Day 11 - Monday. Back on track with a two-a-day

8:00am - wake up.

8:30am - 24oz mate and ayurvedic teas.

11:15am - 10g BCAA.

11:30am - 1st metcon of the day:

3 rounds for time of:

2 - Front Squats @ 75% [115#]

12 Pull-ups

3 - Front Squats @ 75% [115#]

8 Box Jump (24 in.)s

5 - Front Squats @ 75% [115#]

4 Ring Dips

Time: 9:05.

1:30pm - 2 HOUR thai massage. So necessary. My arms - specifically triceps and shoulders have been KILLING me for days. When I raise my arms up in front of me like a zombie I'm in terrible pain, and it's worse if from that zombie arm hold i internally rotate so my hands are against my chest and then try and press my elbows up into the sky. that REALLY hurts. I asked for 60-90 min and Anna (who's great) said she needed more time (which she didn't charge me for) because my arms were so wrecked. She literally spent 90% of her time on my arms, and then other 10% on the rest of my body.

4:00pm - Breaking fast?! Now?! Didn't mean to wait so late in the day but the massage therapist said to come then, so I came. Approx 5 oz. tri-tip steak on a Fiesta salad - mixed greens, roasted red peppers & onions, shredded jicama, green onions, diced tomoatoes, 1/4 avocado. approx 1 T. spicy ranch dressing. 20 oz coffee with 4 cream, 4 sugars. Exceptionally delicious coffee. Terrible black, but with cream and sugar it was so good I went back for a second cup (each cup was 10oz)!

7:00pm - a-coach.
8:30pm - Accel gel. Chocolate flavored. Nutritional facts:

Total Fat 0g

Saturated Fat 0g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 95 mg

Potassium 40mg

Total Carbohydrate 20g

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 10g

Protein 5g

What?! The sugar count is ridiculous! I didn't get a chance to read this until now. Am surprised that Team CF promotes these. Will talk to the coaches there tomorrow about this. Shoulda just had BCAA instead.

8:30pm - 2nd metcon of the day. Was supposed to get in OH squats today at 75% but my arms needed a break. Coach Joynier designed this one:

10 rounds:
7 goblet squats with 26# dumbbell in each hand (total weight 1 pood)
7 box jumps @ 20"
7 sit-ups

Wanted to get another wod in but without using arms. Realized in round 8 that it was all the same muscles I used in this morning's wod. Oops.

10:30pm - 8 egg whites, spices, brussel sprouts + butternut squash cooked in 1 T coconut milk. Yum.

one cheat leads to another...

I was craving bad food all day on sunday. All day. I was super tired though and woke at 7:30, stayed up about 30 minutes or so and then fell back asleep till 9ish, was up for about an hour then fell asleep till 10:15 when I finally got up. I was craving something bad but decided to have a healthy egg whites, grilled chicken, and veggies scramble, but thought I'd have a pomegrante tea latte to satisfy the urge to cheat, but it didn't hit the spot so I skipped it.

Then, later I split half of a reece's crunchy bar thing with a friend, and later had a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. Then a healthy chicken and homemade paleo salsa for dinner, followed by more peanut butter. Oh, and and hours later, ice cream.

Sooooo... yea. Bananas (at least eaten that way like a damn shake) are obviously cheating since they totally led to cravings the following day, and I rarely have cravings. Or, I'll have a tiny craving but nothing worth doing anything about, so can ignore it pretty easily. Today though, total binge.

And what sucks is I didn't have that shake because I was craving a cheat, I just wanted to try out cacao nibs. I tried them the other day on their own and didn't like them but wanted to give them another shot and this recipe was suggested to me.

... I'm not listing out everything as usual b/c it was a mess. 2 good paleo meals with good proportions, but then bunches of cheats... which i didn't track times for. ugh. tomorrow's a new day?

Delicious totally cheating protein shake (though still paleo)

7:30am - wake up

8:15am - 20oz mate tea.

9:00am - a-coach for Steve
10:00am - stretching/mobility work - my shoulders are wrecked. I want someone to stretch me out.
11:00am - a-coach for Jen

2:00pm - BEST cheaty feeling non-cheat ever! Protein shake made with 1/4 c coconut milk, 1 totally ripe banana, 1 1/2 T cacao nibs, 1 scoop grass-fed whey APS chocolate protein powder, ice, cinnamon, nutmeg. Fat: 27g Carbs: 11g (4g sugar) Protein: 27g. Totally satisfying, delicious and obvi way higher fat content than I usually eat in a meal BUT it's my rest day so I'm allowed a higher fat amount in my first meal. This should totally be my weekend "cheat" from now on. SOOOO much better than the shitty cheats I had last night. Happy Saturday to me!!!
--^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^--
Okay, so... bananas are still cheating. SO I have revised the post to acknowledge that the above shake was in fact a cheat b/c it will not aid my weight loss or leaning out goals or help me improve performance in the gym. Which does not detract from its deliciousness but it was still not a good call. Also, the following day I was craving sweets and cheats all day. And, I lacked my usual restraint. Fuck. Coach Rudy is always right. Damn it. AAAAAND, JJ pointed out I didn't add teh banana into the nutritional info. ACTUAL NUTR'L VALS: Fat: 27g Carbs: 38g (19g sugar) Protein: 27g
--^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^--
4:30pm - 4oz turkey burger, some beet/pepper/spinach salad, and a few bites of eggplant/cucumber salad.

