Samir doing Active Recovery on the banks of the Ganges
6am and 7am CrossFit Group Classes are cancelled today! We apoligize for the late notice. Feel free to come in for some light movement but please note that we will not be running formal classes due to an instructor absence.
Paleo Challenge Mid-point Check-in
We've got less than 30 days left in the 2011 Paleo Challenge and we want to check in to see how you're feeling and performing. What are you most proud of so far? What are you looking to improve upon in the next month?
Also what, if any, changes you've made to your goals or plan of attack since starting the program and what you've got planned on the goals front for the month of February?
Congratulations to on making it this far, the toughest part is largely over!
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A Year and a Day
Yesterday, marked the 1 year anniversary of our 'soft open' at Degraw Street. We want to thank all of our members, staff and extended family for an incredible year and all that you have brought to this phase of SBK!
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Rest Day Dinner Reminder
Our beloved Kahrin B. is hosting this Friday's Paleo Challenge Rest Day dinner. Join her at The Smoke Joint in Ft. Greene for heaping helpings of heavenly BBQ this Friday, February 4th at 7p.
To RSVP please email: kcbennett2010(AT)gmail.com by 2/2/11
For all the details on the evening including the meeting time and location check here.
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Sleep is Awesome Fast Company
Childhood Obesity Linked to Habits Not Heredity University of Michigan
The groupon for today is for Sheep Station on 4th ave. 15 dollars for 30 dollars worth of food, good stuff.http://www.groupon.com/new-york/Congratulations on the year and a day!
Will there be an active recovery class tonight?
David Osorio
Great, lively conversation on the blog yesterday. I fall more in line with Malcolm’s sentiment shared late. I think it’s worth taking stock of the fact that most CFers are not part of the “mainstream” in fitness and many other aspects, that in general, we subvert dominant paradigms. But fuck with someone’s security blanket, and it’s game on. I am certainly not outside of this category. Well spoken as usual, Malc.
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Dear Paleo Diary,
So far, so great. I am happily humming along in keto and have had no big cravings for stuff I usually crave (except booze, but for me that’s a mental not physical craving). It feels good to re-set myself. I have adjusted my original plan and stayed off of fruits and starches so far and will continue to do so because it feels good. I was afraid I was going to keep feeling gassed out during longer met-cons (and add more carbs in to remedy) but my Cindy pr the other day made me feel pretty good. I’m continuing to lean and looking forward to next month and beyond. The bad is that I’ve fallen off a bit in the sleep and recovery aspect and that was a big part of it for me for both my sanity and body comp. The plan is to improve that over the next month.
@Jenna – Yes, Active Recovery.
SMOKE JOINT IS AWESOME!
I’m doing a major goals revamp for the second half of the challenge. Well, I already did it; now I’m just writing it down. With my shoulder injury on January 11 all my training goals went out the window. I took a full 2 weeks off before doing anything, and my training was sporadic for another week after that. The injury was a huge mental setback for me; I struggled to keep up with the rest of my commitments. So I guess I’m most proud of sticking with the diet, my mobility work, and working on my sleep while not being able to train. Now, though, I’m back to training, focusing on non-shoulder-engaging stuff, and it feels great.
So, for Feb, here is the new plan:
Food: Go back to eating nightshades & eggs. I took a month off from these b/c of an auto-immune thyroid condition, and felt no change. It was an incredibly restrictive way to eat especially when I wasn’t in my own home. I did learn to eat a whole new variety of breakfast, which was a good achievement; I’m going to stick with only 50% egg-based breakfasts. I’m also going to experiment w/ going very low-carb for the rest of the month to see if that helps me drop the last of the Linus pudge. Oh, and no alcohol. I used up my allowed 3-5 occasions in January! This will all end 2 days early, on 2/26, when my parents are taking me and Nick out for birthday dinner.
Sleep: I give myself a B+ for January on this. I used Charmel’s great tip of setting an alarm on my phone to remind me to get ready for bed (except mine goes off at 8:45!) and that has worked really well. The past week I’ve been slipping, though, and I’ve really felt it. So, back to the militancy.
Training: 3-4x/week of workouts that don’t engage my shoulder, until/unless I get the green light to start using it again. Capoeira is off the table, which makes me incredibly sad, but David has given me a nice long list of stuff I can do both at home and in the gym. And I’ve been running when the sidewalks are clear enough.
