Fighting the Temptation

The morning spread at my Seminar all three days...

This Paleo Challenge is definitely a challenge for me. When I am able to prepare my own food and eat it when I plan on eating, I have no problems sticking to paleo foods. The biggest challenge comes from having to figure out what to eat in a bind. Well, scratch that, the biggest challenge is not giving in to the temptation of all the foods I used to love (and still do). For example this week, I have been attending a seminar at the Hilton for the past two days and tomorrow as well. For breakfast they have the above along with all your favorite fruit juices. Fortunately, I had eaten a full breakfast and I was not hungry so I stuck to two cups of black coffee. Don't get me wrong, I was still tempted to have one of those delicious looking donuts but I stood strong, both days so far.

Lunch Tuesday was good cause they had chicken breasts and some mixed veggies that I could eat while most of the others chowed down on huge plates of lasagna and other pastas. Then to top it off they had delicous looking cake and cookies for desert. Still standing strong, I kept it to the fruit tray sitting next to the other deserts. Lunch today, was not as good. They had sandwiches and some broccoli salad. I took three sandwiches and ate the meat, lettuce and tomatoes only. Not very filling but if I took anymore sandwiches that might not look good to my managers. So I ended up having more of the broccoli salad and again some fruit for desert.

Still, the worst part of the whole food situation is the afternoon snacks. To help keep people awake they had cookies, candy bars, and all types of chips including my favorite kettle cooked jalapeno. Plus all the free pop you could drink all day long. Yet I stood strong and only had water and munched on some almonds I had in my car. But today I was ultra sleepy so I took a 5 hour energy shot to get me through the rest of the afternoon.

So I am proud of myself thus far (minus the wedding I went to on Saturday) because I have stuck to the paleo diet pretty well. One problem I have run in to is getting really sleepy in the afternoons but Ricky said I need to eat more, especially fats and throw in a little more protein. I am trying to do that so we shall see if that helps. I am also taking quite a bit of fish oil, 6 teaspoons a day of Carlson Labs liquid. I haven't seen a lot of changes in my performance yet but I am hoping next week will prove otherwise. I haven't been tracking my weight really cause the goal of this challenge is to see how your body composition changes of the course of the 7 weeks. However, I feel like I have lost some weight already and I feel great throughout most of the day.

Sorry for the lopng rambling post this time around. I have a lot to talk about and not a lot of time to write it all down. Perhaps I can try to post more often so I can get more of my thoughts down on paper.

Oh, one final thought. My copy of The Primal Blueprint came in the mail yesterday and I am excited to get to reading it, which is what I am going to do now.... see you next time.

Paleo Challenge

Mmmmm, Delicious!

Hey guys! Miss me? It's been a long time since I have written on this blog but I want to get back to it for a couple of reasons. First, we are doing a Paleo Challenge at CrossFit Omaha for the next 7 weeks and I want to track my progress and discuss how the diet affects me and how eating certain things make me feel. I also want to get back to writing on here because writing forces me to think more and to articulate my thoughts so that other people can understand them.

As I said, we started a 50 day Paleo Challenge at CrossFit Omaha. There are about 30 to 40 of us participating and the goal is not to lose weight or to restrict what you want to eat. The goal really is to promote healthy eating habits. The reward of developing these habits is the ability to change your body composition to what you want it to be, whether that be losing fat, adding muscle, or whatever. The challenge only required two things from the participants: pictures and food logs. Each of us was required to take a before shot of our front, side and back at the beginning and we will have to do the same after the 50 days. We are also required to submit a food log to a yahoo group each week. That's it. We can eat and drink whatever we want just as long as we document it. The goal, though, is basically to only eat food that a cave man could have eaten. This means no processed anything, no artificial sweeteners, no grains, no dairy. That may sound pretty limiting, and I thought the same, but I am learning all new things to eat already. I may not crave the spinach salads that I have for lunch and I my mouth doesn't water when I think about steamed broccoli but I am learning to like these foods. And I can feel a difference in how I feel.

The hardest part is going to be giving up alcohol and I can tell you right now that I won't be able to give it up 100%. I have a wedding to go to on Saturday and I have my 3rd annual NFL draft party on April 22nd that I will have a few during. Besides that, I am going to try my hardest to abstain from any booze at all. I may falter, but hopefully not much and then jump right back on the Paleo wagon.

As for my blog, I plan on posting my progress with the diet as well as any good food ideas I stumble across. I also want to try to document how I feel when I eat healthy and when I falter. I am hoping that my performance during CrossFit workouts gets much better. And finally, when its all said and done, I hope the pictures tell a story of a successful undertaking.

Wish me luck!!

Playing the Field

Rowing...