8:00pm - Ran 4.1 miles (same route I ran on 4/29). Last time was 4.1 miles in 47:49.4. I finished in 42:26. PR!! MORE THAN FIVE MINUTE PR!! I heart CrossFit. And Bryce for introducing me to IF. And that Martin guy for coming up with it.

9:00pm - 8 oz egg whites (approx 5.9 egg whites) with 2 oz turkey burger and broccoli (ps i NEVER remember how to spell that damn vegetable). with a SHIT ton of chili powder b/c i accidentally poured from the open top side insteada the sprinkle top side. oops. meh. it was still good. spicy for sure, but good. poured about 1 T coconut milk on the eggs/turkey burger b/c the burger was dry but that didn't cut it so I drizzled maybe 1 T avocado oil on top which did help. made it extra tasty actually. With 9/5 oz coconut water - "Taste Nirvana"  brand is DELICIOUS. My absolute favorite so far. Last meal was approx 38g protein... so a little bit more than usual but wanted the turkey burger for taste and wanted the egg whites for long term fullness, but still within the allowable range of protein for last meal and for the day so i feel good.

Days 2 and 3... Weekend in Portland!

7:15am - wake up. Planning to make today 2-10pm feeing window because I'll be landing traveling to Portland for my mobility cert. I leave LA at 2:30 and arrive in Portland at 6:10pm, and have a dinner reservation at 8:30pm. It's only an hour later than yesterday and I'll be busy so I don't think this should be a problem. We'll see :)

8:30am - 16 oz dirty chai tea (brewed chai tea with a shot of espresso)

9:00am - a-coach

10:00am - 10g BCAA.

10:00am - Metcon.

6 rounds tabata of each movement
135# side-shuffle sled pull (for total meters)
Heavy hammer slam (total reps)
Row (total calories)
Sit-ups (total reps)
20" box jumps (total reps)

Total points: 230m/60/37/?/?.

11:15am - 10g BCAA

2:15pm - 8oz americano with a tiny bit of heavy cream... So delicious... 4oz no salt turkey breast with maybe 3 oz. Zucchini/squash/brussels sprouts/yellow beet salad mixes... had more food and more coffee but couldn't finish them (wtf?!).

5:30pm - 2 oz no salt turkey breast, 5 oz. veggie mix from above. Wanted to finish the food I had and per the Martin's (www.leangains.com) suggestion wanted to make sure I wasn't too hungry at dinner so i didn't make bad choices while eating out.

9:30pm - Italian cured meats (less than 1 oz), 2 sliced figs, 3 olives. Tiny Beet salad. 3 1/2 oz halibut. 4 baby tiny grapefruit wedges. Tiny, but delicious, food at the restaurant. 1/3 dark chocolate brownie thingy (what?! so much for that no bad choices game plan). espresso.

--
I cant believe how good i feel today. I'm down 2 lbs since thurs day morning (it's Saturday), which isn't anything to speak of since I go up down within 2# throughout most weeks, but its the way that I FEEL. I feel leaner, I feel like my diest is cleaner than usual, and seriously i feel amazing. Strong, lean, just amazing. I expected getting used to the diet to be hard to uncomfortable but it hasn't been, it's been cake. Which maybe i should say b/c I shouldn't have any but whatever I feel fucking good.
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Day three. Sunday. Mobility Cert Day!! Rest Day, though worked on some mobility throughout the day (9-4).

6:30am - wake up.

8:30am - 12 oz americano with 3 shots espresso

12:30pm - 6 oz no salt turkey breast. Forgot to pack veggies for my cert. Oops. 2 tsp fish oil, 2 magnesium, 1 multi vitamin. Maybe i should include those from now on so i remember to take them.

4:30pm - 4 oz. Steak, more fatty than usual (which is ok b/c it was a rest day) was part of the new york strip of a t-bone. Also a little bit of spinach and strawberry salad (i didn't realize it was dressed in some sort of sugary sauce so only had a few bites out of politeness to the people who had prepared it) i ate because I was feeling kinda tired and off... I mean, it was the first day on IF without a workout... Plus the first meal didn't really satiate me and so I was gonna grab a chicken salad from somewhere but as I walked out of the gym (CrossFit X-Factor in Portlamd - I got my mobility cert today!!) the warehouse next door was having a BBQ and offered me a steak!

7:30pm - beets and mixed greens with a few bites of orange, 1 1/2 T goat cheese, a bit of olive oil, and a few hazelnuts. 7 oz rotisseries chicken. 6 asparagus. 2 1/2 c chamomile tea.

Day One IF - Success!

I'm gonna change the way I track things b/c with IF timing of meals is important, so I'll be blogging in a more linear format with meals and wods together so I can see how things fit together better.

7:30am - wake up.

8:45am - 16 oz. coffee with 1 T half and half

9:15am - 10g BCAA (Purple Wraath - purple lemonade flavor... not bad)

9:20am - Find 1RM OHS. 93#. Failed at 98# twice and stopped b/c I ran out of time (had to a-coach at 10am). I think I could've gone heavier but I need time to really work on my OHS. Way more time that I need for other lifts b/c of my lack of stability, flexibility, and control on this movement.

11:00am - 10g BCAA.

1:30pm - large salad (so large i couldn't finish it!) with mixed greens, sautéed onions and peppers, approx 3.5 oz grilled chicken [~28g protein], 1 T. Poblano ranch dressing. This meal should've had more protein but I was eating out. I'll try and eat more protein in my later meals today to balance.

