The Diet

That word has such a bad connotation. Images of starving yourself, of eating things that you don't really want to, and for all intensive purposes, things that don't even taste good. There are tons of diets out there. Atkins, South Beach, Biggest Loser, there's even a banana diet. Google it...they love it in Japan. But diet shouldn't be a word we dread. A diet, after all, is a plan. We have plans for other areas of our lives. We have a budget for our finances. We have a calendar for our social lives. We have wills for after we pass. And we all recognize that if we don't have a plan for those areas they will suffer. But rarely do we have a plan for what we eat. We as a country are suffering. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity are just to name a few of the food-related illnesses we suffer from. Not to mention we are the second-most obese state in the nation. You could safely say that not having a plan for what we eat is spreading into an epidemic. I encourage everyone to watch this this video from chef Jamie Oliver. It truly is mind-blowing to realize that not only are we slowly killing ourselves but we are also setting a horrible example for the next generation. And what's crazy is that these diseases are preventable, but not without a plan. There are many things that I love about my box (name for Crossfit gyms), Iron Tribe Fitness, and one of those things is how they encourage every athlete to get in charge of their nutrition. And they have made every effort to afford everyone at Iron Tribe the information to successfully implement a plan for their nutrition. This is where I learned about The Paleo Diet. This diet consists of eating meat, vegetables, some fruit and nuts. No gluten. No dairy. No sugar. And I will preface this by saying that yes, this is not an easy diet. And this is where planning comes in handy. I have learned many times over the past year that if I don't have a plan for my diet, I will definitely fail. But a little planning goes a long way and the gains are worth every minute of planning. My goal with this blog is to make planning for The Paleo Diet a tad bit easier. I will be posting Paleo recipes as I go along. Please let me know if you try anything you like and feel free to e-mail me suggestions and recipes. I hope this blog will be a tool to encourage and inspire you along your Paleo way. Also if you want to learn more about The Paleo Diet I would highly suggest reading Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution".

"Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are."
~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Ideology

Passion.  It's what drives every human being.  Without it we live our lives merely wandering; allowing other people or even our own circumstances to make a path for us instead of blazing our own trail.  I will be the first to admit that, to a certain extent, I have lived parts of my life wandering instead of making my own way.  I tend to be a laid-back, go-with-the-flow type which can be both a blessing and a curse.  Don't get me wrong, I have a great life.  I have an amazing husband, a happy and healthy family.  I've been blessed with incredible people to do life with and I know I am the apple of God's eye.  But there are few things in life, aside from the aforementioned, that get me really excited.  True, passionate excitement.  Something that gives me energy, makes me giddy even.  I truly feel that I have stumbled upon something, an ideology if you will, that is not only life-changing but it's life-blazing.  It all started when I met a man in a grocery store who had recently opened a Crossfit gym only seconds from my house.  I had walked by the gym but was too intimidated by the unfamiliarity of the objects I saw inside to ever stop in.  After talking to Forrest that day in Piggly Wiggly, he had convinced me to at least stop by to check it out.  Knowing nothing about Crossfit, I marched into Iron Tribe Fitness totally looking the part.  I had my workout gear on, which by the way had not been worn in quite some time.  That February morning I was introduced to my first WOD.  For those unfamiliar, WOD stands for Workout Of the Day.  After a mere 10 minutes I was lying on the floor wondering why these people wanted to torture me.  I was hooked.  I know it sounds strange but something ignited me when I did this WOD.  It was intense and extremely tough, but something was sparked.  Little did I know that that spark was the passion that I would soon acquire for, of all things, a workout routine.  I've been doing Crossfit now for almost a year and I haven't looked back.  I look forward every day to the punishment my body will receive in the WOD.  It sounds abnormal to want to put myself through that, not to mention doing it on a daily basis.  But every time I walk into ITF that spark ignites again.  I look forward to pushing myself beyond what I think I can't do, and doing it.  It's uncomfortable, it's demanding and I love it.  This blog is dedicated to my journey through Crossfit, and living my life as prescribed.


                                                    "When you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn."
                                                                                                                                            ~ John Wesley