Spring 14 Paleo Challenge, Week 3

Monday, 4/7
Breakfast
Bacon and Eggs

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Salad with braised beef on top

Snacks (bad)
Organic peanut butter cups and 70% cocoa chocolate bar from vending machine

Dinner
Braised beef hors d'ouevres at work event
3 glasses of wine

Tuesday, 4/8
Breakfast
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Salad with salmon toppers

Dinner
Mashed sweet potatoes and three eggs, over easy
Glass of veggie juice

Dessert
Bowl of blueberries with whip cream x2

Wednesday, 4/9
Breakfast
Small glass of almond milk

Lunch
Salad with 4oz salmon toppers

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Dinner
Ribeye steak, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus, almond milk

Thursday, 4/10
Breakfast
Bacon and Eggs

Lunch
Nugo Organic bar

Snacks
2 hard boiled eggs
Package of salami bits

Worked out with Zack -- muscle up progressions, dips, and cleans (because they're awesome!)

Post workout snack
Egg White protein shake made with half water, half almond milk

Dinner
6oz ribeye steak
blueberries and raspberries
Fried sweet potatoes
9 almonds

Friday, 4/11
Breakfast
Bacon and Eggs

Lunch
Salad with salmon topper

Snacks
Nugo Organic bar
2 glasses of wine, which led to 2 slices of pepperoni pizza

Dinner
Beef Short ribs
Cauliflower latkes
Mixed fresh berries

Dessert
Fruit slices candy

Midnight snack
Blueberries with whip cream

Saturday, 4/12
2 hours at the gym - muscle up progressions then Dave's mobility class

Post-workout snack
Egg white protein shake

Dinner
Leftover ribeye steak
Blueberries with whip cream
10 almonds

Sunday
Breakfast
Egg white protein shake, blueberries with whip cream

Lunch
El Diablo omelet at Hale's with a side of bacon

Dinner
Steak fajitas with veggies and guac (hold everything else)
3 ciders (gluten free)

Spring 14 Paleo Challenge, Week 2

Monday, 3/31
Breakfast
3 egg scramble and bacon

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Spinach and veggies salad, topped with sheep feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, bacon bits, egg and 4oz salmon

"Snack"
3 glasses champagne, liver pate, and a meatball (first fall off the wagon!)

Dinner
4oz organic burger
Kale with sheep parmesan, vinaigrette and goat cheese dressing

Dessert
2 bowls blueberries with whip cream

Tuesday, 4/1
Breakfast
3 egg scramble plus bacon

Missed lunch - ate out of the (less evil) vending machine -- 2 Nugo organic bars and 1 Builder's bar

Worked out with Zack - muscle up practice, ring rows, dip supports

Dinner - 6oz steak, kale salad with ceasar dressing and sheep parmesan, few berries

Wednesday, 4/2
Breakfast
3 fried eggs, 9 almonds, 1 cup blueberries

Lunch
Salad at cafeteria

Snack
4oz organic beef jerky, 1/2 cup blueberries, 2 tsp almond butter

Dinner
2 fried eggs, 3 small chicken sausage patties
1 cup blueberries with whip cream

Thursday, 4/3 (day trip for work: 6am flight out, 7pm flight back)
Breakfast
4oz beef jerky, 2 tsp almond butter

Lunch
4 steak tacos, no tortilla. A dollop of guacamole, some cheese, and salsa

Dinner
Steak fajitas, hold the beans, rice, tortillas, and dairy. (peppers onions, steak and guac only)

Snack
Beef Jerky (non-organic) on the plane

Friday, 4/4
Breakfast
Didn't have time for real breakfast, so had a Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Spinach and kale salad, with various veggies and 4oz salmon on top

Snacks
Builder's bar and Organic dark chocolate peanut butter cups

Dinner
Grilled chicken leg/thigh (skin on)
Quinoa slaw
Beets
Eggplant/Bell pepper salad

Dessert
Gluten free ginger molasses cookie

Saturday, 4/5
Brunch
Omelet with sauteed peppers, onions and goat cheese. Side of bacon

Snacks through the afternoon
Summer sausage, beef jerky, almonds

Bad snacks
Microwave Popcorn and 2 mini-York Peppermint patties

Dinner
Fried summer sausage and Quinoa slaw

Sunday, 4/6
Worked out -- muscle up progression and then Andy's metcon (15 pullups, 400m run, 25 wall balls)x3
Post-workout
Egg White protein shake, 2oz summer sausage, 10 almonds

Dinner

Flank steak stuffed with spinach and sheep feta cheese and olive marinade. 

