October 11, Diet and health, allergies, intolerances, sensitivities....

Two years ago, while traveling in July, I've had a terrible rash on my legs that lasted for two months and was treated with high doses of cortison. Since I also had several digestive issues I decided to get some medical exams done. In September of that year I underwent a series of exams to figure out what caused the rash. We never found out and I had two minor outbreaks since that big one in July.

We did found out that I was extremely allergic to dust mite, pollen (trees and grasses) and cats, I was moderately allergic to raw tomatoes and hazelnuts, I had an inconclusive reaction to gluten and no dairy allergy. They also found out that I was on my way to getting hypothyroidism anytime soon.

Although I didn't have outbreaks anymore I had a (severe) migraine almost every week and breathing issues for which I had two inhalers. I wasn't doing CrossFit at that time but my boyfriend was. So in January of the next year, he wanted to do the paleo challenge at our box and I joined the challenge as well.

It was hard: I was a daily cheese and bread eater. I felt really bad the first week but it went better the next three weeks. And surprise surprise... no more migraines.

We have been on a semi-paleo diet ever since. We eat no dairy, no gluten, no preservatives... but we do eat rice, oatmeal and sometimes potatoes and beans. I have had several cheat moments: crisps, pizza, ... and most of the times when I have a cheat meal I feel bloated, tired ... and often the day after I have a migraine that lasts for a couple of days.

Adjusting my diet in combination with CrossFit helped me cut down on my inhalers. I'm only using one at the moment and not on a daily basis.

I know I'm not intolerant for most foods but there must a correlation between my health issues and my diet...

Something with burpees

On Saturday we celebrated the Swedish Midsommar Gille with some CrossFit Leuven friends. Although I didn't get home until 2 o'clock there was no reason not to workout the next morning. At the party it was really hard not to eat all the yummie Swedish food but I kept to my paleo diet and I didn't drink a drop of alcohol. I did splurge on sushi before the party though (whoops, not so paleo).

The WOD was:

AMRAP in 15 min of:
10 Burpees
10 Sumo deadlifts (225/155)
10 Russian KBS (70/53)

Burpees are my least favorite exercise! For some reason I just can't do them fast enough. 

The Sumo deadlifts (with 105 lbs) and the Russian KBS (with 45 lbs) were actually going very easy in comparison with the burpees. I managed to do 5 rounds and 7 burpees in 15 minutes.

10 day evaluation

So I've been following my strict paleo / crossfit regime for ten days now and I must admit that I haven't felt so good for a while (although I have trouble just walking after the Murph). I can't really say that my energy levels are up but mentally I feel great.

And let's not forget the main reason why I'm doing this: I want to get ready for swimsuit season. I'm happy to say that it is going in the right direction. I have lost 3,6 kg in 10 days. Pretty good result, isn't it? :D

First morning run... ever!

In 4 weeks the summer holiday begins and that is officially the beginning of bikini season... so it's time to pick up the pace and push my workouts to the next level.

From today onwards I will workout every day in some way, either at home, at the box or on the road. In combination with the paleo diet I should have some results by the end of June.

Since my work schedule is already pretty full I am creating a new time slot in the morning before work.

Today was day 1 and we went for a morning run. It had been six months since my last run so it was definitely an experiment but it went just fine.

We ran 3,5 km (2.18 miles) in 24 minutes. Not that fast but a great start!!

One year...

I have been a member of CrossFit Leuven since April 1, 2013 but only recently I have been going more frequently. It took me a while to become a regular CrossFitter but at the moment I am going 3-4 times a week and if I could  (work-wise) I would go every day! 

This blog will track my progression and it will be some kind of online WOD-logbook. Since I am also eating gluten- and dairy-free most of the time, I might post the occasional Paleo recipe.