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.

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!

Killer, Fun and Meh

I’ve been watching entirely too many re-runs of the CrossFit Games on ESPN2 the last couple of nights before bed. I’ve had some crazy dreams because of it.

Our workout last night was a “fun” one. I’ve pretty much decided that CrossFit workouts fall into 3 categories: “Killer”, “Fun” and “Meh”.

Killer = OMG, that effing sucked it was so hard.

Fun = I worked really hard but I didn’t feel like I wanted to die, and it was kind of fun.

Meh = That didn’t challenge me enough today.

Obviously, fun is my favorite. I rarely meet a “meh”, but it has happened once or twice.

Strength:

Back Squat: 2 x 10 (I did 75 lbs)
2 x 5 (did 95 lbs)
1 x Max Effort Reps @60% of 1RM (Did 85 lbs, 17 reps)
Dips: 5 x 8-10
*the dips are to be performed between each Back Squat Set*

I’m getting so much better at my back squats, and I even think I might like them.

WOD:

90s ME KB Swings (35#, Did 44)

-rest 1 Min.

4 Min. AMRAP
15 Hand Release Pushups
10 Situps
(Did 3 rounds)

-rest 1 Min.

4 Min. AMRAP
15 Squat Jumps (weighted if possible)
10 Pullups
(Did 2 1/2 rounds)

-rest 1 Min.

90s ME KB Swings (35#, Did 40)

I’m thinking maybe Tim didn’t find this one “fun”.

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 Done.

Daaaaaaay 30. I survived. I might even dare to say I thrived.

Although I won’t know the official scale results until tomorrow I already outlined the great benefits I’ve noticed. Tomorrow I’ll give you the results and talk about what I’m going to do from this point. Today I’ll just talk about today.

I woke up this morning with some pretty gnarly bruises.

The clavicle bruise I totally understand. I have a really prominent left clavicle and yesterday’s Clean & Jerks were the devil on that. I’m kind of concerned that my shins bruised so easily. Must remember to mention to a doctor.

Anyway … my schedule today called for an easy 6 mile run. I wore my heart rate monitor and made it my mission to keep my heart rate just below 140.

The first couple miles were awesome, but the longer I ran the more my heart rate increased and the more I had to slow my pace. Super frustrating on a day my legs were ready to GO! I fought the urge to sprint out my last half mile.

9:06, 9:04, 9:13, 9:21, 9:28, 9:33

I ended up finishing with a average heart rate of exactly 139.

Breakfast was the last of my leftover Puerto Rican Beef. I’m sad to see it go.

I had a late lunch of Tuna Salad before heading to CrossFit.

Tonight’s WOD was:

20 Minute AMRAP Teams of 4
a. 200M Run
b. Pullups
c. Weighted Situps
d. Rest
*There will be a team member at each station posted above. Each member will work on the movement they are stationed at until the person running returns. Once the runner is back everyone will rotate to the next station.

We only had a team of 3, so it made it a little bit confusing. Not my favorite WOD of all time, but still a good workout.

I rushed home afterwards to meet my friend Drew, who came over for dinner tonight and to keep me company while the hubby is out of town. Stand-in hubby, if you will. I even made him take out the trash.

We made: Mustard Sage Baked Chicken Thighs from Practical Paleo, roasted butternut squash and asparagus.

I had a banana later for “dessert”.

And with that, my Whole30 is done. See you tomorrow!

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 24

Every single week just about I swear that I am the most sore that I’ve ever been in my life, but I really think today might be the real thing. The funny part is that I can literally run for 3 hours straight on Saturday, feel perfectly fine and get up and run again on Sunday with no problem … but that 18 minute WOD we did at CrossFit last night has me TORE UP!

2 Rounds:
2 min. Max Rep Front Lunges (95/65)
100M Run
2 min. Max Rep Burpees
200M Run
2 min. Max Rep Sumo DL HP (95/65)
2 min. Rest

I was moaning and groaning like a wild animal. It was ugly. Oh, and I was only using 35 pounds for the lunges and Sumo Deadlift Highpulls.

That’s 71 lunges, 44 burpees and 90 Sumo Deadlift Highpulls!

My sweet hubby got up early and made me breakfast before I went to work this morning.

She ain’t pretty but I think this is my favorite Paleo breakfast I’ve had so far. Leftover roasted butternut squash with pork breakfast sausage and 2 perfectly over-easy eggs. It kept me full for atleast 5 hours!

