9:00AM
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
1:45PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
7:15PM
100-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: Christine and I have decided to try to have a baby one more time thanks to the generosity of my sister-in-law Jennifer. As many of you know, we are not able to biologically have children of our own because of problems with both of us. We discovered how severe this was in December 2007 after a failed in-vitro fertilization (IVF) attempt. We're in our 16th year of marriage and would love to desperately have a child to call our own--and Christine's sister Jennifer knows that. She had a beautiful baby girl a couple of years ago and had some money from her husband's death last year that she wanted to use to pay for us to do something called embryo adoption. For anyone who has gone through IVF, there are sometimes LOTS of eggs produced by the woman which are then fertilized with sperm and allowed to grow for 3-5 days before being frozen. The woman can then have these available to her if she decides to have a baby in the future or she can give these embryos up for adoption for people who cannot have children--like us! The way it works is we see a reproductive endocrinologist (the same one who did the IVF) who will check out Christine to see if she's able to carry a baby. After a series of "stuff" (too much to really go into detail about), they implant the embryo to hope it begins growing a baby inside of her. We'd covet your prayers through this process and we've already decided this is our final attempt to have a baby. I'd love to see Christine pregnant and go through the birthing process...she'd be a fabulous mom! We are excited about the prospect of what is gonna happen over the next few months.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
January 30, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
7:45AM
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
1:45PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: When we were coming home from church today, Christine said to me, "I REALLY want a steak for lunch!" That's my girl. She has learned to love and embrace low-carb over the past year or so more than ever before and I'm so proud of her. She's not always been as strict about it wanting to eat her M&M's and other such carbage...but something has convinced her to be more low-carb than not over the past 12+ months. Maybe all this exposure to the negative impact of consuming excessive carbohydrates has finally clicked for her and she's convinced. WOO HOO!
As Christine was devouring her steak meal, I decided to change things up a bit with my ground beef meal. Most of the time I just chop up the meat, salt and pepper it, add a little granulated garlic, cook it up in the coconut oil in a skillet and eat it. Today I put the meat in a bowl and seasoned it mixing it well with my hands and formed a one-pound hamburger steak. That thing was humungous! I cooked it for a good 6-7 minutes on each side with all that coconut oil bubbling around it adding deliciously healthy fats to this amazing meal. The finished product was a juicy and delicious version of my familiar meal--just done in a little different way. I'll be doing this again soon. So good!
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
1:45PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: When we were coming home from church today, Christine said to me, "I REALLY want a steak for lunch!" That's my girl. She has learned to love and embrace low-carb over the past year or so more than ever before and I'm so proud of her. She's not always been as strict about it wanting to eat her M&M's and other such carbage...but something has convinced her to be more low-carb than not over the past 12+ months. Maybe all this exposure to the negative impact of consuming excessive carbohydrates has finally clicked for her and she's convinced. WOO HOO!
As Christine was devouring her steak meal, I decided to change things up a bit with my ground beef meal. Most of the time I just chop up the meat, salt and pepper it, add a little granulated garlic, cook it up in the coconut oil in a skillet and eat it. Today I put the meat in a bowl and seasoned it mixing it well with my hands and formed a one-pound hamburger steak. That thing was humungous! I cooked it for a good 6-7 minutes on each side with all that coconut oil bubbling around it adding deliciously healthy fats to this amazing meal. The finished product was a juicy and delicious version of my familiar meal--just done in a little different way. I'll be doing this again soon. So good!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
January 29, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
8:45AM
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
5:00PM
30-minute painting our new shed
6:00PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: I've been taking the L-Tryptophan, GABA and magnesium supplements the past couple of nights and I've noticed my sleep has already improved. I guess my body is still trying to make up for the lost sleep lately because after I got home from refereeing Upward basketball at my church this morning, I came home and CRASHED! In fact, I didn't even stop to eat lunch before the bed called my name. I rested for about three hours and woke up feeling amazing. It's funny how your body craves rest just as much as it wants food when you're hungry. In my quest for becoming more self-aware about the needs of my body, rest is something I've been focusing more and more on lately. We'll see if it translates into more weight loss (or at least continuing what I've been doing for the past month). When I woke up from my nap, Christine asked me to help finish painting our new shed that I bought her for Christmas. The tall parts of the shed needed to be finished off and I dutifully took care of it with my 6'3" body. I told her she only married me for my height. :D After doing weight lifting on my arms yesterday, I could feel it painting--WHEW! But, as we say here in the South, I "got 'er done!"
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
5:00PM
30-minute painting our new shed
6:00PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: I've been taking the L-Tryptophan, GABA and magnesium supplements the past couple of nights and I've noticed my sleep has already improved. I guess my body is still trying to make up for the lost sleep lately because after I got home from refereeing Upward basketball at my church this morning, I came home and CRASHED! In fact, I didn't even stop to eat lunch before the bed called my name. I rested for about three hours and woke up feeling amazing. It's funny how your body craves rest just as much as it wants food when you're hungry. In my quest for becoming more self-aware about the needs of my body, rest is something I've been focusing more and more on lately. We'll see if it translates into more weight loss (or at least continuing what I've been doing for the past month). When I woke up from my nap, Christine asked me to help finish painting our new shed that I bought her for Christmas. The tall parts of the shed needed to be finished off and I dutifully took care of it with my 6'3" body. I told her she only married me for my height. :D After doing weight lifting on my arms yesterday, I could feel it painting--WHEW! But, as we say here in the South, I "got 'er done!"
Friday, January 28, 2011
January 28, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
2:00PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
4:15PM
15-minute weight lifting (arms and shoulders), 20-minute Peak 8 interval workout
NOTE: I got in a huge shipment of those organic eggs, grass-fed ground beef, grass-fed steaks and coconut oil from that company called Tropical Traditions yesterday and I look forward to trying their food. The eggs have been AMAZING so far and I'm sure the beef, steaks and coconut oil will as well. They read my recent blog post about what I'm doing with my diet right now and agreed to supply me with these foods for the duration of my weight loss. WOW! How generous was that? I still have some grass-fed ground beef from my local farmer as well as some of my normal brand of coconut oil (in fact, I had just received a brand new 1 gallon supply of my coconut oil before this offer came in--I'm stocked up on coconut oil for a while!). I also got 8 dozen eggs, 25 pounds of ground beef, and a big box of the most amazing looking steaks I've seen in a long time. Can't wait to Sous Vide those soon! I'm grateful and blessed to be able to do what I do and appreciate the support I receive from companies like this to show how amazing livin' la vida low-carb can really be. THANKS for following my journey!
