I feel like butt today.
I weighed in on Tuesday night, marking the end of my second CFCC BCCC. I felt fabulous - lean, hydrated, happy, all that jazz. And I was! All of that, despite chintzing out on my sleep for the first few days of the week, getting to work at 6:30am to finish up a massive project, and all that good stuff.
So, first, the good news. My second challenge was just as successful as the first. Major changes I made this time around included limiting cream in my coffee to weekends only (Saturday and Sunday), no nuts or nut butters, no chocolate whatsoever, introducing a leptin refeed on heavy workout days, limiting bacon to weekends only for the last two and a half weeks, and towards the end, eliminating any midafternoon snacking and eating chicken and seafood only, which meant cutting out the red meat I generally have about four times a week. (This is all in addition to the cuts I made in the fall, including no soda or artificial sweeteners, no fruit, very little dairy, no more daily Larabars, and no grains whatsoever.) A typical day included eggs, raw spinach and chicken sausage for breakfast, maybe a half rotisserie chicken or a salad with spinach, chicken, avocado and tomatoes for lunch, and some kind of meat and green (usually kale or collard greens) cooked with a slice of bacon.
Results? I've lost another few pounds (7, by the gym scale, but I think my weigh-in number was a little inflated, so let's call it 4 or 5) and another inch off of my waist and hips.
Get this. Since October, I've lost FOUR INCHES off of my waist. FOUR. I'm down to 29.5" from 33.5"...while eating steak and bacon and a whole lot of greens. And that doesn't count the weight I lost before I got measured in October - which must have been at least an inch or so from my waist and hips, simply based on how my pants fit.
Seriously? Back in September I wrote about how a specific pair of chinos was fitting me really well. They'd been wearable but snug, and then after a couple months of sorta-consistent paleo, they were fitting nice and loose. I put those pants on about a week and a half ago, and you guys, they slide off my butt completely while buttoned. I bought pants at J.Crew last week in an emergency 9:30 am trip when I realized I forgot to bring my skirt to work (rode there in sweats). They're a size FOUR. I know, I know - J.Crew and its vanity sizing - but guys, I was buying tens there. Vanity-sized or not, I'm down three sizes.
Anyway, gloat gloat gloat gloat gloat. I'm getting pretty jacked and my performance at the gym is improving significantly. And I may or may not have committed to doing a strongman competition in a couple of weeks.
But back to today. So, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - up at 5, at work and billing by 6:30. On top of that, last night was a major client entertainment event that kept me out until about 10pm. I was able to cobble together some largely paleo options from the buffet - a few slices of red meat (I think it was beef, but might have been a leaner cut of lamb), a square of white fish, some eggplant. I had a chocolate hazlenut truffle for dessert (it was really kind of gross and super-sweet).
This morning I felt like total ass. So tired, so draggy, so dehydrated. I've been chugging water all day, plus a coconut water around 10:30, and I'm finally starting to feel semi-normal. I have no appetite, but ate a salad for lunch anyway, which I think helped. And my gut is not happy with me. Whether this is just from lack of good sleep or from some flour sneaking into my dinner last night, I don't know - but it's a really, REALLY good reminder of just how craptacular I feel when I don't take good care of myself.
But...at least I'm getting jacked.
Showing posts with label results are a good thing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label results are a good thing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Friday, November 4, 2011
so that challenge
yeah, so, I fell off the face of the earth for a little bit.
I really, really want to recap the fabulous experience that was the CFCC BCCC, but here's the cliff's notes version for now:
- Official stats still forthcoming, but I lost nine pounds during the challenge and inches everywhere - two inches off of my waist, an inch off of my hips, and leaned way out in my arms and legs.
- The challenge officially ended around noonish on October 30, after I was measured and weighed in. Immediately afterwards, I went to brunch with my husband, where I had an omelet (with CHEESE!) and some potatoes and we split a side of the most amazing fluffy pancakes ever. Later, I celebrated with a fantastic sampling of cookie sandwiches from Sweet Freedom Bakery (still pretty darn paleo-friendly, as baked goods go).
