Josh L. picks things up and puts them….overhead.
THE PALEO CHALLENGE IS OVER!!!
By Coach Fox
..Now what? Sidetracks aside, many of you stuck with your goals and intentions for the duration of this 60 day Paleo Challenge with results ranging from good to great to outstanding. Today you’ll get your ‘after’ photos submitted along with your write-up detailing your experience, and tonight you’ll likely want to celebrate the end of an era. But wait, is that what you set out to accomplish? A temporary solution? Or an introduction to a sustainable lifelong way of dealing with exercise, nutrition, rest, and recovery? Hopefully the latter, and while you may be bursting at the seams to indulge, make the breaking of your challenge an informed adult decision.
Some of you will feel no need to indulge in non-paleo treats and continue tonight and tomorrow exactly as you treated any other day in the last 2 months, and that’s great. Many of you will want to satisfy a craving that’s been with you since January 1st, and that’s ok too. Go ahead and have the dessert/pizza/beer/bread/pasta that has been on your mind as you fell asleep many a night during the challenge. I want you to see what that indulgence holds for you and take stock of its value vs its perceived value. If you have a taste and move on continuing with the good habits you’ve developed you may notice little to no down side to this occasional treat. If, however, you decide to have the dessert after the pizza and beer and bread and pasta, you may feel differently. My advice is to treat yourself sensibly and not go overboard. Hopefully the cravings you experienced during the first few days and weeks of the challenge have subsided and a pattern of health supporting decisions have followed. Don’t let today start a yo-yo pattern where you need a “challenge” a few times a year to re-start healthy habits.
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Are you looking forward to a “cheat” meal? What is it?
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Eating Meat: A Primer for the Meat Challenged Whole 9
Steal These Meals: Recipe Sharing Blogs Whole 9
Fear is My Homegirl Stumptuos
I already had my first beer and bread in two months on Sunday night. I wish I’d held off because I was super bloated for my “After” photos last night! ha…
As for my first official cheat meal, I am dying for some fried chicken and biscuits.
Warm-UpFR/LAX/Stretch3 Minute Row
3 Rounds6-5-5 Stict Pull-Ups12-10-10 Push-Ups8 Reverse Lunges Each Leg, + 12kg
Low Bar Back Squat e2/12(45×5, 95×5, 130×3, 140×3)150x5x3
3 Rounds8 Bent over Rows, each arm 40-45-508 Hip Extensions +25lbs
____Im doing the triplet warm-up every other workout. increasing the reps gradually. for example week 1 was 5-5-5 pull-ups, this week was 6-5-5, next week 6-6-5. Im doing the same with Push-ups but increasing by 2 reps. Ill keep adding reps until i start failing or it starts interfering with my workout.
Today was my first in earnest Low bar back squat in a long long time. I’ve been doing a bastardized high bar for almost a year. The weight felt.. really light. Still want someone to watch me on it next time.
Didn’t feel like huffing and puffing today, did some light assistance moves afterwards and called it a day._______________
I cheated with Pizza a few weeks ago thinking it would be a fulfilling, gluttonous experience, its my go to junk food. I ended up feeling really bloated and thought it wasn’t even that tasty. I don’t have anything specific that I really want to eat right now.. Maybe a hamburger from the green table?
treats of lust:
two things, both of which i had in a single night during the challenge (shh!), both of which qualify as the best things i ate all year, both of which happened to be made by Chef April Bloomfield, whose memoir is finally out, hooray!
1. at the John Dory, the carte di musica, which is a cracker with butter and bottarga (i didn’t know what that was til after i ate it.)
it killed me.
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/now-nibbling-music-to-your-mouth/
2. at The Breslin around the corner, the chicken liver parfait, which is hard to eat unless you spread it on some breadlike item, and tastes like chicken caramel andblew my mind.
if i’m going to eat gluten, this is how i’m going to eat it.
All I want is a grilled cheese sandwich! Simple pleasures.
@Michele –
I have just taken to eating pate and the like with a fork.
I have been using this recipe. http://www.shesimmers.com/2009/12/smoothest-creamiest-best-liver-mousse.html
And leaving out the sugar in the topping (or leaving that off entirely).
It contains dairy, but it is so good.
I have been making double batches of this stuff for the past few weeks and using it as a supplement to my dinner with some gherkins.
i did eat it with a fork at the Breslin, much to the muted dismay of my companions!
Malcolm-while I’m sure it’s delicious that is the most annoying recipe writing I’ve ever encountered. Also way too complicated, process-wise. Here is an uber-yummy chicken-liver pate that you’ve inspired me to start making regularly:http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pate-with-pomegranate-gelee(again, you can skip the gelee.)No bain-marie, no baking. Just sautee everything and puree. Cremini mushrooms add some nice depth of flavor, too.
oh man that looks good.
