Pushing Myself

I probably am not doing it enough.  But maybe I am.  It's so hard to judge!

Like yesterday, our WOD was:

4 rounds, max time 25:00
Hill Run (300m, very steep)
50 Air Squats
30 Kettle Bell Swings

My 25:00 finish: 3 rounds + Hill + 10 Squats

Earlier this week I tweaked out my leg/hip, and then made it infinitely worse by running on it (Monday was a 3x800meter run) so I was a little worried (our Coach advised me to just power walk the hill if it felt bad, as that could feel better and would potentially be just as quick).  But running felt pretty good, so I totally made it (running) up the hill the first time.  I decided to walk it times 2 and 3.  By the fourth round though, I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the whole round in under the max time, and I had walked the flat-ish 150 meters leading up to the hill, so I decided to see if I could run it one last time.  And turns out, I totally could.  I blasted up that mofo, and felt awesome about it.

So the question is, should I have pushed myself to run it on rounds 2 and 3?

I don't know.  The KB swings were also killing my lower back (still using the 35lb bell, go me!), which really made itself apparent on the way up that hill, and so I was kind of trying to pace myself for those.  Also, after my workout I had to walk to the bus stop, and after pausing for maybe 10 minutes to check my phone and the bus schedules, I found myself literally HOBBLING down the street, practically unable to move my legs with the added weight of my backpack.

Even with the slightly modified way that I did it, the workout was obviously incredibly effective.

But I RAN that last hill, no problem.  Ughhh.  I just don't know. 

I don't like vomiting but I like the idea of pushing myself hard enough that I would, at least once. Then I would really KNOW I had pushed (too) hard.

My diet got even weirder.

After my paleo instincts came back with a vengeance, I stumbled across Whole9's website once more, and decided to finally do it.  So I'm spending experimenting* with a no-sugar, no-dairy (and no added-salt) diet on top of my normal no-starches, no-processed foods way of eating.  The no-sugar thing I've done before, but never so strictly (no fake-sugar this go 'round, which means no stevia, which means no black tea T.T).  It was the no-dairy part that scared me, because I have a fear that cutting dairy out will reveal that any lingering health issues I have (like acne, for instance) are a result of dairy, and thusly I wouldn't be able to reintroduce it into my diet after I was finished. Which would just make me cry profusely.  I can happily (?!?) say, though, that after almost two weeks, my skin has not gotten better, so I think dairy and I remain friends when all is said and done.

The results so far have been pretty great.  I'm definitely eating less, although over the last few days I'm sure if you cut me open you would not find blood and guts but rather just almond paste.  Mmmmmm, nuts. I'm probably eating more fruit than Gary Taubes would recommend, but I can't eat baby carrots all the time, and those are the only vegetable I can really "snack" on.  I do like that banana chips (freeze dried, not normal dried) have become candy to me now.  I'm a lot more sensitive overall to sweet and salty - when I come across a salted macadamia in my trail mix it's almost unappetizing because it's too salty for me now.

Another benefit has been more money in my wallet.  I usually go out to eat 2-4 times a week, but restricting what I can eat to this level means that unless it's a build-your-own salad bar, I really can't eat out.  This means I have to plan ahead more and make sure I bring food with me where ever I go, but it's really not to difficult to throw a bag of nuts, and apple, and some roasted chicken into my backpack before I leave the house.  And provided I get my morning egg scramble, that is plenty of food until I get back home.

Also, I've been cooking most things in bacon fat for the past couple of months, but now that I'm not using butter (dairy), I use bacon fat for ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.  And let me tell you, that's the way it should be.  Everything is better with bacon fat.  I made a giant batch of my own trail mix the other day (raisins, cashews, macadamias, walnuts, pecans, almonds), and needed to roast the pecans and almonds.  Usually I'd use olive oil or butter. But then I thought, "is there any way this could NOT be MORE delicious if I were to use bacon fat?"  And I thought right.  Oh, I thought so, so right.  (Which is why I am now more almond than human, because almonds roasted in BF are pretty much the best things on the planet.)

FYI, this bowl is HUGE.

When I talk to my parents I sometimes get the impression they think this no-starch thing is a phase that I will get over and then get back to eating pasta and bread like a normal person before too long.  Um, sorry guys.  Not the case.  The extreme no-sugar/dairy/salt is a phase, because I enjoy being more sociable in my eating habits, but I'm never actually planning on returning to anything that resembles a "normal American diet."  And really, that's for the best.

Oh, and did I mention I've lost some weight?  I haven't actually stood on a scale in months and months so I don't know how much exactly (and I don't intend to stand on one until I've finished this), but it's a visible difference.  I'm also working out like crazy, so it's difficult to tell what percentage is coming from the diet, but I think it's making a difference. 


* As far as a time commitment, I say I'm "experimenting" because the Whole9 program wants you to go a full 30 days.  When I started, I had a goal of a week, and then I'd take it from there depending on how I felt.  Now, at the end of my 2nd week, I would feel fully prepared to take it the whole month, but I have a VERY SPECIAL birthday party to attend this weekend, which includes a supa-fancy dinner.  Luckily, it's so fancy that the entree's and sides are ordered separately, so other than cooking additives like butter, oils, salt, etc, I should be fine (omigodimsoexcitedforsteak).  It's just the matter of dessert/cake, etc, if that happens.  And that part I'm going to play by ear.  My main goal for the weekend is to not completely derail myself and decide it's a sugar free-for-all after having a single piece of cake or something. Then I'm going back to no-sugar/dairy/starches, with the hestitant intention of doing a full month post-cake, and the solid goal of a full month including cake-day.

just some updates

Todays WOD:

10 rounds of:

8 Kettle Bell Swings
8 Squat Hops
8 Burpees

This pretty much knocked me on my ass.  But I did finish all 10 rounds (in 17:40 min), and with a heavier kettle bell than I usually use - I've been trying to move up to the 35lb weight, but this is the first time I've used it for a full WOD.  I'd like to remember to try and do this again in a month or so to see what my time is.

I'm also thinking of buying myself a kettle bell to use at home.  During warm-up we moved to swinging the KB around our bodies (and in figure eights through our legs) and the coach pointed out that round-the-worlds are an excellent way to tire out and work your core, perhaps especially your obliques.  And it's something I can do while I watch tv or korean dramas, etc more easily than holding planks... so... yeah... that's almost a plan.

Also, next week I'm starting back up at SWLBC, which I started last summer and really loved, but took a break from this winter.  It's outside at green lake in the morning, and it's a really great program that focuses more on women's bodies and achieving the shapes/lines they are after (as opposed to crossfit, which is more about overall awesomeness and less about shaping your waistline).

I'd like to work in some runs at greenlake or somewhere, too, so that Saturday mornings with the TM crew aren't my only runs, but I'm not sure where on earth I'll be able to fit that in, especially since school has started again.  Meh.  It's still not a top priority for me.  I figure I'll work more on running once school finishes and it gets a little nicer out.  If I find time, great, if not - there will be time later.

And I was not doing too good paleo-wise for a while, but not concerning myself with feeling overly guilty.  I just kind of felt like those eating habits would come back when I was ready for them to come back.  And then the other day I watched a lot of Gary Taubes' lectures, and lo-and-behold, my desire to eat better magically re-appeared just like I thought it would!  Thanks, Gary.  :D