Day 7: How to Indulge and Cheat

It is the Fourth of July weekend and what does that mean? Lots of barbeques, beer, cakes and tasty treats at every turn.  This Sunday, I have a surprise going away party to attend and the main menu items will be pizza, an assortment of chips and dips and various desserts in the form of cupcakes and cookies to name a few. With all the social eating events this weekend, I had to plan accordingly to stay on track, still have fun and not feel tortured! It’s tempting to allow myself a cheat day, but I find this method to be a little scary.  A cheat day can lead to a justified gorge fest and undo all the progress you worked so hard for, sending you into an unproductive, vicious cycle. Having an entire day to cheat is too much time to make too many bad decisions.  On that same note, I still think it’s perfectly ok to cheat but I think there’s a better way of doing it. Here are some tips to plan a smart rebellion straight from Marks Daily Apple:

1. Don’t Invest Empty Calories

Things like candy are really high in calories but hardly offer any protein or fiber to satisfy the body’s needs. You would have to eat 30 snicker bars to get your daily protein and fiber. The other problem, you’re probably gonna feel hungry again in an hour.  Pretty much, candies won’t satisfy hunger, they will only satisfy cravings so it’s important to know the difference!

– Hunger is physiological, cravings are psychological

– If you are hungry, your stomach may growl (cravings don’t cause stomach growls)

– Hunger grows, cravings pass

– Hunger increases the likelihood of cravings, but cravings can be brought about from memory, sights (commercials), and most often smells (the brownie scent pumped into the air around Mrs. Fields’ cookie stands at the mall).

2. Go For Taste, Not Volume.

The sugar in candy stimulates your taste buds, which send signals to release endorphins and dopamine into your brain, which means happy fun times. Of course you could also exercise or have sex if you’re looking for those mighty endorphin power rangers.

So, the more candy, the more dopamine, right? In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Malthusian law of diminishing returns is applicable to candy. The first taste of a food releases the highest percentage of dopamine to the brain – sometimes as much as 70% of the total dopamine released during a meal. With every bite after, less and less dopamine is released, until that third scoop of ice cream could probably be replaced with celery pulp and you wouldn’t be getting any more of a happy kick.

To make matters worse, frequent large amounts of sugar cause the taste buds to develop a resistance to stimulation. It takes more and more sugar to get the same amount of dopamine. Sort of like crack cocaine! So keep the quantity small, you’re saving the calories but still getting almost as much sweet brain happiness. Remember, sweets are not going anywhere, so you don’t have to eat them every time you crave them.

3. Don’t feel Guilty.

This is important. The punish/reward system is the trademark of the compulsive eater. Eating candy causes feelings of guilt, which leads to extreme dieting /self-loathing/fasting. Fasting leads to intense cravings, this leads to binge eating more candy, which leads back to guilt. You know the cycle, don’t fall prey. We’ve already established that candy isn’t a food. Treat it like a movie, a walk on the beach, a heated chess game, a root canal at the dentist’s. You know, the fun things in life. Candy costs a bit of calories the way movies cost money, beach walks cost time, and heated chess games cost relationships and chess shaped bruise marks. Trips to the dentist, of course, have no cost. We don’t espouse “cheating”, but nobody is perfect – an indulgence now and then is part of a healthy, happy life. If you are going to cheat, do it rarely and do it well.

The flip side of guilt is false security. This comes in the form of sugar free candies. Sugar free candies are a common ground for people who love sweets but don’t want to feel guilty. However, sugar free candies are still candies. They don’t do anything for hunger, and they often still contain high amounts of empty calories. Sugar free candies aren’t healthy (there’s no nutritional value going on), they are simply less unhealthy than sugar-filled candies. And keep in mind again: less dopamine fun with sugar free candies.

4. Chocolate is Better.

Chocolate is the most craved food in the world and there’s a reason. It’s filled with a chemical called phenylethylamine. Phenylethylamine is found to trigger a feeling similar to “falling in love.”

Cocoa also contains potent antioxidants called phenols. This is the same good stuff found in red wine. But before you start scarfing Hershey’s kisses; be warned that the milk and other chemicals in milk chocolate negate many of the powerful antioxidant effects of cocoa. So, stick with the dark stuff.  My favorite, Valrhona dark chocolate!

