Day 10

I have now reached the 1/3 milestone of the challenge.  Several pounds dropped, looking lean, and one bad long run.  All things considered it's been pretty good run so far.  My biggest obstacle this week is not the diet itself but the lack of sleep.  Hopefully I can fix this soon.

Wednesdays at work are always trouble for someone following a Paleo diet.  We have weekly seminars at our building and our work provides pizza for everyone.  Relax, deep breaths, I didn't partake.  But the smell completely permeates our entire building.  Talk about tempting.

Dinner tonight was another recipe from the Paleo Solution.  Tonight was crock pot pork loin.  I love slow cooker recipes.  Just set it and forget it...or sometimes you do those in the opposite order and you get to work only to scratch your head and wonder..."Did I turn the crock pot on?"..."I'd hate to waste an entire roast"...calling up neighbor..."Can you break into my house to make sure the crock pot is on?"...waiting...waiting..."It is? Whew!"

Anyhow...here is the recipe for those inclined to try it:

• 1 lb Pork Loin
• 8 oz Tomato Sauce (no sugar added)
• 3 medium Zucchini
• 4 cups Cauliflower
• 2 tbsp Basil

Throw all of the above in a crock pot. TURN IT ON. Let is cook for the day.  Enjoy when you get home.*

Tastes better than it photographs - I promise

*warning according to the lovely wife, the cooking cauliflower might make your house smell like it belongs to an old lady.

Workout: 
A late night 6 miler - I'll be hitting the gym for a WOD tomorrow morning.
Food Journal:
Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled
                Blackberries
AM Snack: Walnuts
Lunch: Avocado wrapped in turkey breast
           Carrot Sticks
PM Snack: Orange
Dinner: Slow Cooker Pork Loin w/ Cauliflower and Zucchini
            Strawberries & Almond Butter
         
Sleep:
7 hours - getting better - but not there yet.

Day 9

Work has been insanely busy recently.  I've been putting in a good 10-14 hours a day this week.  Life was further complicated by a trip to the dentist today.  No cavities or anything like that (I'm a stickler for flossing) but it just removed a few hours from an already busy day.  While the schedule makes it very difficult to execute many of the delicious Paleo options I've found on others websites, the strength of the diet is that if you have a well stocked pantry and fridge you can whip up some decent meals with little thought or planning.  The dinner that I consumed tonight is the perfect example of that.

Pac-burger hovers atop the slaw

  

The protein from this meal couldn't be any simpler.  A hunk of organic lean ground beef shaped into a patty, seasoned with some black pepper and garlic and fried.  Even a caveman could make it.  What made the meal into something much more exciting (and nutritious) was the side vegetables - Indian style slaw.  Making the slaw was very simple thanks to the good folks at Giant Eagle.  They sell bags of prepackaged broccoli slaw.  For those of you that might not know broccoli slaw is more or less like coleslaw with broccoli taking the place of the cabbage.  Basically the bag contained a bunch of julienned broccoli stalks, carrots and a bit of red cabbage.  The recipe for this dish comes from Robb Wolfs book and is as follows:

• 1 bag broccoli slaw
• 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes (optional)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. Cover and cook until the seeds stop popping. Next, add the whole bag of slaw, the tomatoes (if using), plus 1 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Saute for 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the slaw is soft. Add 2 Tbsp of lemon juice. Stir and serve.

I really liked the crunch of this side dish.  I ended up eating two mountainous helpings.  I think next time I would add just a touch more of the seasonings to the mix. Dessert was blackberries.

 

Annabelle smash!

 

Workouts
Rest Day - somewhat unintended, but very much needed - I'll just do some workout shuffling this week.