Three glasses of wine

Dick's vanilla shake (which confirms my point that I shouldn't drink wine during Paleo challenge)

Spring 14 Paleo Challenge, Week 1

Sunday, 3/23
Breakfast -
4oz meatloaf (grass fed hamburger, gluten free bread crumbs, chopped onions and celery) with homemade sauce (ketchup with chipotle peppers added)
8oz glass of "attitude cleanse" veggie juice (beets, ginger, cayenne, assorted veggies) from Alive Juice Bar
2tsp (6g of fat) organic almond butter

Lunch
4oz meatloaf
2 cups blueberries
1 tsp almond butter

Snack
2oz summer sausage
1 tsp almond butter
8oz veggie juice

Dinner
5oz meatloaf
80g sweet potato, raw, sliced
2tsp almond butter
4oz veggie juice

Monday, 3/24
Breakfast
3 egg scramble with onions and peppers, 3 slices bacon

Lunch
Spinach salad with peppers, pickled onions, balsamic vinaigrette and 4oz Salmon

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Dinner
6-7 chicken skewers (1oz each?)
2tsp almond butter
1 cup blueberries

Tuesday, 3/25
Breakfast
3 egg scramble with onions and peppers, 2 slices bacon
2 tsp Almond butter

Side note: First time I have used the second hole in my belt for a while!

Lunch
Spinach salad with peppers, pickled onions, sheep feta, eggs, balsamic vinaigrette, and 4oz salmon on top

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Dinner
5oz chicken bratwurst with 1-2 tsp of mayo
Homemade sweet potato chips (unknown qty)

Wednesday, 3/26
Breakfast
3 egg scramble with onions and peppers, 3 slices bacon

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Steak Salad at cuoco

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Dinner
~6oz ribeye steak
Salad with balsamic and sheep feta
1/3 hot dog
2 tsp almond butter

Muscle up transition practice after dinner!

Thursday, 3/27
Breakfast
3 egg scramble with onions and peppers, 3 slices bacon

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Salad

Snack
Nugo Organic Bar

Workout with Zack -- handstand practice and hammy stretching!

Dinner 

6oz grassfed beef burger, light BBQ sauce

2 slices bacon
1 tbsp (14g fat) of coconut oil

Friday, 3/28
Breakfast
3 egg scramble, 3 slices of bacon "the usual"

Snack
Nugo Organic bar

Lunch
Spinach salad, added a little kale this time along with my usual toppings.

Snack
4oz organic beef jerky

Dinner
Steak with sheep feta, spinach and spices rolled inside it
Cauliflower and Sweet potato dish of some sort
10 almonds
asparagus/leeks/pine nuts/bacon bits dish of some sort

After dinner snack
~2oz summer sausage and 1/2 cup blueberries

Saturday, 3/29

Crossfit homework (muscle up, ring rows and dips practice) plus Dave's mobility class

Brunch

3 egg "el diablo" omelet at Hale's, with goat cheese and veggies

7 slices of bacon

Snack
1/2 cup of blueberries
2oz or so of summer sausage
6 almonds
4oz organic beef jerky

Dinner
Leftovers from last night
3tsp almond butter
1/2 cup blueberries

Sunday, 3/30
Munched throughout the day...
20 almonds, 3 tsp almond butter, 4-6 oz of summer sausage, 4oz beef jerky, 3 cups blueberries
6oz reheated steak

Dinner
Eggs, chicken sausage, kale scramble
2tsp almond butter

Pre-Paleo Challenge Spring 2014 (v7)

Started the Paleo Challenge today, but have been cleaning up my diet for the last week in preparation. Returned from a week of vacation and then a week of out of town corporate meetings, to find my weight at a Crossfit-era record high of 193. My allergies were acting up so much that for a week I couldn't sleep due to nasal congestion and itchy eyes. I was taking my prescription nasal spray and eye drops, plus Zyrtec, plus benadryl to sleep. And I would still wake up with itchy, inflamed eyes.