5:00 pm - Metcon.

4 Rds for time of:
4 OHS @65% (which loosely came to 63#)
100m row
3 OHS @65%
100m row
2 OHS @65%
100m row
1 OHS @65%
100m row

Time: 23:14. OHS were a bear as usual and only got 4 unbroken in rd 1 and 4. I got a shooting pain in the pad of my left hand directly below my thumb. It continued to pulse and hurt throughout the wod but stopped the shooting pain. Some kinda nerve thing I guess. Awesome. Coach James pointed out that I'm squatting with my feet too wide and Coach Heidi pointed out that my grip is too wide. Thank god I'm attending the mobility cert this wkend I have GOT to fix my OHS.

7:30pm - Last meal before the fast! 9 egg whites [31.5g protein] (with so many spices! garlic, cloves, chives, pinch of sea salt, YUM!), and brussel sprouts & beet & walnut salad and butternut and yellow squash and zuchini salad tossed in olice oil. SUCH a tasty meal. I mean to have another in b/w these two but I didn't have time in b/w running errands and getting to the gym at 5, but that's good it means I can eat less and get by fine so that should be a lesson to me! Although I was starting to get hungry - and only made it till last meal b/c I was working out.

what the F is IF?

Intermittent Fasting. I.F.

I'll be honest, I'm a non-believer. I think eating is how your body sustains itself and therefore skipping eating is stupid. That being said, I consistently weigh 145#. I generally stick between 142-148, but for the past month I've been between 148-153 and it's obnoxious. I look fine, not great but fine. My strength is at it's best and my metcons are actually kicking ass recently, but why the hell am I carrying around this extra weight? And I've been paleo for the past 2 weeks (minus a few cheats here and there) so what the fuck?

So Bryce posts this article about IF and shows how he really leaned out in a short timeframe and actually increased his snatch weight. I was immediately sold - his after picture is impressive - definitely the leanest I've ever seen him and he eats clean on a regular basis so if that's the result I can aim for/hope for/maybe possible achieve? I'm in.

And, the IF plan isn't acually that different from the way I'm eating now, it just compresses the eating schedule. The plan I'll be following goes like this:

Workouts days:

8/9 AM - Wake up. Have coffee/tea... something with caffeine.
5-15 minutes pre-workout: 10 g BCAA (branch chain amino acids).
Morning workout.
Within 1 hr post-workout: 10 g BCAA.
12-1pm: Breaking the fast. Start of the 8 hour feeding-window. Biggest meal of the day.
(If 2nd workout is done, it should be done sometime in b/w 12-6pm)
4-5pm: Second meal
8-9pm: Final meal before the fast begins.

Rest Days:

12-1pm: Breaking the fast. Start of the 8 hour feeding-window.
(If 2nd workout is done, it should be done sometime in b/w 12-6pm)
4-5pm: Second meal
8-9pm: Final meal before the fast begins.

The general rules I'm sticking to are below:
-Aim for 1200-1500 calories a day, but essentially as long as the majority of my calories are coming from protein I'm not going to get caught up in that.
-Last meal before the fast should consist of fiberous veggies and should be heavy handed on the protein. This meal must sustain me throughout the night and until 12pm. Could eat up to 40-50g of protein (though I think that number is based on a man's eating plan not a woman's so will just play with this until I find the right amount for me). Focus on slow digesting proteins like egg whites or casein protein.
-Workout Days:
    -Focus more on carbs than fat.
    -Post-workout meal should be the biggest meal of the day. If doing 2-a-day workouts, still ensure that larger meals are eaten post-wod.
    -One piece of fruit is allowable these days post-wod though I don't think I'll have much fruit. Prob stick to bananas/apples/and maybe the occasional berries
    -Stick to leaner meats.
-Rest Days:
    -Can have a little more fat than on workouts days, and reduce the carb intake.
    -Consume less calories than workout days.
    -Fattier meats like ground beef and salmon are okay on these days.

Charles Staley Oly Lift seminar day 2 & day 8 of nutrition tracking

Sunday 10/18/10.

Nutrition:
2 eggs + 1 egg white.

1/2 extra big choc muscle milk light

Chipotle burrito bowl...double chicken, pico de gallo, guac, lettuce... And a little bit of spicy corn salsa.

1/2 extra big choc muscle milk light

Steak lettuce wraps... Prob 4 oz steak, 1/3 c peppers and onions, lettuce wraps, guac

A shit ton of vodka sodas... 8-10? And another car bomb. Man, those are delicious.

Prob about 1/3 c cheese tortellini in cream sauce with peas and proscioutto. And 1/3 carafe of bellinis.
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Maybe not my best wkend as far as food goes... Next week I'll have to make up for that. Whatever though- we're starting to shoot on Tuesday so I needed to get all my misbehaving out before then. Plus one of my oldest friends came into town and we had a lot of fun. And apparently both are secretly fatties who miss pasta :)

I worked out hard though- another 9-3 day of lifting with Charles Staley. I snatched up to 70 or 80 some #s, I cant believe I didn't write that down, but it wasn't a PR... Just much prettier than prev PRs. I C&J up to 103#, but was really struggling with the pull. I wasn't getting that weightless moment - that shrug that happens when you rally nail the pull. So, instead of continuing up in weight I dropped down to work just on that. I need to spend some time this week on these lifts... I hope i can find a gym in LA with barbells I can play with as i want to.

