1st Training Session - Pics!

Qamara - Workout #1 - doing body rows (works the same muscles as pull-ups when you aren't strong enough to do a pull-up yet). Qamara was WAY better at them that I was, but I am better at burpees. Andrea's comments: "Enjoy being stronger now, because she is going to quickly overtake you" Yeah, I know.

Kyle during Workout #1 - he was the last one to finish. But that's ok because he's sweet and nice and not super competitive. Although, I bet he gets more competitive as this goes on. He HATES waiter's walk. After the first workout, he told Andrea he wasn't hurting that much...hahaha Kyle, let's see how much you have to lift this week....

Me almost at the end of Workout #1 - at this point, I can't feel my fingers or wrists and I'm just hoping I don't drop the 60 lbs of dumbbells in my hands....because I'm totally numb. After dropping those weights, doing 5 burpees almost felt good...I felt so light!

Finally, note the stop sign in the back of this picture. Kyle & Adam (not pictured here) both slammed their barbell into it a bunch of times. In weeks to come, this stop sign may be obliterated.

That's all for now....until next week's pictures!

Day 19 - A great start!

Weight: ?? I'm at the shore!!!
Workout: Already completed for the day!
Diet: Will do very well today
Mood: About to get my study on for one of the last tests I will be taking...well, this year.

This AM's workout:
400 m dash
10 burpees

3 rounds of this for time

Completed in 11:30 at fairly high intensity (plus, it was HOT out) and got quite a few strange looks from the neighbors. That's ok.

I'm also proud of the fact that I packed all Zone appropriate meal fixings and have started off the day well with an egg white omelette w/ colby jack cheese and chicken sausage....delicious and very appropriate. I'm having an orange too for the carb and used a bit of olive oil to cook the sausage and eggs. I've also already had two bottles of water today...go me!

I also want to give a shoutout to my excellent behavior at Buddakan on Thursday night. For anyone who has ever been...heck, for anyone who has looked at the menu, you know there are a lot of delicious and very tempting options on there. I also need to thank Kyle for helping me to stay strong when we considered getting the ribs (dipped in hoisin sauce...hello pure sugar..).

We ended up having the most appropriate menu, consisting of:
Tuna tartare (which I ate without the pita crisps)
Seared scallops (where I avoided the rice noodles & pineapple)
Kyle had the filet which was fantastic
I had the sea bass served with haricot verts - a GREAT zone meal
And I only had one (ok maybe two) very small bites of the chocolate dessert and let Kyle eat the entire thing
And a glass of wine that Kyle had most of.

Yay!

I also have to confess that yesterday was not a good day at all. It was an incredibly busy and stressful day at work and therefore....
breakfast = did not have
snack = did not have
lunch = 2 slices of deli meat & a string cheese
snack = string cheese
dinner (eaten at 9PM) - salad w/ bacon & blue cheese (this was actually really zone friendly except I added more dressing than allowed...but it was a rough day), chicken tenders, and a glass of wine.

Not the worst day - I mean, I wanted to stop at the Asian buffet where I would have cheerfully consumed 3000 calories of refined sugars....but luckily I decided against it and Kyle knows not to get excited about actually doing these things.

Kyle is being the most supportive, wonderful man right now about all of this. Particularly because he doesn't understand this specific obsession of mine (how could he - he eats whatever he wants and doesn't gain a lb!!) but because he does it in a way that is supportive but not judgmental when I try to fall off the wagon. Then I feel guilty and I make the right choices.

I also have funny pics from last week's workout that I am going to post as well.

Ta-ta for now!

Day 16 - My first deadlift

Weight: -2 lbs
Exercise: Moderate/Strenuous
Diet: Gorged on way too much fat (i.e. sat around eating nuts all day)
Mood: HUNGRY!!!!!

Today was our first coaching session with Andrea and it was awesome. All of us had a great time, got our butts kicked, and got a great workout out of it.

I did my first deadlift!!!! Only 70 lbs....but hopefully I can do more soon.

We did 3 sets of 5 reps with that working weight.

Then two sets of 5 of body rows (similar to pull-ups, but you can leverage some of your body weight to help you)

Then the first workout!!! We did 3 rounds for time of a farmer's walk (using 60 lbs weight) then 5 burpees.

I beat everyone, my time was 5:11. I was very psyched - Andrea's right when she says I like to compete. I think I'd probably do better in a class situation too, but I'm not into this enough (yet) to start getting up at 5 in the morning!

Tomorrow is going to be a tough day for food since we are going out to Buddakan on a date. Check out the amazingness of this restaurant here: http://www.buddakan.com/

Andrea is sending me more pics of everyone and I will post additional ones throughout the week that are funny.

Day 15 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert

Sinful, delicious and oh so Zone friendly!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Melt

1 no sugar added fudgsicle pop
1 tsp peanut butter (or a bit more if you are ok with additional fat due to workouts/Crossfit)

Slightly melt fudgsicle in microwave so stick can be removed. Mix with 1 tsp of peanut butter. Top with sugar-free Cool Whip if desired.

Protein: 0 blocks
Carbs: 1 block
Fat: 2 blocks

Great snack, paired with some protein. Really takes the edge off chocolate cravings and the peanut butter adds richness and depth of flavor. Sounds simple, but really, really, good!!!

Day 15 - Ranch Chicken Salad

Ranch Chicken Salad

Easy to make - great dish to bring to a party that you can make ahead of time. Nice to serve with some fresh fruit on a lettuce leaf. Brings a little something extra to a traditional chicken salad recipe.