 

Food Journal

 

Breakfast: 2 eggs (fried)
                2 Chicken & Apple Sausage links
                1/2 cup Blackberries
AM Snack: Almonds
Lunch: Left over Salmon
PM Snack: Carrot Sticks
Dinner: 2 Lean Beef Burgers ~ 1/2 lb
            A mountain of indian style slaw
            Blackberries
            Carrot Sticks w/ Almond Butter

 

Sleep
6 Hours - not a good week for sleep so far :(

Day 8

The good news is that after some food and rest I felt much much better today.  The bad news is...well, there is no bad news.  The catastrophic long run is behind me and I've learned a few lessons from the experience.  The main one is that I should fuel myself a little bit better both before, during and after the run.  A little bit of simple arithmetic reveals that I ate about 300 calories the morning of the run and likely burned about 1500 calories during the run.  My strategy for next week is to pack myself some orange slices and maybe a banana (gasp - lots of sugars, I know).  The other mistake I made was downing my protein shake so quickly.  I was thirsty as well as hungry after the run and I should have had much more water first.  I think there wasn't enough blood circulating to my stomach from all the exercise, and that lead to the queasy feeling.

Sorry there are no pictures again today, we ended up getting a monster snow storm and I didn't make it home until very late.  Dinner was hastily consumed and I didn't think to take any pictures.  I promise there will be some tomorrow.  As a substitute, let me present you with some....

Metrics

Weight: 180.5 lbs [-6lbs]*
Body Fat: 10.5% [-3%]**
Measurements: Chest 39.5" [-.5"] Waist 34.5" [-1"] Hips 37" [Unchanged]
*6lbs in 8 days - there is no way I'm getting voted off the island. :)
 **I'm measuring body fat % using electrical impedance from a Tanita scale and is highly noisy subject to my hydration level.  I do take my measurements at the same time every day to help mitigate this effect.

Workout
-Buy In-
2 x 12 Good Mornings
-WOD-
Hero workout "Roy"
Five rounds

• 225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
• 20 Box jumps, 24 inch box
• 25 Pull-ups

-Cash Out-
50 Ab Mat Sit Ups

I completed this workout in 19:55.  I scaled the deadlifts and did 185lbs.  I used the 24" box for the first two sets and then dropped down to the 20" one.  I started the pull-ups with a blue band and finished with a green one.

Food Journal
Post Workout: 1 Whey Protein Shake mixed with water
Breakfast: 2 eggs over medium
                  2 Chicken & Apple Sausage Links (I know...how original :p)
                  3/4 cup of Blueberries
AM Snack: 1/3 cup of almonds
Lunch: Carrot sticks
             Avocado slices wrapped in turkey breast 
PM Snack: 1 Orange
Dinner: 5oz salmon
              Field green salad with tomato and walnuts

Sleep
Sadly only about 6 hours.  A very unhappy baby night :(

Day 7

This was without a doubt the worst day of the challenge so far.  I was concerned prior to my 15 mile run that I wouldn't be adequately fueled by what the diet was allowing me.  I got through the first 12 miles just fine, but at that point, my legs were shot.  When I finally completed the 15 miles, I was ravenous.  I downed a protein shake and went with my compadres to a local diner for some brunch.  My paleo options were a bit limited at the diner because:
1. They were lacking any fruit options
2. I didn't think I could stomach any of the veggie options

I ended up selecting the steak and eggs plate.  At the diner, I was unable to get my body to warm up.  Despite two cups of hot tea, I was shivering.  By the end of the meal I felt exhausted, cold and nauseous.  I drove home desperately trying to warm up and keep my lunch down.  One there, I relaxed in a warm bath for a good 30 minutes just trying to get my temperature up.  After bathing, a little bit of down time, and some more food I was feeling better but not 100%.  So a question for any of you Paleo savants out there: what are some ways to adapt the diet for the endurance athlete?  I don't want to go through this same process every week - it seems far from healthy.

Workout:
Ran 15 miles with lots of hills

Food Journal:
Breakfast: 2 eggs (scrambled)
                2oz. ham steak
                1/2 avocado
                1 cup blackberries
Lunch: 2 eggs over medium
           5oz strip steak
           1 orange (when I got home - to stave off puking)
PM Snack: Carrot sticks in almond butter
                  1 orange
Dinner: 5oz wild caught sea scallops (seared in olive oil)
            Steamed Broccoli w/ Lemon Pepper
            1 cup blueberries

Sleep:
8.5 hours

Day 6

I successfully made it through the first day of the weekend.   It turns out that a grocery chain in our area has delicious all natural rotisserie chickens as well as some wonderful grilled vegetables (squash, zucchini, peppers, onions).  So I picked up lunch prior to meeting with the family.  The take-your-chicken-to-family-day strategy was a resounding success.  They never even suspected that I was making them eat healthy.

