Choose your obsession

I'd like to take a moment to comment on an article that was posted on the CrossFit Games site. This article is where I pulled these lovely pictures from. These women are beautiful, strong, and determined. The article discusses one woman's experience with turning an unhealthy obsession with food and eating to a functional relationship with food thanks to CrossFit.

Over coming an unhealthy obsession for a healthy one is no easy task. However, I can't help but pose the "healthy" obsession question. Is there truly a healthy obsession? Seriously? Be honest. I really don't know if I can say there is. Yes, of course, there are less or more "healthy" obsessions but the root of the issue is still present unless you've dealt with the obsessive tendencies. An obsession is something that occupies one's thoughts and is all consuming, a shade away from addition. The article also talks about addiction and addictive personalities. Now trading in needles for kettle bells is a healthy decision. I'd say kettle bells are a hell of lot healthier than pumping drugs into your vein, but lets be honest, exercise addiction is not healthy either and can have detrimental affects as well.

I'm ecstatic that an article on disorder eating managed to find it's way to the CrossFit Games site. I can empathize with the obsessive thoughts and difficulties of just feeding one's self, so I'm beyond proud and excited when someone makes the scary leap to turn the ED voice down and takes ownership of their thoughts and body again. It is inspiring.

The thing that kind of makes me a little uneasy, a little sick to my stomach is all the ridiculous banter I see on so many CrossFit Affiliate sites when it comes to food. So everyone in the CrossFit community goes through some sort of 30 day challenge or eats Zone or Paleo. And, I'm one of them! I began with the Paleo challenge and I felt so damn good I decided to incorporate into my life. Hell, I would say it's one of the many reasons I've bounced back from surgery so quickly. Basically, you're reading the opinions of a meat eating, vegetable loving lady and I'm totally okay with that. With that being said, I can't believe how many people out there think the 30 days is a nightmare. Did I actually hear someone say "30 days of suck!"? And the whole "cheat" foods/meals just baffles me. I really don't get it. You're fueling your body. Priming it for living, playing, and training. It's amazing to me how many people out there try to find "work arounds" even when it comes to CrossFit, the Zone, or Paleo. "Is this paleo?" "How many blocks is that?" "OMG, my cheat meal is _______!" How odd.

For those of you that have traded one obsession for another, do you feel stronger, better off, more in control than you did with the other? Are you happy with where you are or are you still anxiously trying to get someone better (fitter, stronger, or leaner)? I ask myself these questions as well. The real CrossFit community (whether you attend an affiliate gym, work out of your garage, or hurf weights in a fire station) are determined, obsessive freaks. Yes, freaks and I love everyone of us. We're already primed with the push it until you break mentality. Maybe the real strength we should start focusing on is how to be measured. Learn how to put the weights down at the end of a WOD and be done for the day. To talk about something other than CrossFit, PRs, or Paleo/Zone... Just a thought...

Check out this great post by Primitive Stimulus on the topic of body image. And, thanks to Robb Wolf for today's tweets.