Adventures in Eating Well

My CrossFit affiliate, the awesome CrossFit New England, began a summer shape-up challenge on March 1. From March 1 till July 1, participants keep a food journal, eat well, sleep well, take their fish oil, stretch daily, and, of course, workout at CFNE. Winners get stuff – I don’t really care what the “winners” get, since I’m not in it to win it for that purpose. Nope, I’m in it to try to see what eating even more healthy will do for me, my body, and my mental well-being. Now this isn’t something I could have easily done if Amy weren’t on-board. Why? Well, she’s the main (exclusive?) cook in our household, to the point where I wonder how I fed myself between ages 22-32! But Amy IS on-board, and even joined CFNE last week, so off we go on a grand adventure!

The “eating well” in this case involves eating the following foods:

• lean meats
• fish
• eggs
• almost all vegetables
• fruits
• nuts and seeds
• good oils and fats

It does not involve eating these:

• grains
• legumes (peanuts and soy) and starchy veggies (potato: I’m looking at you)
• dairy
• processed crap
• beer (sigh) and most other alcohol

Fortunately for me, I had a doctor’s appointment right before this began and I had (among other things) my cholesterol level checked, so I’ll go back and get it checked in July to see if eating differently makes any difference. I know when people propose cutting grains out of their diet the initial comeback is “BUT YOUR CHOLESTEROL!” So. My cholesterol will be checked again at the end of these 4 months, and then and only then will I listen to that particular concern (if it’s even necessary).

As a start to our adventure, last weekend Amy and I a.) binged on all the processed crap we weren’t going to eat come March 1 and b.) cleaned out and re-arranged our kitchen cupboards. The binge probably wasn’t a great idea, but it did clear some space in the freezer (oh Trader Joe’s frozen pizzas, you are a thing of my past…) The cleaning out and re-arranging was incredibly helpful, though. Now when we open our main food cupboard, we see a variety of nuts and seeds (pecans, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, sunflower seeds, pepitas, pine nuts), almond butter, shredded unsweetened coconut, tuna, artichoke hearts, some prepared Trader Joe’s “Indian Fare” that adheres to the eating-well principles, Larabars, and a few cans of no-salt-added/no grains/all veggie soups. Gone are: crackers, chips, cereal, mac&cheese, pasta, rice, cookies, and other sweets. The fridge didn’t take much cleaning out or re-arranging – with the exception of eating down the cheese drawer and finishing off the last of the milk and cream. We have always been pretty big on keeping mostly fresh stuff in there.

You might be wondering how it’s going, now that we’re one week in. I have to say: for me so far, great! (I’ll let Amy chime in for herself in the comments.) I apparently don’t mind drinking my coffee black, which surprised me more than you can imagine. I’m loving trying out new ways of cooking eggs and new things to have with it in the mornings. So far my favorite was the big 87-veggie-scramble from Saturday morning, although a hard-boiled egg, a sliced apple, and a glob of almond butter works too. I found a use for all the frozen nearly-rotten bananas in the freezer too: smoothies! Frozen banana, various other fruit, dollop of almond butter or unsweetened coconut, blend, and enjoy…  I’m looking forward to trying to make almond-flour pancakes next weekend. My lunches haven’t changed dramatically – no longer do I bring string cheese, but that’s about the main change. Today’s lunch was what I think will be typical: romaine lettuce with 2 varieties of tomatoes and pecans covered in a homemade dressing of olive oil, lime juice, and red pepper flakes, a hard-boiled egg, and a blueberry/mango/grape salad.

