June 30, 2010

Mmmm Carbs

No workout today sadly, school project demanded my time.

Sometimes a day of higher carbs can be a good thing. Today was one of those days for me - not that I didn't get my share of fat and protein, just that I also ate a much larger proportion of carbs than usual. Felt needed, so I went with it.

Breakfast
Cafe at the college has decent breakfast omelets. Eggs, bacon, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, mushrooms. And they use butter! I'm sure it isn't awesome butter like I use at home, but at least it's butter.
  • Omelet!


Munchies
Hungry when I got home, so between then and dinner I ate..
  • Apple + lots of almond butter
  • an apricot
  • couple small bunches of blueberries
  • couple small bunches of cashews

Dinner
  • Chicken! Olive oil + special chicken spices = yummy.
  • Sweet potato + lots of butter + cinnamon. I'm not sure if I could get tired of this combo.
  • Kale Chips! We made some, wifey tried one. I don't think I let them cook quite long enough, since they weren't entirely crispy yet, but they were still delicious! ...I ate them all...
Kale Chips before:

Kale Chips after:

Dinner:

June 29, 2010

Got My Crack...I mean almond butter...

Seriously, it is like crack. Delicious, nutty, fatty, oh-so-tasty crack. Bought some more today and of course broke it out for the next meal! Did cooked spinach at dinner for the first time in a while. It's interesting that raw spinach, while good for you, can (more quickly) be a bad thing in quantity; while on the other hand, cooked spinach is actually better for you than raw and less of a worry about the negatives.

Breakfast
  • 5 eggs scrambled in butter with half of an onion chopped up and mixed in
  • a full head of broccoli cooked in butter. Remember this stuff is like a sponge! Soaked up at least 2 tablespoons if not more
  • an apple



Dinner
Munched on fresh dark cherries (about 2 dozen) followed by some (unsalted & raw) cashews following my WOD while getting dinner going.

Browned up a lb of grass-fed ground beef, gave just a little to the wifey and kept the other 13-14oz for myself! Spiced up the meat initially with minced garlic and black pepper. Added the chopped onion (other half left over from breakfast) and repeated the above spices. Then added paprika, oregano, basil, parsley, and marjoram in no particular proportions - I cook using the "that looks about right" method - and continued stirring. Added a whole bunch of frozen chopped spinach, waited for it to warm up a bit and then repeated the round of 5 spices again. Topped with fresh ground black pepper at the table.
  • Beef-onion-spinach concoction
  • Apple + almond butter crack

WOD: Dizzy Wall-Balls

Details on the CF Rockwall Blog. A rather entertaining workout in the sense that it's been forever since I've done anything along the lines of forward rolls (or any rolls for that matter). My workout was:
Warm-up + 15 push-ups + 2 mins double-unders
7 Rounds For Time:
  • 15 Wall-Ball Shots (16lb ball)
  • 10 Kettlebell swings (1 pood)
  • 5 Forward rolls
Time was a good 13:16. Downside: Doing rolls and trying to go immediately to wall balls while the room is still slightly spinning is a challenge! Upside: Today I actually felt "in shape" in the sense that I wasn't about to pass out from lack of oxygen and was able to keep moving with only short breaks throughout. I suppose that either means I'm actually getting back into decent condition, or that I just need to up the weights. Oy. 1.5 pood on KB swings is heavy!

June 28, 2010

Last of the YAR!s

Note to self: quit eating dinner so late at night. I was up past 2:30am this morning and paid for it today in several ways. Not fun, but neither is going to bed right after eating. So - up late this morning and skipped breakfast, no problems there.

Lunch
Went to Market Street (favorite grocer) and took advantage of their salad bar to build a nice big pile of stuff. Thumbs down on the blurry picture!
  • base of mixed spring greens
  • sliced mushrooms
  • red onion
  • mixed bell peppers
  • cucumber slices
  • grape tomatoes
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs
  • a nice pile of grilled chicken
  • topped off with EVOO and liberal use of a pepper shaker


Dinner
Last of the YAR! Finally ate through the pack of 'em, and certainly don't regret that purchase at all. Notable lack of non-starchy veggies but not all that concerned about it due to lunch.
  • Ribeye, pan fried in a veritable lake of butter with a bit of seasoning
  • sweet potato with butter and cinnamon
  • fruit smoothie made from coconut milk, strawberries, a banana, and frozen blueberries (and ice). Made about double what's in the glass in the picture.

