The second and final Whole Life Challenge of 2014 is complete!  We had a great group of of challengers and, again some great results.  We tried to keep the challenge going by throwing in some weekly prizes and giveaways so we had some weekly winners getting Saints Tickets, ATP Mechanix, and Paleo Kits.  I have highlighted some of the winners below, if you won $$, you will be getting an email soon with how to claim your prize!

We can't express how proud we are of everyone who played and followed through.  The results speak for themselves.  Remember if you send us before and after pictures, you can get a discount off next month!

The first of two Whole Life Challenges for 2014 has come and gone!  This challenge was particularly tough, as the participants had to navigate the carnival season and deal with the barrage of parades, parties and of course... King Cake.  Congratulations to all those who participated and made it through!  It is an accomplishment you should be proud of!

Some highlights from the challenge are as follows!  Be sure to congratulate these top finishers!

*4th place women awarded based on high finishes, all 4 women finished above the 3 men.

November 2 marked the final day of the Fall 2013 Whole Life Challenge.  When the dust settled we had 56 people complete the final 'snapshot' and see how they compared to their preliminary measurements and workout scores.  The progress that people made, as in past WLCs, is staggering!  Not sure if you noticed the difference in your fellow exercisers, but some of them had inches falling off their bodies.   3 people lost a total of 8.5 inches off their waist and hips in 8 weeks!  That is over an inch a week, and is truly impressive!  The winners of the WLC are as follows:

Men
1. Dennis Rawlins
2. James Lancaster
3. Thomas Colosino

Women
1. Katherine Doss
2. Melissa Schigoda
3. Megha Upadhyaya

1st place will receive $300, 2nd - $200, and 3rd - $100.

Head on over to our Facebook Page to see some pictures from the WLC

Also a shout out to Laurie Doyle (Taylor's Mom) who dethroned Jeff's Mom (who has held this spot for 2 challenges) as the highest finishing non-member.

We would love to hear anyone impressions or thoughts on the experience and what you think you will take away from it.  Will you continue eating this way in the future?  What did you learn about yourself?  What would you like someone else to know who is considering making a change to their diet?

 courtesy of Tartine and Apron Strings
Ingredients

• ~~ For the honey lime tequila shrimp tacos ~~
• 2 pounds (454 g) raw shrimps, peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• juice of 2 limes + 1 lime
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1 medium onion, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle (optional)
• 2 avocados, diced
• 1/2 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced
• ~~ For the slaw dressing ~~
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice [about 2-3 limes]
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup light, neutral oil, such as grapeseed
• ~~ For the chipotle crema ~~
• 1 cup (250 ml) sour cream or créme fraîche [low fat can be used]
• 1 to 2 pieces of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce [canned]
• ~~ For assembly ~~
• 12 – 15 homemade or store-bought good quality yellow or white corn tortilla (those of you that are strict paleo can skip the tortillas)
• a handful of cilantro, finely chopped

Preparation

1. Wash, peel, devein, and dry raw shrimps. Season with salt.
2. In a bowl, combine honey, lime juice, tequila, onion, cumin, and chipotle powder (if using). Mix well and toss shrimps in marinade. Chill 4 hours up to 12 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Heat grill to 400 F (205 C). Make sure to oil the grilles well. Skewer shrimps in soaked wooden sticks (this will make it easier to handle on a grill).
4. Grill shrimps until bright or just opaque, about 2 minutes each side. Flip the shrimp skewers and cook for another 2 minutes or until they turn bright orange. Alternatively, you can also pan fry the shrimps. Set cooked shrimps aside.
5. Dice the avocados and squeeze juice from the remaining 1 lime.
6. Thinly slice the red cabbage using a sharp knife or a mandolin.
7. To make the dressing for the red cabbage slaw, put the lime juice, Dijon mustard, sea salt, pepper and oil in a jar or bowl. Whisk vigourously until it emulsifies.
8. Toss the red cabbage with the lime vinaigrette. Set aside.
9. Meanwhile, to make the chipotle crema, place the chipotles in the bowl of the food processor and give it a good whirl until it is smooth.
10. Stir in the sour cream or créme fraîche, mixing well until the colour is even. Transfer chipotle crema in a squeeze bottle.
11. To assemble the tacos, heat tortilla in a dry pan, about 1 minute per side or until lightly browned or charred. Wrap tortilla in a cloth to prevent from drying out. Set aside, covered.
12. Place some diced avocados in the middle of the tortilla, followed by the red cabbage slaw. Remove skewers from shrimps and pile on the taco.
13. Drizzle with the chipotle crema and garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground pork (or a combination of pork and beef)
• 4 large green peppers
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• 1 tablespoon dry or fresh tarragon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cut the tops of the peppers and clean the seeds out. Arrange peppers in the Crock-Pot standing up and make sure they fit securely. In a big bowl, combine ground pork, shredded vegetables, seasonings and tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the peppers with the mixture and arrange leftover meat between the peppers. Add half a cup of water, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/crock-pot-pork-stuffed-peppers/#ixzz2XqsQCw7j

