concretecavewoman

1/8 Review

Strength: Rest day, Pass

Ended up swinging by the apartment gym to do some dumbbell work after walking, since I won't be able to make Barbell club til Friday.

Food: Good!

Breakfast: 2 slices of bacon, 2 eggs, 1/2 c of sauerkraut, glass of raw milk

Lunch: roasted pork shoulder, an asian pear, a cup of squash soup

Dinner: I was a little tired of pork by dinner, so I went with my "emergency rations": There's a store in town that sells frozen, single serving meals that are very healthy, and only made with local, grassfed products (Freaking amazing, right? Heck, the place is even called Eat Local)  I have like a dozen stashed in the freezer just in case.  So dinner was a farmer's market salad (brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, apple, crisped prosciutto, chioggia beets) and a bowl of beef stew.

Dessert: 1/2 c of coconut ice cream.  This is definitely bending the rules (made in portland, so, um, kind of local?).  My mom brought it over during the holidays... I guess it didn't come out of my budget so I'm giving myself a pass.

Walk: 14400 steps/baud!

I also did some more cooking for the last half of the week.  I braised up a ham hock with smoked pigs ear, and tomorrow I'll add a bunch of collards to the broth/hock to finish cooking.  I also finished a tonkotsu pork/chicken broth so I'll have lots of soup/collagen rich stock for the next couple weeks as well.

I am way jealous of your access to raw dairy. I've not been able to locate a reputable source up here in AK.

 

Great goals, welcome back and congrats on your marriage!

Thanks!  Raw dairy is very challenging to find, and I'd imagine definitely so in AK where (I'm guessing?) there's not a ton of pasture.  Even in WA, which is one of the most permissive states when it comes to dairy sales, it's not ubiquitous.  I know of only two raw milk farms that sell direct at the farmers market, so I feel super lucky that we happen to have a very committed grass-based dairy that is a year round presence here, and raise their cattle just 10 miles outside the city.

YES! It's good to see you back! 

Yay!

I'm definitely new here, but one of my favorite things thus far is drawing on inspiration for others. Buying a bit of earth is far and away the most desirable goal I wouldn't have thought of on my own. =) I've aspired for the past two years or so to own a building here in Chicago, but haven't had the startup capital, plain and simple. I think I might require there to be grass, though... even if it's "ruined" soil by air pollution, having a green space to create an elevated bed for plants would be ideal. I've never grown anything before, but it's a skill I value greatly. =)

 

Best of luck on this challenge; I'll be keeping tabs for news and excitement. =D

Earth is just a wondrous thing.  Are you thinking of buying a single family house? A complex?  I've heard that there's been a lot in the way of urban food production in the midwest (especially in detroit), where even tiny yards are being repurposed into vegetable gardens. 

We've been on the fence about buying for years, mostly because we are not big into buying and reselling, so our plan has been to save until we could buy outright or finance less than 20%, and only if it were a place we'd consider staying in for 20+ years - acreage, but close enough to continue commuting into the city.

Welcome back!    Raw milk means ice cream!!

Good point!  I'll have to see if they have any heavy cream at the market next Sunday...

Good to see some other vets coming (back) out of the wood work.  Congrats on the good life stuff that has happened!

Thank you

 

 

Also, started reading Sapolsky yesterday (Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers).  Amazing stuff...

This book truly is applicable to anyone living in the modern world.  It retooled much of my thinking about stress (and also has the ability to make you stressed about feeling stressed) to the point that it was kind of what pushed me to finally see a naturopath about my flagging energy levels.  I'll be curious to hear what you think about it as you progress through the book.

Also, boss day!

Headspace sounds intriguing! I tried the Calm app after CB referenced it in a previous challenge and was pretty impressed, so I might have to check this one out too.

I can't comment on headspace specifically, but after a year of consistent and deepening mediation practice I can confidently say that the best time of day for these activities is before the birds are awake.  It sucks at first, but a cold splash of water to the face will do wonders.  My favourite time of day is the 1.5 - 2 hours that I'm up before anyone else in the house.  

 

Also, starting the day centred is amazing

This is so much great.  Did it take long to adjust to this kind of practice early in the morning?

Breakfast: pastured Berkshire bacon, pastured eggs, sauerkraut with peppers, raw milk.

Great challenge!  Kstar is a sage and his book reflects that.  Aaaaand now I should go do some couch stretch.

Pretty good day, except for the midday stomachache mentioned in the food section.  The result was somewhat uneasy sleep.  The goal for today is to get my three square and take a good long walk with the pup.  Already got breakfast down (got up early to cook), and I took some grassfed beef liver out of the freezer to thaw for dinner.