4 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
2:00PM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
4:15PM
15-minute weight lifting (arms and shoulders), 20-minute Peak 8 interval workout
NOTE: I got in a huge shipment of those organic eggs, grass-fed ground beef, grass-fed steaks and coconut oil from that company called Tropical Traditions yesterday and I look forward to trying their food. The eggs have been AMAZING so far and I'm sure the beef, steaks and coconut oil will as well. They read my recent blog post about what I'm doing with my diet right now and agreed to supply me with these foods for the duration of my weight loss. WOW! How generous was that? I still have some grass-fed ground beef from my local farmer as well as some of my normal brand of coconut oil (in fact, I had just received a brand new 1 gallon supply of my coconut oil before this offer came in--I'm stocked up on coconut oil for a while!). I also got 8 dozen eggs, 25 pounds of ground beef, and a big box of the most amazing looking steaks I've seen in a long time. Can't wait to Sous Vide those soon! I'm grateful and blessed to be able to do what I do and appreciate the support I receive from companies like this to show how amazing livin' la vida low-carb can really be. THANKS for following my journey!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
5:45AM
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
12:30PM
6 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
7:00PM
100-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: It's weigh-in day today and when I stepped on the scale this morning it showed I weighed 267.2 pounds--another 3.2-pound weight loss since last week. Since I began this new journey earlier this month, I have now shed a total of 19.6 pounds on my way to getting back down to at least 230 pounds again. So far it's been pretty darn easy partly because I've been eating low-carb for so many years that I'm not experiencing the familiar withdrawal symptoms from sugar and starches that I did when I first started in 2004. It's funny how just a few minor tweaks and changes to my diet are so easily implementable. That's a good lesson for people who think this is too difficult to do. Not even close! If you have a sincere desire to change and a willingness to follow through on it, then you can't help but succeed. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens as I continue this.
Today I received a huge shipment of grass-fed ground beef, a box of all kinds of steaks, and some really interesting eggs that I went ahead and added to my menus today. These chickens laying the eggs are fed a unique chicken feed made from the coconut pulp left after the coconut oil is extracted from it. What that means is these chickens are getting lots of healthy fats into their diet which then translates into outstanding nutrition in their eggs. And the taste is so heavenly, especially cooked up in coconut oil as I've been doing. I was telling Christine how surprising it was for the eggs to taste so "buttery" although there wasn't any in it. Once this challenge through April 1st is over, I may consider adding back in some grass-fed butter again. The good thing is I'm not really missing or craving any foods right now. IT'S A MIRACLE! :)
You'll notice I ate my first meal of the day pretty darn early today. I went to bed around 11:15PM last night dead tired and yet I woke up at 2:15AM wide awake. I tossed, turned, flipped and finally resigned to the fact I wasn't gonna get back to sleep. So I got up and did some work on my blog, answered some e-mails, and other work-related stuff (I did take a nap later in the morning) and realized how ravenously hungry I was. I tried to do an extended IF session from yesterday, but the hunger was a bit too much for me to go too much longer than 20 hours. And that's cool. I probably won't do that again and just stick with the plan I've been doing. My body doesn't like being hungry. But it was worth a shot.
At volleyball something interesting happened towards the end...I started getting dizzy. At first I tried to pass it off as me playing hard and needing to suck in more oxygen. But I quickly realized this was likely hypoglycemia and I needed to go lie down for the last few minutes. For the most part this has not been an issue for me since I started my grass-fed beef, pastured eggs and coconut oil diet, but it hit me hard tonight. I got home and relaxed on my recliner watching television for a while and felt fine going to bed. I'll keep an eye on this to see if is a problem again.
One of my most ardent followers Sonya suggested I take L-Tryptophan and GABA to help with my sleeplessness as per my podcast interview with Julia Ross. I also know from Robb Wolf that magnesium helps with this as well. So this afternoon I headed over to The Vitamin Shoppe to get these to help me sleep tonight. I took one 250mg magnesium citrate, one 500mg L-Tryptophan and two of the 750mg of GABA (the store manager said his coach in college said to take 2-3 of these at night and you'll sleep like a baby). We'll see how well they worked. I was pretty darn tired by bedtime from my lack of sleep last night and playing volleyball tonight.
1 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
12:30PM
6 organic, soy-free, coconut fed eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
7:00PM
100-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: It's weigh-in day today and when I stepped on the scale this morning it showed I weighed 267.2 pounds--another 3.2-pound weight loss since last week. Since I began this new journey earlier this month, I have now shed a total of 19.6 pounds on my way to getting back down to at least 230 pounds again. So far it's been pretty darn easy partly because I've been eating low-carb for so many years that I'm not experiencing the familiar withdrawal symptoms from sugar and starches that I did when I first started in 2004. It's funny how just a few minor tweaks and changes to my diet are so easily implementable. That's a good lesson for people who think this is too difficult to do. Not even close! If you have a sincere desire to change and a willingness to follow through on it, then you can't help but succeed. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens as I continue this.
Today I received a huge shipment of grass-fed ground beef, a box of all kinds of steaks, and some really interesting eggs that I went ahead and added to my menus today. These chickens laying the eggs are fed a unique chicken feed made from the coconut pulp left after the coconut oil is extracted from it. What that means is these chickens are getting lots of healthy fats into their diet which then translates into outstanding nutrition in their eggs. And the taste is so heavenly, especially cooked up in coconut oil as I've been doing. I was telling Christine how surprising it was for the eggs to taste so "buttery" although there wasn't any in it. Once this challenge through April 1st is over, I may consider adding back in some grass-fed butter again. The good thing is I'm not really missing or craving any foods right now. IT'S A MIRACLE! :)
You'll notice I ate my first meal of the day pretty darn early today. I went to bed around 11:15PM last night dead tired and yet I woke up at 2:15AM wide awake. I tossed, turned, flipped and finally resigned to the fact I wasn't gonna get back to sleep. So I got up and did some work on my blog, answered some e-mails, and other work-related stuff (I did take a nap later in the morning) and realized how ravenously hungry I was. I tried to do an extended IF session from yesterday, but the hunger was a bit too much for me to go too much longer than 20 hours. And that's cool. I probably won't do that again and just stick with the plan I've been doing. My body doesn't like being hungry. But it was worth a shot.
At volleyball something interesting happened towards the end...I started getting dizzy. At first I tried to pass it off as me playing hard and needing to suck in more oxygen. But I quickly realized this was likely hypoglycemia and I needed to go lie down for the last few minutes. For the most part this has not been an issue for me since I started my grass-fed beef, pastured eggs and coconut oil diet, but it hit me hard tonight. I got home and relaxed on my recliner watching television for a while and felt fine going to bed. I'll keep an eye on this to see if is a problem again.
