IronWhole360 - Day 3 Wednesday July 8th

Info: Its been 3 whole days since I restarted the program, and I feel fricking great. Cutting out the gluten and the sugar is so huge guys, even if you aren't crazy like me and committing yourself to a year of this, do yourself a favor and give it a try. I am not gluten intolerant, no celiac, no allergies at all. But I can tell you that 100% I can feel a difference when I cut the gluten, sugar  and processed garbage. If you don't want to do a year check out the Whole30 Can you commit 30 days to a better life? I think you can!

Got my Rachael Ray on and created a delicious dressing/dip - Recipe will be going up soon!

Food Log:

Breakfast: Salad with ground beef/pork patty, balsamic dressing and olive oil

Lunch: Ground beef/pork patty and an apple

Dinner: Chicken salad with Not So Peanut Thai dressing (Recipe to follow soon!)

Snack:  none

Exercise: 50 pushups, 50 body weight squats

 
DAY 3 COMPLETE

IronWhole360 - Day 2 Tuesday July 7th

Info: I feel like I never left the Whole360. That's a good thing as I thought it was going to be a real challenge trying to stick to a strict Paleo diet since I have been eating like crap for the last 5-6 months. The coolest feeling is I can feel my gut tightening up and my face slimming down and its been 2 days. I am pretty in tune with my body after doing the Whole360 last year so maybe that's why, but it sure is a good feeling. Makes me want to keep this up!

Dinner - So tasty! Can't believe I stopped eating like this!

Food Log:

Breakfast: Eggs and an apple

Lunch: Salad with a pork/ground beef burger. Balsamic and olive oil dressing


Dinner: Pork and beef burger patty sliced in to strips, pan fried to crispy edges, plated over ghee fried garlic zucchini, kalamata olives and marinara sauce

Snack:  none

Exercise: 50 Pushups, 50 body weight squats - feeling good doing this, will be cranking it up next week. Gout is still not my friend so cannot do a ton on my feet. It is getting better though which is a great thing!

DAY 2 COMPLETE

IronWhole360 - Day 1 Monday July 6th

Info: Ahh here we are again another 360 underway. Like always I should have kept up with the last one and I would be so far ahead now, but I didn't! Luckily I got a nice warning (gout flare up) before it got totally out of hand like it did last time. This time around I'm making it hard on myself though. 360 of 100% clean eating, 5 days to stuff whatever I want in my face. 360 of physical activity, 5 days to sit on my butt and do nothing. That's it, no excuses.

Here are the "Before" pics and stats:

Weight: 218lbs
BF%: 28%

Before pics - man I have a giant head!

Food Log:

Breakfast: Eggs and an apple

Lunch: Salad with pulled green chili pork, balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dressing


Dinner: Burgers made with lean ground beef and ground pork, black olives, green olives, mustard and a dab of Avocado mayo

Snack:  none

Exercise: 25 Push ups, 25 bodyweight squats - going to start out slower this time since my foot is jacked up and I dont want to be so sore I can't walk!

DAY 1 COMPLETE

Re-Enter the Whole360

Time to fire this back up again. As usual with me, I've been slacking and I almost paid the price for it.

2 nights ago my toe got sore....sure enough another Gout flare up was coming on. I'll be 100% honest I've been eating like garbage, drinking beer (it's so good though!) and slacking on the gym. A nice combo for my buddy Gout to pay a visit for sure. Needless to say I was pissed off. If you have never suffered from Gout you have no idea how intense this pain can be. I've been through a lot and I would take any pain I have been through in my life over Gout. Yeah its THAT nasty. It was the wake up call I needed. Its self inflicted and I deserved it. Luckily it was a minor flare up and after chugging 3 large bottles of tart cherry juice, and several gallons of water a day it has started to go away. Its still sore, but I got lucky and dodged a major flare up (what motivated me to do the first Whole360).

Wake up call accepted. I will be on here like I was last time - with new challenges, recipes and contests for all of you that are still following along.


And to the Paleo lifestyle.....I apologize I left you and cheated on you with nasty foods. I'll try my best not to do it again!

And for those of you that didn't follow along on my first journey here is what the Whole360 commitment is, although this year I am making it tougher and its getting a new name Iron Whole360!