5. Get the Best

You’d have to be a millionaire to get fat off of Godiva chocolates. One rose petal champagne-and-almond paste dark ganache might cost as much as three bags of Skittles, but you’ll enjoy it more.

My Cheat of the Day

For today’s pizza party (2nd day in a row of pizza, a popular choice this weekend!) I loaded up on two servings of a garden salad with dressing on the side, 2 handfuls of grapes, 1 slice of veggie pizza.  My cheat consisted of 1/2 a chocolate s’more, a rice crispy treat, a cream puff and a bite of a mini red velvet cupcake. The list sounds long but the volume of food was relatively small considering they were bite size treats. I’ve always been a grazer; I rather take little bites for a taste of everything versus eating the whole dish. Also, I stuck to water the entire day since I don’t typically drink. The damage for my cheat today? 1,031 calories and a little more carbs that usual.

TODAY’S STATS RECAP

1. Workout: 

–2 mile run with our dog Clyde (she needs exercise too!)

-WOD For Time (Count up the total number of breaks you needed to take for the Push Ups and V Ups, and hold a L-Hang for 3 seconds times the number of breaks. For example, 15 breaks = 45 second L-Hang.)

100 Push Ups (1st break at 46, 5 breaks total)

Recover 3 minutes

100 V Ups (1st break at 50, 3 breaks total)

L Hangs for 3 seconds x # of breaks taken (3 seconds x 8 breaks = 24 seconds)

*L hangs as prescribed for 18 seconds, modified for last 6 seconds. I couldn’t keep my legs up!

Total Time for WOD: 12:50

2. Food

Calories: 1,031/ Carbs: 162g / Fat: 25g / Protein: 46g (MyFitnessPal)

Day 6: Avoiding Post-Workout Gluttony & Staying On Track Despite Cookies and a Pizza Party

When you’re trying to get ripped in 45 days, there’s a vicious cycle to be cautious with.  After intense hard work, it can be really easy to convince yourself to eat everything in sight. In your mind, the calories are canceled out by all the hard work and you think to yourself, “I earned those extra calories!” This sense of calorie entitlement straddles a fine line.  If the goal is to get lean, it’s crucial to not let your eyes get bigger than your appetite, especially after a hard workout. A study in the International Journal of Obesity and Related Medical Disorders, the idea of “working up an appetite” is a myth. If you overeat after a hard workout, it’s probably because you’ve convinced yourself that you deserve a reward-but super-sizing your meals will only counter your efforts to get lean.

Saturday is sparring day which consists of 3 hours hard work and tons of calories burned.  By the end, I’m soaked head to toe and you can ring my hair out.  The first thing I reach for is water and lots of it. I typically gulp 2 liters as soon as I walk through the door. This not only helps to rehydrate and quench my thirst but it curbs my appetite so I don’t totally blow it when I sit for my first meal of the day.

Later today, I was also assigned the task to help decorate cookies for a going away party. That’s right, cookies! And later, a UFC / Pizza party!!! Ahhhh! Cookies AND Pizza!!!?

It was going to be a test of will.  So did I totally blow my day and offset all the good work this week? Nope, not even. I simply did some planning and mental preparation.  In summary, I passed on the cookie (all but one bite) and for dinner, I loaded up on veggies, followed by a veggie pizza and a handful of dark chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, all of which put me right at 1,156 calories for the entire day. Not too shabby! AND I got to be in the company of good friends.  The last thing I wanted to be is the person who makes a huge fuss about their diet restrictions at a party. Look, no one wants to hear you complain “Oh, I can’t possibly eat that pizza, it’s so fattening” while everyone else is shoving it in their face.  It’s just rude! I’d rather be a part of the party but do so without sabotaging my goals. I’m happy to say that today was successful!

