2nd week back on the strict paleo

Last week, I recommitted to the Paleo diet after spending the weekend in Chelan drinking wine, eating gluten and other crap, and eating sugary "trip snacks" while driving home. The first week was very successful, as the first week of diets usually is - down 5 lbs from 190 to 185. Goal weight is 175. I expect that I will not lose another 5 lbs this week, but I would like to lose 1 or 2, so continuing with the food log to keep myself focused.

Started the morning with an omelet at the work cafe, with a side of bacon. For lunch, we went to Flying Fish, and I had a steak (about 4oz), hold the udon noodles, double down on the veggies, with hoisin sauce. Upon returning to my office, I supplemented the lunch with nine almonds.
I got out of work early, so I grabbed a builder's bar when I got home and ate half of it on the way to the crossfit. This was my third day in a row, so I thought active recovery was in order. I went to Mike's snatch class, thinking that the light weights would be perfect for this. Unfortunately, I saw the other guys doing deadlifts, and got jealous. So Mike let me do my own deadlifts. Did Wendler 5/5/5, finishing at 135kg x5 reps. That seemed like enough for the day. I am now finishing the rest of the builder bar, and getting ready to eat dinner, which looks like a 4oz grassfed steak, and the rest of the mashed sweet potato. I had a tsp of almond butter and a couple fiber choice tablets to get some fat and fiber.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Another omelet, and a side of bacon, 3 almonds in my office
Lunch: Corned beef hash (root veggies, no potatoes) with eggs on top. Ate half of it, boxed up the rest. Had 9 almonds as an afternoon snack.
Dinner: I had some beef jerky when I got home, along with a few tsp of almond butter. Jen heated up some brisket (about 4oz) with bbq sauce, so I ended up with double the protein I needed, and less carbs than needed.

Wednesday:
Skipped breakfast (intermittent fast!)
Lunch: package of paleo beef jerky, and about 16 almonds
Snacks in the afternoon:  Nugo organic bar, tanka bar...not a good afternoon. Need some good carbs before Steve/Jim's class tonight! This is the first time I've been hungry over the last two weeks.
More snacks when I got home: 4 slices of sweet potato and half a bowl (<1/4 cup) blueberries.
Went to Jim's class and it was what we call a "grinder!"
Start out with five rounds alternating between power cleans (45kg, 55, 60, 65, 70) and 3x muscle up negatives.
Then the workout:
EMOTM for 12 minutes
Power cleans at 80% 1RM (70kg) then 10 DU and jump rope for rest of the minute, no rest.
Then
EMOTM for 16 minutes
ODD 200m row
EVEN 12 situps
Then Partner 2k row

After class, for extra credit I did 2 muscle ups on the high rings.

Then, home for dinner:
6oz grassfed ribeye
Kale salad with goat cheese crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette
The rest of the 1/4 cup of blueberries from earlier. I felt healthy with every bite I was eating!

Thursday:

Omelet and bacon for breakfast

Spinach salad with 4oz salmon for lunch

About 12-16 almonds for afternoon snack

Dinner was a chicken breast (with bone and skin on) and some mixed frozen veggies. I supplemented with a hunk of brisket and a bowl of blueberries.

Friday:
Took the morning off of work, went to Jim's movement class. Did lots of goblet squats and broad jumps, and finished with 1 MU, for extra credit!
Tried my egg white shake in water, very yummy and 23g of protein, when I got home.
Then Jen and I went to the Ballard Skillet for brunch. Deconstructed corned beef hash, hold the fingerling potatoes. Yum!
Dinner: two hunks of brisket (10oz?), 1/4 cup blueberries and 10 lime and chili almonds

Saturday:
I got up and went to the Level 2 Crossfit class down at the gym. Great workout today -- A reverse clean ladder (10, 9, 8...1) cleans, with a round of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats) between each set. I did the Rx weight, 55kg, on the cleans, and was pretty much dead after the 17 minutes it took me.
Came home and had an egg white protein shake mixed up in Coconut milk. I had never had coconut milk, but it's pretty thick and about 90% fat. I don't think I'll be doing that again! It seems to have taken its toll on my digestive system too...not sure if it was the coconut milk or the xylitol that they snuck into the protein powder. Will have to experiment with that.

