Excited to get Started

Well hopefully today begins the day that a decision has been made to get healthier - oh yeah and look good naked!! I hope the information I have given you so far will help you achieve all the goals that you set for yourself. If there are any questions or if you need clarification on anything please don't hesitate to post here or email me. My goal out of this program is to inspire you to change your life and provide a "pathway" to get there that will at times be hard but in the end become an easy lifestyle change that will last a lifetime.

So to reiterate your "homework"
1. Take that picture!!
2. Take your measurements and record them
3. Choose what you are going to track and start keeping track
4. Weigh yourself
5. Look through the menu options and choose those that look appealing and would be easy for you to make and incorporate into your diet and then plan ahead!! Keep the menu simple for the first couple of weeks. If there is something that you would like to eat that isn't on there let me know and I will try and hunt up a paleo friendly recipe for you.

If you feel comfortable with sending me your beginning tracking results I would really like to have them. This does a couple of things - holds you accountable, and helps me help you if we hit some bumps in the road it will make it easier for me to figure out what might need to be "tweaked" with what you are doing.

Ok so I got home last night and was starving so I had made hamburgers for the kids and my hubby, so I just reheated that threw some guacamole on it put in a leaf of romaine lettuce. I had accidently put waaay to much seasoning in the meat so it was extremely salty and kind of gross but oh well. I had some pomegranate seeds because I was just too lazy to cook any veggies and i really don't like to use my microwave.

This morning breakfast was a quick 3 eggs scramble with bacon and salsa. Not enough carbs but I was in a hurry and forgot to grab a piece of fruit on my way out the door.

So I usually do my workout before lunch and here is what it looked like:
A. Build to a tough but not max 1 rep max of the Snatch - I got 100# which is 5# less than my personal record (PR). This particular olympic lift is quite technically difficult and I am not very good at it, it is definitely one of my weaknesses.

Part two was what we call a metcon in the crossfit world which stands for metabolic conditioning. It usually involves a circuit of movements either body weight and or weights that you have to complete as quickly as possible or do as many rounds as possible within a certain time frame. Todays was as follows:
5 rounds as fast as possible (asfp) of:
10 hang squat snatch 45#
10 24" box jumps
10 wall balls (take a medicine ball and go into a full squat then come up and throw it to a 10' target)
15 double unders (2 revolutions of a skipping rope to every one jump)

My time was 13:36 which I felt was pretty good. The beauty of this type of workout is i got a ton of "work" done in a very short period of time and my workout is done. It is quick but very efficient at building all around fitness.
After recovering from my workout about 20 minutes or so I usually try and have lunch. Research shows that you should try and eat within 30 minutes of a workout as it helps in recovery and has also been reported to be a "free" meal if you were to count calories.

Lunch: I had my stuffed delicata squash with spicy italian sausage, onions, and spinach. I just reheated the squash in the toaster oven while I had a shower then warmed up the sausage with the onions and spinach - This has become one of my favorite meals and you could mix it up using either ground turkey, ground pork, or ground beef .

This is one of those meals that I can seriously see myself eating everyday or at least 4 days a week. This is one of the things that you need to discover - is one of those meals that is good for you, satisfies all the necessary dietary requirements, is delicious and easy to make, and is something you won't get tired of and then just keep eating it for the next couple of weeks. It takes the "guesswork" out of it and also ensures that you won't be tempted to cheat.

There is a caution though that we should not eat the same thing all the time. I believe this to some degree however if you do this for a couple of weeks then switch out to a similar dish for a couple of weeks and keep rotating like that there should not be an issue. There is some thought that if you eat the same thing all the time you may develop a food sensitivity to that particular food. I am not so sure this is true and to be honest have not done enough research to deny or accept it. Based on my own personal experience I haven't had any problems eating the same thing all the time, but I would say pay attention to your body and how it is responding to what you are eating. If your bowel movements are not good, or if you feel sluggish, are having difficulty sleeping, are achy, or have headaches then potentially something you are eating is not agreeing with you.

Dinner: Coconut Shrimp and sauteed braised cabbage and spinach.
1. Thaw shrimp (I used the precooked so I am just warming it up)
2. In a bowl put 2-3 tbsp of coconut flour
3. In another bowl wisk up one egg
4. In third bowl put in 2tbsp of almond meal and 2tbsp of medium organic cocunut - so basically ground up coconut but not as fine as the flour.
5. Pat the shrimp dry
6. Roll the shrimp in the coconut flour until lightly coated
7. Dip the shrimp in the egg
8. Roll the shrimp in the almond meal/coconut mixture
9. Place them in pan with very hot coconut oil
10. Cook for about 2 minutes or less each side basically until browned
11. I like to put some lemon juice on them after