WholeLife 2013

I'll be honest, the whole Paleo + Zone thing isn't working out real well.  I've fallen back to just eating Whole30 style and not worrying about my Protein/Carb/Fat ratio at meal times.  Many of the dishes that I prepare are filled with veggies, good proteins and good fats to begin with.

Since the challenge at our box is 9 weeks long, we thought about doing the Whole30 for the entire 9 weeks.  Then I decided that I was NOT going to miss out on trying new paleo treats for my birthday (mid-February).  So... I plan to do a Whole45, then take a 5 day "break" (allowing for paleo birthday treats and GF alcohol) followed by another Whole17.  That will get us to the end of the nutrition challenge!  All with the intention of reducing my body fat percentage.  

Here's what this is gonna look like:

Jan 1 thru Feb 15 (until the evening) - Whole30

Feb 15 (evening) thru Feb 19 (my birthday) - Paleo

Feb 20 thru March 9 - Whole30

After that, it's back to paleo!

After all that, I still plan to do a few more Whole30s throughout the year.  Possibly in May next.  I started a Facebook Group for those doing the Whole30 in January with me, but changed it to include all of 2013, so join in anytime!  There's plenty of support and experience on that page!

Paleo + Zone = ????

There's an awesome 9-week Nutrition Challenge happening at our CrossFit Box right now.  I'm pretty pumped and so is the Hubs.  I attended the Zone Diet nutrition class and learned a lot about macro nutrients... blah, blah, blah.  Since Hubs and I are already Paleo (and currently Whole30), we are doing this a little backwards.  Most people go from Standard American Diet (SAD) to Zone and then (maybe) to Paleo, but we are going from Paleo/Whole30 into the Paleo Zone.

So, as we were trying to put together a "4-block" meal for Hubs last night (this was his breakfast as he works 3rd shift), we were utterly flabbergasted.  

4 blocks of protein? That's EASY (2 oz of ham and 2 eggs).  

4 blocks of fat?  Again, not difficult (full fat coconut milk in his coffee, eggs fried in fat, a small spoonful of coconut oil right out of the jar)

4 blocks of Carbs?  This is where it was difficult.  ALL of our carbs come from veggies and fruits.  So... he ate FOUR cups of steamed cauliflower and a cup of grapes. 

We both thought the 4 cups of cauliflower was insane, but after he finished eating, he said he didn't feel bloated or overfull.  My concern is the grocery bill!  Holy crap!  How am I going to keep enough veggies and fruit in the house?!  I checked with our very smart CrossFit Coach (also the instructor of the Zone class).  She said that we don't have to force that much carbs, but to be sure to get at least 7 blocks of carbs a day (for performance). 

So... our ultimate fat burning/performance enhancing strategy is going to be this:

Get as close to our zone blocks as possible.  Our meals will look like this:

HIM                                                                ME

4-5 "meals" a day                                         4-5 "meals" a day

4 blocks of protein                                        3 blocks of protein                                      

2-4 blocks of carb                                         2 blocks of carb

4+ blocks of fat                                              3+ blocks of fat

I'm thinking we'll eat 4 meals on days we don't CrossFit and 5 on the days we do.  I might do three 3-block meals a day with one or two 1-2 block snacks.  He plans to do four to five 4 block meals a day.  

If anyone has any experience going Paleo Zone, I'd love to hear it.  At first glance, it seems zone would be easier if you eat grains or eat out a lot.  But, I think we can get this...

Whole30 2013 ~ Day 3

So I totally forgot about the sleepless nights that come in the beginning of the Whole30.  At least for me anyway.  I'm restless all night all long.  I don't know if it happens because of cortisol, blood sugar, hormones... or what, but it happens.  So, pair that with it being my 3rd morning without coffee, and you can see why I was a bit CRANKY this morning.  I got over it though.  

If anyone is interested, here's what I've been eating (in no particular order):

Chicken Salad (as a snack)

Sauteed Asparagus

Fried Eggs

Sausage/Egg Scramble with Salsa

Shredded Beef (usually with eggs)

Fajitas 

Spaghetti (squash) with Meat Sauce 

Bone Broth

That sums up my first 3 days.  

My arms are still stiff and sore from the WOD on 1/1.  Thanks Murph.  BUT... I'm going to wod tonight.  Hoping it will loosen them up a bit!  

I've been putting together my menu and shopping list for next week.  I will be trying some new things and keeping some tried & true favorites around as well.  

Jerky

I got a dehydrator for Christmas!!!  So.. the first thing I did with it was make some jerky!  I had some ground deer meat in the freezer from a friend.  I used this recipe for inspiration.  Here's what I used for my recipe:

Having a beverage of choice in the kitchen is imperative to
good cooking ;)

1-1/2 lbs of Ground Meat (I used deer)
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Then put the meat on a sheet of wax paper.  Cover with another sheet of wax paper and using your rolling pin to flatten it to 1/8"-1/4" thickness.

Use paper towel to line the dehydrator trays (I removed mine about half-way through the cooking time) to catch any fat drippings from the meat.  My dehydrator doesn't have a temperature setting, so I just turned it on and let it go.  I checked the meat after about 3-4 hours and removed the paper towel.  It took my jerky about 7 hours to finish.  

I wish I would have taken pictures of the finished product, but I totally forgot to!  It was really good and the consistency was very much like the processed stuff we're used to.