Welcome to The Paleo Network! This is my very first blog post and I am excited to begin the adventure with you.
The Paleo Network was born by virtue of a string of events. Here's the history of how the company was born.
2005: I met my husband while he was training for an Ironman Florida. During the run portion of his Ironman, his stomach shut down. He was able to turn it back on with some oranges, but not after miles of walking and jogging. I had the opportunity to watch his Ironman in person and was inspired by all the finishers. It planted a seed that maybe one day I could do one. Fast forward a few years.
2009: I decided to jump into triathlons. I had already been running half marathons and marathons (which is how my husband and I met - after Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego 2005). I competed in my first sprint triathlon and had a blast! I also competed in an Olympic-distance triathlon that summer. After doing so, I told my husband I wanted to do an Ironman the following year. So, late 2009, we register for our 2010 race.
2010: We train for Ironman Florida all year. No issues during training. My husband even changed his nutrition from his first Ironman. Once again, his stomach shuts down on the run. He knew to eat oranges, but still had a disappointing marathon. I ended up catching up (it's a 2-loop out and back run course) to him on the second loop. His stomach had recovered and he was able to run again (and could have smoked me on the last 7 miles of the marathon). However, we made the decision to finish the race together. It was such a fun day!
2011: After my husband's woes in both of his Ironman races, he spoke with our triathlon coach. Many conversations ensued. My husband really didn't want to end Ironman on a sour note. We competed in Ironman 70.3 Boulder in 2011 without any issues. We then decided to sign up for Ironman Canada in 2012, which meant starting our training in late 2011. After nailing down our race plans, my husband spoke with our coach more about nutrition. Our triathlon coach also made the suggestion of adoption The Paleo Lifestyle for Athletes. He thought about it, but didn't really discuss it much with me. I'm the cook in the house and do the grocery shopping. So if I don't know what to cook or buy, it doesn't happen.
2012: We signed up for Ironman 70.3 Kansas in early summer as training for our Ironman that August. We were sitting at the reservoir enjoying some sunshine the week leading up to our 70.3 race and discussed converting to Paleo after our trip/race. It wasn't without some kicking and screaming from me though. I didn't want to give up my yogurt and granola. I liked cheese. I fought it for about a day (and still wasn't thrilled). We raced our 70.3 in June and truly struggled. Granted, it was a windy and hot day, but the struggles didn't end there. We were both at our heaviest in quite some time. We wanted to drop some of the fat and feel better for our Ironman which was only 14 weeks away. At that point, there weren't any cries or screams coming from me. I was ready to take the Paleo plunge with plenty of enthusiasm. We were in the peak of our Ironman training and had cut back on carbs significantly (no grains, legumes, dairy, soy or processed foods). Our endurance improved and the pounds started to fall off. I lost 10 pounds within a few weeks and my husband lost 30 pounds leading up to our 140.6-mile race. My husband raced his Ironman without any stomach issues! Both of us felt strong deep into the race. The lifestyle worked! It had some other positive changes in our lives as well. One of those unexpected changes was that my husband's hair follicles turned back on. Some of his hair is growing back. This lifestyle changes you down to the cellular level. I will highlight some of those changes in future posts.
My husband and I were discussing Paleo and how we will stick to this lifestyle for the rest of our lives. I love to cook, bake and try new foods. I was pretty comfortable cooking non-Paleo foods without recipes and thought it would be fun creating new Paleo recipes. I also love the camera, so why not record cooking shows so I can share the cooking process with others? Hence, The Paleo Network was born.
I have started out with my Facebook page and this blog. We will be recording videos soon and posting them to The Paleo Network YouTube channel. I am looking forward to embarking on this Paleo adventure together. Please let me know if you have any recipes you would like me to Paleo-ize or if there are any topics you would like me to cover in upcoming posts.