1 rotisserie chicken (the ones sold for $5.00 at the supermarket)
1 cup of celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup Almond Accents (original toasted flavor, slivered, in the bag)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup light ranch dressing

Cut white meat from chicken into small diced pieces, until you have about 2.5-3 cups. Use dark meat if necessary and desired. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Allow to set and chill for at least one hour before serving. Portion into 4 servings.

Per serving Zone counts:
Protein: 4 blocks
Carbs: 0.25 blocks carbs
Fats: you're going to be over on fats again, but if exercising, not as big of a deal

Day 15 - Spinach Strawberry Salad & Zone

I'm interested in becoming even more transparent and accountable so I will be posting daily/weekly fluctuations in weight and measurements. Don't get all excited....I'm still going to be slighly mysterious (after all, I am a girl!!!), but in order to view changes....it's important to track them. In addition, tomorrow starts our personal sessions with Andrea and the start of Qamara's blog as well, which will be linked to mine shortly. Finally, we will be posting both videos and pictures of us training on a weekly basis so we'll either be embarrassed or proud...whatever the case may be.

I'm counting measurements and weight from a starting in the Zone process, which will include adjectives about the day as well. It will be in the following format:

Weight: 0 lbs (baseline)
Measurements: TBD
Workout: None
Diet: Excellent
Mood: slightly hungry, motivated, excited

Next, a fantastic summer recipe that I could eat every day! Perfect for strawberry season right now and you could replace the berries in this with any other kind of berry or fruit for a bit of sweetness.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

6 cups washed baby spinach (0.3 block carbs)
2 cups quartered fresh strawberries (2 blocks carbs)
1/4 cup pecan pieces (10 blocks fat - you can decrease if you are worried about fats)
3 oz feta cheese, crumbled (2 blocks protein)

Dressing (will make enough for two salads or cut in half for just one)
1/3 cup raspberry vinegar (or any fruit vinegar)
1/2 cup Splenda (or other sugar substitute) (jury is out on if this is ok with Zone, but in moderation, probably fine)
1/4 cup olive oil (again, you are over on fats, but if exercising correctly and in moderation, a non-issue)
1 tsp dry mustard

Mix all salad ingredients together and toss with dressing right before serving. You can toast the pecan pieces in a skillet briefly for a nuttier flavor. The dressing really makes this salad - try it with other greens as well!

If split into two portions (dressing = 4 portions), while considerably over on fat content (which you can decrease by adjusting nuts and olive oil portions), this is about a 1 protein 1 carb - so perfect for a snack or for a filling part of a meal.

Day 14 - The Zone & a Renewed Focus

In place of a workout today, I took the time to do some well-needed reading and education on a nutritional topic. I read Barry Sears' Enter the Zone and Mastering the Zone. I really appreciate what he is trying to do and it is easy to see why so many athletes and "normal" people have reaped the benefits of his trials and work. I thought it would be important to summarize some of the findings and items that were of significant interest to me. From this point in the journey forward, I will be making more of a concerted effort to not only limit refined sugars and "bad" carbohydrates, but to also employ the ratio method of protein: carbs: fat that he suggests for the maximum health benefits.

The most interesting fact about the Zone is that it is not meant to be a "diet" or "weight-loss" book or program. The weight-loss that accompanies it is merely a byproduct of the true benefits (health, mental focus, emotional stability) that occur when your body chemistry is aligned and positioned to help you succeed in the best way possible.

Some things to note from this reading that I found most interesting:

Diabetic subjects following the Zone methodology compared to the recommended ADA diet showed the following results after an 8-week study:

1. Higher percentage of weight loss for Zone subjects
2. HgbA1c, typically thought of as the most accurate measurement of diabetic blood sugar control was down 3% for ADA users, compared to 12% (!!!!!) for Zone users
3. Triglycerides, a measurement included in heart disease and vascular disease risk, were down 25% in Zone users, but were actually UP 20% in ADA diet
4. Both diastolic & systolic blood pressure readings dropped for Zone users, but only the systolic dropped for ADA users - their diastolic reading was actually increased.

To keep the interest going, they studied the Zone users for another 8 weeks and they found that H1C levels dropped another 9% to just over 20% from original levels, triglycerides were down over 35% from original levels, diastolic/systolic bp readings had dropped over 10% from original levels, and total cholesterol levels were down approximately 10%.

I am not a type II diabetic, nor do I want to become one....I find it intriguing that a combination of food - or as Dr. Sears likes to note, treating food like a drug - where you need a certain dosage at certain times throughout the day can show these results.

Beyond health benefits, the books discuss the following - in that, if you keep yourself in the Zone, you will:

• think better, because in the Zone you are maintaining stable blood sugar levels
• perform better, because being in the Zone allows you to increase oxygen transfer to your muscle cells
• look better, because in the Zone you are shedding excess body fat at the fastest possible rate

I find it interesting (particularly for myself who has read a number of diet books, methodologies, etc) that for 220 pages, he discusses the science, evolution, and health studies behind this type of a plan. He doesn't do the usual diet mumbo-jumbo about helping the reader create a diet plan and put together shopping lists and recipes and then talk about a healthy exercise plan...and of course, the requisite chapter on mental health and reduction of stress.

I highly recommend both books - Enter the Zone is more for nerds like me who love to understand the science and biochemistry behind it all and Mastering the Zone is more of a condensed version to help people get started right away without most of the science.

I will be adding more interesting links and Zone-friendly recipes as I find them.