Thursday, October 27, 2011

Primal Lunch (pre workout) October 27, 2011

I'm not sure I'm a fan of quinoa. Having said that, that's what I had for lunch today - a stirfry with quinoa as a base instead of rice. Did you know that quinoa is not a grain, but a seed - and therefore allowed on a primal diet? Quinoa is very easy to make, is totally good for you, chock-full of essential amino acids - and has a slightly nutty flavour. If you decide to try it, make sure you buy organic because it can be high in nitrates if grown conventionally. You can get it at bulk stores. It even comes in fancy colours - red, black, and the regular colour.



Dinner last night (and lunch today) is organic red quinoa, ground beef from pastured cows, broccoli, zucchini, onion, and mushrooms, with a dab of HP bold. (That's the shiny brown part in the photo, I guess I should have stirred it in first LOL.) Carbs are fairly high in this, so if you're keeping your carbs low, you might want to eat this on a workout day. One serving of quinoa is 1/4 cup, and has 170 kcals, 3g of fat, 30g of carbs, and 5g of protein. Wowza, that's a lot of protein. Long-grain brown rice only has 5g of protein in a whole CUP!

I actually didn't eat the larger chunk of apple,and so didn't count it when figuring out the nutritional info on Fat Secret. There's a half-cup of cottage cheese in that measuring cup, with salt and copious amounts of black pepper. Baby dill pickle. mmmmmm salt. If you'd like to see my food and exercise log, check it out at FatSecret.

This meal broke a fast of almost 20 hours. Feel great!

Nutritional info for the meal:
401 kcals
8.18g fat
46.77g carbs
33.75g protein

18% fat, 47% carbs, 35% protein

The scales told me today I have lost another half pound. Today is Week 4 Day 3 (so almost 3 and a half weeks since I started Primal and LG). Woohoo!

By the way, my post from Tuesday is up on the FFF blog - go have a look.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sample Primal Rest Day Lunch

I got a lot of comments on my FB status when I posted the pic of my post-workout lunch yesterday. Here is what I ate for lunch today, on my rest day:



  • salmon salad in half a green pepper
  • 1/4 of an english cucumber, sliced
  • half an ounce of swiss cheese
  • 2 baby dill pickles
That's it. Macros: 286 calories, 14g fat, 13g carbs, and 27g protein. I will probably make a smoothie to up my protein a bit, and to make sure I don't get hungry before dinner.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Training Session/Plan

I started out this journey three weeks ago planning to follow the Primal Blueprint "Five Essential Movements" workouts twice a week. These exercises are meant to use your body weight as resistance. No heavy lifting required. The five movements are:
  • pushups;
  • pullups;
  • squats;
  • overhead press; and
  • planks.
I quickly realized this wasn't enough for me. I want to be strong, build muscles, and have those muscles burn more fat for me on a daily basis. (10 pounds of fat burns an extra 3500 calories a week, which translates into one pound, did you know that?) I have tweaked my workout/training plan to suit my preferences a bit more. I'd love it if I could also incorporate a barbell and workout bench so I could do chest presses, really good weighted squats, and deadlifts, but oh well. I use what I have. I plan on getting kettlebells before long, so I will use the heaviest one I have for squats and deadlifts. I also plan on incorporating swings into my training once I have KBs.

In any case, here's what my workout looks like.
  • knee pushups (will progress to standard pushups in a week or two);
  • assisted pullups followed by negative/reverse chinups: 2 sets with a 3-4 minute break in between;
  • weighted goblet squats;
  • chair dips with legs out straight (I started with bent knees but quickly progressed to straight. Next I will do 1-legged ones and then I'll have to figure out a way to weight them without fancy equipment);
  • 15 jack knife presses (I do the standard ones now but will progress as strength increases);
  • 60 bicycle crunches (30 reps each side) - I increase this number by 10 each week; and
  • knee pushups
I do this two times a week - on Tuesdays and Fridays. I've been toying with the idea of adding a third day, and doing legs and back - so, more squats, weighted walking lunges, maybe deadlifts, and pullups/chinups. I will do this on Sundays. This throws a bit of a wrench into my plans to sprint once a week, so I might have to change my workouts to Tues/Thurs/Sat and sprint on Mondays. According to Martin Berkhan of Leangains fame, you shouldn't do cardio within 24 hours of a lifting session, because it prevents protein synthesis - which you need to build muscle. So, yeah. I might start that this week and see how it goes. 

