Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Food and fitness

Today's Weigh-In: 207.4 lbs.

The weight is still trending downwards at a nice clip, so that makes me happy. I got another personal record yesterday (I cut over a minute off my Fran time), which is awesome. I still need to work on my pull-ups, but I figure as I get lighter they'll get easier by default. I made buffalo wings at home last night, and they were really good. I heated up Frank's Red-Hot sauce (1/2 cup) with butter (2 tbsp) and chopped garlic (1 clove) in a saucepan until everything melted together, then I brushed the sauce onto chicken wing pieces (and a chicken breast) and baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. The wings were delicious, and the breast came out so juicy and flavorful I couldn't believe it. So I'm definitely adding that to my list of easy, delicious recipes.

I'm taking today off from working out so I can be ready for the Crossfit Total tomorrow. The CFT consists of max effort lifts (1 rep max) for back squat, deadlift, and shoulder press, and it can be really draining on the body. You add up the weights for each lift, and add them together for your score. You get 3 attempts to get a max on each lift. Last time I got 750, but tomorrow I'm hoping to get at least 850, since I've added quite a bit of weight to my back squat and deadlift since the last CFT. I'm also hoping to break 400 lbs. for my deadlift. I got 395 a few weeks ago, so it's definitely a possibility. I'm going to have to adjust my strength goals on here to account for my new strength levels. Yay!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Weight loss on a weekend? Yep.

Weigh-In: 209.4 lbs.

I had a good weekend. I stayed totally paleo and was rewarded with a 1 pound loss this morning. I'm now down 7 pounds this month. I did heavy squats yesterday for my workout, and I've got a date with Fran tonight. I'm hoping for a new personal record, since I haven't hit one on this workout in well over a year. Overall everything seems to be going according to plan. I did have some major carb cravings this weekend, but they passed and now I feel fine.

I've been trying all kinds of new vegetables lately. Last week I tried yellow squash, and yesterday I made some brussels sprouts. I roasted them in the oven with fresh garlic and onion, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. They were really good! I ate them with scrambled eggs and some sunflower seeds. I know that sounds like a bizarre meal (it was lunch, too) but it was delicious. It's definitely worth it to take the time to try out new things, you might find something you really like.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

2 months already?

Weigh-In: 210.2 lbs.

Whoa, has it really been 2 months since my last post? Sorry about that, folks. I haven't been slacking of on the fitness front, but I guess I haven't really felt the desire to write about it lately. But I'll try to recap and bring you all up to speed with where I am.

I did let the diet slip a little bit for a few weeks, and got up to 216 lbs. But some of that weight was muscle, and I've been hitting personal records like crazy. I got my deadlift up to 395, my shoulder press to 165, and my push press to 215. I've been working on my grip strength so that I can start getting better numbers on pull-ups. And I've still been hitting the high intensity workouts hard, so my conditioning is still improving.

As of October 1st I decided to do a 30-day Paleo diet challenge. Many of the Crossfit sites and affiliates have been doing this, with great results, and so I figured I would give it a shot. The diet excludes all grains (including corn) and grain products, all sugar (except for what's found in fruit), all dairy (although I do allow butter), legumes, any artificial ingredients (including sweeteners), and alcohol. So what does that leave? Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, and oils. There's actually a lot you can do with that list, and I've been trying to include as many new recipes and foods into my diet as I can. As of today I've lost 6 pounds in 7 days, while still eating enough food to keep me quite full. I expect the loss to slow down considerably soon, as much of it is water weight, but I do feel lighter and less bloated. My hope is that I'll get close to 200 lbs. by the end of the month, and use that momentum to blast through into the 190s.

Crossfit + Paleo = fitness and fat loss. I feel better than I have in months. My sleep is so much better (with vivid dreams), I wake up at 7:30 every morning without issue, I'm getting stronger and leaner, and mentally I'm much more focused. I know that part of that has to do with the "no alcohol" part of the Paleo diet, but I've done alcohol-free months before and haven't felt the same way, so I know it has something to do with eating quality food and staying away from the stuff that would serve to damage my body. I urge anyone who really desires to get lean and fit to check out Crossfit and look into the Paleo diet. You won't be disappointed.