For the last week, I've been trying to be pretty strict Paleo -- no Gluten for sure, minimum Dairy (I even stopped putting whip cream on my blueberries). My allergies have cleared up, although not sure whether that's because it was really tree pollen, or because I've cleaned up the diet. I do know that the summer that I was very strict Paleo (2011), I didn't once use any allergy medication for the first time since I was five years old.

Nancy took my "before" picture at the gym on Friday night, and we take the after pictures on May 24th, after 7 weeks.

Week 5 of Strict Paleo

Following the return from Chelan, where I broke my 27 days of alcohol abstinence, I weighed in at 182.2 Tuesday morning, down about 8.5 lbs from 4 weeks ago, and up a bit from my lowest weight of the month. I'm back on my normal schedule, starting with an omelet and bacon for breakfast. I went to lunch at Portage Bay Cafe, but didn't have the corned beef hash. Had a walnut salad topped with a piece of smoked salmon, strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette. Yum. In the afternoon, I ate a Nugo Organic bar AND a Builder's Bar. I had both of these partly because I was still hungry and partly because I wanted to have enough calories/carbs in me for my workout with Steve in the evening.

Evening workout started with Bent Over Rows (3x10-12) super setted with Barbell Walking lunges (3x10-12 per leg). Weights were 20, 40, 45kg. Then we got to the fun part of the evening. Every 90 seconds: 4 Hang Power Clean (60kg), 8 air squats, 12 KB swings (24kg). .If you finish in less than 90 seconds, you get to rest for the remaining time. I did the first round in 43 seconds, and was able to maintain/beat that time in each successive round (11 rounds). the last round I did in about 38 seconds. Pretty happy with myself, assuming that this wasn't too easy of a workout. Steve said we are striving for consistency so I feel good about that.
After my workout, I had my egg protein powder shake mixed in Almond Milk rather than water. It was pretty yummy, although it didn't mix as well as it did in water or coconut milk. I think that this is a keeper though. For dinner, we had steak (I only had about 2-3oz since my shake filled me up) and broccoli/cauliflower.
I did 3x15 OHS with the PVC pipe after dinner. It's getting easier each time, and takes less warm up than it used to.

Wednesday
Weighed in at 180.8 (10 lbs down!) There is definitely a correlation between eating a small dinner and the morning weigh in, at least in the short term. Had an omelet for breakfast, a salad with salmon for lunch and a leftover omelet packed with veggies, meat, and topped with cheese, as well as a bowl of blueberries.
Did 3x15 OHS with the PVC again after dinner.

Thursday
Started the day with usual bacon and eggs. Eating lunch out at Mio Sushi - Two spicy tuna rolls, with Tamari Gluten Free Soy sauce. More rice carbs than I would like, but I am working out tonight so it's not terrible to have some extra energy. In the afternoon, I was going to grab a Builder's bar from the vending machine, but didn't get a chance to. Worked out with Steve in the evening. Did some presses, rowing and airdyne. Finished the evening with 3 sets of 2 rope climbs. My technique is actually getting much better (thanks Steve!) so it was pretty easy. Looking forward to knocking out sets of 5 at a time. When I got home, I had an egg protein shake with almond milk and some blueberries. Had a couple tsps of Almond Butter  before bed, and then again in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. :( Also had some intestinal distress, wondering whether it was from the shake with no other food... This was the first night in several where I didn't sleep through the night, so wondering if it was because I didn't eat enough after working out.

Friday
My calendar was clear today, so I was able to sleep in, take the day off and get a nap in the middle of the day. I didn't have breakfast, and had leftover steak from Tuesday for lunch, along with a bowl (1/4 cup) of blueberries. Went to massage with Marin, where she also made me do headstands (I'm getting much better!) Afterwards, I went to the juice bar and got something called the attitude cleanse, which has beets, carrots, ginger, cayenne and other stuff run through the vitamix juicer and straight into my cup. Yum and healthy!
For dinner, we had stew with beef, onions, carrots and parsnips. Gluten free flour thickener. And Cauliflower cheese bake with soy-based cream cheese, some sheep parmesan, and cow cheddar melted on top.
Finished the evening with 3x15 OHS for dessert!
Later in the evening, I had some beef jerky and a bowl of blueberries...not quite enough at dinner.

