Day 31:

Wha-wha-what?  31 > 30. What gives?  Well as you might have inferred from my previous post, since I'm going to be continuing the diet for another few days, I've decided to keep the blog going as well - at least until I get the results of my blood work back.  That way I can present an honest and candid assessment of the diet including its impact on my body chemistry.  Since I made it through the entire challenge I'm allowing myself a day of slight leniency.  Although I did stray from the diet just a bit today, I didn't end up getting the pizza that I so crave :(.

Despite the extension, I do think it is a good time to post some pictures and current results, so here goes...

Metrics:Weight: Before 186.5 lbs After: 180.0lbs
Body Fat: Before 13.5%  After 10.5%
Measurements:
  Chest Before 40"      Chest After 39"
  Waist Before 35.5"   Waist After 33.5"
  Hips Before 37"        Hips After 36.5"

Pictures:
Note that in both the before and after shots, I am not "sucking in"or flexing or anything like that.  I wanted the pictures to be as natural as possible and keep the results honest.

Left = Before, Right = After

Left = Before, Right = After

All in all I've definitely toned up on the diet.  The profile picture probably shows that the best. But I can tell when I look in the mirror that there isn't much flab left :).  I've also noticed that any old pants with a 34" waist size don't fit me any longer.  All pairs with a 32" waist fit very comfortably.

Workouts:

-Buy In-
3 Rounds:
10 Lateral Burpees
20 Double Unders
WOD
“CrossFit Baseline”
For Time:
Row 500m
40 squats
30 sit-ups
20 push ups
10 pull ups

So the results on this workout were supposed to get better over the course of the challenge.  Sadly, mine did not (4:18 vs 4:28).  I attribute this to three things:

1. I was well rested the first time I did this WOD, this time it has been over a week since I've had a quality rest day.
2. I attacked the rowing way too hard.  I did the first 250m in under 45 seconds.  This killed me for the rest of the workout.
3. The buy in for this WOD was much more exhausting than the one for the original baseline.  Lots of burpees = fatigued chest muscles.

I'm going to tackle this on Friday after a rest day and see if I fair any better.

Feeling a bit bummed after the baseline workout, I opted for a Tempo Run to get some aggression out.  I did a fast five miler in just under 39 minutes - about a 7:35 pace.


Food Journal:
Breakfast: 2 eggs (scrambled)
                1 1/2 Chicken & Apple Sausage Links
AM Snack: 1/2 BBQ Chicken Breast (I was craving protein, okay?)
Lunch: Wendy's BLT Chicken Cobb Salad
PM Snack: 1/2 BBQ Chicken Breast
Post Workout: Protein Shake
                      Banana
                      Cashews
Dinner: Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms
            Salmon Patty
Dessert: Small Bowl of Kashi Cereal
             3 Bite-size chocolate hearts that my awesome nephew gave me for Valentine's Day that I could finally eat guilt free

Sleep:
8.5 hours