Mobility: I’m most proud of my consistency here. I have been doing it almost every day and have seen real results (even Alec & Deb say so!). Going to add some time spent in third-world squat to the shoulder/hip regime I’ve been doing.
I hope that by the end of the month I’ll have a strong and mobile shoulder, some level of cardiovascular fitness, and have retained what’s currently left of my strength. I hope I’ll see some body comp changes and feel well-rested!
Paleo Update:
Overall I give myself a B. I have been pretty strict on the food portion of this challenge, I’ve drank no booze, have had no bread, or any real high carb products and have been cooking my own meals 2x a day usually about 5 days a week. I have lost a good amount of weight and am starting to feel stronger all around.
The area I feel I need to revisit is fruit consumption? (looking for input here) If I’m trying to get a bit leaner, are 2 apples a day hurting me? I like apples they fill some of my cravings from sweets when I see others eating them
For me being around friends who are drinking, eating non-paleo is difficult not because I want what they have, but because of the explanation that I feel I owe them when they ask if I want any of their pasta or why I’m not drinking during superbowl sunday.
The sleep part will be something I look to improve on as well. I am not abiding by the no computer 30minutes before bed or tv etc.
Did the nightline piece air last night?
@danh3: if you want to get leaner, nix the fruit, is what all the bosses around here say. 2 apples have the same sugar/carb load as a blueberry muffin from Starbucks. Fruit can be a great way to keep yourself from eating “real” sweets (I loved Rob’s description of a CrossFitter’s version of “dessert”), and I am a big proponent of not making yourself crazy with over-deprivation. But if you need to kick the fat loss up a notch, the apples are a simple fix.
Paleo challenge check in.
My goals were all about recovery and stress management in addition to nutrition.
The results are striking so far. Very happy with how I am dealing with stress, and not adding too much additional.
Wanted to feel more recovered before working out, so I cut weekly workouts to 3 from 4 to 5. Net result is that I am feeling less beat up.
I have also allowed my body to drop down in size to match its desired level as opposed to trying to force bulking on myself. Feel much better.
Sleep has improved markedly with the addition of blackout blinds and more regimented relaxation time.
Another goal was eating more home prepared meals. For January I ate 10 meals not made at home (out of approximately 90 meals). Two lunches, 3 brunches and 5 dinners.
For February I would like to get that down to 5 or fewer. Even eating carefully at restaurants that use good meat and veg does not leave me feeling as good as home cooking. I have also developed new skills with regard to leftovers.
Finally on the booze/coffee front. I have had drinks on two occasions, both celebratory. In both cases I felt less good the next day (these were 2 drinks the first time and 1 the second, so not hung over). I tapered my coffee down to a small amount of decaf during the month. As of today I am off even the decaf and am just drinking herbal tea in the morning.
OK, assessing this whole Paleo thing 1 month in: so far, I haven’t experienced any of the positive changes everyone else seems to be enjoying–no changes in energy, weight, sleep, or mental clarity. This is a huge bummer, because listening to everyone talk about it, I kind of thought the paleo diet might just bring on the rapture… it’s possible my expectations were unrealistic.
Still, the intensity of my sugar cravings has decreased and I get less grouchy when I’m hungry, but I do miss coming home after a shitty day and eating 3 bowls of cereal for dinner. It’s just not the same trying to wallow in self pity over a delicious, colorful plate of fresh veggies and pan seared mahi. Somewhat relatedly, I’ve proven to myself that I’m incapable of moderation. I’ve given myself 5 second chances with the almond butter, and apparently I am not mature enough to handle the responsibility, so starting today, all almond butter privileges are revoked. And by today, I mean not counting this morning, because I came home at 6:30 am after standing outside in the freezing rain to find out class was canceled (feel better, unnamed sick coach!) and that apparently a mouse chewed threw my trash last night (every NYer’s 2nd worst fear, after bed bugs), so i stood in my kitchen and ate about a half a jar. Then I made myself sit in the corner and write 100 lines of I WILL NOT EAT MY FEELINGS.
