Getting started on a new project is often the most exciting and scariest part. There's enthusiasm for the potential of what you might be able to accomplish, coupled with a fear of the unknown: What am I getting myself into? What am I doing? Can I even do this? Though I'm referring at this moment to the act of blogging, those emotions, those questions, apply to so many new aspects of my life - my new(ish) job, my new diet, my new fitness routine. And a large part of this journey is about building the confidence to embrace those new challenges, to stop questioning my ability and just dive in. I suppose, though, before I start revealing all my squishy tender feelings, I should begin with an introduction.
PALEO DIET
In June 2010, I graduated from college. After three weeks in Europe, I began my first full-time job, working in a windowless closet for corporate America. I loved my job; I was learning a ton, I was being challenged, and I was working with intelligent and driven people who respected what I was bringing to the table. I was happy - but my body wasn't. Over the following months, I began to suffer from a variety of health complaints, striking all over my body without any apparent connection. I went through a number of tests - blood work, MRIs, ultrasounds, physicals, even a colonoscopy - and was rewarded with a pair of diagnoses: PCOS and IBS, code for "We're not really sure what's wrong, but these diseases match your symptoms." My doctors prescribed a couple of medications to help deal with my symptoms, but I wasn't convinced: Surely two unrelated conditions wouldn't hit simultaneously; surely there was some underlying factor contributing to my health problems.
I had initially rejected my diet as the problem. I'd been a vegetarian for four years, and I took in a balanced diet of protein (in the form of tofu, tempeh, egg whites, beans and protein bars that tasted like candy), fruits, vegetables, occasional whole grains and few fats. Yet the failure of my doctors to help me figure out what was going wrong led me to reconsider the one thing I had always taken for granted: my "healthy" diet. My brother, who has Crohn's disease, had been eating a "paleo" diet for over a year and had not had a flare-up of his disease since. My 50-something dad had gone paleo in November and had, without trying and while increasing his calorie consumption by around 700 per day, lost about 12 stubborn pounds of fat. Maybe it was worth at least looking into this diet and considering the evidence. I borrowed Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution from my dad and read it mostly while on the exercise bike at my local gym. A few chapters in, I was convinced by Robb's prescription of a grain-, legume-, dairy-and sugar-free diet. I decided to try a "modified paleo" diet for myself.
It would be easy enough to cut grains. I ate few dry carbohydrates as it was, and those were mostly reserved for Luna and Zone bars. Dairy wasn't a problem: I'd become lactose intolerant around July 2010 and had cut all dairy from my diet. Legumes and sugar, though - that might be a problem. My vegetarian diet centered around getting sufficient protein from soy-based tofu and tempeh. I supplemented those protein sources with lentil and black bean soup and egg whites for breakfast. If I cut out legumes, I wouldn't have any protein left. It was time for me to make a decision: Was I going to stick with the diet that had seemingly been working for me for years and that fell neatly in line with my moral opposition to causing unnecessary suffering? Or could I consider that the animal that was currently suffering as a result of my dietary restrictions was me and prioritize my own health in the hopes of getting better? I decided to compromise: I would keep my diet land animal free, but I would try introducing seafood and see how that affected me. I ate fairly close to paleo for a month, without the digestive issues that had been plaguing me. I then went away for a long weekend, eating a good deal of tofu, some grains, some other legumes and some sugar - and I felt awful. Doubling over in stomach pain awful. It was then that I decided to fully commit to my pescetarian paleo diet.
CROSSFIT
Another side effect of my newly sedentary lifestyle has been a gradual upward creep of my weight. Going from being a college student, one who moved around a decent amount and used foot-power as my primary form of transportation, to an office drone has definitely contributed to my packing on the pounds. In late January, I called my old trainer from my high school athlete days and said, "Tim, I'm getting fat. Can you kick my ass into shape?"
I showed up at the gym in February, ready for a comfortable combination of cardio and weight machines or lifting. Tim greeted me with a hug, then said, "We're a Crossfit gym now." I'm pretty sure my face visibly dropped. I knew a bit about Crossfit from my Brazilian jiu-jitsu-practicing brother, who had told me I should look into it for a solid workout; I'd done enough research to decide that those people were crazy and their intense workouts were not my style. Sitting in Tim's office, though, it was too late to back out - I had driven 40 minutes from my house to see him, and I couldn't exactly say, "Thanks but no thanks" and turn around. So Tim, as requested, kicked my ass. I don't remember what we did during that workout - suffice to say that it was pathetically scaled down for me and that I could barely walk for the following week. Despite the soreness and the minor embarrassment, I went back, trusting Tim's method, since he was the one trainer I had found to be most motivating over my years as an athlete. I could only see Tim once every other week, though, and while I fell in love with Crossfit, it did not appear to reciprocate.
In April, I was complaining to my brother about the difficulties of getting in enough workouts to make the money worthwhile. He told me that there was a gym ten minutes from my house, with a trainer he thought was pretty great. I started emailing Dan, my brother's contact and the owner of the local Crossfit affiliate, and after a few canceled appointments due to injury, illness and other engagements, I showed up at his box for a beginner bodyweight session with one of the other trainers. She put me through my paces, pushing me through a seemingly simple AMRAP that left me gasping for breath. At the end of my session, I talked to Dan, who said that he'd been watching me and thought that I had good form and decent strength; I could probably get started in the regular classes within a couple of weeks if I wanted. I asked, "What about this Tuesday?" not wanting to miss out on another of the killer main class workouts that I'd seen him coaching that night. He agreed to come up with a scaled version for me and help me through it; a week later, I did my first RX Crossfit WOD and was completely hooked on my new gym.
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