Ending the Paleo Challenge

I decided to finish off the Paleo challenge this weekend for a few reasons:

1. It has been 5 weeks (even though I cheated a little the first week and DID keep drinking wine throughout!)

2. I have seen some dramatic results in both my skin and digestion and would like to figure out the root of the problem rather than continuing to avoid everything

3. School starts this week and I would like to start including more variety in my breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Mainly, I NEED to add back protein pancakes---there will be a post coming up on these soon :-)

4. We went away to a cute little inn in the Berkshires for the past two days and I had the opportunity to have a truly delicious 8 course meal prepared gluten free for me.  I was not about to tell the chef, "Oh, please take out all dairy and grains and added sugar for me too-thanks!"


All in all, this challenge was a great experience.  I re-learned some of the discipline that I lost somewhere along the way the past few years.  My cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates dramatically decreased (even at "that time of the month").  My skin looks completely different. There are still some dark spots from acne scars, but I have seen no new blemishes for 5 weeks now.  This hasn't happened since I was around fourteen, before having those pesky female hormones.  My stomach also feels incredible.  Sitting at dinner last night, I said to Geoff, "My stomach hasn't hurt for a few weeks! It's crazy!".  He looked at me like I was a little crazy myself, but I really think I got used to being in pain all the time, and have experienced a great deal of relief the past three or four weeks.  Lastly, I got in to a great planning-prepping-eating routine.  There was a fruit and veggie at every meal. There was a protein at every meal.  I made super nutrient dense choices.  I really started practicing all the habits I preach! 

A sample day looks something like this:

Breakfast: spinach, tomatoes and scrambled eggs, 2 cups bing cherries
Lunch: 4 ounces turkey on Julian's Bakery coconut bread (grain free) with lettuce and tomato, carrot sticks and apple, 1 cup coconut milk
Snack: 1/4 cup almond butter spread over a banana
Dinner: sweet potato, salad with arugula, strawberries and pecans, 6 ounces salmon, steamed broccoli
Dessert: glass of wine and 1-2 peaches

I had plenty of food, maintained my body weight, and felt fantastic!

But I honestly cannot see myself eliminating all grains, beans, sugar, and dairy forever.  So, I'd like to see if I can sprinkle some things back in to my diet moderately while still experiencing these great results.  I'm going to try adding in one grain (oats or rice or ancient grain gluten free bread) and one dairy serving per day (yogurt or cheese) and see what happens over the next couple weeks.  It will be interesting to see whether it was really the elimination of foods or the development of new healthy eating patterns and increase in nutrient dense options really made the difference!  Either way, I'm glad I did the challenge, and I look forward to experimenting more over the next few months to find my own optimal nutrition plan!

Paleo banana bread

This stuff is delicious, and super easy to make!

All you need is:

6 cups almond flour

1 cup apple sauce

2 tbsp baking powder

4 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla

5 very ripe bananas

2 bread pans and some cooking spray to grease the pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a blender on high speed. Pour in to bread pans and cook for 50 minutes to one hour. Makes 2 loaves.

This is a fantastic way to get a no added sugar, no refined grain,  fruit and protein packed baked good.   If you want to spice it up a little, you can try the following:

Fall banana pumpkin bread

pumpkin instead of apple sauce and pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon

Indulgent chocolate banana bread

Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips before cooking

Nutty banana bread

Stir in chopped walnuts and an extra sliced banana before cooking

Rich banana bread

Use coconut oil instead of apple sauce 

Crossfit endurance short distance week 3

I mixed things up a bit this week and went back to some of my old run workouts that yielded good results in the past.  Trying out all the new CFE prescribed workouts was not really holding me accountable, as I had no "prescribed pace"...so I was really doing whatever the heck I felt like.  I went back to some of the workouts I used to do for short intervals, long intervals and tempo, and had a really great week of training! I held myself accountable with my garmin watch, which is a handy little device that won't let me lie to myself about my pace :-)

Sunday: 10 mile run with fast finish (6:08 mile) plus 10 by 30 sec hard/30 sec easy

Monday: crossfit and spinning

Tuesday: crossfit and hard 5 mile trail run with 10 by 100meter striders (I learned I am a very slow trail runner)

Wednesday: crossfit and spinning

Thursday: run workout: 6 by 1000 meters on rolling course with 3 min rest (6:05 pace average)

Friday: crossfit and 2 by 15 minute tempo run (6:50 average pace)

Saturday: rest!