OK so the good news is, I feel great fitness-wise; I am psyched about where I am in terms of progress with crossfit and triathlon training. I still suck at everything in crossfit, but I suck a little less than 3 months ago. I’ve got a huge jump on last year’s season in terms of endurance and strength, I’ve been consistently not skipping training sessions, and I do think that crossfit has already made me much stronger in the water and on the bike. Next week I am going to make good on my goal of going to open meditation at the shambhala center on Tuesday, and tonight I am going to come to active recovery to make good on my goal of giving myself at least one rest day each week.
Also, I will stop coming on the blog just to complain for 3 paragraphs. I hope you all actually just skipped to that last sentence so you could see what you didn’t miss.
Paleo update:
Last week I discovered that I had accidentally slipped into ketosis – Malcolm was aiming for it and since I eat mostly what he eats I ended up there too. It is hard to differentiate what parts of my experience were due to sleep deprivation and what parts were due to the transition to using ketones for mental fuel, but I had a fairly rocky week. I’ve decided to stick it out and see how I feel in the coming weeks on this extra low-carb paleo diet (plus heavy cream – I decided to go PaNu (http://www.paleonu.com/) style because I didn’t want to be back on almond butter. I find that I need a lot of extra fat to function on a paleo diet.)
Coffee and alcohol goals are on track (coffee down to 1/2 cup in the morning, alcohol only for special occasions and then no more than 2 drinks.) I have had the same alcohol as Malcolm (2 drinks once and 1 drink another time) with the same result – I felt lousy.
Coffee was hard to knock back, but nowhere near as hard as I imagined. The gradual approach worked extremely well. I find that my energy is more stable throughout the day and that my head is clearer. I am thinking of completing the experiment by following Charlotte’s example of mixing decaf and regular in the morning. I’ll do a gradual increase of decaf until it is all decaf and then stop drinking it all together.
The sleep part hasn’t gone as well – I’ve done my part of being in bed, calming down before hand, not looking at screens, acquiring black-out blinds, and drinking my natural calm, but my body (or brain) is not cooperating. I keep waking up – partly because of our heating system and partly due to stress. I am putting effort into reducing the intensity of my schedule and am experimenting with ways to reduce stress.
going in to my first paleo challenge, there were a lot of expectations and a lot of unknowns. I was very apprehensive about trying to live with moderation and self-deprivation, things I have proved to be unspeakably bad at in the past. I guess I didn’t really consider the results and gains that were possible, only the challenges that I would face in sticking to my plan. as it turns out, fear of the unknown is worse than the unknown itself.
a full month without even a drop of alcohol is the longest I’ve gone in my adult life, and as a beer, wine and spirits enthusiast I thought it would be impossible. not only was I wrong about that, it turns out it isn’t even that hard. once the decision was made, it became easier and easier to stick to it as I woke up morning after morning feeling well rested and energetic. not to say that I won’t return to moderate consumption once the challenge has ended, but I’m surprised by how positive this month of abstinence has been and I’m looking forward to seeing how the next month goes.
cutting sugar, grains and dairy out of my diet also seemed like a bizarre and draconian measure, one more suited to religious ascetics than modern, thoughtful citizens of an industrialized country. but as with alcohol, the results have spoken for themselves. my mood, energy level, performance at work and at the box have all improved to a degree I hadn’t really thought possible. I have noticed positive changes in almost every facet of my life, including at home.
the steps I’ve taken to increase time and quality of sleep have also lead to better relaxation. actually unplugging from the world every day allows my mind to settle, and makes me feel much more involved and invested in my own life.
were these the extent of the results, I would feel great. but I haven’t even gotten to the loss of fat, the shrinking out of all of my clothes, the increases in strength and conditioning… I guess all of this is just a really long winded way of saying that this experience has been great. I’ve learned so much about the way I normally eat and the way it impacts the way I feel and perform. when the challenge is over, there is so much knowledge I can take from it and apply to the way I live life 365 days a year.
and as a side note, the encouragement that has poured out the CFSBK community has been staggering. thanks to everyone for that. and jenna, as someone who claims to be frustrated and negative, you exhibit nothing but unbridled awesomeness in the 6am class.
now please, if someone could do something about this weather, I could get my walking/running more consistently into the mix.
Paleo update –
So the first month has gone pretty well.
Sleep: It took me a couple of weeks to get my blackout blinds delivered/installed, but since then my sleep has been noticeably better.
