2011 *New Year* Challenge

[Boss Man]

You can have dessert if you eat your Peas? what kind of odd advice is that?

There used to be, you can't have dessert if you don't finish your main. If you're too full to finish your main you are clearly to full for dessert.

That was in the days when it was considered a waste to throw food away.

[Athene]

Allison:
Grains just make me really bloated, and I never feel satiated, I can just go and go, or I want to switch to something else and keep eating. Since I cut it out I can see abdominal muscles, and energy levels are much more even. It's hard to know if it's dairy or grains, since I've cut them both for the time being, but whatever it is, it's working for me - especially in head, for whatever that's worth!

Allison, Les, & Boss:
I agree with the re-wiring idea. There are so many messed up things that families pass on to their kids regarding food. I was one of those kids who was told never to waste food and junk food was consistently withheld, so whenever I could get hands on something sugary or junky I went ape-shit on it because I didn't know when I would have another chance. I wasn't deprived of food or anything, just junk food. I remember eating "fun" cereals at friends houses or at sleepovers and being so envious. mother had a rule that I could pick out a cereal myself, but sugar could not be the first, second, or third ingredient - which really narrows it down. The bright colourful fun looking boxes were always the worst for sugar. Little did I know mom was trying to do me a huge favour.

Bonnie:
You make a good point about the stumbling block of a cheat meal. For me I guess it just took trying a lot of different things until I found something that worked for me on a daily basis, and it seems to be no dairy or grains, and more fat. I realize if I eat a pizza every week or two I haven't cut out grains and dairy completely, but it's an exception to the rule, not the other way around.

I cut out grains and dairy because the Crossfit gym I joined on February 16 recommended it for 30 days (so it's been 19 so far). When I eat grains and dairy it's just too much sugar and it sets me up to fail - I get cravings for more sugar, and then I eat more and crash, then get really tired and grouchy. I cut it out and voila: I feel 100% better. I don't know if I have hypoglycemia or if I'm just really sensitive to sugar, but cutting out dairy sugars and grains makes me feel a lot better. I'm also eating a lot more healthy fat and am amazed at the results - I'm not hungry, I feel satiated, and body is starting to look rockin' ; ) I still eat that pizza once in a while, but it's not from compulsion. I've been working on that since January though, and it was difficult to cope psychologically at first, I really felt compelled to eat it if I had the option.

[Bonnie]

As I sit here fork full of bulgur wheat poised in the air..WHAT sugar ? There is no sugar in rice, bulgur wheat, oats...as for spiking your blood sugar, these are complex carbohydrates. They break down over a period of time, unlike FRUIT, simple carbohydrate.

Girls I' m with you on the grains, though on off days, I consume mostly vegetables & protein only, 10 g per meal complex carbohydrates & 1 piece of fruit. I NEVER count vegetables, though I eat low ones, so why bother.Athene I'm totally with you on the dairy, I'm almost to the brink of coffee with no milk, tea is black already.Bah on the caffeine police, I plan to ditch it when the weather is nice, so I don't go crazy in the house

I did a carbohydrate cut also once, so whatever you do, I hope it works out well for you.I also had the mental edge, thinking " I'm not eating carbohydrates & I FEEL skinny ". Be careful.I've luckily settled into balanced eating & have not regained any fat.Best of luck & listen to your body

Oh by the way I had another weekly ritual for about the first six months of changing eating habits, it was DEEP FRIED samosa ..until body starting to reject them, by feeling sick each time I ate them.Not sure if I topped it off with the doughnut or it was another day ? Long ago..

[Boss Man]

The thing is though Athene, by cutting grains and dairy, you don't know which of them caused the bloating, so you therefore were cutting something good out of the system unnecessarily.

Especially if it was the grains, as Beta-glucan can help lower Cholesterol. Okay you can get supplemental B-g, but wholegrains are also a good source of Iron and B Vits.

Stuff like Low Fat Cheese is very good for Bone nutrition and Omega Fats. Cutting either is not the end of the world, but I just feel you don't need to add an additional restriction to your diet by eliminating two foods, when one is a problem .

Complex Carbs digest at a rate of 2 calories per minute, Simple are 30 calories a minute. Grains may not necessarily have sugar, but sometimes depending on how they're bought or the brand, they may have a little added, but it's not a big issue for me.

[Athene]

Sorry Bonnie, I meant dairy sugars and grains, not "grain sugars", or something, bad. I also don't just "feel" skinny I have lost two more pounds and clothes are big. It's crazy.