1/7 Review

Strength: Rest Day

Due to the scheduling of Barbell, my other two days this week will be Fri/Sat

Food: 75%

B: 1 pack of grassfed jerky, a cup of delicata squash soup, a pear

D: Wasn't feeling very good, had a super upset stomach, so I skipped lunch.  Once my stomach settled by dinner I was famished, so my SO went and grabbed some satay and sauteed green beans from a restaurant nearby.  Their chicken is raised in WA state, so I'm calling that a pass, but the origin of the green beans was unknown.

S: a cup of raw milk, homemade ginger tea

Walk: 14700 steps, pass!

Yay, I really like this challenge!

When I was at Thanksgiving with FMP's family they had mincemeat pie, and I got really excited because it was meat and pie, two of my favorite things.  But when it actually came time to eat it all I found in it were raisins and apples, which are raisins and not meat, two of my least favorite things.  And when I was home for my granddads funeral someone had brought us a "cherry pie" and I got all excited again, until I looked at it and it was actually a cherry cheesecake.  Now that I think about it last year had a lot of pie based lies.  

I recently got back from london, and every time we sat down for tea they were always accompanied by a tray of tiny, quarter-sized pies filled with apples and raisins and I ate about 700 of them (been to london before, but somehow managed to never take tea while there!). Finally, the bartender at our hotel observed that "you really love those minced pies" and it all clicked "Oh, THATS mincemeat".  If it makes you feel any better, it's raisins and beef fat.  So.... sort of meat?

This thread title made me lol all the lols.

A hearty welcome back

1/6 Review

Strength: 1/3

2 Hour barbell class

• Work to 1RM Snatch (65, 10 under prev PR)
• Snatch 4x1 @75%
• Work to 3RM Squat (90lb)
• 3 sets of 20" box jumps
• 5x3 Clean pull @90% (90lb)
• 5x2 Rack jerk @75% (75lb)

Food: Shopping on Sunday was exactly 80/20

Breakfast: Locally made grassfed beef jerky, asian pear

Lunch: Bowl of curried delicata squash soup, salad of sunchokes and brussels sprouts

Dinner: 5 oz roast pork shoulder smothered in sauteed wild mushrooms (hedgehogs and trumpets), a side of collard greens braised with smoked ham hock

Dessert: 1 apple cooked in coconut milk, 1 cup raw milk

Walk: 11,800!

Whew, it's been at least three challenges since I've participated.  Changed jobs, got married.  Guess life distracted me, in a good way.  It also distracted me from my health and fitness, which have taken a remarkable downturn since I started neglecting them (shocker).  A couple months ago I went to a naturopath because my energy levels were tanking.  Like, I got nauseated when I even thought of picking up a barbell, was waking up exhausted, etc.  Her pronouncement was burnout, pure and simple, so she's got me on some supps and has me doing things like reducing technology use in the evening (which, all told, has been good).  I recommitted myself to getting proper sleep (another Rx from naturopath) and cooking all my meals over the last 6 weeks and the changes have been awesome.  I have so much more energy than before.  I'm going to try and keep this momentum going so I can lift and get strong.  I also moved CF gyms and joined a barbell club that is within walking distance of my place (and $125/mo less!), so now I'm officially a 100% on-foot commuter. 

Goal 1: Strength

I've lost much of this over the last few months.  I lifted for the first time last week, and the second time this week in... a very long time.  It was painful, but worth it.  I'm making this pass/fail in order to re-habituate consistency.

Pass: 3x strength sessions per week

Fail: < 3x strength sessions

Goal 2: Food Quality

I've always been pretty obsessive about food quality, but in the last couple months I've recommitted myself to the locality of my food.  Every sunday I've been at the farmer's market, and the vast majority of my food has been traveling < 50 miles.  In a Seattle winter--which, let's face it, is no polar vortex--this means lots of good meat, raw, grassfed dairy, plenty of green vegetables, and even some fruit.  I was debating a few different metrics by which to measure how high quality and local my food was (mass? caloric intake?) and finally settled on dollar amount, even though that would seem to unfairly weight fats and meats.  I think this is the best measure because of the compounding impact of spending food dollars locally.  The non-local part of my budget will likely be reserved for spices, coffee, ginger for my tea, and coconut milk.  As to the food itself, a WAPF/Paleo hybrid.  Paleo plus some raw dairy and lots of fermented foods.

Target: 80% or more of food budget spent with local farms/20% or less from Whole Foods

Goal 3: Transportation, the Old Fashioned Way

I now walk a LOT, so this is a bit of a gimme, but I want to motivate myself into consistency. 

