Day Ten... Another Weigh-in

No more rhymes now, I mean it.... anybody wanna peanut?!

So, amazingly, I have actually lost more weight. I weighed in this morning at 170.3. I have officially lost more than 10 pounds!! It makes me want to workout today. Especially since today is an olympic lifting day (my favorite!!). Death by clean and jerk. The good news is that I was going through the power-clean movement last night with a buddy and I was demoing the power-clean with relatively light weight and my elbow didn't throb at all. I think I may finally be out of the woods on my elbow pain. If I ever arm-wrestle again, it will be after a proper warm-up :-P

Obviously, my weight loss must plateau at some point. But I'm at a loss as to when that will happen. I lost over a pound last night. I'm eating lots of protein, plenty of carbs, and lots of fat. But I'm not eating any processed foods, no sugar, no dairy, no grains, and no beans. Most of my meals have been quite tasty. So no complaints. I'm looking forward to my once-a-week cheat days though.

Ahh, tomorrow's WOD is supposed to be run 10k. Sooo, I think I'll have everyone over to run that on Saturday morning. We'll turn it into a fun event complete with a pot-luck style breakfast after the run. And that means I'll get to make up the death by clean and jerk tomorrow. But for everyone else I'll need to find a good substitute. Hmmm. Muwahwahwah!

I should start taking bets on how much I'll weigh each day until it starts tapering off. It could be "Ty's fat-loss sports book". People would bet against each other and I just take a little profit off the top. Brilliant!!!

Day Nine and feelin... fine :-)

My energy level is way up today! We've got my nemesis workout today: Cindy. For some reason, this simple little amrap beats me up every time I do it. I hit a wall on the push-ups and I just can't keep going. Well, this will be a fantastic test of how I'm really doing on this diet. I've wanted to break 20 rounds on Cindy from the start. Speal cranks out 39 rounds in 20 min. Surely, I can do at least 20 today! I don't know, we'll see... It makes my palms sweaty just typing this. It's not fear of pain. That, I can handle. It's fear of failure. I HATE hitting that wall and knowing with perfect certainty that I can't achieve my goal. That sucks! But maybe today, when I dig in and look for a little something left in the tank, I'll find something....

I weighed in this morning at 172.8! I've dropped another pound!! Where will it end?! 170? 165? 160? Will I just keep shrinking until I disappear?! I'm pretty psyched, because this should really help me with my body weight exercises.

Well, Cindy pretty much beat me down. I got just over 15 rounds. The energy just wasn't there. But it was my sixth straight day of working out. So I was kind of falling apart. I'm taking tomorrow off!

Day Eight - Ain't no thang!

I'm a day late on this post, so I'll refer to everything in the past tense. I got up and ran a 5k with my dog. I was a bit tired since I had done the wall-ball, ghd situp, back extension 20 min amrap (as many rounds as possible) from the main site the night before. But I was still able to eek out a 24 min 5k. Speaking of that amrap, it was a nice experience. On the 20 min amraps, I always hit a wall at 10-12 minutes. I just run out of gas typically. Amazingly, that didn't happen with this one. I was nervous that it would, but I had gas the entire time. The situps were, by far, the most difficult thing. I thought the wall-balls would be tough, but they were easy. The back extensions, of course, were cake. Anyway, I was late getting Ava to sunday school, so I didn't have time to get my coveted all-fruit smoothie from Jamba Juice that I can have immediately following a hard met-con. And I didn't have time to make breakfast, so I went hungry :-( This is probably not the healthiest thing, but it happens. I got to church and had some black coffee to get something in my belly and occupy my hands. I didn't end up getting lunch until close to 2pm. I had some leftover beef stir-fry we made last week. I was very hungry by now, so it tasted awesome! I followed it up with a tiny amount of blended frozen berries for "ice cream".

For dinner, I scrambled a couple of eggs, ate a scoop of almond butter, and had a little watermelon. But the most significant thing about today was that I cooked breakfast for the week, and vaccuum sealed it in the foodsaver. I also found an incredibly cool paleo recipe book in pdf format. I'll link to it tonight when I get home. So I made a chicken marinade and grilled some chicken breast for the next couple days.

