Paleo Challenge Day 2: Evening Edition

I have some bad news, guys.  I forgot to photograph my lunch.  I know you're all devastated, but I was so dang hungry by the time Jill, our co-worker and I sat down to eat at noon that I started scarfing down immediately.

Here's what I had:
-1 serving of chili from Make It Paleo (Recipe makes 6 servings, so I put it in 6 individual containers after it finished cooking).  I had to basically force myself to eat this.  I cheaped out and got meat at Costco on Sunday, and it showed in this recipe.  The meat was too tough and the delicious, tender bites were few and far between.  Also needs more spice in the recipe.
-6 oz. roasted butternut squash

(Award yourself some bonus points if you know where that image is from.)


Snacks:
I cannot keep away from chocolate.  It's unpossible.  Deal with it.  I had two of these bad boys today.  Other snacks included 1 serving of that pistachio/almond/cherry/cranberry trail mix and 2 servings of all natural unsweetened apple sauce (one at 3:30pm, the other after dinner).

For some reason, I was insatiable all day long.  Could be the combination of too little sleep, and too little breakfast.  I was able to kick most cravings by drinking water, tea or coffee, but it was rough.

Dinner:
Was lazy/forgot to thaw the chicken I have in my freezer, so I swung by Stop & Shop and picked up a plain rotisserie chicken and some avocados that were somehow just ripe enough.  Had half of the breast  with the skin on (weighed about 4 oz.), half of an avocado, and 4 oz. of the butternut squash I made last night.

Workout:
Strength Training: Press (2x5, 1x5+)
2x5 - Bar (15#)
1x5 - 55% of 3x5 weight (35#...I round up)
1x3 - 70% (45#)
1x2 - 85% (55#)
2x5 - 100% (62.5#)
1x5 - 100% (62.5#....struggled on the last rep and could've gotten 6, but I gave up.  Sorry, Drea!)

WOD - Max Effort
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Pull-ups
Kettle Bell swings - 16kg RX
3 burpees after each set
Time: 10:37

Used the thin little purple band (about half an inch thick) for sets 10-5, and then did my whack-ass attempt at kipping for 4-1.  I'm definitely making progress with kipping pullups, but I'm still pretty spastic.  Gotta remember....v in the face.  (Don't ask.)

I did an impromptu poll on Facebook after logging my calories for the day and it seems I'm not really eating enough given my size and activity level. I may try to keep it at about 1,600 calories a day for rest days, and bump up the intake a bit more on days when I hit the gym.  I'd appreciate any feedback people might have on caloric intake.  I'm 28 years old, 5'2", 126.5# as of last week (pre-food breakup sex, but I doubt that made too much of a difference), I do CrossFit 5x a week, and I walk between 20-40 minutes each week day to get to work.

Paleo Challenge Day 2 - Morning Edition

Breakfast: 2 cage free omega 3 eggs scrambled with spinach, pancetta, with 2 strips of nitrate-free bacon, and 1 1000mg pill of Omega 3 fish oil (not pictured), and a glass of water.  I felt hungry very shortly after eating this, so I think next time I'll try adding another egg, or another piece of bacon.



I realized I forgot to post my workout for yesterday, so I'll share it now:

Strength:  Deadlift 5 Rep Max
2 x 5 @ 65#
1 x 3 @ 90#
1 x 2 @ 130 #
5RM  @ 155#

I did 155# last week as well and still struggled with it.  I find it hard to hold onto the bar, and my box only wants you to use the over/under grip (probably not the real name for it) when going for a 1RM.  My form was also not so hot, so I may stick with this weight next week as well.

WOD: Interval Training

5 minutes max power cleans (30 @ 80#)
1 minute rest
4 minutes max push ups (51)
1 minute rest
3 minutes max double unders (309, singles)


<-That's me, last night, wishing I could do double unders.  Thanks for the picture, Lauren! :)

I took some time to measure myself this morning -- my waist, thighs and biceps.  Forgot to do my chest, probably because there's not much there.