After work I headed out to tackle my 7 mile easy run for the day. I started off nice and slow, my quads and butt cheeks are killing me afterall. About halfway through the run I realized if I didn’t pick it up some I was going to be in the dark soon on a deserted creepy road.

8:53, 8:40, 8:35, 8:37, 8:27, 8:26 … and then I realized I was going to be ok … 8:40.  Finished just in time.

The rest of my eats have been pretty mediocre today. Lunch was leftover beef stew which you saw on Monday and dinner was Chicken Cabbage Curry from the crockpot that I’ve posted a couple of times before. It’s becoming a regular.

A very successful day 24! Only 6 days to go.

Slap Ya Mama Paleo Beef Stew – Day 22

I’m going to be honest here. I miss wine something fierce. Last night in a moment of weakness I was almost prepared to throw this whole challenge away for just one glass. But I pulled myself together and realized what a loser that would make me feel like. Plus I’d have to blog that I failed and that’s just not something I’m going to do.

So thanks for holding me accountable!

Breakfast today was my ol’ stand-by: Bacon & Egg Cups with balsamic spinach and tomatoes.

I knew I was going to be out all afternoon running errands and working on my Christmas shopping so I pulled out the crockpot for our supper.

My crockpot is my best friend.

Today I decided to make Paleo Beef Stew.

• 2lbs Grass-fed Stew Beef
• 2 Peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
• 5 chopped carrots
• 1 large chopped onion
• 4 celery stalks chopped

Now you know I’m the world’s worst about not measuring, but I think I used about 3 cups of V8 tomato juice and about 1 cup of Chicken Stock (didn’t have beef stock on hand).

I also added in dried Italian Seasoning Blend, probably about 2 tbsp.

Cooked on low for 10 hours.

I topped it with half of a avocado and some of this Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning that I picked up at World Market today. I’ve been looking for a good alternative to Tony Chachere’s seasoning which has preservatives and other nasties.

This was an awesome meal to come home to after a kick ass CrossFit workout tonight. I overcame a huge fear! I upgraded from the “baby box” to the next size box for my box jumps. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but this is a huge deal to me.

Our WOD was: AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 15 minutes of 10 Push Presses, 10 Kettlebell Swings and 10 Box Jumps.

I started off with 55 pounds on my push presses and a 35 pound kettlebell. After the first round I realized my form wasn’t great with the kettlebell so I scaled myself down to the 26 pound bell. After the 3rd round I was starting to fail on my Push Presses so I scaled that down 10 pounds to 45. But I jumped on the big-er box the whole time!

Ultimately I ended up finishing exactly 8 rounds before time ran out. That’s 80 push presses, 80 kettlebell swings and 80 box jumps!

After my moment of weakness last night, I’m feeling rejuvenated and ready to finish out these last 8 days.

Sorry boys, you’ll have to wait!

Whole30 – Day 16

I am so sore I can barely get on/off the toilet.

Damn wall balls and sit-ups. Luckily I got my run in for the day before the sore really starting setting in. It was just a easy 4-miler. I aimed to keep my heart rate below 140, which ended up being just over a 9 minute pace.

Breakfast was a repeat from yesterday, so I’ll save you the pic. Two more leftover peppers to go and then I can move on to something new. I tried to trick the hubby into eating one for lunch also, but he wasn’t falling for it.

I whipped him up this instead:

Sesame Salmon, Bok Choy and Green Cabbage Slaw with Sunshine Sauce and Stir-fried Snap Peas.

I pulled that one out of my ass in like 9 minutes flat.

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m so tired of cooking today. I got a head start on some Thanksgiving prep and it has gotten the better of me. Specifically deviled eggs.

You can explain to me 15 different ways to perfectly peel a deviled egg. I still can’t make it happen. It’s bullshit. Peeling eggs is bullshit.

I boiled 24 eggs today, and I think I might have gotten 9 useable ones out of the batch. I was getting so irate I had to take a break to cool off.

I finally calmed myself down and tried to have a little fun with it. This is one of the methods I found online for perfectly peeling eggs …

Take 1:

 

Aaand Take 2:

I ended up having to eat like 5 of the eggs on the spot. Heeeeey, protein.

I wasted much of the afternoon with my eggs and now its time to head to CrossFit. Happy Birthday to me ….

“Happy Birthday Hunter and Amanda M.!”

1 Round for Time
11 Handstand Walk Ups
20 Pullups
200M Run
31 Pushups
100M Run
31 KB Swings
200M Run
11 High Pulls
20 Burpees

I’m going to try to pull this one out of my ass as well. Wish me luck!