Saturday
Went to the gym for an all day workshop on "movement." The first two sessions were on handstands and hanging, as well as some tips on squatting. They recommend squatting for 30 minutes per day! For food, I had some summer sausage and blueberries for breakfast, an uncured, grassfed hot dog for lunch, and for dinner I went to Staple and Fancy with some friends. There were many courses of veggies, and a braised beef short rib. All Paleo, until we got to the cheesecake for dessert :( And 3-4 glasses of wine. So I guess we'll chalk this up to a cheat day!

Sunday
I snacked throughout the day on summer sausage, blueberries, almond butter, deviled eggs and a protein shake in almond milk. For dinner, having a ceasar salad with sheep parmesan and no croutons, and some beef jerky.
The other big achievement of the day was accumulating 30 minutes squatting. The folks from our workshop yesterday suggested 30 minutes/day of squatting for 30 days, so 1 day down.

Monday
Omelet and bacon for breakfast
Steak salad at cuoco (hold the croutons!) for lunch
Drank three Gin and Tonics at the bar, along with three plates of tuna-stuffed peppers appetizers. This made for dinner.

Tuesday
Omelet and bacon for breakfast
Salmon salad at the cafeteria for lunch
Nugo organic bar for snack in the afternoon.
Worked out this evening with Steve - Trap Bar DL and rowing, 4 sets. Wide Grip DL and Airdyne, 4 sets, L sit Situps, 3 sets.
Dinner - Ribeye steak, pureed cauliflower, and Broccoli and Cheese.

Coming up on a month of strict paleo

Stopped I'm on week 4, and I'm down about 7 pounds from where I started, although most of that loss was in the first week. Today, I stuck mostly with my normal diet.
Monday
Breakfast - Omelet and side of Bacon
Lunch - Steve's Paleo Jerky and about 10 almonds
Snack - More jerky (Golden Valley Natural) when I got home.
Dinner - Left over corned beef brisket, cauliflower, and broccoli
I went to the gym after dinner and did Wendler back squats, finished at 5x130kg. Hard!
Post-workout snack - Protein shake and blueberries

Tuesday
Breakfast - Omelet and side of Bacon
Snack - 10 almonds
Lunch at the airport, Qdoba steak, veggies an guac
Snack on the plane - Beef jerky and potato chips
Dinner - burger with goat cheese and onions, no bun or fries.

Wednesday
Breakfast - Omelet and bacon, and some chicken sausage
Lunch - corned beef sandwich, hold the sandwich. Tuna salad and a bit of salad
Dinner - ceasar salad with steak tips, no croutons
Snack on the plane - Beef jerky and back of potato chips
Snack at home - 1/8 cup blueberries, tsp of almond butter, and some beef jerky

Thursday
Breakfast - omelet and bacon
Lunch - salad with salmon
Snack -nugo organic bar
Pre-workout - Gu packet
Workout with Steve: Trap Bar DL, finished w/ 5@150kg. Not too shabby!
Then did a WOD - AMRAP 12min:
6 Push Press (45kg)
8 burpees
10 KB Swings
Steve diagnosed my problem as burpees, and BW exercises in general...something to work on!
Post-workout snack - Protein shake and a few slices of sweet potato, and two tsp Almond butter
Post-snack snack - 1/4 cup blueberries and some beef jerky.

Friday

We are headed for chelan this weekend, which will hurt the diet a bit, but hopefully not disastrously. 

For breakfast, I had the usual bacon and eggs. Didn't have lunch because I was booked at work and them off to massage (yay!)

We then loaded up the van around 4 and headed for chelan. I snacked on beef jerky and had a diet Pepsi (boo!) to stay awake during the ride. Stopped at cle elum for dinner at a Mexican place. Had carne Asada with no beans and rice.