Then I had a hunk of brisket for good measure while I watched the Crossfit Invitational, live from Berlin! Team World, including my favorite Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet upset the Team USA team. Pretty fun stuff! I had several slices of sweet potato along with that. For snack later I had about 6 slices of summer sausage with mayo.
For dinner, we had leftover chicken breast and kale salad with goat cheese and vinaigrette.
Family is having ice cream for dessert, but I'm going to pass. It is tempting to have a "cheat day" or even a cheat meal, but it seems to take several days to recover from that (weight  up, cravings for sugar return, etc). So I'm gonna go ahead and abstain. Week 2 weigh in on Monday morning, hope to at least maintain the 5 lbs loss from last week.

Sunday:
Had a 3 egg scramble with goat cheese, and a couple slices of summer sausage for breakfast. Mid morning snack was some beef jerky and about 10 almonds (lime and chili).
Lunch: The rest of the brisket (8oz?), 10 almonds, and a 1/4 cup of blueberries.
Monday morning weigh-in: 184.0, down 6.8 pounds in 2 weeks.

1 day at a time...

In the many months since I stopped my food journal, I have gained about 14 lbs, from 176 to 190. I've gotten a bunch stronger as well. I can now Deadlift 400 lbs, overhead squat 110 for a set of 3, and can manage a muscle up at this heavy weight. My squat has also gotten deeper.

So now my friend Annelisa (who is in Phoenix) and I are going to start keeping track of our food intake, and I'm going to try to get back to about 175. If so, I think I will like what I see with all the extra muscle!
Another friend of mine, who spent some time at AA, told me you don't have to take it one day at a time, you have to treat your diet like alcoholism, one hour at a time.

So, after a weekend in Chelan including a bunch of wine and a little gluten.  And a long drive home with sugary "trip snacks," I resolved to get back on the straight and narrow as of yesterday, Monday 10/14.

Monday morning, I got up and had a 3 egg scramble with peppers and onions (not nearly enough carbs) and a side of bacon. This is my standard breakfast when I eat at the work cafe. Along with a glass of (fresh squeezed 2 wedges) lemon water.
We had an all day "offsite" with my staff and I have now trained our department assistant that no food aside from lunch is allowed in the conference room, because I will stare at it for six hours then eat 14 cookies. So I was clean all morning and afternoon.
I had a tanka bar for snack at about 11am, then a spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette, topped with 4 oz of steelhead salmon.

In the evening, we did a "team-building event" on an electric boat. There was beer, wine, meat on a stick, veggies on a stick, and potato salad. I had several kabob like things of beef. It was marinated in soy sauce, so not quite gluten free, but better than potato salad. I also drank talking rain water rather than beer or wine. Good on me! I ended up having a scoop of peanut butter in the middle of the night to help me get back to sleep.

Tuesday, I had the same breakfast -- bacon and scrambled eggs, with peppers and onions. I also had a scoop of organic almond butter before I left home to provide the fat. I had a tanka bar for snack around 11, then 2-3 oz of beef jerky and another tanka bar in the afternoon. a little soy sauce in the jerky, but again maybe not the worst thing I could have.
After work, in preparation for the gym, I had an ounce or two of sweet potato, a GU packet, and a spoonful (1-1.5 tsp) of almond butter.
For dinner, Jen made savory roasted chicken and mashed sweet potatoes. Yum! Two days clean...one hour at a time.

Wednesday morning breakfast, I had leftover peppers, onions and chicken from our meal at La Brisa, so fried these up in walnut oil and scrambled three eggs with them. Instant Paleo omelet!

For lunch, I again had a spinach salad with various veggies, balsamic vinaigrette, and 4oz salmon. In the evening, I went to the bar with some friends for several hours, but was able to stick to water for the whole time! On arriving home, I had a tsp of almond butter, a leftover chicken sausage, and a big spoonful of mashed sweet potato. Unfortunately, this is at about 11pm. 

Thursday morning, day 4!!

I weighed in this morning 3 lbs lighter than Monday, 187.5. Part of this was small dinner last night (not really sustainable), but part was that I didn't drink any wine! I drank about three big bottles of pellegrino. This morning, I had an omelet at work, with a side of bacon, and for lunch, a spinach salad with some sweet potato and other veggies, topped with 4oz salmon and balsamic vinaigrette. I threw in a package of Steve's club's Beef Jerky (28g protein, 4 blocks).

