Week 2 – Support

My wife Amanda and I did our first straight-60 right before starting this one. Eric and his wife Laura were doing it along with us, but other than that, we were pretty much on our own. We are only 2 weeks in, but I can say I prefer doing it with a group. I realize I don’t see the group all the often, and don’t usually eat any of my meals with the group either, but knowing the group is there, others going through it with us, just helps.

I’ve enjoyed talking to those of you I see around at the office or at Crossfit, and hearing how you are doing. It helps keep me focused, and there’s more accountability with the group. If you are doing this on your own, don’t get me wrong, it is completely possible to do this alone but its going to be harder. I would recommend getting into our group, but if that’s not possible for some reason try to get someone to do it along with you, to hold each other accountable, and to share your successes, temptations, and slips (if you have any).

Learning the why of all this is really crucial, which is why I’ve enjoyed the classes so far. The first time through, I knew the goal of healing my hormone receptors and hormone levels but having the classes has kept that information more on my mind in my food choices.

The food aspect of this diet is obviously the most difficult part. A great thing happened this past week, as a result of doing this with a group. While talking about the diet at Crossfit Bridgemill, Amanda and I were telling someone how we had tried 2 pizza recipes, and both were a major fail. Another woman, who had previously done the straight-60, over heard this and (THANK GOD) she told us she had a pizza crust recipe that she really liked. So we tried the recipe the following night, and it was awesome (not by traditional pizza standards, but compared to the other recipes we tried, it was awesome) and it only took about 10  minutes to make.  Besides all the motivation, accountability, and knowledge from being in the group, being able to share recipes  alone is worth it.

So, its good to be in a group, in community, to have and give support.

This week wasn’t my best week. The stresses of life were very evident, and when I’m stressed I want to eat. This week showed me that I still have a lot of work, mainly my emotional responses and desires for certain food. I think I went into this 2nd 60 a bit over-confident, so this past week was a good reality check to know I’m still learning and in the process of creating new, better habits. I dropped 2 lbs. since last week, so that puts me at 206 lbs. I’m getting so close to that initial goal, but even that is far from where I need to be. Thanks for reading.

-Dr. Mark