Paleo Day 14

In all honesty, I found myself in this situation a couple days ago …

No regrets, it was necessary.

Obviously that erased the Whole30 thing though, but since red wine is Paleo-friendly I’m just transitioning the challenge to Paleo30. That actually sounds a whole lot more fun anyway.

Tim and I are going out of town this weekend for the Louisiana Half Marathon and we are going alone. I was already kind of debating going out for a nice date night and eating Paleo, but having a couple of drinks. So this makes that decision easier, and guilt-free.

On another note, I’ve got an original recipe for you guys. She ain’t pretty, but she’s tasty.

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

1 – 1.5 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion – diced
3 medium zucchini – diced
2 large sweet potatoes – peeled, boiled and mashed
1 jar all natural spaghetti sauce with no sugar (I used Bove’s Roasted Garlic)

1. Sauté onion and diced zucchini about 5 minutes in 1 Tbsp coconut oil.
2. Add ground beef to pan and brown thoroughly.
3. Mix in jar of spaghetti sauce.
4. Spread mixture into 9×13 casserole dish and top with mashed sweet potatoes.
5. Bake in 350 degree oven covered for 30 minutes, remove cover and bake 10 more minutes.

Makes 6 large servings.

Whole30 – Day 9

I feel like I have not sat down today at all.

This morning I rushed around to get the little man ready for school and then I headed off to the gym for an elliptical session. I did an hour on the machine while watching a documentary on Netflix called Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat. If there is one thing that will keep your ass on the elliptical for an entire hour its a documentary about being fat. Eye opening.

Lincoln begged to go to his grandma’s house after school, so I had the whole afternoon to play on the internet clean the house. Lately I’ve been turning cleaning into “WODs”, if you will. I call this one – AMRAIT. As many rounds as it takes. I set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes and I clean as hard as fast as I can for 30 minutes, when the alarm goes off I reset it for 5 minutes and take a break. It took me 6 rounds to get the house completely clean from top to bottom. … That’s right … 3 freakin’ hours.

I should log that shit in my WOD book.

Speaking of …

That was my real WOD tonight.

The loop runs are basically running around the parking lot of the building. I estimate that its between a quarter mile and a half a mile. One day I’ll have to take my Garmin and find out for sure.

I finished in 13:41 (Rx).

Several people have asked me what “Rx” means. It just means that I used the prescribed weight for the exercises instead of scaling down to a lower weight.

I’m pretty sure that would have been a killer workout even if I hadn’t already done the elliptical and my AMRAIT …

That’s what I think of that.

Eats today have included:

Breakfast – 3 scrambled eggs topped with sautéed spinach and smoked salmon. I have to admit, this one was even a little too weird for me. I absolutely adore smoked salmon, you might even say I’m obsessed with it … but not on eggs. Oh well, you win some – you lose some.

Lunch – Waldorf Chicken Salad with Homemade Olive Oil Mayo. I used 2 leftover Mustard Sage Chicken Thighs and added:

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 celery stalk – chopped
• 1/4 red onion – chopped
• 15-ish red grapes – halved (yes, the picture below says 35, I was overestimating)
• 1 oz chopped walnuts
• salt & pepper to taste

Dinner was the spiciest thing I think I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Beef and Butternut Squash Cocoa Chili – from you guessed it, Practical Paleo.

This is the first time I’ve ever made chili with cocoa powder and cinnamon in the ingredients list. It also featured a tablespoon of chipotle powder in addition to the chili powder and paprika.

I would have killed for some sour cream and a beer to go with it. Instead I settled for a dollop of guacamole to cool it off a bit.

Do you play any games or have any tricks when it comes to housework to make it more tolerable? What is the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?

CF Total, “Helen” and Days 6&7

I’m totally tired tonight, so this will most likely be short and sweet. Tonight’s benchmark workout at CrossFit wore me out!

We did “Helen” which is 3 rounds for time of: 400m run, 21 Kettlebell swings and 12 Pull-Ups. This was actually the first benchmark WOD I ever did. My results tonight aren’t really comparable with my previous results though because of my increase in weight in the kettlebell and decrease in bands for assistance with the pull-ups.

I completed the WOD in 12:22. I used the Rx weight Kettlebell (35#) and used red & blue bands (not sure of the resistance). Whatever. Sounds simple, but was killer.

