Happy Wednesday all!
It's been almost two weeks since I finished the whole 30. All of the garbage was eliminated from my system, I saw how great I felt and noticed changes in my health, performance, etc.
Here comes the hard part. I get to admit what I've been doing for the last two weeks and how it's affected me.
Garbage In
The first thing to go was carrying coconut milk around with me in tupperware. I still drink coconut milk in my coffee at home, but I've been getting heavy cream when I order coffee out. Alcohol made an appearance the Friday night after the challenge was over. I've drank 3 times per week in the last two weeks, so 6 days out of the last 14. Rough. There was one ice cream binge, and it was a binge: two pieces of ice cream cake and one bowl of ice cream. Last mess up was the reappearance of the protein bar for a quick breakfast when I'm not prepared with real food. This occurred three times over the last 2 weeks.
Garbage Out
What is the result of my debauchery? My sleep has been the first thing to go. No sleep = tired, sluggish, mentally drained. Next? My muscles ache and I'm physically drained. And? My skin is breaking out and there are permanent bags under my eyes. This is all great stuff right? Uh, No. And my performance in the gym has sucked. All of this leads to a negative attitude which if there is one thing I try to avoid is being Negative (don't confuse this with my whining before a WOD, that's just blowing off steam) :O)
What Next?
Alcohol: This is no news flash, my alcohol consumption needs to be cut back. Period. I've blogged about it before but you can't ignore physical proof. This is something that I'll be posting about routinely, my alcohol consumption, because I think it's important and it affects our sleep and mood more than most of us are ready to admit. It's also the first thing that a lot of my friends and coworkers talk about when it comes to celebrating and unwinding from a crazy week. There is a better way and my mission is to find it.
Food: When I'm on the go quality is a big issue. I can be better, have protein always ready to go, hardboiled eggs, etc, but overall I'm pretty good here. The ice cream binge would not have been so bad had I stopped at the bowl of ice cream, but that's not what happened. This was after a couple of glasses of wine, talking about an insane sugar spike.
Plan: One cheat night a week. This cheat night is limited to either dinner or dessert, not both. Alcohol can also be part of this cheat night, but again this is ONE night per week.
Follow Up: In two weeks I'll be posting about my progress and how I feel.
Post your comments on your experience coming off of the 30 days or how you stay on track with your food goals.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
REST - and when to take it
Happy Friday to you all! I love Fridays. They are filled with magic, glitter, fairies, unicorns, and butterflies. This Friday (and yesterday) are extra special because I'm RESTING.
Two days in a row? What! You can't be serious! On to the questions: REST - Why? When? How long?
Why? Every now and the we push our bodies to the point where it needs to rest, repair, and recover.
When? It's personal. For me it's time when every muscle aches, and I dread the thought of going into the gym. It hit me yesterday. After 25 days of no physical rest I woke up and my hamstrings, back, shoulders, and neck were sore. 20 minutes of rolling my butt, hamstrings, and shoulders on the ball felt better, but I still ached all over. Mentally I'm drained, so guess what folks...it's time.
How Long? Again, this is personal. For me I'm taking TWO whole days. Now tomorrow we are doing Grace to raise money for Breast Cancer, so that prompted the additional day. Two days of rest will do wonders for my body and I'll come back stronger next week.
Leave your comments of your rest/recovery routine. Do you have one?
Two days in a row? What! You can't be serious! On to the questions: REST - Why? When? How long?
Why? Every now and the we push our bodies to the point where it needs to rest, repair, and recover.
When? It's personal. For me it's time when every muscle aches, and I dread the thought of going into the gym. It hit me yesterday. After 25 days of no physical rest I woke up and my hamstrings, back, shoulders, and neck were sore. 20 minutes of rolling my butt, hamstrings, and shoulders on the ball felt better, but I still ached all over. Mentally I'm drained, so guess what folks...it's time.