One of my most ardent followers Sonya suggested I take L-Tryptophan and GABA to help with my sleeplessness as per my podcast interview with Julia Ross. I also know from Robb Wolf that magnesium helps with this as well. So this afternoon I headed over to The Vitamin Shoppe to get these to help me sleep tonight. I took one 250mg magnesium citrate, one 500mg L-Tryptophan and two of the 750mg of GABA (the store manager said his coach in college said to take 2-3 of these at night and you'll sleep like a baby). We'll see how well they worked. I was pretty darn tired by bedtime from my lack of sleep last night and playing volleyball tonight.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
January 26, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:45AM
1/2 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: I tried an experiment today inspired by Paleo diet expert Art De Vany after my conversation with him for an upcoming episode of my podcast in March. He said it's good to pick a spontaneous, random day of the week to just skip eating for an extended intermittent fasting period. As you know watching my menus this month, I've engaged in a pretty much daily IF mode that takes me to upwards 19-20 hours between my last meal of one day and the first meal of the next. Today I decided to try to push that closer to a full 24-hour period. I had very minimal hunger when I went to bed, so the test is going pretty well. Art says it's important to try to make up the calories you missed on the day of the fast the next day, so I'll be aiming for that tomorrow.
By the way, after my strength training session of my upper body on Monday, I'm STILL sore from lifting. That's okay because it means I kicked my own butt at the gym. I can't wait to get back in there on Friday and continue this new addition to my routine. I know making this a habit will be the hardest thing for me because I'm not a natural weight lifter (other than my own body weight which I've been carrying around for decades!). But I want to be stronger than I've ever been before to help me burn body fat more efficiently as well as feeling good about myself. This journey is all about self-contentment and I'm pleased with the progress I've seen thus far.
1/2 pound grass-fed ground beef cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and granulated garlic
NOTE: I tried an experiment today inspired by Paleo diet expert Art De Vany after my conversation with him for an upcoming episode of my podcast in March. He said it's good to pick a spontaneous, random day of the week to just skip eating for an extended intermittent fasting period. As you know watching my menus this month, I've engaged in a pretty much daily IF mode that takes me to upwards 19-20 hours between my last meal of one day and the first meal of the next. Today I decided to try to push that closer to a full 24-hour period. I had very minimal hunger when I went to bed, so the test is going pretty well. Art says it's important to try to make up the calories you missed on the day of the fast the next day, so I'll be aiming for that tomorrow.
By the way, after my strength training session of my upper body on Monday, I'm STILL sore from lifting. That's okay because it means I kicked my own butt at the gym. I can't wait to get back in there on Friday and continue this new addition to my routine. I know making this a habit will be the hardest thing for me because I'm not a natural weight lifter (other than my own body weight which I've been carrying around for decades!). But I want to be stronger than I've ever been before to help me burn body fat more efficiently as well as feeling good about myself. This journey is all about self-contentment and I'm pleased with the progress I've seen thus far.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
January 25, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
11:45AM
4 eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
10:00AM
60-minute Namaste yoga
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: Recently I had the opportunity to have a series of health tests run on me that's a convenient at-home blood, urine and saliva test for a myriad of health markers. I'll be sharing more about this on my blog and/or podcast soon, but I wanted to share one tidbit of interesting news about my cortisol levels. The test required I suck on a cotton swab until it was saturated with my saliva and I did it at specific times of the day so they could test my cortisol levels at varying times. The results were fascinating:
For some reason or another, cortisol levels in the morning are EXPECTED to be in a high range between 12-22nM and mine fell on the low end of this spectrum at 13.37. Likewise, in the mid-afternoon reading, the range was 3-8nM with my level smack dab in the middle at 5.44. But the two anomalies were midday and at night. You'll see the normal value at noon is supposed to be 4-8nM--but mine came in at a stunning 1.43! How did it drop so fast in just a few short hours? The day I conducted this test, I had yoga that morning at 10AM. It's the only plausible explanation for such a significant dip in cortisol.
However, at nighttime when I did the final saliva test around 10:30PM that day, the normal level is supposed to be between 1-3nM and mine was at 5.09. Perhaps this may explain why I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night. When I showed my yoga instructor this graph, she was thrilled about the noon reading, but said I need to carry over all of the breathing and other relaxation techniques into the rest of my day. Agreed. It's a work in progress that's a part of my overall health plan. But I found this new tidbit of information about myself quite revealing.
4 eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
10:00AM
60-minute Namaste yoga
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: Recently I had the opportunity to have a series of health tests run on me that's a convenient at-home blood, urine and saliva test for a myriad of health markers. I'll be sharing more about this on my blog and/or podcast soon, but I wanted to share one tidbit of interesting news about my cortisol levels. The test required I suck on a cotton swab until it was saturated with my saliva and I did it at specific times of the day so they could test my cortisol levels at varying times. The results were fascinating:
For some reason or another, cortisol levels in the morning are EXPECTED to be in a high range between 12-22nM and mine fell on the low end of this spectrum at 13.37. Likewise, in the mid-afternoon reading, the range was 3-8nM with my level smack dab in the middle at 5.44. But the two anomalies were midday and at night. You'll see the normal value at noon is supposed to be 4-8nM--but mine came in at a stunning 1.43! How did it drop so fast in just a few short hours? The day I conducted this test, I had yoga that morning at 10AM. It's the only plausible explanation for such a significant dip in cortisol.
However, at nighttime when I did the final saliva test around 10:30PM that day, the normal level is supposed to be between 1-3nM and mine was at 5.09. Perhaps this may explain why I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night. When I showed my yoga instructor this graph, she was thrilled about the noon reading, but said I need to carry over all of the breathing and other relaxation techniques into the rest of my day. Agreed. It's a work in progress that's a part of my overall health plan. But I found this new tidbit of information about myself quite revealing.
Monday, January 24, 2011
January 24, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:45AM
15-minute weight lifting (arms and shoulders)
20-minute Peak 8 workout
11:45AM
6 eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
4:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
7:00PM
2-hour competitive volleyball
NOTE: I tried something today to see how I'd do. I extended my intermittent fasting to 22 1/2 hours AND I did some weight lifting and my interval training in this fasted state. What I expected to happen was for me to be dizzy, get blurry-eyed, and come close to passing out. It didn't happen. I felt fantastic, although I was quite hungry by the time I got home from the gym. Thus the six-egg meal. It's cool. Since I ate a little later than I normally do with this extended IF experiment, my second meal was also later...but I didn't mind since I planned on doing some volleyball this evening as well. Yes, it was a heavy exercise day, but I'll make up for it in a couple of days by taking a day off. The right kind of fuel for my body combined with the proper balance of effective exercise and intentional rest is going to help me continue to be successful on my latest journey.