Definitely making a turn for the better this week! I'm thinking this is a good schedule and good volume for non race weeks! It only allows for 1 day off per week, but I think taking out the Tuesday workout sometimes and resting on weeks where I feel tired or overworked will help!

Is it Worth it?

Last week I ran a 10k....with a 1 mile hill right around mile 2. And it sucked. And I was slow. But it made me think a lot about training and life and put some things in to perspective, and I'm glad I did it.

Around mile 2.5, I had lost 3 of my teammates from view and was feeling a little sorry for myself...I was also gasping for air up the hill and really worried that my post honeymoon legs wouldn't make it a full 10k....and then I saw one of my teammates come up from behind...it just gave me this feeling of relief that I had a buddy to work with and a sense I responsibility to run for something bigger than just me...and thought was enough to make me hammer down the hill and pull off a sub 20 minute 2nd 5k.

It was hard seeing the people I usually can keep up with so far ahead, but it made me think about the importance of one race in the grand scheme of things (not such a big deal), as well as made me think if a phrase I often ask my clients: "is it worth it?"

Usually, the "is it worth it question" is a little tool I use with clients trying to make a behavior change related to food or physical activity or time management to help them see the big picture a bit better.  A client who tended to have a bowl of ice cream after dinner each night found she was able to stop the habit by asking herself if it is "worth it" before eating  ice cream as she worked towards a weight loss goal.  Another client asks himself that question as he studies late in to the night for his grad school tests---is it worth it to stay up for another hour for some half ass studying and then be too sleepy to stay awake for the following day's classes? I have found it very useful in my practice with clients in a variety of areas as it causes them to pause and take a good, hard look at whether their behaviors align with their goals.

Last year after tanking in the Philly marathon, racing certainly did not seem "worth it". But last weekend, my answer to the "is it worth it" question was definitely more like a "yeah, I think so.".  My attitude towards running and racing has been about 90% adjusted, and I'm feeling ready to embrace the sport as something I do because I love my team and all the girls on it and I thrive off testing my limits and putting it all out there on the race course.  I've never really learned how to let go of a bad race and not let it determine my self worth for weeks at a time, so that's definitely a work in progress. But I'm pretty confident that with my awesome support system of husband/sister/close friends/teammates coupled with a healthier training regimen, I can learn to have that healthy relationship with running that I have always envisioned. And THAT makes all of this totally "worth it".

Cfe short distance training weeks 1+2

Week 1

Sunday run 13 miles

Monday crossfit and spin and run 5 miles 

Tuesday run (4 by 4 min hill repeats)

Wednesday crossfit and spin 

Thursday crossfit and run 8 miles with strides

Friday yoga

Saturday 10k race (10 miles run total)

Week 2:

Monday: crossfit and spin

Tuesday: run 8 by 2 minutes hard 

Wednesday: crossfit with 3 by 800 m runs in workout, spin

Thursday: crossfit

Friday: run with 5k tempo

Saturday: dynamic warmup, yoga

I'm liking my groove here....hard runs on days with no crossfit is the key for now, I think. The past few weeks its been a little tough to run hard between cf workouts, but taking more recovery seems to work well for me in terms of getting my workouts in at a decent pace!

True confessions

2 Tbsp. Ketchup...This was my rock bottom moment today.  I made a paleo meatloaf and I wanted, NEEDED, DESERVED ketchup. As I devoured it, I thought, "Laura, you are punishing your body with this sugary, salty, Calorie devoid food! Stop it!"  I put down the fork, walked away from the table, and gave my past 14 days of the Paleo Challenge a good, hard look.

