If you know me, you know that my diet is very important to me. If you really know me, you know that's because I used to be built like the Michelin Man. Over 3 years of dieting has led me through all of the fads, supplements and miracle diets that you have all possibly considered. Not that they all didn't work- every step that I took was a big part of the transformation that I have been able to achieve. It was an evolution. I recommend that people should be Paleo if they want to be healthy... but I got to that understanding by reading literature, asking questions and trying it out.
I understand that when people see me, especially those that don't know me very well, they see a muscle-bound jock that likely daydreams about barbells all day (which is true). What they don't see is the fat kid deep down inside me that still has to decide whether or not to wear an undershirt to hide my rolls, because that's the kind of thing fat people worry about. So I cannot expect a reasonable person to fully understand my conviction when I explain why diet is so important; they don't get a time-lapse camera of me losing 90 pounds. I promise I can see the moment in the conversation when I start explaining why I don't eat grains and dairy, and their mind goes "Fu*k that, cheesecake". And I understand that, because I used to think like that.
I just feel like everyone should understand that this diet thing isn't easy. Not even a little bit. My closest friends all think that it's a walk in the park for me. Like I'm some sort of diet Jedi that can somehow make a daily serving rinsed tuna and raw almonds taste like the most decadent delicacy that Wonka could dream up. Trust me, I love all of the same foods you do, if not more-so. I used to make a ranch and bacon-bit dipping sauce for my stuffed-crust meat lover's pizza that I would eat the day before football games. Probably because I had some sort of vendetta against my heart for tricking me into falling for girls that wouldn't date me because I was fat.
But I saw the error of my ways (that's a much longer story), and through trial and error I have become a physically fit, healthy individual. But like I said, it was and still is a process... which is why I have decided to try a new philosophy: Intermittent Fasting. I am making this decision because I want to see a change. I want to be leaner, I want to be smaller and I want to be faster. I have done my research and I feel this might give me a pretty good chance. I have tried to explain my thought process to friends and fellow fitness folks, and I have already been met with the same questions- 1)What fat? You don't have any to lose, and 2) But isn't skipping meals (breakfast) unhealthy? To which I usually give a very convoluted answer, because I need to get a more firm grasp on the science. But trust me, I wouldn't be trying this if I didn't think it was healthy. And I definitely wouldn't be trying it if I thought it would hurt my CrossFit performance in some way.
Here are the basics - I'll still be Paleo, because I'm 100% on that. I will eat every day... this isn't a calorie restrictive diet. I will eat after I workout everyday from 1pm to 9pm, then fast until after my workout the next day. Also, I get to eat my normal amount of food in that eight hour window (which my inner fat-child is seriously pumped for). I absolutely do not think that it will be without it's downsides. Here are a few of the "side effects" I can look forward to over the next two-weeks:
- I will be very hungry in the AM for a couple weeks, which will lead to...
- General grumpiness - and I don't like that guy
- Sluggishness
- Moodiness
In order to see a change you have to make a change. I feel like this is where everyone falls off the boat in regard to diet. Consequentially, this is also the reason why people can get rich off of diet pills, shakes and exercise machines. If it was easy, everyone would have a "rockin' beach bod". Nope, the easy way isn't for me anymore. I have made the decision to punish myself into success. Call it what you want to call it; trial by fire, the path of most resistance, or as our fellow firebreathers say, choosing the wrench. IF might not work, and if that's the case I'll move on to the next idea. But until then I'm giving this all I've got.
Wish me luck.