Charles Staley seminar on Oly Lifting - day 1 of 2

Saturday 10/16/10.
Nutrition:
Pure protein bar.

1/2 extra big chocolate muscle milk (during oly lifting training).

Lunch at Flat Top Grill - 3 oz chicken, stirfried with broccoli, spinach, peppers, a few pineapple chunks, mushrooms, and green onions plus Indian coconut curry sauce, garlic and sriacha sauce.

1/2 extra big chocolate muscle milk (at end of oly lifting training).

Barbacoa burrito bowl from Whole Foods- 4 oz barbacoa steak, 1 1/2 T guacamole, pico de gallo, and lettuce.

And... Later on I will be having copious amounts of alcohol.

Later on's update is... I think I drank 4 vodka sodas, plus a car bomb (amazing...happy bday Erin), a shot of tequila...

And I was starving coming home. And wanted fucking taco bell. Like really wanted it. I settled for 1 oz of no salt turkey deli meat. Ugh.
--
Workout:
9am- 3pm Olympic Lifitng training seminar with Charles Staley.

Great day!! Worked first on cleans, then snatches, then jerks. Broke for lunch and then returned to snatches, and then put together the clean and the jerk. Worked up to 73# snatch, 30% off my prev ugly as shit 1RM, which didn't make me especially happy but it was okay. I then worked up to a 103# clean and jerk, which was only 10% off my prev 1RM, which felt great. I wanted to push for 108, but I was tired. I recognized that I had reached my end for the day so didn't try it. But tomorrow!! Tomorrow I'm getting it. Actually tomorrow I'm hitting 125#. :) Charles suggested writing it down ahead of time... Not waiting until you hit the PR but announcing it first. Making it happen. So, I'm making it happen. Tomorrow.

Holy shit I'm about to get on a plane to Chicago!!

Friday 10/15/10 Nutrition:
2 eggs + cheese + top half of a mini croissant + 1/2 t Tabasco. 16 oz coffee + sugary non-dairy creamer.

"Pure protein" bar.

Sashimi and some random Japanese veggies, a bit of fresh mango and avocado. 2-3 glasses vodka+ club soda.

Post-bikram 1/2 extra big chocolate muscle milk

Prob 2 1/2 oz. of chicken, 1 italian mini meatball, 1/3 c cavatelli pasta with ricotta and tomato sauce. Plus 1/2 caraffe delicious delicious bellini :) and then one more kettle on the rocks.
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Workout: bikram yoga. I wanted to go to CFC but my traps are still pretty sore so I wanna give them some additional rest since I'll be kiting all day tomorrow and Sunday.

--
I'm so excited to head back to Chi-town for a weekend of olympic lifting training and fun fun CFC times. I don't even know what to do with myself I'm so excited. I miss my box, and this will be a fantastic reunion. Plus, I spent the last few days hitting up Northern VA boxes, training at GMG, and having a fucking phenomenally relaxing and rejuvenating time. AND we just locked our lead actor for the shoot, which means we'll finally start shooting this upcoming Tuesday.

I. Love. My. Life.

Day One of tracking food and workouts... Let's hope I make it to day two...

Sunday 10/10/10. Day One. It's not really a paleo challenge for me so much as a "track my eating and workout habits" challenge so I don't forget to take care of myself while I'm working on this movie. And so I don't get fat and lazy ;)

Coffee + hazelnut non-dairy creamer. 2 whole eggs plus 1 egg white.
~7 oz shrimp sauteed with 1 oz ham
Small bowl Special K cereal with soy milk (I've been craving chocolate ALL DAY today)
Pre-bikram: 1 1/2 oz turkey breast
Post-bikram: chocolate muscle milk lite
2 1/4 lb. turkey burger patties

Workout(s):
20 min wii fit with Sara. It was fun to workout with her, though it wasn't as intense a workout as I hoped it would be... But as a pre-bikram warmup workout it was fun.
90 min bikram yoga.

The Fitbit... anyone ever heard of this thing?

Filming schedules are hectic. Most times when I work on films, I don't see anyone except those with whom I am working with (literally) for the entire shoot. There's just no time. And the one day off in a shooting week isn't really a day off. There are errands to run, people/locations to confirm things with or set things up with. The one day off is really a day off for actors, not us. And if I do get a partial day off... I sleep. This past week proved to be pretty busy and tiring, thought shooting hasn't started. This phase of filming, called Pre-Production, is almost as busy as the production itself, with many long nights and certainly long days but at least during Pre-Prod you get time off to have dinner with friends and ocassionally even a whole day off. I had a partial day off Saturday (I slept and caught up on some tv) and then a whole day off Sunday (which I spent having a "where is my life going, what the hell am I doing in LA" talk with my LA-roomie Gabriel, and then at the pool). I went to the pool to swim laps and to get a tan (workout + relaxation). I got a few laps in, and then all the young people of the community came down and we got drunk instead. I did mean to work out... just wasn't especially successful. Oops. That was relaxing in itself, so at least I accomplished that!

