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.

Calluses!!!

Woot!  Been a while since I posted.  Here's the summary:
- CrossFit is still awesome.
- I've been eating better/less, mostly*
- Running/hiking on the weekends is also awesome, except when it causes toe injuries!**

* I started counting my calories again, which is a good thing for me - especially as I devised the 12,000 calories a week system, which allows for great leniency on my part.  Weeks 1 and 2 went swimmingly.  Week 3 has been derailed by free donuts which led to an all day EAT-ALL-THE-CARBS binge.  Because if you haven't noticed, I'm kind of an all-or-nothing gal.  So I ate all the carbs, then went pretty strict paleo yesterday and back to normal today.  I've decided calorie counting is out for this week, and I have to pay the penance on Saturday by doing 100 burpees.  Awesome!  Calorie-counting will be back next week.  I like taking the break though, because then I listen a little more closely to what my body actually wants as opposed to what I think it should have, given the calories I have left in the day/week.

** We've been running trails on Saturdays in prep for tough mudder, which has been awesome (even if I'm still really slow).  And then last Sunday I went hiking with a friend to Rattlesnake Ledge, which was a great hike.  Uphill 1100 feet in 1.8 miles, and it was snowing for about the last third.  We were both in Vibrams, and I was in shorts.  Most of the other hikers we saw were decked out in rain/snow gear, and looked at me like I was crazy. I still approve of my hiking outfit - I would have been way too warm otherwise.  And I felt like we took it at a good pace.  Cody probably could have gone a bit faster, but I was really satisfied.  Going down we ran most of the way, which was INCREDIBLY fun.  Until that last bit when I smashed my toe on a rock....  pretty obvious hazard of vibrams+downward-running-on-rocky-trail.  I'm pretty sure it's just sprained and not broken, but I'm going to the doctor tomorrow a.m. just to be sure (and to get a prescription for massage therapy, as crossfit has impressed upon me how out of whack my right shoulder is). 

This is week 3 of (real) CrossFit, and I've managed to go 4 days a week each week.  I'd like to shoot for 5 next week, but I'm not going to berate myself if something comes up.  I feel like I'm there often enough that I'm seeing really quick improvement, and the coaches seem relatively impressed with my frequency, especially considering I'm so new.  Most importantly, I'M GETTING CALLUSES!  From weight-lifting.  It is awesome, and makes me feel a little like a bad-ass.  Even though practically speaking, I really need to be pushing myself more.  I did our WOD today with a 35 pound bar.

WOD 3/14/12:
5 rounds of:
10 hang cleans
10 front squats
10 bent-over rows
1 minute rest in-between rounds

But I didn't have too much trouble finishing it though, so I probably should have had 40-45 lbs.  I'm learning. The thing I really love most about Stoneway Crossfit is that in EVERY class I've had, there has been at least one coach taking the class - this not only makes me feel like I'm doing something that's actually worthwhile/challenging, but it means that I have someone besides the person leading class to look to for good form and to ask questions of, etc. They're usually great about motivating people, too, as a lot of times we break in to small teams and you'll have a coach on your team who helps get the most out of you. Anyhow, it's awesome.

And today was especially awesome. I'm not exactly sure why, I think it's mostly a combination of things. I finished my last final of the quarter yesterday (YES OMIGOD YES), but the joy/relief didn't really seem to set in till today - that may be most of it. But I just felt really great after the workout - and then I caught the bus back to U-District, and made an impulse decision to get Korean food (instead of walking up to 50th to get an overpriced vegetable juice like I maybe should have).

I couldn't find what I wanted on the english menu, so I told the guy I wanted ddukbokki*** and I apparently didn't fuck up the pronunciation too bad, because he went, "Oh, okay!" Then I sat and looked at my Ancora music (I was headed to rehearsal after eating), and mouthed words/rhythms to the christian rock that was playing on the stereo (this would normally drive me insane, but it didn't bother me today). They brought my food out, sans side-dishes (probably because then saw I was american and so probably wouldn't eat them, which is mostly true, although I usually take a couple of stabs at them). I ate my ddukbokki, and not JUST the rice-cake/fish-cake! I made a very concerted effort to eat the vegetables in the sauce as well (mostly carrots and onions), and I definitely put more away than usual. I'm training myself to eat onions now, and it's going well so far (as long as the pieces don't get too big). Also I had some of the house tea - which is mostly flavored by rice?!?  Seems odd, but I really like it.

*** Ddukbokki is DELICIOUS.  There's very little to it, and it's usually sold as a street food in Korea.  I saw it in a lot of K-dramas, and always thought it looked intriguing.  I was really happy when I found out it's pretty common in korean restaurants in america.  All it is is sliced rice cake (so rice that's been mashed up and formed into things like solid pasta tubes), fishcake, and vegetables (carrots, onions, and spring onions for the most part) in this really spicy sauce.  I like it so much I went out and bought the ingredients to make it, based on the recipe below (although I still haven't found dried anchovies, and the fish cake I found isn't the right kind, and isn't as good).  It probably doesn't taste authentic, but it does taste HOT, and I'm pretty sure that's the main point.

Anyway. Dinner was delicious.  And afterwards I was still kind of high-as-a-kite, climbing on the scaffolding while waiting for my bus and such. And then my choir rehearsal was really fun, although I'm sure most of the other girls thought I was on crack because I was literally BOUNCING for most of the rehearsal.  It's been an awesome day over-all, and especially from 4:30 on.  And hopefully the awesome will continue.  I'm off to take a shower before bed, so I can get up and go to a morning crossfit class so that I have more time in the afternoon to come home and clean my apartment because I'm having a PARTY tomorrow night!  Hurrah!  and Huzzah!  and Hurray!

<3