Starting Out

This blog is meant to document two of my goals.  Both are related to health and fitness.  The first is to document my life on the paleo diet.  The second is to complete all the Crossfit Girl's Benchmark and Hero workouts as Rx'd before March 5th.  Most people who are not interested or familiar with the Paleo diet or Crossfit will find this blog alien and excruciatingly boring.  Those that are familiar with the diet and with Crossfit will simply find this blog excruciatingly boring.  It is an attempt on my part to motivate myself by stating my goals publicly.  Or at least theoretically publicly, since it is likely that only myself and my wife will follow it. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the paleo diet, the concept is simple.  The idea is to eat a diet as similar as possible to the diet of our paleolithic ancestors.  We are genetically identical to them and therefore evolved just as they did to eat certain foods.  These foods did not include what most of us are currently eating and have been eating since the Agricultural Revolution occurred some 10 or 12 thousand years ago.  Namely, grains, dairy, refined sugar and legumes.  So yes, that means I do not eat bread, rice, potatoes (too starchy), any sweets, beans, milk, or cheese.

The "why"?  What sparked all this regarding diet?  A bout of chronic sinusitis and 3 sinus infections in six weeks.  The doctor's best response was to prescribe drugs, which I have been on for a year.  Finally a strikingly simple thought occurred to me:  there has to be a better way.  Do I have to take these drugs for the rest of my life?  Is this as good as it gets?

So I came across Rob Wolf's website.  He and others believe that many of our ailments are brought on by our diet high in sugar, starch, grains, and dairy.  The answer:  replace these foods with lean meats, vegetables, and fruits.  So I figured, what could be the downside?  My goal became to cure my sinus problems with the Paleo diet.  I've been ~85% strict Paleo for three weeks.  My weight is the same but I'm leaning out and gaining muscle.  I'm also sleeping much better.  And the constant drainage in my sinuses is better.  Some would claim it is due to my exercise regimen, but I was doing similar workouts when the whole sinus problem arose 15 months ago.  So far, so good. 

More on my next goal later.