Wednesday, May 22

Nutrition: GOTD is 1700 calories and W30D3 (exception: Uberbar). Tried chopping off 100 calories so that I can match my lowest week since I began this round of fat loss w/ Steve.

Consumed: bag jerky, Uberbar, 2c reg w/ T coconut milk; plain Americano; egg bake, grapefruit, apple, 2c reg; taco salad (iceberg, salsa, pico, tomatoes, black olives, seasoned beef & chicken), 2c reg; apple, 2c decaf; bag jerky; salad w/ half avocado & balsamic, c strawberries, protein pudding (.5s powder + 2T coconut milk), 2c tea, 2c decaf w/ T coconut milk
Tally: 825cal P, 550cal C, 350cal F = 1725 total

Sleep: 8 hours in bed, 9p-5a, 92% quality. Up for b/r at midnight AGAIN, woke at 3 and dozed in/out after that. Got up feeling rested.

Body: OOF. Rather sore all over, glutes primarily, hams secondarily, lats & arms as icing on the cake (but it's a good hurt). Did class anyway, as noon meeting blocked that workout option. Dead-leg NG pulls before (4) and after (5, 3).

Wearing pointy-toed tiny heels for the second straight day, and feeling a vague ache in left big toe joint (not a good hurt). Oh, pretty shoes, why must you be so cruel to my feets?

Acne: I have a new round of blemishes...Sunday's lunch, I imagine. GD.

Brain: Great workout, good work day, but a frustrating eve at home: inspecting water in basement (boo) with Hop & Hank, and Hank ran off (boo). To be returned by the neighbor with cattle who implied that Hank is likely to get shot next time he visits (fuck me, I can't argue with the man's livelihood). I just don't know why Hank ran off when we were right there to be trekked around with: we were in a basement he didn't have access to, he should have been more than happy to stick around. But after he came back: sweet as peach pie. WHAT DO I DO WITH HIM?

I am set to meet with Steve on Friday for the final meeting of my NCP agreement...I don't think I'll extend or renew. This weekly Friday-fast-day plan is working quite well for me, so I'll stick with it until it doesn't. It's gradual and slow progress, yes, but it's progress, and more importantly the body and brain are feeling really good, so why should I change anything?

Interesting thing happened today: read both Brian's & Greg's race reports, and they made me want to hit trails. Though not run a race, per se. Just get in the woods. Including for my summer vacation. Even backpacking sounds awesome! Even when I got the email on the Norseman Trail Run, I still couldn't decide if I'd do it or just volunteer at it. Anti-race mode.

Another interesting thing today: had a coworker tell me I "need to go back" to Boston but found myself immediately thinking "NO I DON'T" and trying to make him understand I was very hesitant to decide yet. And yet, when I got another email from BAA asking me to confirm my eligibility, I thought it was about to tell me I needed to register NOW (not August) and my gut was saying YES I WILL.

I am a mess...if I think about it all. Which, actually, I'm not. This is just where all the brain vomit is channeled. And why you shouldn't bother reading it.

Grateful: For sunshine. Basked in it a little bit in the eve, finally.

Tuesday, May 21

Nutrition: GOTD is 1800 calories and Whole30 day 2 (exception: Larabar). No toast or Americano cravings this AM, excellent! Got really cold, as if I were fasting, just before 11a, so I added an extra snack. Odd. Otherwise good, except for discovering I've been underestimating pork & yam calories. Oops.

Consumed: 2 eggs, side pork, Brussels sprouts, roasted cauliflower & garlic, c yam, 3c reg w/ T coconut milk; 2c reg; 2 egg bakes, grapefruit, 2c reg; Larabar; pork roast, c yam, apple; salad w/ balsamic, bag peas, grapefruit, apple

650cal P, 1075cal C, 150cal F = 1775 total

Sleep: 9.25 hours in bed (!), 845p-6a, 81% quality. Felt much better than that, though I was up for b/r at midnight, weirdly. I'd blame the % on Oscar again, as I do remember dozing in/out for the last couple hours, maybe, but intense dreams were happening. Alarm woke me, but I felt very rested.

Body: Slight aches in shins, which doesn't make much sense, but given no soreness anywhere else: hooray! Excellent session w/ NG pulls: 8, 6, 5, 4 - now ahead by 3 for my goal. Hip, hip, hooray!

Something "small" and more nebulous than a PR, but more awesome from a big-picture viewpoint: the elbows feel just fine! (Thanks, Chief.)

Brain: Very good. Good morning with pooch (Hop testing fence a bit with him) though he is still in the garage today. Enjoyed blooming trees and flowers - just in a good mental place. Productive work day. Ran into Holea while grocery shopping (15+ lbs pure produce, thankyouverymuch). 

Hop suffered the evening Hank frustrations, as he once again ran off. Fence testing shows no weaknesses; I believe he is simply powering through the shock in search of fun. Now, how the hell do we deal with that?