10000 steps per day.

Life Goal: Buy My Own Piece of Earth

I used to be pretty in to gardening (through a set of weird circumstances, I had my own patch of land in college where I grew tomatoes and basil and lots of stuff like that), but since becoming a chronic apartment dweller, I've had none of that.  We've been casually saving for a house for a couple years, but we now have a more earnest plan because I'd love to have my own garden space again.  I've even created a 6 week goal in Mint for this

I want to hit 100% of my savings target in the next six weeks.

 

Sorry, I'm rambling. I'm hungry. Got a few pork chops lined up. Be back later. 

Pork chops cure all! Seriously, I paid back a friend in pork chops once.  Long story.

Also, congrats on the Helen PR!  They really need to add "grendel's mother" to the list of girls workouts. 

Thank you for the kombucha jello recipe.  I must now make kombucha jello.  Nom.

Hope the boyfriend is feeling better and your nursing duties are lessened.

August 28 Review

Pretty good day.  Work, dinner, dog park.  I'm afraid that a cold I've been fighting for a few days might win.  A couple family members who were in town are now home sick, and while I've just been feeling that annoying itching of the throat for the last few days, it's now starting to become a full on sore throat, bleh. Hoping a good night of sleep will fix that.

Workout: Rest!

Food: Check!

B: kale shake with protein powder

L: small chicken salad with almonds, 1 tsp dressing

D: I live above a satay bar, which is pretty awesome, and double awesome is their happy hour satay special.  Four shrimp satay and a big cabbage salad.

S: peach, 1 tbs almond butter

Sleep: Check!

8 hrs

^This, so much this!  

 

Congratulations!!!

Thanks!

Congrats on getting married!

Gracias!

Ripley is no longer the man of the house? Is he okay with that?

Congrats!

Thank you!

I'm sure she'll survive A biscuit pretty much cures everything.

ZOMG! Say What?!?!?!?!?!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

 

 

and, seriously, the pic is awesome. I kind of wish it were a gif.

Thanks!!!!

And now, it is:

I wish I could claim credit but my good friend (who also photographed the party) made it

August 27 Review

Aaaaand back to solid food.  Still pretty wiped from the weekend.

Food: Meh

Meetings back to back all day, I ended up extending my fast another half day by waiting until 4pm to eat, ooooof!  No bueno.  And then I couldn't eat all I cooked

L: 4 oz pork sausage, an egg, 1/2 c sauerkraut, 1 c blueberries

S: a handful of trailmix.  two chocolate turtles, urp.

D: a cup of oatmeal and a peach.  wasn't super hungry.  meat didn't sound appetizing.  I pitched the remainder of the GF oatmeal bag.

Workout: Check!

Crossfit

OHP

50/5

50/5

60/3

60/3

70/3

WOD: 20 min AMRAP

5 front squats, 7 GHD situps, 9 hip extensions.  Why do I think I'll be feeling those GHDs tomorrow?

10 rounds completed, on the nose.  WOD was much less painful than yesterday.

Sleep: Close, but not quite.

7hr 35min

Life, etc.

Finished three books over the last week or so:

The Resilient Homestead: Innovative Permaculture Systems, really awesome overview of permaculture techniques

The Keeper of Lost Causes, Scandanavian crime thriller, if you like that sort of thing.  It was pretty middle of the pack as this genre goes.

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.  Fabulous investigative journalism on all facets of the food industry.

Also, for paleo-sustainability geeks, the above permaculture book was about this guy's farm, who happens to advocate a pretty paleo diet.

Ooooookay so I was MIA there for the last two weeks, but I think I had a pretty good reason.  You see, it was my wedding this last weekend, and I sorely, gravely underestimated the amount of stuff I had to do in the run up to the event.  It was a small wedding (25 people) but it was also a somewhat elaborate dinner party, plus there were people from out of town so there was management there.  Now, it probably sounds a little weird that I didn't include any goals for this in my challenge (I probably should have had Life Goal: Get Married Successfully!) but I guess I wasn't sweating it   So yeah, there's now a Mr. CCW!  And Ripley the bulldog can now inherit title and property and no longer go by Ripley Snow.  It's the little things.

And oh yeah, by the end of the night, this:

Back to your regularly scheduled weightlifting, which totally did not happen over the last couple weeks.

August 26 Review

Food: Check! Kinda...