    Sample Primal Post-Workout Meal

    People have been asking me what I'm eating, since going Primal - no grains, no sugar, and no processed foods. Here is a sample meal, post-workout. 3 half slices of bacon (I baked it), 1 chicken thigh skin on, half a sweet potato fried in tallow, and 2 eggs scrambled.



    Macros for anyone who cares: 480 cals, 30.9g fat, 15.9g carbs, 32.8g protein. Fat makes up around 1/2 my daily intake, and I stick to under 60g carbs a day, except for workout days, when I go up to 75g (I add in half a sweet potato and maybe half a banana).

    Regular food items are cottage cheese, cheese, whole milk, chicken thighs, roasted chicken (when I can afford it); ground pastured beef; pastured stewing beef; carrots; zucchini; broccoli; "cauli mashed" which is mashed turnip and cauliflower blended together with butter, salt and pepper; frozen berries; bananas on workout days; sweet potatoes on workout days; bacon; steak; salmon; spinach; other veg.

    Do I miss bread, rice, and sugar? Not a chance. Not one little bit.

    Am I hungry?  Never. Well, I'm getting kinda grumbly by noon, but if I keep myself busy it's not bothersome at all. And I'm never hungry between meals. Never. That's what you get for getting lots of protein and good fats.

    My average daily caloric intake is around 1200 kcals. 50-55% of that is fat, 35% (minimum 100g) protein, 15% carbs. On workout days I'm going to try to reduce my fat and increase carbs just a teensy bit in my post-workout meal and see if it brings about an increase in strength gains.

    I will have a protein smoothie in a couple hours, with a whole frozen banana, 1 scoop protein powder (made from pastured raw milk, minimally processed, sweetened with stevia), maybe a raw egg, and 1 cup of whole milk. Maybe some cocoa. That will bring my protein intake for the day up to 62.6g. For dinner, I will likely have a spinach salad, a side of cauliflower mashed, and some slow-cooked beef chunks and carrots.

    Oh yeah, almost forgot - total weight lost: 6.5 pounds in 3 weeks. And I'm stronger, which means that I'm adding muscle weight, which means I've lost more than 6.5 pounds of fat. 

    Friday, October 21, 2011

    Shout Out to Fierce Fit Fearless

    So..I would not be where I am today if not for the Fierce Fit Fearless facebook group. It's a closed group for women only, whose interests lie in IF and heavy lifting and being FIERCE. Jenn (the FB group owner) just started a blog, and I'm a featured "Fierce Friend" in the sidebar! How awesome is that! I'll be doing some feature blogs and stuff.

    You'll probably see more recipes as I go, here, too - tonight I'll be posting my mayo recipe. For now, though, go check out the FFF blog and surf around on the other Fierce Friends blogs.  Oh - and for any of my lady followers who are FIERCE, FIT, and FEARLESS (or want to be), wanna learn about IF and heavy lifting, check out the FB group. You have to be accepted by a moderator, so no boys allowed!

    Thursday, October 20, 2011

    Week 3, Day 3

    Whoa. Week 3, Day 3? Sounds like time's going fast!

    I weigh myself every morning, just so I can gauge what each day does to my body. But I only count Tuesday mornings. Just to be fair.  ;)

    This Tuesday past, so 2 weeks in, I was down a total of 4 pounds. I think I had originally said my starting weight was 166, but I think I fudged a little. It was really 166.5. So shoot me. This Tuesday morning, it was at 162.5. So not so shabby, right? That's a respectable loss, and one that is realistic given the fact that this is not a "diet" but a way of life. Granted, I might up my carbs once I hit my goal weight, but the IF - I'm totally in for the long-haul, baby. Love it, as tough as it is sometimes. Like now.

    It's not official, but my weight this morning was down half a  pound since Tuesday, which would fit well with the 2 pounds a week loss..but as you will see, I didn't do my 24-hr fast this week...