Soooooo... now you know a bit about what my life is like out here. My brother-in-law Alex mentioned this new tool on the market, the fitbit http://www.fitbit.com Has anyone heard of this thing or used it? It promises to "accurately tracks your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality," though it admits it can't track certain calories burned for activities such as cycling because it's more of a pedometer-type tracker. Because of that I'm not sure how accurately it will track lifting, but you can also log your workouts, so maybe that will allow you to add in calories burned there. It also trackers how long you slept, whether you woke up a million times, etc. Sleep is also a tough commodity to come by when filming so this will be a good way for me to track how much I am really getting.

So, at this time in my life when I will rarely have time to get workouts in but still want to maintain a healthy figure, I'm thinking I'll try this. If I use this to track my activity level and my sleep, and then separately track my nutrition, I think I'll be in much better shape coming out of this project than if I do not do so. So, I plan on giving thsi a shot! It says it's backordered and won't ship till mid-October, so I have a bit of time before I get to try it out, but I think it'll be a good diea. This way I will on a continual basis be reminded of the necessity of sleep and exercise, and can see when it starts getting off track, so I can do something about it right away. Good idea??

Tuesday 9/28.

Morning workout. I didn't have much time but figured I'd go for a quick run/sprint session. About 1.5 miles, switching between sprinting at full pace and running/jogging pace. Worked up a good sweat, then did 45 reps sit up variations. Then, had breakfast and headed into the office :) Not a great workout, but I had to get something in.

Tomorrow (Weds) is a SNEAK PREVIEW of the NEW CFC LOCATION!!

WE HAVE A NEW BOX!!!!

I'm super excited about Open House at the new box, 1444 W. Willow, with classes at 4, 5, 6, and 7pm tomorrow! Thursday and Friday classes will resume at the old box location (1962 N Clybourn), and then effective Saturday 2/20 classes will officially be moved to the new location!! AND THEN SATURDAY IS A PALEO CHILI AND DESSERT COOK-OFF?!?! Amazing. I love our new box already. I bought some elk meat for Amy that's been sitting in my freezer, and I'm totally stealing it to make paleo chili with it (sorry Amy).

As excited as I am for a new box, I think I'll be sad at the last Friday evening class at the old box. I'll miss that place. It's where I got to know all my friends in Chicago, and it's the first place I felt at home in this whole city. It's where I go when my head is full of unnecessary things that I want cleared out or when I need to get away. I am forever grateful to that place and to the people in it for my new life, and it will be sad when we move out. Sadder than moving out of my condo, actually, which is kind of funny. I'm sure I will grow to love our new box as I loved the old one, especially since the new one is even CLOSER to my apartment than the current box, and we'll have showers, and hand dryers, and a heated parking garage, and it's so much bigger than our current box... all of which is awesome. Plus, all the people I love will be moving to the new box which is key. Dinner at my place post-wod? Sure, it's only a few blocks away!! We can walk :)

And tomorrow we'll start a new initiative called Proving Grounds where we'll set a goal for ourselves and then work to achieve that goal by October 15th. WELL... I've already been thinking about just that sort of thing, except I have a boat load of goals to achieve. To achieve my enormous list I'm setting a deadline for 12/31/2010, but for Proving Grounds I've selected one very special goal to be accomplished sooner than that. I look forward to learning what everyone's goals are and am excited to be a part of helping everyone reach their goals.

--

Today's workout:
Deadlift 5-5-5+
(1RM+10#) 58.5%/67.5%/76.5%
146# - 170# - 191# x 10 reps!!

12 min AMRAP of:
3 hang squat clean (60-65% of 1RM clean) used 73#
6 burpees
9 kbs (heavy) used 55# 

6 rds + 1 HSC

This was a horrible workout.  My back ACHED afterward and it took a long time to feel right again. The KBS were NOT unbroken - I got 5-4 most rounds, but got 4-3-2 in rd 5 or 6. HSC were all unbroken but slower than I wanted them to be. Everytime I dropped the bar back to the hang position it hurt my back - I should maybe learn a more comfortable way of doing that. Burpees were unbroken.

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Nutrition

8:30am - 1 egg, 2 oz. no salt turkey, 6 oz. spinach, 1 cup iced coffee w/ 1 t. raw sugar and 1/8 c. coconut milk. 4 fish oil, 1 vit. C

1:30 pm - 3 oz. no salt turkey; 9 oz. of: rainbow chard sauteed in 1/4 T. coconut oil, plus mushrooms and onions; sprinkle of sea salt & pepper. 1/3 L. Water. 4 fish oil.

2:15 pm - 1/8 c. Mint Galactica Organic Coconut Bliss... it's coconut milk ice cream. And it's amazing. Ingredients listed below. Apparently I'm not through cheating... but as far as cheating goes this BARELY counts.

3:30 pm [Pre-wod] - 4 oz. tuna sashimi, 1 1/2 t. almond butter, 8 oz. coconut water

5:20 pm [Post-wod/Pre-vball] - 3 oz. salmon sashimi, 8 oz. coconut water

6:30-7:00 pm [During/Post vball] - 8 oz. coconut water

10:20 pm - 4 oz. Halibut; 6 oz. broccoli & mushrooms with fresh sauteed garlic in 1 t. avocado oil; 2 t. almond butter. Am craving coconut milk, but think I need to cut down on my fat intake, as I'm feeling heavier recently (though the scale doesn't show it, I feel it). We'll see if I can tough it out and get to bed without caving.

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Ingredients of Mint Galactica Coconut Bliss : OG coconut milk, OG Agave Syrup, OG Fair Trade Dark Chocolate (OG Choc. liquor, OG sugar, OG cocoa powder, OG cocoa butter, OG Vanilla extract), OG coconut oil, OG Peppermint extract, OG Vanilla Extract. And Happiness.

