Week 2 Day 5 of BBB

It's late Friday evening, closing in on the end of the second week of Brutal Beauty Bootcamp. I'm pretty pleased with how things are going, notwithstanding that stupid piece of junk in my bathroom that calls itself a scale. Grr!

Ok, ok. I understand that it's a bad thing (supposedly) to weigh yourself every day. I understand that sometimes you can see the scale not move (or even go up!) yet still lose inches. I get it. I really do. But. I weigh myself every day. It's just a thing I do. And it's not because I want to punish myself about what I ate yesterday, or didn't eat...it's because, well...I kind of look at this like an experiment.

For example: I've noticed a trend over the last two weeks. The day after a training day, my weight is always up. It seems that the more carbs I eat, the more my weight goes up. It's a positive correlation. My calories are on-target, my protein is nice and high, I'm eating REALLY CLEAN...there's no other reason why I could be gaining weight. So, it must be water.

Last week, when I first noticed it, that weight (plus some) disappeared by the morning of the next training day. Today, I was up a pound from three days ago (the morning of my first workout day this week, the furthest I can get from a carb re-feed).

Last night, I got curious. I can't really tell much by my waistband if I'm losing any fat from the belly. I see some change in my face and neck, but I haven't measured my neck (hmm should do that, now that I think of it). So I measured myself. I was pleasantly surprised. In total, since I last measured myself at the end of December, I've lost an inch off my waist, an inch off my thigh, 3/4 of an inch off my upper arm, and an inch off my bust measurement. Wow. Not bad for - essentially - two weeks of serious bootcamp and one week of half-assed somewhat Paleo eating and a couple workouts!

I'm pretty pleased. I think I'll keep this up!

End of Week One of BBB

It's Sunday evening, which marks the 7th day of Brutal Beauty Bootcamp. I've completed all three training workouts now - a three-day split, as per my preference. I'm feeling pretty good.

I worked back and biceps on Tuesday, legs on Thursday, and chest/shoulders/triceps on Saturday. I did not get a chance to do sprints, mostly because my legs and arse are so damned sore from Thursday's workout! The crappy snowy weather doesn't help, either. I've asked Gemma for some ideas for some in-house sprint workouts.

I've been within calories for the week - 1200 on rest days, 1500 on training days (plus or minus 200 on a couple days, it all evened out in the end, so I'm all good). I'm working at a deficit because I'm cutting. I'm not aiming to gain a lot of muscle, because you can't bulk and cut at the same time - science doesn't work like that, yo. In any case, I'm aiming to improve my protein intake in the next two weeks to keep it over 100g a day. I'm also going to try to keep my fat below 50g on training days, and carbs below 50 on rest days. The carbs restriction is part of my plan, but the limit on fat grams is my idea. If I lower my fat intake, that'll leave me more room for protein whilst staying within my macros.

So - how am I feeling about the restricted calories? I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. I get occasional cravings, mostly for sweet stuff. Or potato chips. Or bread. But really - it's all the same, right? Carbs = sugar. So I bought some red seedless grapes and froze them, I'll enjoy them on training days. Sweet and crunchy! I also made almond flour crackers, but they're wildly addictive. I might need to be careful with those! Here's a pic of one:

They were super simple to make. 1 cup almond flour, 1 egg white, and a pinch of salt. I sprinkled a bit of salt on top before I put them in the oven. I'll post the recipe later.

I actually seem to feel fuller on rest days, likely because of the higher fat and lower carbs. Did you know that carbs actually activate your hunger pangs? Ridiculous. I'm reading Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet and it's fully of cool geeky science stuff about food and the human body. It's written in a manner that non-geeks will enjoy (or you can skip those parts) as much as people like me (ok, I'm totally a geek when it comes to nutrition and stuff).

I'm losing weight, too. On Friday, I was down 3.5 pounds since my "before' weigh-in. I had actually dropped down 4 pounds but it went up half a pound Friday, probably because my legs sucked water in to repair the damage I caused them on Thursday. Yowza! It will be interesting to see if these incredible losses continue into  the second week.

I'm really enjoying the interaction and support from the other BBB participants and Gemma, the personal trainer in charge of us all. She gave me some tips and suggestions on Friday during my FB Chat check-in.