Training: I’ve been doing strength cycle 3 times a week, which is going very well except that my right hip has been a little sore the last week or so. In addition to that, I’ve been doing the advanced class once a week to get a little metcon in. However, strength has been the priority. I’m basically right at my 5RMs from before the cycle and still have 3 weeks to go before the total.
Food: No gluten/grains of any kind, no dairy other than cream and butter, some nuts here and there, but trying to keep it pretty minimal. Lots of animal fat. Sweet potatoes after the metcons on Sunday but otherwise no starch or sugar. I’ve had 2 glasses of wine (was never a big drinker anyway, so this wasn’t a big deal for me). Coffee is not a big problem for me either; I do pretty well with it. I’ve switched to half-caf in the morning and may try to go to decaf in a week or two just to see if that has any effect, but I’m not sure that it will.
Body Comp: Not a huge priority for me at the moment. I’m focusing on performance. I’d really like to squat 335+ and deadlift 425+ this year and I will probably need to gain a little weight to do so. If after that I feel like I need to lean out, I will worry about it then.
Update:
Fitness- Hit most of my goals. I made it consistently to the gym and it was fun to complete an entire cycle (with 3 PRs!) I made noticeable strength gains (especially in the deadlift). My kipping pullup and double unders are way better than a month ago. I’ve done 10 and 20 unbroken respectively, just 5 shy of my goal. I’m excited for the FSQ cycle to continue to add strength. I also want to start working on getting into a handstand regularly.
Diet- I’ve had just a few minor slipups but have been fairly strict. My fruit consumption has been very low, and I’ve really curbed my dark chocolate intake to maybe once/twice a week. I had no alcohol or coffee in all of January. I’m eating more sweet potatoes than I planned and would like to try going slightly lower carb the next few weeks. I will try and switch in more green veggies which I enjoy but have been lazy about getting/cooking. (Seasonality is somewhat of an issue here)
Rest/Recovery- I’ve been sleeping consistenly 7-8 hours a night, and getting to bed fairly well before the morning classes. Luckily, work has been fairly normal and I’ve been home by 8 most nights.
I think I can tighten up the diet a little bit, and stay consistent with everything else. I would like to expand my meal variety, and if this weather would ever cooperate, get out for a run. Really enjoying the challenge though.
No booze for 30 days: This was a success. I was very apprehensive going into it and it turned out to be an easy habit to break. Pros of not drinking: I was super super energetic, didn’t miss it at all at my gigs, was actually able to stay out later sober than had I been drinking. Cons: on two occasions I over-ate to compensate for not being allowed a drink when I wanted it.
Fat loss: OK progress here. I definitely dropped the post-holiday bloat but overall no dramatic changes. My body is already quite used to low-carb eating, and the fact that I still probably eat far too much for a woman my size and age (even if it is all paleo and low-carb) isn’t helping. I’m trying to decide between either a) really getting strict with portion sizes or b) doing IF (nothing crazy, just 12-14 hours) 2-3 days a week.
Training: I didn’t make the 3x classes per week that I’d hoped to in January, and February will be even harder because of travel, so for February I want to commit to hitting a workout 3x per week even if it means doing one or more at home. I am also quite motivated to continue making improvements to my posture and the structural issues that keep setting me up for injury at the gym.
Sleep: Slept like a log 7+ hours every night.
Changes ahead: I plan to keep plugging ahead with no booze in February and when I do indulge on my birthday, no beers, just wine or a nice non-sweet cocktail. I also plan to tame my coffee consumption by introducing decaf beans into my morning brew.
Dan,
As a fellow apple addict, I’d echo the other folks that you might want to cut them down if a greater degree of leaning out is a goal. I have a couple of tricks I’ve used to cut down.
1. Eat half an apple. I usually cut my apples up (the lingering pre schooler in me likes them that way.) So eat two quarters and bag the other two quarters for the next apple craving. 50% reduction, and usually I realize I really just want a taste of the apple, I’m not reeeally looking to eat the whole thing.
2. Find a new fruit. I’d suggest berries, and my favorite, frozen berries. I can nail down a carton of fresh straw/blue/blackberries really quickly, but when they are frozen I have to eat them slower (so they can actually be bitten and so I don’t brain freeze myself.) Here’s that list of fruit and sugar content from low to high again: http://www.oodora.com/health-and-food/nutrition/list-of-fruits-low-in-sugar.html
Apples being on the high end of medium, so I guess you can take solace that you aren’t a Prune Addict (eww.)