Day Seven- Flying by

This diet just isn't that hard to follow. I once did the master cleanse. That was hard. I didn't eat anything solid for 10 days. The paleo diet is full of tasty options. So, sure, I can't have a donut. But I can live with that. The good news is that I started at about 181 pounds (naked) a few days ago. I finally weighed in this morning... drum-roll please..... 173.8 pounds (with shorts on) today. Holy crap. I'm shedding weight faster than I every have in my life. This is incredible. My buddy Greg broke the 190 pound mark this morning at 189.8 pounds. This is quite the experiment, I must say. Eggs, bacon, an apple, and raw cashews for breakfast this morning. And I'm just about to heat up some leftover stir-fry for lunch. I'm intrigued by the effectiveness of the paleo diet. And again, my energy levels don't seem to be wavering. Even if they did, I think I could tweak things out by adjusting my fat and carb intake a bit. I'm quite sure I don't NEED processed sugar, gluten, or dairy to perform well. It's just that my body acclimated to getting all that junk and now it's acclimating to not getting it.

Day Six - Temptations

I took the day off because Soupha is in Las Vegas with her sisters. I've got the kiddos and it isn't exactly routine for me. But we do ok :-) I had the typical egg breakfast this morning. But I was in such a rush to get out of the house that I didn't have time to pack anything for myself for lunch. I had a meeting at work, and then it was off to "Cops and Kids" at the park. Ava and Reid had a really good time climbing through ambulances and petting the police horses. And they were very excited about the ice cream. Now I never found out if there was ice cream there because the food line was VERY long. So we bailed and went to A&W. I got them some chicken strips, fries, and a root beer float. They sucked it all down, but by this time I was ravenously hungry. So it was tempting to stuff a couple fries in my mouth. I abstained though :-) When we got home, I put the kids down for a nap and then had the leftover avocados and shrimp and an apple.

Tonight, I have a babysitter and I'm going to the movies with my mom. I'm sure the popcorn will smell good, but its awful price combined with a little willpower will be enough deterrant :-)
I'll probably just pack a simple dinner of turkey breast, nuts, and an apple for the theater. Down with the man!

Day Five

Breakfast was the typical eggs, fruit, and avocado. I feel totally normal. I mean, my energy level is what I'm used to. At lunch, I had to get my teeth cleaned, so I missed the workout at the gym. No matter, it was "DT" and I'm still trying to lay off my elbow a bit.

Lunch was somewhat of a disappointment. I made some lamb-shank stew in the pressure cooker. I think I was supposed to have the bones cut length-wise to expose the marrow. Apparently, that would thicken the soup up and make it crazy delicious. I didn't have the marrow exposed. So the meat was tasty, but the stock was thin and bland :-( I'll try to get it right next time. Got my fat from some sunflower seeds and had some strawberries too.

I did 7X1 backsquats today. I got 285, but failed twice on 295 (my PR). I just haven't been squatting heavy. I think I'm going to do the Starting Strength program mixed in with the daily WOD's. I am dying to break 300 lbs! But with my newly improved deadlift of 374, I can finally break 800lbs on my CF total. 145 + 285 + 374 = 804 And that's even if I don't get my previous PR on the backsquat.

Soupha left for Las Vegas tonight. So I made dinner. I tried something easy that looked tasty and it didn't dissappoint. I made shrimp stuffed avocados. Just steam some shrimp, cut some avocados in half and peel them. Removed the shrimp tails, and pile the shrimp on the avocados. Last, squeeze some lemon juice over them. Tasty! And super easy.

My buddy Greg that is doing this with me is getting stunning results. When he started crossfitting, he weighed about 225. Over the first few months of CF, he dropped down to 195/196, and just hovered there for several months. But going strict Paleo, he has dropped a pound a day on average. He weighed in this morning at 191.4! He'll be down to his fighting weight in no time!

Day four - Leaner? Stronger? Perhaps...

