To paleo or not to paleo?

For a little over a year, I've been working out at CrossFit East Cobb.  Check out the website, or go to the corporate website for more information about what CrossFit is. Anyways, recently I've been noticing that I have a severe lack of endurance during the workouts (a.k.a. WOD - workout of the day). In fact Monday, I honestly thought I was either not going to finish the workout or die. In the end, I pushed through, and even though I was the last to finish, I got it done! It was the weirdest thing...my muscles weren't tired, but my lungs felt as though I hadn't worked out in three years. I couldn't catch my breath, yet I wanted to work harder than I was because I was simply not tired, just out of breath.  This was a first, but for the past few weeks, my whole body has just felt tired and sluggish during the workouts. I am the strongest I have ever been in my life, but my endurance is just not where it should be after a year of intense workouts.

So after ruling out air quality (which might have had a slight effect) and humidity (lived in Georgia all my life, doubt that's the problem) I've circled back around to my diet. People at the gym are really big into this "Paleo" way of eating.  It's basically anything a caveman would eat - so no sugar, no grains, no dairy, nothing processed, lots of lean meat, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats. I happen to love milk, cheese, bread, and pizza...and I am not overweight and am not concerned about my weight, so I've always scoffed at the idea of this "Paleo" lifestyle.  But now I'm wondering....could my diet be affecting my performance? Do these so called "toxins" that Paleo-crazies claim are in all the food I'm eating really impact my physical endurance?

It has gotten to the point where I dread workouts that I used to love simply because I can't keep up with what my brain knows I can do. I just don't know what else to do... It would take a lot of discipline to get on the paleo-bandwagon.... and I know that if I could just get in the habit of eating like that, I'd feel so much better. But it is a pretty big life change... no more eating anything I want whenever I want...

Just something to ponder over I guess...