- Eating baked goods and syrup on Sunday completely reawakened my sugar cravings, which came back in SERIOUS force on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday I had chocolate. Tuesday I had half a Larabar. Wednesday I realized that if I didn't knock that shit off I was going to keep craving sugar, so I did, and now I'm mostly back to normal...buuuuut...totally going to have more Sweet Freedom goodness tonight at CFCC's Fall Ball (halloween WOD in costumes, followed by potluck).
- Since the challenge ended I've continued to eat mostly the same way as I did during the last ten days, in terms of keeping it to meat and greens only, with the exception of (i) adding small amounts of dairy, like a splash of cream in my coffee and a little full fat Greek yogurt on my chili, and (ii) aforementioned small-ish sugary snacks. According to my scale this morning, I'm now a full ten pounds down.
- I'm so much stronger. I'm front squatting 140 pounds easily (prior max 115), I back squatted 155 for a triple (prior max 165), I GOT MY FIRST PULLUP LAST NIGHT. Okay, so it was a chin up. And it was ugly and I had to kick my legs. BUT I GOT IT. And I'm going to do it again tonight.
In short, this was an incredible experience. I'm saving a buttload of money by not buying soda or lunches at work, and I've never felt better that I felt during the last 30 days, particularly the final week. I'm much leaner - wearing pants I haven't worn in years! - and I've got a great blueprint for leaning out even more.
I guess I'll never be done AW-ing, but that's ok.
I really, really want to recap the fabulous experience that was the CFCC BCCC, but here's the cliff's notes version for now:
- Official stats still forthcoming, but I lost nine pounds during the challenge and inches everywhere - two inches off of my waist, an inch off of my hips, and leaned way out in my arms and legs.
- The challenge officially ended around noonish on October 30, after I was measured and weighed in. Immediately afterwards, I went to brunch with my husband, where I had an omelet (with CHEESE!) and some potatoes and we split a side of the most amazing fluffy pancakes ever. Later, I celebrated with a fantastic sampling of cookie sandwiches from Sweet Freedom Bakery (still pretty darn paleo-friendly, as baked goods go).
- Eating baked goods and syrup on Sunday completely reawakened my sugar cravings, which came back in SERIOUS force on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday I had chocolate. Tuesday I had half a Larabar. Wednesday I realized that if I didn't knock that shit off I was going to keep craving sugar, so I did, and now I'm mostly back to normal...buuuuut...totally going to have more Sweet Freedom goodness tonight at CFCC's Fall Ball (halloween WOD in costumes, followed by potluck).
- Since the challenge ended I've continued to eat mostly the same way as I did during the last ten days, in terms of keeping it to meat and greens only, with the exception of (i) adding small amounts of dairy, like a splash of cream in my coffee and a little full fat Greek yogurt on my chili, and (ii) aforementioned small-ish sugary snacks. According to my scale this morning, I'm now a full ten pounds down.
- I'm so much stronger. I'm front squatting 140 pounds easily (prior max 115), I back squatted 155 for a triple (prior max 165), I GOT MY FIRST PULLUP LAST NIGHT. Okay, so it was a chin up. And it was ugly and I had to kick my legs. BUT I GOT IT. And I'm going to do it again tonight.
In short, this was an incredible experience. I'm saving a buttload of money by not buying soda or lunches at work, and I've never felt better that I felt during the last 30 days, particularly the final week. I'm much leaner - wearing pants I haven't worn in years! - and I've got a great blueprint for leaning out even more.
I guess I'll never be done AW-ing, but that's ok.
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Last Ten Days
I suppose this will be more intense than the first 20, but let's see.