More cheating... plus workout

I need more time to chart out my goals. I'll work on it and post when I've got it down.

Workout:
Press 5-5-5+
(1rm+5=90) 58.5%, 67.5% 76.5%
53#-63# -69# (x 8reps!)
(should've been 61 on the 2nd rd, but easier to set the bar this way)

Then, 5 Rounds for time of:
15 Push press (50-55% of 1RM used above, so 50#)
15 Box jumps (24"-20")

I think my time on that was about 6:10ish after 5 rds... but I'm not entirely sure... because I kept going and did 6 rds instead of 5. Because I'm awesome. And because when I have too much sugar I don't function very well. Who knew?
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Nutrition

10:45 am - 3 egg whites, 1 yolk; 1/2 banana in 1/8 c. coconut milk with 2 crushed macadamias and 3 walnut halves with 10 dried cranberries

1:00 pm - Amy's bday lunch. 1 beer. For the table - Mac n cheese and Pork fries (waffle fries topped with bbq pulled pork and cheese). Split the Mayhem burger (Sliced Jalapenos, Pancetta, Pepper Jack, Giardiniera Mayo) and the Lair of the Minotaur burger (Caramelized Onions, Pancetta, Brie, Bourbon Soaked Pears) with Mo. Barely got a few bites of either half in. DNF'ed on the burgers for sure.

2:15 pm - 1 cup coffee, 1 banana cupcake with chocolate frosting, 1/2 red velvet cake cupcake. Amazing.

Like yesterday, I felt SUPER tired after the sugar binge, and struggled while shopping with Amy around 4pm. Was gonna take a nap but couldn't fit it in. No pre-wod meal b/c I was still full.

8:15 pm [Post-wod meal attempt] - approx 1 oz. salmon sashimi. Couldn't force it down.

10:15 pm - 1 c. SleepyTime tea to try and make me sleepy so I'd go to bed early. Added 1/2 t honey b/c my throat is killing me from screaming all wkend.

I cheated on Paleo.

So, Sectionals ended and now it's time to get a plan for how I'm going to improve on my weaknesses. I said before and I'll say it again, I know myself and unless I have a focused plan I won't continually improve at the pace that I want to improve at. So, today I'm taking off work, going to Kuma's Korner for one last cheat (it's Amy's bday - how could I miss that??), and then putting together my next plan for CrossFit improvement. I'll post it once it's ready.

--Nutrition
I'm not posting about my whole weekend because I don't remember what I ate. I stayed paleo until maybe 4 pm or so on Sunday... I will post about the cheating - not because it was epic like other CFCers, but because it was so unlike me. I ate four donuts. Four. Donuts. Within, what, thirty minutes?? I've never eaten that many donuts. I also had a schlook of champagne (thanks, Anj), and about 3/4 glass of beer (thanks, Kurt!!). Delicious delicious beer. First, let me say that I'm not even that big a donut person. I never crave them. I always think it's funny how Rudy/Chris/Mandie and everyone love them so much, but I was so pumped after the workout that I joined in the donut fun. Then, after we got on the road we stopped at Burger King for a Tendercrisp Chicken sandwich WITH cheese (my favorite fast food meal - though the bun wasn't exciting so I only had a few bites of it and then ripped it off the bun. It wasn't worth cheating on paleo for that shitty roll) and a medium coffee WITH cream and white sugar (I'm pretty sure was at least 24 oz. HUGE!). I then had my very first food coma. Amy was driving (thank god - I would NOT have made it) and I passed the fuck out. I was completely unable to keep myself awake. I took about a 30-45 minute nap. Pre-Burger King, Amy asked how much I had to drink, because the sugar had made me completely lose my mind. Future reference - 4 donuts is too many.


Oh, and hours later, we had Raw Organic dairy free cappuccino ice cream. It wasn't totally frozen so tasted more like mousse. Amy and I downed the full pint (again - NOT like me to eat so much... apparently when cheating on paleo my inner fat kid comes out). The ingredients weren't so bad - note OG means organic: 

Water, OG Cashews, OG Agave Nectar, OG Coconut Oil, OG Shea Butter, OG Fair Trade Coffee, OG Lucuma, OG Cacao Butter, Sunflower Lecithin, OG Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt, OG Maca, OG Locust Bean Gum, OG Guar Gum, Caregeenan, OG Cinnamon, OG Mesquite

So that was kind of a cheat too, but wasn't so bad. And it didn't make me pass out afterward, which I think is a good thing :)

More weekend workouts

Friday 2/6/2010.

Back Squat 5-3-1+ @ 67.5%/76.5%/85.5%
111#, 126#, 142# (x 17 reps). 17!!!!

Then, for time (12 min cap):
10 power snatches (75% of 1RM snatch),
50 double-unders,
8 PS, 40 DU, 6 PS, 30 DU, 4 PS, 20 DU, 2 PS, 10 DU.

AWFUL. DNF'ed @ 12min after completing 10 PS, 50 DU, 8 PS, and 37 DU. Ridiculous. Was super disappointed/frustrated/angry/sad/etc. After all my progress this week, I really didn't expect this. But it happened.

So, I took Saturday off. I needed a day off. To recoup mentally and physically. After the eight million attempts at DUs on Friday and all the clean on Thursday my arms were fried.
--
Sunday 2/7/2010.