Saturday I worked out at cvcf. 5 rounds of 400m run, 20 burpee box jump overs, 30 75 lb push press...40 minutes, ugh!

Had an omelet after that at the apple cup cafe. We went to "sip and stroll" that afternoon where we tasted 10 wines while walking around downtown chelan. That evening, we went to dinner with friends: ribeye steak, caramelixed onions, asparagus. For appetizers, had artichoke heart and goat cheese dip on gluten free crackers. And a bunch more wine. 27 days with no alcohol, not too bad!

Sunday

Went to 8am hot yoga to get rid of the toxins from night before. Had an omelet with summer sausage for breakfast and a bottle of Kevita lemon cayenne probiotic cleanse. Snacked on summer sausage and late lunch of blackened salmon Caesar salad. Finished off the day with goat cheese on rice crackers, an uncured hot dog, and a bowl of blueberries.

Monday (no weigh in this morning because we're in chelan)

Omelet with summer sausage and goat cheese and bolt house farms veggie juice. it advertises the veggies in large print on the bottle, but when you read the small print, the first ingredient is pear juice. 19g sugar. Not sure if the goodness from the veggies outweighs the badness of the sugar.

Stopped at the Roslyn cafe on the way back from chelan and had an omelet with sausage, bacon, onions and peppers in it. Topped with cheddar.
Didn't really have much for dinner. Felt bad from the big omelet. Just a bowl of blueberries.

Tuesday morning weigh-in: 182.2, down about 8.5 lbs since I started 4 weeks ago.

Week 3 of the Fall '13 Paleo revival

Week 3 - Monday's food log:
Breakfast - omelet with veggies, and side of bacon
Lunch - Spinach and mixed greens salad (with other veggies), topped with salmon
Snacks - Nugo Organic bar, and Tanka bar
Dinner - hamburger with mayo, frozen veggies, a few almonds

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Nugo Organic bar (lame!)
Lunch - Spinach, mixed green, veggies salad, with 4oz salmon
Pre-workout snack - 1/4 cup blueberries
Workout with Steve - Following the bad ass workout this weekend (clean ladder! See previous post), Steve took it easy on me. Sets of 8 trap bar deadlift. Worked up to 140kg x 8 reps. Then did 20 Minutes EMOTM, 1 tire flip with the 900 lb tire. Right up my alley. Finished with dead bug core strengthener. I had a egg white protein shake after the workout, before dinner. 23g Protein.
Dinner - Chicken adobo (one breast) made with splenda, a few slices of summer sausage, 12 stalks of asparagus, and about 6 almonds after dinner. Did 3x15 OHS with the PVC afterwards, to get the heart rate up a bit. That's what Tim Ferriss says to do.

Wednesday morning:
Day 16 of the revival! 183.3 this morning, down 7.5 lbs...not a bad first 16 days.
Breakfast - omelet and bacon, as per usual at the cafeteria
Snack - Nugo organic bar
Lunch - usual salad with 4oz of fish on top.
Snack - Nugo Organic bar
Snack - Steve's Paleo Jerky when I got home
Dinner - 6oz grassfed steak, ~1/4 cup blueberries and 12 almonds
After dinner, did what has become my active recovery workout -- 3 sets of 15 Overhead Squats with the PVC. In between, I used the softball to roll on my glutes, the roller on my quads/IT bands, the 7" ball on my abs/psoaz, ankle mobs against the wall. Lots of mobility stuff for me to do OHS. When I was done, I watched a video on how to learn to do a back tuck in 10 minutes (sent it to Steve). The last 2.5 minutes of the video, I was in a pretty deep squat. 1/4 of the way to finishing the Starrett 10 minute squat challenge! I've done it before, with 5 2-minute squat holds. I think I could do more now. I couldn't get my ankles quite on the ground in the full deep squat, but had I been in lifting shoes, they woulda been. Calling it a victory for now.

