A Personal Success Story

Day 10 of 30 – we are 1/3 through our journey and the top of the hill is in sight! I can manage things so much easier when I break them down: WODs, household chores, long car rides, anything. Today’s post was going to be about greens (hold on to your seats, that post is coming), but a few things happened yesterday that changed my mind.  Motivation sparks progress, and progress is our collective goal in this challenge.  I want progress for myself, but I am also feeling like a personal cheerleader for everyone else’s progress as well. 

Yesterday I received the same comment from 2 of my favorite people, whom I will allow to remain anonymous, about 15 minutes apart.  They both said, “I love reading your blog.  I don’t want to comment, because I don’t want it to sound wrong.  But I always have things I want to say.”  I CAN’T READ YOUR MIND! And I don’t really want to, because my brain is full enough of inane, random thoughts, thank you.  Every day I wonder if my post is going to help motivate someone and if my rants are serving the purpose for which they were intended.  I love how some of you are beginning to ask questions of others’ comments.  Keep them coming, the whole point of this website is to create a discussion board for those who are participating. 

The absolute best part of my day yesterday, even BETTER than my new PR by 15 lbs. in Clean and Jerk, was late afternoon when I received an email from Brianna, a new member at Crossfit Frederick.  She and her husband Matt joined the gym several weeks ago, and took on the Paleo Zone Challenge even though they were new to the whole Crossfit thing.   How can I say “They drank the Kool-Aid,” when Kool-aid is about the farthest thing from Paleo?  In her email, she summed up the benefits she’s received from the challenge, and described how she has already felt significant, progressive changes in her well-being.  She had several bullet points that she addressed, which I immediately felt compelled to share.

Her pantry is super-organized.  They took the drastic step of throwing out all the old, expired items that survived household moves and years on the shelf.  We all have those.  I’m pretty sure the molasses on the back top shelf in my pantry celebrated the Millennium with us.  She said she now has tons of room and can easily locate things.  And, as Geoff pointed out yesterday, you can add your super-organized Rubbermaid container collection to one of the shelves for easy organization and access. Brianna is so excited about her freedom from pantry excess that she wishes she actually took a Before picture.  Anyone up for that? If you are, send them to me at weirannie@gmail.com.  I’d love to see them because I’m a stalker of any type of Before and After picture.  She actually took her Rubbermaid plastic cereal containers, and turned them into Protein Powder containers. Organization!

Because her pantry and refrigerator are clean and organized, her trips to the grocery store have become easy and efficient.  Time in and out is quick, and her cart is only full of useful, fresh items.  She’s not wasting money on food she doesn’t need, shouldn’t eat, or won’t eat.  Chris and I were talking about this last night. We normally would take the boys out twice a week for fun food. One night out of appetizers and a meal would cost us between $90 and $150, depending on mine and Chris’ bar bill. I think I saw the owner of the New Market liquor store crying, wondering why his sales are down – he hasn’t seen us in 3 weeks.  Yes, fresh organic produce is more expensive, quality meat and lots of it is more expensive, but what is it replacing? She already knows that the food she buys will not be thrown away, become rotten, or recede to the back corners of Shelf #3 in her refrigerator, only to resurface months later in a completely different form. 

A week ago, she felt that eating large amounts of produce tasted bland, felt tortuous and was growing old.  I felt that way, and I’m sure you felt that way.  Through trial and error, she and Matt are discovering the veggies and seasonings they like and developing a routine of the vegetables they will eat.  There have been hits and misses in my kitchen as well.  Fortunately, Calvin the lizard likes all kinds of vegetables, so he gets a bonus meal with his crickets when I have a ‘miss.’  Yesterday, I bought spices at the Common Market that I’ve never bought before, (Fenugreek? Turmeric?) to make the most AMAZING West-Indian shrimp.  Although I love Caribbean food, it’s a style of cooking I did not take on until yesterday.  Experimenting with new flavors is a great way to vary your vegetable intake.  I just heard about a recipe for Cocoa Cauliflower, and I'm excited to give it a try.   

She tried Coconut Nectar for the first time, as part of her cheat meal, and said she liked the taste better than brown sugar.  I’ve used coconut products for two years now, and I agree.  But I was most excited that her cheat meal, whatever it was, stayed close to the Paleo guidelines.  I opted to skip my cheat meal last week, because I did not feel a specific need for it at that point.  This week will be different -- I will have a cheat meal later in the week.  But she did exactly what I plan to do, which is keep the cheat meal within boundaries.  I don’t want to completely undo my progress.  I simply want more meat, and probably a man’s portion of bacon.  My cheat meal will remain Paleo, but it will be a plate full of meaty deliciousness. 

Finally, she wrote that Robb Wolf’s book, The Paleo Solution, is keeping her entertained and motivated.  This book is excellent, well-written, informative, and a pleasure to read.  I’m reading it for the second time, and enjoying it as much as, if not more, than I did 2 years ago.  If you are planning to adopt a Paleo or even a Paleo-esque lifestyle, this book is a requirement on your shelf.  I have other Paleo books, but this is by far the best and most comprehensive. 

I hope that by sharing Brianna’s experiences, it motivates you.  Her gratitude and positive energy motivates me, and I’m thankful that it gave me one more day to figure out how write a post on Greens that is interesting, helpful, informative, and funny.