I worked out with Steve tonight...presses, bench, 1 min rows...

Dinner was an organic grass fed hot dog (56g), big scoop of mashed sweet potato and a tsp of almond butter. Still no wine! 

Update: Didn't eat enough...was up at 11:30 and had another tsp of Almond butter, and then again at 1:30 for several slices of sweet potato.

Friday (Day 5 of the 1 day at a time plan!)

Breakfast - Omelet with side of bacon at work

Snack - Steve's beef jerky

Lunch - Corned beef hash with three eggs up. I could only eat half of it, which is very sad, and then I forgot to take the leftovers with me!

Dinner - It's Shabbat dinner, which means there's wine and dessert, so I'm in the danger zone again, but I think I can hold out! Update: held out...no dessert. We had brisket with yummy, ketchup-based bbq sauce. Very yummy, but kinda sugary from the bbq sauce. :( Salad along with that.

Saturday

Got up and headed for the gym. Did Mike's 9am class, which consisted of Romanian Deadlifts (up to 80kg), and then for the WOD, we did 7 min AMRAP with a partner, I go you go. 5 deadlifts, 4 cleans, 3 front squats. Started with 50kg, but moved up to 60kg and did some extra rounds because my partner went slow. I stayed for Dave's 10am mobility class where we did lots of ab work. Always fun. Finished with a couple muscle ups on the high rings after class.

I then headed over to Hale's for brunch of an El Diablo omelet (sub goat cheese for pepper jack) and a side of bacon. Yum!

Afternoon snacks - tsp of almond butter and a bowl (1/2 cup?) of blueberries.

Dinner - Three pieces (about 10oz) of brisket with bbq sauce. After dinner, a couple tsp of almond butter. 

Sunday 

This will be one week of good eating! Started the morning (around 10am) with an onion and goat feta cheese omelet (3 eggs). Headed for the gym at 3pm for Steve's "performance" class. That usually lasts two hours, and then will have dinner. 

Snack - 1/4 cup blueberries and 1 tsp almond butter

Had a gu packet before crossfit then headed off to class. We started with 4 rounds (not for time) of 5 hspu, 3 rope climbs and then AMRAP double unders. I could only do about 1 rope climb at a time, although Steve taught me how to do the Spanish wrap which should make it easier.  And I did 40 singles instead of doubles. 

Once we finished that, we did 1RM close grip bench press (102kg) and 1RM power clean (90kg). Steve gave me a larabar to keep me going...

We finished with a bunch if prowler pushes. 5 rounds of 50m @90% with 90s rest.Then 3 rounds of 75m @100% with 5 min rest. The final rounds kicked my ass.

After class, I had a veggie protein shake (23g protein) and a small piece (2oz?) of brisket. Then we went out to dinner at Georgia's and had Macedonian peppers, lamb souvlaki, a little falafel, hummus, 6 Kalamata olives, and some grilled veggies. I'm stuffed!

Final tally for the first week of renewed dieting: 185.2, down 5 lbs from last Monday! Starting a new post for week 2.

Leaning challenge, week 5

Monday
Breakfast - peppers and onions omelet, side of bacon
Lunch - burger, no bun and green salad
Snack - nugo organic bar
Workout with Steve
Post workout - summer sausage, sweet potato, blueberry with whip cream

Tuesday
Breakfast - peppers and onions omelet, side of bacon
Lunch - spinach alas with salmon, feta, egg
Snack - nugo organic bar
Dinner - 2 Hebrew national hot dogs, blueberries and whip cream

Wednesday
Breakfast - peppers and onions omelet, side of bacon
Lunch - roast beef, mayo, cheese slices
Dinner - summer sausage, blueberries and whip cream, sweet potato slices

Thursday
Breakfast - omelet and bacon
Lunch - 4 slices of pizza (boo!)
Snack - salmon salad
Snack - cookie
Dinner - salmon ceasar salad

