Blue….oh, so lonesome for you

The Five Stages of Grief. I am guessing many of you have heard of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and her research on the five fluid stages (read: they aren’t sequential, people vacillate back and forth; no one goes through exactly the same experience, some even skip a stage or two) of death and dying. Hold up, hold,up-don’t get depressed on me, I have a feeling this is actually going to be a feel-good talk. Why? We are going to take a brief look into the Five Stages of Paleo Challenge Food Grief. As researched by the one and only me. Don’t worry: I’m a professional. (I didn’t say of what…)

Denial:

“There is SUGAR in lunch meat?  But I thought just had all-natural, picked-right-from-a-chicken lunch meat in my lettuce wrap. I call BS. I read it wrong. It’s probably talking about free-range sugar that the chicken found…in, um, worms. This can’t be happening.”

Anger:

“Who talked me into this junk. I have never cooked so much in my life. This is total bologna. OHHH, wait! I am probably not even supposed to say that because I can’t eat it. Well take this, paleo challenge: BALOGNA BALOGNA BALOGNA! Hah!”

Bargaining:

“If I do 15 burpees, then I can have hazelnut creamer in my coffee. I won’t have to subtract points, because I have actually done EXTRA work today. They should give me bonus points for being so awesome. I’m gonna talk to Beau about that.”

Depression:

“I’ll never be able to eat out of the house again. My friends think I’m a freak. Even the dog is looking at me with the hairy eyeball.  I’m just going to lay down, close my eyes, and hope to sleep until March 2.”

Acceptance:

“Wait a minute, aren’t these my skinny jeans? They are falling off. I haven’t had a headache in 3 weeks. I woke up before my alarm. Is that an AB?!? Oh hellz to the yeah, who needs that grain, legume, dairy crap anyway. I knew it was bad for me all along. I was totally going to do this on my own if CFR hadn’t done a challenge…”

Just about two weeks to go! I have both seen and heard about awesome changes in attitude, strength, and body shape in the past few weeks. Some of us had larger changes to make than others.  Some of us are changing more on the inside than out. (Oy vey that sounds downright cheesy. But it’s true from cholesterol levels to how we may be feeling about ourselves.) I hope you are beginning to feel like this has been a worthwhile experience, regardless of how many points you have accumulated. CFR’s challenge is a kick-in-the-pants opportunity to challenge what you thought you knew about nutrition, and an opportunity to experience the thrill and frustration of working toward a goal. It is even an awesome chance for those who chose not to participate to witness the effects it has had on others.

Which stage are you on, paleo person? Are you feeling blue, or has it been no big deal? Planning any post-challenge binges? Never touching _____again?  What is your favorite experience so far? Any major mishaps where we can laugh at you (I mean with you)? Pipe in and let us know how you are feeling!

Until Next Time…

Mallory

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