Zone my Paleo

Ugh. I actually really like the Paleo diet, it makes so much sense to me and I feel great. But... I haven't lost ANY weight. So I'm going to stop saying that I'm eyeballing my zone portions and I'm going to go back to MEASURING. This is going to suck. I am going to be hungry. I am only allowed 10 blocks which the Zone website doesn't even allow, it's such a small amount of food. Actually, I should only get 9.3 according to a calculation by Coach John at Crossfit Central that used my current body weight and body fat. I might have to do 11 blocks to start off with, just for the sake of my marriage (I'm not a happy person when I'm hungry). Day 1 starts tomorrow. I found a couple good websites:

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf

and

http://www.mitymous.net/weights/zoneblox.htm

I just need to make myself do it to see what happens. If nothing happens, then I'm back to regular Paleo.

Date Night

It's kinda hard to eat healthy and be social. Tonight my husband and I went on a date to our favorite Texas Mexican restaurant, Posados. He ordered a gigantic margarita, I had iced tea (2 of them!), he ate the chips and salsa, I sat on my hands. He ordered a cheesy enchilada and chilly relleno, I ate fajitas without cheese, tortillas, or sour cream (basically, meat, grilled veggies, and pica de gallo). Sometimes I feel funny when eating at a restaurant, like the waiter and other customers think I'm crazy. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a burrito without the cheese or the tortilla (and it was delicious!). Anyhow, it's part of my lifestyle and I'm proud every time I walk out of a restaurant knowing that I ate well. (Although, I must have a guilty admission, I took a tiny bite of Geoff's cheesy enchilada). Even though I haven't lost any weight on Paleo, I feel good about it and it makes sense to me and it is my new lifestyle. I'm never hungry but I feel confident that I'm feeding my body pure energy and nutrients. This is the new me and I like it.

Bench Press 5x5

65/75/85/85/95 (fail, didn't go down enough)

Goal- Anything above 100.

SOOO CLOSE

So I've been trying to do a kipping pull up for... what feels like half my life... but is actually about a year and half. I've gotten close then a little bit farther away and then close again. In the past week or so I've gotten down to the thinnest band at Crossfit Central and only using one thin band at my house. Then today, after multiple band pull ups and a dead hang hold for 48 seconds (a new record), I tried to kip and my chin touched the bar!! It didn't go above the bar so I'm not counting it but it's so close I can literally almost taste it. Okay, not literally, I'm not doing pull ups with my tongue out but you get the point... I'm close!

Accountability

I'm back to blogging after a very LONG hiatus. I initially blogged for Geoff to read while he was in Iraq. Then I had a friend start blogging about Crossfit and I thought, hey I forgot I even had a blog. So when I went to check it, I realized it was useful to see how I had progressed or regressed from last year. Then a few days ago, I found really great Paleo recipes and I didn't know where to put them so I quickly posted them to my blog for my own storage. I've been thinking about it though and I think I will start blogging again, just to track my Crossfit progress AND because Geoff is leaving for Afghanistan in a few months, this will give him some reading material. Today I'm not even working out, it's been snowing all day and it's my rest day so Geoff and I are playing a board game. I will try to get on here tomorrow and write up about my workout and my pull up progress.

Paleo Recipes

No-Oatmeal
1 small handful of walnuts
1 small handful of pecans
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground ginger
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 banana, mashed
3 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (add more if you prefer it a little runny)
2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds
1 handful of goji berries or fresh berries

Directions:
Add walnuts, pecans, flax seed and spices to a food processor and pulse it down to a course grain, making sure to stop before it’s totally ground into a powder. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and almond milk until the consistency thickens a little bit into a loose custard. Thoroughly blend together the mashed banana and almond butter and add it to the custard, mixing well.

Stir in the nut mixture. Microwave or gently warm on the stove until the “no-oatmeal” reaches your desired consistency; this should take only a few minutes. In both cases, stir the mixture frequently as it cooks.

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and berries on top. Add more almond milk if you want. Enjoy!

Veggie Medly
Saute a red onion chopped up in olive oil. I cook mine until they caramelize which takes a good 10-15 minutes. Then add in chopped garlic and cook for about 60 seconds. After that, add in all your favorite vegetables. Today I added orange bell pepper, broccoli, and squash. Saute for a few minutes until slightly tender, then add the secret ingredient. Canned tomatoes! **warning** Check the label before buying! Add those and cover for another 15 minutes stirring occasionally.