Bench Press
5-3-1+ @ 67.5%/76.5%/85.5% of 1RM, so... 75#/83#/95# (x11)
Alaskan Qualifier wod for Sectionals 2010. Brutal but bearable.
4 rounds for time of (20 min cap):
3 CTB pull-ups
3 Ring dips
500M row
6 Thrusters @ 95#

20:29. Fucking hell.
FIRST - the good news of this wod. All CTB unbroken (which felt awesome), and 1st 2 sets of ring dips unbroken. Last 2 were 2-1 (had to re-do one rep). 1st 500m b/w 1:56-2:02, 2nd set 2:02-2:05, 3rd less consistent but anywhere b/w 2:02-2:15, 4th mainly around 2:10. Thrusters in rds 1-3 were in sets of 2s, and 4th rd was 2-2-1-1.

On to the sucky part. Finished my last thruster of this wod and turned around and watched the clock hit 20:00, and thought I was done under the 20 min time cap and was so excited!! I walked away from the bar, exhausted, excited, and more exhausted... and everyone was quiet. No post-wod cheering? wtf?! Turns out I didn't lock out fully at the top of my last rep, which TOTALLY sucked. I asked, "What?! Did it not count?" and then had to go back and pick the bar back up. Amy pushed me to pick up the bar and I yelled at her. Told her I needed a fucking minute or something equally as bitchy. Had to regroup and do one last thruster. I had already mentally turned off. It took SO MUCH to get my ass back under that bar. I actually thought to myself 'Fuck that, I'm not picking it back up. I'm DONE!' I WAS DONE! But I had to pick it up. And thankfully, after I finished and apologized to Amy she laughed it off and told me to shut it. Thanks for not getting mad, Am. I love you :)
--

NUTRITIONAL WEBSITE!! This was a great find for me... the website below lists a LOT of nutritional information about food you're interested in eating (including glycemic loads; carbs/fats/protein ratio; nutrient balance; protein quality; amino acids; types of fats: mono-, saturated vs. unsat., Omega 3 vs. 6; etc).

At the top right of the screen you can type in any food you're curious about (I typed in "cocoa powder" and 12 diff options popped up. I was able to find unsweetened Dutch chocolate powder I wanted to use) and it will tell you all the above nutritional facts and more. I can't vouch for the rest of the website, but this search tool is very useful - I'm constantly trying to determine glycemic loads for new fruits/vegis I want to try and typing in "Glycemic load, sunchoke" into Google doesn't always give me the result I want. The site also includes fast food choices and their nutritional values, though that might just make you sad. I also typed in doughnut... and there were 51 options to choose from. I'm not a big doughnut person (though I know many CFCers who are), but I did type in doughnut just to check. My all-time favorite Krispy Kreme doughnut has a GL of 19. Sigh.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

--

Nutrition

Since I'm behind I'm going to be super vague. My food choices this weekend good (all paleo), though, Sat night we had the CFC Girls Night Paleo Dinner, and I ate lots of healthy fats - but certainly more fat than usual. Had an effen & water and a shot Friday night, and a glass of wine Saturday night.

2k row - not so bad after all

Nutrition:

8:30 am - 2 eggs, sauteed eggplant+peppers (not enough fat)

9:00 am - 8 oz. coffee + 1 1/4 t. raw sugar

12:15 pm - Moderately hungry. 3 oz. halibut, 5 oz lettuce + red peppers plus 1 T. Cindy's Kitchen Wild Maine Blueberry dressing (see bottom for nutritional info of dressing... not so bad, actually!!)

4:45 pm - Pre WOD - 4 oz. imitation crab (i know it's bad but I'm not throwing away the last 12 oz I have so am trying to finish it fast and then on to better meat!), 4 oz. steamed mushrooms (w/ garlic, dill, black pepper, sea salt), 2 t. sunbutter


7:45/8 pm - Post WOD - 4 oz. salmon sashimi + ginger + 1 serving coconut water.


9:45 pm - 4 oz. Whole Foods turkey fajitas mix (turkey, peppers, onions, spices, salt) + 5 oz. kale, shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, spices, canola oil + fresh squeezed lemon. This didn't look like a lot of food but I couldn't finish it. ~1 - 1 1/2 t. coconut butter/cream



--
Workout: 2k Row!
Time: 8:39


I paced it exactly as Bryce instructed. It was tiring, but I wasn't as worn out as I wanted to be at the end. I think I had more in me. I've never done a 2k row before and read the article Chris posted (Chris provides my personal library, which I appreciate because he just randomly posts exactly what I need to read) on how to pace a 2k. Then I asked Bryce what to aim for my splits and he said under 2:15, closer to 2:10 throughout. I counted the number of times I went above 2:15 (3x - 2:17 for one pull and then dropped back down, up to 2:18 once and dropped right back down, and then stayed at 2:16 for two pulls before getting back under it) and overall if my goal is to stay below 2:15 and I went above for only, what ten seconds, during the wod I think I managed it well for my first 2k. The last 500m I stayed closer to and below 2:10 and the last 250m I stayed close to 2:05. The article said not to go all out from the gate and to really force yourself to pace slower in the beginning so that you don't lose it later in the row, but in the beginning I had trouble staying around 2:10-2:15 and was anywhere b/w 1:51 and 2:05 for the first 250m until I was able to force myself to settle into a slower pace to ensure I got through it. I think I want to aim for sub 2:10 the whole way through next time I go, and around 2:05 for the first and last 500m, and maybe push for closer to 2:00 for the last 250m. In the middle it was tiring but not that painful. Not as bad as I expected it to be, which I guess is why I think I should've gone harder and faster. Next time.



