Cookies. They're what's for dinner.

Yep. Betty Crocker has officially delved into the realm of gluten-free baking and is boxing up all sorts of favorites from cookies to brownies to birthday cake...and all for a fairly cheap price. Bad news. Bad, bad news.

I was at target when I came across the chocolate chip cookie box. Gluten-free? Here? From Betty? I was sold. I didn't mean to buy them, but I did. I figured I would just have them on-hand. You know, in case of emergencies....for guests....or something.

I made them as soon as I got home. I ate many of them while they were still warm. I washed a few down with some milk. I called it a day.

Following morning I did Fran on a Boat. Yep, probably one of the worse workout combos I could ask for. I suck at thrusters, I am mediocre at rowing, and linking my pull-ups seems to forever elude me. All this on a queasy cookie binge tummy.

I felt awful. Seriously. I could not get enough energy to even care how fast I was going. My form sucked. I was tired. I felt sick. I felt mentally wussy.

All this (and I firmly believe this is true) because I had cookies for dinner.

Day 1,412 (otherwise known as day 22)

Okay. It's been a while. I have to admit my excitement and exuberance for all things "Zone" has dwindled (I hear that happens when you starve to death :)

But when I realized that today really is day 22 (that means only 8 more to go!!!!), I also realized that though few of us have not had the occasional cheat (mostly due to poor planning), we are almost there!!! And I think that most of us have learned A LOT! We may not measure our food perfectly after this challenge is over, but I think most of us have learned quite a bit about portion size, eating the right ratios, and how food effects they way we feel and perform.

I for one am looking forward to getting together and binging. We can talk about what worked and what didn't and what we are going to do moving forward...and we can also eat a hell of a lot of brownies.

You in?

Zone Dinner (kind of)

Last night, Russell and I went to 801 Franklin with some fellow CrossFitters and I attempted to follow my Zone diet. I found that it is fairly difficult to eat in the correct proportions when eating at a "nice" restaurant. I say this because I can pretty much find something to eat at Panera, Jason's Deli, places like that...(turkey, fruit cups, avocados)...but getting enough of the right carbohydrates at a "fancy" restaurant was harder than I thought.

Here are some examples of carbs featured on the menu:
potatoes (new potatoes, mashed potatoes)
pommes frites (french fries)
rice pilaf
grits
tortillas

I was surprised to find that there were no sweet potatoes...and the portions of vegetables included in the entrees would probably amount to 1/4 of a block.

So, after about fifteen minutes of staring at the menu and consulting with Russell, I ordered salmon and found it to be about the right amount for my 4 block meal. I added two glasses of wine and a couple bites of pommes frites (pretty unfavorable but I DID need some carbs)...then added the grapes off of a cheese platter. For fat, I snuck some almonds from my purse and assumed that the salmon was cooked in butter.

All in all, this was not my best Zone meal but relaxing a little made the evening more fun and I think that is just as important as having a "perfect" meal.

You may be asking yourself, "Did she cheat?" and the answer is "probably". But I didn't set out to blow it out of the water. I didn't save all 4 carb blocks for wine. I didn't touch the bread basket, and after joking with the waiter about ordering the chocolate torte, I found that they were out (probably a good thing!). So all in all, I still feel pretty good about night 14 of the Zone Challenge.

For those of you who have had a similar experience, you are still doing well! Hang in there!

Zone Diet + Fight Gone Bad

So today is a rest day but I needed to make up Fight Gone Bad...ugh. I went ahead and had my usual 2-block breakfast and then headed in to teach the 8:30 women's class. After they were through, I began FGB. This was my first time to do it as Rx'ed since before I had Campbell (and I don't even know what I did before that). In January, I did the scaled version of almost every exercise and ended up with 241. Nice score, but it hardly counts since I scaled everything so much. Today I was determined to keep things as rx'ed even if it killed me.

The workout:
I began with the 16# WB shot (which is one of my least favorite things) and managed to get 25 in the first minute. From there, I kept a pretty quick pace and scored 93 for the first round. If I could have sustained this, or even sustained something near this, I would have kicked ass. But, I could not. Instead, I fell to 69 for round 2 and 64 for round 3. My final score was 226. I was resting like crazy during the workout and having serious mental "I can't" issues.