Where this has been really fun so far, though, is with dinner.  Amy really does our menu planning and the bulk of the cooking, based on recipes I find in magazines and online. Last weekend she went through the pile of recipes and pulled out all the ones that fit the eating-well guidelines or could easily be adapted to fit them. And then we talked some and I compromised on some things (yes, I’ll eat more fish even though I piss and moan about it and claim not to like fish that isn’t served raw and on a piece of rice with soy sauce and wasabi next to it; yes, I’ll participate more in the kitchen endeavors) and we set off. Here are some of the things we’ve had so far:

• grilled steak salad with hearts of palm, orange sections, and a mustard dressing
• sauteed chicken with raw fennel and tangerines on a bed of spinach, avocado slices on the side
• steamed tilapia on a bed of lettuce smothered in diced mangoes and a honey-lime dressing
• hearty winter vegetable soup with diced chicken (adapted by substituting cauliflower for potatoes and chicken for chickpeas)

My first eating-out experiment went well too. I ordered a burger (okay, not super-lean, but as close as I could get at a pub to lean) with sauteed mushrooms on it. There was actually an option to get it sans bun, avec salad, so I ordered that. It came with a gigantic mixed green salad and a three-bean salad on the side. The beans are legumes, but I elected to eat them instead of fries and feel like it was a much better choice overall. I admit, cutting out beer will be next to impossible. I just like it too much. And yes, I had one when we went out this weekend. However, I will limit when I drink it – likely either after soccer on Fridays or some one time on the weekend. No more dinnertime beers for me, alas… whatever shall we do with the beer fridge in our basement?

So we’ll see how this all goes and I’ll report back periodically. And when July rolls around I’ll see if my doctor will recheck my cholesterol and I’ll report of that as well. My hope is that in July I’ll feel better physically and mentally, and I’ll lose a little weight and get faster and stronger in the gym and at hockey. Wish me/us luck!

Where are the lesbian CrossFitters?

Apparently tribes don’t have sub-tribes.

Here’s the thing: lesbians tend to befriend other lesbians. There are in-jokes and there’s culture and obviously there needs to be a manual for those who are newly out so they aren’t quite so clueless when hanging out with lesbians who’ve been out longer than them.

Here’s the other thing: CrossFitters tend to befriend other CrossFitters. There are in-jokes and there’s culture and obviously there needs to be a manual for those who are new CrossFitters so they aren’t quite so clueless when hanging out with folks who’ve been CrossFitting longer than them.

You’d think there would be a subculture within either group that would encompass the other, wouldn’t you? Well, I can’t find it. And I’m frankly baffled.

Case in point in terms of not being able to find anything: the two threads on gay Crossfitters over on the Crossfit forums were closed, apparently because people kept fighting and arguing (mostly it was trolls who don’t “approve of” the “gay lifestyle” who came in and picked fights, and the LGBT folks and allies engaged.). Now sexuality – well, specifically non-heterosexuality – is lumped with religion and politics as verboten topics over there. Just lovely. I sooooo enjoy being a banned topic. Googling turned up very little, other than the fact that most Crossfit gyms don’t update their blog software enough (holy disgusting link spam in the comments…) and that the term “gay” is still used as a very common insult. Sigh.

So I put this out there: are they any other LGBT CrossFitters out there, other than the 3 I know at my affiliate?

Success!

Guess who did her first pullup today?

If you guessed Lisa from CFNE, you’d be right. And if you also guessed me, you’d STILL be right. Yup, we both got our first pullups within about a minute of each other. Amazing what a little rest will do for a woman’s body…

CrossFit Accomplishments through October 2009

In seven weeks:

• I went from being winded after running 200m and having to slow to a walk in a 400m to running an entire 1600m without walking!
• I am significantly more flexible, as evidenced by the “V-sit” stretch we do at the beginning of each workout.
• I can do a 1-abmat handstand pushup (if I want more than 1 rep, I use 2 abmats).
• Double-unders (jumping rope and having rope pass under your feet twice for each jump) have gone from 0 reps to 10-15 reps consistently.
• I get antsy if I don’t work out at least 4 times a week OTHER than playing hockey and soccer.
• I have dropped close to 8 pounds.
• I feel healthier.
• I look better.
• I sleep better.
• I talk about CrossFit waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I used to and hockey a lot less. Although I still talk about hockey a lot.