Megan convinced me to do the row at 7 tonight with her so we could race against each other, which as always I find helpful. She's a great marker for me to compete against in workouts because we have different strengths/weaknesses. I tend to lift a bit heavier than her, but she has better form and she's faster than me in most metcons, so the combination makes for a good fight. She normally beats me in metcons, so it's exciting when I win. Like tonight. Even if it was only by 4 seconds. It was a great 4 seconds (sorry Megan, and thank you).


ALSO, I signed up for my Level I Cert today. Last wkend in Feb. In CA (because it's cold here and warm there) at Crossfit Endurance. Woo, CrossFit.

--

Cindy's Kitchen Wild Maine Blueberry dressing/marinade:

I found this in the produce section of Whole Foods - it's got cane juice (and sea salt) so isn't entirely paleo, but it doesn't have a lot of sugar plus it's a non-dairy and gluten-free dressing option. This is my favorite of the Cindy's Kitchen dressings I've tried but there are a lot of options - just read the ingredients list for each dressing/marinade as some have dairy/other bad stuff.

Ingred: organic high oleic sunflower oil, red wine vinegar, filtered water, light filtered cane juice, blueberry juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, sea salt, dried wild maine blueberries, vitamin E, rosemary extract

Per 1 Tablespoon (which is how much I use)

5g fat (~3 blocks fat)

5.5g carbs - 3g of that is sugar (~1/2 block carbs) 
I don't count this towards my carbs servings, but thought I'd point out how little is in here.

CrossFit Total + me = Ice Pack on my back. Sigh.

Ate well today - 

8:45 am - 2 eggs plus sauteed eggplant/peppers with light oil

2:30 pm - 8-9 oz salad (assorted greens, roasted rep peppers,  1/3 of an avocado, green onions) with 4 oz chicken, 1 oz pancetta, light vinaigrette dressing


5:00 pm [Pre-wod meal] - 4 oz imitation crab meat (not a great option as it's fish with sugar and some soybean additives, but high in omega-3s), ~3/4 serving of coconut juice, 2 teaspoons sunbutter

During WOD drank water + ~1/3 serving coconut juice



9:00 pm [Post-wod meal] - 4 ox imitation crab meat, ~1/2 serving coconut juice.

10:45 pm - Rest of salad from lunch. ~ 2-3 oz. chicken, plus greens and red peppers. No avocado left, so had a teaspoon of sunbutter for my fat.



The CrossFit Total was today's workout - 1RM Back Squat, Strict Press, Deadlift. Score = the added weight of all three max lifts. Goal was a score of 501 - which would be 1# more that all my current PRs. I did not meet that goal. I matched my PRs on Press and DL, but missed my BS PR by 10#. We'll be doing this WOD again in eight weeks at the conclusion of the Paleo Challenge. At that time I will match all three prev PRs and I will PR in at least one lift. Tonight I had BS-165#, Press-85#, DL- 240# (total=490). I've decided today not to set a number goal in mind for next go around. It will depend on how I am feeling that day and how much work I've put in to improve these lifts over the next 8 weeks. I'm not going to call out a goal now as I think that trips me up sometimes. I'm going to feel it out that day and see what I can perform.




Also, I have a tendency to avoid the truth. Not lie (as I'm TERRIBLE at lying), but avoid things that I know are true but don't like... such the fact that I am not 100% tonight, though I pushed as hard as I could and gave it everything I had. I had a fever last night, and though it went away by the morning (took 2 aleve before bed) that generally means I'm getting a psuedo-cold. Thanks to paleo, I don't seem to get full-blown colds as I used to, just cold-like symptoms (cough, fever, and stuffy/runny nose) over the course of a week that make me weaker but not incapacitated. I have had a stuffy nose for a day and a half now, and can expect to have it for a few more days if I don't suck it up and take some real medicine. I am gonna try 6grams of vitamin C every 6 hrs as suggested by my homeopathic aunt starting tomorrow (if i manage to get to the store and buy some). I was extra sleepy yesterday after our afternoon workout on Sunday and ended up taking an hour nap (I haven't taken a nap in months), plus this morning I stayed in bed an extra hour, giving me a full 8 hrs of sleep last night so I had hoped that would represent well in my workout today but c'est la vie. I need to remember that getting extra sleep doesn't automatically make me stronger, in this case it's actually a symptom that I'm currently a bit weaker than usual due to my pseudo-cold so require more sleep than usual.


I tried REALLY hard to hit 250# on my DL and got most of the way up but just couldn't get my hips locked. I hurt my back trying to force it and left the box unable to stand-up completely straight without pain. Also walking hurts. And stairs for sure. I've been icing it for about 20 mins, will take it off for 20, will ice it for 20 again and then plan to go to bed. Hopefully that will do the trick so I can get my 2k row in tomorrow. If I have to take a rest day because of attempting that last effing DL and failing I'll be super annoyed. Especially because I got my stitches out (while at the box actually by Dr. Anjali Thawani) which means I can jump and double-under... which is what I would've done tonight post-CF Total if I hadn't been in pain. Damn DL.