Well, the Whole30 challenge is officially over.  I would suggest, being that this was my first Whole30 and that my goals were fairly small, that this challenge was a success.  The goals were simple: eliminate sweeteners and dairy for 30 days and work with getting a friend to exercise more consistently.  All of those goals were met.

Jan did a wonderful job during the Whole30 as well.  She completed the challenge as prescribed.  She did all of the days of exercise, as we talked about.  True to my word, I will be doing 45 burpees on Sunday morning.  There will be a video to follow on Monday or Tuesday.  I am more than happy to do the burpees (even though I busted my knee doing them on Monday) since Jan did so well on the exercise.  I’ll be interested to see what kind of data she gets out of this.

During this challenge, I thought a lot about eating cleaner and why people resist it so much.  I hear a lot of excuses like “I cant” or “My genetics force me to eat this way”.  Not to sound unsympathetic or cruel, but BS!  It is a choice to put into your mouth what you do and it is also your choice to decide how you eat.  For some its difficult and for others its not.  But a flat out refusal to give up based on some excuse is not the answer either.  What I loved about the Whole30 is that it gave me a chance, albeit a little forced, to try to improve on my diet.

I would absolutely do this again, except that now I’m more aware of the things I do eat and want to (now more than ever) eat clean.  This means following the path of the Whole30 as I did prior, with some exceptions built in, of course.  Dietary changes are not just something you make in the short term, but that you make as a  change in lifestyle.

As promised, I tried a soda this morning.  OMG @ the difference.  It was SO sweet!  I finished the bottle, but I seriously doubt I’ll be drinking much soda now.  It just doesnt have the same appeal that it had 30 days ago, and Im perfectly OK with that!

Im sure there will be more thoughts to follow, as I’ve just been rambling mostly.  My thanks to all who supported me during the Whole30 and especially to Jan, who again, did a marvelous job!  See you on Sunday!  YAY BURPEES!

Commentary

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 166
• Lunch – 136
• Dinner -
• Bed – 157

Exercise

• AM
  • Mobility work only
• PM
  • None

Food

• Breakfast
  • Sausage
• Lunch
  • Sausage
• Dinner
  • 6 week dry aged rib eye
  • roasted okra
  • tomato salad
  • cataloupe
• Snack/Other

Sleep

• Went to bed shortly after 10PM, woke up at 5AM

Commentary

Next to last day of the Whole30. For the last couple of days, I’ve really been jonesing for a soda.  Mentally, I know the Whole30 is coming to an end, so I’ve already been planning my treats, which is probably the wrong thing to do.  Although, truth be told, I don’t get many of them anyway, so I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.  It’ll be interesting to see the results of that.  I dont intend on going back to the way I ate before, completely.  I think on occasion, that stuff is OK.  However, in more frequent occurrences, its not a good idea.

This morning’s WOD was actually based on a competition that our gym and another local Crossfit gym are having.  The idea is that for the next two Wednesdays (today and next Wednesday), both gyms will do the same workout.  The top 3 times for each workout will be totaled and the winner to be decided based on that.  Only those who do the workouts as prescribed would be in contention, which is fair.  It adds an interesting and fun dynamic to the workout, as we were being judged on the reps we were doing during the WOD and were called on for bad reps (no rep).  What I liked about it, even though it becomes more difficult, is that it forces you to be thinking about technique throughout the entire WOD.  It was still a fun WOD, even though my double unders suck something awful.

I’m not sure if it was the brand or what, but chicken sausage is disgusting.  I didn’t have any leftovers from last night, so I decided to see what I could find at the grocery store.  Needless to say, pickings were mightly slim, so I settled for chicken sausage.  NEVER AGAIN!

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 144
• Lunch – 116
• Dinner – 112
• Bed – 122

Exercise

• AM
  • Warmup
    • 20 gymnastics kips
    • 20 walking lunges
    • 20 back extensions
  • WOD – 2+22
    • 10 minute AMRAP
      • 5 power cleans – 65lbs
      • 10 toes to bar (substituted knees to elbows, due to flexibility)
      • 15 wallballs (14lb, 10′ target)
      • 30 double unders (attempts)
• PM
  • Burgener Warmup
  • Practiced working on the Snatch, using a PVC pipe, approx 10 minutes.

