Thursday, April 25, 2013
#fail (Guest post by Cha)
I was definitely on the path to succeed Sunday-Wednesday of my challenge week. Then Thursday Happy Hour happened and it all turned to shit. Not only did I fail Paleo-wise, but money-wise too, by indulging in a $14 burger. Not just any burger though.. probably the best burger I've ever had in my life. So I have no regrets, even though I lost to Ryan and didn't make the week eating Paleo on $40.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
What if Forrest didn't run?
Forrest would've got beat up by bullies. He wouldn't have gone to college. He wouldn't have met all those presidents. He would have died in Vietnam. Yeah, I know Forrest Gump is not real, but that was a dope movie right?
This is my response to the author of this original blog and to everyone reposting it: Shut the fuck up.
This is why the author is targeting runners:
1. They’re often intensely recruited for fund-raisers like Team-In-Training, lured by the promises of slim, trim bodies and good health resulting from the months of cardio training leading to marathons—in addition to doing something for charity.
2. Some physique coaches prescribe 20-plus hours per week of pre-contest cardio for women, which essentially amounts to a part-time job.
3. Steady-state activities like this devastate the female metabolism. This happens with men, too, but in different ways.
Here's why you need to shut the fuck up.
Let's attack these from the bottom up. '#3 ...devastate the female metabolism.' That's a bit dramatic, no? I'm not going to reference a bunch of articles because that sounds boring. I don't know exactly how certain levels of activity affect an individuals' metabolism, but I know it can't be any more devastating than no activity at all. If you can't argue that statement, then don't fucking tell people not to run.
'#2 ...physique coaches prescribe 20-plus hours per week of pre-contest cardio.' So basically this person is targeting nobody in real life. Nobody runs for 20 hours a week, not even elite marathoners. To give you an idea, I have run 10 marathons, with my mileage topping out at 50 miles in a week at a conservative estimate of 6mph, that would mean I spent just under 8.5 hours a week hitting the trail, pavement or treadmill. I do not know any physique competitors, but I'm sure they're nice people and if they want to spend 20+ hours a week on cardio, go for it. You pay your taxes, do whatever the fuck you want. If you're not a physique contestant, then don't fucking tell people not to run.
'#1 recruited for fund raisers, lured by promises... something for charity.' Wait, what? I've run w/ people who've raised money for organizations like team in training. I've encountered literally thousands of them over my 7 years of running. Each with personalized shirts - I read every one that I passed or that passed me. They run for their mom, their dad, sibling, close friend or just about any other loved one you can think of. The back of their shirts have those individuals' names on them and usually preceded by the words 'In memory of'. They DO NOT have things like 'tryin' get skinny!' or 'trim bods and good health here I come!' They're raising money for an organization that is working for a cure. You do not get to tell these people not to run. Go fuck yourself.
At the end of the day, there's tons of reasons why you should run and there's probably just as many reasons why you shouldn't. Whether or not the pros outweigh the cons is based on the individual's preference and opinion.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Days 11-13 of 81
hmmm, pretty busy weekend so I'll list the highlights and low-lights rather than detail. And to be honest, I can't remember everything I consumed. I'm feeling pretty good workout wise and i'm starting to some results physically. Both are keeping me motivated.
Friday
+ worst thing I ate was a double double protein style w/ hella fries. $6
+ everything else was either pete's or leftovers from home. Total cost about $10
- rested again today. not because I was sore or anything, but b/c we got home from chuck-e-cheese's pretty late. also the double double above didn't help me get off the couch. it's like a vicious cycle
Saturday
+ probably ate the best salad ever at Tender Greens. Harvest Salad w/ Lemon Pepper chicken is bomb. I'd recommend it, but it was nearly 18 dollars! damn. luckily this was an overtime mean expensed to the company.
+ trying to finish off the pete's before we have to freeze it, the rest of the food I ate was approximately $10
- worked out w/ Nelle 500 m row, 50 air squats 25 hang squat cleans at 115#. 6:56. Followed this up w/ some super light shoulder presses before my right shoulder began to bug me, the moved to week 2 day 2 of hatch (still at 200). skipped the front squat portion based on the work we did during the wod.
Sunday
+I hadn't eaten out (with the family) all week. One thing I hate about eating out is that Zoey is very picky about what she eats and when she eats and whether or not she decides to be away from the dining experience. She slept through hooters, but thankfully and not coincidentally, kids eat free on Sundays! $16 for me and jg. I know it's pretty shitty food, but I used to eat 25+ of these in one sitting w/ pitchers of beer. 10 or so w/ iced tea is a dramatic improvement.
-worked up an appetite in afternoon w/ 1RM testing for snatch and Clean and jerk. Last week I hit 115# and 175# respectively. This week I worked from 85 to 135 at increments of 10 w/o any misses. Really happy about hitting 135. I got 175# without issue, but couldn't stand up 185. I know both of these numbers will improve as my strength returns.
-3 sets of unbroken strict pull ups (in 5 minutes) 10-10-5. I used to be way better at this.
-wod: buy in 50 double unders 3 rounds of DT at 95#, cash out 40 sit ups. When I programmed this wod for Josh and Jg earlier this week, I gave them a burpee penalty for each round not done unbroken. They made it through each round (27 total reps) without any penalties. I dropped the bar after my first hang clean. Rather than dropping down for the burpees, I told myself that if I can still manage to beat both their times (done at 65/55) I'd waive the penalty. Otherwise, I'd add the burpees at the end of the work out; a cash out cash out, if you will. I barely beat them and tried one round unbroken (the last) and that shit was hard.