WOD: "Man-makers" and more

Details on the CF Rockwall Blog. The "Dumbbell Burpee to Squat-Clean Thruster" is also known as a "Man-maker". Toss in some strict pull-ups and this was a tough workout! My workout was:


Warm-up + extra 15 push-ups.

12-9-6-3 reps for time:
  • Man-makers (30lb dumbbells)
  • Strict Pull-ups (no scaling)
Time was 14:10. A bit slow comparing to others' times. Thrusters and strict pull-ups made it rough!

Slacker Sunday and ADA Nonsense

No food pictures again today, this time because there's nothing worthy of them! Stir-fry leftovers for lunch, snacked on fruit randomly throughout the day, and then had breakfast for dinner in the form of scrambled eggs. Tasty food all around but nothing new.

Link on Fat Head about a very to-the-point (in my opinion) poster done by the Nutrition and Metabolism Society. Check it out.

June 26, 2010

No worries, mate! Or, Why I Love Outback Steakhouse

Have you ever lost track of time (and hunger) while on the computer? I think most people probably have at some point, it certainly isn't a new experience for me. That's what happened this morning with my breakfast, or rather, the lack of one. Oops.

Normally this wouldn't be anything to worry about, but we had to be out the door sooner than I realized for a wedding today! So, no breakfast and no lunch, and certainly doubted there would be any paleo-friendly choices at the wedding itself. I managed to chow an apple and a nectarine (yay for the convenience of fruit!) in the car as we were driving. Wedding was at 2pm, and as predicted the snack-fare didn't leave me any real options for snacking. Candy, crackers, cheese, cashews (salted, doh), and a mix of raisins, almonds, and peanuts (doh). At least they had some grapes. But still, more fruit. Not my best food day ever. I did at least manage to avoid the wedding cake AND the buckeyes (formerly one of my favorite treats).

The wife wanted to go out for dinner, so we ended up at the Outback Steakhouse. Now, this place was already my favorite chain-style restaurant and has been for years. It was further cemented in that place earlier this year when I made my initial diet changes as being a place to get decent meat (beef, chicken, fish) with good choices available for the sides. Today, though, I was prepared to make our waiter really earn his tip, as it were, due to having to adjust to my Eat Real challenge paleo needs. It went something like this:

Me: "So, I'll just warn you up front I'm going to make this a bit difficult"

Waiter: (jokingly) "Oh man don't do that!  What do you need?"

Me: (thinking about bread, breading, etc) "Well, the big one is no gluten"

Waiter: "Do you want a gluten-free menu?"

Me: (bwuh?!) "You have one? Yes definitely!"

he brings back their gluten free menu and I check it out, then we get to the ordering

Me: "Do you know what they use to cook the steaks? What kind of oil, or...?"

Waiter: "They use butter"

Me: (woohoo!) "Ok then, the Outback Special, 8oz, cooked medium, with the seasonal veggies - no seasonings - and the sweet potato just with butter and cinnamon."
(the veggie seasonings apparently contain gluten, as the gluten-free menu said to request them without. Also the sweet potato normally has brown sugar on it, which is why I specified)

That was ridiculously easy, and the meal was completely in line with CF Rockwall's challenge and general primal/paleo diet items. I ended up eating an extra 4-5oz of steak because Jamie's stomach was not cooperating with her intent to eat it. Two thumbs up to Outback, which is not going to be ousted from its position in my list of restaurant choices any time soon.

I chomped a few strawberries at home for dessert and feel rather good about how the food ended up today. No workout today, although I did practice a few handstands...




Shoulder flexibility (lack of it) is affecting my form on these, according to my wife - dancer and used to do gymnastics so I'm going to believe her *wink*. Overall though, I'm getting better at holding them so progress is being made!