Les and Allison - I wouldn't feel full either if I wasn't eating more fat. I think the fat is what makes the difference. Plus I'm still eating carbs, just not grains.

Thanks for the info, Boss : ) I think varying things is the best way to stay healthy - and I want to have more variety once the 30 days are up for sure.

[Athene]

Hey, so what happened to you? You got me all interested in CrossFit and then disappeared.

There's some dude coming in April to hold a seminar about CrossFit nutrition. I might go if I can afford it. I don't think the paleo thing is for me, but I'm sure I could learn something.

Hey!
Well things got crazy on end. It's the end of the university term here, so everything is due, and I work full-time, plus I'm doing Crossfit 3x per week at 6AM, so between all that I am checking personal email about once a week, haven't seen anyone in family for about three weeks, and am only on Shapefit once in a while - I miss it!

I know everyone is busy but I guess I've just been overwhelmed lately. In April everything will settle down and I will be back to very vocal self : )

Crossfit is going great, I'm going to weigh in at the end of the month and post photos and measurements. We did a baseline workout on February 16 that we did again on March 16, and time improved substantially - it went from 9:53 to 5:21! Here's the baseline workout:

500 m row
40 air squats (down to touch a medicine ball with your butt)
30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
10 ring rows (on Olympic rings)

I posted the Paleo links from gym with grocery lists and eating plans on an earlier page, so if you're considering the nutrition plan, check it out and let me know what you think.

[Athene]

Yes, we have the same schedule, so you know what I'm talking about! 2 weeks and I am finished coursework for good, I can't wait. From April to June I will be completing thesis proposal, which will be more specific to research and on own schedule, so that will fit into life more seamlessly.

I want to say something about the Paleo thing: I think if you've never tried it before it's worth a try, even for one week. I cannot believe the difference in mood and energy levels since I started doing it. I didn't know that I was setting myself up, chemically, for exhaustion with eating habits in the past, but I really was. I'm not saying you are, or that we are the same, but I just think it's worth trying. There's a chance you would really appreciate the results - both mentally and physically, and there's no reason not to try it, is there? Crossfit athletes can't all be wrong.... look at them, and the things they can do! I'm not saying you should always do it, or never eat grains - I mean look at the people on here with incredible physiques and athletic abilities that eat grains - I'm just saying there's something in trying it.

Sorry for being preachy and trying to manipulate you over to position : ) I'm just amazed and I would hate for anyone that works hard and is into the other tenets of Crossfit to miss out on this feeling. The physical is secondary, really, the mental/physiological effects for me have been profound. Just one-million cents!

[Athene]

I did a similar diet, where the only complex carbs I was having were in the form of 1/4 c oats a day, and I maintained that for a couple or a few months. I just know from experience that for me and body, I don't function well without carbs. I think I mentioned this in a previous post on here, but there are theories about there being different types of metabolizers who either run well on high protein, high carb, or a mix of both, and I fall into the mix of both.

CrossFit nutrition isn't all Paleo, though. They tout either the Paleo diet or the Zone diet, which is the typical 40/30/30 diet. So when you're taking about "CrossFit nutrition," there are options that include complex carbs.

That's fair enough, I guess you have basically done it before. I know it's not your first rodeo here, I hope I'm not being too annoying.

I've never heard of the Zone diet before, but maybe it's just a term I haven't heard for something I know? This is what I was referring to when I said 'Crossfit nutrition': http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/start-diet.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also am hesitant to take all CrossFitters as shining examples of people who follow good nutrition. The owner of our box here binge drinks pretty regularly (he complains of being hung over at least once a week, but he is always there, so that's a plus) and eats junk food. One other guy I see regularly has awful dietary habits (like eating one meal a day, and that meal being like an entire pizza). They all often get together to drink or go out to eat. The owner says the CrossFit people encourage working hard and playing hard. So...just saying.

Of course, you can't take individuals into account. I just meant the Crossfit ideology like on the website. I know a lot of morons too, from every discipline! lol At gym everyone is pretty serious... no one knows about emotional eating, and no one complains about being hungover. People eat things like bacon and avocado for breakfast, and they bike everywhere and eat at least 3-4 times per day. I aspire to be like them, from what I know, but that always happens at first... we'll see what happens.

[Bonnie]

Curious as to why the " men " have 5 blocks across the board, while athletic women have a couple of 1 blocks.

[Bonnie]

Good while your there ask her why women have to starve Nutrition wise it makes no sense, if men are not subjected to the same guidelines. From reading your journal, the only difference between womens & mens workouts is the amount of weight.

