Here's another installment in our Power Profile series where we ask folks with something to say on nutrition and fitness to share a bit about their experience.
This time it's yours truly, me Robert, gabbing a little on my food/fitness journey...in all its pound-losing, fitness-gaining, career-changing glory. Plus a cereal replacement for a little variety in your breakfast giddyup.
What’s Your Name?: Robert Morton
Your Gym: I work out at Trident Crossfit in Alexandria, have started doing yoga at Mind the Mat Pilates and Yoga and am fortunate to work with 80+ fitness communities of all shapes and sizes here in the local community where Power Supply was born and raised.
After mostly sucking at regular fitness for most of my first 40 years, I found CrossFit (thanks Chad!) 3 years ago and it just clicked. I love this core idea (that I'm also seeing in yoga) of preparing you for living more powerfully, not just for expertise in a movement that you rarely if ever need in real life. As the father of 3 young girls, the thing that motivates me more than anything else is staying super fit and active so I can participate in life with them til I'm old and gray. That same motivation powered my eating changes, starting with a nutrition challenge right when I began working out more.
Again, it just fit, a simple, powerful formula for eating better that I could follow and enjoy. Fast forward a few years and there's 35+ lbs less of me and I'm fitter at 43 than 23. More to the point, this shift was so powerful that I changed careers to help others have a similar experience to the one I had.
Best Nutritional Tip: I call it the trunk of the tree and branches theory. In short, give the core ideas of eating sans gluten or dairy a try and see how your body reacts. Then tailor your approach to what works best for you. Folks can sometimes get overwhelmed by the idea that they'll never do x, y or z again if they go down this path. In my case, after I jumped in with the challenge, I settled into a nice rhythm with a Robertized version (yes, I have whole cream in my coffee, love me some full fat yoghurt and will sometimes gobble quinoa or brown rice...soaked before cooking of course) of the Paleo framework and it works for me in a way I can sustain. I vote for that every time over someone else's rigid interpretation. Because if it's change you can't sustain, it's not as valuable a change.
What’s Your Fave Meal Sans Gluten and Dairy?: I love roasted green vegetables of any kind (kale, brussels, broccoli, asparagus, etc.) because they're so easy to make (little olive oil, salt, 450 oven and away you go) and go with almost anything, even as appetizer poppers (I've seen skeptical people CRUSH a bowl of roasted broccoli during drinks hour). But a specific meal favorite happens at breakfast which is often a tough one for folks generally. Sort of my cereal replacement... homemade almond milk (super easy to make), a mix of fresh or frozen berries, maybe some banana, a sprinkle of walnuts, sometimes some cooked brown rice. Chuck it all in a bowl and you've got a cold, crunchy, tasty way to retrieve that cereal experience when you want it.
What’s Your Nutritional Kryptonite: Tortilla chips if there's good guac and salsa around... that's major kryptonite for me but dipping and crunching is so good. Others are more tweeners, particular if you lean more Primal (Mark Sisson's Paleo variant)... a square of 70% plus dark chocolate, those dark chocolate almonds with sea salt from Trader Joes. The most powerful Kryptonite of all though ... my three daughters. If they want to go to our local frozen custard joint, I'm going with them.
How do You Stick With It?: The biggest motivators for me are how I feel everyday (and how rough I feel when life intervenes and I chow a grain-laden something) and this goal of staying way-active so I can keep up with my kids as long as they'll invite me along. The other thing I'd say is experimentation. Again, orthodoxy doesn't work too well for me. So trying things, riffing a little and seeing what happens, not only keeps this eating journey interesting but also helps me keep discovering new things now nearly 3 years in.