• 360 days out of the next year - 100% Paleo eating (Whole30 compliant even, I'm going super strict - it gets me the best results)
• 5 days out of the next year - I get to eat or drink whatever I want
• 360 days out of the next year - Exercise of some sort. Gym, Jog, Bike whatever, some form of exercise is required
• 5 days out of the next year - I get to sit on my ass and do NOTHING

There you have it, it will be nice to see you all again, and get my Paleo health back. I am going to be starting Monday July 6th so look for daily blog posts, before pics, and recipes to start showing up then!

Ive got some great new recipes I've been developing for you already set to go!!!

See you all soon!!

Giveaway Time!!

It took me a little longer than a week to get this organized, but here it is!

Win  a Nomad Pack courtesy of Paleo Meals to go. Its easy to enter and easy to win!

Follow the directions below to enter. Contest officially starts now and ends on Feb 27th (my birthday!! yay!!) Good luck all and a huge thanks to Plaeo Meals to Go for the generous offer!

Win me, I'm delicious....and I go well with life!

Win a FREE Nomad Pack below!

Win a FREE Nomad Pack here!

Product Review - Paleo Meals To Go

 Paleo Meals to Go (Click to head over and order!)

I literally stumbled across Paleo Meals To Go at a local festival this summer. I was walking by a car and noticed it said Paleo on it, so naturally I ran over to check it out. No one was around but I was able to snag a business card off the car and get in touch with the great people that run the company.

This review is very late getting here and I apologize to all the Whole360 readers as well as the people that make Paleo Meals To Go tick. My life has been a crazy roller coaster lately (for the last 6 months really) which is really no excuse, but it's all I can offer. Enough about that, on to the review!

Paleo Meals To Go was kind enough to send me some products to try so I could write this review for you all, they were also nice enough to offer up a prize pack for one lucky winner once this review goes live! That's right, you can read about the products, drool over the pictures AND then try it yourself....FOR FREE! It really doesn't get much better if you like great tasting healthy food, and you like it for free!

What is Paleo Meals to Go?

Think Mountain House Meals that are sold in the camping/outdoors area of Wal-Mart... Except throw out the parts "tastes like crap", "is bad for you", "comes wrapped in plastic" and the big one "has a ton of gluten, wheat and soy in it" Then you sort of have what Paleo Meals to Go are. The company is a Denver based small business and from what I gather they are super people to deal with and want to provide you with some delicious healthy products. Here is a few quick blurbs off of their webpage with a little more info of what they are all about:

"Paleo Meals To Go is a private company based in Denver, CO. The idea of healthy Paleo Meals To Go was developed by a CrossFit™ athlete who was introduced to the Paleo Diet by his ultra-running friend. As outdoor enthusiasts and Paleo Diet followers they both often struggled to maintain their diets while on outdoor adventures. After brainstorming the idea, the solutions it could provide, and the great need for it, Paleo Meals To Go came to fruition. An Operations Manager was brought on to further develop the business. We look forward to enhancing your work/life/exercise/outdoor/athletic adventures by providing you with an option to better maintain a Paleo Diet when you are on-the-go!" 

"Fast and convenient so preparing meals doesn't get in the way of your adventure.
Wholesome and delicious recipes that not only provide the fuel you need, but hit the spot!
Formulated to adhere to general Paleo Diet guidelines so you can enjoy your meal knowing you are still on track."


First Impressions: I spoke with Dawn who is the Operations Manager at Paleo Meals To Go and she said the food was on the way. I know they are a local Denver, CO company but I literally had them the next day! I'm all about gratification, especially the instant type so we were off and running! They came well packaged and protected in the shipping box which seems like a no brainer but a lot of times is not the case. Once I tore in to the shipping package....glory, yes glory peeked its head out at me. I'm not sure what the packaging is made out of, but I do know that it does its purpose and its not made out of some nasty plastics that are going to make my food taste like cave man doody!

I was sent one of each of their items - 2 breakfasts and 2 lunch/dinner entrees. I will review them in the order I devoured them....

Aloha Breakfast

Aloha Breakfast - Score 9/10

First up was the Aloha Breakfast, directions are right on the bags they come in and its super simple. Ripe the top off, pull out the oxygen absorber, pour in some hot water, wait a few minutes and enjoy. That my friends is my kind of cooking for sure! 