Remember, you are still wayyy ahead of the game by eating two apples a day (or ten!) than the Standard American Diet. I always feel compelled to remember this when people start talking apples vs. blackberries or carrots vs. spinach:
http://whole9life.com/2010/04/crazytown2/
The good: Diet is very dialed in..need to tweak breakfast a little, but my cheats are seldom. also been getting my fish oil. All going well. Also, lots of additional mobility work at home, and a better understanding of my body’s architecture.
The bad: Sleep is better, but not consistent enough. I have made progress here. I feel such a huge difference on the good days, that I need to get more consistent.
The ugly: Alcohol. Doesn’t matter why, playoff football, whatever, I can put this stuff away like we are about to bring back the prohibition. I don’t have to drink on any particular night, but if I do, it’s not one, or two, or even 6.
As I said, 1 6pack will last me for the weekend, that’s the plan. (They may be tall boys!)
I need to walk this one back a bit. No beers during week unless out with clients.
It feels good to write it down.
CHALLENGE GOALS CHECKIN
my goals were loosely organized around the themes of doing less (not more), helping other people rather than just consistently navel-gazing, and learning some new stuff.
i definitely struggled a lot more to “keep Paleo” this time around; getting really streamlined with protein+low-starch meals helped.
at the same time, my training changed DRAMATICALLY – from strength only to reg’lar crossfitting as of December 28 – so it’s a lot of change going on in my life and body overall.
nutrition goals:
1. cut purchased lunches to 1/wk: 100% compliant2. cut bacon consumption in half: 100% compliant3. no coffee after 3 – 50% compliant4. 4 “new to me” organ/game dishes tried and published – 25% complete5. host a rest day dinner – scheduled6. publish my Challenge recipes when it’s all over – in progress for 3.15 deadline7. identify food/nutrition volunteer opportunity – in progress for 2.20 deadline
fitness goals
1. keep updated workout log visible to the judges – 100% compliant2. weekly mobility class instead of metcon or run – 75% compliant3. 3 group classes/week – 100% compliant4. get Mom using FitDay – on track for 2.29 deadline5. finish Starting Strength by Jan 30 – dammit.
rest/recovery goals
1. average 7 hrs/night – 100% compliant2. finish blacking out bedroom – complete3. read LIGHTS OUT! – dammit4. schedule super-awesome rest day activity at the Box pending management approval – in progress
Some surprising things happened this month.
uncool:
– numbers on my major lifts fell- i suck at scaling workouts
cool:
– the massive payoff from 6 months of strength training, visible every day in class and life- saved a shit ton of $$ not eating out- revised my January skill goal and met it before deadline- realized i don’t care that i’m a newbie- not being on a linear progression means i can address some persistent movement issues (thanks Debbie+Alec!)
looking forward to the final month of this challenge. yesterday Juliana gifted me with some candy from Colombia in a furtive attempt to derail my ongoing progress.
i’m onto you, son.
As a prune fan I have to take offense at the eww. Stewed prunes are one of my all time favorite desserts. They are stewed in Port after all so they are super sweet and boozy deliciousness. (None of those on this paleo challenge though).
@Bethany, You should be eating way more than normal people eat. You are doing way more work with your body and you are actually tapping into the energy that you are eating immediately. Just worry about quality and carb content and let quantity work itself out.
There are lots of research studies on people trying various diets. the only one that routinely does well in actually helping people who are not confined to a lab loose weight is the quantity unrestricted low carb diet. This is even true comparing quantity restricted low carb to quantity unrestricted.
If you cut your portion size it won’t be good for you. Just from a goals point of view, smaller portion size doesn’t really work.
@Yoshi- THANK YOU! Totally made my day.
And also, 100% agree with the note about the encouragement and support from other CFSBKers in this challenge. That aspect of the challenge (and of being a part of the CFSBK community in general) has been awesome, and there is no way I would have ever done this on my own. So, even though I may not be achieving the immediate results I had hoped for despite STRICT compliance with 0 booze and sugar and lots of exercise, I still think it will pay off in the long run (ooh bad pun) for my endurance levels, and maybe some day I will eventually see some muscle gain. …I admit, I look at those before/after pics regularly; I can’t get enough of them. I can’t wait to see some before/after shots from CFSBK.