Other than visiting the family, we made a yummy meal for breakfast.  Poached eggs and - you guessed it - chicken & apple sausage.  It always seemed like poaching an egg was a difficult culinary task so it was something that I had never attempted.  It turns out, in fact, to be quite simple.  It is also really nice because it requires nothing other than an egg and water.  Here is a picture of our lovely breakfast:

Snausages & Poached Eggs

We ate pretty early because I was going to do a Crossfit workout at 10AM.  I have learned far too many times to give my food a few hours to digest before doing a workout.  Failing to do so results in what are called meeting Pukie the Clown in Crossfit lingo.  Despite feeling pretty tired, I felt full of energy during the workout.  Tomorrow I have a 15 mile run with my friends.  I'll be interested to see how that works out with the diet changes I've been making.

In the evening we visited some friends that just had their first baby.  He was a cute little bugger.  It is hard to believe that Annabelle was ever that small.  In the prep of the visit I was tempted with chocolate chip cookies and I'm pleased to report that I avoided them as if they contained rat poison.

Dinner was the reheated leftovers from Friday night.  It turns out that a single spaghetti squash can fed a family of two hundred.  To jazz things up a bit tonight, we added a nice salad of mixed greens and tomatoes with walnuts and oil and vinegar.

Workout
-Buy In-
Power Clean Skill Work
-WOD-
4 Rounds For Time Of:
10 Power Cleans  135/95
20 Wall Ball  20/14
-Cash Out-
2 x 200M Farmers Walk

This was a nice workout.  Wall Balls have always been a weakness for me.  Sets of 20 reps are nice because I feel like my form doesn't get too sloppy.  I used 115lbs on the Power Cleans.  Total time for the WOD was 8:38 (I think - I forgot to write it down - hopefully it will still be on the whiteboard when I hit the gym on Monday morning)

Food Journal
Breakfast: 2 poached eggs
                  2 Chicken & Apple Sausage Links
                  1 Orange
Post Workout: 1 Whey Protein Shake mixed with water
Lunch: Rotisserie Chicken & Grilled Vegetables
             1 Orange
PM Snack: Almonds
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash & Buffalo Marinara
              Tomato & Mixed Greens w/ Walnuts and Oil & Vinegar
              Blackberries

Sleep
8.5 hours - Sleeping in on a Saturday is great.

Day 5

I made it through the first five days.  Now comes the real challenge. Not only is the weekend starting, but both sets of parents are coming to town to see their grandchildren.  Generally this means ordering up some pizza, wings, fries, you know all the healthy stuff.  My parents are slated to arrive on Saturday and we will have lunch together.  My plan of attack is to meet them at my brother's place with rotisserie chickens and sides in tow.  I can get a few non-paleo sides for them to enjoy, but the bulk of the meal I'll be able to partake in.  This in theory should get me through Saturday.


I felt mostly tired and sore today.  Perhaps I'm not getting enough calories or maybe my body is unhappily getting used to the idea that sugars and carbohydrates are out for a while, but I didn't feel 100% for much of the day.  There isn't too much exciting to report for the breakfast and lunch meals.  Breakfast was a egg, ham and veggie scramble (It was supposed to be an omelet, but I forgot to oil the pan :p).  Lunch was left over lamb burgers, salad and guacamole.


After I got home from work, I did a tempo run.  A tempo run is a moderate distance run at a pace that is faster than a comfortable pace.  My run consisted of a one mile warm-up and then five miles at a 7:24 pace (this is right around my current half-marathon pace) and then one mile cool-down.  The run felt pretty nice, aside from gale force winds, the temperature was ideal.  I definitely had to push myself to keep the pace and that made the workout all the more rewarding.