The Aloha breakfast is a great blend of sweet and savory containing coconut, golden flax seed meal, almond flour, walnuts, pecans, bananas, pineapple, mango, powdered coconut water, vanilla beans, and freeze-dried coconut oil. It is like a super delicious oatmeal consistency. Well lets be honest its better than oatmeal because I am NOT a fan of oatmeal whatsoever. The texture was awesome with the pecans and walnuts in it to give it a little crunch to go along with the softer ingredients. This was my favorite breakfast out of the bunch (not that the other was bad by any means!

Coconut Berry Breakfast

Coconut Berry Breakfast - Score 7/10

This fella has some tart to it, and that's fine by me! A nice blend of coconut, flax seed, coconut oil, strawberries, blueberries and nuts, it all blends together in a tasty breakfast fuel festival! If you are out hiking or camping this is a great kick starter, all said and done this breakfast packs a whopping 920 calories and 14g of protein to fuel your day!

 

Beef Mountain Stew

Beef Mountain Stew - 9/10

I by nature am not a soup/stew person whatsoever, but I LOVED this meal. The veggies, meats and spices blended together perfectly out of the bag on this one and I pounded it with reckless abandon. This was by far my favorite meal/breakfast out of the four that I got to test. These meals come with salt packets so you can season them to taste, but this one was literally perfect for me right out of the bag. I want to make sure I have some of these in my backpack, house, car etc so if I am ever stuck without food I can tear in to one of these!

 

Savory Chicken and Vegetables

Savory Chicken & Vegetables - 6/10

 The bar was set pretty high with the other 3 meals by the time I got to this one. I was praying for a mouth-gasm, expecting it really..... but it didn't happen with this one. Let me explain. It was still a good meal, but after the Beef Mountain Stew and all of its delicious components this one fell just a bit short in the spices department. Actually it wasn't even the spice department it was just not salty enough for me. The good news is the meals come with a salt packet so I could doctor it up a bit! After tossing some salt in the mix it was  pretty tasty meal all told, I am definitely not mad at it!

Final Thoughts

If you are dedicated to a Paleo Lifestyle, or you want to just have healthy easy meals on hand, you HAVE to give these a try. Please don't mistake these for a low calorie diet food...that they are not. (Although the Beef Stew and Chicken and Veggies are both 350 cals or below) The good thing is they don't have that garbage diet food taste either! The breakfasts are pretty high calorie, but if you are looking for a healthy, convenient energy source - The Aloha and Coconut and Berry breakfasts are outstanding! All in all on a 1 - 10 scale I would definitely give these products a Solid 8 score collectively. I was pretty harsh on the Chicken and vegetables because all I had to compare it to was the Beef Mountain Stew which was outstanding! But hey what do I know anyways, I'm just a dude trying to find my Cave Man roots!

Whats this FREE food you speak of?

Stay tuned to www.whole360.blogspot.com and in the next few days we will be launching a contest where you can win a Paleo Meals to Go Nomad Bundle!

And if you can't wait to get your grubby Cave man/lady paws on these..... 

Check them out over at www.paleomealstogo.com and tell them Whole360 sent you!

 
*note - Paleo Meals to Go was kind enough to send me photos of their product as well after I took FOREVER to write this review. My phone was literally coming apart and I had to trade it in. Needless to say I hadn't updated my Cloud storage and I lost all of my product photos. Thanks guys for working with me I appreciate it!

Whats been happening??????

I hope this finds you all well whether you are on your Paleo journey or just getting by in the day to day. Life has been crazy lately, which has severely limited my time to get on here and update this blog. I've said it before and failed miserably but I am going to try and get back here more regularly and keep this project going.

How have I been? Well I got a great new job - it pays well too!, My new daughter is growing up too quickly, Winter is coming (hehe hehe) no but really it is, I have a product review I need to post up here, I have a giveaway for all of you that have stuck around, I hurt my shoulder so slacked at the gym for the last 4 weeks, slacked on the Paleo as well and have been eating horribly (thank you 10lbs for coming back....jerk)...but through all that I am better off. I got back after it today, shoring up the eating and will be back in the gym likely next week to get this all rolling again.  If I have learned anything through all of this, it is this: Mistakes are going to happen, but don't dwell on them. I can sit around and be lazy or I can get back at it and continue my journey. Fortunately I have chosen the latter.....hopefully you will come along with me!

Kris

I found this very fitting for the times......