The method actually turns out to be easier than any pate I have ever made.
Let me see if I can restate it so that it looks as easy as it is.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Start a kettle for boiling water.
Mince (or food process) 1 medium onion and 2 cloves garlic.
In 1 tablespoon butter soften onion and garlic (don’t brown).
After the onions are soft add 1/4 cup cream. Gently simmer 2 or 3 minutes.
Add 7 tablespoons of butter.
Once the butter is melted transfer everything to a blender or food processor and add 1/2 lbs of chicken liver and salt and pepper.
Blend until smooth liquid.
Strain and put it in a dish (I use a mesh strainer and a ladle to push it through).
Put the dish in a deep baking ban and pour boiling water around it.
Bake in the oven for between 12 and 15 minutes or until the center is giggly but not liquid.
Cool and serve.
The genius of the recipe is the blending. Not only does it make it so smooth and tasty it also removes the need to vein the livers. I have found that this takes substantially less work than any other pate I have made. While it does take more time I can usually simultaneously be making one or two other things that are more involved.
Cadbury Creme Eggs, just in time for Easter!
According the horse’s mouth, the Nightline segment shot at CFSBK with Robb Wolf and Art Devany will air tonight.
FINALLY.
why do we always keep the best info in horses’ mouths? One of these days they’re gonna chew that shit up and swallow it…
@Malcolm–maybe we should have a pate throwdown. Martha has you sautee everything, then blend, then pour into a loaf pan and refrigerate. No boiling water, no oven, no nada. Easy-peasy. But anyway, yeah, we should all eat more chicken liver. And pate is a great vehicle for that. *AND*, serving it on little slices of apple or radish is even yummier than bread, I think, and paleo.
I ate pretty non-paleo this weekend. My parents took me and Nick to Saul and I ate whatever I wanted off the menu, plus lots of their delicious sourdough bread with delicious butter. The next day, some banana bread and some cake. And it all wasn’t worth it. (The meal at Saul was, but I coulda skipped the bread & dessert.) Sure, I’ll eat birthday cake on my birthday in future years, and ice cream in the summer, and drink more frequently now, but in general I think this is a lifestyle for me, and I’m happy about it.
had a bagel with cream cheese and instantly felt ill. like i was drugged. no bueno.
I’m in favor of your pate-off (as a judge, of course), preferably at the potluck on Saturday.
A biscuit sounds nice, but I’m sticking with the program for a while longer.
Tonight I’m going for a cookie from the batch an incredible baker friend of mine sent over the holidays – they’ve been in the freezer – mainly to test for a response.
This weekend I’m planning my real challenge-end treat – a trip to Dylan’s Candy Bar to buy one of each of my favorite candies. I intend to eat them until my tummy hurts (at this point I’m guessing 5 skittles would do the trick…), and then put the leftovers in the freezer and go back to strict paleo.
Great active recovery with Coach Fox tonight, my shoulders feel much better after all the time with the lacrosse ball.
I decided to have a bag of m&ms today to celebrate the end of paleo. They were gross. It was kind of sad, we used to be such good friends.
Not much “competition” in the competition class tonight…
Snatch: 95, 105, 115 all by 2. This was a pretty major victory for me as I think it isn’t that far from where I was before my injury.
Snatch balance: 125, 135, 140, 145, 150, 155, 160. I think I still had some running room but the form was getting worse. I had to take a step at 160.
Afterwards I did a muscle-up just to confirm that my wrist is healed.
Best result of the last few months.
As for the Pate-off I am down, but unfortunately will be out of town for the Paleo Potluck. Laurel and I are headed out to California on Friday afternoon. Going to see my grandma for her 96th Birthday.
Oh, and thanks to David for the free hair ties! You guys are so thoughtful.
After doing about a month of semi-strict paleo I flung myself off the wagon hard this weekend at my buddy’s wedding in Wisconsin. I am pretty good about staying strict, and it seems I always cheat when there is some event where I am also drinking heavily…then I’m not really sure if I’m actually having some sort of gluten/sugar/etc response or if I’m just reeeeally hungover.
Still feeling a bit wonky from the weekend I did tomorrows work:
FSQ 225×2/235×2/240×2(PR)
Last exposure I hit 235 and it felt good. This was a struggle.
Then tomorrow WOD (aka Row a Bit, then Front Squat Like Crazy)
17/17/19 Couldn’t find a really good game plan until the end. My advice for tomorrow- try and break the squats in to two long sets and then a 3rd mad dash rep out in the last 15-20 seconds or so.
Hurts so good.
david, i really enjoyed seeing you on TV wearing a tshirt that said “municipal waste.”
Think I’m going to ask for some autographs tomorrow! Nice work!! Sleepy time now!!