Today we're going to be doing heavy dead-lifts at the gym. I'm very interested in seeing what I can pull off the ground. My previous PR was 345. But after watching Jenny Olsen pull 355 at the CF games, it made me feel kind of wimpy. So I'm very curious as to what I can do today. It's been a LONG time since I maxed out on DL's. I feel a little leaner, but it's hard to tell. I don't like weighing myself. That becomes obsession too quickly, so I prefer to gauge my fitness based on performance. That's much more measurable. And if I get calls from Hanes or Fruit of the Loom for underwear model ads, I'll know everything is working :-)

Breakfast today was 2 eggs, a plum, and two spoonfuls of almond butter. For lunch, I brought in some green chile and pork stew. I LOVE that stuff. Also, I brought in sunflower seeds and a nectarine.

Well, lunch was delicious... as expected. But more importantly, I got a PR on the deadlift today. My previous max was 345lbs. Today, I pulled 374lbs. I think I had 380lbs within reach but got greedy. 374lbs was so easy, I went for 396lbs. I moved it (amazingly), but couldn't get it more than a half inch off the ground. But I was done after that :-P But hey, I'm pretty happy with a 29lb PR!! I'm within striking distance of my 400 lb goal by the end of the year. And I'm finally able to pull more than twice my bodyweight (360lbs)!

For dinner, we took the kids to "Watermelon on the Quad" at UNR. We stopped by Costco and got a rotisserie chicken. We figured we eat some watermelon at the quad. Unfortunately, there was no watermelon left when we got there. But we peeled the skin off the chicken and dug in. It was very hot and juicy. It was quite a nice (inexpensive @ $5) meal. I'm sure the seasonings on the skin were a no-no for Paleo, but since we didn't eat it (but stared at it longingly), we were good.

Day Three - "I WAS RUNNING!"

Well, I'm feeling pretty good. This diet is pretty easy to follow when you have a great wife that makes awesome food! All I have to do is clean the dishes.

So this morning half the CrossFit group came to my house and we ran a sweet 5k loop. We have some really pretty wetlands behind my house that have a perfect 5k jogging path around them. If I go driveway to driveway, it's pretty dead on. A few of us opted to do our 5k before it got too hot. At noon, it's going to be about 99 degrees out there and the jogging path offers ZERO shade. I ran the loop about 3 days ago in the heat of the day and literally baked. Anyway, I finished in 23:54 today. It's an ok time considering I don't really do any sport-specific training for running anymore. But I pushed myself pretty hard.

For breakfast, I had a couple eggs, a couple slices of bacon, some strawberries, and a spoonful of almond butter. Also, I've been taking between 4000-8000 mg of fish oil (from Costco) every day. It's the only CrossFit recommended supplement. I don't weigh myself, but I feel like I'm getting leaner already.

In a stupor this morning when I woke up, I was digging around looking for my ipod armband and came across some "Training Day" packets. You mix them with water and drink them. I thought "Hey, maybe this will help me with my run" and I actually started to tear open the packet when I came to my senses and thought "This probably doesn't fall under Paleo..." Anyway, crisis averted.

For lunch today, we made some beef and veggie stir fry. It was pretty decent but a bit bland. I think maybe some peppers would have spiced it up nicely. I never realized how much I like peppers until I can't eat things with tons of salt and sugar in them! I'll post the recipe for the stir fry later.

For dinner, Soupha baked some salmon. We ate it with thyme, chives, and a huge bowl of tasty pico de gallo. We also had half an avocado each. Yum yum!! I took a picture but didn't get a chance to upload it yet. I'll try to get caught up with pics/recipes soon.

Day Two And Going Strong!!

For breakfast, I had 3 scrambled eggs, a spoonful of almond butter, and a few blueberries. Eating the almond butter with the blueberries was quite tasty. The almond butter by itself could be a bit overwhelming. For lunch, Soupha made us pot-roast with cabbage, onions, and couple carrots. If it is super tasty, I'll post the recipe tonight. I had to get to work at 5am to get caught up, so I had a couple cups of black coffee. I'm trying to limit my coffee intake to 1 cup a day at most. So far, I feel really good. I'm really on my fourth day, and my energy level is at least normal. I'm nursing a hurt elbow from arm-wrestling fellow CrossFit Trainer Rich Vos (check out his blog here) at the CrossFit games so I am laying off any arm-intensive WOD's for a week. But when I start hitting it again hard next week, I'll find out just where my energy levels are.

Ok, so the pot-roast was lame. It was bland and dry. But the green chile and pork stew we had for dinner was awesome!