This will be one of the WODs that we will repeat at the end of our challenge in 6 weeks. Right now I’m not looking forward to it 🙂

Yesterday we did our CrossFit Total, which is the sum of a 1 rep max on backsquat, strict press (no assistance from the legs) and deadlift.

My total was 410 … Backsquat 135#, Press 70# and Deadlift 205#. All new PRs!

Yeah!

Eats lately:

Tomorrow I attempt to tackle running. Today I played it safe and did an elliptical workout in light of my recent hip pain. No hip pain at all today though, so I’m feeling optimistic.

A Long Run & Whole30 Day 5

I haven’t written as much about running lately, but I swear I’m still out there. Most runs are fairly mundane and not blogworthy. Of course I’ve been spending a lot of time talking about my love affair with CrossFit and Paleo eating, but I’m still married to running. No worries!

Today’s run was a big question mark. The last run I did was on Wednesday and it was pretty disastrous with my hip pain and an Upper Respiratory Infection. Yuck! I rested my leg and my body for 2 full days, and then did a short CrossFit workout yesterday before trying to run again today.

My hip has continued to be mildly annoying the last few days, so I wasn’t feeling super confident about completing my 20-miler today. I went out there with the intention of running as far as I possibly could without causing any further damage, even if that meant I had to quit after 2 miles.

At about mile 6 I started being aware of my hip, although I wouldn’t say it hurt. I stopped at mile 7 and did some Downward Facing Dog and Pigeon Pose in the median of the road to loosen my hamstrings and hip. It helped a lot! So when someone in the group had to take a potty break at mile 9 I used that as another opportunity for some stretching.

“Stacked Firewood” is another good hip stretcher.

The hilly terrain between miles 11 and 13.5 really got the hip angry. I decided at that point to cap the run at 16 miles. I stretched it out one more good time at 13.5 and finished up. I actually felt much better once I got off the hills, but decided to play it conservatively.

I thought about my New Year’s Resolution and focused on “accepting myself unconditionally right now”. Right then, that was the right choice. I didn’t take the “unfinished” last 4 miles home with me, so to speak. Something that would have driven me crazy and put me in a bad mood in the past. I felt accomplished and happy with my best today! 🙂

I finished 16.13 miles in 2 hours and 25 minutes.

I iced, foam rolled and stretched my hip like it was my J-O-B once I got home. And then I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon playing “Ninjas” with my son.

My food today was pretty special, especially lunch and dinner.

Pre-run: Cashew Cookie Larabar
Mid-run: A handful of dates
Post-run: 2 hardboiled eggs (brought these in a cooler bag in my car so I could have the protein immediately after my run).

Lunch:

Sweet Potato Pancakes, Sausage and Grilled Brussel Sprouts.

I’m telling you, these pancakes are something special.

For my afternoon snack, I attempted to eat sardines:

Dinner was Lemony Lamb Dolmas and Cilantro Cauliflower “Rice” from Practical Paleo. This cauliflower is life changing, and the dolmas were EVEN better.

This was one of those meals where I had to say “day-um” every couple of bites. It was that good.

It turned out to be a really great day!

Health/Performance Challenge & Whole30 Day 4

Turkey legs are weird.

You’d think eating a turkey leg would be like eating a giant chicken leg, but it’s not.

Tonight’s dinner was Sage Baked Turkey Legs and Sweet Potato Pancakes from Practical Paleo with a small spinach salad.

I felt like I went straight CAVEMAN on that turkey leg. It wasn’t pretty. The meat is tougher and more difficult to eat than chicken legs. The flavor was great, but next time I’ll stick to chicken.

The potato pancakes on the other hand were “Oh Em Gee” good. I was supposed to save a couple for breakfast in the morning, but I couldn’t.

I finally got to workout today. Today was the beginning to the Health and Performance Challenge at CrossFit Intrigue that I talked about previously.

My starting stats are as follows (I know I said I wasn’t weighing myself during Whole30, but I obviously had to for this challenge):

Weight – 149
Body Fat % – 29.88

I also had several body measurements done. Our WOD was:

Unfortunately, the clock stopped running in the middle of the WOD so we won’t be able to use this for part of our challenge to reassess in 6 weeks. We’ll have a make-up WOD on Thursday instead.