    I'm currently experiencing a lot of stress. And when we say a lot, we mean it: sick child, sick husband, too much work - then finding out your main source of income is down the tubes and you don't know how you're going to pay your bills kind of stress. So I decided to forgo my 24-hr fast this week. Having not slept more than 3 hours a night for the last 3 nights, and the fact that my body is obviously fighting a cold, I took some good advice (thanks Trish) and broke my fast at hour 16 (as normal) instead of going to 24 hours. I didn't want to wind up sick. Because that would suck. 

    As for the job stress, I'll find another one - I've applied for some online work, and some "real life" work in retail, hopefully I get a little of both. But you know what? That's not what this blog is about!

    Updates re how I feel about fasting...sometimes, at night, I have cravings. Or hunger. Or both. I'm not quite sure if that's normal, or because I'm not eating enough calories. Being Primal, I'm not eating carbs, and it's really really hard for me to meet my minimum cal intake. Most days, I'm lucky if I clear 1250 cals...and that's if I try really really hard. I want to up my workouts from 2 to 3 a week, but I'm afraid I'm starving myself. Plus, there's the teensy fact of the matter that I'm not eating for a 24-hr period every week, which means I should be eating an average of 300 cals more a day to make up for that. Which I'm not. So I'm actually below my minimum of caloric intake for the week when you average stuff out. Uh oh...

    I've had people tell me I need to re-introduce carbs, or at least brown rice or oats...but I'm torn. I come from a long line of diabetics, and I want to fix my insulin sensitivity, PLUS I love how I feel on a low-carb diet. I have zero problems eating less than 50g carbs a day, that's WITH half a banana in my protein smoothie...no grains, no potatoes, no bread, no rice. The only carbs I get are from fruit and dairy, essentially.

    Any nutritional experts out there wanna chime in? And if you only want to tell me how wrong I am, take a hike. Constructive criticism only, please.

    Also, if you have a writing or editing job for me, I'll take it!

    Saturday, October 15, 2011

    Things Are Getting Easier

    I wouldn't say that this whole IF/Primal thing is hard. Au contraire, my friends - compared to some restrictive diets I've been on, or crazy shit workout schedules, this is the GRAVY TRAIN. But, compared to last week, where things were a little challenging, things are getting much easier.

    My second 24-hour fast went by well. I admit, I was watching the clock a bit more than I'd like, but it wasn't painful or anything. I made it all the way to 24 hours plus some! And then I didn't stress about getting a whole day's worth of calories in, I had my dinner and I was fine with that. I went to bed and fasted until noon the next day, and ate as usual.

    I've been working hard at trying to meet my minimum protein goal of 100g a day. I feel that is very important, so I don't lose muscle mass, and can build muscle to help me burn even more fat. I've been sticking with my workout schedule, as set by Primal Blueprint (Mark's Daily Apple) except that I didn't do my sprint on Sunday as planned, I did that one yesterday. And did my regular "lift heavy things" workout today, with a twist. I've always been more into "lift REALLY heavy things" and I love compound moves and shit, so instead of the basic 5 moves that Mark suggests, I did pushups, assisted pullups and reverse chinups, weighted squats, triceps extensions (i will do dips next time for more weight), elevated jacknife pushups, deadlifts, and the bicycle maneuver. And woo-hee, do I ever feel it! I can feel my glutes, outer thigh, a bit in my upper abs and obliques, and shoulders.

    I was talking to my Fierce. Fit. Fearless FB ladies because I was considering adding a 2nd sprint day to my weekly workouts, but have decided not to. According to experts, if you do cardio within 24 hrs of a workout, you interrupt protein synthesis, which will screw you right the eff up. So don't do it. 'Nuff said. I will stick with my 2 days of "lift heavy things" and one day of sprints (5 intervals of "run as fast as you effing can for 10-30 seconds" followed by a recovery period of jogging/walking for 1-2 min, repeat x 5) plus 3-5 hours of walking a week. It's worked so far, I'm losing 2 pounds a week. Yahoo!

    I want kettlebells. I think I can really add to my workouts with them. I will look into pricing and weights. And workouts, of course.

    Questions?

    Tuesday, October 11, 2011

    One Week, Two Pounds!

    Well, it's been one week since I started this fasting/eating primal lifestyle, and I must say that it's been fairly painless, compared to other weight loss attempts I've made. I'm not feeling deprived AT ALL, in fact, I am so full most of the time that I have a hard time getting enough protein into me!

