10 Helen time, it is going to be hard as hell. Why would nutrition be any different?
I’m going to put my “asshole” hat on for the next couple minutes (some may ask, does it ever come off?).
1. I’m really sorry that your coworker brings in doughnuts every morning. I’m crying my eyes out for you, honestly. Just don’t eat them.
2. I’m really sorry that you have to have wine/liquor/beer every night to relax from the day. I’m crying my eyes out for you, honestly. Drink tea.
3. I’m really sorry that you don’t know how to cook. I’m crying my eyes out for you, honestly. Learn.
4. I’m really sorry that this is going to take a little bit of effort and changing your “routine”. I’m crying my eyes out for you, honestly. Adapt and overcome.
5. It’s thirty days people.
Conclusion
Remember what you were doing 30 days ago? Now imagine that thirty days from now your life could be significantly altered. Just try it. 30 days.
Logistics
1. I want everyone to use the comments section here as the place to ask questions rather than emailing me. I’m sure any question you might ask other people have as well, so just post it and someone will answer it.
2. We’ll start this Sunday 13 September at 12:00 PM EST. It will end Sunday 11 October.
29 comments
I should probably know the answer to this, but does mayonnaise make the cut?
Jon,
I just finished doing 30 days, from my understanding after you do the clean, you can add things to see how you feel, I can support you guys by staying off of alcohol and cheat meals while you guys are on the zone, but I am going to add my milk and cheese back in. Although, if you really want a challenge, I can call you a feline while you are not drinking like guch did with me because he cared enough to try to make it a little harder…
Dave,
Nope, mayo is cool. And here is a cool recipe too.
http://eatmovethrive.blogspot.com/2008/09/mayo-in-minutes.html
Hey Jon, cool gig you have going here. Cheers to all of you ‘cleaning house’ for the first time: you are in for the best thing you may have ever done f0r health and performance. Really Really. If I can be of any help, holler, that goes for Jon or anyone else. Door is always open.
(best part of being strictly paleo? you eat far more flavorful food when you ditch takeout and packaged crap from your life.)
Eat like it’s a sport,
Chef
Bratwurst? Sausage?
If you remove all the suspect items from your diet at one time, and you see improvement, how do you know which thing to attribute the results to? Doesn’t it make more sense to remove one thing at a time, and assess the impact of each one?
Dave C: Acceptable. Not ideal. If you are trying to change your body composition, I’d be careful. I’m happy with where I am BF wise, so I eat them all the time.
Lynette: I’m going to flip your question on its head. I’d rather get you as healthy as possible as quickly as possible. Change your sleep, nutrition, and stress levels. Then slowly reintroduce things one at a time if you are so inclined.
Dumb/Asshole Jon says: “That sounds like a reason to keep drinking alcohol and not get enough sleep for the next 6 months while I ‘assess impact’”. Just make the changes. We can fine tweak after the 30 days.
Ok I’m in for the challenge too. I’m going to need a support group (and likely an AA sponsor) to make it thirty days without wine.
Thank you for motivating us Jon!
All of the meat in that photo makes me sick to my stomach
I was on the fence, but I’m in. Which means Dave C is in as well (since I do most of the cooking around our house anyway and know that mayo is made of eggs and oil).
I really think the hardest part for me is going to be cutting out Diet Coke, but I’ll manage.
Hey Jon – Thanks for the info and motivation!! Here’s the first of many questions (I’m sure!):
Sriracha? Hot sauce? Please say yes!!
I don’t beleive that you will refrain from alcohol for a month.
I couldn’t agree more.
Big yes on the hot sauce. I put it on everything.
Coffee is a seed, RIGHT?!?
All varieties of vinegar are not permitted because of the fermentation, right? If so, what do you use for salad dressing (lemon and olive oil?)?
Couple of questions (some might just be outright dumb)
1. I never understood the deal with egg yolks ? (but I never leave them, no matter even if I am making an 8-egg omlette)
2. Whey / Protein bar ? Its ultra processed ofcourse, but its just pure protein ?, hence the ambiguity …
3. Fish oil I am not sure if you would throw it out, but just need to confirm
Wanted to get started on Paleo+Zone to see if works for me and what better timing and place to do it ….
