World O’ Hurt

A case of the Mondays indeed! Today was a spectacularly shitty day outside. Cold-ish, gray, and later on, wet. In order to let my body recover from the abuse I gave it at the hands of some pretty awful food, I made this the first Intermittent Fast day of the week.

Ice Tea of the Day: Tropical Cyclone

Breakfast:

• Skipped, due to intermittent fast.

Lunch:

• Skipped, due to intermittent fast

Dinner:

• So glad you asked!
• Big-Ass Salad™ featuring USDA Prime New York Strip grilled to perfection (a sear on the outside, a delightful medium on the inside). Sliced Celery, Diced Red Bell Pepper, a light sprinkling of Gorgonzola Cheese and plenty of cracked pepper as spices.
• One Large Hass avocado
• One Pluot
• Blackberries
• Blueberries

On the salad I ended up using just walnut oil as a dressing (I was talking to my roommate and totally forgot to get the vinegar out of the fridge or use it. I only noticed halfway through eating the salad. Something was missing, but not in an unpleasant way. I generally use balsamic vinegar for my acid in dressings. It is marvelously sweet, but can also overpower some of the flavors in a salad. The salad without vinegar was a bit more nuanced. I dont know if I’ll use more acid-free dressings, but I will certainly reduce the amount of vinegar I use in the future!

My… everything hurts.

The fact of the matter is that every WOD you do can be the most difficult one you’ve ever done, if you put everything you have into every movement. Even though some WODs have left me more tired at the end, none has left me more sore than this one. On the other hand, It was a huge victory because it established some new personal bests for me and once more boosted me above my previous plateau:

For Time:

• 50 Box Jumps (20″ box)
• 40 Pullups
• 40 Pushups
• .
• .
• 10 Pullups
• 10 Pushups
• 50 Box Jumps

21:14 RX. Thats all kipping pullups and chest-to-deck pushups.

For those of you counting, that is 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 box jumps. I believe that on that day, I did more pullups than I had on all previous days of my life combined. Now that’s a freakin’ accomplishment.

The aftermath wasn’t pleasant, but it’s a reminder of the positive physical and mental changes that one undergoes by breaking through those mental (I don’t know if I can do this, but I’ll leave it all on the mat) and physical (My body has never done 100 pullups before…) barriers.

Since I had a huge dinner last night (and as usual didn’t feel particularly good for it), today will be my second Intermittent Fasting day of the week. This is how I got to 7.5% body fat.

Iced Tea of the Day: Green Tea Lemon Drop. Despite the effiminate name, this tea is pure testosterone, baby.

Breakfast:

• N/A

Lunch:

• N/A

Dinner:

• Frittata: Asparagus, Parmesan, Fresh Herb (Basil, Parsley, Tarragon), garlic, onion.
• This is a delicious and fairly easy dish. As usual, the most time-consuming portion of the recipe was caramelizing the onions.

A fantastic day in Austin TX. The sun is shining and the temperature is just about perfect. I have to say, the best thing about working at home is being near a window and being able to open the window. The cool breeze really helps keep the work doldrums away. It’s almost enough to make me forget that in just a few short months, Austin will be hotter than a blast furnace.

Iced Tea of the Day: Moroccan Mint. This is the green tea that made me love green tea and make it every day. Better for the summer, but good anytime!

Breakfast:

• Skipped, not really hungry.
• Three cups of aromatic Anderson’s Coffee: Costa Rica

Lunch:

• Half of a leftover New York Strip (I cooked four), sliced thinly, eaten cold.
• One large Hass Avocado

Post-Crossfit Snack

• One scoop Cytosport EvoPro Protein (Vanilla flavor, about 28g protein)
• About a cup or so of blackberries. I have to say these were the best blackberries I’ve ever had. Huge, plump, bursting with flavor. The texture was almost like puddin’. Simple incredible.

Dinner:

• The other half of that New York Strip. Sliced thinly, eaten cold
• One large Hass avocado
• Yeah it was the same as lunch, but I’mve been very very busy at work. It just goes to show you that healthy meals are very feasible even on the run.

It’s a dreary, pretty gross Monday here in Austin. The cup of delicious Anderson’s coffee in my hand both warms and brightens the day somewhat, and I find myself especially glad that I enjoyed the company of my great friends yesterday with great food and great weather. I suppose I could be grateful that this weather didn’t blow in yesterday!