    I weighed myself this morning and found that I've gone down two pounds since last Tuesday. I had actually dropped down about 4.5, but I think some of that was water weight. And Thankgsiving dinner Sunday kind of messed me up because I had some meatballs in a sweet sauce, a little scoop of potatoes, and some gravy made with flour or cornstarch. So I might have lost more if not for that. Oh well.

    I really noticed a difference on Sunday night. My teeth felt gummy on the way home, and I was SO thirsty all night, and I kept waking up with a terrible taste in my mouth. You can really tell when you depart from the "no grains, no sugar" way of eating. Blech. Totally not worth it.

    So, I'm happy with the two pounds - if I continue at this rate, I'll lose about 20 pounds of fat by Christmas. Of course, I'll be building muscle at the same time, but the change will be dramatic for people who haven't seen me in a few months.

    As for the 24-hour fast once a week, last week was my first one, obviously, and I've done a little tweaking and I think I have it figured out. I'll eat today, disregarding my normal fasting window, and eat from 9-5 today. That will give me 8 full hours to get in all my protein, before I start my 24-hour fast that runs from 5ish tonight until 5ish tomorrow, when I'll have dinner with my husband and daughter. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

    Thursday, October 6, 2011

    Primal Recipe - Coconut Shrimp with Tropical Dipping Sauce

    For dinner tonight, I made coconut shrimp with tropical dipping sauce. It was delicious - and very easy to make. The only thing I would change is to buy raw shrimp next time, because with the ones I used being precooked they were a LITTLE overcooked...but considering I detest looking at raw shrimp, it's probably never going to happen. hah.

    Here's the (somewhat) recipe:
    • shrimp - as many as you think you'll eat
    • raw egg, whisked to mix yolk and whites together, in a bowl
    • coconut flour in a bowl
    • shredded unsweetened coconut, medium grind (you could use coarse, but I think  medium is better) in a bowl
    • coconut oil in which to fry the shrimp
    • frying pan

    For the dipping sauce:
    • Plain yogurt, with the whey drained off - use a metal sieve or a piece of paper towel. Let it sit on your counter for an hour or so. The dip should be served at room temp anyway.
    • 1 can of crushed pineapple - you could use any kind, really, since you'll be blending it together.
    • A little of the juice from the pineapple
    • Shredded unsweetened coconut
    • A pinch or two of xylitol (this is a sweetener that's actually GOOD for you - it stops dental cavities and restores the pH in your mouth so you are much healthier - and it doesn't require insulin to metabolize, so it's safe for diabetics! Get some at your local health store - just make sure it says "Non-GMO" on the label.)
    • Immersion blender or food processor

    Directions:
    Take up a shrimp by its tail and dip it into the egg, making sure to coat it on all sides (the tail does not have to be covered). Let the excess drip off, then dredge it through the coconut flour. Dip it again into the egg, then dredge it through the coconut flakes and lay the shrimp on a plate. Continue until all of your shrimps are coated. Toss any of the remaining flour or coconut.

    Put some coconut oil in the bottom of a pan. I used my stainless steel high-sided skillet. You only need about 3-4 Tbsp to do it if your pan is 8-10". Let the oil heat up until a piece of coconut dropped in sizzles. Don't get the oil TOO hot. Place the shrimps in one layer leaving some space between them into the oil. Let cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Make sure the coating is light golden brown. If you're using raw shrimp, follow the instructions for cooking time - but I think it's about the same. Just make sure you have enough oil in there. Once you flip the shrimp, cook them until the 2nd side is nice and golden brown, then remove to plate.

    Mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together and blend with immersion blender or food processor until the pineapple pieces are fairly small, almost incorporated. Add xylitol to taste. Add pineapple juice until it is the desired texture. Serve at room temp and store any leftovers in the fridge - this would be great with some frozen blueberries! You could even partially freeze it and eat it as frozen yogurt! mmmmmmm Tastes like a pina colada!


    As I said, I used pre-cooked, peeled and de-veined shrimp from Walmart - you can get 2 lbs of the stuff for around $8. I did about 35-40 shrimp, used 2-3 Tbsp of coconut flour (from Bulk Barn), and about 2 Tbsp of coconut.That served 2 adults and a 3-year old. We had a few leftovers because I was stuffed before I even ate my salad!