What I learned:
I really think I was performing better when I was hungry. I know it sounds crazy, but I somehow felt lighter and more energized when I was eating 10 blocks. Now that I have been doing double fat for about 5 days, I feel sluggish and winded. It could be something else and it may be purely coincedental, but it is certainly something to consider. I think I may scale back to 1.5 times fat for a couple days and see if this helps.

Just thought I would let you guys know in case this happens to you!

Costco anyone?

One more thing I wanted to add today...

Costco is an amazing place. You can buy like 18 avocadoes for about half the price as the typical grocery chain. In addition, they have Lindsay Natural Olives (with a touch of sea salt) in big 6 can packs (5 olives is one block). You can buy large bags of almonds as well for about $9.99.

I also recently heard that they have frozen "wild-caught" salmon in big bags. I am going to check it out today but that sounds pretty darn good to me. I have been eating more fish lately simply because its 1.5oz per block rather than 1oz of other meats.

just thought I would share :)

DAY 12: Almost Halfway There!

It is day 12 of our 30-day challenge and I am wondering how many of you are still with me. Post to comments and let us know how you are doing! I myself am spending this morning fantasizing about the epic binge night that is now just 18 days a way...

But the funny thing is...my epic binge dream is slowly changing. I no longer want to gorge myself on everything in the world that is "bad" for me...I think I would just settle for one meal where I don't measure my food! My new binge fantasy is simply going out to dinner and eating a reasonably healthy meal without worrying about how many blocks it is and whether it is in the correct proportions. All that being said...I still want dessert :)

Does cheating count if the intent is there?

So I had a rough day. Weekend really. Russell being out of town, me covering CrossFit, huge turnouts at both weekend classes, Campbell and Pup-Pup's adventures into the fireplace, and some cute but smelly new chicks all added to the stress. Plus, (I think I may have mentioned this previously) but I am still hungry. So after class tonight, I came home and had a sleepy baby and a very, very excited puppy. Not a good combination. I finally got one asleep and one calm(ish) and was going to make my oh-so-healthy and zone-a-licious dinner when the puppy woke the baby and it all started again.

I picked up the phone. I found the number for Terry's Pizza (did I mention that not only am I on the Zone Diet but I am allergic to wheat???) and I called it.

I did!

It rang. Someone answered.

I hung up the phone.

And here is the worst part! I called back!!! And did the same thing again! I totally prank called Terry's Pizza two times.

Then I went into the kitchen and pulled out the scale and measured some turkey and tomato, some avocado, and some fruit and sat down and ate my zone-friendly dinner.

Crisis averted.

Is it a bad thing...?

When your 10 month old gets to eat more blocks than you do?

I just watched Campbell suck down about 12 olives while I counted out a measly 5 for a 1-block snack. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I am still hungry.

I actually woke up at 4am STARVING and had to force myself back to sleep. I ended up getting up at 545am and eating breakfast and now its only 1245 and I have only 4 more blocks for the rest of the day!!!! Seriously considering going up to 11 blocks.

Zone Weekend

Hi Everyone,

It's Saturday, I just got home from the pool and the back squat workout and I am (as always), hungry. Russell is out of town. I am taking care of CF classes, the baby, the puppy, and a bunch of new baby chicks (plus, did I mention that I still have a "real" job?). If there was a good time to cheat, it would be now. But I'm not.

The reason I mention this is that from what I can gather, almost all of you have "cheated" at least once. I have heard various reasons...mostly ending in "but, this is really hard for me!" I just wanted to point out that it's really hard for EVERYONE. If it weren't, Burger King would be out of business, vending machines would stock Paleo Kits, and no one in America would be obese. It IS hard. All the time. But, it's also only 30 days. In the grand scheme of the rest of your life, 30 days ain't that long...so hang in there, don't cheat. After 30-days, most of you will be leaner, faster, and healthier. Then you can throw in cheat days or cheat meals or whatever.