[Athene]

I've never heard of the "blocks" until I checked out your link Allison. I haven't checked out the nutritional plan in detail yet. All I was doing was following the mantra of eating low-glycemic index foods, and cutting dairy and grains for 30 days in order to determine any adjustments that needed to be made. The seminar would probably be interesting - if you go please post your findings.

Nutrition wise it makes no sense, if men are not subjected to the same guidelines. From reading your journal, the only difference between womens & mens workouts is the amount of weight.

Because workouts are the same for both sexes, I think eating becomes about the size of the person, the weight they throw around, and the calories they need to maintain weight. If a bigger person does the same workout as a smaller person, but with the weight adjusted for the size difference; that bigger person would burn more calories, and thereby need to consume more calories/protein/everything in turn, to maintain weight, wouldn't they? The sexism in the "blocks" must rest on the assumption that women are generally smaller human beings than men. I'm not comfortable with that generalization either. I wish eating blocks were separated by size instead - like height, weight, and musculature.

[Boss Man]

I checked that diet out a long time back. The blocks thing kind of got attention in a positve way, but I seem to recall the first two weeks were very restrictive which I wasn't in favour of and I think they were the sort of people who liked to bash things like Bread, Rice, Potato and Pasta, which I am not in favour of, as I prefer to tout moderation of such things if necessary, not elimination, because they have good nutrition in and not a lot of bad nutrition, but moderation can be observed owing to them being high Glycemic.

To be honest, most of these things are by and large the same anyway. They espouse things like restriction for the first two weeks, vilify most high GI foods, tell you to remove grains and dairy, don't eat Soy, dress up the way they describe things by using terminology like "blocks", etc.

Occasionally you get one like Weight Watchers that uses a points system, but most diet systems are by and large replication, with a few tweaks to appear unique, so they make you think you're sticking to some kind of methodology, which will help you keep on track, rather than just be told how much protein carbs and fat to have per meal.

Some will work better than others and some have decent science behind them and whilst it is true, that they can instill this "keeping you on track mentality", I prefer to use a few basics and common sense on here, as I think that's the best kind of system, because eliminating certain things or omitting them isn't in everyones best interests and if it is sometimes, the individual can experiment with such things themselves, unless they have allergies and must eliminate certain things anyway.

It's horses for courses though. There is no one precise way of doing something otherwise everyone would do it.

I'm sure eating Chicken and Broccoli 5 times a day, coupled with 30 minutes daily exercise bike work, might sound good to people, but it isn't a magic bullet, or the right thing for all.

[Athene]

I'm going to try to make some posts, even if they're inconsistent, now that I'm making an effort to keep up.

I took Friday off from work so that I could make some progress on papers that are due at the end of the month, so I've relaxed a bit this weekend and am just gearing up for the final push. I'm sending good vibes out to anyone who is feeling down or overwhelmed this time of year - it's almost over! Spring will be here soon. Oh yeah, and did anyone see SNL this weekend? hometown was featured! It was really strange. Winnipeg has been on the Simpson's as well in the past - Winnipeggers famously looked at a DVD player and asked, "Where do you put the syrup?"

Nutrition
Breakfast - 1 apple, 1 whey isolate shake, black tea.
Lunch - 1 can tuna, 1 orange, 12 almonds, black tea.
Dinner - 2 eggs, 2 cups baby spinach, 1 cup black grapes.

Workout
5 sets:
10 power clean + press @ 70% (I tried 55 lbs but I could only do 1 set, so I cut down to 45 lbs for the rest)
15 toes to bar (on pull-up bar)
Rest 2x work time

beginner's class at the Crossfit gym ended on Wednesday, so this was first Crossfit workout on own at a different gym. I will sign up for the Crossfit training in April when school is finished, I just have to prioritize some other things right now and I'm having trouble keeping up.

[Athene]

Good for you, girl. You should see me attempt the toes-to-bar. It's hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

Haha mine too. The first 5 reps are 'Toes to bar'... the second 5 reps are more like 'Toes to Shoulders'.... then chest...... and you get an idea as to what the last 2 or 3 reps look like.

[skully]

I am no expert by any means, but your diet seems to be low in..everything. Protein, carbs..etc? I don't think eating 3 servings of a fruit is enough source for carbs, or having 1 shake + 2 eggs + 1 can tuna for protein is hardly enough. How much does that equate to? I know whey + 2 eggs is maybe around 40-50g. You seem to be training very hard & strong...you'd def need more protein? What does Boss have to say?

I train prolly less harder than you, physically smaller, & need an avg or 100-120g a day, which I hardly meet on daily basis myself!