We as CrossFitters are always thinking about nutrition. I have tried every diet, Paleo, Primal, Ketogenics, Zone, and Whole 30, among others. I’ve experimented and I’ve learned what makes me feel best and what absolutely kills me. I have prescribed diet plans for others and acted as not only a guide but a support for others. Yet it wasn’t until my Mom asked me to create a diet for her that I felt really and truly challenged.

You may ask me why. It’s not like I haven’t planned diets for people I know before. It was because it was my mother and I know her vices and I know when it comes to sweets and snacks the woman has no will power. I also know that I would have to find a way to recondition her way of thinking. A way of thinking that she has been conditioned into for the past 60+ years! I would have to find a way to try to ease her into this new way of thinking. Even when given the stipulation “You know how I eat and what we eat so work around that!” Thanks Mom. Way to make it a real challenge!

So what did I do? I enlisted my Dad to help to act as her accountability partner. I made a list of the better choices she should be making and asked her to make an effort for the first month to do so and after a month we would reassess. She hasn’t completely eliminated sweets or snacking but she has been incorporating more fruits and vegetables into her diet which she was sorely lacking. Dad has put a firm foot down and refuses to buy ice cream and sweets so that they’re not in the house. Tough love but we’re making progress. The other thing that’s come out of this is I’m calling home more often to check up on her, which I know she loves and my Dad is forced to eat better as well!

Many of us may know someone like my Mom, someone who needs to change their diet but may be difficult to recondition. Perhaps it’s you. Know that a change can be made at any age. You may not be able to go 100% Paleo right off the bat, you may not want to, but you can make smarter choices. Simple things like eating more fruits and vegetables instead of cookies and cake. Drink water when you feel hungry. It’s not a wives tale it will satiate the hunger and it will also help you to minimize snacking! Minimize your gluten intake…then eliminate it if you can. Use healthy fats, olive oil, avocado, and butter! Make smarter choices and before you know it you’ve reconditioned yourself and those you love to create better versions of you and those you love!