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.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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