Challenge is going pretty well, 30 days in. I’ve been much more focused on finding a permanent way of eating, rather than treating this as a super strict challenge and then inevitably binging on pizza and beer on March 1.
Overall it’s been less difficult than last year’s challenge. The transition was less foggy and had fewer headaches (it was also a transition from a fairly gluten-free diet vs a transition from a Michael Pollan-y SAD diet).
Keeping dairy in has definitely reduced the leaning out. I will most likely reduce the dairy (and certainly the milk) if/when I cycle back from an LP to more GPP-focused training.
Thanks Malcolm! After posting I was thinking it over whilst microwaving my lunch and I concluded that cutting or monitoring portion is going to work for me, it never has in the past. I think a better goal is to be more in tune to my own hunger needs and learn to eliminate eating out of habit/schedule/boredom.
Also, I’ve been noticing that the more raw veggies I eat, the more energetic I feel post-meal. Here’s a lovely recipe I copied from Brooklyn Fare and have been feeding on all week. It is especially good with roasted chicken tossed in:Ingredients:- 2 bunches of broccoli, flowery parts sliced super thin; stalks peeled well with a veggie peeler and also sliced super thin- 3/4 cup of raw pistachios roughly chopped- about 3/4 cup of olive oil- 2 or so tbsp of pistachio (or any other nice flavored) oil- splash of lemon juice- salt and pepper
Mix up the oils, lemon juice, salt and pepper, pour it over the broccoli and toss in the pistachios. Yum!
Challenge Update:
Pt 1: foodThis has been ok. A bit high on fruit, pretty darn high on delicious starchy veg, absolutely no change in body comp/weight/measurements, but considering that I eat like a pig and haven’t been to the gym since Jan 1st, I’m ok with that. Finally ponied up and went 2 days without even just that one (ok, or 2) tiny square(s) of soy-free dark chocolate – probably the longest in my adult life. Might make February a bit more restrictive in terms of sugars/starches. Might not.
Pt 2: workoutsSuper fail. Faily faily sir-fails-a-lot, that’s me. Hurt myself on the first day back, to a point where I couldn’t ignore it. But without any impressive bleeding or anything. Wuss. Starting to get over it now – did some long walks over the weekend and even did some slow-motion db thrusters as a test – not the very best idea, maybe, but not incapacitatingly stupid, either, for a change! So that’s improving. I feel like a wussy jerk, though, for being out this long with a non-broken-limb-injury. And I’m worried about coming back. Obviously I have no sense of what is too much or too fast, and I have no idea how to go about getting stronger without making exactly the same mistakes again. And, well, if going for a walk feels like a bloody triumph, I really don’t want to regress. But I’m tired of feeling like a wussy, wussy, wuss. So… yeah. Internal conflict = grrr, but overall, challenge fitness goals = a giant zero.
@Melon. Lots of starchy veg/fruit will impede any body composition changes, so if that is a goal, I would suggest reducing your consumption.
Sounds like a bit of a rough month. How about setting yourself the goal of some number of days, 2 or 3, in the gym and then when you are there, focus on quality of movement instead of intensity. Try going at 80% for awhile and see how you do. Maybe hit active recovery as your third day?
Thanks, Laurel. You’re entirely right, and I know what I need to do – it’s just a matter of doing it. As always. What can I say, horses are scary. For one thing, they’re very tall. And when you fall off – it hurts.
Apologies to all for the gloomy post above – someone in our office building found out the hard way this morning that humans can’t actually fly without mechanical assistance, and it’s kind of cast a pall over the rest of the day. Sorry, and congrats to everyone who’s doing so well!
Amigos,
I considered January 2011 the most successful Paleo eating month I’ve ever done. My goals were to do no Dairy, coffee, Grain, Refined Sugar, fruit or Alcohol and then reassess the strictness in February. I did great not having a lick of r. sugar, coffee, grain or dairy. I probably ended up eating 3 fruits and 3 glasses of wine all month, which I’m still very happy about. For me, this strict approach worked well and I find that Im not craving staple “cheat” foods that I used to regularly have (Sandwiches, Burgers, ice cream sandwiches etc). Going into February, I will incorporate frozen berries, which Im happy to say are like my favorite snack of all time. Im also going to be okay with a little wine here and there. (which is random cause im a BEER person and never really was crazy about wine but all month it’s the only alcohol ive wanted)- finally, like I mentioned yesterday im going to stay with no coffee, more so to keep the dairy out, im not craving it really so thats a no brainer.