On a side note, if you have cheated, maybe once, maybe twice, maybe even more, it's okay(ish)...IF you get back in the game and start following the diet as soon as possible. Don't use one cheat as an excuse to throw in the towel. Even with a couple of "mistakes", your diet is healthier than 9 out of 10 people's. Get back in there, suck it up and finish out this 30 day period!

And to those of you (the few, the proud) who HAVE NOT cheated, you know who you are and you know you kick ass. At the end of this challenge, not only will your binge be that much sweeter, but you will be looking at a pretty nice prize as well.

Day Four:

The Workout:

I was feeling a little hungry today (who...me?) and felt a bit nervous about attempting a long run in a lot of heat after a measly 5 blocks (throughout the day). On top of that, I honestly have been feeling a little sick from all the fruit! Anyway, I decided that if I waited till the 430 class to run, I would have made it mentally impossible so I pulled the car over at 130 and decided to just do it (and then shower and return to work). I have to say that as much as it sucked (and it alllllways sucks), I did feel lighter and faster. I beat my old PR for the 5K by 22 seconds (not a ton but not bad) and ended up at 28:05. I would have liked to have beaten 28 minutes and I would like to think that maybe one more block of food could have helped :) but really I have to say that the Zone might actually be working. My Clean and Jerk workout last night also felt terrible but went pretty fast. I still think I am going to add a block and at least go up to 11 but maybe this caloric restriction is helping me!

To Weigh or Not to Weigh....

One thing I failed to mention at the info session is whether or not we should be weighing. I go back and forth on this...weighing in itself is not so terrible, as long as its not your only measuring stick. You could technically gain weight on this diet because you are still actively participating in CrossFit and building muscle...but you might LOOK leaner, better, "skinnier". So...if you want to weigh occassionally, go ahead...just don't make losing weight your primary goal. Let's try to be stronger and faster...and if our pants end up fitting better too...well, that is just an added bonus :)

Hang in there! If anyone is starving and feeling weak or losing performance, let me know and we will go ahead and adjust you tomorrow!

A few tips...

Okay, so I thought I would do a quick refresher due to some frequently asked questions:

First, when you eat a 2-block meal, that means 2-blocks of EACH of the three food types: protein, fat, and carbs. You are not eating the Zone if you eat 2-blocks of fat, 1-block of carbs, and 3-blocks of protein. Each meal MUST be in ratio (2-2-2 or 3-3-3 or 4-4-4).

Secondly, the unfavorable carbs are to be avoided whenever possible (with the exception of sweet potatoes which should be used sparingly and hopefully after a workout). If you see "toast" coming up on your journal pretty much every day, try to get away from that and eat some yogurt or eggs with fruit and veggies. Your carbohydrate intake should come almost exclusively, if not exclusively, from fruits and vegetables. Also, please remember to avoid "fake" sugars like diet drinks.

Finally, if you have the nutrition label for a food, you can use that to determine how many blocks it is worth rather than relying on the "cheat sheet". This can make a big difference as it did when I ate 1/3 of the Laughing Cow Cheese that I should have eaten (resulting in me being even hungrier than normal). Read over page one of your packet for more info on how to figure things based on nutrition labels. It basically says this:

7 grams of protein=1 block
9 grams of carbs= 1 block
1.5 grams of fat = 1 block

Don't get all worried about counting one food as three different things (obviously cheese has protein and fat). If your cheat sheet says cheese is a protein (which it does), just look at the protein portion of the nutrition label. In the case of Laughing Cow Cheese, it says that one triangle has 2g of protein, thus three triangles would be 6g of protein (closest to 1-block). Again, you are welcome to use the cheat sheet alone but its nice to know that sometimes the label can be used.

Let me know if you guys have more questions!

Sooooo Hungry!!!

Day two is coming to a close and I am getting hungrier and hungrier! I was hoping that my body would quickly adjust to the 10-block day but now I am having second thoughts...

I started the day much like yesterday but had more fruit rather than veggies (mistake???) Anyone have any thoughts on whether veggies make you feel full longer???

After that I had a 1-block snack, then a 2-block lunch, followed by another 1-block snack, saving 4-blocks for dinner since that is when I was hungriest yesterday. Not sure this is working though since I have pretty much been continuously hungry since I woke up.

