Whole 30 Success Story – Rob Aronofsky

6 CommentsFriday • November 4, 2011 • by cfprovidence

by Rob Aronofsky

My 30 Day Challenge… NO ALCOHOL!

At first I thought this was going to be impossible…literally impossible.

Unlike many, my tranition to the Paleo lifestyle was a very easy one.
Giving up grains and dairy wasn’t a big deal for me… I know this is very
difficult for many.  I enjoy eating clean.  It’s taken over my life. My
days revolve around what time I am going to wod and what I’m going to eat.
I am very fortunate in the fact that I’ve never had a sweet tooth or been a
dessert eater.  And I don’t really do “cheat meals.”  Because of this I
slightly modified the Whole 30 Challenge and focused just on going No
Alcohol for 30 days.

With all of that being said, I realized that I had developed a mindset of
“I work out a lot.  I eat REALLY healthy.  I deserve a drink.”  And by
*a*drink… I mean 12.

I began drinking when I was a junior in high school.  Pretty regularly on
the weekends.  Nothing crazy.  The good innocent fun of being an underage
high school  kid.  THEN the whole drinking thing took a serious turn
towards full blown alcoholism when I decided to attend the University of
New Hampshire.  For those of you who don’t know, UNH is one of the biggest
party schools in the nation.  Needless to say, the 4 years I spent in New
Hampshire “earning my degree” were very blurry.   I survived…barely.

Now I’ve been out of college for over 2 years now and things have
definitely changed.   I don’t drink nearly as much as I did in college,
thankfully, I don’t think my liver could handle that again.  But the fact
that I am no longer a poor college kid and certainly hasn’t helped my
drinking habit.  Working full time, means I have some disposable income to
spend on booze.

Giving up alcohol was going to be extremely difficult.  I tried to remember
a time when I didn’t have a drink for more than a week and surprise
surprise, I couldn’t think of anytime that has happened.  Safe to say it’s
been over 5 years since that has happened.  Ohhh by the way, did I mention
that I’m obsessed with Jack Daniel’s. Not kidding…obsessed.  Yes, I own
stock in Jack Daniel’s.  It’s that serious.  You know how sometimes when
you don’t WOD for a few days you get that itch that starts to drive you f’n
crazy because you just NEED to workout.  I get that way with JD.  So the
thought of actually going 30 days without drinking was very intimidating to
me.

September 29th, I am hammered drunk and trying to tell my best friend that
I was thinking of giving up alcohol for October….He laughed in my face
and said I had no chance.  Thanks for the motivation.

Here are some of the highlights….

Oct 1st.  My sister’s birthday and 1st night out sober.  I’m drinking water
like its going out of style. I’m confused.  All I want to do is drink.
It’s awkward being in a bar sober.  1 day in and I want to crack…

Oct 8th.  First Bruin’s game of the year.  Do you have ANY idea how hard it
is to go to a B’s game and NOT drink?  Stayed strong even under severe peer
pressure.

Oct 22nd-23rd Garage Games.  Surrounded by the rock stars of CFP.   After
the last WOD of each day and when we were out to dinner…. EVERYONE IS
DRINKING.  Cade is getting hammered.  I want to get hammered.  I’m
questioning my manhood.  I want to drink extremely badly! (Sidenote:
Everyone was EXTREMELY supportive and I thank you for that)

Oct 27th Bruins vs Canadiens.  No chance.  I thought I was going to crack.
It’s even more difficult not drinking at a B’s vs Habs game, especially
when the B’s get their asses kicked.  WATER.  Lots and lots of WATER.
Oct 28th-30th.  Long weekend off from work.  Due to temptation and fear of
cracking with only days left I forced myself to stay in Halloween weekend.
Not an easy decision!

So did the Whole 30 work?  Well to be perfectly honest I don’t know if I
lost weight.  I don’t own a scale and couldn’t tell you how much I weigh.
Weight loss was not a goal of mine for the Challenge.  What I can tell you
is that I feel REALLY good and I’ve defintely noticed a difference in my
WOD’s.  It was actually really inspiring to be able to come in on the
weekends, when normally I’d be hungover, and crush a wod.  Besides the 1
week recovery period from the Garage Games, physically and mentally I’ve
never felt better.

It was definitely a huge commitment and I’m thrilled that I was able to
successfully complete all 30 Days.
I completely agree with Tuna, there were times when it really sucked and it
is extremely uncomfortable!
But overall, I am extremely happy with the results and it was WELL worth it
the sacrifice.
Thanks to all of CFP who helped keep me sober the past 30 days!

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