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It's almost the end of the 60 day "Look Good Naked Challenge" and I wanted to feature another one of our CFO firebreathers that dialed in his nutrition and has definitely become the man to beat (check out his "Fran" time next itme you are in the gym). Along wth Savannah, Jim helps prove that it's very possible to eat well while serving in the military. I asked him to send me some before and after pics, along with a testimonial, describing how eating paleo and doing Crossfit has changed his body, performance and life in general.

Before: March 13, 2010 (CF games sectionals)

"I started CrossFIt around three years ago after reading the Men's Health article.  Starting with very scaled version of benchmark workouts and doing all my pull ups on a total gym, I worked my way up to main site WODs on my own.  No one I knew was doing CF.  I didn't know any coaches so I never thought about nutrition.  Once in a while there would be an article or a video on .com about the Zone or paleo and I would think,"That just sounds crazy."

For about two years I made decent progress but eventually I hit a plateau.  At the same time, I was still having a little trouble getting under the bodyweight limit for my height by navy standards.  Occasionally I wondered if I would be able to lose the 3-5 pounds in time for weigh-in.  Still I made excuses for my eating.  I thought that I worked out hard enough, being deployed to Iraq was hard enough, dealing with military idiocy was hard enough; I deserved to treat myself to whatever crap I wanted to eat.  I'm good at excuses.

What really pushed me to make a change was Sarah.  She has been trying for years to get our family to clean up our eating.  In March of this year she had heard enough about paleo and said, "Let's try it."  We decided not to go too strict, and we both enjoy the occasional snack of cheese or dark chocolate.  We also have a non-paleo "cheat" meal around once a week.  It gives us something to look forward to so it doesn't feel like all we eat are nuts and berries.  All things in moderation.

Since starting on our modified paleo diet in March I know I don't have to worry about meeting the navy bodyweight standards.  I went from a high of about 170 lbs down to my current 155.  Some recent firsts include my first strict muscle up; a free standing parallette handstand push up; completing Grace with the prescribed weight; the Rx Checklist; and pr's in the dealift (415), front squat (295), and 3RM squat snatch (135).

My new boss has taken to asking me what I'm having for lunch nearly every day.  It's been fun fielding his food related questions: "What do you mean grains are bad for you?"  I never imagined I would be thought of as the guy at work who eats healthy."
 

Jim

After: July 17, 2010 at RX Checklist Challenge

Congrats Jim on all of your success at CFO! We are lucky to have your entire family (Sarah, Anna and Eva) in the CFO ohana!

-Courtney

Post your props to Jim in the comments.

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