 TODAY’S STATS RECAP

Workout: 3 hours Kickboxing & Sparring

Food: Calories: 1,154 / Carbs: 110g / Fat: 35g / Protein: 59g

Day 4: Jekyll or Hyde WOD is Evil

Before bed last night, I hopped onto the Crossfit360 site to see the post for the next days’ Workout of the Day (WOD). It was appropriately titled “Jekyll or Hyde.”  Basically, you have two WODs to choose from; Jekyll or Hyde.  Here’s what the good and the evil looked like:

Jekyll Option

3 rounds:

20 wall balls

20 pushups

20 sit-ups

Honestly, this option is like a warm-up…but that’s expected from the warm and friendly Mr. Jekyll.  Now, let’s meet his evil alter ego…

Hyde (aka The Filthy 50) Option

For time:

50 Box jumps, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettle bell swings, 26 pounds
Walking Lunges, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 16 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

You can imagine my reaction reading this after today’s ridiculousness, then limping to bed and smelling like Tiger balm from head to toe. I was overcome by a feeling of dread, thinking “are you sucking ferious?” Because of course I’m gonna do the Hyde/Evil WOD despite the options.  Like my better half Andrew always says, “It’s Time to Ranger the F* Up!” So that’s just what I did today and in 33:04 no less. So far, this has been, hands down, the hardest WOD.

Before the evil Hyde workout, I managed to plug in some sparring too.  Overkill, you say? Sure…maybe, but with midterms tomorrow, I’ve spent all day studying. Study mode makes me a bit stir crazy which I can usually remedy with frequent dance breaks (what I call dancing, someone else may call jumping around like a crazy person, sloshing my hair around, but whatever).  Unfortunately, dance breaks just aren’t enough.  Besides, sparring is my favorite!

Sparring, oh how I missed thee!

 I stopped sparring for almost 2 months since my hand injury and let me tell you; it was hard to part with a Saturday ritual of almost two years. I’m back in the saddle again and man, it feels GOOD!

I must say, I’ve been lucky to have met a great group of gals at my dojo who’ve been awesome sparring partners.  After sparring at several places, with different people of all levels, both chicks and dudes- these girls are by far, the toughest…and the most fun to hang out with too 🙂 I have nothin’ but love for ya’ll…despite all your punches to my face.

 

RECAP OF TODAY’S STATS

 Workouts: ~2 hours (Sparring & Hyde WOD)

 Food: Calories: 1154/ Carbs: 98g/ Fat: 22g/ Protein: 104 g

Yay!! Protein intake is getting better!

Day 3

Despite coming up short with my calorie intake yesterday, I felt great for today’s workouts (yep, that’s plural).  I must say, that I’m pleased to see that I’m already falling back to my normal eating habits without compromising my energy-level to get through tough workouts, like today.  One of my concerns in taking on this project was the daunting task of retraining my mind and body to kick habit I acquired in the last two months of constant eating.  Normally, I only when hungry and stop soon as I get full but in effort to gain weight in the last two months, I had to drastically change my eating habits by eating more frequently throughout the day, even when I wasn’t hungry.  Sure, it may sound great, like a Las Vegas All You Can Eat Buffet! But honestly,  after a while, I really started to feel sick especially with the rollercoaster my body was on in terms of  spiking insulin and crashing blood glucose levels! Blah!

Why do feel like crap after a big lunch?

So, what exactly is insulin and what does it have to do with making you feel sluggish, especially around 3pm, after that huge Italian lunch?  Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it’s main job is to regulate the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats in your body. Just a few minutes after you clean that plate of pasta, your pancreas kicks into overdrive and releases a bunch of insulin to try and transport all that carb-a-licious goodness out of your bloodstream and into cells for energy or fat storage. The rush of glucose (aka, your pasta) sends a message to your body that something is out of balance. In response to try and get you back to normal, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol which explains that “high” feeling when your scarfing down your meal. A couple hours later, you suddenly feel like you can barely keep your eyes open, walk in a straight line or complete a sentence.  This is the dreaded sugar crash. All that insulin released into your blood is still hanging around in excess causing your blood glucose levels to drop below normal.  Your brain, which requires glucose to function, will just have to do with the supply shortgage- hence the disorientation experienced during the “crash.”  We’ve all been there. Not a big deal once in a while- but on a daily basis, what a horrible feeling! More disturbing is what this rollercoaster does to your system. The rush of glucose consumed not only send your organs and hormones into stressful overdrive, but there has been research to show that your immune system also takes a crap during this process. No bueno!