While I was running my wife started roasting some spaghetti squash for dinner.  The menu for tonight was spaghetti squash with buffalo marinara sauce.  All in all this was a pretty simple meal to prepare.  The squash was split in half and the seeds and membranes are removed.  It is then brushed with olive oil and roasted in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes.  When it is done roasting, the inside of the squash peels away in spaghetti-like strands as shown here:





The spaghetti squash originated on Mars

 

For the sauce, we sautéed some onion and garlic and then browned 1lb of ground buffalo meat.  The buffalo meat was very lean and therefore there was no fat to drain after it had been cooked.  Then we added an off-the-shelf no sugar added organic marinara sauce and voila, dinner was served:




Either that dish is steaming or our house is haunted - you decide. 

Workout:
Tempo Run - 1 mile warm-up 5 miles @ 7:24 pace, 1 mile cool-down (7 miles total)




Food Journal:
Breakfast: Egg and Veggie Scramble
                Blackberries
AM Snack: Almonds
                   Orange
Lunch: Lamb burger w/ Onions, Mushrooms & Guacamole over Mixed greens
           Carrot Sticks
PM Snack: Avocado wrapped in turkey
Post Workout: Whey Protein Shake
Dinner: Spaghetti Squash w/ no sugar added marinara sauce and ground buffalo


Sleep:
8 hours.  This is starting to be a habit.

Day 4

A couple of things to note in day 4:

1. The diet does not leave me feeling hungry.  I feel like I'm able to eat enough that I'm not constantly dreaming of my next meal.
2. The caffeine withdrawal headaches are gone.  I limited myself to a single cup of green tea today and felt fine.
3. Today was the first day I was tempted.  I happened to pass by our pantry and a box of raisin bran started calling to me. "Mike...I've missed you.  I'm sweet and crunchy and go great with milk." 

In other news, after a couple of days of trying Robb Wolf's recipes and finding them only so-so, I took the advice of a fellow Paleo enthusiast that is also keeping a blog and she referred me to yet another Paleo blogger that had a great collection of recipes.  Since I did all the shopping for the Week 1 of Robb's menu, I scanned the recipes for something that would match the ingredients that I had on hand.  I made a variation of this delightful dish.  For those of you with an aversion to clicking on links, the recipe is for lamb burgers with sauteed mushrooms and onions topped with a fried egg and guacamole served on a bed of greens.

If you think the stove-top looks dirty, you should have seen it after all the cooking was done.

This was the first time I've ever consumed lamb as a burger.  I've had myself a decent chop from time to time, but in patty form the meat was foreign to me.

Notice: The consumption of raw or undercooked eggs, meat, poultry, seafood or shellfish may increase your risk of food borne illness.

I got the ground lamb directly from a grocery store butcher.  There really wasn't any indication of the leanness of the meat.  I found that when cooking it, a pretty substantial amount of fat was rendered, more than lean ground beef.  As far as taste, it wasn't terribly different from beef.  I do think that I could have seasoned the patties a bit more.  I only used black pepper and garlic powder.  After these beauties were finished, I fried up an egg while my wife and daughter finished up making the guacamole.  Here's the final product:

There's a burger beneath the delicious egg and guacamole.  I promise there is.

The result tasted pretty good.  I did make the observation that guacamole by itself can serve as a pretty delicious salad dressing.  I didn't put any dressing on the greens and I found that eating them with a little bit of guacamole was quite delicious.


Metrics

Weight: 183 lbs [-3.5lbs]*
Body Fat: 11.5% [-2%]**
Measurements: Chest 40" Waist 35.5" Hips 37" [Unchanged]
*Note the 3.5 lb decrement from Day 1 is likely a bit biased as I indulged a bit prior to the start of the challenge
 **I'm measuring body fat % using electrical impedance from a Tanita scale and is highly noisy subject to my hydration level.

Workouts
Rest day...zzzzzzz

Food Journal
Breakfast: Ham Steak
                Eggs over medium
                Strawberries
Lunch: Almond Crusted Flounder
           Asparagus
           Orange
PM Snack: Carrot Sticks
                 Almonds
Dinner: Lamb burger w/ Fried Egg, Mushrooms, Onions and Guacamole
            Served on bed of mixed greens
            Blueberries

Sleep
8 hours, baby.