I played around with some numbers on this website today to try to figure out what I thought I might be able to accomplish for the challenge. I’d love to get to 24% body fat, which according to my calculations would mean losing 9 pounds, which correlates to 1.5 pounds per week. I think that’s totally doable! Seriously though … I’m not worried one way or another. I’ll do my best and see what happens.

On a final note, I made a Facebook page for my blog Eat to Live, Live to Run so you guys can “like” it and follow me there also. It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming along.

Have a great night!

Nothing in the Fridge

I can tell that I’m really starting to get used to Paleo cooking when I can make decent paleo meals without a recipe and with bare minimum ingredients. In other words, nothing in the fridge.

I woke up this morning and realized that I really don’t have any fresh ingredients on hand. I’m trying to wait until atleast Friday before I go grocery shopping. Buying gifts is taking up all my extra dough.

I’m pleasantly surprised with what I’ve been able to throw together today with pantry and freezer ingredients only.

Breakfast:

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pork Breakfast Sausage and a Sunny Side-Up Egg.

Lunch:

This is probably the one I’m most impressed with. I had a tiny bit of my leftover Chicken & Sausage Spaghetti Squash from a few days ago, but not nearly enough for a serving. I cooked up some frozen brussel sprouts, some extra sausage and threw it all together with some Zoe’s Kitchen Spice of Life. Bomb diggity!

And then dinner:

Mustard Sage Baked Chicken Thighs, Sautéed Green Beans w/ onions and Moroccan Pumpkin.

Frozen green beans. Canned pumpkin.

To the canned pumpkin I added a Moroccan spice blend called Ras El Hanout and a mashed banana and topped it with a bit of finely shredded coconut. A perfect balance of savory with a touch of sweet.

It should be interesting to see what the next couple of days produce until I go grocery shopping again.

Tonight’s workout at CrossFit was a good one. I especially enjoyed the strength portion tonight which was 5×4 back squats:

The reason I enjoyed it so much was because I’m notoriously bad at squatting. These runner hips just don’t like to do that. I warmed up really good tonight doing Hurdler Stretches, Ham/Hip Swings and Wall Balls.

My third week at CrossFit when we first learned back squats I fell on my ass with only the 35 pound bar.

Tonight I was able to squat 95 pounds, 20 times! This is not a lot by most people’s standards, but it’s awesome for me!

Our WOD was:
10 Minute AMRAP – 10 front squats (55#), 10 pull-ups, 10 lateral burpees.

I finished 3 full rounds + 10 squats, 10 pull-ups and 3 burpees. Soooo close to 4 rounds!

And I remembered to log all of my food today. Yay!

Whole30 – Day 29

I haven’t posted my Whole30 day info the last couple of days because my meals have been a little bit repetitive. Today is no different, but being that it’s day 29 (eeeeek) I thought I should check in.

The hubby left today for a business trip and won’t be back before Day 31, so he went ahead and weighed himself this morning. He lost 18 pounds!! I can’t wait to see what my results on the scale will be.

In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve lost very much. Regardless of that though, I really feel like I’m already seeing the true results.

These are the things that I have seen a significant noticeable difference in:

1. Quality of sleep – I’ve been sleeping better than I have in atleast 10 years. I’m falling asleep easier and waking up much more easily than is typical for me. I’d say I’ve woken up before my alarm and feeling refreshed atleast 80% of the time during my Whole30. This is huge for me!
2. Recovery from exercise – Other than normal muscle soreness the day or two following a particularly difficult CrossFit day, I have had virtually no exercise related pain. ZERO soreness after my 16, 18 and 20 mile runs! No injuries to speak of, no nagging pain in my shins, feet or ankles like I have from time to time.
3. Endurance – The first week as my body was adjusting to the decrease in carbs my legs felt heavier and more tired than usual during my runs, but starting the second week I noticed significant improvement in my endurance. I used to use energy gels every 45 minutes – hour during runs. I have not used 1 single energy gel during my Whole30 and I’ve done atleast 3 runs which were over 2 hours long.
4. Energy Level – Off the charts! I used to be a regular mid-day napper. I don’t believe I’ve taken a nap at all during the past 30 days, except during yoga relaxation. 🙂

Those are the biggies that are most important to me and the reason I started the Whole30 in the first place. I’ve also noticed my clothes fitting better and I can tell a difference in muscle definition, particulary in my arms.