15-minute weight lifting (arms and shoulders)
20-minute Peak 8 workout
11:45AM
6 eggs cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
4:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
7:00PM
2-hour competitive volleyball
NOTE: I tried something today to see how I'd do. I extended my intermittent fasting to 22 1/2 hours AND I did some weight lifting and my interval training in this fasted state. What I expected to happen was for me to be dizzy, get blurry-eyed, and come close to passing out. It didn't happen. I felt fantastic, although I was quite hungry by the time I got home from the gym. Thus the six-egg meal. It's cool. Since I ate a little later than I normally do with this extended IF experiment, my second meal was also later...but I didn't mind since I planned on doing some volleyball this evening as well. Yes, it was a heavy exercise day, but I'll make up for it in a couple of days by taking a day off. The right kind of fuel for my body combined with the proper balance of effective exercise and intentional rest is going to help me continue to be successful on my latest journey.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
January 23, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
7:15AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
10:15AM
Communion (1 oyster cracker and an ounce of grape juice)
1:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: We did the Lord's Supper in church this morning and in full disclosure I wanted to make sure I listed that on my menus blog. I've previously blogged about low-carbers taking communion so I won't rehash that discussion again here. Suffice it say that I'm completely comfortable with honoring the sacrifice Jesus Christ did for me when he died on the cross for my sins that I'm willing to take communion without concerning myself with the carbohydrate content of it. Remember the free gift of salvation my Savior has given me is much more important than any temporal changes made to this body I live in. And that's that.
You'll notice I decided to include some coconut oil in my beef meal today and that was by design. Coconut oil is such a powerful weight loss tool that I want to make sure I'm maximizing the opportunities to get it in my diet whenever possible. I realized I was selling myself short by only including it in my egg meals, so I'm gonna start using it even more to see if a positive difference is seen. I really don't want to mess with the momentum I'm seeing right now too much, so these changes will be subtle and slow. I'd love to increase the amount of food I'm consuming as well so my body doesn't get used to such a low energy intake. I'll be working to remedy that while still looking for the desired results.
THANKS so much for joining me in this journey and for all the encouraging words. I'm GONNA do this!
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
10:15AM
Communion (1 oyster cracker and an ounce of grape juice)
1:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with granulated garlic, sea salt and pepper cooked in 2 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: We did the Lord's Supper in church this morning and in full disclosure I wanted to make sure I listed that on my menus blog. I've previously blogged about low-carbers taking communion so I won't rehash that discussion again here. Suffice it say that I'm completely comfortable with honoring the sacrifice Jesus Christ did for me when he died on the cross for my sins that I'm willing to take communion without concerning myself with the carbohydrate content of it. Remember the free gift of salvation my Savior has given me is much more important than any temporal changes made to this body I live in. And that's that.
You'll notice I decided to include some coconut oil in my beef meal today and that was by design. Coconut oil is such a powerful weight loss tool that I want to make sure I'm maximizing the opportunities to get it in my diet whenever possible. I realized I was selling myself short by only including it in my egg meals, so I'm gonna start using it even more to see if a positive difference is seen. I really don't want to mess with the momentum I'm seeing right now too much, so these changes will be subtle and slow. I'd love to increase the amount of food I'm consuming as well so my body doesn't get used to such a low energy intake. I'll be working to remedy that while still looking for the desired results.
THANKS so much for joining me in this journey and for all the encouraging words. I'm GONNA do this!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
January 22, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
6:45AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
2:45PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I showed up at my church today to do my normal Saturday morning refereeing and we had a LOT of our regular volunteers out. The guy that heads up the Upward league for our church, the scoreboard operator/announcer and a couple of referees. It's was a bit harrowing trying to pick up the slack, but we managed pretty well. Guess who they asked to be the announcer fill-in. Yes, big mouth Jimmy Moore did the starting line-ups and halftime devotion. I suppose all that practice on my podcast show paid off. I had some eggs pretty early this morning for breakfast and the held me through four hours of running up and down the basketball court and then some. I've got plenty of energy to get through my day, despite the fact my caloric consumption is less than what I have been eating. Next week I may experiment with eating a few more calories keeping the same principles I'm doing now with my routine to see if there's any difference. Although, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Maybe I'll wait a little while longer before doing that.
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
2:45PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I showed up at my church today to do my normal Saturday morning refereeing and we had a LOT of our regular volunteers out. The guy that heads up the Upward league for our church, the scoreboard operator/announcer and a couple of referees. It's was a bit harrowing trying to pick up the slack, but we managed pretty well. Guess who they asked to be the announcer fill-in. Yes, big mouth Jimmy Moore did the starting line-ups and halftime devotion. I suppose all that practice on my podcast show paid off. I had some eggs pretty early this morning for breakfast and the held me through four hours of running up and down the basketball court and then some. I've got plenty of energy to get through my day, despite the fact my caloric consumption is less than what I have been eating. Next week I may experiment with eating a few more calories keeping the same principles I'm doing now with my routine to see if there's any difference. Although, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Maybe I'll wait a little while longer before doing that.
Friday, January 21, 2011
January 21, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:30AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
2:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Well, I finally announced what I've been doing since January 3, 2011 with my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog readers today. I figured it seems to be working well enough to bring a few more folks into the fold who don't regularly follow my menus blog. I've had an outpouring of support and encouragement, so thank you so much to everyone who has chimed in. I'm pretty set that I'm going to be successful on this. No, I'm not bored nor am I at all hungry. I'm not worried about how few carbs I'm eating and I'm certainly not counting calories--they're staying naturally reduced because of the satiating properties of eating real, whole foods that nourish my body. In fact, within hours of talking about my current diet, a company that sells coconut oil, pastured eggs and grass-fed beef contacted me about supplying me with the food I'm consuming for the duration of my challenge. COOL! I'll mention them soon when I receive their package, but that was a very generous offer. I've been told this diet "lacks imagination," but I really don't care. It's fitting the bill for me right now and I'm satisfied with it. I just got a Sous Vide Supreme from Drs. Mike & Mary Dan Eades thanks to the generosity of a Twitter fan this week, so I'll be cooking up some food in that bad boy real soon. CAN'T WAIT!