I am 15 days in, and I have "cheated" a couple times on this 30 day Paleo challenge. Ok, 9 times. Some were not on purpose, and some definitely were (eg chocolate chips HAD to be mixed in my paleo chocolate chip cookies, and my ketchup today was certainly a moment to intentional weakness!)

I have stuck to the total elimination of grains, but the following slip ups have happened in my first 15 days:

Guilty as charged

1. 1 shot of tequila (it is Paleo, but not strict enough for the challenge diet)

2. 1 glass of champagne (same, see above)

3. 1 cider (same, see above)

4. honey in my tea one day (again, can also be considered Paleo, but not for the challenge)

5. salad dressing (Caesar) that definitely had traces of cheese in it

6. "Enjoy life" chocolate chips(dairy free and grain free, but plenty of sugar. worth every bite)

7. Soy lecithin (used as a preservative in some turkey jerky I ate. Noticed after the fact)

8. Added sugar in a trail mix (the mix contained dried cranberries, which have sugar added)
9. 2 Tbsp. Ketchup

 

Ok, I feel better. I just had to get it off my chest.

As I write this, I realize how tough it is to create a "perfect" elimination diet.  With gluten, it was necessary for me to do that a few years ago.  But Paleo is so much more restrictive that unless you are really making all your own stuff and are good at saying "no" to champagne at a celebration (which I certainly am not!), it is pretty difficult to get the jist!  

I was quite irrationally pissed at myself today for a small blip.  I would put 2 Tablespoons of ketchup on every bite of scrambled eggs I ate in college (yeah, pretty gross-I ate about a bottle a week), so I have actually come quite a long way.  In the past two weeks, I have significantly reduced sugar, grains, and dairy from the diet,  that's for sure!  I've noticed slightly better muscle definition (especially in my arms and back),  have no new breakouts on my face (just a couple little remaining blemishes that were there a couple weeks ago), have a lot less sugar cravings,feel satisfied after meals and am more aware of when I am getting full.

Taking out some of the added sugary desserts has been really good for me.  I had a situation last week where I was dying for ice cream.  I was able to talk myself off the ledge with the help of my wonderful husband, who convinced me I was tired and stressed and not hungry for ice cream.  It is amazing, even as a health coach and a nutrition professor, how unaware I was that my cravings for added sugar were driving most of my food choices, especially at night.  Going through this process has also been a great reminder of why I go through a very gradual process with my clients in changing habits at the pace of 1-2 per week or per month, as this is a much more achievable endeavor than this complete diet overhaul I have embarked on!

However, for my own little experiment, when it comes down to it, I have not been 100% compliant with my elimination diet. Therefore, I cannot really conclude whether or not the pure paleo lifestyle is the cure for my mild acne and whether or not it improves my recovery time after exercise.  I think now that I have gotten the hang of it, it is worth extending my challenge through another 30 days and really going for that 100% compliance armed with a few more tools in my toolbox.

Steps I have taken to be 100% prepared:
1. Car snacks-buffalo jerkey, unsalted nuts and raisins with no added sugar stored in my glove box.
2. Emergency baked goods: ordered some Paleo bread, wraps, and pizza dough from Julian's bakery---pretty awesome!, as well as some Paleo cookies and scones from White Lion Bakery.  I haven't tried them yet, but will be sure to write a review once I do! 

Here goes! New end date=September 8th (The day of my 1st cross country race and a big UMass crew reunion: if that isn't perfect timing for a celebration drink, I don't know what is!)
 

New Training "Plan"

Well, now that the marathon is off the table, I have to wrap my head around a fall of short races/crossfit training (plus take in to account Geoff's order of 2 days off per week).

So, I made myself up a little 16 week schedule that begins with the Bridge of Flowers this weekend, ends with the November Talking Turkey 6 miler in Holyoke, and has 4 cross country races, Tufts 10k, and the Philly marathon weekend 8k in between. 

I'm seriously psyched about training differently and aligning all this strength and conditioning with some races it might actually be helpful with, but it is going to take some shuffling of my schedule and thinking about exercise a lot differently. 

Every coach I have worked with has told me that "every workout has a purpose", and with all the junk miles I used to throw in, I never really took that seriously.  But with only 3 runs and 5 days of exercise total, there is no room for "junk".    Here's to new challenges!

