Finally Done!! (Lu)

All done with the Whole30! The last week was pretty difficult. I pretty much just barely ate because I was so tired of cooking every meal. I find that this diet requires much more food preparation than my normal diet. I have to shop for groceries a lot more also. I seem to go through food so quickly.

At the end, I didn't lose that much weight after the first week and a half. Currently, I am at 149 lbs. I lost about 1.5 inches off my waist and hips and about 0.5 inches off my arms and thighs. It really doesn't seem that much if it wasn't for the interesting discovery that my pants are much looser than before. At this point, my pants are loose even with a belt. I have to cinch the belt in two more notches than usual to keep my pants from falling down. So at least there is some reward after 4 weeks of deprivation.

After this, I plan on having at least a 70% paleo diet. I have been avoiding processed food as much as I can, but have reintroduced dairy and grains to my diet. When I go out to eat or eat pre-prepared foods now, they seem very salty or super sweet to me. I am so glad that the diet was over. The post diet reward of creamy, sweet iced coffee was absolutely divine.

One week left...I am DYING for vietnamese coffee! (Lu)

I'm in the home stretch now! Just one week left! I have yet to weight myself, but as of last week, my weight has not budged a single bit. I have not cheated even once in the last 3 weeks. However, my resolution is wearing thin. I'm looking at recipes, daydreaming of what I will eat when this challenge is over. Cheesecake brownies, yogurt with granola, chocolate cupcakes, and, most definitely, Vietnamese ice coffee with plenty of condensed milk. This is bad. I don't want to regain all the weight back after a month of effort. I will most likely cut back to maybe 70-80% paleo. I plan to also limit my sugar intake. That seems to be where all my weight is coming from.

So far...lost about 7 lbs and one inch around my hips and waist, still no exercise other than 2 yoga sessions and walking to and from school. My pants are a bit looser. I have to tighten the belt one notch more these days. My eating habits are rotten though. I was never one to prepare my food in advance. I would just scrounge around when I get hungry and eat whatever is easiest to make. Last week was a lot of eggs and bacon, bananas, boiled veggies, and various pan fried meats. BORING... I hope to be more adventurous this week. Today was corn beef and cabbage (an apparent study in how much salt I can handle) and tomorrow will be braised short ribs with mushrooms. I also hope to get some coconut flour waffles in there too.

One more week....and then I can finally get that iced coffee...

I was dognapped!! (Sue)

Whee! Sorry I've been MIA. I've been dogsitting my sister's two dogs since last Thursday and life have been hectic! No worries I still got my workouts done and the eating has been inline. However I think I have been eating too much good food! I'm hungry all the time. I've upped my fat intake and that seems to help with satiety. On the plus side - NO SUGAR CRAVINGS!!

Workouts:

1/6 - rest day (my knee was bothering me)

1/7 Crossfit
3 rounds for time
500 meter row (supposed to be 400 meter run but modified for my bum knee)
overhead squat ( I used 25lbs)
21 pullups (band assist)
I finished in 15:05

1/8 yoga

1/9 yoga with Lu and Lisa! Thanks for coming out ladies!

1/10 rest day - see I'm not really addicted! I know how to take time off! LOL

1/11 Crossfit - (I'm still sore from this workout!)
5 rounds for time:
10 wall climbs (I did a lot of lying on the ground)
10 toes to bar (modified to knee to chest)
20 box jumps (20 inch box)
I finished in 33:02 and came very close to losing my lunch! That's was a great workout.



1/12 - power yoga

1/13 - crossfit
This workout is called FRAN - it's a benchmark workout for crossfitters.

Reps 21-15-9
Thrusters (I used 43#, dang knee won't let me go heavier!)
pullups (band assisted)
I finished in 7:38 (if felt like a 70 mins workout! holy moly!)

10 days in - 20 left to go!! (Lu)

It's been over a week since we've started this diet. So far, it hasn't been too bad, except I'm pretty tired of eating eggs and steak. The good news is that my weight dropped down to 149 lbs! Yay! Four more pounds and I'll be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. If I'm lucky, maybe I can even get back to my college weight. I highly doubt that though. I've been eating a lot of whole foods, but what I eat is pretty high in fats, especially all the beef and avocados. I'm going to see if I can avoid the beef and stick to mostly chicken. When I go out to eat, I try to eat Japanese and get lots of yummy fish in my diet.