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, scrambled
  • 4 sausage links
• Lunch
  • Chicken Sausage – NEVER HAVING THIS AGAIN!
• Dinner
  • Pork Chop with avocado
  • Green beans
• Snack/Other
  • Pecans and pistachios

Sleep

• Went to bed at 10:00PM, woke up at 5:30AM

Commentary

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 154
• Lunch – 177
• Dinner – 133
• Bed – 129

Exercise

• AM
  • 400m run
  • 50 air squats
• PM
  • Walked 2 miles

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, over easy
• Lunch
  • leftover fajita mix
• Dinner
  • 3 burgers, with avocado and tomato
• Snack/Other
  • pecans

Sleep

• Went to bed around 10:00PM, woke up at 5AM.

Commentary

Coming down to the home stretch.  Just a few more days left.

I spoke to Jan yesterday and we’ve already arranged for the burpees to happen on Sunday morning (which is usually when I’m over to pick up eggs and BS outside of work).  As I mentioned before, my form falls apart during the burpees, especially once I start getting tired.  But I’ll never quit!

I had this elaborate plan yesterday to make jambalaya and egg salad.  Then I fell asleep in my chair sometime around 2:30PM for about 20 minutes.  WORST. IDEA. EVER!  I woke up cranky and lazy and it lasted for about 3 hours.  I pretty much just gave up on those ideas for the day, since I really didnt have the patience to see it through.

I really have to stop looking at some of these WOD’s and saying to myself “Well, that doesn’t seem too bad.”  While its a boost in confidence and even if it had been a WOD that I was dreading (see last Friday’s Partner Double Fran), I still go in to do the work and to finish as strong as I can.  Today’s WOD included burpees (YAY, BURPEES).  A couple of things I noticed this morning while warming up and during the WOD.  First, I ran the 400m required during the warmup this morning (unbroken – no rest).  This is progress, as when I started, I could barely run 200m without feeling completely winded.  Second, usually when I do burpees, I end up stopping several times (especially during long sets, as I get more winded).  This morning, I think I may have stopped to rest 2 or 3 times and they were short (2-3 breaths and back on it).  I dont know if this was a fluke or if Im getting stronger, but I like to think Im getting in better shape each day.

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 144
• Lunch – Did not check
• Dinner – 107
• Bed – 120

Exercise

• AM
  • Warmup
    • 20 pullups – jumping
    • 400m run
    • 30 Wallball thrusters
    • Did another 200m run while waiting on the WOD
  • WOD – 13:20
    • 15-12-9
      • Kettlebell Swings (1/2 p, 26 lbs)
      • Lateral burpees
    • Rest – 2 minutes
    • 12-9-6
      • Kettlebell Swings (1/2p, 26 lbs)
      • Lateral burpees
• PM
  • 30 overhead squats – pvc
  • 30 sit ups

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, scrambled
  • 4 sausage links
• Lunch
  • 4 applegate hot dogs, with mustard
• Dinner
  • Sausage
• Snack/Other
  • Pork fresh side

Sleep

• Went to bed about 10:30PM, woke up at 6AM

Commentary

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 144
• Lunch – 127
• Dinner – 112
• Bed – 116

Exercise

• AM
  • Nothing
• PM
  • Mobility work

Food

• Breakfast
  • Nothing
• Lunch
  • Fajita mix, with avocado
• Dinner
  • Sausage
• Snack/Other
  • Almonds
  • hard boiled egg

Sleep

• Went to bed around 10:30PM, woke up right at 5AM
• I opted not to take the ibuprofen last night after icing my back.  Sure enough, about 3AM, sharp pains in my back.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well.

Commentary

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 139
• Lunch – 111
• Dinner – 107
• Bed – 132

Exercise

• AM
  • walked 2 miles
    • During the 1st mile, I ran more of it than I walked, about 1000m or so, 1200m at the most.
• PM

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, over easy
• Lunch
  • 2 grilled chicken breasts, topped with avocado
• Dinner
  • strips of grass fed beef with peppers, onions, fajita seasoning, topped with a tomato and crushed red pepper sauce.
• Snack/Other
  • Sunflower seeds

Sleep

• Went to sleep around 11PM, woke up at 8AM

Commentary

Another week left.  Jan’s doing great on her exercise.  Looks like Im going to end up doing the 45 burpees, which I had already planned to do anyway.  Stay tuned for the video, when this happens.  Again, my form breaks down rather quickly, but I will at least finish the set.  It just wont look pretty.

