“Life After WLC”

(Starting Out, Getting Fit, Finding Sanity and the 80/20 Approach to Staying Healthy for Life)

We have some questions for you… What was your motivation for starting Crossfit? Why are you even contemplating eating better? Many of us have life changing moments… like turning 30. After this milestone, the thought of “I can eat whatever I want and it won’t matter” went away with the “Ah-ha moment” of all of “I kinda hate myself” after a day of eating delicious, high-carb, greasy food with beer or wine. For many of us, that invincibility of our 20s is sadly over.

So, CrossFit…I remember feeling bored with working out on elliptical machines, expecting results, and feeling frustrated from exercises that were boring, low intensity, and the same all the time. Even though it was a mindless break, I started to wonder if someone could really get a great workout while reading People magazine.

It was Einstein who described insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. First the whines… CrossFit is hard, it’s intense, it can make you really sore…etc. Yes, BUT, you actually sweat, you are getting fitter, faster and stronger and it keeps you coming back for more. How many times have you come into CFP, no one talks to you and there is a People magazine waiting to accompany you on a 30 minute slow row??

So, the first part of the getting fitter journey is getting to the gym consistently. At CFP, there are many options… kettlebells, Olympic weightlifting, Crossfit, endurance training. All of these options can be combined and focused on at different points in your path to wellness. Many are already doing this consistently and are wondering what the next step is in getting results. So, the next step: Nutrition.

Maybe you have already had that “ah-ha” moment and are ready to look at diet. First, the whines… wait, no wine? Eating clean is hard work, and it’s kinda not fun at first. Limiting sugar and convenient, easy carb choices in pretty colorful packages… WTF?! Eating well does take some work. Lets focus on some principles and look at a place to start on the journey of better nutrition.

Things to contemplate and research for yourself:

• Fat does not make you fat

• Sugar, in its many forms, makes you fat

• Grains, whole or otherwise, are just sugar in a brown wrapper

• Obesity is one of many side effects of underlying disease, brought on by bad nutrition

• Body composition change must come from nutrition

• Don’t expect that working out hard will balance out poor nutrition

• Read up on Paleo, Zone, or Paleo and Zone- including food bloggers with great recipe ideas out there on the web and in literature. Find something that is going to work for you.

Ok, where do you begin… How do you find some sanity in the insanity? It can be very overwhelming to be 100% perfect all the time. Eating clean all the time can make you into a crazy person. So, we challenge you to think about the 80/20 rule… a method of finding some sanity in the insanity. Eat clean 80% of the time. That other 20% is up to you. Over the long term, the most important factor to successfully implementing good nutrition in your life is finding your own balance. How strict are you during that 80%? What do you eat during that 20%?

Some pointers of how you can be successful:

• Dig deep and find out why you want to be fit. What is your motivation that brought you to the gym in the first place? Remember that every day.

• Spend time reading up on preferred Paleo foods. Make a list of the food you like. Don’t pay any attention to the food you don’t like.

• Only buy that food at the store. Eat that food and repeat.

• If you feel like crap, eat more fat! Good fat!

• Drink water like its your job!

• When you cheat, cheat well. Find those off limits foods that you will cherish and savor. (Chocolate, wine, beer, pizza…)

• Maintain a nutrition log. Better yet, share your log with a friend or with a Coach at CFP and let friends and Coaches keep tabs on you!

• Spend time developing the habits of healthy eating and cooking. Soon enough it will be second nature and will require very little thinking.

• Paleo foods don’t have to be boring! Expand your cooking horizons, buy strange vegetables and spices and try stuff out.

• Have fun! The quality of your life requires it.

So, we will close with the question: Where do you want to be? What are your performance goals? Are you happy with your body composition? Is that beer and pizza worth it? Once you know precisely where clean eating is on that nutrition curve, with alcohol and high carb, greasy wonderfulness at the other end, you need to decide for yourself where you want to be on that curve. Here’s our point: The cleaner you eat, the easier it will be to accomplish your goals.

Coach Jen Grenell