Crossfit and Paleo - One Week Completed

In an effort to get ready for boot camp in less than 2 months I joined a crossfit gym (which is conveniently connected to my current traditional gym). For months I had walked by the bay of windows behind which were ripped people sweating puddles and pushing enormous amounts of weight over their heads. It looked intense to say the least and I was intimidated. I think I just assumed that I wasn't fit enough to participate, but you know what they say about assuming. I quickly learned that each activity can be scaled to an individual's current ability. Can't do regular hanging pull-ups? Do them on the rings. Can't do push-ups on your toes? Do them on your knees. Can't lift 100 pounds? Just use the 15 pound bar - or a pvc pipe for that matter. Can't do one legged squats on your own? Use a box to balance. You're excuses are not welcome at CrossFit.

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I've been to about 6 classes so far at Balance CrossFit Thomas Circle in Washington, DC. I absolutely love it, regardless of the fact that after my first class it took me 3 days to be walk normally again. It's exactly what I needed. It's like personal training, but even better. The classes are pretty small (usually somewhere around 15 people) and everyone is very encouraging no matter what weight you're working with. Granted, it is pretty expensive-I paid $200 for the month-but I suppose taking care of your health and fitness should be considered an investment for life.

If you're looking for some inspirational CrossFit women I have done my fair share of You-tubing. Try watching the current CrossFit champion (a.k.a. the world's fittest woman), Annie Thorisdottir or fitness phenoms Kristan Clever and Katie Hogan. Miranda Oldroyd is also pretty inspirational. Those wall balls are no joke. I was pretty sure my legs were going to set on fire the first time I did them. I really like learning new things so weightlifting has been exciting to me. I still have a lot more to learn. Memorizing the names of all the different lifts is hard enough, let alone how to do them properly, but I'll get there.

Shortly after I joined CrossFit Balance I heard they were doing a 30 day Paleo Challenge. The Paleo diet has been dubbed the "Caveman Diet." As soon as I heard about it I knew I had to partake. I've had such a struggle with my sugar addiction that I thought putting $40 into a group challenge would inspire me to stick with a healthy lifestyle. You would think the need to get ready for boot camp would be enough inspiration, but even I can't begin to explain the rationalization that happens in my own brain. I'm no expert and there is certainly more to it than this, but the basics are that you can't eat any grains, dairy, starches (except sweet potatoes), refined sugar, or legumes. Thus, you end up eating a lot of veggies, fruits, eggs, and meat.

Paleo diet food pyramid. Source

I've made it through one week being really strict with the food aspect. I did however cheat by drinking alcohol two nights and sun-chips at a cook out (really, I caved to sunchips??). The first few days were hell. The nutritionist running the challenge says your body goes through detox the first week and I believe it. I'm pretty sure going from eating an entire box of Samoa girl scout cookies in one sitting to eating absolutely no sugar is enough to set your body into some serious withdrawal (we're talking drooling on yourself because your cousin sitting next to you on the couch is eating ice cream). For a funny, yet educational read from someone who just completed their 30 day Paleo challenge check out this blog post.

I've been eating a lot of these little scrambled egg and vegetable muffins. Source

I've had to spend a lot more money on groceries and more time actually preparing food rather than eating Lean Cuisines, but it's been worth it. After one week I've lost 4 pounds and definitely notice my clothes fitting better, as well as my body just feeling better in general. The challenge winner is whoever loses the most body fat percentage and I started at 23.9% so I'm hoping that 4 pounds lost the first week is a good sign, but I really have no idea - I'm just excited to be kicking my sugar addiction.

Keep challenging yourselves,