Better late than never…

The Lurong Living Paleo Challenge 2012 ended on Sunday, November 18th at 11:59 p.m. and NO, I didn’t stay up until midnight to sneak my first cheat food after 63 days of going without. I did, however, definitely cheat the first day after the challenge ended. With Thanksgiving immediately following the challenge, it was hard not to. 😉

I apologize for my delayed post about my final stats at the end of this 9 week challenge, but it has been a very busy few weeks. The last weekend of the challenge, I visited CrossFit Southside in Jacksonville, Florida and went to the Level 1 CrossFit Trainer Seminar – which was awesome and kicked my ass. 😉 But I am now a Level 1 CrossFit Trainer! This was the icing on my Paleo cake. 🙂

Then a few days later, I left to spend Thanksgiving week with my family in Texas – which involved lots of quality time and comfort food. It was amazing. Layla (my sister – who introduced me to CrossFit and Paleo) and I even stopped in at North Plano CrossFit for a workout and we dragged our parents along so they could see what they were missing. A few days after I left, my parents attended their first CrossFit class and have been regulars since – they also started planning/cooking Paleo crock pot meals for this week. I couldn’t be more excited for them!

Now that I am back in Thomasville, I have unpacked, regrouped, and will get back to my CrossFit/working/food & cooking routine as soon as possible. I can’t wait! I would be lying if I said all of the holiday food didn’t hurt my results, but the great thing is – the holiday is behind me now and I can get back on track.

Photo Update!

Before / After – Front View

Before / After – Side View

Starting Measurements

Waist: 30 1/8″

Hips: 39 3/4″

Chest: 31 1/4″

Thigh: 23″

Arm: 11″

Total: 135 1/8″

Ending Measurements

Waist: 28 1/4″

Hips: 38 1/2″

Chest: 31 3/4″

Thigh: 22″

Arm: 10 1/2″

Total: 131″

So those are my physical results after 63 days of eating Paleo with no cheats – and I also saw gains in my performance as well. I shaved several minutes off of my 3 benchmark workouts and got a new PR on my deadlift (205 lbs) and back squat (165 lbs). Aside from performance and physical results, energy levels are great and sleep is amazing. After taking on 9 weeks of this challenge, I’m ready to set some new goals and maintain my gains, keep going and continue sharing my experience with others.

I couldn’t have done this without my supportive spouse, Nick and my two fellow competitors, Phil & Maria – who I pretty much made a pact with that we wouldn’t cheat the diet for the entire 9 weeks (and we ALL held up our end of this). I think it’s important to thank everyone who supported me during this thing – it was really hard at times and you all had to put up with my crankiness from time to time and encourage me to continue. You know who you are. 😉

While this is the final blog to sum up my experience with the Lurong Living Paleo Challenge, it’s not the end of my blogs – there is more to come people…stay tuned. Happy Holidays Everyone!