So my new training plan will look something like this:

Crossfit endurance workouts will be WODS listed on the Crossfit Endurance website

Crossfit workouts will be WODS as listed on the Pioneer Valley Crossfit website

"Normal week" (no race): 4 crossfit workouts, 3 runs (1 short interval, 1 long interval, 1 tempo) over 5 days

eg: Monday crossfit
      Tuesday crossfit and long interval
      Wednesday crossfit
      Thursday yoga
      Friday crossfit and short interval
      Saturday tempo/time trial
      Sunday: yoga

or  Monday crossfit and short interval
     Tuesday off
     Wednesday crossfit
     Thursday crossfit and long interval
     Friday crossfit
     Saturday off
     Sunday time trial/tempo

Race week: 2-3 crossfit workouts, 3 runs (1 interval, 1 strider workout, race) over 5 days

eg: Monday: crossfit
      Tuesday: interval
      Wednesday: crossfit
      Thursday: crossfit, easy run and striders
      Friday: off
      Saturday: race
      Sunday: yoga

or   Monday crossfit and interval
      Tuesday off
      Wednesday crossfit
      Thursday crossfit
      Friday easy run and striders
      Saturday off
      Sunday race

Every week: at least one, but preferably 2-3 yoga days!

Avocado Deviled Eggs=Big Party Hit!

I was in charge of creating some appetizers for my friend's shower last weekend, and couldn't help but notice all the "avocado deviled eggs" recipes in food magazines and cooking shows lately!  Since we have 40 chickens, I always like to mix in some sort of egg recipe when I bring food to parties.

So, these super easy, super cute avocado deviled eggs were my choice.  They were super delicious, and a big hit!  Just make sure you make them no more than a couple hours before serving.  I took a couple on my ride home with me after the shower, and they were looking a little brownish by the end of the day (but I ate them anyway and they still tasted great)!

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Avocado Deviled Eggs
12 medium eggs, hard boiled and peeled
 2 large avocados

 1-2 tsp lemon or lime juice (optional, but will help keep from browning)
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 Tbsp mayo
paprika for the top of eggs

Directions:
Halve the eggs length-wise and remove the yolks to a bowl.  Arrange the egg white halves on a platter and set aside.

To bowl of yolks, add the avocado and mash with a fork until desired consistency. Stir in the lemon juice, mayo, salt and pepper.  spoon generous helping of this mixture in to each egg half and sprinkle the top with paprika!

Jalapeño Bacon is Amazing

It is no secret that my husband LOVES bacon.  He purchases about 1-2 lbs per week from a little market down the road, and typically consumes all but 2-3 slices that he leaves for me.  And somehow, he manages to maintain excellent cholesterol levels and a svelte physique.  If we have children, let's hope they inherit those genes!

Chicken Pear Bacon Gorgonzola Salad

I decided to get creative with the Jalapeño bacon he bought yesterday and came up with these two dishes!  The first is a Chicken, Pear, Bacon Gorgonzola salad.  I marinated a chicken breast in some Mexican spices, cooked up the jalapeño bacon and diced it small, picked some romaine lettuce from the garden outside, sliced up a pear very thin, and chopped up a quarter of an onion.  Then, I mixed it all together.  I was about to add dressing, but with the marinated chicken and the bacon, it was flavorful enough!  I left off the cheese on my portion, but topped Geoff's with some gorgonzola, which he said really brought the dish together!

Jalapeno Bacon Wrapped Dates

Next, I used the rest of the bacon (about 3/4 pound) to wrap around 24 pitted dates, each one stuffed with an almond.  I baked until the bacon was brown (about 15 minutes and 350 degrees), let cool, and served!  (Geoff suggested these might also be very delicious if stuffed with some gorgonzola instead of an almond!)  We ate a few of these with the salad, and dinner was absolutely amazing!  This was certainly a night where I felt no deprivation whatsoever by eating Paleo!