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
2:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Well, I finally announced what I've been doing since January 3, 2011 with my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog readers today. I figured it seems to be working well enough to bring a few more folks into the fold who don't regularly follow my menus blog. I've had an outpouring of support and encouragement, so thank you so much to everyone who has chimed in. I'm pretty set that I'm going to be successful on this. No, I'm not bored nor am I at all hungry. I'm not worried about how few carbs I'm eating and I'm certainly not counting calories--they're staying naturally reduced because of the satiating properties of eating real, whole foods that nourish my body. In fact, within hours of talking about my current diet, a company that sells coconut oil, pastured eggs and grass-fed beef contacted me about supplying me with the food I'm consuming for the duration of my challenge. COOL! I'll mention them soon when I receive their package, but that was a very generous offer. I've been told this diet "lacks imagination," but I really don't care. It's fitting the bill for me right now and I'm satisfied with it. I just got a Sous Vide Supreme from Drs. Mike & Mary Dan Eades thanks to the generosity of a Twitter fan this week, so I'll be cooking up some food in that bad boy real soon. CAN'T WAIT!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
January 20, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
10:00PM
60-minute Cardi-yo-lates (10 minutes brisk walking, 50 minutes of Pilates/yoga)
1:15PM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: Another week--another 3.6 pounds lost! That's 16.4 pounds in the past three weeks and I couldn't be happier. As awesome as this success has been on my new routine, it's the next few weeks that will be critical in this process. While I expect the weight loss to slow down, as long as it continues on the downward path I'll be pleased. Too many people see a slow-down in weight loss after a torrid start and think they're doing something wrong. I've never understood this mentality. Just keep doing what you're doing and let it work. If you do it for a couple of months and there's still no results, then maybe you need to check to see if something is wrong or some other approach will work for you. Right now, what I'm doing is working and I'm fully committed to continuing it through April 1 as I previously shared. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to come off of it completely at that point, but I'll likely make a shift at that point. Still feeling fantastic and energetic--I'll keep chugging along!
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
10:00PM
60-minute Cardi-yo-lates (10 minutes brisk walking, 50 minutes of Pilates/yoga)
1:15PM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
NOTE: Another week--another 3.6 pounds lost! That's 16.4 pounds in the past three weeks and I couldn't be happier. As awesome as this success has been on my new routine, it's the next few weeks that will be critical in this process. While I expect the weight loss to slow down, as long as it continues on the downward path I'll be pleased. Too many people see a slow-down in weight loss after a torrid start and think they're doing something wrong. I've never understood this mentality. Just keep doing what you're doing and let it work. If you do it for a couple of months and there's still no results, then maybe you need to check to see if something is wrong or some other approach will work for you. Right now, what I'm doing is working and I'm fully committed to continuing it through April 1 as I previously shared. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to come off of it completely at that point, but I'll likely make a shift at that point. Still feeling fantastic and energetic--I'll keep chugging along!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
January 19, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:15AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
1:30PM
Peak 8 Workout
3:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Last night was pretty miserable...Christine and I slept on the floor of our living room bundled up in blankets with our heat still being broken. My back was so sore when I woke up this morning and the thermostat showed 58 degrees. BRRRR! Thankfully the heating repair guy got us back up and running late this afternoon and it warmed up outside to make it tolerable most of the day. I also got my iMac back from the Apple repair shop (WOO HOO!), so I can get back into my podcast recording schedule on Thursday. It's funny how life throws you these curve balls every once in a while to keep you on your toes. I try hard not to sweat these kind of things because they are an inevitable part of life itself. Besides, I got to work off any stress from all this at the gym today with another Peak 8 workout. I tried doing it on a little more empty stomach today and my quadriceps were on FIRE from the start. Usually they don't start burning (lactic acid release) until about the third interval, but they flared up on me during the WARM-UP today. That workout is still a challenge for me and that's good. The moment it becomes easy I'll need to crank up the intensity some more. I'm loving these new changes I've made in my diet and exercise routine and look forward to tomorrow's weigh-in!
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
1:30PM
Peak 8 Workout
3:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Last night was pretty miserable...Christine and I slept on the floor of our living room bundled up in blankets with our heat still being broken. My back was so sore when I woke up this morning and the thermostat showed 58 degrees. BRRRR! Thankfully the heating repair guy got us back up and running late this afternoon and it warmed up outside to make it tolerable most of the day. I also got my iMac back from the Apple repair shop (WOO HOO!), so I can get back into my podcast recording schedule on Thursday. It's funny how life throws you these curve balls every once in a while to keep you on your toes. I try hard not to sweat these kind of things because they are an inevitable part of life itself. Besides, I got to work off any stress from all this at the gym today with another Peak 8 workout. I tried doing it on a little more empty stomach today and my quadriceps were on FIRE from the start. Usually they don't start burning (lactic acid release) until about the third interval, but they flared up on me during the WARM-UP today. That workout is still a challenge for me and that's good. The moment it becomes easy I'll need to crank up the intensity some more. I'm loving these new changes I've made in my diet and exercise routine and look forward to tomorrow's weigh-in!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
January 18, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:00AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
60-minute Pilates class
NOTE: Can I go back to bed and redo this day all over again? After my server overload on my web sites happened last week, I thought I'd be clear of more snafus for at least a few months. Nope. This morning I woke up to the wonderful feeling of frigidness inside my house and I knew something was wrong.
My first clue was my cats weren't anywhere near the exhaust vents for the heater and when I checked out the thermostat my worst expectations became a reality--THE HEATER WAS BROKEN! We've been having some unusually cold weather here in South Carolina this year, so this was a really big deal. I checked the breaker to make sure it didn't get tripped or something and it was fine.
We called one local heating and air guy who quoted us $1100 just to fix the maintenance problems before he'd look at it. HA! We don't have "STUPID" written on our foreheads. He still charged $65 just to give us that diagnosis. We got a second opinion and he identified the problem as a clogged filter and some other things for a lot less than $1100! That'll hopefully get fixed by Wednesday.
Then I went to turn on my iMac and it didn't work either. Am I getting punked? Is this Candid Camera? I canceled going to my yoga class at 10AM this morning (awww man!) to drive 30 miles to the Apple store to have them check it out. Unlike the heating problem, this repair was relatively minor: $100 for a power adapter part that went bad. The only thing is I'm without my computer that I do ALL of my work with Livin' La Vida Low-Carb on, including recording my podcasts. I'm trying feverishly to reschedule the ones I had for this week.
WHEW! So how's your week been? Never a dull moment around here.
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
60-minute Pilates class
NOTE: Can I go back to bed and redo this day all over again? After my server overload on my web sites happened last week, I thought I'd be clear of more snafus for at least a few months. Nope. This morning I woke up to the wonderful feeling of frigidness inside my house and I knew something was wrong.