    I served the shrimp with a baby spinach salad with red pepper, English cucumber, and a balsamic vinaigrette sauce I made using balsamic vinegar, olive oil, xylitol, salt,  pepper, and some onion powder.

    The best part about this meal is how GOOD it is for us. Shrimp - 4oz worth - has over 100% of the daily recommended tryptophan (which helps restore good sleep habits), 64% daily selenium (helps protect against cancers); around 48% daily protein (!!!); 40% of the daily recommended value of vitamin D (although we eat about 5-7 times the RDA); 30% of the RDA of B12; 20% RDA of iron; about 18% of RDA of omega 3 (the good fats); plus vitamin B3, zinc, copper, and magnesium! IN JUST 122 calories. Not that I'm counting calories, of course.

    The yogurt I used was fresh and made for me ever two weeks. So we also got a serving of some good bacteria to help keep our guts populated with good flora to prevent illness and to aid in maintaining healthy weights.

    All around a great recipe, and one I'll definitely make again.

    Edited to add: nutritional info on shrimp taken from HERE.

    Day Four Primal/IF

    Today is Day Four of my new lifestyle, and the scales this morning (I know I said I wouldn't weigh myself for a week, but I was curious) say I've lost two pounds in two days. Now, I'm not sure how much of that is normal fluctuation, but I hope that what I'm doing is working.

    Yesterday was my long fast day. I ate dinner normally with Ben and D on Tuesday night (spaghetti and meat sauce with zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and red pepper over brown rice pasta) and had nothing but water for the rest of the night. I wasn't really hungry when I went to bed, and I wasn't hungry when I woke up. I had black coffee in the morning, and then D and Harley and I went for a walk later in the morning. I started getting a rumbly stomach at some point during our walk, but nothing unmanageable. I realized I was probably a bit dehydrated, so drank tons of water when we got home. I started getting hungry around noon, which is usually when I break my fast on regular days.

    I started fantasizing about food. haha! I didn't actually make it 24 hours, because I realized that would leave me with zero time to eat, since I had a meeting to go to last night. So I ate bacon, 2 eggs, and some leftover spaghetti sauce (no pasta). I didn't even finish it all, had zero cravings for bread, and was so full! D and I had a nap shortly after that, and I wasn't hungry again for HOURS. I went to my meeting, and totally was able to walk by the treats table with cookies and banana bread, with zero cravings!!!

    I made a side trip on my way home to stop at Bulk Barn and the grocery store to pick up some items for Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday. I'm taking broccoli salad (mayo, vinegar, a little sugar - will use xylitol, broc, crispy bacon, and grated cheddar); lemon and lime coconut flour muffins; and peanut butter balls. See? You don't have to starve to death on this Primal thing..you just don't eat grains or sugar or processed crap! (ok, I'll be eating a little sugar, but that's better than a LOT.) The best part about bringing dessert is that I'll know there's stuff there I can eat. The pb balls use natural peanut butter, honey, and coconut flour for consistency. You can add chocolate chips, but D can't have it. And even the carob chips had sugar as the first ingredient, and soy was high up on the list on ALL of the chips. Ew. No thanks.

    I'll be able to eat pretty much everything I want at Thanksgiving dinner, I might even have some potatoes. We'll see. I will NOT have stuffing, not that I do normally, and I hope that I can make the gravy so I can use arrowroot flour instead of flour or cornstarch (and it's awesome and easy to use)....other than that, I can have everything, in moderation of course. But I'll probably make that day my long fast day, so I can eat as much as I want without worry. I will break my fast when we get there at 1630 and will be able to enjoy appetizers and such, if there are any.

    Last night before bed, I had some apple and swiss cheese with D. Now remember, the only other thing I ate all day was bacon, eggs, and spaghetti sauce. So I should have had more calories, but I wasn't really hungry. I SHOULD have had a big glass of milk with that, because I ended up hungry at 2200 when I went to bed, and ended up getting out of bed and drinking it around midnight, which was 2 hours past when I had planned to stop eating. But I figured it was better to do it then, than to be super hungry this morning and not make it to noon as intended. I'll have to figure out a way to get more calories into me on days when I'm ending a long fast. That's the trick - to make sure you get ENOUGH calories, else your body won't lose weight.