Anywho! That was your physiology lesson for the day 🙂 Back to my recap for the day.

WORKOUTS

I recently joined a gym (I cringe calling it a gym, because I’m kinda of anti-gym…but this one is very different). Since my hand injury from Fight Night II, I really had to find other things to do other than punch and train the way I was. This really sucked. Not only did I miss the sport for two months but I missed the 2nd family and home I had at my dojo.  Not to worry, I’m still in touch with my dojo peeps and look forward to coming back and switching it up again. For now, I need variety and new challenges and I feel that I’m getting it from the Crossfit360 gym here in Long Beach. I can now mix up Crossfit, Krav maga (which I always wanted to try), kickboxing and sparring.

I love days like today. Not only was I productive in knocking out 3 sections of MCAT review after 2 hours of Ochem lecture and paid the bills but I got in 3 ass-kicking workouts for the day, followed by a homecooked dinner for two, in less than twenty minutes! Yay me! (Raising the roof motion)

Workout 1: 1 hour Kickboxing

FYI, this is not the kickboxing class where you punch the air synched to bad music. No offense to those who do, just thought I’d clarify. So what goes on during an hour of kickboxing? Today, it included lots of push-ups, speed work with focus mits, ground and  pound drills and round house kicks for power (NOT the “oh, I’ll just kinda kick the bag and pace myself.” The goal is to break the heavy bag people! Grrr!).  Might I also add the variety of music blazing in the back is usually something cool like old school Metallica, Cold War Kids, Tool or Black Sabbath to name a few.  By the end of class, I was plenty sweaty and my lungs were definitely burning- good times 🙂

Workout 2: Crossfit

Warm Up-

30 Double unders- jump rope; rope goes around twice per jump.

Mobility work

Repeat the following 2X

10 Ball Smashes (pick up 16lb medicine ball over your head and slam it down to the ground as hard as you can)

10 Scotty bobs (push-ups on dumbells into a one arm row)

10 knees to elbows (hang palms out on the pull up bar and bring your knees to your elbows)

2 Handstands

Workout Of the Day (WOD)  …for time

Run 800m

30 Clean and Jerks @ 65#

Run 800m

My WOD time: 12:47 not too shabby

This WOD sent my heartrate through the roof and pushed me hard.  Making a WOD for time pushes you to shut up, get to work and get it done- fast! Today’s WOD, or the Crossfit philosophy in general, is a great example of quality over quantity. You don’t need to spend hours at a gym doing a gazillion reps bicep curls and leg presses to get your muscle on.  “The CrossFit prescription is constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement. No aspect of functional movements is more important than their capacity to move large loads over long distances, and to do so quickly.” (www.crossfit.com)

Why Clean and Jerks Are Awesome

The motion of the clean and jerk forces you to move upward thereby making you work to meet the load efficiently, in a strong, solid bottom position. This is the opposite of most exercises where most of the force is sent downward throughout your body, which is not ideal. Why? Because that absorption shock takes a toll on your joints and ligaments, inviting injury. The clean and jerk is a full body movement  that demands power and explosiveness, thereby utilizing more muscle fibers and burning more calories.  The cons? Well, they make you feel like this when you’re done…

Workout 3: 1 hour Strike Lab

Strike lab is an hour dedicated to, well…hitting shit. It’s fantastic. All the punching, kicking, knees and elbows one could ever ask for, on a variety of pads.  It’s similar to the kickboxing hour but much more technical and emphasizes sparring, combinations, footwork and movement.

FEEDING TIME

Today’s calorie total came in lower than the goal but on a good note, I feel totally fine and not deprived by any means. Today was a better day but I still need to work on eating more protein.

Calories: 980/Protein: 63g/Fat: 21g/Carbohydrate: 111g

SNEAKY FOOD LABELS…

First and foremost, I’d like to make the disclaimer that I’m by NO means a
nutritionist  so everything you’re about to read is merely a byproduct
of many hours logged on the interwebs reading about this stuff (it’s a nice
break from my organic chemistry textbook).