My first clue was my cats weren't anywhere near the exhaust vents for the heater and when I checked out the thermostat my worst expectations became a reality--THE HEATER WAS BROKEN! We've been having some unusually cold weather here in South Carolina this year, so this was a really big deal. I checked the breaker to make sure it didn't get tripped or something and it was fine.
We called one local heating and air guy who quoted us $1100 just to fix the maintenance problems before he'd look at it. HA! We don't have "STUPID" written on our foreheads. He still charged $65 just to give us that diagnosis. We got a second opinion and he identified the problem as a clogged filter and some other things for a lot less than $1100! That'll hopefully get fixed by Wednesday.
Then I went to turn on my iMac and it didn't work either. Am I getting punked? Is this Candid Camera? I canceled going to my yoga class at 10AM this morning (awww man!) to drive 30 miles to the Apple store to have them check it out. Unlike the heating problem, this repair was relatively minor: $100 for a power adapter part that went bad. The only thing is I'm without my computer that I do ALL of my work with Livin' La Vida Low-Carb on, including recording my podcasts. I'm trying feverishly to reschedule the ones I had for this week.
WHEW! So how's your week been? Never a dull moment around here.
Monday, January 17, 2011
January 17, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
1:00PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
90-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I don't know why some days I get full faster than others, but today certainly happened to work out that way. I cooked up the pound of grass-fed ground beef and added a little garlic to spice it up. Halfway through eating it, I had consumed all my body would let me. No problem--I just put it in a storage container to eat later on. That's been really freaky for me to feel so satisfied with the foods I'm eating...even MORE so than I have ever experienced on my low-carb lifestyle. The intermittent fasting has been a relative cinch as a result. The only time I might get a little "hunger" is right before bedtime, but I always resist the urge. It's pretty remarkable to me. Playing volleyball tonight I had lots of energy, although I didn't want to push it too much over an hour or so playing lest I get lightheaded and lethargic. This new journey has been a fun ride so far and I am well on my way to making my April 1st goal of eating just beef, eggs, and coconut oil.
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
1:00PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with garlic, sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
90-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I don't know why some days I get full faster than others, but today certainly happened to work out that way. I cooked up the pound of grass-fed ground beef and added a little garlic to spice it up. Halfway through eating it, I had consumed all my body would let me. No problem--I just put it in a storage container to eat later on. That's been really freaky for me to feel so satisfied with the foods I'm eating...even MORE so than I have ever experienced on my low-carb lifestyle. The intermittent fasting has been a relative cinch as a result. The only time I might get a little "hunger" is right before bedtime, but I always resist the urge. It's pretty remarkable to me. Playing volleyball tonight I had lots of energy, although I didn't want to push it too much over an hour or so playing lest I get lightheaded and lethargic. This new journey has been a fun ride so far and I am well on my way to making my April 1st goal of eating just beef, eggs, and coconut oil.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
January 16, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
7:30AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
1:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: My pastor delved into the topic of diet at the beginning of his sermon today and he said the church staff is engaged in a "Biggest Loser" competition. He noted that there was some stiff competition and that he hoped to find a strategy to be successful. I was fully expecting him to say he was gonna start livin' la vida low-carb since I gave him a copy of both of my books, but what came out of his mouth next floored me. Here's exactly what he said: "I was gonna do the carb thing to lose a lot of weight fast. But I wanted to eat healthy which is why I decided to count my calories." O...M...G!!! Here's a very intelligent man around 30 years old who desires to lose weight and he thinks cutting carbs is unhealthy and counting calories is the way to be healthy? Wow, we really do have a lot of work to do to change how our cultures views the concept of a healthy diet. I wish him well on his (STARVATION!) low-calorie plan, but I don't see how that can be sustained over the long-term. Once you get a small taste of the healthy low-carb lifestyle and see how satisfied you are eating that way without the need to manually restrict your energy intake, there's no other way to ever eat again. I really don't know if I should say something to him about this or let him crash and burn on his own to learn the lesson of why NOT to count calories. It was just so disappointing to say the least.
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
1:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: My pastor delved into the topic of diet at the beginning of his sermon today and he said the church staff is engaged in a "Biggest Loser" competition. He noted that there was some stiff competition and that he hoped to find a strategy to be successful. I was fully expecting him to say he was gonna start livin' la vida low-carb since I gave him a copy of both of my books, but what came out of his mouth next floored me. Here's exactly what he said: "I was gonna do the carb thing to lose a lot of weight fast. But I wanted to eat healthy which is why I decided to count my calories." O...M...G!!! Here's a very intelligent man around 30 years old who desires to lose weight and he thinks cutting carbs is unhealthy and counting calories is the way to be healthy? Wow, we really do have a lot of work to do to change how our cultures views the concept of a healthy diet. I wish him well on his (STARVATION!) low-calorie plan, but I don't see how that can be sustained over the long-term. Once you get a small taste of the healthy low-carb lifestyle and see how satisfied you are eating that way without the need to manually restrict your energy intake, there's no other way to ever eat again. I really don't know if I should say something to him about this or let him crash and burn on his own to learn the lesson of why NOT to count calories. It was just so disappointing to say the least.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
January 15, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
8:15AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
1:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I added an extra egg to my breakfast this morning since I knew I'd be running up and down a basketball court for several hours. By the time those four hours of literal running to make calls and chasing after the basketball, I was ready to eat me some food. While I've been getting full eating 1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef, today I downed that entire pound of beefy goodness! And it was good. I enjoy eating my final meal of the day early because it gives me that extended intermittent fasting period that will stretch to about 18 hours before I eat the next morning. It's funny, I used to mock IF as insignificant and the jury is still out about it in my own mind. But for now I see it along with my low-carb real foods nutritional approach and the targeted interval exercise as the keys to my success. I'm gonna keep doing it all for the foreseeable future--why would I change anything now? Of course, it's always fun to read comments from ignorant people like this guy who left the following comment at my blog today:
You know, just because this guy has opened his big fat mouth and claimed that I can't continue to lose weight eating this way, I'm gonna do something I had not necessarily planned to do. I will keep eating this way through Friday, April 1, 2011 and predict right now that I'll reach my goal of 230 pounds subsisting on just coconut oil, beef, and eggs. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! This low-fattie obviously has a problem with fat, animal-based foods, or just me personally. Regardless of what leads him to believe I cannot succeed, I will take great pleasure in proving him dead wrong. Don't miss the conclusion of this challenge that just so happens to end on April Fool's Day! How appropriate!