I stopped by my mom's to pick up Campbell and saw a bowl of M & Ms and had to RUN in the opposite direction to avoid cramming them into my mouth.

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day....or I will have to add some blocks!!!!!

Also wanted to add a link to a paleo/zone blog! This one has some delicious looking recipes!

http://stevepaleo.blogspot.com/

Day One: Mistakes Already

So I was doing alright till pre-workout snack time...

I was in a bit of a hurry so I threw some things into a baggie to eat in the car on the way to the gym. Somehow I got confused (not really alllll that surprising).

I got to the gym and my stomach was growling. I felt fairly hungry and really not all that great. This got me to thinking that maybe I was one of those gals who needed more than 10 blocks. I went ahead with the workout and headed home thinking, "Oh my god, I only have 4 more blocks and I want to eat my own arm...and Russell's!"

Once home, I set about feeding Campbell and desperately trying not to eat her. I decided a 1-block snack was needed, ASAP. I ate it; it was like air.

Then suddenly I realized that I had misjudged my earlier snack...for some reason, I had grabbed 3 cherries...(thinking of 3 almonds I suppose)....and I terribly misjudged some cheese. I used that Laughing Cow Cheese and thought one triangle was a block. Turns out 3 triangles are a block. Well, that explains a lot.

So now I am typing away while Russell whips up some dinner...3.5 blocks here I come!!!

Half-Way Through Day 1

Breakfast:
I started the day with a 2-block meal and found it to be pretty darn filling. I had two eggs, 6 almonds, and then came the tricky part...carbs. In order to get two blocks of carbs, I had to eat...and eat...and eat. We were a little low on fruit so I had half a peach and then ate a TON of okra to make up the rest. I think I was eating for like 30 minutes. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a 2-block meal was more substantial than I thought.

Snack:
At about 10:30am, I decided it was snack time. Really, I wanted it to be lunch time, but we still had not gone grocery shopping and I was pretty much out of carbs. I made this one a 1-block meal and had 1oz turkey, a block's worth of safflower mayonaise, and a tomato.

Three seconds later:
Okay, so maybe it was an hour...but fairly soon after my 1-block snack, I was starving. I was feeding Campbell and wanted sooo badly to steal her food! (note to self, either have a 2-block snack or eat lunch about an hour after snack).

Lunch:
We went grocery shopping and I stocked up on about 18 varities of fruit (mmmm....!) For lunch I went with another 2-block meal and helped myself to 2 oz of turkey, some spinach, olive oil, and tomatoes. I still had some more carb eating to do so I added some cherries and blackberries and was once again surprisingly full! I was also happy to say that, with the scale sitting on the counter, it really was not too difficult to create a mixture of carbs to make up the 2-blocks. I also heavily used www.nutritiondata.com to make sure I was measuring things accurately.

So far, so good!

Zone Diet Challenge

So...after months of basically doing the "Paleo" Diet but realizing that I was often "cheating" with tiny bags of Haribo gummy bears at the Target checkout line, I have decided to go full blown into the Zone Diet. I am hoping that this will help me to improve my workout times/weights and to generally feel better.

And because misery loves company, I have asked the women from our gym to accompany me on this 30-day Zone Diet Challenge. We have about 16 brave women who, beginning today, July 26, 2009, will be measuring, weighing, and carefully proportioning their food 24- hours a day, 7-days a week!

At the end of the 30-day period, we will be joining together in one massive binge night and then hopefully resuming our Zone Diets at least 80% of the time. As with all things CrossFit, the Zone Diet is more than a diet, it is a way of life that enables us to live longer and to live healthier.

Here are some helpful websites that are Zone/Paleo friendly!

http://www.paleokits.org/
---Great for ordering quick snacks that come vacuum-sealed and in the correct "block" proportions. Try a few, then make your own!

http://www.nutritiondata.com/
---really like eating some weird-ass vegetable that no one else has heard of, you can probably find its nutritional information on this site.

http://robbwolf.com/?cat=13
---paleo/CF guru.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=4271246&page=1
---article briefly explaining why "diet" drinks and artificial sweeteners make you fat.