So, it was a four day weekend, and with guests and parties and all that jazz I ate TERRIBLY.  I was on the See Food diet.  (see food, eat it).  By Sunday, my mom, brother, and I (who are all health nuts of differing sorts) found ourselves shuffling, blearly eyed, into a nearby juice bar asking for the largest kale shake on offer (the new Mr CCW who is neither a paleoist nor crossfitter can eat poptarts with no ill effect.  To say I'm jealous would be an understatement).  They told us about their one day juice cleanse that they sell, and I found myself signing up for the next day.  Now, on that...

I don't buy the juice cleanse hype.  I don't think it's going to give my "colon a rest" or "detoxify my liver" or make me shed unicorn tears, but I do think that it's a lot of diuretic vegetables with zero added salt and a bit of a one-day stomach-shrinking-just-help-me-not-feel-like-Jabba-the-Hutt-anymore!!! thing.  So all day Monday was kale juice after spicy lemonade after kale juice. It was fine.  No ill effect other than being pretty hungry the next morning and the feeling of puffiness in my hands from overeating being gone. 

Workout: Check!

Crossfit.  And oh how I paid for my feasting.

Deadlifts

120/5

120/5

135/3

135/3

155/4

WOD: Helen

3 rounds of 400 m run, 21 KBS @35lbs, 12 banded pullups.

16:38  Yeah, it was ugly.

Sleep: Check!

8hrs

Awesome job with your weights. I'm sorry food isn't working out as well as you'd hoped but it looks like you're finding a trend. I've been in the same position where this month and next I have WAY too many chances to fall off the food wagon. I had to really prioritize when I'm going to let myself indulge and stay as strict as possible otherwise.

Thanks! Yes, I find identifying patterns to be (nearly) as important as making changes.  At least I know how to be successful then!  Good luck with the food challenges!

Good job on the sleep. Quick question why are your squat and bench working weights almost identical?

 

 

For shame, my squat is embarrassingly poor.  I think the last time I tested my max it was around 135, which is no bueno considering my 1RM bench is 110.  I'm not sure if it's a form problem or a CNS/muscle firing problem or an I-just-dont-squat-enough problem. 

Day 10 Review (8/7)

Food: Nope

Ate very well until dinner.  Was hungry x10 after the previous day's double and made bad food choices (ok single malt scotch and some pork cheeks but the pork cheeks had tons of bread in the dish.  There may have been ice cream involved.  I admit nothing.)

Workout: Nope

Early errands, work, and then dinner out with friends.

Sleep: Meh

7h40min.  Close, but not.

Day 11 Review (8/8)

Food: Check!

Lunch: Short ribs and vegetables

Dinner: shrimp satay, chicken satay, beef stirfry, steamed broccoli

Workout: Check!

1 Hour of Oly lifting class (focus on split jerk)

then

1 hour of crossfit

Work to 1RM clean and jerk max: 105 PR!

WOD:

7min AMRAP

5 C&J @ 65lb

5 burpee pullups

3min break

5min AMRAP

3 C&J @75lb

3 burpee pullups

3 min break

3 min AMRAP

1 C&J @85lb

1 burpee pullup

66 reps total

Sleep: Nope

7hr31min

Day 12 Review (8/9)

I'm beginning to notice a trend.  If I make it to the gym, everything goes better.  Like, even my morning coffee tastes better.

Food: Sigh, nope.

Workout: Le sigh, nope.

Sleep: Check!

8hr 10min

Day 13 Review (8/10)

Slept in, which was so nice.  Took the bulldog to the dog park, where she went absolutely bananas.  Lifted a bunch.  Ate a huge meal.

Food: Meh

Workout: Check!

Squats, front squats, bench (almost PR, next time, next time....) dumbbell pullovers (ow my triceps)

• Barbell Squat:
  • 45 lb x 10 reps (+55 pts)
  • 65 lb x 10 reps (+63 pts)
  • 85 lb x 8 reps (+69 pts)
  • 85 lb x 8 reps (+69 pts)
  • 85 lb x 8 reps (+69 pts)
  • 90 lb x 5 reps (+63 pts)
  • 100 lb x 2 reps (+46 pts)
  • 100 lb x 2 reps (+46 pts)
  • 110 lb x 1 reps (+39 pts)
• Front Barbell Squat:
  • 65 lb x 3 reps (+45 pts)
  • 75 lb x 3 reps (+48 pts)
  • 80 lb x 3 reps (+50 pts)
  • 95 lb x 3 reps (+55 pts)
  • 105 lb x 3 reps (+59 pts)
• Barbell Bench Press:
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+48 pts)
  • 65 lb x 5 reps (+55 pts)
  • 85 lb x 5 reps (+62 pts)
  • 95 lb x 3 reps (+54 pts)
  • 100 lb x 2 reps (+47 pts)
  • 105 lb x 1 reps (+39 pts)
  • 110 lb x 1 reps (+40 pts)
  • 100 lb x 2 reps (+47 pts)
  • 95 lb x 3 reps (+54 pts)
  • 95 lb x 3 reps (+54 pts)
• Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover:
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+23 pts)
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)
  • 30 lb x 8 reps (+24 pts)

Sleep: Check!

