I have been asked this question many, many....many times since starting back with an exercise routine and changing my eating habits. I workout using the Crossfit exercise philosophy. What is Crossfit? This short video should give you a small idea of what it is like to call myself a Crossfitter
as you can see, Crossfit is NOT your average "go to the gym and ride a bike casually for an hour" workout. Crossfit is a high intensity, short bursts of energy type workout. Crossfit is also very unique in the fact the philosphy is that true fitness doesn't come just from mastering 1 or 2 aspects, but an all encompassing fitness. Crossfit seeks to further a persons fitness in the areas of
cardiovascular/respiratory endurance
stamina
strength
flexibility
power
speed
agility
balance
coordination
and accuracy
The way this is accomplished is thru short bursts of high energy focusing on full body involvement mixed with isolated mobility work and weight lifting.
One of the great things about the Crossfit workouts is its adaptability. I obviously am not able to run or do other things that a standing individual can, but the workouts are easily scaled and adapted to get the same amount of physical involvement while considering a persons individual physical limitations, as well as working on those limitations to minimize them.
The other half to this topic is my eating habits. When people hear that I eat like a caveman on the paleo diet, they think i'm gonna bust out my wooden club and loin cloth. :). However funny this would be, it is not what I mean. Here is the wikipedia article on my eating changes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo_diet
For those of you NOT wanting to spend your entire day reading that article, let me sum up. Basicly the thinking goes like this...
all the way up to the paleolithic period man normally consumed a diet that consisted mostly of meat, veggies, nuts and some fruits. The main idea being that if a hunter/gatherer wouldn't have normal access to it, its not paleo. Mans metabolism evolved to best use this diet to enhance performance. Only recently, after man started to settle and no longer were largly hunter/gatherers did man start to consume wheat, dairies, gluten, grains and processed foods. With thousands of years of man almost strictly eating meats and veggies, the addition of wheat, dairy and other things listed above has not done good things for our metabolism and overall physical well being. There has even been some personal observation that I could be allergic to certain things i've been consuming for years, like wheat, so the exclusion of these things from my diet seems to be having a positive effect on my overall health, not just the weight loss. I know there will probably be alot of people telling me that I need to add this, that, or the other into my diet, but let me just say that this seems to be working and I have alot of people who are well educated in this and who promote this way of eating. some might say "well, you need grains to help break this down" or similar statements, and let me say that 1. there are many ways to do one thing and 2. I do have my cheat day. I do not strictly follow the eating habits all day, every day. I still enjoy my rice, or pasta, or bread or even a nice, juicy burger thats chalk-full of additives. I just wait to consume those things once a week to cut down on my overall intake of those things.
so, next time you ask me "what is that?" I will know...you didn't read my blog!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Here I go....again.
Watch this video before you read on, please.
Hi everyone!
I am starting this blog to document my weightloss and strength training progress and getting altogether better health. For some of you this blog, especially this entry, will be a repeat of some things you already know. I hope you still join me in my journey back to better health. For the rest of you...Hang on for the ride :). I want to start just by telling you a little bit about myself.