Thursday:
Started the day with bacon and eggs at the cafeteria
For lunch, went to the sushi place, but rather than get the high GI rice sushi, I had a bento box with beef yakinimu (or something like that) and kalbi beef. There was some soy sauce (with gluten) in there, but overall not too bad. Went trick or treating with the kids at work today, and the beverage buyer offered me "Zevia" and Diet Tonic Water from her stash. The Zevia had sugar alcohol (erhythritol?) along with Stevia in it and the Diet Tonic Water had Aspartame in it. It pays to read the label! I had a few sips of each before leaving them behind. Had about 10 almonds when I got back to my office.
For dinner, we're going out to a pizza place and I'm going to have crustless pizza, which consists mostly of mozzarella, pizza sauce and toppings (pepperoni and jalapeno). There's a lot of calories there, but I'm due for a cheat day so my body doesn't adapt to the low calorie input. So I think I'm going to do it! The plan is to do some OHS or something to burn a little bit of calories after dinner.
Man - that crustless pizza was yummy! I coulda eaten two of them...instead I came home and did some OHS, but weight will probably still be up in the morning!

Friday!
I started the morning with a workout with Steve. We did some mobilizations and then the workout was "5 minutes of work." How hard could that be? 1 min - 20 seconds AMRAP push press, 20 second AMRAP Box Jump, 20 second AMRAP burpees. Then get 5-6 minutes of rest, and do it again for 5 rounds. I was able to stay consistent at 19-21 push presses, 9-10 box jumps and 7-9 burpees. Apparently the longer it takes to recover, the more elite you are, because you are able to work at higher intensity during the minute.

I got home and didn't have time to eat, so I had Steve's Paleo Jerky for breakfast when I got to work. I didn't have time for lunch either, so ended up having some almonds and an "attitude cleanse" veggie juice at the juice bar, and then another pack of Paleo Jerky at the end of the day, along with about 4 almonds.

Dinner was corned beef, asparagus and "cabbage noodles" which is a recipe my mom found in a paleo cookbook. Yum!

Saturday:
Went to Mike's L2 class on Saturay morning. WOD:
AMRAP 10 Min: 5 60kg C/J, 7 Toes to Bar, 9 20lb Ball Slams. 5 rounds + 2 reps
Then stuck around for Dave's Mobility class. Dave said he's "really excited" about the progress I've made on my handstands! And Dave does not give praise lightly...
Post-workout meal - El Diablo omelet at Hale's with goat cheese instead of cheddar jack, and extra veggies.
Snacks throughout the day - omelets, beef jerky, blueberries around the house.
Dinner: Pizza from Razzi's with Gluten Free crust.
OHS after dinner, 3x15 with PVC pipe.

Sunday:
Breakfast - several slices of summer sausage, left over corned beef, and 1/4 cup blueberries
Pre-workout snack - trying a new idea today. Had an egg white protein shake, 5 almonds and a 1/4 cup of blueberries before the two hour "competition class." It will either ensure I have plenty of energy during class, or go horribly wrong...we will see.
Great workout with Steve and the competition class
Started with 4 rounds of:
AMRAP dips (2020 tempo, aka slow up and down)
2 rope climbs (I finally was able to do them. Did two sets of 2, 2 sets of 1)
Max Freestanding handstand with a spotter

Then moved into the team workout. Team Event 4 from 2010 CF games.
Each team consists of 2 men and 2 women, women start, and go through:
75 Backsquats (40kg)
40 Pullups
25 Shoulder to Overhead (40)
75 Front Squats (30)
40 Pullups
25 Shoulder to Overhead (30)
75 OHS (20)
40 Pullups
25 Shoulder to Overhead (20)
Men hold the bar during transitions, and during the pullups. Bar never hits the ground
Then repeat with men at weights 60, 40, 30, with women holding bar during transitions and pullups.

Our team ended up winning with a time of 36:37. My partner was a pullup machine, but I paid him back with doing extra push presses on the first two sets. All in all a fun workout. Was happy I could knock out several sets of 10 OHS at 30kg. I couldn't do that a few months ago!

Post workout, I had another egg white protein shake, and a few glutino gluten free pretzels. Probably not the best thing, but I wanted a little bit of carbs. For dinner, organic uncured hotdogs from applegate and kale and goat cheese salad!

Monday morning weigh-in::183.8, plus half a pound or so from last week :(
That's what happens when I cheat a little too much on the pizzas....