Grateful: That Dustin gave me this description yesterday: "Three-time Boston qualifier!" I laughed so hard. It really needs an asterisk, but hey, it's still true!

Monday, May 20

Nutrition: GOTD is 1800 calories and Whole30-style intake. Gotta get this going, I'm hating my face too much. 'Twas easy-peasy to manage today. Exception: can Zevia.

Consumed: dried plums; egg, chicken sausage, side pork, roasted cauliflower & garlic, Brussels sprouts, half sweet potato, 3c reg w/ 2T coconut milk; 2c reg; 2sl egg bake, banana, 2c reg; pork roast, half sweet potato, apple, can Zevia; bag jerky; salad w/ half avocado & balsamic, grapefruit, bag peas, c senna tea

Tally: 775cal P, 750cal C, 75cal F = 1800 total

Sleep: 7.75 hours in bed, 915p-5a, 51% quality. Wow, it was bad, but not THAT bad. Wide awake at 1, h/s/g, up for b/r, plums, water, took ages to fall back. No idea why, yesterday's calories & macros were spot on. Argh! Sleep graph shows very light sleep after that, which feels possible, but also could've just been Oscar being angsty, as Clyde spent the night in the garage.

Body: A little blah in the AM. Did class warm-up and felt seriously fatigued all over. What the?

Good thing I got it out of the way before session, where I nailed a bench press PR of 115. YEAH!! Also logged NG pulls, 6/7/6/5, now just a teensy little 7 behind schedule.

Acne: Kicking off a Whole30 eating plan until the skin clears up, then will add back things one by one. God damn, I wanted toast this morning. And an Americano. Otherwise, no problemo.

Brain: Annoying start to the day was Hank barking his head off just before 6am. Turns out Clyde was in the garage (all night??) and when I (like an IDIOT) tried to carry him into the house with Hank barking and jumping right there, he naturally Flipped The Fuck Out and swung claws and teeth and landed two nice neat round little tooth holes on my arm...felt so jarring, like he hit bone or something, and I ended up dropping him on the floor! Good thing he's had all his shots.

Work was fine, a productive day.

Today Dustin told me to start thinking about my options for the next round of programming, but I’m really enjoying feeling good so I don't know that I want to change anything. As I'm also liking all of the moves, challenged but nothing intimidating, I think I’m probably good staying here for now. But here’s an example of my stupid, stupid brain: he said he’s been thinking maybe we could add on some conditioning, but yet if I can run without injury and do my class when I feel like it and generally feel pretty good every day, then maybe that’s a bad idea - but what do “I” want and is my body comp moving in the right direction and BOOM do you know what my brain instantly translated that to? “You’re not dropping any fat, you look the same, we need to give you some conditioning.” Shut up, stupid cunty bitch in my head! I have noticed changes but they are pretty subtle, as they should be at only .5 lbs/week. Dustin don’t see me nekkid, he ain’t gonna see those changes yet. And oh yeah, he wasn't insinuating that I'm not making progress, he was just laying out the considerations I should take a look at. Seriously, where do I get a new brain?

 Grateful: For sugar snap peas. Nature's candy!

Sunday, May 19

Nutrition: GOTD is 1800 calories and three meals, no snacks. Quite easy today: good rest, busy, outside.

Consumed: 2 eggs, chicken sausage, side pork, Brussels sprouts, roasted garlic & cauliflower, 2sl toast, grapefruit, 2c reg w/ T coconut milk; 2 eggs, hamburger patty, American fries, 2 apples, many c reg (forgot supps); can Zevia; salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette & whole avocado, roast pork, 2sl toast w/ .5T coconut oil & T jelly, senna tea
Tally: 650cal P, 700cal C, 450cal F = 1800 total

Sleep: 8.25 hours in bed, 11p-715a, 86% quality. Looks like I woke up at 3, but I don't actually remember it. Got up a little tired yet, but rest of the day energy was good.

Body: Stiff and creaky in AM. Loosened up okay, spent day doing chores, easy gardening, barefoot or Vibrams the whole time. Did some playing with Hank; ran a tiny bit in the yard with him, just 30s or so, and lower legs, ankles, etc all felt stiff - but given 5 miles in Vibrams yesterday: pretty darn awesome! Finally had a Sunday with time to OH press, but have Dustin tomorrow and needed a rest day. No pulls either, resting the elbows.

Brain: When I checked the time at 715a, the phone showed me I had a voicemail from my eastern neighbor, telling me Hank was spotted near the creek, so it was a poor start to my day. Drove very slowly, calling his name, didn't find him, came home ready to post a "free dog" ad. I do not know what to do with a dog that keeps running off, and am feeling pretty defeated by him.

My day went much better from there. Very productive on chores, peas & tomatoes planted, lunch & chatting with one of my bestest friends, soaked up tons of Vitamin D, playing with Hank, a productive husband, nicely dirty bare feet. A pretty great day!

Grateful: That Oscar finally landed his claws on Hank's snout. Probably the only way he will learn that cats aren't fun at all.

