Monday, March 11, 2013

Another Whole 30 Wrap Up

I had someone ask me for a little bit more advice on the Whole 30 today.. so I thought I'd create a little blog post so everyone could benefit from my nuggets of wisdom. ;)

Seriously though. I love getting emails and messages about eating Paleo, the Whole 30, and everything else.. but I think I'm going to create a little references pages here on the blog so I have all the information ready at my fingertips!

Anyway.. the question: "I was just kind of wondering how your Whole30 went for you and if you might have some feedback, pointers and/or recipes you might care to share with me."

And my response:

Here was my "official done with the Whole 30 blog post:"http://jmbaseman.blogspot.com/2013/02/i-joined-crossfit-finally.html

Really, though, I would say do it. It does take a lot more planning but there are ways to get around that.

A few things I definitely recommend:

Read the It Starts With Food book. That really makes everything clear. Super clear. It's hard to follow something if you don't know the why behind it... at least for me!

Do a once-a-week meal prep day. In the beginning of the cookbook Well Fed from http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/, Melissa talks about her meal prep.. she cuts up and partially steams a variety of veggies. She bakes sweet potatoes and squash, boils eggs, and cooks up a few pounds each of ground meat like turkey, pork, beef. Then when you're hungry and in a hurry, you can whip out some veggies, add them to a pan with coconut oil or ghee, throw in some ground meat, add any kind of seasoning, and you have lunch in 10 minutes. She calls them "hot plates."

I have at least one hot plate a day, and I still do the cook-up weekly.

Also, it IS do-able. But not sustainable. Once I got through it, I was scared to go back to the regular eating. I had a couple of dreams where I accidentally licked my finger that had some organic ketchup (but it still has sugar!!) on it. Ack! I woke up in a sweat. Not cool. So, do it, commit to it, but realize that it's only for a certain period of time. Serious stress about eating is harmful in it's own right.

And really commit to it.. follow the instructions to a T! Joining their email newsletter is definitely worth the small price... and it's super important to get on their forums and read and connect with others. Plus, many times if you're wondering something, you only have to search through and someone else has asked the same question or went through the same struggle.

Now I eat mostly Whole 30 standards, with a bit of stevia here and there... and a lot of Paleo pancakes. Ahh. I eat a bit of butter now and then, but I've found I hardly even miss cheese! Pretty crazy considering I wanted to fall face first into a fresh batch of squeaky cheese curds for most of January.

That's one thing about the Whole 30.. it's more emotionally and mentally changing than physically. At least for me. So a lot of the "rules" they have are just as important for your mental health (like saying no to pancakes and other Paleo-ified comfort foods) as it is for your physical health.



Today I created a little WOD for myself after doing some split jerks (woot! another shout out to my sports med guy. These are my favorite lift and I'm FINALLY able to do them again!)

So, for time:
800m run
30 pistol squats (15/each leg alternating)
100 single unders
800m run
30 pistol squats (15/each leg alternating)
100 single unders
800m run
Took me 26:00... and I was toasted by the end!

I'm still working on double-unders too.. I can usually get one every fourth or fifth single under. Fun, fun! :)

Tomorrow I see our WOD has a 25:00 time cap... yikes. I better head out and get some sleep!

And because I simply cannot have a blog post without a pic, this is why I blog:


And another favorite from today:

Good night all! :)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Squash Egg Bake and the end of 1RM week

So, I never got around to posting the results of 1-rep max week at CFA.

For your normal people out there that don't speak in PR's, 1RM, WOD's, AMRAP's, RX'd, and other CrossFit lingo, a 1-rep max is just your heaviest lift, or how heavy you can go for one rep.

I had set a new PR (personal record, or personal best) in my squat clean earlier in the week for 120-lbs.

Mid week, I came close to some old numbers with my squats. We're talking old. Like over a year ago when I was still kicking butt and taking names. Fearless. Heh.


My front squat: 145 (old pre-injury PR 155)
Back squat: 165 (old pre-injury PR 185)

I’m pretty sure the old PR’s were a bit shallow though.. probably met parallel, but not below, so I’m pretty happy with the numbers.

And, ding ding! Another HUGE PR for me. I overhead squatted 100 pounds. I think the most I've ever done before is 85. And you guessed it! I did go back through allll my workout logs and search out these numbers.

Unfortunately, then on Friday (deadlifting day.. yay!), I was toast. Ironic, seeing how I don't eat bread.

I couldn't even pull up 215 after two failed attempts at 225. So much for 235! Sigh. A little part of me really disliked CrossFit right then. Deadlifting is my thing! And I sucked it up, coming in with my number of 205. Lame.

Oh well, the WOD we had some fun things like rowing, deadlifts, and toes-to-bar. I am really working on my kipping, which is the hip swing that allows you to complete them fast and efficiently. Very gymnastic. Very not me. And for one of the first times in my life, I did the WOD at the prescribed weight. Woot!


I had to take a picture because even though I was NOT proud of the 205, I was super proud of the little "RX," which means as prescribed, behind my time. :)

One more bit of CrossFit related news...

Today this happened:





Please pardon my lovely "I want to die" face. I had a slight migraine this morning plus still dealing with my hip flexor issue. Yes, it's back. I'm pretty sure it was the squats. I hadn't noticed anything until Saturday's workout set it off, when I made a very abrupt switch and modified the rest of the workout.

Anyway, then this happened...



First time for everything. I didn't notice until I was done! Oh well. I still have a layer of skin there so it could be much worse. It just made washing dishes tonight super fun.

A while ago, I was going to blog my squash egg bake that I make all. the. time.

So here we go! It's a perfect mix of carbs, protein and fat. The goodness of eggs. The yumminess of squash, which in this case tastes just like pumpkin pie. Ready??

Squash Egg Bake

 Crust:
4-5 TB of butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened obviously)
1/3 cup almond/hazelnut/other nut flour
cinnamon

Melt butter. 
Add almonds, coconut flakes, nut flour and cinnamon.
Put another little plop of butter in your 8x8 glass pan and throw it in the oven for a bit while it's preheating. Don't forget about this. ;) Take it back out and make sure the sides are well covered.
Mix and spread in the 8x8 pan.
Put in 350* preheated oven for 10-12 minutes

While that's baking, add to a blender:
4-eggs
1-cup squash
1-tsp+ sea salt (**Do NOT skip this!)
Cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie Spice, and Nutmeg (I just dump and pour, but it's probably close to 1-tsp each.)
2 rounded TB coconut flour
Stevia, to taste (optional. I used liquid vanilla stevia, probably 5-6 drops)


Mix until well blended, add to the pan, and bake for about 30 minutes.

Top with berries, coconut milk, or even pure maple syrup or honey.


Enjoy!

My hubby likes this even.. and he's about as non-Paleo as a person can get. His only caveat is that he gets to put as much syrup as possible on it. ;)

Disclaimer: I am not a registered dietician, I do not have any type of medical training, and my workouts and training are only intended for my personal recollection and your curiosity. Anything documented on this blog is my personal opinion or a learned experience. All images are subject to a personal copyright unless otherwise noted and cannot be used without permission. If you read to the end of this, congratulations.