Some of the various dishes I have been eating:

Breakfast:

Mushroom, onion, tomato egg scramble
Turkey bacon
hard boiled eggs
avocado
purple yam

Lunch:
Calamari salad
Fuji apple chicken salad
NY steak with avocados (was sooooo yummy...too bad the kids ate half my lunch)
leftovers from dinner

Dinner:
NY strip steak
Pan fried chicken thighs with sauteed spinach
purple yam
sweet potatoes
Seaweed soup with fish maw
Beef sukiyaki
Braised chicken wings with broccoli
Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce
Kalua pork and cabbage

I think I'll try to make cauliflower fried "rice" and hot and sour soup tomorrow. Looking forward to it...if I can get off my lazy bum to cook.

On the exercise front, I actually went to yoga with Sue and Lisa one time. It was very enjoyable, even though I almost fell over from one of the crazy contortions. Surprisingly, not too much soreness this time. What I am actually sore from is playing Plants vs. Zombies on the computer every day this week. I'm going to get Carpel Tunnel syndrome from this evil, addictive game. Other than the yoga, no other exercise other than walking my daughter to and from school.

Crossfit makes me happy....

1/5/11 workout

Wednesday nights are usually power yoga nights, but when I saw the crossfit workout of the day (WOD) I was giddy!!

WOD:

front squats 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Metabolic Conditioning
3 rounds for time
35 double under rope jumps
15 meter bear crawl
15 kettlebell swings
15 meter bear crawl back to rope jumps

My results:
front squats 65lbs x 3, 75 x 3, 85 x3, 95 x 3, 105 x 3 (my personal best) The guy next to me did 315lbs! He was nice enough to give me a high five for my 105lbs!! hahaha

I finished the met-con in 10:16...I crawled to the finish line and collapsed. 'Twas AWESOME.

It's been 2 hours since the workout and my lungs are still burning. I LOVE IT!

What is crossfit?



Sue

Moves

1/4/11 workout:

As many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes

400 meter run
25 abmat sit-ups
10 ring rows

I finished 4 rounds plus 1 run and 10 sit-ups. I was TOAST! Mmmm....toast. Haha.

First day of the challenge I had major sugar withdrawal. After every meal I wanted dessert. The urge to snack was overwhelming as well. I think I opened my cupboard and frig a million times hoping to see chips and chocolate miraculously appear! I stayed strong and triumphed over the snack monster! Luckily I don't have a enabler/disablered at home. I swear my dogs taunted me with their kibble....I checked the label and it contains grains. I may have to switch them to a no grain kibble. Ha!

The second day was a breeze! No cravings and hunger was easily satisfied. It helps that the water weight came off so easy. Down to 125.6 lbs this morning.

I'm eating the same things all week so I won't repost my meals.

Have a great day!


Sue

Ugh...Here we go... (Lu)

So after a GIANT kick-off feast at Lisa's house yesterday, I have finally started the diet today. Man alive....I ate a lot. It was basically non-stop eating from noon to about 6:30pm. The the big feast was mostly paleo (hot pot)...except for the 6 different desserts we had. We should have taken pictures, but was too busy eating!

So today, at the start of the diet, I weighed 154lbs. Measurements are:

Waist: 32 inches
Hips: 39.25 inches
Thigh: 22 inches
Arms: 12.5 inches

I am curious to see how much circumference I may lose.

Breakfast: 4 egg whites + 1 yolk - fried (left over egg whites from the Tiramisu I made for the pre-diet feast), 3 slices of turkey bacon and tea

Lunch: 9 chicken wings and 1/4 orange + tea

Dinner: Fish, fish soup, napa cabbage, boiled beef - ok...this sounds really gross and tasteless (and it was bland), but I had to finish up some leftovers and I was lazy to cook anything too fancy.

Exercise = walking to and from school to pick up my daughter

I don't have any overwhelming cravings other than small wishes for chips and candy. I ate a few pieces of dried green mangoes and that really helped abate the cravings.