FirePower Nutrition Testimonials
Was Only Looking For Weightloss-Found So Much More (Priscilla)
I have been on the paleo diet for about 6 weeks now. In 6 weeks I have dropped 9 lbs and quite a few inches — haven’t measured yet, but I have gone from wearing my size 6 pants to size 2′s and from size 30 jeans to a 27/28. I found the diet to be quite easy to follow. I am on a 10 block meal plan, and I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it actually turned out to be a lot of food. There were several ways to divide how many meals to eat a day.. For me what worked was eating 4 meals a day and using my higher block meals in the morning. The first week was a little hard in the sense that I wasn’t used to measuring anything and I had to be diligent in measuring everything ! I remember looking at the meal plan and thinking that 2oz of chicken was definitely not enough food ! But I was wrong… once I got over measuring and the portion size, when I sat down to actually eat my meal I found that it was just enough food to keep me full until my next meal.
As the weeks have gone by I have noticed an increase in energy and have found myself going from 3 times a week to 4-5 times a week and I attribute that to the change in my diet for sure! I wake up with energy, do my AM class then head off to work, and the best part is that I no longer have any 3pm candy cravings! I have also noticed that I am now able to do more RX workouts which is definitely accomplishment for me considering when I started in August 2010 all I could lift was the bar.
This originally started off for me wanting to drop 10 lbs, but to be honest.. now I don’t even care about how much I weigh, I just want to be healthy and joining crossfit was the first step, and now converting to paleo is the next step in my journey to living a healthy lifestyle.
Daniel has been great over the past few weeks and has always been available anytime to answer any questions I may have. He has definitely been part of my success on the plan and his continued support definitely keeps me motivated. Thanks so much Daniel !
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Making a Lifestyle Change (Tonya L)
I decided to switch to a Paleo diet on Nov 1st. Over the course of the month, I lost 12 lbs. I know that is an attention-getter.
I made the change to my lifestyle in an effort to improve my performance at Firepower. Since they say that 80% of your results are based on what you eat, I felt like eating crap was counter-productive to what I am trying to achieve (All Rx all the time) for 2011. I had already made some significant changes to my body shape and huge improvements in my endurance. I could not help but wonder how much better results I could be getting with the 80% factor.
Making the switch to Paleo was an easy decision but hard to adjust to. My body was so addicted to sugar, the first 10 days of November I had a headache that I could not treat. It was hard. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to eat something sweet. I managed to white-knuckle it thru the first week, after that I was kind of getting used to the headache. Slowly it decreased and finally was gone altogether. This was enough motivation for me to stay off sugar, simply because I do not want to face another detox like that. Giving up grains and dairy was much easier.
At that point I focused on Paleo Zone, to ensure my portion sizes were where they were supposed to be. I found that I was not quite structured enough in my meal plan and made some adjustments (cutting back on nuts, adding good fats, etc.)
I am four weeks into this life style and I have found it to be easier than I first anticipated. I do have to plan well in advance meals and snacks to ensure I do not run out of prepared food. I’ve had some major temptations and handled them pretty well. I still have a lot to learn and I’m excited to discover new recipes and food combinations.
I’ve noticed that I do not feel tired when I wake, when I’m awake I’m ready to go. I have a good energy level all day, there is no energy slump in the afternoon and I feel much better heading into a WOD. I feel that I have better clarity thru the day, partly because I do not have the sugar rush of that afternoon snack followed by the inevitable after-sugar crash that made me cranky and hungry. I find it quite enjoyable that after every meal I feel satisfied but never Oh-My-God-I’m-so-full-why-did-I-have-that-much?
I would recommend this to anyone. I work full time and I have 2 young children. I also (formerly) love sugar, so if I could do this I am sure that anyone could!
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VERY Competitive Duathlete (Audrey)
I used the Zone about 5 years ago to lose 20 lbs. I lost that in 8 weeks. I started to compete in duathlons (run-bike-run) a year later.
My age group (50-54) is VERY competitive. In January 2010, I realized that I needed to lose a bit more weight to help with bike and run speed. I wasn’t successful at all. After my last race in September I made an appointment to see Daniel. His prescription for incorporating a new way of eating (Zone/Paleo) along with a book I picked up a few years back that supports part of this plan for athletes (Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel, 2005) was initially a bit daunting. Measuring, weighing, cleaning, chopping and cooking….
My stomach feels better. I do not crave dairy. Grains – specifically bread -I crave only when I smell it baking walking through the bread section at the grocery store. The best thing – besides the weight loss is the reduction in inflammation. After being in my off-season for about a month and a half, (and I did diddly squat!) I have started base training. My first 4 weeks of run/bike training are complete and I have logged them all as quality workouts. I have focused on eating well and recovering well. My legs, which last year would have been heavy and sore, are beautifully recovered for each workout. This means that each workout is quality, I’m not limping through muscle pain. Better quality workouts = improvement in rbr.
It hasn’t been easy. Preparation of veggies and fruit is time consuming. But the weight loss, the lack of inflammation and the increased consumption of vegetables and healthy fats by my family are all benefits that keep me motivated. I’m aiming for top 3 in my age group for 2011. Throw in a few PB’s and I’ll be dancing!!! I have no doubt that these goals will be realized. Thanks Daniel!
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Convincing the Skeptic (Jeff)
After having been at Firepower for 1.5 years, I was convinced that I was in the best shape that I could be. That being said, I decided to go to one of their nutrition seminars hoping that what was being offered would at the very least help me overcome my plateau in training and perhaps lose some weight.
Daniels description of the Paleo-Zone was very candid and he was quite smug in his explanation of the program; this was no doubt a product of his overall confidence in the program/philosophy. I was pretty excited to prove him wrong and show him that some things were not that easy for the average person. My goal was simple, reduce my body fat % and as a result improve my overall health and performance.
Our first meeting ended with Daniel brushing me off saying after 3 weeks weight starts to just fall off so don’t worry about it. He prepared various meal plans and also provided a specific block program based on my starting weight and physique. For the first month I followed the meal plan to the tee to get into the Paleo-Zone groove. Following this, I had a good sense of proper portions as well as block allocations for different types of food; so basically after the first month it was easier to eyeball my veggie and meat servings and food prep took little to no effort. Daniel stressed the 80/20 rule which was very redeeming. Basically if you follow the program 80% of the time you will see good results.
After 4 months of being on the program I lost 10% body fat and have moved from a 34 to a 30 waist.. I was still able to have the odd indulgence with the 80% rule (a.k.a. beer and wings/ribs) but still followed the program the majority of the time. It’s now been 10 months and I’ve been able to maintain where I am at by simply following the program. I have adjusted the program slightly incorporating more fat in it to reduce weight loss, but it’s great to have this level of control of my body. There isn’t really an end-result because this is something that I’ll be maintaining for the rest of my life.
Thanks Daniel. You win! Paleo-Zone is great.
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