Friday
+ worst thing I ate was a double double protein style w/ hella fries. $6
+ everything else was either pete's or leftovers from home. Total cost about $10
- rested again today. not because I was sore or anything, but b/c we got home from chuck-e-cheese's pretty late. also the double double above didn't help me get off the couch. it's like a vicious cycle
Saturday
+ probably ate the best salad ever at Tender Greens. Harvest Salad w/ Lemon Pepper chicken is bomb. I'd recommend it, but it was nearly 18 dollars! damn. luckily this was an overtime mean expensed to the company.
+ trying to finish off the pete's before we have to freeze it, the rest of the food I ate was approximately $10
- worked out w/ Nelle 500 m row, 50 air squats 25 hang squat cleans at 115#. 6:56. Followed this up w/ some super light shoulder presses before my right shoulder began to bug me, the moved to week 2 day 2 of hatch (still at 200). skipped the front squat portion based on the work we did during the wod.
Sunday
+I hadn't eaten out (with the family) all week. One thing I hate about eating out is that Zoey is very picky about what she eats and when she eats and whether or not she decides to be away from the dining experience. She slept through hooters, but thankfully and not coincidentally, kids eat free on Sundays! $16 for me and jg. I know it's pretty shitty food, but I used to eat 25+ of these in one sitting w/ pitchers of beer. 10 or so w/ iced tea is a dramatic improvement.
-worked up an appetite in afternoon w/ 1RM testing for snatch and Clean and jerk. Last week I hit 115# and 175# respectively. This week I worked from 85 to 135 at increments of 10 w/o any misses. Really happy about hitting 135. I got 175# without issue, but couldn't stand up 185. I know both of these numbers will improve as my strength returns.
-3 sets of unbroken strict pull ups (in 5 minutes) 10-10-5. I used to be way better at this.
-wod: buy in 50 double unders 3 rounds of DT at 95#, cash out 40 sit ups. When I programmed this wod for Josh and Jg earlier this week, I gave them a burpee penalty for each round not done unbroken. They made it through each round (27 total reps) without any penalties. I dropped the bar after my first hang clean. Rather than dropping down for the burpees, I told myself that if I can still manage to beat both their times (done at 65/55) I'd waive the penalty. Otherwise, I'd add the burpees at the end of the work out; a cash out cash out, if you will. I barely beat them and tried one round unbroken (the last) and that shit was hard.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Day 10 of 81
So day 10 kind of sucked. Pretty busy/annoyed w/ work. Ate like crap and didn't work out.
+pete's protein & side $7
+1.5 sushi rolls, yes w/ the rice $20 bucks (but I didn't pay)
+chicken and spinach $2.50 ( just about all out of this
+a variety of appetizers at Karl Strauss
+2 wreck alley ales
+.5lbs of shrimp
+.5lbs of king crab
+half dozen raw oysters
+1 dos XX (about 45 bucks for the boiling crab stuff)
So by the time I got home it was late and I was in no condition to work out. Somehow I felt sleeping on the couch was a good idea.
+pete's protein & side $7
+1.5 sushi rolls, yes w/ the rice $20 bucks (but I didn't pay)
+chicken and spinach $2.50 ( just about all out of this
+a variety of appetizers at Karl Strauss
+2 wreck alley ales
+.5lbs of shrimp
+.5lbs of king crab
+half dozen raw oysters
+1 dos XX (about 45 bucks for the boiling crab stuff)
So by the time I got home it was late and I was in no condition to work out. Somehow I felt sleeping on the couch was a good idea.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Day 9 of 81
Precisely 1/9th of the way there. I did the math quick. In 3rd grade I was the first to master my multiplication and division. #boom
+chicken & spinach $2.5
+1 petes protein and 1 pete's side $7
+tiny piece of dark chocolate sea salted caramel $.55 (worth it)
+protein shake w/ frozen berries and
+miso salmon + spinach ~$2
-858 strength wod. Power clean 5/5/4/4/4... 95/115/135/145/155. 5 RFT 5 c&j 10 burpees scaled to 115. 9:06
-Open gym. tried to see where my max is on the squat. at the moment, it is 205. (failed at 215). wod 50 du 10 hspu 40/8 30/6 20/4 10/2. 5 minutes or so.
+chicken & spinach $2.5
+1 petes protein and 1 pete's side $7
+tiny piece of dark chocolate sea salted caramel $.55 (worth it)
+protein shake w/ frozen berries and
+miso salmon + spinach ~$2
-858 strength wod. Power clean 5/5/4/4/4... 95/115/135/145/155. 5 RFT 5 c&j 10 burpees scaled to 115. 9:06
-Open gym. tried to see where my max is on the squat. at the moment, it is 205. (failed at 215). wod 50 du 10 hspu 40/8 30/6 20/4 10/2. 5 minutes or so.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Day 8 of 81
Dang, I'm about a tenth of the way to Hawaii. I'm eating better and I'm back to working out. I don't see much change in the mirror right now, I know the portos from the other didn't help, but dang.
