01/31/2012 Paleo Challenge Day 25
Feelings On Paleo Challenge
After three weeks and some days I have mixed feelings about the Paleo Diet. I have been strict, as strict as I think is possible. My eating has been clean, I’ve gotten good sleep, and I’ve done everything I can to keep my stress levels low.
In terms of my performance in the gym, I am clearly getting stronger, and I am getting better at Olympic Lifts. During the longer Metcons I am able to maintain a nice energy level throughout the work, but I don’t have the reserve gas tank that I do during the home stretch, there’s normally a small window of time where I use my sheer desire to succeed to push harder than I did in the opening minutes, but it just hasn’t been there… When we do shorter Metcons I’m not able to maintain the intensity for more than a couple of minutes. In a 4-5 minute workout in the pass I had far more juice than I do now.
I think there is a combination of things going on here, because I am doing heavier weights, I know I am reaching the verge of muscle failure faster, but I also feel a part of it is a result of my low starch intake. When we did Murph I did consume some starch the night before, and morning before. This proved to help me get through a 40+ minute workout, and a little bit to finish my second mile in a close time to my first mile.
In general overall performance is up, but how I feel during metcons is down, so to some degree I feel like my strength is growing yet the endurance is dropping.
The area for me which is making me a little unhappy is clearly the weight. For those people who are trying to be encouraging I appreciate your concerns, I really do, to take the time to post to my blog and say something means a great deal; be assured the weight frustrates me but not to the point of doing something drastic.
And I post to the blog how I feel during any given time, I don’t want to filter anything because this evolution is a process which is a tough one.
When you spend a good portion of your life obese, you want nothing more than to not be obese, so when you put the effort forward, and do what is recommended and nothing happens towards a goal it’s frustrating.
Irrational as it maybe, I have to be comfortable in my skin, and in my own head. I just want to know what causes the body to actually shed weight, and what causes it to retain body weight. My body composition is changing, yet I don’t want to be a 250 lbs guy who is ripped, that’s just not what I want in my life.
If this is the new norm, fine, when reflecting on the overall month, losing 10+ pounds is not bad. Staying at this rate for the course of a year I would lose 120 lbs, so I got that going for me…
WoD
Today’s WoD was a single 15 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible), 5 power cleans at 145 lbs, 10 toes to bar, and 15 wall balls with a 20 lb wall ball and a 10’ target. When I read the workout the night before and the metcon involves moves that I have to scale I get frustrated, but then have to think about which movements I can do as prescribed. The nice thing occurring over the last month is that more times than not I’m able to do at least 2/3 of a metcon as prescribed, so I got that going for me.
After warming up, and doing a few power cleans at 135 lbs, I felt like this would be a good weight. That’s when Coach Jay and Loren goaded me into adding the 10 lbs to the prescribed weight of 145 lbs. My response was something along the lines of kissing my ass, as I added the weights.
When the clock started I felt like the right decision had been made in terms of the weight for the power cleans. I made progress in the toes to bar as I was able to bring my knees further up just below my chest. I wore my lifting shoes, and found that the wall balls were easier to do, and that I was able to pop up the bar up. When wearing my Pure Ugly’s I could feel my feet moving every time I would go into the squat with the medicine ball, but with my New Nikes my feet were planted perfectly, thus allowing me to drive the ball harder, and making it feel lighter.
I finished 7 rounds plus 5 reps in the fifteen minutes. I figure once I am actually doing toes to bar that I would have probably finished 5 rounds, but I could be completely pulling that out of my ass.
Paleo Meals
if there is one thing that’s going to prevent your success in your weight loss, it’s your head. Not paleo, not crossfit, not weightlifting, not sleep, not stress, not genetics, not friends, not family.
it’s your big dumb head.
I love that you are honest about where your head is at that day. When I am hating myself for sucking at the gym – I just remember that it’s part of the process. That I am stronger than I was 2.5 years ago and doing things with my body I couldn’t even conceive of. Heck – I’m lifting more weight as a 41-year old desk jockey than I did as a stagehand in my 20s.
Thinking of the setbacks as “solidifying my gains” has helped me get out of bed and hit the gym recently. Of course, some days I’m more successful at psyching myself up than others 🙂
See you at Patriot.
Lou-
Apparently my first post didn’t go through, I love my computer. You have 32 years of formulating one lifestyle. Changing that lifestyle doesn’t happen in 6 weeks. It takes time. You have started the change and now you are in the stage of making that lifestyle change habitual and second nature. So now you need to change the way you think. You have the choice to be happy with the skin you are in or to be angry with the skin you are in. It’s up to you to train yourself to think differently. We are all our own worst critics. We all have something we want to improve upon or change about our appearence. I think as we get older we learn to love ourselves and the skin we are in.
We all see changes in you and I think you do too. Dig deep and start telling yourself positive things. Focus on the positives that are coming out of your experiences: lifiting heavy, looser fitting clothes, rx’ing wods, faster runs, etc etc. Stop focusing on the negative and stop focusing on the number on the scale. In fact, as shady said, stay off the scale. It’s just a number and seriously what does that number mean? For my height and gender I should probably be 120 pounds. Well, 120 pounds on my frame makes me look emaciated and sick. So this number you have in your head might not actually be healthy for your frame. Remember that. Go with how you overall feel, the improvement in your workouts, how your clothes are fitting, if you are seeing more definition in the mirror, what others around you are telling you what they see (as it’s all positive), and hell maybe even go take a blood test to get your actual numbers and then take another one a few months from now and I bet you’ll be shocked at how the numbers will improve.
With that said, remember that when you start paleo you energy levels will drop and your workouts will most likely suffer. Your body is adjusting. Forge through. I promise you your energy levels will return! You’ve already noted yourself the difference that you are seeing in your strength. Endurance will come. Give it time. You are replacing fat with muscle. It’s a good thing. Work on your head, work on focusing on the positives, and lean on your friends and family for the support you need. After all, we are all here to kick your ass and make you get back up when all you want to do is sit down!
+1 to all that’s already been said today.
it sounds cheesy but we want our clients to be healthy for life, not for a five-week challenge. we’re all working toward a healthy long-term balance of clean eating, working out, and being happy.
when i saw you last night at MWB i couldn’t believe how lean you looked! i know the frustration is there, but you just have to keep moving forward.
Chez,
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate how you approach things in the gym, and enjoy your early morning Zeal.
The type of change you are taking about with a mindset is one that will take far longer than the amount of time I need to get to into my ideal body.
I told someone the other day I go at the workouts with such intensity because I’m scared. I’m scared of being obese, again and scared of losing what I’ve gained…I guess this fear is partially what drives me, but there are for sure at times it cripples my ability to act.
If I could graph my patience against how long it takes to actually get to something there would surely be an inverse relationship. I am trying, and appreciate your encouragement.
Lou
Alison,
Thanks! I have chosen the CrossFit route because I am looking at sustainability, and probably gravitate towards PCF because it’s intense but not fanatical.
6 Months ago I would have probably preferred a place more fanatical, so that’s progress.
You can whistle at me anytime.
Lou
Wendy,
Thanks for posting. I like your mantra of “solidifying gains”, I may steal that one.
See you in the box.
Lou