I don't wanna.

When it comes down to it, this is my only real excuse for not changing my diet and not participating in a food challenge.  I don't wanna.  I don't wanna take the 2 hours or so of effort it takes to learn a bit about how to weigh and measure my food or to make a meal plan for the week.  I don't wanna step on a scale at the gym or have my measurements taken.  I just don't wanna.  Well, shut up.  You gotta, sister.

Now, I don't gotta because I am fat or unfit.  I am neither.  These are my "before" pictures and they are not TOO terrible:

 [I want to lose that junk on my hips.]

 [That tummy...please go away!]

I'm 40 years old and I've had two kids.  I have no stretch marks (thanks to, I dunno, luck and cocoa butter?).  I've been avidly CrossFitting (ew, is that a verb?) for almost two years.  I can deadlift over 200 pounds and can get over 100 pounds over my head a variety of ways.  I can do pull ups and push ups.  I run 5K races and I've even done a triathlon.  All this thanks to CF, which has made my body fit and my mind capable of believing I can be an athlete after thinking for 38+ years that I could not.  Here is me finishing my tri (sprint distance...but it's a start) in September, displaying what my friends have come to call my "victory arms."  Like I just won a friggin' gold medal at the Olympics.  But for me, it was sort of like that:

Look familiar?  Oh, yeah, I'm Bruce Jenner:

But not as pretty.

Anyway, I digress.  The point is, I am proud of how far I have come from the girl two years ago who was afraid to break a sweat and who had never touched a barbell before in her life.  It feels awesome.  And, for the most part, I think I can make myself look pretty good if I highlight my best features (arms and legs) and hide what I hate the most (my midsection).  So why should I change anything?

Well, I want to be better.  Or, I want to see if I can be better.  Can I finally cut that fat from my abdomen?  Can I maintain my muscle mass but also drop weight so that I can cruise through pull ups and other bodyweight movements faster?  Can I get back into a pair of tight jeans that show off my awesome quads without worrying about the "muffin top" spilling over the top?

So, here I go.  Even though I don't wanna, I feel like the time is here to try.  Starting Monday, I will be embarking on a 4-week Zone diet challenge through my awesome CrossFit gym, Daybreak CrossFit at the helm of my amazing and supportive coach Mel:

 [That's Mel.  She's a stone cold fox and a super duper human being.]

I'll be charting my progress here as well as my ups and downs, my questions and answers (feel free to post questions in the comments and I will try to seek answers for you!) as well as any tips/recipes/etc. that I learn along the way.  Wish me luck :)