How Long? Again, this is personal. For me I'm taking TWO whole days. Now tomorrow we are doing Grace to raise money for Breast Cancer, so that prompted the additional day. Two days of rest will do wonders for my body and I'll come back stronger next week.
Leave your comments of your rest/recovery routine. Do you have one?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
My Mom's Beef
First of all...my Mom is the BEST cook in the whole world. Not only does she cook and bake, but she keeps our meals Paleo for the sake of our family's health.
This post is dedicated to my Mom. She is a selfless person that goes out of her way for her children's and grandchildren's needs. My Mom works full time, but comes home and cooks dinner almost every night after a day of work. She loves us all unconditionally, never passes judgement and is there for anything that we need. She is truly the most amazing woman I have ever met. I only hope to grow up to be half the woman that my Mom is.
Mom's Stew
3lbs Chuck Steak (cut into stew sized pieces)
1 cup almond flour (or not, totally up to you)
1+ tsp parsley
1+ tsp sage
1+ tsp rosemary
1+ tsp thyme (believe it or not these herbs became part of the stew based on a Simon and Garfunkel song)
vegetables (today was carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, zucchini)
1 22oz bottle Double Black IPA
In a zip lock back shake the chuck steak with the almond flour, parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme. Brown in a Dutch Oven or large skillet. Pour beer over meat. Add water until meat is covered. Simmer ingredients in covered pan for 1 - 1.5 hours (depending upon amount of meat). For last 45 minutes add veggies. Add zucchini in the last 20 minutes.
NOTE: Almond Flour and herb amounts are all approximate. It depends upon how much meat you have to coat. There should be enough herbs in the almond flour mixture for them to be visible throughout the bag.
This post is dedicated to my Mom. She is a selfless person that goes out of her way for her children's and grandchildren's needs. My Mom works full time, but comes home and cooks dinner almost every night after a day of work. She loves us all unconditionally, never passes judgement and is there for anything that we need. She is truly the most amazing woman I have ever met. I only hope to grow up to be half the woman that my Mom is.
Mom's Stew
3lbs Chuck Steak (cut into stew sized pieces)
1 cup almond flour (or not, totally up to you)
1+ tsp parsley
1+ tsp sage
1+ tsp rosemary
1+ tsp thyme (believe it or not these herbs became part of the stew based on a Simon and Garfunkel song)
vegetables (today was carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, zucchini)
1 22oz bottle Double Black IPA
In a zip lock back shake the chuck steak with the almond flour, parsley, sage, rosemary, & thyme. Brown in a Dutch Oven or large skillet. Pour beer over meat. Add water until meat is covered. Simmer ingredients in covered pan for 1 - 1.5 hours (depending upon amount of meat). For last 45 minutes add veggies. Add zucchini in the last 20 minutes.
NOTE: Almond Flour and herb amounts are all approximate. It depends upon how much meat you have to coat. There should be enough herbs in the almond flour mixture for them to be visible throughout the bag.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
30 Day Done...on to the next one
The 30 Day Challenge is done and I'm wearing white sweat pants this morning. I must be feeling good!
So, what's next? And better yet, what did I learn? And how do I feel?
After 30 days of eating real food 3 times a day and after every workout, I feel mentally clear, physically stronger, leaner and just overall better.
Here are some stats:
So, what's next? And better yet, what did I learn? And how do I feel?
After 30 days of eating real food 3 times a day and after every workout, I feel mentally clear, physically stronger, leaner and just overall better.
Here are some stats:
- Lost 6 lbs
- Took 5 minutes off of the 10 rounds of 10 burpees and 10 pull ups WOD
- Increased my one rep Front Squat
- PR'd my 10k by 5 minutes
- PR'd Grace by 1 minute
What did I learn? Obviously what we put in our body affects everything. Eating real food is something that I want to continue. Drinking less is important as well. Weekend nights were filled with too much wine.
What's next? As Laura put it, the 30 days turns into 60, then 90, then 120....This is now a way of life with the occasional glass of wine, not the weekend binge.