So, after my workout this morning, I cruised to my local Vons to pick up some
produce for my Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup.  As I browsed
through the aisles, I couldn’t help but notice the myriad of food labels
trying to paint a picture of wellness and health with “Low Calorie, Reduced Fat,
Multigrain, Fat Free” products.  Don’t get me wrong, I buy a number of these products and I’m not implying that there’s something wrong with them. However, have you ever really looked at these labels? The nitty gritty details may surprise you…

2% FAT or 96% FAT FREE
This is most common in dairy and meat products. For instance, 2% milk
suggests to the consumer that 2% of its calories come from fat and the remaining
98% comes from other nutrients. Turn the carton around and you will be shocked to find that in fact approximately 35% of its calories come from fat.
Milk fat percentages are actually based on the fat proportion of the milk by weight, not by volume or any other measure. Whole milk, from which no fat has been removed, ranges between 3.25%-4.00% fat by weight.  So that 2% milk is really only about 50% fat-reduced versus whole milk, while the 1% milk is about 75% fat-reduced.

NO CHOLESTEROL, NO TRANS FAT, ZERO CARBS
These are rather funny and you will think the same thing after you read this. These statements are put on products by the food companies to make the consumer think it’s a healthier choice when in reality these products never had these things in them to begin with. When you see vegetable oils, most pasta, potato chips and many other products labeled “no cholesterol” they never had cholesterol in them in the first place. These are all plant products; cholesterol only comes from animal products. So if a product is made with or cooked in an animal product then yes, it will have some cholesterol (like egg noodles).

Trans Fats are essentially hydrogenated oils which in a nutshell have no nutritional benefit and are pretty much harmful to the body. Putting No Trans Fats on a package of frozen beef tips is a way to make consumers think it’s healthy because it doesn’t have those bad fats…but they never had them in there in the first place!

Moral of the story, watch out for the gimmicks and know how to read food labels and ingredient lists 😉

Day 2

On our way to workout this morning, we saw two guys rolling a huge tractor tire
up Hill  Street (yep, that big hill in Signal Hill). They were about half-way up the hill and already looked fried.  I wanted to roll down the window and cheer them on but the passenger window is borked 😦 Oh well, it was an inspiring sight to see before getting to our Krav Maga class and I’m sure those guys made it up the hill just fine. Kudos to them for a hardcore and creative workout!

Today’s workout was a moderate one. Good thing because I’m still
sizzled from Sunday’s track day thanks to my buddy Nate! Sunday’s track day
consisted of a 2 mile warm-up run, followed by 10 sets of 100m sprints and
suicides.  Track days are humbling, especially for an avid runner like
myself. Running 20 miles doesn’t hurt nearly as much as sprints and suicides
or say…3 rounds in the ring! All things considered, while I love the endorphins from my long runs, the anaerobic stuff are the real ass kickers.!

MORNING WORKOUT
Warm up: 25m sprints into push-ups into sit-ups: 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1
1 hour of Krav Maga consisting mostly of heavy bag work
Pull ups (on bar): 10
Pull ups (ropes): 3

FEEDING TIME
After today, I think I’m going to tweak my nutrient ratios of 50/25/25
protein-fat-carbohydrate to 40/30/30. Why? Because that much protein, in the
form of poultry, beef or fish will end up burning a hole through my wallet
(especially for the good, organic, free-range, grass-fed stuff).  Thus, I’ll plan to
get most of my protein from foods like greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs and
tofu which will increase my carb intake as well. Some of you out there may be thinking to yourself, what does it matter? Isn’t a calorie just a calorie in the grand scheme of things? Well, not exactly…more on this tomorrow.

Today’s menu looked something like this:

Breakfast- wasn’t hungry but I did guzzle down 3 C of coffee with non-fat
creamer! Also, if my workouts are in the morning, I tend to skip breakfast for
the fear of making myself nauseous. I just don’t like to feel my food swish
around in my stomach when I’m jumping around.