Positive resultsIm cooking WAY more and letting almost no food go bad in my fridge. All my at home meals have been protein and fat heavy with some green veggies. Very satisfying
Ive felt the good nutrition really improve my energy levels. I feel more clear headed and calm than I have in a long time. WOD energy has been hit and miss, sometimes I feel like I could on forever, other days I feel like im running on empty for metcons. Overall im happy.
Ive leaned out a bit, hope that trend continues.
Rest RecoveryIve been sleeping More- not as much as I should still but Way more than I have in the past. This is contributing to my good energy levels im sure. I also don’t feel like pure hell at 5:15am anymore. Fish oil consumption has been high and regular. I dont know how much it’s helping since there have been so many other positive changes in my lifestyle.
I planned on no computer after 7 which was a total fail from the start. Damn you hulu! Given that i’ve been sleeping better overall im not going to go back and try to bring this back. Ill just keep trying to get to bed at a reasonable hour.
I also had a goal of going to a meditation center and that never happened. Anyone interested in going in February?
Challenge check-in
Food: I’ve been 100% on grains, legumes, sugar. I’ve had 4-5 accidental nightshade exposures, but to be honest, that doesn’t seem to be making any difference at all, and I’ll probably test reintroducing them next week. I’ve had one major flub: having more to drink than I intended this past weekend – including some wine, which was NOT in my plan – I felt gross after. I’ll be liquor-only from here on out, and will be picking the days I plan to drink in advance.
I was hoping to see some fat loss, but I’ve been pretty disappointed in that department, so I’ve been slowly getting stricter with carbs. I started out with some sweet potatoes, plantains, occasional raw dairy, and 1-3 servings of fruit a week, but those are all pretty much gone. Now I think I’ll be adding in some IF, too.
Exercise: I’m really happy with how I’m doing in the strength class, and with my non-CF sports. I haven’t hit my 5x/week mobility WODs – more like 3x/week – but I’ve started doing some exercises Deb gave me daily instead, and they seem to be having a really positive influence on my form.
Sleep: I’m also doing the bedtime alarm and it is working really well – probably moved my bedtime up about an hour, and decreased the avg time it takes me to fall asleep by 30 mins. Aside from unavoidable disturbances from weekend travel, I am sleeping incredibly well.
Overall, I feel fantastic – no cravings, good energy. Not seeing any measurements change is driving me nuts, of course, but I’m looking forward to seeing if IF will help.
Did yesterday’s WOD: 7:37 Rx’d. Deliberately went slowish on this. I had a terrible two nights of sleep, but desperately wanted to work out. Probably should have gone lighter but I remembered last year doing the regional workout that involved sets of seven 185lb deadlifts, so I didn’t think this would be so bad.
That’s something I’ve been really struggling with – I lost a lot of strength and conditioning for a variety of reasons last fall/this winter and it is hard to reset appropriately. I think a lot of people in the gym have had this experience – life interferes with training and then it’s a bit depressing to find oneself struggling with things that were easy before.
I’ve been developing some strategies to stop myself from pushing too hard, but it’s a serious challenge. The biggest difficulty though is feeling disappointed in myself. Any tips from other people who’ve had this experience?
disappointing numbers tonight lifting – guess yesterday took a bigger toll on me than i anticipated.
lesson learned.
Laurel, (and others)
You’re moving, you’re lifting, your sweating and you’re being challenged. You’re doing things that others wouldn’t dream of doing. Enjoy each workout, some will be PRs some wont. Some will deflate your ego, and maybe others will make it difficult to stand up the next day. Take pride in the fact that if asked to do 25 deadlifts at 185lbs, you can. Even if it was a little slower than last time.
Just enjoy your daily dose of movement.
Nicely put, David.
Had another enlightening evening with Margie and the Tit-tays ladies. Talked a bit about how Paleo is going for everyone, so it’s interesting to see everyone’s comments here as well.
