When I discovered paleo a little over a year ago, I excitedly swore off rice crackers, low-fat yogurt and calorie counting and had never felt better. In the last few months though, I’d been considering doing a Whole 30, sugar detox, or some other reset program to recalibrate and rediscover that sense of inside-and-out wellness.

As it often does, the universe was listening in and by September 1, I was roped in for a 12 week challenge at my gym, Gritshed. With a focus on bodybuilding-style nutrition, the program involves a 4-week metabolism-boosting period, 4 weeks of gradual carb reduction and then a final 4 weeks of carb cycling.

I’m just starting week 7 now and while I’ve been encouraged to eat some less paleo-friendly characters like brown rice, oats and a couple of supplements, I’m lifting heavier, gaining muscle and dropping body fat all while never feeling hungry. Bit of a win! I’ve always been curious about macros and I’m always willing to try something new for the sake of an experiment.

Things I’ve learnt so far:

• Carbs post-workout are important for recovery – it’s not just about the protein
• How many calories I need to eat to keep on keeping on
• Eggs are far better when they still have a yolk
• Counting calories and staying on top of your macros takes a lot of time
• How much protein/carbs/fat are in the foods I regularly eat
• Bodybuilders have to eat a lot. A LOT.
• Approximate grams to portion sizes of different foods
• I can survive without chocolate and hot chips for weeks at a time (sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that)

All that said though, it hasn’t taken me long to be over lean turkey mince and egg whites and craving roasted chicken thighs and homemade mayo! I’m looking forward to closing out Week 12 so I can start following Steph’s teachings in my recently purchased e-book, The Paleo Athlete.

Photo credit: kReEsTaL via photopin cc