Energy In
+2 eggs and 5 slices of bacon + coffee $1.50
+coconut crusted chicken w/ spinach. The chicken is extremely dry. I may have over cooked it, but it might just be that white meat is gross #bringbackdarkmeatchickennuggets. It's borderline chicken jerky, but it does the trick and there's about 2.5 lbs left of it in the fridge. Should last me all week. $2.50
+this was staring at me while I ate my pete's protein and side. $7

+ate my second serving of coconut crusted shrimp, this time w/ kale salad that jg got from costco $2.50
+one petes protein and 2 sides for dinner $8
$21.50 today! damn. 16 of it, or 70%, from Pete's. I can't afford this shit.
Energy Out
- Rest day.
Energy In
+2 eggs and 5 slices of bacon + coffee $1.50
+coconut crusted chicken w/ spinach. The chicken is extremely dry. I may have over cooked it, but it might just be that white meat is gross #bringbackdarkmeatchickennuggets. It's borderline chicken jerky, but it does the trick and there's about 2.5 lbs left of it in the fridge. Should last me all week. $2.50
+this was staring at me while I ate my pete's protein and side. $7

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Day 3 of 7 (Guest post by Cha)
Breakfast:
Eggs, kale chips, and coffee
Lunch: Chili and asparagus again.
WOD
Eggs, kale chips, and coffee
Lunch: Chili and asparagus again.
WOD
jerk 3-3-3-3-3-3
three rounds for time of:
100 foot OH walking lunge (45/25)
20 box jumps (24/20)
15 wall ball shots (20/14)
10 handstand push-ups
Dinner:
three rounds for time of:
100 foot OH walking lunge (45/25)
20 box jumps (24/20)
15 wall ball shots (20/14)
10 handstand push-ups
Dinner:
Day 2 of 7 (Guest post by Cha)
Breakfast:
Eggs--I scrambled my 9 remaining eggs and fried them. I like to scramble as much as I can at a time and bring it to work to make breakfast more convenient. So I ate half of it today, and will eat half of it tomorrow. Coffee--Our kitchen's coffee is hit or miss. Mostly miss though, and it tastes like motor oil. Today it was not so bad.
I had planned for celery and almond butter too, but I was already full so I saved it for a mid-afternoon snack.
Lunch: Chili I made last night.
Mid-afternoon snack: Celery and almond butter. I had celery leftover from a veggie party tray at work last week. And I always just have a jar of almond butter at my desk. Sometimes I eat a spoonful to satisfy sweet cravings.
WOD:
Post-WOD: whey protein + water
Went to Costco after working out and picked up cage-free eggs and asparagus. I was so pissed their brussels sprouts were about to go bad because I was really set on eating it all week. I was also so pissed I couldn't buy bacon to wrap the asparagus in. Cost: $10.98. So now I have $7.14 left to spend. Can't decide if I should use it at Farmer's Market or something Paleo (brussels sprouts or sweet potato fries appetizer?) at a happy hour I'm supposed to go to on Thursday.
Dinner: More chili and roasted asparagus and hot green tea.
Oh yeah, not that this matters, but I weighed in at 128 lbs today. Let's see if that changes on Sunday.
Eggs--I scrambled my 9 remaining eggs and fried them. I like to scramble as much as I can at a time and bring it to work to make breakfast more convenient. So I ate half of it today, and will eat half of it tomorrow. Coffee--Our kitchen's coffee is hit or miss. Mostly miss though, and it tastes like motor oil. Today it was not so bad.
I had planned for celery and almond butter too, but I was already full so I saved it for a mid-afternoon snack.
Lunch: Chili I made last night.
Mid-afternoon snack: Celery and almond butter. I had celery leftover from a veggie party tray at work last week. And I always just have a jar of almond butter at my desk. Sometimes I eat a spoonful to satisfy sweet cravings.
WOD:
a) work to a heavy front squat (135#)
b) 2 rounds of max rep back squats at front squat weight (I got 3 and then 4. Didn't help I squatted the day before.)
Four rounds:
In 3 minutes, complete one alley sprint (to Folsom and back) followed by AMRAP Cindy
rest 1 minute
score is total reps
(I think I got 62, 58, 46, 45. I just really suck at pullups.)
b) 2 rounds of max rep back squats at front squat weight (I got 3 and then 4. Didn't help I squatted the day before.)
Four rounds:
In 3 minutes, complete one alley sprint (to Folsom and back) followed by AMRAP Cindy
rest 1 minute
score is total reps
(I think I got 62, 58, 46, 45. I just really suck at pullups.)
Post-WOD: whey protein + water
Went to Costco after working out and picked up cage-free eggs and asparagus. I was so pissed their brussels sprouts were about to go bad because I was really set on eating it all week. I was also so pissed I couldn't buy bacon to wrap the asparagus in. Cost: $10.98. So now I have $7.14 left to spend. Can't decide if I should use it at Farmer's Market or something Paleo (brussels sprouts or sweet potato fries appetizer?) at a happy hour I'm supposed to go to on Thursday.
Dinner: More chili and roasted asparagus and hot green tea.
Oh yeah, not that this matters, but I weighed in at 128 lbs today. Let's see if that changes on Sunday.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Day 7 of 81.
Something horrible happened the other day. I was shooting up n00bs as per usual in Call of Duty -Black Ops II when my PS3 just shut down. Over the next few moments I thought "ohmergerd what do i do? do i fix it do i buy a new one? do i buy black ops on 360 and start pwning fools on xbox live? The last was the least expensive of the 3 options. I was set on this until the next day when I realized without my ps3 I've been given more time to be more productive in other areas. So, I'm sorry grade schoolers, I'll have to pwn you at a later date, I'll be too busy, cooking for myself, taking care of my kids and working out.