Most of my life was spent being raised on 100 acres in the south hills of Reno, NV. I explored just about every inch of those hills - on horseback, in 4 wheel drive vehicles, on a bike, and by my own power. I was a very active kid. I did martial arts, skied competitively, and played sports. When I was 16 I trekked to the top of Mt. Rose, a local mountain in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas area with a summit of 10,777 Ft. by the way....I'm in a wheelchair. I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida causing paralysis from my knees - down but, as you can see, it didn't stop me. at 19 I officially moved out on my own, and that is where the trouble began. I sustained an injury to my left shoulder, I stopped skiing, and altogether wasn't as active. I met a woman a few years later and we would marry in June of 2009. I started to get very upset with my lack of physical ability. I had once been the fastest thing on a sit ski (okay, not really, but a boy can dream, can't he? :) ) and now it hurt to raise my arm in the wrong position. My uncle - in -law opened up a gym, Crossfit initiative, and I was encouraged....so I started to go. The first 4 weeks consisted of an intro just to get me used to the workouts and then I was to go into the regular classes...well, I failed. I finished my intro 4 weeks and then quit. My job was stressing me out, the wife and I were down to 1 car, and everything seemed to be fighting against us...but I realize now those were just me trying to justify my fears and not go back....and thus, the title of this blog "what is YOUR excuse?" cause, ya see...I am back at Crossfit initiative. I talked to my uncle, who gave me a killer deal on it and I couldn't refuse. I had to do it this time and not give up. I had to do it for me, for my wife, for my sanity. I've been internalizing a struggle for some time about not being able to do the things I used to, especially now that I would love to share those experiences with my wife. I want to ski with her, hike with her, and just be healthy with her. Part of my goal in writing this blog is to keep myself accountable...to my wife, to my family, to my uncle and others at the gym and to myself. I need to be proactive in attaining health again and part of that is trying to get my thoughts, fears, and struggles down into this blog. I will no longer find excuses to not be healthy for me and my wife - I REFUSE to use excuses. Money may be tight sometimes, time might not be on my side, and lifes many struggles may arise, but there is always time to get back into better health. I once was told that time is not found, it is made...if you want to do something bad enough, you will make the time to do it - be it working out, or eating right, or cooking at home, or spending more time with your spouse and family, or spending more time with God, you will make time. NO EXCUSES!
Hi everyone!
I am starting this blog to document my weightloss and strength training progress and getting altogether better health. For some of you this blog, especially this entry, will be a repeat of some things you already know. I hope you still join me in my journey back to better health. For the rest of you...Hang on for the ride :). I want to start just by telling you a little bit about myself.
Most of my life was spent being raised on 100 acres in the south hills of Reno, NV. I explored just about every inch of those hills - on horseback, in 4 wheel drive vehicles, on a bike, and by my own power. I was a very active kid. I did martial arts, skied competitively, and played sports. When I was 16 I trekked to the top of Mt. Rose, a local mountain in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas area with a summit of 10,777 Ft. by the way....I'm in a wheelchair. I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida causing paralysis from my knees - down but, as you can see, it didn't stop me. at 19 I officially moved out on my own, and that is where the trouble began. I sustained an injury to my left shoulder, I stopped skiing, and altogether wasn't as active. I met a woman a few years later and we would marry in June of 2009. I started to get very upset with my lack of physical ability. I had once been the fastest thing on a sit ski (okay, not really, but a boy can dream, can't he? :) ) and now it hurt to raise my arm in the wrong position. My uncle - in -law opened up a gym, Crossfit initiative, and I was encouraged....so I started to go. The first 4 weeks consisted of an intro just to get me used to the workouts and then I was to go into the regular classes...well, I failed. I finished my intro 4 weeks and then quit. My job was stressing me out, the wife and I were down to 1 car, and everything seemed to be fighting against us...but I realize now those were just me trying to justify my fears and not go back....and thus, the title of this blog "what is YOUR excuse?" cause, ya see...I am back at Crossfit initiative. I talked to my uncle, who gave me a killer deal on it and I couldn't refuse. I had to do it this time and not give up. I had to do it for me, for my wife, for my sanity. I've been internalizing a struggle for some time about not being able to do the things I used to, especially now that I would love to share those experiences with my wife. I want to ski with her, hike with her, and just be healthy with her. Part of my goal in writing this blog is to keep myself accountable...to my wife, to my family, to my uncle and others at the gym and to myself. I need to be proactive in attaining health again and part of that is trying to get my thoughts, fears, and struggles down into this blog. I will no longer find excuses to not be healthy for me and my wife - I REFUSE to use excuses. Money may be tight sometimes, time might not be on my side, and lifes many struggles may arise, but there is always time to get back into better health. I once was told that time is not found, it is made...if you want to do something bad enough, you will make the time to do it - be it working out, or eating right, or cooking at home, or spending more time with your spouse and family, or spending more time with God, you will make time. NO EXCUSES!
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