I Eat to Live

Here we go again.  I've blogged before about eating, weight loss and working out, and yet here I am doing it again.  The gym that I go to, Crossfit Pittsburgh, entered a 9 week Paleo team challenge.  Since I just started to get back into a routine of dropping the kids off at school and heading down to the "box", I begged off the challenge.  I'm not particularly competitive and I especially didn't want to let anyone down.  See, we've created a delicate balance at home concerning Trey.  Right now, today, he's doing fabulous.  Who knows what's going to be happening next week, month, tomorrow?  I didn't want to commit to a team challenge if I wasn't going to be able to hold up my end of the bargain.  But, my sweet friend Jenn called and said simply that she wanted me on the team with her regardless of the outcome.  How can I say no?  So, I signed my life away up.

Strangely, though, this challenge presented itself at the exact time that I had been lamenting to Jay that I needed something to kick my (ever growing) butt into gear.  This past year, my size has fluctuated about 10 pounds either way several times.  Some people eat to comfort themselves during stressful times.  I don't eat at all during these times.  Then, when I feel better, I make up for the lack of appetite by eating...everything.  Not healthy.  And right now, I'm just not comfortable, especially since I know what to do to be in shape.  When I had to go into my bin labeled "pre and post pregnancy clothes" for the next size up in jeans, I knew something had to change.   Do you need something in a size 2?  I have it.  Size 16?  Yep, that too.

Another factor holding me back from initially signing up is that I just don't care about food.  That's it.  I don't want creative or fancy.  I don't want to spend time cooking or shopping or preparing food for just me.  I could seriously eat the same thing everyday.  By 'the same thing', I mean processed, easy to make, comes in a box type food.  I own the phrase "I eat to live" not "I live to eat".  A couple of years ago, I did The Zone diet and had really amazing results!  But, sadly, that only lasted a few months.

What is Paleo?  Some people call Paleo the 'caveman diet'.  Basically (in THE simplest form), Paleo is eating only the things a caveman would eat.  Lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts and eggs.  No dairy, carbs, processed food or sugar.  As per this challenge, I must adhere to a strict Paleo diet, record my before and after pictures and measurements, and 3 'benchmark' workouts (I do 3 different workouts for time at the beginning of the challenge, then do the same 3 workouts for time at the end of the challenge and calculate the improvement)

So, here's where it's gonna get real. In the pictures I'm going to post below (be nice!), I'm wearing a pair of skinny jeans that I wore comfortably in the summer of 2011.  They're not so comfy now, but I hope they will be!!!

Please be kind!  And, check back to see how this challenge goes.  After these pictures, could it get worse?