    I spent a lot of my time Tuesday night and Wednesday writing out recipes that use coconut flour. I found a great website called Coconut Recipes that has hundreds of recipes that use coconut milk, coconut oil, shredded coconut, and/or coconut flour. I'm excited to say that I found recipes for pretty much everything I think I'll miss - desserts, a sweet-type bread (i assume it's like banana bread texture), muffins, pancakes, tortillas, english muffins, even! I'm going to make a tortilla today to see if they taste ok.

    Speaking of coconut flour, you can buy organic coconut flour at the Bulk Barn for really cheap - it's around $3.59 or something for a pound of it. It costs upwards of $10 a pound in the U.S., so I'm relieved it's more affordable here. You can also buy coconut oil at the Bulk Barn, as well as shredded unsweetened coconut. You CANNOT buy xylitol there, for that you have to go to a health store like Quartermaster in London (although the brand they sell is made with GMO corn) or Red Thistle on Norwich Ave here in Woodstock. You can also order it online at Xylitol Canada. Make sure the one you buy says "Non-GMO" on the package.

    I will be trying out a few of the coconut recipes over the next few days and weeks, and will post the recipes and reviews.

    Flour. Rice. I don't have particularly overwhelming cravings for these things. I miss being able to have a bagel or sandwich, but I don't think I'll die without it. Processed junk is convenient, but we don't really eat much of that anyway. Rice crackers, I'll probably miss, since I enjoy eating them with a snack of apple and cheese, or with peanut butter. Maybe I'll see if I can make some crispy little Primal crackers. Or pick up some nori or something. mmmm nori.

    I've decided I'm not going to eat rice, either - it's very high on the glycemic index, and I felt like crap Tuesday night after I had the brown rice pasta. It's just not worth it. I think I'll save my rice days for when we have sushi. Once I've lost 20 pounds or so.  18 to go!

    Edited to add: I must say, since going on this Primal diet and cutting wheat and sugar (and using xylitol), my teeth feel GREAT - no tartar! And my breath doesn't stink, even first thing in the morning. How cool is THAT?

    Monday, October 3, 2011

    Intermittent Fasting and Primal Blueprint

    I've fallen out of fitness in the last year, due to a variety of reasons, one of which is laziness. So when a friend starting talking about eating "Primal," I followed the link on her FB status and actually stumbled across a blog I'd read before: Mark's Daily Apple. Basically, a primal diet says that traditional foods our "paleo ancestors" (believe whatever you want) would have eaten are acceptable: meat, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit. Some dairy (I will eat raw cheese, raw milk, and raw yogurt), no grains - and that includes rice, all flour, etc. No potatoes. No sugar. I do not intend to cut out brown rice or potatoes, at least not right away. Eventually, I might. We'll see. But no processed foods, no junk food, no soy (ew), etc. I will use xylitol in my coffee, I don't know about baking, only because it's pretty expensive. I might just stop baking, at least in the weight-loss phase of this cycle. Although who knows, I might get to liking the no-sugar thing so much I don't WANT to go back. 

    But I digress..I read some of Mark's stuff, followed some links, subscribed to his blog, and read somewhere about IF - or "intermittent fasting."

    IF can be undertaken one of two ways, or combined. The first option is where you don't eat past a certain time of the day, and then fast for anywhere from 12-20 hours before breaking your fast and eating pretty much anything you want (within your acceptable diet foods, of course).

    The second option is where you fast for 24-hours straight once (or more) a week. Just water.

    You can also combine these methods, as I said,. The point to fasting is this (here's a little science-y explanation for everyone):
    -your muscles use glycogen for energy
    -carbs you eat get converted into glycogen and go into storage until they are used for energy
    -when you don't give your body food, there's no glycogen stored for energy, so your body turns to its next best method of energy production - YOUR STORED FAT CELLS.

    Get it?