Baked Avocado and Egg (courtesy of PaleoHacks)

• 1 organic avocado, halved with pit removed
• 1 egg
• salt, pepper, and your favorite seasoning – I used Fajita Seasoning

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Flip each avocado side over and slice off enough of the rounded skin so that it can sit flat when the fleshy side is up.
3. Place the avocados, fleshy side up, in a baking pan. Crack some salt into each hole.
4. Whisk the egg in a bowl, divide it between the avocado holes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the seasoning of your choice.
5. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until the egg has fully set. Eat with a spoon and enjoy!
   Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 176 calories, 15g fat, 35mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate, 8g fiber, and 6g protein

Simple Bacon and Spinach Stuffed Chicken (courtesy of PaleOMG)
Prep time:  15 mins Cook time:  20 mins Total time:  35 mins Serves: 4 

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded flat
• 6-8 ounces of button mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 5 strips of bacon
• 4-5 cups fresh spinach
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butterfly your chicken. I’m not totally sure how to butterfly a chicken breast but I cut mine in half, then placed plastic wrap on top of the chicken and pounded it until it was flat. Do that, it works.
3. Then place a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the five strips of bacon and cook on both sides until crispy, then place bacon on a paper towel to soak up the excess fat. When cooled, dice up the bacon.
5. Pour out the excess fat from the bacon, leaving behind about 3 tablespoons in the pan.
6. While the pan is still over medium-high, toss in the garlic cloves then add diced mushrooms.
7. Sprinkle in a bit of salt and pepper on the mushrooms.
8. Once mushrooms have begun to soften, add the spinach and a bit more salt and pepper.
9. Cover and let steam until spinach has begun to wilt. When the spinach has wilted, remove the pan from heat and add in diced bacon. Mix with mushrooms and spinach until well combined.
10. Place mixture into the middle of your butterflied chicken, fold chicken over to make a little “pocket” and use a two toothpicks to keep it closed while cooking.
11. Place stuffed chicken breasts on a parchment lined baking sheet and put in oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until there is no longer pink in the chicken. The time will range depending on how thin you pound the chicken. It may take a bit longer.
12. Love moist chicken. Don’t overcook it, don’t you do it!

This experience changed my life, to a life that I wanted to live and one that I’m now proud of.

Before the challenge I felt confident, excited by the potential and extremely motivated to be taking control of my diet and without knowing it, my life. At the same time, I felt overwhelmed by the daunting task at hand; all of the planning, attention to detail and accountability.

During the challenge, big picture, I’d take it week by week; the planning of eating and workouts, all of the food shopping, the cooking, etc. But the heart of the challenge really lived at some moments, in the minute to minute; the struggle to not give in to behaviors and what was comfortable, to get past every craving and realize you’re really in control of all of these decisions. After a few times of holding myself accountable and not giving in as I had in the past, I started to really understand how easy it all really can be.

After the challenge I probably felt what most others did; empowered, mentally and physically stronger. I felt more connected and in control of my diet, my work, my emotions, my relationships with others. I was playing a better role in all of the important aspects of my life.

Physically I leaned out quite a bit, especially in my abdominals.I felt like I had more energy, my head seemed “clearer” (I’ve tried to explain this to other and this is the best I can do) and I slept like a rock every night.

