Maybe you spent a little too much time partying at the beach this summer. Maybe you’ve gradually let the cheat meals take over and become the norm. Maybe you’ve been indulging your little weakness for frozen beverages. Whatever it is, it’s time to get back into the paleo swing of things with our Back To School Paleo Challenge!

The Details

• Duration: Sunday, September 11th – Saturday, October 15th (a mere 5 weeks!)
• Entry Fee: $20 to fund the prize pool.
• Prizes: Top man and top woman will split the prize pool (last time we ran a challenge the pool was over $1000!) Top 3 men and top 3 women receive a free month of unlimited BBC membership.

How To Enter

On Sunday, September 11th from 1-4pm, we’ll be having a nutrition seminar and challenge launch event! You need to attend this event to enter the challenge.
Come ready to:

• Fork over $20 for the prize pool
• Pose for ‘before’ pictures (details below.)
• Complete performance benchmarks (details below.)
• Weigh in (this will be kept confidential — you may opt not to weigh in, but it may negatively impact the benchmark portion of your score, as we are taking into account change in performance relative to change in bodyweight.)

After the event you must also:

• Send a link to your online food log to [email protected] OR assure us that you are keeping an offline written food log.
• Join the challenge Google Group to ask questions, share food logs, recipes, issues, etc.

On Saturday, October 15th from 1pm-2pm we’ll be having a end-o-challenge extravaganza to weigh-out / benchmark / after-picture all participants.

What To Eat

We advocate eating real, unprocessed, whole foods.  We suggest that you eliminate refined carbohydrates, most importantly sugar and grains.  Base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar.  You may have heard us talk about something called “paleo” — you’ll become a lot more familiar with this during the nutrition seminar!
Everyone’s starting from somewhere different with this, so each of you will choose a commitment that seems reasonable and achievable for you. We’re offering you:

• Beginner: eliminate sugar and grains; 1 cheat day a week.
• Intermediate: eliminate sugar and grains; no cheat days.
• Advanced: eliminate sugar, grains and dairy; no cheat days.
• Expert: eliminate sugar, grains, dairy, legumes and alcohol; no cheat days.

Online Resources:

• Our “What Do I Eat?” Guide
• Robb Wolf’s Paleo Basics

Before and After Pictures

• Participants must have 3 ‘before’ pictures taken by Sam or Keith at the BBC: front view, side view and back view. Men are in shorts; women are in shorts and sports bra/bikini top.
• To be eligible to win, participants must have 3 ‘after’ pictures taken by Sam or Keith at the BBC. Same views / attire as ‘before’ pics.
• Pictures will remain private for the duration of the contest except for print-outs of 3 male and 3 female finalists that will be kept at the BBC and used to vote for winners.
• Once the contest is over, we would very much like to use before / after photos of participants to help persuade future clients to clean up their diet! We will ask about your preferences on this at the beginning and again at the end of the contest — we hope you’ll help us out!

Performance Benchmark

• Participants must complete the following benchmark at the beginning of the challenge — “Fran”: 21-15-9 thrusters (95/65), pull-ups.
• To be eligible to win, participants must repeat the benchmark at the end of the challenge.
• Benchmarks must be witnessed by either Sam or Keith or someone they have directly deputized!