    I actually pretty much do the first type of IF anyway, but it was a fairly short fast, compared to some - I'd eat up until midnight, and then only have coffee until around noon.  With sugar and milk. That right there is a no-no, apparently. So now I'll drink my coffee black until I can break my fast. Also, my daily fasting period will run from 10 pm until noon or 1 pm the following day. And then on Tuesdays, I'll stop eating at 6 or 7 pm, and then when on Wednesday, I'll continue the fast until 6 or 7 pm, where I'll have my dinner and whatever else I need or want, and then I won't eat again until noon or 1 pm on Thursday. Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon will continue with eating until 10 pm and then fasting until 12 or 1 pm the next day. Of course, this could change as things evolve, but it seems like the best day to do my 24 hour fast is on Wednesdays because Tuesdays and Fridays are my heavy lift days, and Wednesdays and Thursdays are my rest or casual cardio/exercise days. I don't want to be fasting after a heavy lifting day or a sprinting workout, because my muscles will need protein directly afterward in order to heal and grow.

    Here's some info on IF: this dude (Martin Berkhan) is awesome, and runs a blog called LeanGains. Check it out.

    So, you might ask, what are my goals? Well, first of all, I want to look good naked. Second, I want to fit into all my clothes again. Third, I want to get my strength back. And fourth, I want to look great IN clothes.

    So, this is my declaration of intent. Now all you internet people need to hold me to it. Ask me for updates, and hold me accountable! I know some of my friends will be hanging on the edge of their seats to see if this works.

    Wednesday, February 2, 2011

    Kenpo X day

    Wow.  Today was pretty intense with P90X.  Today was Kenpo X day with my pal Tony.  Horton, that is. 

    You don't really do a "warm-up" per se, you do a lot of stretching and yoga moves, which does warm you up, but it's not a typical warm-up.  You might want to do some jumping jacks or jog in place for a few minutes before the video starts. 

    After the stretching and flexibility moves, Tony and crew get right into it with 50 minutes of punches, kicks, and blocks (and combinations thereof).  Each block is divided by a "rest" period - but don't think you're getting a sit-down break, oh no.  No way - Tony's idea of "rest" is jogging in place, skip rope, and jumping jacks.  Yeah.

    I must admit that I was soaked by the end of this workout.  It's fabulous. 

    Tomorrow is my rest day/stretch day.  I'll probably do the stretch video since my flexibility is so horrible these days.

    Hope everyone is staying warm and dry!  Most of southern Ontario (as well as the northern US states) is under either a blizzard or severe storm warning and it started snowing here a couple of hours ago.  I haven't looked outside lately but it didn't seem that bad an hour ago.

    That's it for me tonight, I will post regarding the stretch video. 

    Get fit!

    Monday, January 31, 2011

    Day 5 and I Feel FANTASTIC!

    Ok, fantastic may be a little bit of an exaggeration, considering I feel muscles in a way I haven't in a long, long time.  As in, sore to the touch and can't-get-up-without-feeling-it pain, but it's GREAT.  I know the P90X series is working.

    Yesterday, the Lean version called for Yoga X, but being Sunday, I didn't have an hour and a half to devote to my workout, so I did a 20-minute High Intensity Interval Training video from BeachBody's Turbo Fire workout program.  I sweated more during those twenty minutes than I have in a long time during a cardio workout. 

    Today was Legs and Back and Ab Ripper X day.  Wowza.  I did close to 100 pullups over the course of the workout (about 50 minutes) and so many lunges, squats, and wall squats that my legs and butt scream at me every time I get up from the couch.  I'm afraid to see what I'm going to feel like in the morning!

    I swapped out a few of the ab exercises in the Ab Ripper X program to sub in some police-specific sit ups.  I also added in some bicycle crunches (a la Jillian Michaels).  Now I can feel ab muscles right up under my breasts, which is fairly rare for me.

    Tomorrow is Kenpo X day, which I'm not too sure about, but we'll see.  I've adjusted the plan to include a Chest and Back workout on Day 1 instead of Core Synergistics.  I'll probably throw a run in there on that day, too, so I don't lose my running progress.  I have to include a run on one other night of the week, too.  I still have to figure that out. 

    Overall, I think it's a pretty tight program.  I've got three cardio days and three strength days, as well as a rest day or stretch day. I think I'll go with the stretch this week and see how it goes.  I need to work on flexibility so it might be good for me.  I just realized...one more day and then I've got my stretch day!  Kenpo X tomorrow...oh boy.