Energy In
You know what's in here? Better decisions.

+1 srv of coconut crusted chicken (1 ckn breast) and spinanch. total cost about $2.50
+1 left over USDA choice ribye from costco, about half a ribeye + spinach. approx $5.00
+1 petes paleo and two sides. approx cost = $8.00 (i didn't end up eating this as I packed too much chicken and left work earlier than expected)
+1 post workout protein = $1.
+1 split the last ribeye w/ JG and ate with some kale salad. 5 bucks.
+1 post workout protein = $1
Today I ate about $17.50 in food. If I can do this consistently, and eat out less, I'm gonna be rich.
It's clear i need to cut out pete's paleo from future weeks. I love that there are little baggies in the fridge whenever I get hungry or ready for me to take to work, but as long as I take an hour or so to prepare food on Sunday, I should be okay.
Energy Out
-lunch at the why consisted of 1k warm up row w/ snatch work for about 15 minutes. i wanted to get the clean and jerk work in, but felt rushed by fools that don't know how to act around weights. finished w/ some bench. The whole 30 minutes in the weight room, one guy was hitting his biceps like cray.
-finished clean and jerk practice just now (10pm) and did the 8 minute amrap I gave Cha to do yesterday. 20 double unders, 10 goblet squats, 5 burpees. My legs are still very weak, so I scaled to airsquats and got a good workout out of it. 7 rounds 16 double unders.
Energy In
You know what's in here? Better decisions.

+1 left over USDA choice ribye from costco, about half a ribeye + spinach. approx $5.00
+1 petes paleo and two sides. approx cost = $8.00 (i didn't end up eating this as I packed too much chicken and left work earlier than expected)
+1 post workout protein = $1.
+1 split the last ribeye w/ JG and ate with some kale salad. 5 bucks.
+1 post workout protein = $1
Today I ate about $17.50 in food. If I can do this consistently, and eat out less, I'm gonna be rich.
It's clear i need to cut out pete's paleo from future weeks. I love that there are little baggies in the fridge whenever I get hungry or ready for me to take to work, but as long as I take an hour or so to prepare food on Sunday, I should be okay.
Energy Out
-lunch at the why consisted of 1k warm up row w/ snatch work for about 15 minutes. i wanted to get the clean and jerk work in, but felt rushed by fools that don't know how to act around weights. finished w/ some bench. The whole 30 minutes in the weight room, one guy was hitting his biceps like cray.
-finished clean and jerk practice just now (10pm) and did the 8 minute amrap I gave Cha to do yesterday. 20 double unders, 10 goblet squats, 5 burpees. My legs are still very weak, so I scaled to airsquats and got a good workout out of it. 7 rounds 16 double unders.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
$21.88 (Guest post by Cha)
Here's what I spent today:
Starbucks: $1.95 Ugh, this was so unnecessary, but I just couldn't wake up today (even after all that sleep). Totally needed the tall, black, unsweetened iced Americano to get functioning. All good though.. I'll just rely on free office coffee for the rest of the week.
Asian market: $10.94 for ingredients to make paleo chili and almost 2 lbs of broccoli
Trader Joe's: $7.30 for 1.5 lbs of ground turkey and some slivered almonds (I seriously debated if I could "afford" the almonds, but came to a compromise by not buying the $4.99 16 oz of the whole almonds)
Came home to find I forgot an onion for the chili, so I walked around the corner to the Mexican market.
Casa Lucas market: $1.69 for an onion and then decided to splurge on a jicama because it's another one of my favorite snacks (with salsa or guac!)
Didn't make it to Costco today, so I'll go after I WOD tomorrow. For some eggs and brussel sprouts. Then I think I'm still going to have enough funds to buy some produce at farmer's market at work on Wednesday. Cake, I tell you.
After I got my pot o' chili simmering, I headed to 24 Hour to get a work out in since I woke up too late to go to the 9:30am class.
5x5 back squats
then, 8 min AMRAP: 20 double unders, 10 goblet squats (30#), 5 burpees
score: 5 + 10 DUs
Honestly, it is the weirdest thing having mirrors to watch yourself work out. I blame the mirrors (my own dazzling reflection, and seeing strangers look at me funny) on my average score (I was hoping for 6-7 rounds at least).
Starbucks: $1.95 Ugh, this was so unnecessary, but I just couldn't wake up today (even after all that sleep). Totally needed the tall, black, unsweetened iced Americano to get functioning. All good though.. I'll just rely on free office coffee for the rest of the week.
Asian market: $10.94 for ingredients to make paleo chili and almost 2 lbs of broccoli
Trader Joe's: $7.30 for 1.5 lbs of ground turkey and some slivered almonds (I seriously debated if I could "afford" the almonds, but came to a compromise by not buying the $4.99 16 oz of the whole almonds)
Came home to find I forgot an onion for the chili, so I walked around the corner to the Mexican market.
Casa Lucas market: $1.69 for an onion and then decided to splurge on a jicama because it's another one of my favorite snacks (with salsa or guac!)
Didn't make it to Costco today, so I'll go after I WOD tomorrow. For some eggs and brussel sprouts. Then I think I'm still going to have enough funds to buy some produce at farmer's market at work on Wednesday. Cake, I tell you.
After I got my pot o' chili simmering, I headed to 24 Hour to get a work out in since I woke up too late to go to the 9:30am class.