It reminded me of albondigas soup. It was flavorful, the pork was tender and juicy. Perhaps the acidity of the green chiles helped soften the meat. Whatever the case, it was a welcome delight after the disappointment of the pot roast.

Performance Update:
I did "Annie" tonight and set a PR at 7:54. I've been gunning for sub-8 on that one for a while. Situps have never been a strong movement for me. So I was pretty happy with that. Let's see if I continue to post PR's...

Green Chile Pork Stew

24 green chilies, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 pounds of lean pork loin, trimmed of all visible fat
2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
3 cups stewed fresh tomatoes
1 six-ounce can of salt free tomato paste
2 cups of water
½ teaspoon cumin
If chilies are fresh, parch and peel them, and remove the ribs, seeds and tops. In a large stew pot, heat canola oil and add pork cubes and sauté until lightly brown. Add onions and garlic and brown. Cut chilies into one inch slices and add to the pork and onions. Add remaining ingredients and cook about one hour until the stew is thickened. Adjust the seasonings to your pleasure.

For our official Day 1, we started off with a little scrambled eggs, bacon, almonds, and some blueberries. Mmmmmm. Tasty!!

For lunch, I cooked us some Tilapia fillets on the George Foreman grill, had some more almonds, and stir fried a large zucchini from my neighbor's garden.

To do something a little more exciting for dinner, we grilled some AWESOME shrimp: They were friggin delicious. And super easy to make. If you want to try them, I put the recipe at the bottom of the post.

And for our carbs and fat, we had a kale dish with pine nuts. Soupha thought the kale was a bit too chewy. I thought it was perfect

And for dessert, we blended frozen blueberries, raspberries, and marion berries (triple berry mix from Costco) in our Vita-Mix blender. It was delicious and creamy tasting.

Barbecued Juneau Shrimp

¼ cup virgin olive oil
3 garlic gloves minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne paprika
Dash of cayenne pepper to taste
Shelled shrimp with tail left on (2 ½ pounds)
Lime wedges and parsley

Mix olive oil, spices and lemon juice in a bowl. Fire up grill. Brush shrimp with mixture, place on hot grill, turn (1-2 minutes per side) at once and remove. Garnish with lime wedges and parsley.


Sautéed Kale

1 pound fresh kale trimmed and chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons walnuts, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling water until tender (about 10 minutes); drain well. Coat a large skillet with oil. Sauté garlic over medium heat until just golden, about three minutes. Add kale to skillet. Stir in the olive oil, sauté until heated through (about five minutes). Stir in pine nuts, remove skillet from heat. Sprinkle kale mixture with lemon juice. Transfer to a shallow serving dish and serve immediately.

Going Strict Paleo for 30 days

I'm no stranger to restrictive diets. For 2 years, I ate a very strict vegan diet. I did feel a lot better eating that way. But I had some muscle atrophy. I found that I did really well at endurance-sports but started to lose strength, explosiveness, and power. Now, I'm going with a strict "Paleo" diet for the next 30 days. Strangely, although the Paleo diet includes meat, it is strikingly similar to the vegan diet. I know, I know, you think I'm crazy for saying such a thing. But hear me out. The Paleo diet excludes: gluten, dairy, and sugar. However, it includes (with a focus on): green veggies, meats, nuts, seeds, & fruits. If you are following the Paleo diet, you will not find yourself eating anything with an ingredient list printed on packaging. If you do, you probably aren't eating a Paleo meal. The Paleo diet is simple, natural, and summed up by many in the following statement: "Eat meats, veggies, nuts, and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar". I actually started my 30 days 2 days ago. But when my friend Greg learned what I was doing, he wanted in! So I will go 32 days. After that time, if the results are everything I dreamed they could be, I will continue the diet, but institute 1 "cheat day" every week. This will allow me to maintain my sanity in a western world full of delicious, yet unhealthy foods.

My wife, Soupha, is planning to mostly follow the diet as well. This is a good thing. We're going to attack this thing as a team. Over the next month, I will post the Paleo recipes that we liked. And if there are any profound changes in my body composition, I'll post that as well. And most importantly, if my energy level skyrockets and I shave significant amounts of time off some CrossFit benchmark WOD's, I'll chronicle that as well.