Eating Whole30 and Crossfit

I did it!  I finished my first goal of the year.  It was hard (going with out sugar).  It was easy (cooking light meals).  It was such a great thing for me to do.  It was an even better thing for David and I to do together!  We have grown so much closer this month.  Whenever you are working towards a goal, especially something hard, you draw closer because of it. 

We went to a class that our trainer at the gym taught about nutrition, especially talking about eating whole30.  It was very informative.  Whole30 is meant to heal your gut and reset your body.  I walked away learning a lot about what is healthy and what is not and why.  One thing I learned was that cows milk has a hormone in it that makes you crave more.  It is supposed to be there obviously so the baby wants to eat more and will grow.  Not so good for humans.  I also know that dairy hurts my stomach.  So that was not hard for me to give up.  David said he missed cheese and that was it.  Also while on the whole30 you don’t have to count calories (I hate that), wait for a certain time to eat, etc.  When you are hungry, eat!  I figured I could do that!  

So what can you eat while doing the whole30?  Meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts (no peanuts), olive oil, coconut oil, almond flour, coconut flour, etc.  It is not hard to follow.  The only hard part is not snacking on bad food (cause I like to snack) and staying away from sugar ( I love chocolate and ice cream and anything sweet!)  I really went to bed almost every night full!  Sometimes to full but always from eating healthy food!  Going to Restaurants was interesting.  No bread, no mashed potatoes, everything served on the side (dressing, butter, sour cream).  Always water to drink.  I always get water so that part wasn’t hard for me.  Having David do it with me made it SOOO much easier!

At the end of the 45 days we had a Paleo Potluck celebration.  Paleo is like whole30 but you can have the natural sugars like honey and pure maple syrup on Paleo (Just have to use in moderation or those sweet cravings will come back!).  There were so many yummy dishes everyone brought!  It was a really fun night and everyone did so great and lost weight and body fat.  A lot of other people also want to stick with eating Paleo.  It really made that much of a difference to their body!  One thing I noticed is that my face is a lot clearer.  I have not had any break outs while doing this.  The kids loved playing at the gym.  It was like a playground to them!

The other thing David and I have both become passionate about is Crossfit.  I have loved to exercise the last couple of years and setting goals to do races.  I will admit though, I was in a big rut!  I was bored with my at home workout DVD’s and just running wasn’t cutting it for me.  David talked me into joining a Crossfit gym.  I have loved it!  I am super competitive and so it is helpful to have others to work next to that push me.  I go in the morning and David will go at night.  If he gets home late then he will do a workout in our garage.  Saturdays are our days we go in together.  It has become something that we both look forward to.  Since I just started in November I know I am getting stronger every week.  David has been doing Crossfit for over a year and so he knows how fast some of his workouts are and how much weight he can lift.  Eating Whole30 has been amazing for him!  He has PR’d in almost every class the last month.  He has gotten faster and stronger and his recovery time has improved.  He gained 4 lbs of muscle while still losing weight doing Whole30.  I just can’t say enough good things that eating healthy and exercise has done for us!  (These pictures were taken by someone at Hermes Crossfit)

David started at 20.1% body fat.  He ended at 12.7% body fat!  He lost 12lbs, ending at 192 lbs. (He has never weighed that little our whole marriage!)

I started at 19.9% body fat.  I ended at 14% body fat!  I lost 8 lbs and I finally got those stubborn pounds off I have been fighting to get off since I stopped nursing Jenna a couple years ago!  I will record my weight for my record, not for everyone to judge and compare.  Everyone’s body makeup are so different.  I ended at 121 lbs.

David won the overall challenge out of everyone.  He also won the men’s pot of money and brought home $180.     I got 3rd place out of the girls and 6th overall.  My friend, Kate, won the women’s.  She lost 8%!!

       August 2010                                              January 1, 2013 (before whole30)

When David gets back from the Philippines we will take another picture of the “after whole 30”.  Even though I have lost weight I have not had as much of a drastic change.  So in a couple of months maybe I will post a “before and after” picture.  But here is an “after” before heading out to church.