Since Rosan joined CrossFit, she’s been hounding Miggy about putting her on some weight loss program. Her skirts don’t fit and she wants to get back in shape before her trip to Koh Samui in December. Since she’s been having a hard time getting Miggy’s attention, I offered to put her through my own version of the Paleo Challenge. I warned her that it would be tough. Tougher than CrossFit’s Paleo Challenge. She’s accepted.

This is “Project: Rosan”.

Subject: Rosan Cruz
Goal: Weight loss of, at least, five kilos.
Time frame: 10 October to 10 December, with the option to extend until her trip to Koh Samui.

Required reading: The Definitive Guide to Insulin.

NOT ALLOWED:

• Anything containing gluten, including beer.
• The five major culprits: rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, dessert.
• Grains, legumes, beans (including their sprouts), corn, soy (including tofu and soy sauce).
• Dairy (including yogurt).
• Sugar (including raw sugar, honey, and artificial sweeteners).
• Processed food/drinks (including Knorr cubes, sinigang mixes, etc.). If it comes in a packet, it’s out.

ALLOWED:

• Meat – If grassfed is an option, choose grassfed.
• Seafood
• Eggs – Including the yolk, please! Choose ones enriched with omega-3s.
• Vegetables, with a special emphasis on green, leafy vegetables and cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage).
• Fruits – If having watermelon, try to have it separately from anything else and within a few hours of eating other things. You should digest this on its own.
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Salt, pepper, dried and fresh herbs
• Tea
• Oil – For cooking, use lard or coconut oil. For salads, use olive oil. (Corn oil is OUT.)

CONCESSIONS:

• Butter and ghee.
• Vinegar – Balsamic, apple cider, red wine, tuba, etc. Read the label and choose one with as few additives as possible.
• Fish sauce, bagoong – Read the label and choose one with as few additives as possible.
• Dark chocolate – Minimum 70% dark, 1 bar per week. (Check ingredients for any gluten content. If it contains even a hint of gluten, it’s out.)
• Red wine OR tequila OR vodka (as shots, on the rocks or with soda water) – 1 night per week.
• Coffee – Black. One cup a day.
• When dining out, inform your server that you cannot have anything with flour, milk and sugar. Avoid saucy items on the menu as you cannot tell if mixes were added to it. As much as possible, order anything grilled or roasted with roasted vegetables or a salad (all gravies, sauces, and dressing on the side). It is understandable that you have no control over what goes into the marinade, so don’t sweat it but please skip the gravy especially if it contains flour. If the dressing contains sugar, ask for a lemon wedge instead.

EXERCISE:

• CrossFit minimum requirement first month: 3x a week (at least one on the weekend).
• CrossFit minimum requirement second month: 4x a week (at least one on the weekend).
• Mandatory: 2 days rest per week (doing absolutely ZERO workouts). I recommend fasting a bit on rest days. Do NOT eat if not hungry.

Points per week: 50

Bonus points:

• No cheating (including dark chocolate, alcohol AND coffee) per week = +10
• Eight hours sleep within a 24-hour period = +2 per night

• Rx CrossFit = +1 for 4x, +2 for 5x (Second month: no extra points for 4x a week but +1 for 5x.)

Minus Points:

• Zero exercise = -10 points
• < Rx CrossFit (1-2x per week) = -3 points
• < Rx rest = -10 points
• Consuming ANYTHING with gluten (including beer) = -50 per incidence
• Consuming ANY of the five major culprits = -50 per incidence
• Consuming legumes, beans, corn, soy, dairy, sugar = -5 per incidence
• Consuming more than the concession for alcohol = -5 per evening

If Rosan scores anything lower than 200 points in a month, she will owe me a bottle of Ketel One Vodka and Patron XO for that month.

If she drops out for any reason before December 10, she owes me dinner AND wine at Malcolm’s and I will be ordering the Bistecca a la Florentina and more. It will hurt. I’ll make sure of that.

If she extends her challenge up to the time she leaves for Koh Samui, umm… well, she won’t be winning anything from me but I am still willing to monitor her progress. We can begin adding a few things to her diet to see how her body reacts to them.

Good luck, Rosan!