5x5 back squats
then, 8 min AMRAP: 20 double unders, 10 goblet squats (30#), 5 burpees
score: 5 + 10 DUs
Honestly, it is the weirdest thing having mirrors to watch yourself work out. I blame the mirrors (my own dazzling reflection, and seeing strangers look at me funny) on my average score (I was hoping for 6-7 rounds at least).
Day 6 of 81
Energy in
+3 egg omelette w spinach and onions and about four strips of bacon + coffee
+post workout protein w almond milk. Went w ON vanilla from Costco. Pretty delicious.

+1 Pete's protein and 2 sides pre little kid bday party w coconut water
+snacks at bounce California for Brooklyn's bday.

+ went to my cousins house to visit my uncle who's visiting from the bay area, he brought along w him some of his famous broasted chicken. If your in Fremont check out their restaurant - maharlika
Note - I just read some of the comments and tons of negativity regarding the service, ie manners, rudeness, etc. My aunt and uncle work hard in that restaurant everyday and I'm assuming they don't have time to treat every foodie posting on yelp as a prince/princess.
+I'm not proud of this, but this is the first time I've regretted a decision all week. Portos!!!

Energy out
-1rm testing for snatch and clean and jerk. 115 for the snatch and 175 for the clean and jerk. Pretty stoked about the latter.
-joined Kris, Aaron and Kelli in 5 rounds of burpee box jumps w 30 seconds rest between rounds. 3:16 total working time. Squats later.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Hatch week 2 day 1
back squats 10x120 8x130 6x140 6x150 6x160
front squats 5x105 5x125 (failed on rep 4 adjusted the weight for remaining sets) 5x95 5x95
+3 egg omelette w spinach and onions and about four strips of bacon + coffee
+post workout protein w almond milk. Went w ON vanilla from Costco. Pretty delicious.

+1 Pete's protein and 2 sides pre little kid bday party w coconut water
+snacks at bounce California for Brooklyn's bday.

+ went to my cousins house to visit my uncle who's visiting from the bay area, he brought along w him some of his famous broasted chicken. If your in Fremont check out their restaurant - maharlika
Note - I just read some of the comments and tons of negativity regarding the service, ie manners, rudeness, etc. My aunt and uncle work hard in that restaurant everyday and I'm assuming they don't have time to treat every foodie posting on yelp as a prince/princess.
+I'm not proud of this, but this is the first time I've regretted a decision all week. Portos!!!

Energy out
-1rm testing for snatch and clean and jerk. 115 for the snatch and 175 for the clean and jerk. Pretty stoked about the latter.
-joined Kris, Aaron and Kelli in 5 rounds of burpee box jumps w 30 seconds rest between rounds. 3:16 total working time. Squats later.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Hatch week 2 day 1
back squats 10x120 8x130 6x140 6x150 6x160
front squats 5x105 5x125 (failed on rep 4 adjusted the weight for remaining sets) 5x95 5x95
Feeding me will be cake. (Guest post by Cha)
So Ry thinks I can't survive off $40 a week eating Paleo. Which I don't understand because all I'd have to do is eat the same things every day, and Paleo staples like eggs and produce aren't expensive. My secret weapon: Paleo chili, which will last me 7 meals easily. So I'm feeling good about keeping the $40 that Ry hasn't PayPal'ed me yet.
What makes this challenge even easier is that I woke up late today (10:30!), which means one less meal I have to worry about.
So as I write this, I'm eating my breakfast:
5 fried eggs
brussel sprouts fried in leftover bacon fat
I read somewhere that it's a good idea to jumpstart your day with at least 30g of protein, so hence the reason I usually go with 5 eggs in the morning (being 6g of protein each). The brussel sprouts are so yummy (mostly thanks to the bacon fat)!
I have kale in the oven too, since kale chips are such a yummy snack! I swear I can eat one kale bunch in one sitting.
I plan on going to the Asian market, Costco, and Trader Joe's later for this week's essentials (all under $40), so stayed tuned for my grocery shopping update.
What makes this challenge even easier is that I woke up late today (10:30!), which means one less meal I have to worry about.
So as I write this, I'm eating my breakfast:
5 fried eggs
brussel sprouts fried in leftover bacon fat
I read somewhere that it's a good idea to jumpstart your day with at least 30g of protein, so hence the reason I usually go with 5 eggs in the morning (being 6g of protein each). The brussel sprouts are so yummy (mostly thanks to the bacon fat)!
I have kale in the oven too, since kale chips are such a yummy snack! I swear I can eat one kale bunch in one sitting.
I plan on going to the Asian market, Costco, and Trader Joe's later for this week's essentials (all under $40), so stayed tuned for my grocery shopping update.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Day 5 of 81
I know I need to be patient, but working out is getting frustrating. See below for details.
Energy In
+ Morning Coffee and post workout muscle milk w/ water.
+ One pete's paleo protein and one side.
+ one Pete's protein and two sides
+ on my way home from work picked up a low carb burger from hennessys decided it was missing something so I fried up two eggs. See for yourself!

+jg made this broccoli bacon thing. It's pretty good.
+perfect food bar
Energy Out
-I did 13.5 today to conclude my very disappointing 2013 open season. 46 reps or only 1 chest to bar through the 2nd round. Everyone and their mom smashed me in every open workout. I've spent the last year and half knowing that everyday I was better than the day before. Everyday, that is, until the last two weeks.
Energy In
+ Morning Coffee and post workout muscle milk w/ water.
+ One pete's paleo protein and one side.