Friday

Leaning challenge, week 4

Monday
Breakfast - 3 egg scramble with peppers and onions, two slices bacon
Snack - nugo organic bar
Lunch - spinach and mixed greens salad with veggies, 4oz salmon
Snack - nugo organic bar, diet coke
Afternoon crossfit workout
Dinner - 2oz sweet potato, 2 hebrew national hot dogs, vegan protein shake
Snack - blueberries and whip cream

Tuesday
Breakfast - scramble with peppers and onions, and 2 slices of bacon
Lunch - Spinach salad with salmon at the cafeteria
Dinner - summer sausage, sweet potato, blueberries and whip cream

Wednesday
Breakfast scramble with peppers and onions, and 2 slices of bacon
Lunch - Spinach salad with salmon
Snack - nugo organic bar
Crossfit workout with Duncan
Dinner - 2 hot dogs, tsp of peanut butter and 2oz sweet potato

Thursday
Breakfast AMRAP nutrition bar, paleo beef sticks
Lunch - Nugo organic bar
Snack - hand full of jelly bellies :(
Dinner - Omelet with Goat cheese and salsa, sweet potato

Friday
Brunch - Attitude cleanse juice
Lunch - Lamb curry with mango chutney, hold the cous cous and pita.
Dinner - Summer sausage and beef jerky in the car on the way to Chelan. Several glasses of wine after arrival

Saturday
Crossfit Workout at Chelan Valley CF in Manson
Breakfast - omelet
Lunch - wine tasting starting at about 1pm. A box of Mike and Ike's got consumed along with bbq chicken and kale salad
Dinner - more wine tasting and a big steak covered in grilled onions and bleu cheese.
Dessert - more wine

Sunday
Hot Yoga at Yogachelan
Brunch - omelet, summer sausage
Drive home from Chelan - trip snacks (beef jerky, slim jims, and a peppermint patty)
Dinner - the last of the sheep feta cheese (about 1oz)

Leaning challenge, week 3

Sunday
Breakfast - 3 eggs, sunny side up. About 12 raisins
Lunch - burger and salad, several skinny margaritas.
Dinner - seared ahi tuna, burger (no bun) and mixed greens salad

Monday
Workout at Cactus Crossfit
Post workout snack - 4 slices bacon
Lunch - taco meat, no shell, salsa and sautéed veggies, skinny margaritas
Dinner - sushi rolls, wasabi, ginger, wine

Tuesday
Breakfast - berry plate and turkey bacon
Lunch - 3oz beef jerky
Snack - 3oz beef jerky, skinny margarita
Dinner - beef tenderloin fondue, sautéed asparagus, New York strip steak
Dessert - sorbetto

Wednesday
Breakfast - 2 fried eggs, 2 slices bacon, bowl of berries
Lunch - lamb burger and hummus
Dinner - sliders, no bun and a few potato chips
Snack - Blueberries, 2 oz of summer sausage

Thursday
Snacked throughout the day (vaca) -- ~6oz summer sausage, bowl of blueberries, 2 tsp organic almond butter, Glutino gluten free pretzel sticks
Workout with Steve
Post-workout -- Omelet with salsa, goat cheese and half an onion, blueberries and whip cream for dessert

Friday
Breakfast - omelet with onion, salsa, goat cheese
Lunch - attitude cleanse juice
Snack - nugo organic bar
Dinner - lamb kabob, few fries, hummus

Saturday
Morning crossfit workout
Brunch - el diablo omelet x2
Dinner - crust less pizza (red sauce and mozzarella, pepperoni and jalapeño)

Sunday
Crossfit workout
Post workout snack - 2oz summer sausage, 2 fried eggs in coconut oil
Brunch - el diablo omelet and a side of bacon
Dinner - 2oz summer sausage, 2oz sweet potato, and 2 tsp organic almond butter

Leaning challenge, week 2

Sunday
Breakfast - 2oz summer sausage, emergen-C drink, bowl of blueberries and whip cream
Lunch - el diablo omelet and 2 diet cokes
Snack - bowl of blueberries and whip cream
Dinner - Falafel, hummus (no pita!), red peppers stuffed with sheep feta, olive oil and spices, cucumbers and 3 kalamata olives

Monday
Lunch - mixed greens and spinach salad with onions and peppers, sheep feta and 4oz salmon
Dinner - onions, goat cheese and salsa omelet