The strangest part of the whole challenge so far has been getting my mind around how much this does not seem like a “diet”, even though it says “Paleo Diet” on the cover of my book. I’m with Joe, where it feels more like I’m making changes in the way I want to eat in general as opposed to signing on for two months of crazy then hopping back on the bread-and-pasta train come March. Will and I are going to the Fairway 2-3x/week and cooking a ton and I’m really enjoying what we’re eating.
It feels odd to use the word “cheat”; that being said, Will and I planned on “cheating” 2-3x/week, and for January, sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t. For some reason, 75% of my friends had birthdays this past week, so there was a lunch, a dinner and a brunch at restaurants, and I was able to stay pretty paleo for 1.5 of them. (1 was pizza, the brunch involved a very tasty bloody mary).
Other than that, I find that I’m no longer mindlessly snacking, but rather just eating when I’m hungry. Also, hungry feels different now– like… I don’t know… I feel like I’m fueling myself better and I don’t need to eat at any prescribed hour, like 8a = breakfast, noon=lunch, etc. Does that make any sense?
Also met my Double Unders goal, which was very exciting. I’m a little tenuous about setting a new one, but I really want to get push-ups and pull-ups working better than they currently are for me. I will start with push-ups (because I can do them at home), and … well, any tips on the best way to practice? Can I legitimately do some every day, or is that insane?
Starting Strength
Back SquatWarmup: 45×5 95×5 135×5 185×5 200x1Work: 215x5x3
PressWarmup: 45×5 75×5 95x5Work: 110x5x3
Power CleanWarmup: 55×5 75×5 95x3Work: 125x3x3
Experimented with a wider grip & stance on the power clean after re-reading the chapter in Starting Strength. Felt a little better, still need to remember to shrug.
Also, I love this photo of Samir!!
Was really sore from the deadlift burpee wod yesterday but was pissed i missed “cindy” on sunday, so i did that today. I also worked on Box Jump and did a 47 3/4 jump, and then just missed at 48 3/8. This is a major suprise and think all the work on squats and hamstring stretching is paying off.
I did 14+ 4 pulls on cindy and could have done more if i hadnt done all those burpees yesterday.
@Robin,
The 100 pushups app is worth a look. I’ve found it a good way to progressively add push-ups that accounts for your starting point. If you see a push-up heavy WOD appear on the blog (such as our recent date with Cindy), it probably makes sense to skip a day, but otherwise I’m of the opinion that you can do them every day.
Paleo Check In:I stayed pretty strict and felt great until last week got crazy at work and I fell off the wagon a bit. But as of today I am back on track, and feel proud because last year once I fell off it was pretty much over.
I think one of the reasons I have been able to get back is because I notice a huge difference in the way I feel. I am so much more alert and have way more energy throughout the day. This weekend I had a big (and I mean big) sandwich while out to lunch with a friend. I almost immediately felt tired and my head felt all cloudy. I then had a belly ache for the rest of the day and felt terrible the next morning. It made me realize that I used to get belly aches all the time, and that I haven’t had any since starting the challenge. Nothing like a belly ache to get you back on track.
The biggest challenges for me so far have been getting enough sleep and training. I have failed miserably at getting 8 hours of sleep. I don’t really know if it is in the cards for me, 6 or 7 might be more realistic. I have also had to cut back on training due to a shoulder injury, but am going to try to get in some modified workouts pretty soon.
Overall, very happy that I am doing this and thankful for all of the support from CFSBK.
My goals were to stay strict with my paleo, sleep more, give up coffee and work on mobility a couple times a week.
* Tightened up my carb consumption to try to see how keto is for me. I realized that I have to be super low to stay in keto so I’m giving that a shot through February, at least when I’m not travelling.* I’ve noticed that stress has a bigger impact on my sleep quality than anything else–I always do fine at getting to sleep but if there’s too much going on at work or something, I’m up at 4. Ugh. No easy fix there.* No caffeinated coffee since 1/3, only decaf when traveling. I just wanted a reset here after years of drinking lots of coffee, and will happily reintroduce it in March.* Switched up my mobility plan to include massages to work on my upper back. Already seeing lots of improvement, especially in my kip swing.
Overall, I was super excited to get a 325# DL and 5 kipping pull-ups in the same week. Something’s working.