Saturday, May 18

Nutrition: GOTD is 1800 calories and one Larabar. Very snacky and ended up just over, and had two bars. Much better than last Saturday, I'll take it!

Consumed: dried plums; egg, chicken sausage, side pork, Brussels sprouts, 2sl toast, c strawberries, 2c reg w/ T coconut milk; apple, almond milk latte; half sweet potato, Larabar, Uberbar, c reg; bag peas, bag jerky, bottle kombucha, bottle DCP; egg, side pork, roasted cauliflower, 3sl toast, T jelly, grapefruit, 2c decaf w/ T coconut milk (forgot eve supps)

Tally: 550cal P, 1050cal C, 350cal F = 1950 total

Hot tip: Sugar snap peas on sale at Elden's!! I bought 3 bags and devoured 1 on the drive home.

Food prep:
-3 sweet potatoes baked
-pizza egg bake (egg whites, black olives, turkey pepperoni, fake cheese, onions, garlic) cut into 12 slices

-roasted cauliflower and garlic for breakfasts
-slow cooker pork roast w/ blackberries & TS's Raspberry Jalapeno Sauce inspired by a PaleOMG recipe (made on Wednesday)

-6 salads (carrots, cauliflower, celery, peppers, mixed herbs)

Sleep: 6.25 hours in bed, 845p-3a, 71% quality. Woke to thunderstorm at 2a, hit bathroom, ate plums, but couldn't fall back. Gave up and got up and started my day, assuming I could do a big nap post-run. Which I did get, though not until 230-415p, but it was nicely solid.

Body: Got up feeling great for once, the rest day done me good! 5.21m trail run was fantastic, could not have felt better. Happy!

NG pulls at NSS, 6x4.
 

Brain: Tired but good. Some dog frustrations but deferred them to Hop. A great run, fun times at the dog park, a great day of food prep, very productive, and even time to be lazy and veg in front of the TV.

Grateful: For the dog park. It does Hank a world of good.

Read This: Amy Kubal

C’mon Get Happy!

How important are those last 5 pounds, that magic body fat percentage, that 600 pound deadlift, or that sub 2:30 marathon time? Is that stuff really going to make you ‘happy’? Being healthy is a huge part of being happy, but when trying to ‘chase happy’ leads to obsession, fear and harm; healthy is the last thing you’re going to be. And I’d venture to guess that your family and your friends aren’t going to up and disown you if you weigh 140 pounds instead of 135. They aren’t going to love you more when you get that muscle up or finish that marathon. Right now you’ve likely got a whole lot of people that think the sun shines out of your kiester.

And on a related note, they aren't going to love you LESS since you can't do a muscle up or didn't finish that marathon. You're already that person, and they already love you.

This was exactly what I needed to read right now, to get Boston out of my mind, and FUN + TRAILZ back in. Nothing new, not really, but I need the reminder regularly, especially right now.

Find the full meal deal here: http://robbwolf.com/2013/05/16/cmon-happy/ - a quick read, absolutely worth your five minutes.

Friday, May 17

Nutrition: Fast day. That means 2.5lbs of fat loss, baby! (Yeah, yeah, I know that isn't necessarily true.) Hunger pangs at 830a, cold followed on its heels at 930a...and continued until I fetched another coffee just before noon. New fast day indulgence: TWO fancy coffees justified! Hungry for the second time at 3p, couldn't shake the cold after that.

(Someone remind me not to go sleeveless on fast days, m'kay?)

Consumed: 2c reg; Americano w/ SFS x2; water; NC - that's it!

Sleep: 8.25 hours in bed, 930p-545a, 82% quality. Woke around 3a h/s/g and wide awake for just a little bit and somehow fell back without getting up. Felt better than 82%, AND I felt good & rested. Hooray for sleeping in!

Body: Feeling great. Not even stiff when I got up - wow!! Glutes developed a bit o' tightness mid-day, but nothing too annoying. Planned to sprint with Holea but she pooped out after painting all afternoon, and I was easily convinced to save the legs por la mañana.

Elbows do not feel any worse, despite doing all of this yesterday: 100 OH presses, 100 DB rows, 36 TRX rows, 34 dips, and 20 pull-ups. Yay! And also, wow, that was dumb to add clas, (even at light baby weights) when my goal is a shit ton of pullups, not keeping Bob company! Anyway, rest day from pulls as direct by Chief; begrudgingly so.

Brain: Really good. Not the most productive morning at TS (everyone was decidedly chatty), but I did knock a few "buggy" things off my to-do list. And was uber-productive over at NSS! Headed home to my HUSBAND, what a thought!

Bummer of the night was that Hank disappeared less than 5 minutes after being let outside. I found him on my second drive through the neighborhood, and I am sad. I don't know what to do about him; do we have to hook him to a tie out all day??

Grateful: For the possible end of pumping season; even if this only turns out to be a brief respite, Hop is to be home all weekend!!!