I think I'm still feeling the affects of my weekend-long bingefest, since I feel bloated and overly tired (which may also be attributed to the fact that I waited until 9:00 pm to start making a chili that takes 3 hours to cook), but I know in a few days, I'll be feeling SO MUCH better.  Looking forward to it.

Paleo Challenge Day 1: Food

Here's a very un-exciting breakdown of the food I ate today.

I overslept for work by an hour so I had to rely on the cafeteria at work for breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast: What I thought would be about 2 scrambled eggs, 3 turkey sausage links, and mixed fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, honeydew)

Lunch: Sprig mix with half a hard-boiled egg, grilled chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, roasted eggplant/cauliflower/red peppers, a sprinkling of gorgonzola cheese (I know, I know), honey dijon dressing.

Snack: 3 piece of Ghiradelli chocolate with sea salt and roasted almonds (1 after lunch, 2 after dinner)

Snack 2: Almonds, pistachios, dried cherries & cranberries (3:30pm)

Dinner:  Kind of a weird combination -- Slow cooker salsa chicken, with baby spinach sauteed in bacon fat with crispy pancetta and garlic on the side.





Aside from my boss stopping by my desk with a plate full of mini cakes and chocolate-covered goodies to try, today was relatively easy.  I know I should be curbing my chocolate intake, but these little individually-wrapped Ghiradelli squares are so convenient...and tasty.  Hopefully I'll wake up on time tomorrow...

IT'S (Paleo) GO TIME!

My CrossFit box is organizing a Nutritional Challenge, where those who have signed up are choosing between the Zone Diet and the Paleo diet, or some combination of the two.  We've all been assigned to teams of 5, where all team members will have access to a Google Spreadsheet to document their meals, snacks, workouts, the amount of water drank, the amount of sleep they got the night prior, and any additional comments.  Team members are encouraged to comment on each others entries, and one of the owners of the two boxes that make up Guerrilla Fitness is keeping a watchful eye and asking questions as well.  

I'm not too familiar with the Zone diet, so after reading The Paleo Solution and scouring the internet for resources on this way of eating, I chose to go Paleo for this challenge.  I've tried the Paleo diet months prior with some noted success, but I've found it increasingly difficult to stick with lately.  I'm not sure if it's the colder weather, my wonderful boyfriend who can eat whatever he wants, or just my extreme love of all things tasty, but I have basically no self-control when it comes to eating lately. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Paleo diet basically means going back to eating like our Paleolithic ancestors.  No gluten or grains of any kind. No processed foods.  No dairy (I may be flexible with this one, as many Paleo experts are).  No legumes. There's an emphasis on eating pastured meat and eggs, and sustainable seafood, plus lots of healthy fats.  You'll get all the carbohydrates and fiber you need from the vegetables you eat.  You can learn a bit more about it in layman's terms here.

Seeing this challenge as an out, I've decided break up with food.  I'm sorry, food.  It's not you, it's me.  For too long, I've used you as a crutch, counting on you to comfort me during times of stress, and to make things even better during the happy times.  It's time to kick my emotional dependence on food, to stop associating it with feelings, and to end the sick cycle of being sad, binge eating to feel better, being sad about binge eating, and then eating some more for comfort.  From now on, food is fuel, not a security blanket.  My life is wonderful, and it's time to start treating my body accordingly, so that when life's not so wonderful, I'll be better equipped to properly deal with it.  This isn't a diet, it's going to be a lifestyle change.  Of course, before I could make this breakaway from diet, I had what would be considered the equivalent of break up sex, with food.  I completely gorged myself this weekend on everything I knew I would not be allowed to eat while Paleo.  Taylor Ham, egg and cheese on an everything bagel.  Greasy burgers and fries.  Bean-laden chili.  Milkshakes.  Beer.  It was glorious and terrible all at the same time...not unlike breakup sex.

I'll be using this blog as a means to document what I eat, and how I'm feeling throughout the entire process, and perhaps I'll continue with it after the challenge is done.  Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts or questions.