    Saturday, January 29, 2011

    Day 3 of P90X

    I can't remember if I mentioned I'm doing the Lean version of P90X.  Basically, the Lean version has more cardio and less strength moves, but don't get me wrong...there are still plenty of great workouts in this version.  I need to work on my pullups and pushups, so the Lean version should help me to get to the "Classic" level for round #2 (after I take a couple weeks off when round 1 is completed, of course).

    Weeks 1-3 are the same in the Lean version.  Day 1 is Core Synergistics, Day 2 is Cardio X, Day 3 (which I've just finished) is Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X.  Day 4 is Yoga X, Day 5 is Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X, Day 6 is Kenpo X, and Day 7 is rest or Stretch X.

    Today is Day 3, and so I've just completed the Shoulders & Arms and the Ab Ripper X workouts, back-to-back.  Together, they are about 60 minutes in length, including the warm-up and cool-down.  I was pretty satisfied with the arm workouts, aside from the fact that my dumbbells are a little too light.  I'll have to pick up some 10, 15, and 20 pound dumbbells for upcoming back workouts.  Apparently my heavier 8-pound ones are at my parents' place so I'll have to get those as well.  I was using 5 pound weights and that's really not enough for a good workout.  Not that I didn't get a workout- I can certainly feel my arms right now, but it could have been a lot tougher.  Some people might prefer bands, but I like using dumbbells.

    The ab workout was killer.  It's only about 10 minutes, but during that time, you do 349 ab exercises.  Each exercise requires 25 reps, except for one where we did 40 plus ten bonus.  OUCH! 

    This morning, my outer thighs, hip flexors, and obliques were killing me from all the kenpo and wacky jacks in yesterday's workout.  I can only imagine how I'll feel tomorrow!

    I'm considering buying some adjustable dumbbells, maybe you've seen them advertised.  I know Jillian Michaels has a set for a reasonable price.  I'm going to check out some reviews and maybe pick up a set off of Amazon.  Her two-dumbbell set only goes to 12.5 pounds (each) but she also has a 25-pound option, which is adjustable in 5-pound increments.  What a fantastic idea - save space and have all the weights you need.  The only problem is that this price is for ONE dumbbell, so shipping would be killer.  Maybe Fitness Depot carries weights like these, I am going to check it out.


    Friday, January 28, 2011

    P90X!

    Sorry to all my readers - I've been super busy with writing, parenting, and life!  I've had a major change in my workload so pretty much everything has been put aside so that I can keep on top of  my writing commitments.  Having said that, I've also made a monumental decision...I'm going to apply to the Toronto Police Service and get back into policing.   I was born to be a cop.  I went to school for it, I worked as one for 4 years, then circumstances made me leave the career I loved.  Now I'm ready to go back....but it's gonna take a ton of work!  I need to dial up my fitness level!  So who's with me????

    I started P90X yesterday.  I'm doing the Lean version, which means more cardio (so I can get into good cardio shape) and less strength compared to the regular version.  I'll still be doing pushups and pullups, so I'll be building strength and whittling myself down to my top shape.  I'm looking forward to the challenge!

    Yesterday was my first day with the program. We started with Core Synergistics.  It's not quite what I expected, since there was a lot more arm and leg work than I would have thought, but boy oh boy did my glutes ever hurt when I was done!  They hurt just sitting down!

    And today was Cardio X day.  Seemed kind of tame while I was doing it (even though I hated it almost all the way through)...there were a lot of kenpo moves, and I don't really have a lot of room for kicking, but whatever.  I did it all.  There are some plyo moves, some kenpo/kickboxing moves, some core moves, some yoga, and that's pretty much it.  It doesn't seem very extreme to me, but I don't have a heart rate monitor since mine broke.  It's hard to tell how hard you're working, without a heart rate monitor.  I recommend anyone who is doing a workout plan like this should have a heart rate monitor, just so you know if you're hitting your target zone.

    The only drawback to doing a program like this is the fact that, if you're training for something specific (like policing, for example), and you have to be able to pass certain tests (like running a 1.5 mile run in under so many minutes), then you have to consider that this program will not make you a better runner.  Sure, it might increase your endurance, cardio-wise, but the only way to get better/faster at running is to RUN.  So add in a couple of days worth of running into this program just to stay on your game.

    Is there anyone doing (or has done) the P90X program? What do you think of it?