On tap for this month:

• Drop some time off that 1600m (currently 9:02).
• Do a pullup.
• Double-unders up to 15-20 reps consistently.
• Wean myself off of doing pushups on my knees all the time.
• Rx a WOD.
• Lose a little more weight.
• Continue working out at least 4 times a week.
• Look better
• Feel better.
• Sleep better. Because goodness knows, the way this month looks, I’m going to need it.

I cannot say enough good about Crossfit. I listen to my body, but I push my body. I never knew what I had in me (I FREAKING RAN A MILE) and can’t wait to see what I can do next.

One Month of CrossFit at CFNE

Two months ago, I made a public commitment to getting into shape, so that I’m stronger at 40 (10 May 2011) than I was at 20. One month ago, I joined CrossFit New England. After a month, it seems like a good time for a bit of reflection on this journey.

First things first: I have blisters and callouses on my hands! A lot of people might view this as a bad thing, something to be avoided. I view it as a return to a different time in my life, a time in my life when I played on monkey bars and jungle gyms, when I could climb trees and not feel it the next day. This, perhaps more than anything, tells me that what I’m doing is good.

Next: I have run a mile two times now. For those of you who know me in person, you will understand the significance of this. My motto for years has been: I will run when someone chases me. Well, the person who is chasing me happens to be (with apologies to Dickens) the Ghost of Megan Future and I’m gaining on her, slowly.

Also: I am close to being able to do a real pullup. My goal for the month is to be able to do one, although I’d be even happier if I could do 2 or 3 in a row. When I watch all the other folks at the gym doing pullups I get a little bit jealous, but that jealousy motivates me to keep on trying, keep on trying.

More: I had no idea I could push myself this hard. Turns out that despite what I believed for years about how I “do” fitness (i.e. solo, self-directed), I was wrong. The way I took to hockey should have clued me in, and if that didn’t, the fact that I started playing indoor soccer last winter should have. But apparently neither of those things registered, and the other day I had this moment of thinking, “Holy crap! I LIKE to work out in a group, to cheer for other people, and to have them cheer me on, push me, tell me I do just one more.” Go figure.

And: I couldn’t have done any of this in a non-CrossFit setting. I’ve worked out before and know that when I do, I get into certain routines. With a routine, it’s easy to remember what to do, to not have to think about it. Of course, routine is a real buzzkill and what’s more, it is boring (thus decreasing the likelihood that I’ll keep it up). What I like about CrossFit is that I don’t have to decide what my workout is. I show up, the workout is on the whiteboard. Some of them look killer (and are), while some look easy (lies and deception, every time I think that). But the fact is, it’s easy for me to remember what to do at CrossFit without a routine, simply because someone else is thinking about what we’re going to do each day on everyone else’s behalf. The prescribed workouts may seem limiting, but for me, they’re totally freeing.

Finally: CrossFit really is a supportive community. I’ve met a lot of new people, the sorts of people I don’t see in my everyday life. First off, there are a lot of guys who work out there. I don’t spend a lot of time with men, working at a women’s college with well over half the employees in my division being women. Second off, I suspect that a large number of the people who work out there don’t share my educational level, sexuality, political leanings, and/or worldview. And you know what? It doesn’t matter, because what we’re all doing there is getting stronger, faster, and fitter. That’s the thing that unites us. And in the meantime, I just might expand my horizons a bit.

So you may be wondering: Has Megan drunk the CrossFit Kool-Aid? Well, I have, but not all of it quite yet. I’m a skeptic by nature, and there are parts of the CF philosophy that I’m still struggling with, particularly those parts around fuel for the body. I feel a need to do more research, to find evidence and data that the way many CrossFitters eat is rational when some of it is counter to what I’ve learned in the past. And really, I can only make so many changes in my life at once. Adding in 4-5 trips to the gym each week (from ZERO) is a lot to get used to. Try me in another couple of months and maybe I’ll have found my evidence and data, changed some more things about my life. And maybe not. But in a couple of months, I can tell you, I will still be going to CFNE and loving the way I feel.