9 hrs 8min

I've let the food go a bit off the rails.  I think there are two things I must do.  One is, for now, to schedule fewer errands/social engagements on weeknights, when I'm most likely to be tired and make poor food choices and not cook.  Second is to prioritize sleep above all. If I get sleep, I also get to the gym, which means I also feel more like eating the healthier things.  It's like... If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, but the opposite.  So I think that will be my mini goal for the coming week.

Log foods, cross reference for sensitivities.  I learned that bananas (something I didn't eat before starting Paleo) give me the mother of all migraines (the kind where all four prescription meds don't touch it).  No more bananas for me.

 

Ketogenic is REALLY helping.  After the banana realization, I decided to cut back on fruit and focus on veggies.  This made me low carb unintentionally.  Then I tweaked a bit and went a bit lower intentionally.  I have gone from 2-3 headaches a week to NONE.  I know that there is a thread already about doing keto for Warriors.  I think Seth has some experience.

 

Take a look at the list on the Whole 30 AutoImmune Plan.  I am not going there yet.  I hope I never have to.  But at least it gives you an idea of what to look for in your diet that may be triggering the headaches. 

 

I LOVE YOUR BULLDOG.  Love it.  My husband is constantly saying, "Ooh! Shiny!" to me

Thank you for the info!  I haven't done a Whole 30-ish kind of thing in a while, but I've also probably not examined potential dietary factors when it comes to migraines as well.  I think I will have to try a diet-headache plan for next challenge/September.

Haha my bulldog is pretty hilarious.  Except for when she's being a little pill like earlier today, when she decided to panic bark because I was doing various MWOD stretches with a band. 

Yeah it was called his Small and Weak challenge.

 

Those ribs look amazing CCW.

Oh snap!

Thanks

AKA I ate as much fat as I wanted and dropped to my lowest weight in like 8 years. 

This sounds intriguing...

I'm pretty sure I could eat coconut butter as a dietary staple.  What did it do to your lifts?

Yes. So much yes. 

 

That food! All that food!!  nomnomnomnom!

I knows, right?? I purposely scheduled no socializing this weekend so I could have isolated quiet time.  So nice.

this is so adorable. 

also, i spy a supple leopard!

Tis true! KStar is my hero.

In college I'd let my roommate's dog stay in my room whenever my roommate slept at his girlfriend's house.  I would always get 6:00 wakeups with an 80 pound yellow lab sitting next to me and staring straight down at my face.  It was his way of saying "I don't want to wake you up, but it's time to eat"

 

And bulldogs were our college mascots, so I can play this gif game for a while.  

 

This is so much great.

Day 9 Review

Workout: Check!

Went to a 1 hr oly lifting class at the CF gym, and then I attended the regular workout class. First hour was almost all Burgener and skill transfer drills for the snatch.  I was sooooo wiped after just throwing around the pvc pipe and training bar.

Strength: Snatch 1RM.  Alas, I think I was tired by the time I got to this, I couldn't even hit my previous PR.

• 35 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)

• 35 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)

• 35 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)

• 35 lb x 1 reps (+33 pts)

• 45 lb x 1 reps (+35 pts)

• 45 lb x 1 reps (+35 pts)

• 45 lb x 1 reps (+35 pts)

• 45 lb x 1 reps (+35 pts)

• 45 lb x 1 reps (+35 pts)

• 55 lb x 1 reps (+37 pts)

• 55 lb x 1 reps (+37 pts)

• 55 lb x 1 reps (+37 pts)

• 60 lb x 1 reps (+39 pts)

• 60 lb x 1 reps (+39 pts)

• 65 lb x 1 reps (+40 pts)

WOD:

Row 5k for time

27:35

Food: Check!

Lunch: Half a roasted chicken, a mashed sweet potato

Snack: Coffee, a handful of trail mix

Dinner: grassfed beef shortrib cooked in tallow, 2 c dino kale cooked with apple cider vinegar and 1tsp honey

Snack: Peach

Sleep: Check!

8hr 18min

And because the actual bulldog has not made an appearance for a while, here is the crazy face I get to see whenever I'm reading on my bed and pup is clearly displeased by me spending five minutes not playing with her.

Great first week! Woo, enjoy tomorrow's rack pull crazytimes