October No-Grains Challenge: Day 1

Here we go! Day 1 without grains. If you’d like to do the challenge, click here to register. It’s free! You don’t have to be a Catalyst member to participate (but it helps!)
After you’ve registered, you can join our very supportive No-Grains Support Group on Facebook.
What to expect:
Today, you’ll feel great. You might have to think a little about what you’re eating (meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit) but the habits are easy to adopt. Your lunch bag might look huge from all the vegetables; make sure you’re getting enough carbs to sustain exercise! Consider fruit a dessert.
Start adding more fat into your diet NOW through almonds, cashews and seeds. It will take a few weeks to increase liposome activity, so you want to start as early as possible. If you can break down fats efficiently for fuel, you won’t go through an “energy vacuum” later (keep reading.)
Over the next couple of days, your blood sugar levels will become more stable. You’ll be less tired in the afternoons (maybe when you wake up) and won’t crave sugar and carbs anymore. Coffee’s effect will be greatly enhanced in most cases.
After the first week or so, you might have a small “energy vacuum.” In this stage, you’ve depleted some muscle glycogen; your body hasn’t yet become efficient at breaking down the more complex energy bonds in vegetables, or using the very complex energy bonds in healthy fats. This will eventually fix itself, but in the meantime make sure you’re using more fat in your diet. Coconut oil, as a medium-chain triglyceride, behaves most like a carbohydrate, so it MIGHT make the transition easier/shorter. Melt a bit in your coffee. Do NOT start hammering sugar and telling yourself, “but it’s grain-free!”
Points:
If you have zero grains all day, give yourself 2 points (and a pat on the back.)
If you have a cup of grains (or less) in a day, give yourself one point and do better tomorrow.
If you have more than a cup, no problem; give yourself a zero for the day, and play again tomorrow.
Objectives:
Going grain-free will clean up your diet. You’ll start thinking about what’s BEST to eat, instead of what’s available.
You’ll also likely cut way back on sugar as a byproduct. This will help with weight loss, but also have another nice effect: fruit will taste sweeter as your taste buds adjust, and it’s the perfect time of the year for local fruit.
You’ll get better at grocery shopping by sticking to the perimeter of the supermarket instead of going down the aisles.
You’ll set yourself (and your kids) up for the day better with eggs, vegetables and fruit than with Pop-Tarts or cereal.
It’s VERY simple to stick with this plan (you’ll actually feel like garbage if you eat grains after staying off them for a month.)
You’ll track yourself. Most people really aren’t keeping score, and it’s hurting them. Pen and paper seem to work best for accountability (maybe it’s more tangible) but writing down what you eat is a component in EVERY SUCCESSFUL NUTRITION PLAN.
You’ll like it! More vegetables, fruit and meat makes everyone happier.