I wrote a while back about a budding new relationship that I had just gotten myself into and that I was excited to be a committed individual. Sparqs and I were having a great time together and things could not have been better between us, not to mention our great trip to Denver for the Rocky Mountain Regional back in May. But being the free spirit that I am, things started to go sour about a month ago. We’ve had a few fights and it’s been getting more and more physical. In fact, just last week we had a huge fight that left me in a nearly handicapped state.

So I decided it was a good time to take a break and see what else is out there. The only problem is, I am so damaged that when anything new comes along I have to make it known that running is off the table, at least for a little while. Typically, I did what all of us do after a break up. I went back to an old fling of mine that helped me through my last rough patch. Luckily my Vibrams were eager to jump right back to where we were before my Sparqs. We got together Wednesday and things went pretty well, although I had to substitute rowing for running. I think the Vibrams and I are probably going to hang out more in the next couple weeks. However, I do have a couple other options on the back burner that plan on using depending on the day. I’ve got my new Risto’s that I plan on using during mostly strength and O lift days and then I recently picked up some Saucony Progrid Omni’s that I plan on using when I am ready to run again.

I guess you could say that I am no longer a one pair type of guy. But I guess that’s what can happen when you get hurt. So for now I am just going to play the field, not committing to any one shoe and hopefully, one day, I can find that pair that has the perfect blend of style, comfort and stability that I need, that I want so very much to find.

Translation:

My arch problems have slowly been coming back and last Friday’s workout, July 31^st, strained something so much that I could barely put any weight on my left foot on Saturday morning. I had arch problems before so I wore the Vibram Five Finger shoes for a while and all my arch pain went away. There were two problems though, I hated running in them and they were getting rank from my sweaty feet. So I got the Sparqs and those worked great until a couple weeks ago when I could feel the pain coming back. So now I am going to go back to the Vibrams on days traditional metcons WODS, I am going to use my Risto’s when we have strength or heavy O lift days, and then my new Saucony’s for any WODs that includes running. I am going to refrain from running for another week, though, to let my foot heal a little.

I also am going to work more on soft tissue repair by stretching more often and for sure more myofascial release techniques. Hopefully I can fix this problem and with more soft tissue focus and the right pair of shoes. Cross you fingers for me!!

What the hell happened to me?!?

While the title of this blog is the same as one of Adam Sandler's old albums, trust me when I say that I am not in any way referencing his hilarious CD. I am simply stating an obvious question... What the hell happened to me?

I don't know what it is but I haven't had any kind of energy lately. It seems like I am always tired. There are really only two times in the day that I feel awake and full of energy: between 10AM and about 3PM and then after 8PM. Otherwise I feel like I am in a constant state of drowsiness. I have especially been having a hard time getting motivated go to CrossFit. Even when I do go, I feel bogged down, like I can't even push myself half as hard as I used to. Something needs to change...

One thing that has contributed to this slump was some kind of bug I had for about 3-4 weeks. I had a terrible sore throat for a little over two weeks that progressed into a sore throat and cough that finally went away a few days ago. I don't know what it was but a couple people in my office had the same thing.

I can also attribute much of my lack of energy to my diet and lifestyle. It seems every weekend I have another reason to binge drink. Then I eat like crap and lounge around to recover. Then I skip going shopping for healthy food cause I am too tired. So the next couple days I eat out. The next thing I know, its the weekend again there's another wedding, bachelor party, work party or holiday that calls for excessive drinking. The worst part is, I don't see it ending any time soon. Every weekend in August has something on either Friday, Saturday or both...

Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun and I don't regret any of it. But it is starting to take more of a toll on me and it's time to try to get back on some kind of diet plan. I went to the grocery store last night for the first time in 3 weeks I ate pretty well today. Yay!! I also need to work on determining what I can do to keep full of energy all throughout the day and I supposed that has a lot to do with what and when I eat. Any tips?

But enough of the depressing talk, here's some pics some of my favorite times of the summer so far!!

Shots at the rehearsal dinner!

At Grant's wedding!

Tailgating at the CWS!

Limo for Dusty's bachelor party!

Lazy

Front Squatting 165 during WOD 2 of the Rocky Mountain Regional

Man, I can't seem to find the motivation to write on here as often as I would like. I have every intention of posting on here almost every day but when I get home, I am usually pretty tired and would rather just relax then force my mind to try and articulate something deep and insightful, or at the least, something that will amuse anyone who reads it.

Ever since we got back from Denver all traces of a decent diet seem to have faded into the past. I continue to neglect going to the grocery store for the same reason I haven't been writing on here. That leaves me with the vending machine for breakfast and one of 8 different fast food places between work and my house for lunch. Although some good has come out of this. I feel as though my body knows what I am doing is wrong. At about 11:30 everyday when I start thinking about lunch I end up craving a chicken salad or just plain chicken with a side of veggies and fruit. Fast food doesn't really appeal to me as much as it used to but I continue to go because it is fast and convenient. I really need to just quit being so lazy and get to the store on a consistent basis. Maybe next week :)

The interesting thing is I have actually lost a couple pounds. For the past several months I have been about 183 - 185 pounds. But I weighed myself again yesterday and I was only 181. It really doesn't make much sense to me but maybe I was just eating too much before. I guess it could also be because all last week I did the CrossFit Football workouts which include strength and metcon WODs everyday. Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining, I want to drop another 5 or so pounds anyway. But perhaps when I get to the grocery store the next time, I can get back on a clean diet.