Tuesday
Breakfast - scrambled eggs with onions and peppers, 2 slices of bacon
Snack - Nugo organic bar
Lunch - Steak salad
Snack - Nugo organic bar and a diet coke (boo!)
Dinner - 4 oz burger, frozen veggies, 1/4 cup berries
Post dinner - 2 oz summer sausage

Wednesday
Lunch - spinach and mixed greens salad with 4oz salmon, diet coke
Snack - nugo organic bar
Dinner - 4oz summer sausage, bowl of blueberries and whip cream, 2tsp organic almond butter

Thursday
Breakfast - Nugo organic bar
Lunch - salad (same as above), 2 diet cokes
Snack - 2 small packages of beef jerky from the vending machine
Dinner - Chicken with hyderabad cooking sauce from a jar, 6 berries, charred broccoli and cauliflower, 2 tsp organic almond butter

Friday
Breakfast - onions and pepper omelet
Lunch - Root veggie hash with corned beef, and egg on top
Happy Hour - Guacamole and sauteed veggies, 3 glasses of wine
Dinner - Chicken in madras curry, berries
Dessert - 9 Glutino Gluten Free wafer cookies (bad!)

Saturday
8am Workout - the Hare and the Bear
Snack - Organic beef jerky
Lunch - omelet - three eggs, 1/2 onion, salsa and goat cheese crumbles. 2 slices of summer sausage.
Start:vacation
Snack - qdoba steak, veggies and guac
On the plane - mixed nuts and gluten free potato chips
Dinner - ceasar salad, no croutons or cheese and veal on bed of parsnips and sautéed onions and peppers

Leaning challenge v5! Week 1, 3/30-4/6

So far, not a good start. Traveling and breaking all my rules, starting with no alcohol during leaning challenge!


Sunday 3/30
Lunch - Leftover brisket with BBQ sauce, few slices of sweet potato, Emergenc-E drink
Snack - More brisket!
Dinner - Greek salad at zeeks
Workout - Wendler deadlifts, good mornings and planks
Post workout second dinner - More brisket! And few more slices sweet potato

Monday
Breakfast - Chicken Burrito, hold the rice, beans and tortilla. So basically chicken, salsa and guacamole from qdoba at the airport
Dinner - Steak, many glasses of wine, chicken wings

Tuesday
No breakfast
Lunch - Green salad and a scoop of tuna fish with horseradish mayo, diet coke
Dinner - Steak, 3 diet cokes
Post dinner - Several glasses of wine, sweet potato fries and some chicken wings.

Wednesday
Breakfast - Omelet with peppers and onions, some melon, diet coke

Lunch - Green salad and a scoop of tuna fish with horseradish mayo, diet coke
Dinner - Steak and seasonal veggies, finally was able to avoid the wine!

Thursday
Lunch - Green salad and a scoop of tuna fish with horseradish mayo, diet coke
Snack at airport - Sweet potato fries, wine
Dinner - Finally back home again and ate more leftover brisket and bbq sauce
Dessert - Bowl of Blueberries and whip cream, few slices of summer sausage
Midnight snack - more brisket

Friday
Breakfast - ~2oz of summer sausage and Emergen-C drink
Lunch - Root veggie hash with corned beef and eggs on top
Snack - "attitude cleanse" juice -- beets, carrots, greens, extra ginger, and cayenne. 3 stars out of five spicy and even that was pretty hot!
Dinner - Summer sausage with homemade horseradish mayo and the last of the leftover brisket, and a hot dog (no bun) with grilled peppers and onions.

Saturday
Workout - Dave's Mobility Class plus L1 class with Mike. WOD = I go, you go AMRAP 20 min. 15 Front Squats (40kg), 15 pullups, 200m run.
Brunch - 3 egg scramble, with half an onion and a couple tbsp of goat cheese crumbles, plus 2oz of raw sweet potato and 1oz summer sausage. 1 glass Emergen-C.
Second brunch - el diablo omelet at hale's - onions, peppers, jalapeño, goat cheese, and sausage. 2 glasses diet coke
Snack - bowl of blueberries with whip cream
Dinner - summer sausage with homemade horseradish mayo, glass of emergen-C
Post-dinner party - Many glasses of wine, a few slices of pepperoni and two mojitos