On deck is Rainier's Strongest Man and Woman Competition and the Seattle half marathon. So what do I have to do to train? I need to improve my Double Unders and Rope Climbs for Rainier's Competition and run a lot more miles for the half marathon. I would like to be in a lower weight class for the Strong Man Competition and need to loose 5 lbs in exactly 30 days.
So pick a goal for yourself....what's next for you?
Here I am on the left with my arms spread out like chicken wings...Need to improve those Doubles!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Ugghhhh.....I have to keep going on, but why?
It's been a tough week and it's only Tuesday. Every now and then we all get slapped in the face by life and it's my turn. To be honest it may not be undeserved and it's a good reminder to stay focused on what matters.
These are the days when I say to myself...all I want to do is go home, crash in front of the T.V. and eat some ice cream. Sounds good right? NOPE. Well, it's good momentarily until I wake up the next day feeling like a bloated moose trying to swim the Puget Sound. Not a pretty picture.
Tonight, I felt like running home and hiding but instead I went to the gym knowing that the WOD would kill me. It was like the lamb running to the slaughter house, kill me! kill me! Too graphic? Maybe, but accurate. My performance sucked! I can tell you that for one hour I bonded with fellow Crossfitters that worked their butts off throughout the workout. For one hour I was able to forget my drama.
No therapy could work so much magic in such little time.
Just one of the many things I love about Crossfit and the Crossfit Community. What do you love about Crossfit? If you don't Crossfit, what do you do to lift yourself up out of the doldrums?
My nerdy family works pretty well too!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
And it is ALL about the Beef...
So I LOVE to cook, but during the week I (really my Mom) tend to keep meals easy. The weekends are the time to go all out and get creative! Ongoing there will be one post on the weekend devoted to a good meal. Well, you can be the judge of that.
Today's post was not cooked by me, but it was pretty fricking amazing, so I had to share it with you all. Last night I had the pleasure of having this wonderful piece of steak cooked for me and it hit the spot after a hike up Mt Si.
Paleo people have no fear: substitute salt, pepper, olive oil, tamari, 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 cup diced onion for the Stubbs Beef Marinade. The chipotle peppers really make this steak.
3/4 bottle of Stubbs Beef Marinade
2-3 Tablespoons of liquid smoke
3 or 4 Chipotle Peppers (use dried peppers, not the ones in Adobo sauce)
Juice from 2 lemons
Combine in one gallon Ziplock bag along with 4 Ribeyes and leave on counter from morning till dinner time. Perfectly safe.Turn several times throughout the day to make sure the marinade gets evenly distributed.
Grill to desired doneness...medium rare if you really like beef.
Like a schmuck I did not take a picture of this awesome piece of meat, but here's a view from the top of Si. Happy Eating folks!!!
Today's post was not cooked by me, but it was pretty fricking amazing, so I had to share it with you all. Last night I had the pleasure of having this wonderful piece of steak cooked for me and it hit the spot after a hike up Mt Si.
Paleo people have no fear: substitute salt, pepper, olive oil, tamari, 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 cup diced onion for the Stubbs Beef Marinade. The chipotle peppers really make this steak.
3/4 bottle of Stubbs Beef Marinade
2-3 Tablespoons of liquid smoke
3 or 4 Chipotle Peppers (use dried peppers, not the ones in Adobo sauce)
Juice from 2 lemons
Combine in one gallon Ziplock bag along with 4 Ribeyes and leave on counter from morning till dinner time. Perfectly safe.Turn several times throughout the day to make sure the marinade gets evenly distributed.
Grill to desired doneness...medium rare if you really like beef.
Like a schmuck I did not take a picture of this awesome piece of meat, but here's a view from the top of Si. Happy Eating folks!!!
Friday, October 1, 2010
TGIF...now what to do with those pesky kids...
I hear it all the time...my kids watch too much tv, play too many video games, and never play outside. Life is busy, so how can we keep our kids active?
