Treat yourself RIGHT.

Me, Robb Wolf, & Ramman

On Saturday, I went to the CrossFit Nutrition Certification which is put on by Robb Wolf. It was even more entertaining and informational than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I knew going in that I would learn a TON from this guy, but I figured I knew the basics enough to understand all of what he would go into. Let me tell ya- this guy is SMART. And extremely funny. I suppose he has to be, how else would 70 people sit through 8 hours of him talking about the biochemistry of food interaction with your cells. His main point, the point that he is trying to convince people all over the world of is: Gluten is THE reason people get sick. He proposes that gluten is at the root of all incommunicable, auto-immune diseases- and when you get down to the scientific facts of the properties of gluten and how the lectin essentially puts little holes in out intestinal lining (no matter who you are), it makes sense that disease would occur. (If anyone sciency is reading this, please don't rip me apart for summarizing VERY poorly, I have the notes from the lecture if you want to discuss.) Robb also believes that ALL people are intolerant to gluten on some level, whether they have apparent symptoms or not! I have thought this for some time, before I even read his work. What it boils down to for me is that I am now completely convinced and empowered to rid MY diet of this toxin for good. I'm not saying that I will never ingest it again, likely I will, but VERY few and far between. As many people who know me know, I struggle with a myriad of digestive symptoms (as does/did Robb Wolf), and I am ready and willing to pull the stuff out of my diet completely for one month to see how things change. I already avoid it at a level that others might think is extreme, but now I am kicking it all the way out. Stay tuned for updates on how my gluten-free, Paleolithic eating habits are treating me:)

I would like to convince everyone that I care about to go completely gluten-free for one month. I know that some people are hard to convince (like I was) that it's worth it to take it out of your diet. All you skeptics need to do is read some of Robb Wolf's work and then go visit a retirement facility, like the one where Ramman's Grandpa lives. Seriously. Go visit your Grandma or great Uncle, and if you don't know anyone who lives in one of those places (lucky you), go volunteer at one for a few hours. See what poor lifestyles lead you to. If you are not convinced to take care of yourself after seeing someone who needs to take 24 DIFFERENT pills a day who couldn't walk a mile in faster than 40 minutes (if they could even walk that far at all) and can't stop their hands from shaking, who eventually will need someone to wipe their ass for them, well then you're an imbecile. I am DETERMINED to NEVER, EVER, EVER end up in a place like that. When I die, I am just going to die (this is what Robb Wolf says of CrossFitters:)).. there will be no long, painful, drugful, drawn out process. Nope, not me.. I am going to live, live, live, and then just die. And I will be very, very old.

When we got home from the certification, Ramman received news that a friend of his had died. Keith Goodman, only 53 years old, was an influential teacher in the Portland dance community and Ramman had known him from his Capoeira group. The past few summers Keith has invited Ramman to teach at his dance camps and they had actually just wrapped one up the day before he died. Keith often taught and performed contemporary dance in which he would dramatically collapse to the ground. This is the way he ended his final performance. He was dancing with some of his students during a performance and at the end of the piece he "lowered himself gracefully to the ground", as his partner, Bill Flood, recalls. A very sad and premature, yet fitting ending to a beautiful life.

That kind of story reminds me how temporal life is. It also makes me wonder what could have been done to prevent his death at 53. IS it all diet related? Keith was a giving, loving, gentle, happy person. He was passionate about dance and teaching dance. He had a family. He was seemingly fulfilled with is life. Was what he had been eating his entire life the cause? Is diet the only factor? These are questions that need to be addressed and experimented with.

We are complex creatures and so many of the things we expose ourselves to, things we think are good for us, could be the very things that kill us. Avoid misery and sickness. Eat foods that come in their natural form. Use your body. Use your mind and heart. Treat yourself right.