To recap: I started by cutting out all artificial sweeteners, eliminating fruit (I could have just cut back on it, but I tend to do better on an all-or-nothing basis), giving up my semi-weekly "kip meals" and adding a little dairy back into my life, in the form of swapping my coconut milk creamer for grass-fed half & half. As the challenge progressed, I limited my intake of chocolate from about half an ounce to an ounce of 77 or 85% about five times a week to Friday and Saturday nights only. I finished the last of my jar of almond butter and didn't buy more, and the only between-meals snack I eat is my precious, precious buffalo jerky. And, starting on October 15, I added in BCAAs pre and post-workout, and am starting to get accustomed to chugging glittery vodka.
I've seen fabulous results even in the short period from October 1 to October 19. I've dropped six or seven pounds and can feel a significant difference in my body composition, in really funny ways - like how my arms feel when I'm washing my hair, or how my lower back feels when I reach back to rub it at work (my desk chair has awful lumbar support), or what my thigh feels like when I brace my forearm against it when I'm putting the dogs' leashes on.
ANYWAY. So now we start the final ten-day stretch, and of course it's time to turn up the intensity.
Starting yesterday (October 20) and continuing through the end of the month, here's my life:
The keys here: meat and greens and animal based fats only. No cruciferous or starchy veggies, like carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts or beans. No sweet potatoes. No avocado. Continue to get tons of protein in, but instead of cooking with olive oil (which I occasionally do), use butter or animal fat. No more dairy in my coffee.
For a lot of my meals, this isn't a big change. Breakfast, for one.
Look familiar? Messy desk, smoked pulled pork, over-easy eggs. This time I've added a handful of raw spinach (greens). Recently, more out of sheer laziness than anything else, lunch has been almost exclusively protein - this week, for example, PhillyGuy grilled me a ton of pork chops on Sunday afternoon, and that's what I've been bringing to work for lunch. (Thank goodness I can close my office door. There's just something...not professional...about sawing through a fat pork chop with a plastic knife at your desk.) Most days I had been bringing a little bag of raw veggies of some kind (peppers or carrots or green beans), so that's out...but otherwise, minimal change.
Dinner is the big difference - about twice a week I'd have a sweet potato, so that's out. And I have to replace my usual suspects (brussels sprouts, beans) with greens, which of course I need to figure out how to cook properly. Last night I had two chicken sausages, two eggs and a gigantic pile of kale chips, which I tossed in butter, topped with kosher salt and baked for a few minutes until crispy. Not so bad. I'm less enthusiastic about my ability to cook the giant bunch of collard greens I picked up.
And...of course. My best friends. Black coffee and water. So. Much. Water.
Naturally, this stage is not intended to be permanent - this is a "turn-up-the-heat" stage to force my body to burn its own fat so that I can lean out as much as possible in a short period of time. So far, I don't have any issues, but so far, it's only been 24 hours of eating this way, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow or Sunday...when I'm sure my cravings will skyrocket, and everything I see will turn into a walking Chocolove 77% dark chocolate bar, a'la Tom and Jerry. Maybe this isn't the best weekend to start burning my new "salty caramel corn" scented candle.
But sweet jebus it's been worth it. I PR'ed my front squat the other day by 15 pounds, and I was so surprised at how smooth and how good that 130 pounds felt. I did a jumping pullup on my door-mounted bar at home. And every morning, when I put on pants that used to be snug, or - better yet - used to be completely off limits, it's just a fabulous feeling.
Workouts:
- Tuesday: gymnastics. Back extension rolls, bridge-ups with kickover, back limber. I killed the metcon - three rounds for time of 10' bridge walk, 10' forward rolls, 10' plank walk, 10' backward rolls. 6:00 exactly - the key is that I mastered the bridge walk almost immediately. That shit is disorienting.
- Wednesday: front squats, starting with triples and working up to a peak of 1. 65x3-85x3-105x1-120x1-130x1. Natural glute-ham raises. Metcon: AMRAP double-unders in 5:00, 73. My DU's are getting better but I was having trouble stringing more than three or four together.