Laura and I were talking yesterday morning about kids and fitness (Crossfit specifically). I thought it was really cool that she was thinking about installing pull up bars and other equipment in the garage for her kids. The brain kept spinning and here I am writing about kids and getting out and playing.
On average, I'm in the gym 6 days a week. I take Maya with me about half of that time and she plays and runs around with the other kids. Sometimes she swings on the rings and does push ups, but the cool thing is she equates working out and going the gym as fun. It's a big playground to her.
Murdock on the other hand is a pre teen. Most afternoons he's stuck in the house or at the library doing homework. Here is where the challenge lies. And as a male preteen you can guess what his #1 favorite activity is: Video Games. He goes to the gym with me maybe one day a week to workout. Although I will say that I'm thrilled that both Gary and Murdock like to take the air soft guns out into the woods.
So where do we start?
1. Whatever the activity is, MAKE IT FUN
2. Don't worry about a specific time limit
3. Keep it simple, you don't have to go on an all day family hike
Quick Ideas (all of these can be done in 15 minutes before bedtime or in the morning for those early folks like me)
1. Gymnastic Practice - sometimes Maya, Murdock, Gary and I will practice forward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, & headstands in the living room. Great fun!
2. Take any basic movement and do 50-100 reps for time. Maya always counts in 10's, but the boys and I will race each other and it's quite an accomplishment for the kids to see that they can finish all 100 reps.
3. Nature walk after dinner - we live on a green belt and will often take a quick 15 minute walk after dinner. It gets the kids out of the house and they naturally start talking about their day because there's no distractions. This is one of my favorites.
4. Short runs - Short 400M, 1/2 mile, and 1 mile runs are great goal builders for kids. You can time them and show them their improvements over a month or so. It's a great confidence builder. The Seattle Kids Marathon is a great example of kids running short distances for a long term goal. http://www.seattlemarathon.org/kids/eventinfo.htm
As always, share your ideas! Have a GREAT weekend!! I'll be trying the coconut water tonight.
Laura and I were talking yesterday morning about kids and fitness (Crossfit specifically). I thought it was really cool that she was thinking about installing pull up bars and other equipment in the garage for her kids. The brain kept spinning and here I am writing about kids and getting out and playing.
On average, I'm in the gym 6 days a week. I take Maya with me about half of that time and she plays and runs around with the other kids. Sometimes she swings on the rings and does push ups, but the cool thing is she equates working out and going the gym as fun. It's a big playground to her.
Murdock on the other hand is a pre teen. Most afternoons he's stuck in the house or at the library doing homework. Here is where the challenge lies. And as a male preteen you can guess what his #1 favorite activity is: Video Games. He goes to the gym with me maybe one day a week to workout. Although I will say that I'm thrilled that both Gary and Murdock like to take the air soft guns out into the woods.
So where do we start?
1. Whatever the activity is, MAKE IT FUN
2. Don't worry about a specific time limit
3. Keep it simple, you don't have to go on an all day family hike
Quick Ideas (all of these can be done in 15 minutes before bedtime or in the morning for those early folks like me)
1. Gymnastic Practice - sometimes Maya, Murdock, Gary and I will practice forward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, & headstands in the living room. Great fun!
2. Take any basic movement and do 50-100 reps for time. Maya always counts in 10's, but the boys and I will race each other and it's quite an accomplishment for the kids to see that they can finish all 100 reps.
3. Nature walk after dinner - we live on a green belt and will often take a quick 15 minute walk after dinner. It gets the kids out of the house and they naturally start talking about their day because there's no distractions. This is one of my favorites.
4. Short runs - Short 400M, 1/2 mile, and 1 mile runs are great goal builders for kids. You can time them and show them their improvements over a month or so. It's a great confidence builder. The Seattle Kids Marathon is a great example of kids running short distances for a long term goal. http://www.seattlemarathon.org/kids/eventinfo.htm
As always, share your ideas! Have a GREAT weekend!! I'll be trying the coconut water tonight.
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