Whole 30 Challenge: Jamie Grigas

"Whole9 is a community focused on health, fitness, balance and sanity, all built on a foundation of real food and healthy nutritional habits." (Whole 9 website) CrossFit Akron athletes put their bodies to the test for 30 days. We've had nothing but success. Here are the stories to prove it.  Please vote at the top of the page for the winner. 


Jamie Grigas over all results: Body Fat Lost 4.2%

Jamie Grigas

Whole9 Challenge Essay

3-16-11

For the past 8 years I thought healthy eating was to go Subway and buy a sub like Jared, man I was wrong. This challenge has been as big of a life changer to me as joining the CrossFit Akron Community. I have learned a new and better life to live, along with the knowledge to teach others about healthy eating choices. From the first week of starting this challenge I starting to notice results and nothing is more motivating then results. 

A week before hearing about this challenge I was at a plateau with my weight. I was looking around for ways to lose weight and stay physically strong in the process. While I was searching for a week I became frustrated because I didn’t have the knowledge to make positive decision. One morning I came in for a WOD and learned about the Whole 9 Challenge, it took me about 2 seconds before I signed up for it. After receiving the booklet with all the information I sat down and studied like I had a final on the subject the next morning. After all the mental blocks like no beer and cheese for a month, I told myself that this is what I was searching for, so just do it. 

I have to say that the hardest part is planning out the meals for the week. I would sit down and write out a grocery list of all the appropriate foods to buy and then think when to cook them. The first week was a rough one but then I got the hang of it. Every night I would cook myself dinner along with all of the meals for the next to days (= many dishes to wash). Once I got used to the process I started to notice how I was feeling throughout the day and I loved it. I realized that I felt stronger, faster, and recovered from workouts easier. 

Along with the past 30 days of the challenge Cindy and I have been coaching through the our championship season. At these championship meets there is a wonderful thing called hospitality, so I thought it was wonderful. Hospitality is where coaches and other meet workers get food during the meet for free, sounds great right. The food that is usually given out at these meets are the same kind of foods that set me in the direction of needing a life change in the first place. I have to give a special thanks to Cindy Virdo for helping me be a stronger person by resisting my evil temptations. 

I have to say that after experiencing this challenge it has giving me a whole new perspective on healthy eating. I have learned what my body needs to become a better athlete. Everyday I run into somebody that knows the old 250-pound Jamie and they ask me, “What have you been doing to lose of that weight?” I tell them CrossFit Akron has changed my life. Thank-you guys for making the decision of joining CFA the best one I have ever made in my life. This challenge couldn’t have happened at a better time, the Whole9 was exactly what I was searching for to break through my Plato. My starting weight on day one the diet was 212.5 pounds; my ending weight after 30 days is 195 pounds.