Are you wondering what a typical meal looks like on a rest day? Here's a photo of my dinner from tonight:

That yellowish/cream blob that looks like mashed potatoes is actually an equal mix of rutabaga and cauliflower with butter and pepper. I love it - it's probably my most favourite side veg! The beef patty is made from pastured beef, a splash of ketchup, and some mustard. It wasn't quite 5oz after I cooked, it, so the calories are probably counted a bit high here. Oh well. Here's a cut and paste from MyFatSecret.com for this meal (beside the items, the first number is fat grams, the second number is carbs, third numbers is protein, and last number is calories):

1 baby carrot, sliced:  0   1.32   0.33   5

¼ C broccoli              0.10  1.73  0.57  8

1 T butter   11.52  0.01  0.12  102

1/3 C cauliflower   1.41  1.72  0.76  21

5 oz ground beef    21.26  0  26.35  305

1/3 T ketchup  0.02  1.24  0.09  5

½ C sliced mushrooms 0.09  1.79  0.29  8

1/3 C rutabaga  0.09  3.76  0.55  17

Totals: 

34.61g fat   

12.72g carbs   

30.14g protein   

479 calories

I am so full, I have no need to eat anything more tonight, so I'll be a little under my cals for the day, which is fine (only by about 65, so nothing serious). I'm boiling water for a tea right now, and will drink a couple more glasses of water before bed.

So - there you have it! One full week done, 11 to go!

Stay tuned for that almond flour cracker recipe (with directions)!

Training Day #1

I must say that I was a little apprehensive today before I started my first Boot Camp workout. It was designed to be done strictly at home, using bodyweight in exercise such as pushups and chin ups, and light 10-lb weights such as with hammer curls and one legged deadlifts, which is all I have at the moment. I thought maybe it wouldn't be intense enough for me, or - conversely, that I wouldn't have the strength or energy to get through a workout due to the restricted calories and inadequate amount of protein I've been forced to adapt to due to low food budget. By the way, I totally LOVE one legged dead lifts! Who knew?

I'm very pleased to say that I kicked ass on the workout today. My strength did not appear to have suffered since a) my protein is so low; b) my cals are lower than I like; and c) I've not worked out regularly for over a month, aside from last week. In fact, I am convinced that my back is stronger than ever and that I will actually be able to do unassisted chin ups (no jinx) by the end of this 12-week course. Yay!

Additionally, the back and biceps workout designed for me is crazy. Simple, with 5 moves (plus ab exercise added by me) meant to be done in sets of three, they all piled up to make certain movements slightly uncomfortable tonight. I really pushed myself, and know that I'll probably be really feeling it in the morning. (Each of the three-day split routines have five moves plus abs - planks, bicycle crunches, or hanging leg raise.)

Tomorrow is a rest day, and I plan on working on some articles, basic house stuff, and generally not moving very much. My calories will be lower tomorrow, and my carbs lower too, so I'll have to be careful about what I put in my face. I am really looking forward to seeing the results at the end of the week, to find out if strict adherence will actually net me a loss of 2 lb this week, as I anticipate. We'll see.

Countdown to Boot Camp

Today was my last day of "free" eating before boot camp starts. To be honest, I've been eating pretty clean - no processed foods, and very little grain. I've seen a two-pound weight loss since going back onto my "mostly" primal diet last week, with three workouts in there for good measure.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went out with friends to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant and I gorged on salmon sashimi, salmon and crab sushi, crispy spicy salmon rolls, and California rolls. I figured my total dinner calories (plus three large beers) was 2218, with carbs: 254g, fat: 44g and protein: 79g. Wowza.

Tomorrow marks the first day of my bootcamp program. My goals are to lose fat (cut) and gain strength. I've been provided with a nutritional plan, a workout plan, and will chat one-on-one with my trainer once a week and will have access to a private FB group where all the members can provide each other with support and encouragement.

My ultimate goal for this 12-week session is to lose 20 pounds. Theoretically, I could lose more, but I'll be very happy with 20 pounds in three months. I'll keep going, of course - because I think I could go down a bit more; but as long as my old clothes fit, I'll be singing with joy. Obviously, I will make enormous strength gains, and I hope that by the end of three months, I'll be able to do at least one unassisted chin up. We'll see.

I've taken my "before" photo (shudder) and will post it alongside my "after" photo when this is all over.