I am in no matter what, which means another layer of quitting to do !
1. Caffeine is a tricky one. Personally, I’ll put back a triple espresso without blinking an eye. However, if you are looking to lose a bunch of BF, it might be something to watch.
2. Lemon and olive oil is good. Ryan P puts guacamole on his salads. I tried it the other day and it is awesome.
Abi.
1. There isn’t total agreement on this one. Personally, I eat them. Other people might disagree. I don’t think cavemen would be throwing away the most nutritionally dense part of their meal. At the same time, I don’t think they were eating 3 or 4 every morning like I do….
2. No bars.
3. Lots and lots of fish oil.
Thanks, Jon. I love guacamole and would eat it straight, so it’s no hardship to put it on a salad for me. I swear I’ll get Dave to like it by the time this thing is over, too…
Pine nuts are okay, aren’t they? If so, I am totally making lots of pesto (without the parmesan) to put on shrimp, chicken, pork, etc.
Jon, not sure if you’ll post this or not, but just for your own knowlage: most hot sauce is a glaring NO: they are almost all made with copious salt and vinegar. Instead, eat crushed red chilis mixed with lime juice. Preserves well in the fridge and is truly paleo.
[...] Caveman Challenge – By Jon Matzner [...]
Damn you Chef! I’ll defer to you, as should everyone else.
The challenge for me is going to be trying “30 days of Paleo” not “Jon’s interpretation” of thirty days of Paleo.
To everyone else: Chef is a tremendous resource about Crossfit, life, and bacon fat. Be careful though, don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to.
Jon, you are one gawdam good lookin’ mayunn… (banjo music and frantic paddling sounds fill the forest).
Seriously, y’all, Being an ‘expert’ at anything means knowing more and more about less and less, there is a boat load of life I am not even conversant on, but the last 25 years for me have been spent on Food Science and Human Movement, so if there is anything I can do to add to this cool thing Jon is starting here I’d love to help out. ( Did i mention a dore run-on sentences?)
Two questions of regret I’m already running up against:
1. Coffee. I can’t do it. I can’t give it up. And why precisely do we have to? Diet coke, no problem. Sugars and flour, almost never ate them anyway. But I’m having a “you’ll pry it from my cold, dead hands” response on this one. And to be fair, I used to drink enough of it that I could have a double espresso an hour before bed and still sleep like a baby. Reduce the addiction? Sure. But please explain in small words why I need to actually give this one up.
2. Wine. Tequila is ok but wine isn’t…? Please expound.
3. Ok, one more. “Tubers” are ok, so onions/sweet potatoes/ginger all good, right?
I’m still strictly zoning, because I like it. But I did cut out dairy, stevia/splenda/agave nectar, and legumes (painful). Like anything, I think this will get easier once I’ve got the system down.
Alli-
2. Tequila isn’t ok. Its like saying getting shot in the leg is better than getting shot in the chest. I mean, it is definitely better than other options….but you are still getting shot.
3. Onions and ginger are solid. Things like sweet potatoes and yams are fine as well, particularly immediately after a workout.
Is it fair to say Cavemen didn’t eat these bad foods because they did not have the means, technology, etc. Cavemen did not have cars, aspirin, antibiotics, computers, barbells, ab mats, GHD machines, tvs, cable, secretaries, reliable shelter, elevators, ocean-side resorts with butler service, pre-packaged tea bags, butchers, costco, Nalgenes, couches, fleece pants, under armor, Gillete Mach 5, etc.
I think it is safe to say that we’re better off than cavemen. I’ll trade the occasional processed carb for Sportscenter.
I understand this misses the point of eating Paleo or doing the clean, but I’m just saying let’s not blow the wild successes of cavemen out of proportion – it’s not like the paleoasfkthic era was really all that fun.
[...] Still looking for more answers? Try reading the primer I wrote on Paleo eating a couple weeks ago, found here. [...]
what if I don’t eat meat? (I only eat fish)
oh and why not legumes like lentils? those are good sources of all sorts of minerals!
Leave a Comment