Sunday, February 22, 2009

The slippery slope

As I said yesterday, I've been on a mission to Just Eat. I'd been making good food choices for the most part, although sometimes indulging in some Breyer's at the end of the day. Last weekend was Valentines Day, and Margaret and I went down to my folk's house so we could get some babysitting for one of our three yearly dates. Living in the Stix and having grown up the next town over from Newport, RI also makes the night out a little nicer, as there are plenty of really nice restaurants.

I tried to be good, ordering a cheese platter to share as an appetizer, and a steak with roasted vegetables for an entree. Of course, the cheese platter came with french bread, candied dates, and other treats, but at least they were in small proportions. Add some strawberries and dark chocolate and a few drinks and a bowl of ice cream each night of the weekend and by Monday, I was in full-on carb-craving mode.

The funny thing is, I've never had that much of a sweet tooth. Sure, I could polish off some gummy bears real quick if they were around, but the things that show up on a daily basis in the home and office - cookies, doughnuts, milk chocolate, etc. - don't hold that much appeal. However, after cleaning up my diet and then having a weekend of treats, the next couple of days were tough. I'd have my customary snacks - almonds, olives, or cheese - and I just wouldn't be satisfied. It wasn't until I had some dried fruit that a snack would feel complete. An evening ice cream a couple more times, and I was in the same place the next day.

Nicole Carrol was right. Carbs are like crack. Have a little, you want more, and after my slightly carby days, suddenly the cookies, chocolates, gummy candies, and assorted treats belonging to my not-yet-paleo family started to look mighty tempting. This was the signal to me that I better spend a few days eating on the strict. Last night, when the ice cream craving came, I threw it off with some green beans with garlic and olive oil. Not exactly the same thing, but when I added a glass of milk and some almonds, things worked out OK. Of course, the house is now almost barren of healthy foods. So it's off to the grocery to spend far too much money, but if I want to eat clean while on this mission to Eat More, I'm going to have to buy what looks like far too much food. I'm betting I'll eat it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Had some fun with the warmup and gymnastics skills today. The agility drills yesterday were fun, too. (Those will be part of the regular mix as far as monostructural warmup activities go.) Today, the gymnastics practice I've been doing started to pay-off with some old skills coming back to me. Fun stuff. (Did I mention that already?) Good thing, too, because the rest of the workout meant business.

Warmup/Skill work
Jump rope 5:00 - max of 9 consecutive DUs
Shoulder rolls

Handstand practice
    2 straddle presses off a 10" mat
    Hand walks 18, 29, 26 feet

TGU-Windmill drill 35 x 4 each
RRs 35 x 8 each (alternating)

Heavy stuff
Deadlift 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 275x1, 300x3, 315x3, 330x3 (new 3RM), 250x16

Metcon
7 rounds:
    10 SDLHP, 95#
    10 ring dips

7:23

Funny how it goes sometimes. Those warmup DL sets felt brutally heavy, but I managed to pull the three sets of three with pretty good form and tackled my first ever set of 15+ DLs and still finished strong with the metcon. I might have been able to keep going on the long set of DLs, but it didn't seem it at the time. Those DLs hurt from the 7th rep on. Next time, I'll hang in there for all 20 (I hope). The high-rep set is a great training tool. There's no excuse about pacing yourself, like I've used in Diane. I have to just hold onto that bar, gather myself, and pull another rep.

We're firmly into CFSB mode now. I like what it demands of me, but I'm going to have to be really strict with my recovery, if I want to make it work over the long haul.

I had some planks planned as a finisher, but when I got home we took the kids outside for an hour, and once the cold got into me I knew I better spend the rest of the day resting, eating, and otherwise recovering.

3 comments:

Dave said...

Hey PH, nice little blog you've got yourself here. I really liked the Goat posting, as well as these last two entries in you blog.

Best of luck at the Qualifiers; I'll be doing them in Jacksonville...not to qualify, but just to have a great weekend of competing, and all the other stuff too.
dc

jenna said...

Man, those sets of 20 DL are brutal. I am still feeling mine, and that was 3 days ago. I used 100# less than you though....ouch. Great job in that metcon. I have that one planned for tomorrow. I'm trying to decide between doing all real ring dips, or scaling back and using a band. I think I'll just see how it goes and reassess as needed...

Get some rest!

Unknown said...

sets of on deads.... oi my man, thats a killer. You write well, and its always a pleasure to read.