And now...I must go to bed before I decide to eat something, like a handful of oreo cookies. ;)

Workout of the Day - BRUTAL

Wow. Someone suggested to me The WOD Shop for ideas for bodyweight exercises. A random generator provides insane circuit training routines that you can scroll through until you find one that sounds appealing or murderous, depending on your preferences. I chose one called Hit the Deck. You use a deck of cards. (not sure why the font is messed, Blogger won't let me change it)

For time
Complete the following chipper using a shuffled deck of cards:
Spades = Squats
Hearts = Burpees (I did jumping jacks instead to be kind to my downstairs neighbour)
Diamonds = Pushups
Clubs = Crunches
8 of clubs would be 8x crunches, 6 of hearts 6x burpees, etc.
Face cards are worth 10 reps, Aces are 11 reps

I had the idea that doing an entire deck would probably be too much for me, considering I haven't been working out regularly for over a month. So I decided to set my timer to 10 minutes and see what I could do in that time. Here's what I did:
43 pushups
63 jumping jacks
82 squats
67 crunches
I got through 35 cards.

Diet Analysis

Upon analysis of my diet - not diet, as popular society thinks of a diet (I mean, food and beverage intake) - I have come to realize several things.

1) I don't drink enough water, since one cannot count caffeinated beverages as water. I can fix that. As of tomorrow, I will aim to drink at least 2L of water a day, or eight 8oz glasses for you people who don't do metric. NB: I have zero intentions of reducing my coffee intake, so forget it.

2) I don't eat enough protein, but I cannot do anything about that, because I am poor. I know one of my major goals is to gain muscle, and you can't do that without protein. I am going to aim for 60g per day, even though I should be getting at LEAST 100g according to popular wisdom, but that just isn't feasible at this point in time. When I start making more money, I'll buy my protein again and start eating more meat. I promise.

3) I generally don't eat enough calories, period. My average this week (Sunday thru Thursday) is 1214 calories with Thursday's being the lowest at 995 and Wednesday's being the highest at 1407. My BMR (basal metabolic rate), which is the number of calories my body uses just to EXIST (breathe, pump my blood, digest food, etc) is (supposedly) 1512  per day. That means that, on average, I'm consuming around 300 too few calories per day just to live. Which means that, theoretically, if I stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing, I would lose weight. Add in all my activity (working out, walking, playing with D, cooking, etc), and that weight loss should be accelerated. And I should probably be hungry. I'm not. I will talk to my personal trainer in the AM to see if she has any suggestions. Considering that my #1 goal IS to lose fat, I'm not worried. As long as I have the energy to get through my days and my workouts, I'm ok with being on the lower end of calories.

Bootcamp!!!

I am very excited to have been chosen to be part of my friend's 12-week inaugural Bootcamp program. She will design a workout plan, make suggestions re changes in my diet, and will monitor my progress via a private FB page and 1x weekly Skype chat. There are a total of 11 participants, although not all have forwarded their info to her so at this point it might only be 8 of us doing the bootcamp.

Officially, the BBB (I will tell you the name of the program once I get permission) starts Monday. Until then, I have started easing back into Primal-ish eating - I totally gave up for Christmas - and have picked up my workouts again, which I had paused due to knee and elbow pain. I've stepped it up a bit, and am incorporating some non-compound moves in there, because I don't have access to a barbell to do chest presses or deadlifts.

Goals:
-lose at least 15 pounds (although I am not stuck on this, I am sure it is possible. As long as I go down at least 3 sizes I'll be happy)
-build muscle
-gain strength (I would love to be able to do an unassisted pullup)
-improve flexibility

My biggest challenge will be the cessation of all alcohol consumed in the 12 week period. For the first 3-4 weeks of my original Primal lifestyle back in November, I didn't drink anything, and lost an average of 2 lb per week. As soon as I started enjoying a drink every now and again, my weight loss plateaued. So I know it is detrimental to fat loss and will totally cut it out until I am at my goal weight. Once there, I will imbibe only occasionally, and only vodka and club soda (low cal, low carb).

Because I don't have a lot of fitness equipment, my entire workout plan will involve 2-3 days of training a week using body weight, a chinup bar, and 10-lb dumbbells, unless I am able to buy some kettlebells in the interim. I will likely continue to do sprints once a week.

As part of my deal with the personal trainer, I will provide before and after photos, weekly blog posts, and a testimonial for her website. She is starting a new business and finishing her personal training certification. I will also be posting on here for friends and family to follow, if they wish. I will link any new blog posts to my FB page.

I anticipate the next 12 weeks will be difficult and challenging. I look forward to the challenge, and I really think the motivation of a personal trainer and the support from the other participants will help me keep on-track for success.

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.

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.

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. 

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!

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!

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?

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.

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.