After the smorgasbord of food yesterday, I’m going to start the day off with my first intermittent fast in a while. I haven’t done a full 24 hours in a while (I’ve done a few 18 and 20 hours fasts), so I’m actually eager to get back on the horse. Nothing makes me feel quite as good as a nice fast. It’s like a full system reboot. The fact that today is both a Crossfit and a Kung-Fu day makes me wince a little, but like others, I’ve noticed that it makes my workouts more intense…

Iced Tea of the Day: Spring Thunder, one of my favorites! It puts the lime in the coconut and drinks them both up…

Breakfast:

• Skipped. Intermittent Fast day!
• Three Cups Delicious Anderson’s Coffee:
  • Two cups Kenya Extra Fancy
  • One cup Costa Rica

Lunch

• Skipped. Intermittent Fast.

Dinner:

• Leftover Garlic-Chile Shrimp
• Leftover Ribeye Steak
• Big-Ass Salad
• Various and Sundry Fruits

Happy Monday and Happy February, the lamest month of the year!

I had restaurant food again last night, so today is a recovery day…

Breakfast:

• Two large Hass Avocados, salted and peppered.
• Three cups of delicious Anderson’s coffee:
  • Indonesian Sulawesi
  • Costa Rica (new selection, and delicious!)
  • New Guinea Sigri

Lunch:

• Cheeseburger Salad (Yes you read that right!). I grilled up some leftover hamburger patties from our housewarming party and melted some cheese over them a few days ago. Today I decided to make them healthy. Bon Apetit!

Dinner:

• The Big Green Egg strikes again! Perfect medium (I tend to calculate cooking times for 2″ steaks, whereas this one was about 1″) Top Sirloin with a salt/pepper rub and a chile olive oil glaze.
• Big-Ass Salad™
• Large Hass Avocado
• Various Berries

The longer I go down this path of paleo-like eating, the more I am convinced that hunger is the key.

-Richard Nikoley, Hunger (From his excellent blog, Free the Animal)

It’s been about fourteen hours since my last meal, and I’m going strong. In fact, I could probably stretch it out to a few days with no problems. Sure, I’m hungry (a little bit), but it’s not an overwhelming panic, a need to eat that imposes on every second of my evening. The hunger I feel is more of a notification, a small nagging awareness. Something meant to spur action to hunt or gather food. It’s not the overwhelming feeling of starving I had every eight hours before adopting a Paleo diet.

I’m clear headed. Clearer even, than when I’ve just eaten. Everything is in sharp focus, and I’m almost hyper-aware, as a hungry animal would need to be to hunt effectively. I could work out now with equal, if not greater intensity than if I had consumed all manner of silly pre-workout pills, potions, and shakes. It would feel like I had something at stake, like there was something riding on what I was doing, a feeling that dovetails perfectly with the kind of exercise I do.

It’s not a religious thing. Trust me, it would take something a lot more powerful than religion to get me to forego food. It’s the solid science behind it. It’s the attitude that it gives me when I work out. Not eating as a lifestyle enhancement? Who would have thought it? As Keith Norris writes on his blog, fasting of an intermittent nature is often the final piece of the puzzle to put into place to form a sustainable fitness and health routine that provides real, lasting results.

I personally follow Brad Pilon’s “Eat Stop Eat” protocol, but there are many others that work equally as well, such as Leangains, or even just skipping meals every once in a while with no feelings of guilt or loss. Intermittent fasting has been one tool in my health and fitness toolbox that has helped me the most in attaining my goals.

I broke the fast a tad early today, but I firmly believe that my body is well on its way to forgiving me following the delicious buttermilk-garlic marinated chicken thigh I fed it, followed up by that delicious grilled ribeye. Absolutely wonderful. I might have some veggies and fruit as a followup, but I’m not sure at this point. Protein and fat for the win!

As I said in my last entry, I’m attempting to purge my body of the restaurant food I had last night. Not in any sort of hippie-dippie holistic cleanse way, just with a nice intermittent fast. Unfortunately, it happens to coincide with a Crossfit workout day. Oops!

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in 20mins:

• 7 DB Hang Squat Cleans
• 7 Pushup + Renegade Row (Same pair of DB)

Easy right? Childs play. 7 reps is nothing. Laughable, right? WRONG. I managed 8 rounds and somehow eked out another 5 cleans, and not even at the prescribed weight (40lb. I used 35lb). This, folks, is one hard-ass exercise. I have learned my lesson, never underestimate the WOD.

That said, I believe I accomplished quite a bit. I’m sore and have trouble lifting my arms above forehead level. This does not bode well for tomorrow’s Crossfit class, friends! Stay tuned!

Interestingly enough, I didn’t feel any lack of energy due to the fast. I think that people’s need to “carb up” or use pre-workout supplements is greatly overstated. I don’t feel my limitations were due to lack of food that day. And that is definitely food for thought in of itself! One of these days though, I’m going to buy a few months worth of supplements and experiment, and see if a supplementation program assists progress. Right now though, I feel that eating cleanly and using a quality multivitamin and Omega-3 supplement is enough.