However, I can't help feeling a little skeptical about my bacon and egg consumption lately.  It just seems wrong to say no to greek yogurt and brown rice and YES to saturated fat and cholesterol.  After the next couple weeks, I'm definitely going to lay off the bacon for a while, but for now, it's going to get me through this challenge!

 

 

Watermelon Recipes!

My first week of Paleo eating has gone pretty well!  My energy is stable, I am finding plenty of things to eat, and am enjoying trying some new recipes!  I don't feel too much different or look too much different, but I'm going to give the full 30 days a shot and see what happens.

I made a couple of awesome watermelon-based recipes today that I thought I'd share:

1. watermelon bowl

2. watermelon gazpacho

1. Fruit Salad in Watermelon "Bowl"

This creation was really made because I don't have a fruit bowl big enough to handle the fruit salad I made for a 25-guest bridal shower I am attending tomorrow.  So, I found this awesome recipe where you actually use the watermelon itself as the fruit bowl! 

My bowl came out slightly less pretty than the one in the original recipe, plus I opted for some different fruits  (peaches, green grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, pineapple).  I would definitely recommend trying this as an easy party or potluck treat!

 

2. Watermelon Gazpacho

I made so much fruit salad that I could barely fit any watermelon pieces in there after I scooped all the flesh to make the "bowl".  So, I found this recipe for watermelon gazpacho:

I didn't use the red pepper, and I used fresh lime juice instead of the vinegar.  It wasn't quite chunky enough for me, but I think that is because the vitamix I use purees the heck out of anything you put in it, so if you have an awesome blender, you might want to leave a little extra "chunky stuff" out to add at the end.  

All in all, a successful Paleo week.  7 days down and 23 to go!  I think next week, I am going to try making a couple paleo baked goods.  My love for quick breads and cookies is going to push me over the edge soon if I don't plan ahead with an intervention :-)

Marathon Meltdown

Last weekend I had a marathon meltdown.  It all started Thursday when I REALLY didn't want to go for my run and wanted to do Crossfit instead, and worsened Friday when I forced myself to run a workout and my hamstring started tightening up, making me a little worried about the long weekend run.  The pinnacle was Saturday night, when, in the midst of stressing out about how the heck I was going to get in 13 miles before going to Boston for the day and speak at a camp at night,  I stated to Geoff that "running more than an hour right now seems pointless and is doing me more harm than good", and he replied, "Well then, don't do it!"

His advice was so simple, and so on point, that if I had a rational, non-obsessive runner mind, my reaction would have been "Yeah, you are right!" and ended it would have ended there...

But instead, it took mulling it over on a 13 mile run with a group of my running girlfriends at 6:30 in the morning to convince me that not running a marathon is "ok".  I  am very thankful for these rational and supportive people in my life.  

When it comes down to it, I am being ridiculous in my expectations: take on Crossfit, row my boat, do my yoga, run a marathon.  The whole point of starting Crossfit in the first place was to minimize training time and learn how to take care of myself a little better.  Instead, I just added it to my exercise "to do list".  Last week I felt burnt out, injury prone, and dreaded my workouts, and that's no way to carry out a training plan!

So, I am still going to use a Crossfit endurance training plan, but rather than jumping in to the longest distance I've ever run, I'll pull in the reigns and start with a more conservative approach with a 5k cross  country season.  This will actually give me the chance to practice some low volume, high intensity training, and allow me to progress in to a Crossfit endurance plan rather than jumping in full force like my usual self.  If I really want to figure out if this program "works", my gut tells me I need to be patient, give myself a year or so to get used to it, and THEN maybe think about some pr's and a marathon training schedule.

But for this season, Brian Mackenzie's short interval/long interval/time trial or tempo plan will be my plan to prep for cross country...with NO deviations! And maybe, just MAYBE after that I'll go for a race a little bit longer :-) For the next few weeks, I will progress from 3-5 hard endurance workouts (3 run/2 row), only adding when I can handle it.

Lastly, per Geoff's orders, I must up my yoga days/days off from one to two per week if I am to train at this higher intensity.  I'm not sure his rhyme or reason, but he always seems to be right. So, I'm going to listen!