Today’s eats were:

Meal 1: Leftover Puerto Rican Beef topped with a sunny side up egg. I’ve discovered you can make just about anything breakfast food by topping it with an egg.

Meal 2: Steak Close Talker from Moe’s with black olives, cilantro, lots of salsa and guacamole. Tip: On Mondays I order the exact same thing, except I call it a “Naked Homewrecker” so that I get the special $5 burrito Monday price. 😉

Moe’s steak is grass-fed.

Meal 3: Zucchini “pasta” salad with bacon, red onion, tomatoes, avocado and kalamata olives.

One of my Christmas presents to myself came in the mail today. A CrossFit log book.

Because I definitely need one more place to log my shit.

What I like about this book though is that is has a place to track your day to day WODs as well as PRs, Benchmarks and even has a Paleo grocery shopping guide, explanation of all exercises, Travel WODs, blah blah blah.

Today’s workout was INTENSE.

Strength: EMOM (Every minute on the minute) x 8 – 3 Clean and Jerks (55#)

WOD: 21-15-9 Thrusters & Burpees

I probably should have apologized for the number of times I said “the F word” during that 9 minutes before I left. But hey … atleast I got to write it in my new log book.

Atleast there’s that.

Whole30 – Day 14

I’ll make this short and sweet tonight.

7 mile run with the hubs and friends, veggie omelet and lots of coffee, Sampoorna Yoga, salad bar, grass-fed local beef …

Sunflower butter, Food Network, hot tea.

Day 14 done.

Whole30- Day 13 & a Long, Long Run

Today was my first real long, long run for my Mississippi River Marathon training. A long, long run to me is anything over 14 miles. Last weekend I was supposed to run 16, but because I ran a fast 13 at the Chickamauga Half Marathon I decided to scrap the extra 3 miles.

Today’s run was 18 miles. I ended up with 18.56, to be exact.

I felt gooooood! Too good. I’m really starting to think that this Paleo diet has a lot to do with it. It can’t be a complete coincidence that in the last 13 days I’ve run a PR half marathon and an amazing 18+ mile run. No energy gels, nothing.

I returned to find that my car had been tagged by my crazy friend Hilary.

I felt a tiny bit self-conscious taking my son to Toy’s R Us this afternoon with “PAROLED” written on my window. 🙂

After my run and a big breakfast I headed to yoga. I love Saturday morning Hot Yoga after a long run, its really the best way to stretch it all out and keep the soreness away. I never take the time to stretch properly otherwise.

My meals today were:

Snack (before run): Cashew Cookie Larabar

Meal 1 (after run): 3 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of bacon and a small fruit bowl.

Meal 2: Steak Salad at Moe’s with lots of veggies, salsa and guacamole.

Snack: Mixed nuts from the Earth Fare bulk bin.

Meal 3: Stuffed Bell Pepper, Collard & Cabbage Slaw and Roasted Veggies.

The best thing about long, long run days is getting to eat all the things. Guilt free!

Whole30 – Day 12

I couldn’t take it anymore. I totally cheated.

Like I said, I’ve been having these crazy thoughts of day 31 rolling around to find out that I’ve gained 10 pounds or something insane like that. I just HAD to know, so I promptly jumped out of the bed this morning, pulled my scale down from the top of my closet and hopped on it before I ever thought twice.

Down 7.4 pounds!

Alrighty then!

Of course as soon as I gave in, so did Tim. He’s down 10 pounds! Now with this little boost I will start trusting the process and finish out the rest of the 30 days without weighing myself. Whew.

Meal 1: 4 pieces of bacon and 3 fried eggs.

Meal 2: Baked chicken, veggies and salad.

Meal 3: The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat (from Well Fed), roasted root veggies and a spinch, tomato and avocado salad.

I hate to say it, but if I’m being honest I haven’t been incredibly impressed with the recipes in Well Fed so far. The chicken was ok, but most definitely not the best I’ve ever had. I made her meatballs a few nights ago and thought they were way too dry even though I cooked them for half the time she recommends. I have a few more recipes in the book I have my eye on. Hopefully they will turn out better.

So far though I think the Paleo Emeals recipes have been much tastier and certainly less time consuming to make.

Early to bed tonight. I have a long, long run in the morning. 🙂