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil
9:00AM
4-hour youth basketball refereeing
1:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I added an extra egg to my breakfast this morning since I knew I'd be running up and down a basketball court for several hours. By the time those four hours of literal running to make calls and chasing after the basketball, I was ready to eat me some food. While I've been getting full eating 1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef, today I downed that entire pound of beefy goodness! And it was good. I enjoy eating my final meal of the day early because it gives me that extended intermittent fasting period that will stretch to about 18 hours before I eat the next morning. It's funny, I used to mock IF as insignificant and the jury is still out about it in my own mind. But for now I see it along with my low-carb real foods nutritional approach and the targeted interval exercise as the keys to my success. I'm gonna keep doing it all for the foreseeable future--why would I change anything now? Of course, it's always fun to read comments from ignorant people like this guy who left the following comment at my blog today:
I can't believe people are paying you to run a website as absurd as this one. My 2011 prediction is that you will be back to 295 lbs - 300 lbs in no time with your coconut oil, beef and egg diet. You have been obese for years on your moronic diet and yet you continue to believe it works. Wake up dude, science has put your idiotic diet to bed 30 years ago. You need a real diet, not a bacon and eggs and oil and beef diet.
You know, just because this guy has opened his big fat mouth and claimed that I can't continue to lose weight eating this way, I'm gonna do something I had not necessarily planned to do. I will keep eating this way through Friday, April 1, 2011 and predict right now that I'll reach my goal of 230 pounds subsisting on just coconut oil, beef, and eggs. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! This low-fattie obviously has a problem with fat, animal-based foods, or just me personally. Regardless of what leads him to believe I cannot succeed, I will take great pleasure in proving him dead wrong. Don't miss the conclusion of this challenge that just so happens to end on April Fool's Day! How appropriate!
Friday, January 14, 2011
January 14, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:15AM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
4:15PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I had a tough time sleeping last night and I felt it most of the day today. That totally wiped out my chance to go to the gym to do another Peak 8 workout since I've only done one of them this week. But I'm trying to listen to my body more and not pushing it beyond where it wants to go. If I'm fatigued, then it's time to rest. There's no glory in pushing your body to exercise when you could do more harm than good. Robb Wolf has really convinced me of this concept of making sure you are getting good, quality sleep. I'm working on it and know that it's an integral part of my current weight loss strategy. As for my diet today, it was very odd--hunger was nearly non-existent. Some would see this as a blessing and it very well could be. But I went to eat my grass-fed ground beef meal this morning and I could only eat about half of it before I was so full I was getting sick eating it. I put the rest in a container for later and had it six hours later. Wasn't hungry at all the rest of the day. I know that's not a lot of food, but I'm not gonna make myself puke to eat if I'm content. I'm not really counting anything on this plan I'm doing right now--I'm just eating real food, enjoying it as fuel for my body, and watching the results speak for themselves. It's encouraging to know so many people are getting fired up about their own weight loss journey by watching mine. If there's one thing you've hopefully learned observing me over the years is you can't EVER give up!
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
4:15PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I had a tough time sleeping last night and I felt it most of the day today. That totally wiped out my chance to go to the gym to do another Peak 8 workout since I've only done one of them this week. But I'm trying to listen to my body more and not pushing it beyond where it wants to go. If I'm fatigued, then it's time to rest. There's no glory in pushing your body to exercise when you could do more harm than good. Robb Wolf has really convinced me of this concept of making sure you are getting good, quality sleep. I'm working on it and know that it's an integral part of my current weight loss strategy. As for my diet today, it was very odd--hunger was nearly non-existent. Some would see this as a blessing and it very well could be. But I went to eat my grass-fed ground beef meal this morning and I could only eat about half of it before I was so full I was getting sick eating it. I put the rest in a container for later and had it six hours later. Wasn't hungry at all the rest of the day. I know that's not a lot of food, but I'm not gonna make myself puke to eat if I'm content. I'm not really counting anything on this plan I'm doing right now--I'm just eating real food, enjoying it as fuel for my body, and watching the results speak for themselves. It's encouraging to know so many people are getting fired up about their own weight loss journey by watching mine. If there's one thing you've hopefully learned observing me over the years is you can't EVER give up!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
January 13, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
8:45AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
100-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I've heard a lot of advice over the past few years since I started adding back on some weight on my body from well-meaning people who I know were trying to help me figure out what was going on. And I'm grateful for all the sincerity of those who had my best interests in mind. While I am under no illusion that everyone was doing it with such noble intentions (yes, I do have people who desperately hope I crash and burn never to be heard from again), I do know there are many who appreciate my work and want me to succeed. Now here we are seven years after I first discovered and began applying low-carb principles into my life and I've been able to keep off over 120 of the 180 pounds I lost back then--so it's not like I've fallen off the deep end, packed on ALL the weight again, and been a poster child for low-carb not working. It's still working pretty darn well as I've stated many times before to keep my health in check despite the hiccup in my weight that's been happening the past couple of years or so.
That said, my current approach of consuming grass-fed beef and pastured eggs cooked in coconut oil, deliberate periods of intermittent fasting, interval workouts using Peak 8, and my normal volleyball and yoga classes have helped me get moving in the right direction again. Today's weigh-in showed me at 274 pounds which is down another 5.8 pounds from last week and is a total of 12.8 pounds in less than two weeks of doing this. While I don't think the scale is the be-all, end-all of measuring weight loss success, it's certainly a good tool. I can tell with my clothes my tummy is shrinking and I have no intentions of giving this up anytime soon. By the time the Low-Carb Cruise comes in May, I'd love to be back down to my original weight loss goal from 2004 of 230 pounds again. I don't think that's out of the question if I remain focused on it with the same intensity I had when I originally lost my weight. If you know me even a little, then you know I'm gonna bring it! Thanks for following my newfound 2011 journey to get this under control the best I know how.
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
100-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I've heard a lot of advice over the past few years since I started adding back on some weight on my body from well-meaning people who I know were trying to help me figure out what was going on. And I'm grateful for all the sincerity of those who had my best interests in mind. While I am under no illusion that everyone was doing it with such noble intentions (yes, I do have people who desperately hope I crash and burn never to be heard from again), I do know there are many who appreciate my work and want me to succeed. Now here we are seven years after I first discovered and began applying low-carb principles into my life and I've been able to keep off over 120 of the 180 pounds I lost back then--so it's not like I've fallen off the deep end, packed on ALL the weight again, and been a poster child for low-carb not working. It's still working pretty darn well as I've stated many times before to keep my health in check despite the hiccup in my weight that's been happening the past couple of years or so.