To recap: I started by cutting out all artificial sweeteners, eliminating fruit (I could have just cut back on it, but I tend to do better on an all-or-nothing basis), giving up my semi-weekly "kip meals" and adding a little dairy back into my life, in the form of swapping my coconut milk creamer for grass-fed half & half. As the challenge progressed, I limited my intake of chocolate from about half an ounce to an ounce of 77 or 85% about five times a week to Friday and Saturday nights only. I finished the last of my jar of almond butter and didn't buy more, and the only between-meals snack I eat is my precious, precious buffalo jerky. And, starting on October 15, I added in BCAAs pre and post-workout, and am starting to get accustomed to chugging glittery vodka.
I've seen fabulous results even in the short period from October 1 to October 19. I've dropped six or seven pounds and can feel a significant difference in my body composition, in really funny ways - like how my arms feel when I'm washing my hair, or how my lower back feels when I reach back to rub it at work (my desk chair has awful lumbar support), or what my thigh feels like when I brace my forearm against it when I'm putting the dogs' leashes on.
ANYWAY. So now we start the final ten-day stretch, and of course it's time to turn up the intensity.
Starting yesterday (October 20) and continuing through the end of the month, here's my life:
The keys here: meat and greens and animal based fats only. No cruciferous or starchy veggies, like carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts or beans. No sweet potatoes. No avocado. Continue to get tons of protein in, but instead of cooking with olive oil (which I occasionally do), use butter or animal fat. No more dairy in my coffee.
For a lot of my meals, this isn't a big change. Breakfast, for one.
Look familiar? Messy desk, smoked pulled pork, over-easy eggs. This time I've added a handful of raw spinach (greens). Recently, more out of sheer laziness than anything else, lunch has been almost exclusively protein - this week, for example, PhillyGuy grilled me a ton of pork chops on Sunday afternoon, and that's what I've been bringing to work for lunch. (Thank goodness I can close my office door. There's just something...not professional...about sawing through a fat pork chop with a plastic knife at your desk.) Most days I had been bringing a little bag of raw veggies of some kind (peppers or carrots or green beans), so that's out...but otherwise, minimal change.
Dinner is the big difference - about twice a week I'd have a sweet potato, so that's out. And I have to replace my usual suspects (brussels sprouts, beans) with greens, which of course I need to figure out how to cook properly. Last night I had two chicken sausages, two eggs and a gigantic pile of kale chips, which I tossed in butter, topped with kosher salt and baked for a few minutes until crispy. Not so bad. I'm less enthusiastic about my ability to cook the giant bunch of collard greens I picked up.
And...of course. My best friends. Black coffee and water. So. Much. Water.
Naturally, this stage is not intended to be permanent - this is a "turn-up-the-heat" stage to force my body to burn its own fat so that I can lean out as much as possible in a short period of time. So far, I don't have any issues, but so far, it's only been 24 hours of eating this way, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow or Sunday...when I'm sure my cravings will skyrocket, and everything I see will turn into a walking Chocolove 77% dark chocolate bar, a'la Tom and Jerry. Maybe this isn't the best weekend to start burning my new "salty caramel corn" scented candle.
But sweet jebus it's been worth it. I PR'ed my front squat the other day by 15 pounds, and I was so surprised at how smooth and how good that 130 pounds felt. I did a jumping pullup on my door-mounted bar at home. And every morning, when I put on pants that used to be snug, or - better yet - used to be completely off limits, it's just a fabulous feeling.
Workouts:
- Tuesday: gymnastics. Back extension rolls, bridge-ups with kickover, back limber. I killed the metcon - three rounds for time of 10' bridge walk, 10' forward rolls, 10' plank walk, 10' backward rolls. 6:00 exactly - the key is that I mastered the bridge walk almost immediately. That shit is disorienting.
- Wednesday: front squats, starting with triples and working up to a peak of 1. 65x3-85x3-105x1-120x1-130x1. Natural glute-ham raises. Metcon: AMRAP double-unders in 5:00, 73. My DU's are getting better but I was having trouble stringing more than three or four together.
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