Lunch-
Mixed greens with pan roasted fennel and peas
Honey mustard balsamic dressing
3 oz. skinless roasted chicken breast
1.5 oz dark chocolate

Dinner-
½ C roasted red pepper tomato soup
Spinach
Honey mustard balsamic dressing
3 oz. skinless roasted chicken breast

Snack/dessert-
½ C fat-free greek yogurt
2 tsp honey
½ C mixed fresh fruit (fuji apple, strawberries, blueberries)

Grand total Calories: ~908 / Carbs:107g / Fat:12g /Protein: 61g

I’ll do better and eat more tomorrow, especially protein. The goal is to hover around the 1200 calorie mark with the given nutrient ratios. I think since I didn’t workout very hard today, I just wasn’t very hungry. Tomorrow’s workout will be much different…all I have to say is I better eat my Wheaties 😉

Day 1: Setting Up For Success…aka, cleaning out the fridge.

KNOW YOUR WEAKNESSES AND GET RID OF THEM!

I have to say that our fridge is pretty “clean.” It’s mostly filled with seasonal veggies in the form of squash, leafy greens, tomatoes and strawberries. I absolutely adore veggies. Other popular items in the fridge are fat free greek yogurt, tofu, grilled chicken and egg whites. The only junk that typically makes it into our home comes from my own baking.  Thankfully, with the help of some spiffy stoichiometry, I’ve become quite good at baking small single servings of various recipes.  Yet, despite the lack of junk in the house, who says you can get fat from “healthy” foods?  Peanut butter and cereal are my two food weaknesses.  Given the opportunity, I will demolish a jar of peanut butter in a single sitting as well as an entire box of cereal, like a champ! That said, there will be no PB and cereal in the house for the next 45 days, which sucks for Andrew who loves his pb and jelly samiches 😦

NUTRITION/CALORIE TRACKING

I’ll be using FitnessPal for basic calorie calculations and tracking. It’s easy and comes in a handy phone app! FitnessPal is great because it also tracks other important nutritional information like fat, protein, carbs and fiber!  My meal plans for the next 45 days will be very simple. Calories will come from protein, fat and dare I say, carbs too!  I’m aiming for a 50%/25%/25% protein, fat, carbohydrate ratio, respectively.

5-6 Meals a Day keeps your metabolism going for maximum results! …But not for me!

5-6 small meals a day just does not work for me.  I’ve tried it but it always seems to mess with  my appetite so that I end up with a bad case of the munchies and sabotage the day. I tend to do best with 2-3 moderate meals a day.  In the past, to maintain weight, my natural eating rhythm resembled much of what is described as Intermittent Fasting.  I didn’t plan it this way, it was just a habit that allowed me to maintain a lean body weight and uncompromising workouts. Basically, I would only eat when I was hungry…I know, what a concept!!!  Let’s say I had a big dinner one night- the next day, I would just fast until dinner simply because I didn’t have the appetite for breakfast or lunch. I realize this goes against everything you read about nutrition but there is something to be said about Intermittent Fasting that’s worth reading. Learn more here.

That’s all for tonight folks! Tomorrow is day 2 and I look forward to a full post with nutrition and workout logs. G’night!

GOALS!

Goal Weight: 110lb

Body fat percentage: 11.5% – 12.5%

Weekly Training Hours: I love to train, but I also don’t want to feel married to it!  Spending 12 hours a week  working out gets old especially when you’re not getting paid for it…not to mention the invitation for injury.  That said, I plan to stick to  short, high intensity workouts (HIIT). My goal is to train 6 to 8 hours per week, consisting mostly of anaerobic style workouts (kickboxing, Crossfit, track days and plyometric drills).  Anything extra will come from the need to feed my addiction to running.

Exercise/Movement	Current Time/Reps/Distance	45 Days
100 meter sprint	16.1 s	TBA
5K	00:23:06	TBA
Push-ups (completed in 2 minutes)	78 reps	TBA
Pull-ups (completed to failure)	14 reps	TBA
Vertical Jump	17 in	TBA

 THE GAMEPLAN

Nothing fancy or extreme folks!  Just some good ol’ fashion calorie counting, working out and sticking to the plan for the full 45 days.  No fat burners or magic “drugs/supplements” and what have you! I will document everything from weigh-in’s and photos to nutrition and workout logs.