+ one Pete's protein and two sides
+ on my way home from work picked up a low carb burger from hennessys decided it was missing something so I fried up two eggs. See for yourself!

+jg made this broccoli bacon thing. It's pretty good.
+perfect food bar
Energy Out
-I did 13.5 today to conclude my very disappointing 2013 open season. 46 reps or only 1 chest to bar through the 2nd round. Everyone and their mom smashed me in every open workout. I've spent the last year and half knowing that everyday I was better than the day before. Everyday, that is, until the last two weeks.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Feeding Cha.
Can you survive on a budget of $35/week for food? Absolutely. It only costs like $.25 per day to feed those starving kids on the late night infomercials and ten years ago I survived on nothing but Easy Mac and Top Ramen for 3 months, so I could buy my then girlfriend, the best engagement ring I could afford. So yes, w/o dietary restrictions or regard to your physical appearance/health, it's definitely possible.
Can you survive on a budget of $35/week for food while maintaining a 'pretty much strict' Paleo diet and be an active crossfitter? No fucking way, Jose. But rather than just speculate, I decided to challenge my friend, Charitorae (Cha for short) to prove me wrong. On Saturday I will be sending Cha $40 ($5 extra because the original post's math made absolutely no sense) for her to buy groceries for the week. If she can make it through the week (4/7-4/13) w/ just those groceries, then I am wrong, I am out $40 and I will publicly apologize to...well let's cross that bridge when we come to it.
Cha will be posting updates here, so stay tuned and wish her luck or root against her, because if she fails, she's buying me korean bbq!
Can you survive on a budget of $35/week for food while maintaining a 'pretty much strict' Paleo diet and be an active crossfitter? No fucking way, Jose. But rather than just speculate, I decided to challenge my friend, Charitorae (Cha for short) to prove me wrong. On Saturday I will be sending Cha $40 ($5 extra because the original post's math made absolutely no sense) for her to buy groceries for the week. If she can make it through the week (4/7-4/13) w/ just those groceries, then I am wrong, I am out $40 and I will publicly apologize to...well let's cross that bridge when we come to it.
Cha will be posting updates here, so stay tuned and wish her luck or root against her, because if she fails, she's buying me korean bbq!
Day 4 of 81
A couple of days ago I read a blog post from a former 858 member and it's been bothering me since. Now let me preface this with the fact that I read a lot of posts from a lot of people, both 858 members and non 858 members, and if I had to put a number on it 84% of them make me want to throw my phone out of my office window or punch my laptop because I blame the messenger for delivering the stupid to me. However, 99% of the time I show restraint and do not respond; this, friends, is that 1%. The blog posts stated that she spends, on average, $70 on groceries to feed her and her husband paleo friendly food for an entire week. Let me break this down for you. It's 10 dollars per day and assuming each of them eat 3 meals a day, that's $1.66/ meal. (edit - I later went back to make sure what I recalled reading was accurate. the post goes on the break down the groceries to 40 meals at a cost of $2.30. If you've got a calculator handy or are not an idiot, you know that does not equate to $70. it's actually $92). Are you fucking kidding me? Granted this might be enough to sustain a poor diet of a non active individual, but someone who crossfits AND is paleo? Get the fuck out of here.
I'm no where close to this, but her claim intrigues me. So as much as I possible can, I'm going to approximate the cost of everything I eat starting Monday, Day 7 of 81. To give you an idea, I just ate this, which cost me $2.50 and drank a cup of k-cups starbucks coffee, which cost approximately $.50. I'm already at 50% of her daily budget...and it's 8:44am.
Energy In
- see above for breakfast
- one protein and one side of pete's premade. looked like some sort of duck and celery. It was bag #9 (roasted chick with braised celery and 5-spice sweet potatoes (when you add +1 side of veggies, you'd think it'd be one of the items listed, but not it's random (see mushroom broccoli below))).
- jg's chicken w salsa and taco sauce.
- the other protein and remaining two sides look like this:

Energy Out
-Split Jerk 858 progression 4/4/3/3/3. 95/115/145/165/185(f) missed the 185 but definitely bit off more than I could chew considering this was the first time I jerked in about a month. 165s even felt shaky. I need to get used to being under weight again.
-attempted (failed) flight simulator 10-20-30-40-50-40-30-20-10 unbroken double unders. I hit 30 and got stuck. stopped at the self imposed 5 minute time cap.
I'm no where close to this, but her claim intrigues me. So as much as I possible can, I'm going to approximate the cost of everything I eat starting Monday, Day 7 of 81. To give you an idea, I just ate this, which cost me $2.50 and drank a cup of k-cups starbucks coffee, which cost approximately $.50. I'm already at 50% of her daily budget...and it's 8:44am.
Energy In
- see above for breakfast
- one protein and one side of pete's premade. looked like some sort of duck and celery. It was bag #9 (roasted chick with braised celery and 5-spice sweet potatoes (when you add +1 side of veggies, you'd think it'd be one of the items listed, but not it's random (see mushroom broccoli below))).
- jg's chicken w salsa and taco sauce.
- the other protein and remaining two sides look like this:

Energy Out
-Split Jerk 858 progression 4/4/3/3/3. 95/115/145/165/185(f) missed the 185 but definitely bit off more than I could chew considering this was the first time I jerked in about a month. 165s even felt shaky. I need to get used to being under weight again.
