So about 3 months ago I joined a CrossFit gym near my house – with many reservations. CrossFit has become widely popular with a rather cult-ish following, and a membership does not come cheap. However, after attending a few classes with a friend and my boyfriend, I decided that the workouts themselves were legit enough to be worth a shot.

Another infamous part of the Crossfit culture is this “paleo” diet. Basically, you eat only real food (nothing processed) and cut out grains/carb-heavy foods. As a runner and cyclist, I’ve always laughed the diet off – unlike all these gym rats, I competed in “real” sports, and yeah, I need my carbs to perform.

That perspective hasn’t quite changed, but after a few months of seeing the benefits of strength work (rather than solely cardio), I’ve decided to give my gym’s 13-day strict paleo challenge a go. Yesterday (Saturday) was our kick-off, with the challenge starting today.

13 days. That’s practically nothing! I could do this, and finally stick it to all those paleo freaks. Those were my thoughts. So, I spent last night clearing out my pantry of anything non-paleo (ahem… I only had one bottle of olive oil and a can of peas left), and I hit the grocery store. I don’t think I’ve EVER EVER EVER left the grocery store with ONLY things that needed to be refrigerated or would expire. Loading up my fridge and seeing that empty shelf in the pantry was my first ah-ha moment: Wow, have I really been used to eating that much processed food?

Unlike some, who might choose to go crazy with their “last meal”, I actually kept everything pretty much paleo the day before the actual diet was to start.

That brings us to this morning. Before hitting up open gym (the strength class) at 11am, I chopped up an entire cucumber and ate sunflower seeds as well. Went, worked out, no problem. All is good.

Perhaps out of habit, as soon as I get back from the gym, I go reach for the box of cereal. Wait….. not there. Oh yeah, this whole paleo thing. Alright…. So I finished the cucumbers from this morning. And started cooking my real food.

Steak (YUM), sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Not going to lie, it was hard not to drench the broccoli in cheese, but I did it. Oh yeah, and only water for me.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten today… Wish me luck!