I expected (and at the time was only focused on) all of the physical results. But I also gained a lot of confidence at the end of the challenge. This didn’t come from the change in my physical appearance but the control I had taken over my diet, which was an area I’d always struggled with and lost to. It also came from the improvement in my workouts and the way I was able to push myself more.

My best friend recently revealed to me that she had been inspired by the lifestyle change I had made. She began to mimic some of my behaviors: making exercise a priority, eating healthy, planning meals ahead, cutting back on alcohol and she has lost 20 pounds over the past 5 months.

Again, the WLC changed my life.  With my diet, I used to focus on calories and the not the quality of the calorie. I ate Lean Cuisines and filled up on Diet Cokes. I never considered ingredients; reading a food label past the nutrition facts panel was foreign to me (and I learned that sugar and soy are in almost EVERY processed food). I rarely gave consideration to the quality of the food, how it was grown, how it was prepared, etc. It opened my eyes, made me more aware and connected to everything I put in my mouth. When I go the to grocery store, my cart is now filled with whole, fresh foods, every time.

I now revel in the strength that my body has and continues to build instead of criticizing all of the parts I want to change. I now incorporate 20 minutes of stretching EVERY day and can’t imagine what life was like before. And I always keep a full water bottle at my desk. 


Kelly P

I would like to share an email a great coach wrote to his members about this challenge:

1.       GET REGISTERED – Go to wholelifechallenge.com, create your account and pay for the challenge. The fee for entering the challenge is $45

2.       CHALLENGE PRELIMS – Saturday, September 15. Participate in your affiliate’s challenge prelims where you will be measured and do a preliminary workout, just like in a PR challenge. These measurements will be used as part of the determination of your affiliate’s winners. If you cannot make the prelims, be sure to schedule a make-up with a staff member at your affiliate.

3.       PLAY THE GAME – The game consists of four areas: Nutrition, Workout, Mobilization, supplementing with Fish oil.

a.       Nutrition – No grains or starches (legumes ARE permitted), corn or soy, sugars or artificial sweeteners, juice, alcohol, dairy (butter IS permitted), artificial or processed foods. You will start every day with 3 points for nutrition. Subtract 1 point for every violation of the nutrition rules. You can finish the day with 0, 1, 2, or 3 points.

b.       Workout – In this challenge you will train EVERY DAY. The minimum requirement for your workout is 10 minutes of active recovery. That means that even if you are taking a day off from intense workouts, you must still engage in at least 10 minutes of activity (e.g. jogging, skating, biking, yoga, etc). Intensity is not the goal, consistency is. You will earn 1 point for your workout each day.

c.        Mobilization – Stretch or mobilize for 10 minutes every day. You will earn 1 point for mobilizing each day.

d.       Fish oil – Take a fish oil or EPA/DHA omega-3 supplement every day. There is no minimum dose for omega-3 for this challenge. You may take any brand you like. Your fish oil supplement need not comply with the nutrition rules (wheat, corn, soy, artificial ingredients, etc). You will earn 1 point each for taking a fish oil supplement each day.

4.       REPORT YOUR SCORE – Every day during the challenge, starting Sunday, September 16, log into the WLC website and report your score for the previous day on the worldwide scoreboard. You will be able to log your score starting at midnight. The cut-off time for logging is 3pm local time each day. After 3pm you will lose the opportunity to enter your previous day’s score and will be given a 0 for that day.

5.       CHALLENGE FINALS – Saturday November 10. Repeat the prelim’s measurements and workout. You will be ranked according to your improvement in both areas as a part of the determination of your overall ranking in your affiliate. If you cannot make the finals, be sure to schedule a make-up with a staff member at your affiliate prior to the finals event.

6.       BONUS – Each week you will have the chance to earn up to 3 bonus points by participating in weekly challenges that will be announced every Friday and by sharing your daily experiences with other players in the “Reflections” portion of the daily scoring. If you have a perfect score, these bonus points can be saved and “spent” during the course of the challenge.

7.       WINNERS – Winners will be determined at the affiliate level. You will only be competing against the members of your affiliate. Your improvement rankings will be combined with your ranking on the scoreboard to determine the final winners. Number of winners and prizes will be determined by your affiliate.