-attempted (failed) flight simulator 10-20-30-40-50-40-30-20-10 unbroken double unders. I hit 30 and got stuck. stopped at the self imposed 5 minute time cap.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Day 3 of 81
I had no leftovers to take to work today for lunch. This is both a good and bad thing. It's good in that I have consumed everything I prepared for JG and I and there's nothing sitting in the fridge that could potentially be forgotten about until months later (yes. that happens. a lot). It's bad in that I have to venture out into La Jolla to eat; where healthy options are both slim and not cheap. Wish me luck.
My legs are finally starting to feel back to normal. Some slight soreness, but I'm going to try and worth through it w/ more squats!
Energy in
- grande starbucks dark roast w/ room. i enjoy the flavor of the dark coffees and the room is so that it didn't spill everywhere while driving. no cream or sugar added. Also had a perfect food bar for breakfast.
- Panera is one of the lesser expensive eateries in La Jolla. Today I got a half fuji chicken salad and a cup of french onion. I tried my best, but I couldn't resist the three giant crutons floating in my soup. yummers!
- I remembered that I had left a serving of Pete's Premade Paleo in the freezer from before I left to get my surgery. I asked a couple coworkers how long they thought I should nuke, and one replied 'I think you should defrost it first.' and I'm like 'have you ever eaten a frozen entree? When have you ever defrosted something?' I went with 4 minutes and it was bomb.
- I just ate a kiwi
- The wifey and I went halvsies on pete's paleo and I picked up the order from 858 today. Hint, to get the most out of your pete's premade paleo purchase, order double meat (size) and an extra order of veggies while opting out of the snacks. Yesterday's meal consisted of pork, broccoli and spinach.
- post workout, I had a muscle milk protein shake with almond milk and 2 fish oil pills. I'm almost out of protein and am debating on what to go w/ next - the pricey, but tasty Progenex? the whole30 approved (and still pricey) Stronger Faster Healthier? more cost effect protein sold at Costco (Muscle Milk / Optimum Nutrition)? or do I go with a weight gain variety?
Energy Out
-Week 1 day 2 of hatch squat program is in the books. This was tough as there was still some lingering soreness in my legs. I backed down my 1RM maxes considerably from 255 to 200 on the back squat and 215 to 175 on the front and am still finding the prescribed weight very challenging. Hope to get my legs back soon.
- for the metcon I tried to do a variation of the 10 burpee box jump 10 kbs (1.5 pood) 5 rounds for time 858 wod from earlier this week. I don't have a box, so I subbed w/ lateral bar burpees. 5 rounds sounded really long so I told myself to adjust according if necessary after the first round. In the second round I dropped the 53# kettlebell on my head. I'm not sure what happened, but I must have been a lot more tired and a lot weaker than I thought. I swapped it out for a 35 and continued on to finish 3 rounds. 5 minutes of work. I need to work on that.
My legs are finally starting to feel back to normal. Some slight soreness, but I'm going to try and worth through it w/ more squats!
Energy in
- grande starbucks dark roast w/ room. i enjoy the flavor of the dark coffees and the room is so that it didn't spill everywhere while driving. no cream or sugar added. Also had a perfect food bar for breakfast.
- Panera is one of the lesser expensive eateries in La Jolla. Today I got a half fuji chicken salad and a cup of french onion. I tried my best, but I couldn't resist the three giant crutons floating in my soup. yummers!
- I remembered that I had left a serving of Pete's Premade Paleo in the freezer from before I left to get my surgery. I asked a couple coworkers how long they thought I should nuke, and one replied 'I think you should defrost it first.' and I'm like 'have you ever eaten a frozen entree? When have you ever defrosted something?' I went with 4 minutes and it was bomb.
- I just ate a kiwi
- The wifey and I went halvsies on pete's paleo and I picked up the order from 858 today. Hint, to get the most out of your pete's premade paleo purchase, order double meat (size) and an extra order of veggies while opting out of the snacks. Yesterday's meal consisted of pork, broccoli and spinach.
- post workout, I had a muscle milk protein shake with almond milk and 2 fish oil pills. I'm almost out of protein and am debating on what to go w/ next - the pricey, but tasty Progenex? the whole30 approved (and still pricey) Stronger Faster Healthier? more cost effect protein sold at Costco (Muscle Milk / Optimum Nutrition)? or do I go with a weight gain variety?
Energy Out
-Week 1 day 2 of hatch squat program is in the books. This was tough as there was still some lingering soreness in my legs. I backed down my 1RM maxes considerably from 255 to 200 on the back squat and 215 to 175 on the front and am still finding the prescribed weight very challenging. Hope to get my legs back soon.
- for the metcon I tried to do a variation of the 10 burpee box jump 10 kbs (1.5 pood) 5 rounds for time 858 wod from earlier this week. I don't have a box, so I subbed w/ lateral bar burpees. 5 rounds sounded really long so I told myself to adjust according if necessary after the first round. In the second round I dropped the 53# kettlebell on my head. I'm not sure what happened, but I must have been a lot more tired and a lot weaker than I thought. I swapped it out for a 35 and continued on to finish 3 rounds. 5 minutes of work. I need to work on that.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Day 2 of 81
I took a selfie this morning, but i'm not too thrilled about posting it. I'm going to try and take them daily.
Something amazing happened today. I was at the La Jolla YMCA getting my Outlaw BB gymnastics in. Yes, they have oly stuff, but that's not the amazing part. In the middle of my two position Clean and Jerks this older man came up to me and started telling me stories of his god son who was on the 2008 olympic team. Pretty cool story, but what was amazing was that I introduced myself to him and 3 minutes later I remembered his name. That doesn't ever happen (see my best man speech here).