One thing I decided long ago was that I was going to stop using all supplements for the first month after the competition. I was taking both a pre and post workout shake and about 8 fish oil caps a day. Now all I take is a multivitamin. I want to get back to a "clean slate" where I can start over to see how different combinations of food and supplements affect me. I know that as soon as I get back to a regular diet I will probably start taking fish oil again. From there I plan on testing different pre and post workout "meals" to try to determine what works best for me in terms of energy before and recovery after. I am also going to play around with food timing to try and optimize my energy levels throughout the day. I tend to crash at least once a day, usually in the mid afternoon, and I want to fix that.

It's time to start thinking about next year's competition. I have a lot work to do to get where I want to be, but I have to start somewhere and I think my honing in on my diet is the best place to do that.

It's the F*cking Rocky Mountian Regional!!

The announcement of Sunday's Workout!


Starting the Pull-ups on the 2nd workout. I'm in the red and black on the left.

So last weekend was possibly one of the greatest weekends of my life. All the hard work, all the blood sweat and tears finally paid off and CrossFit Omaha showed the CrossFit world what we're made of! We had 4 place in the top 10 for the guys and 2 place in the top 10 for the girls and we are sending 4 to the Games in Aromas in July! I just want to say congrats to everyone that competed this weekend and I can't be more proud to be a part of such an amazing gym.

As for me? Well I'm not going to lie, I was nervous as all hell to compete in front of all those people. Just looking around the area you could see all these crazy fit people and it was pretty intimidating. Then when your heat comes up you get to stand there, waiting, for what seems like forever, for the 3-2-1 Go! But once you hear that, nothing else matters. The crowd noise deafens, your heart rate skyrockets and all you can hear is your judge counting your reps and that little voice in your head screaming at you, telling you to stop.

The first workout was 3 rounds of: 300lb deadlift for 8 reps and a 400 meter run. My heat was at 11AM. I finished in 7:01 and I don't think I ever felt worse than I did for the next 45 minutes. My heart wouldn't slow down, my head was pounding and I felt dizzy. But an hour later, I was good to go. Workout 2 was 3 rounds of: 10 chest to bar pull-ups, 10 165lb front squats and 10 burpees. My heat was at 4PM. My time was 7:51. This was the only workout I was disappointed in my performance on. Front squats are a huge weakness of mine and ended up listening to that little voice in my head too much. The final workout for Sunday was 7000lbs from the ground to full overhead extension. I chose to lift 95lbs for 74 reps. I finished this workout in 7:42 and ended up snatching every rep. I'm not sure why, but in the middle of the workout I just had this thought that clean and jerking the weight would be tougher so I stuck with the snatch the whole time.

Overall I placed 52nd out of just over 100 male athletes that competed this weekend. I am very happy with how I did (except the 2nd workout) and I can't wait to start training for the next competition! All I need to do is get better, faster and stronger :)

Also, for everyone that took photos and videos, I think we should combine them all and put them on a CD to burn for anyone that wants a copy. What do you think?

Where did the time go?

Well it has been a long time since I have posted anything here. My energy level has been lower recently and I think it is largely due to my diet. I have been eating better and more “zone-ish” with and emphasis on proteins and fats. Besides the occasional vending machine slip or an order of fries here and there I have been keeping my carbs to a minimum with only milk, a piece of fruit or two and about 3 blocks of veggies a day. The weekends have been a little different though. I have cut back dramatically on my drinking the past few months but I still tend to imbibe too much too often. There always seems to be some kind of event that involves drinking every weekend. Off the top of my head, I can think of almost a dozen this year already: Superbowl, Mardi Gras, Saint Patty’s Day, March Madness (multiple weekends), the NFL Draft, Borsheim’s Cocktail Reception, concerts, birthdays and graduations. Don’t forget about volleyball and softball where the majority of people drink when playing those too. So with all the temptation I face it’s hard not to give in. But like I said, I have cut back a lot from this time last year so at least I am moving in the right direction.

As for the competition coming up in just over 10 days, I feel I am in the best shape I have been in since I was in high school. There is a lot of room for improvement though and I have an idea of about how well I will do. So this year I am looking forward to the experience of the competition and also opportunity to watch some amazing athletes compete in a sport which I have become addicted to. I’m proud to have been able to train with some great athletes these past few months and I can’t wait to compete with you guys (and girls) in Denver!!

Best of luck to everyone!