Based on what I’ve observed so far, it appears that the cinnamon is working as a replacement for my blood sugar pill.  My fasting blood sugar has been a bit higher than I want it to be, but by the afternoon, its improving.  Just have to keep a closer eye on it.

The workout…..how can I put this?  I woke up this morning at 5, hesitated to go into the gym for the workout.  Keep in mind that because I go that early, I dont get to check the workout until I am already there.  It really plays into being prepared for anything (the unknown and unknowable that is CrossFit).  When I got to the gym around 5:35AM, I decided to check the site to see what the WOD was going to be.  Partner Double Fran (Fran is a 21-15-9 rep workout for time, using the couplet thrusters (95/65) and pullups).  I was NOT excited about this at first.  I saw a video on YouTube awhile back of 2010 CrossFit games champ Graham Holmberg do a double Fran by himself.  I had never done Fran before, so I was a little hesitant.  However, I got my mind clear and decided that no matter what, I’m going to finish the workout, no matter what my time is.  It helps to have a great partner too.  It worked out much better than I expected, although I noticed some form issues that I need to pay a bit more attention to.  With the partner WOD’s, usually only one person is working and this WOD was no exception.  I started out with the 21 thrusters.  My partner then moved on to the 21 pullups, and then 15 thrusters.  I did 15 pullups and 9 thrusters, followed by her finishing out the 9 pullups and then the 21 thrusters.  I then did the 21 pullups and 15 thrusters, followed by her finishing out the 15 pullups and the last 9 of the thrusters.  On the last 9 pullups, I felt this sudden burst of intensity and just popped them out.  By splitting it up the way we did, we  both essentially did a Fran (although when doing Fran typically, you work until its done).  It made some things clear to me though.  I still need to work on my pullups and on the progression of them and my squatting technique when using a weighted bar is terrible.  There is always something to improve, but overall, it was a great day at the gym!

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 132
• Lunch – Did not check
• Dinner – 88
• Bed – 97

Exercise

• AM
  • Warmup
    • 20 burpees
    • 20 ring dips
    • 20 ring rows
  • WOD – 9:12
    • Partner Double Fran
      • 2 rounds – 21/15/9
        • Thrusters – 45 lbs
        • Pullups – Jumping
• PM
  • About 2 minutes of single unders
  • 25 double under attempts
  • 25 dumbbell swings – 10 lbs
  • 25 walking lunges
  • 15 minutes of mobilization work

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, over-easy
• Lunch
  • 4 applegate hot dogs, with mustard
  • celery sticks – 6 or 7
• Dinner
  • Sausage
• Snack/Other
  • pork fresh side
  • almonds

Sleep

• Went to bed around 11PM, woke up at 6:30AM

Commentary

22 down, 8 more to go.  I’ve kind of been on auto-pilot with this thing lately, which is actually a good thing.  I’m no longer focusing on the adjustments that I need to make for the challenge, as they have pretty much become part of the routine.  I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind having a little bit of soda or dairy after this is over, but certainly will cut back the amounts.  Although, I really don’t miss either one nearly as much as I thought I would.

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 126
• Lunch – Did not check
• Dinner – 97
• Bed – 100

Exercise

• AM
  • Mobility work only
• PM
  • walked 2 miles
  • mobility work

Food

• Breakfast
  • 4 eggs, over easy
• Lunch
  • 4 applegate hot dogs, with mustard.
• Dinner
  • 2 burgers, topped with fried egg
• Snack/Other
  • Almonds
  • Celery

Sleep

• Went to bed around 10PM.  Woke up at 5AM

Commentary

Blood Sugar

• AM/Fasting – 125
• Lunch – Did not check (ran out of strips yesterday at work)
• Dinner – 97
• Bed – 96

Exercise

• AM
  • Warmup
    • Sotts Press – 15
    • Snatch Balance – 15
    • Back Extension – 15
  • WOD – 2+10
    • 8 minute AMRAP
      • 20 double unders (attempts)
      • 15 box jumps (20″)
      • 10 toes to bar (attempts)
• PM
  • 30 burpees for time – 4:02

Food

• Breakfast
  • 5 sausage patties
• Lunch
  • 4 applegate hotdogs, with mustard
• Dinner
  • Sausage
• Snack/Other

Sleep

• Went to bed around 10:00PM, woke up at 6:00AM