Energy in
- Coffee and a paleo muffin this morning
- another serving of crusty chicken and sweet potatoes (one more serving and i'll be done with what I prepared no Sunday).
- left over salmon w/ spinach post workout
- Mana for dinner. all i could eat bbq. yummers.
Energy Out
- 1k row warm up. outlaw bb gymnastics for 4/3/13. worked up to about 95 on the two position snatch and 115 on the 2 position clean + jerk. Tonsil-Ry would've got closer to 125/165. tabata double unders - 12, had two rounds where i completely tripped up, all other rounds were around 23 reps.
Something amazing happened today. I was at the La Jolla YMCA getting my Outlaw BB gymnastics in. Yes, they have oly stuff, but that's not the amazing part. In the middle of my two position Clean and Jerks this older man came up to me and started telling me stories of his god son who was on the 2008 olympic team. Pretty cool story, but what was amazing was that I introduced myself to him and 3 minutes later I remembered his name. That doesn't ever happen (see my best man speech here).
Energy in
- Coffee and a paleo muffin this morning
- another serving of crusty chicken and sweet potatoes (one more serving and i'll be done with what I prepared no Sunday).
- left over salmon w/ spinach post workout
- Mana for dinner. all i could eat bbq. yummers.
Energy Out
- 1k row warm up. outlaw bb gymnastics for 4/3/13. worked up to about 95 on the two position snatch and 115 on the 2 position clean + jerk. Tonsil-Ry would've got closer to 125/165. tabata double unders - 12, had two rounds where i completely tripped up, all other rounds were around 23 reps.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Day 1 of 81.
Yesterday, April 1, 2013 was my first full day back on Facebook. I'm not going to lie, I felt a little disconnected during my 46 day lenton sacrifice, but it was at the same time refreshing. What had my internet friends been up to? What are they doing now? Where are they eating and who with? Scrolling through my feed, I notice that Whole30 seems to be a trending topic. What is it? not quit sure exactly. I know it's a diet, but I don't know the details.
- pauses briefly to google whole30 -
So here's the website. and the first two sentences are as follows:
Over the next 81 days I'll be using this blog to help keep me accountable for everything I consume (Energy In) and all the workouts I do (Energy Out). 81 days? That sounds pretty random, right? Well, in 81 days I'll be on a flight to Hawaii and once we land, I don't want to be the guy in the water with his shirt on.
I'll be updating/editing daily posts throughout the day. Wish me luck, don't be a hater.
Energy In
- 4 strips of bacon, black coffee and a handful of dried apricots before I left the house.
- triple shot soy caramel machiato. I know, this is bad. But if it helps I asked the barista to go super easy on the caramel and to not let me order anything but Americano's going forward. But today, I had a free drink and you don't waste free drinks on regular brewed coffee.
- Low carb burger w/ side salad. no bun, no sauces, no cheese, no dressing. I packed my lunch, but wanted to get out. Besides today is two for one burgers at Hennessy's. Yay!
-i had two afternoon snacks that consisted of crusty chicken (recipe subbed thighs for breasts and added unsweetened coconut flakes) and sweet potato and coconut mash (recipe omitted seeded pomegranate because I don't have time for that shit).
- For dinner the wife made salmon with a soy sauce and brown sugar with a side of broccoli Although Jg subs the soy sauce w/ coconut aminos and is real easy on the brown sugar, I still tried to scrap off any excess.
Energy Out
- my legs are super duper sore. This could be a rest day.
- pauses briefly to google whole30 -
So here's the website. and the first two sentences are as follows:
Whole9’s original program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, calm systemic inflammation and put an end to unhealthy cravings, habits, and relationships with food.Okay. I can do that. I have in the past. The biggest takeaway for me after such programs has been healthier habits / better decisions. But do I really need to be strict anything to see results? Bigger question is, do I want to? Short answer: No. But I do need to go back to the healthier habits / making better decisions.
Over the next 81 days I'll be using this blog to help keep me accountable for everything I consume (Energy In) and all the workouts I do (Energy Out). 81 days? That sounds pretty random, right? Well, in 81 days I'll be on a flight to Hawaii and once we land, I don't want to be the guy in the water with his shirt on.
I'll be updating/editing daily posts throughout the day. Wish me luck, don't be a hater.
Energy In
- 4 strips of bacon, black coffee and a handful of dried apricots before I left the house.
- triple shot soy caramel machiato. I know, this is bad. But if it helps I asked the barista to go super easy on the caramel and to not let me order anything but Americano's going forward. But today, I had a free drink and you don't waste free drinks on regular brewed coffee.
- Low carb burger w/ side salad. no bun, no sauces, no cheese, no dressing. I packed my lunch, but wanted to get out. Besides today is two for one burgers at Hennessy's. Yay!
-i had two afternoon snacks that consisted of crusty chicken (recipe subbed thighs for breasts and added unsweetened coconut flakes) and sweet potato and coconut mash (recipe omitted seeded pomegranate because I don't have time for that shit).
- For dinner the wife made salmon with a soy sauce and brown sugar with a side of broccoli Although Jg subs the soy sauce w/ coconut aminos and is real easy on the brown sugar, I still tried to scrap off any excess.
Energy Out
- my legs are super duper sore. This could be a rest day.
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