Now that I’ve sort of worked through the first part of
my road to health and fitness, I’d like to relate that to the Paleo lifestyle
challenge that I’m doing through my CrossFit box.
So to sort of pick up where I left off, I continued running
after college. I even ran a couple of marathons simply to find out if I could
finish. I also started reading healthy living blogs during this time, which
helped me to develop a good dose of perspective as well as build my repertoire
of healthy (or healthier) recipes.
Basically, I became obsessed (in a good way) with healthy living blogs. I began
to see that there is more than one definition of health and more than one
route to living a fit and healthy lifestyle. I was learning how to take the
good days with the bad and not worry if I didn’t run 6 days that week. I even started
mixing it up a bit by trying to incorporate workout DVDs a few times a week to
try to build more strength.
Then, last year for New Year’s Eve my husband (then fiancé) and
I went on a trip with a few friends. It was a very laid back trip, so we were
all just hanging out watching TV, recovering from a wild and crazy game of
drunken bananagrams from the night before, and we came across a CrossFit
competition. I was absolutely amazed at the sheer strength and power these
women possessed. I thought what they were doing looked freaking impossible (and
granted, it still is for me!), but I was intrigued. I was inspired by what they
were capable of. Then, through the course of the next year, I started seeing
more and more about CrossFit pop up on a lot of the blogs that I read. I also started
seeing more and more about the Paleo lifestyle as well. Because I had become so
interested in nutrition, and I still kind of thought CrossFit looked too hard
for me, I started looking in to Paleo a little bit deeper. I read Robb Wolf’s
book, The Paleo Solution, and I ordered Pracitcal Paleo
by Diane Sanfilippo, and I decided to give it a shot.
At the most basic level, my personal understanding of Paleo is that
human beings have not evolved as quickly as modern agriculture has. That being
said, we are not meant to or not able to properly digest grains and dairy and
sugars, let alone all of the crazy “ingredients” you’ll find in highly
processed “foods,” the consequences of which involve inflammation. And that
inflammation can make itself known in a variety of ways, none of which are fun.
I’m talking everything from acne to arthritis, bloating, cramping, and possibly
even a leaky gut (this stuff can actually put HOLES in your intestines). In
addition to inflammation, the SAD (Standard American Diet) wreaks havoc on your
blood sugar levels and insulin responses, which is what leads to those highs
and lows as far as hunger and energy levels, leading to a vicious cycle, which
could ultimately become type II diabetes. Again this is my personal
understanding of it, but it’s enough for me to want to make a change in what I
put in my body. I began to see that nutrition is much more significant in terms
of overall health than gaining or losing weight. (Seems obvious, I know, but I
was truly not aware of the depth of nutrition’s influence and the fact that
even something as harmless seeming as a bowl of oatmeal affects your body in
some way.)
So, armed with this knowledge, I was motivated to stick with
it and see if it made a difference in how I felt. Especially because, at the
time, I was dealing with some wonky GI issues that I wanted to try to resolve
using nutrition rather than medicine.
I did it for a while, and I do feel as though my GI issues lessened, if not
totally subsided. And initially, I only found it difficult when it came to
snacking. Then, for whatever reason, I just kind of stopped and slowly went
back to my old ways, processed food and all.
In the meantime, I actually got the balls to try CrossFit. I
started in November of 2012, and I’ve loved it so far! I know I still have a
long way to go, but I’m learning so much, and I’m so motivated to set new
goals. It’s an entirely different kind of challenge than running (obviously),
and I’ve never felt stronger. Plus the box I go to is really different. They
take the time to teach the specifics of proper form, and they want what’s best
for your body, even if it means strict pull-ups over kipping or kipping over
butterfly, because the long-term health of your shoulder is more important than
shaving a bit of time off your WOD.
I really trust my coaches, so when I saw that one of the
coaches was developing a nutrition program or “challenge” based on the Paleo
lifestyle, I knew it was the perfect way to get back to healthier eating and better
performance in the gym. Plus, it was a group challenge, so we’d have the
support of others as we all made the transition together. I’ve already posted a
bit about the basics of the challenge here. However, I’ve been getting some
mixed feedback. Basically, I’ve been getting a lot of comments from family and
friends about how restrictive Paleo seems and how they could never do it. And if I didn’t know the reasons or the why behind it, I would agree with them!
(What, not even oatmeal?! But that’s healthy, right?!) Plus, given my history
with running and restrictive eating, none of which is known by the people in my
life making the comments above, I can see how this could potentially lead down
a bad road.
However, because of this challenge, I have started to learn
how to really see food as fuel. I’ve learned about a good balance of
macronutrients for me and my body and my goals (which actually include wanting
to gain weight in the form of muscle!) I’m not shying away from healthy fats,
and I cringe when someone I love talks about making a healthy choice by going
for the low fat version of an already processed food. I’m eating more real food than I ever have before. The
only things I’ve been keeping in my pantry are the almond butter, nuts and
protein powder (which, yes, I realize this isn’t a “real food,” but I see it as
a supplement toward my goals). Otherwise, everything is coming from the fridge:
meats, veggies, fruit. I haven’t been perfect, but for me that’s not the point.
It’s to be better. To be the best version of me I can be. And so far, this
Paleo challenge has helped me to do just that.
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