That said, my current approach of consuming grass-fed beef and pastured eggs cooked in coconut oil, deliberate periods of intermittent fasting, interval workouts using Peak 8, and my normal volleyball and yoga classes have helped me get moving in the right direction again. Today's weigh-in showed me at 274 pounds which is down another 5.8 pounds from last week and is a total of 12.8 pounds in less than two weeks of doing this. While I don't think the scale is the be-all, end-all of measuring weight loss success, it's certainly a good tool. I can tell with my clothes my tummy is shrinking and I have no intentions of giving this up anytime soon. By the time the Low-Carb Cruise comes in May, I'd love to be back down to my original weight loss goal from 2004 of 230 pounds again. I don't think that's out of the question if I remain focused on it with the same intensity I had when I originally lost my weight. If you know me even a little, then you know I'm gonna bring it! Thanks for following my newfound 2011 journey to get this under control the best I know how.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
January 12, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: The ice and snow has pretty much shut everything down in my town right now, although the sun came out today and slowly started melting things with temperatures only rising to about 34 degrees today. The kids have been loving it in our neighborhood because the schools have been closed all week and look to be tomorrow too. Grrrr. The neighbor kids like to come over and play our Wii when I'm trying to work doing interviews for my podcast. Shhhhhuuuutttttuuuuupppp! LOL! Just kidding. They're good kids and are only acting like...well, kids. My gym opened up again today, but all of my favorite classes seem to have been cancelled this week. I'm missing my yoga stretching this week. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make up for it with my creaky tight hamstrings next week. One way or another, I'm gonna increase my flexibility in 2011 along with losing weight and getting stronger. Speaking of that, things went along swimmingly again with my diet today and I'm really enjoying this plan. If the results I've been seeing continue, then I don't see any reason why I wouldn't keep this up for months! By the time the 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise to Jamaica comes in the first week of May, I'll be ready for a break from this for a week. That's the goal I'm pushing towards and I WILL make it at whatever weight my body decides to reach by that point. Four months...50 pounds lost...IT COULD HAPPEN!
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: The ice and snow has pretty much shut everything down in my town right now, although the sun came out today and slowly started melting things with temperatures only rising to about 34 degrees today. The kids have been loving it in our neighborhood because the schools have been closed all week and look to be tomorrow too. Grrrr. The neighbor kids like to come over and play our Wii when I'm trying to work doing interviews for my podcast. Shhhhhuuuutttttuuuuupppp! LOL! Just kidding. They're good kids and are only acting like...well, kids. My gym opened up again today, but all of my favorite classes seem to have been cancelled this week. I'm missing my yoga stretching this week. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make up for it with my creaky tight hamstrings next week. One way or another, I'm gonna increase my flexibility in 2011 along with losing weight and getting stronger. Speaking of that, things went along swimmingly again with my diet today and I'm really enjoying this plan. If the results I've been seeing continue, then I don't see any reason why I wouldn't keep this up for months! By the time the 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise to Jamaica comes in the first week of May, I'll be ready for a break from this for a week. That's the goal I'm pushing towards and I WILL make it at whatever weight my body decides to reach by that point. Four months...50 pounds lost...IT COULD HAPPEN!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
January 11, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
Peak 8 Workout
1:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I decided to splurge today on my new eating plan. I had FOUR eggs instead of three. HAHAHA! Seriously, I was a little more hungry today than usual to start the day, so I added the extra egg. At just 80 calories a pop with virtually no change in the carbohydrate content (maybe .73g carb per egg), I didn't mind the extra fat and protein today. Of course, when I went to do my Peak 8 workout at the gym on the reclined cycle, I needed ever bit of energy I could muster. I don't know if it's the cabin fever from all the snow and ice we've been dealing with or what, but today was EXTREMELY hard for me. After the first interval I could feel my heart beating out of my chest and my breathing was off the charts. This hasn't happened previously when I've done this workout and I can't explain the change. Somehow, some way I got through all 8 intervals and was totally wiped out with my Peak 8 workout today. I couldn't hardly move my legs for the next six hours--again, brand new feeling doing this. When I got home I made my usual pound of grass-fed ground beef meal and a funny thing happened about halfway through eating it...I GOT FULL! I looked at Christine and said, "I can't finish this--I'm totally full!" She was surprised and said my stomach must be shrinking. That's the goal. I wrapped up the other half-pound of cooked meat and ate it five hours later for supper. I'm enjoying the results of my experiment so far and look forward to sharing my progress on the scale coming up on Friday morning.
4 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
Peak 8 Workout
1:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
1/2 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I decided to splurge today on my new eating plan. I had FOUR eggs instead of three. HAHAHA! Seriously, I was a little more hungry today than usual to start the day, so I added the extra egg. At just 80 calories a pop with virtually no change in the carbohydrate content (maybe .73g carb per egg), I didn't mind the extra fat and protein today. Of course, when I went to do my Peak 8 workout at the gym on the reclined cycle, I needed ever bit of energy I could muster. I don't know if it's the cabin fever from all the snow and ice we've been dealing with or what, but today was EXTREMELY hard for me. After the first interval I could feel my heart beating out of my chest and my breathing was off the charts. This hasn't happened previously when I've done this workout and I can't explain the change. Somehow, some way I got through all 8 intervals and was totally wiped out with my Peak 8 workout today. I couldn't hardly move my legs for the next six hours--again, brand new feeling doing this. When I got home I made my usual pound of grass-fed ground beef meal and a funny thing happened about halfway through eating it...I GOT FULL! I looked at Christine and said, "I can't finish this--I'm totally full!" She was surprised and said my stomach must be shrinking. That's the goal. I wrapped up the other half-pound of cooked meat and ate it five hours later for supper. I'm enjoying the results of my experiment so far and look forward to sharing my progress on the scale coming up on Friday morning.
Monday, January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:15AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
1:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: What a wild day it was! When I woke up this morning we had at least 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and it continued to snow and snow and snow reaching about 8 inches--in SOUTH CAROLINA! This doesn't happen normally and it's the second time in less than a month that it has (we also had a white Christmas). Needless to say, everything was closed today including my gym. I was really itching to get back to my Peak 8 workouts, but it looks like those might be delayed for a few more days. That just means I'll need to hit it hard when everything thaws out...and I will. In the meantime, my mix of real foods devoid of wheat, artificial sweeteners, and very many carbs to speak of along with deliberate intermittent fasting is still seeming to work for me. I'm super-thrilled to see downward movement on the scale and I'm cautiously optimistic about it continuing as I keep this going. I decided to add back in some tea sweetened with stevia and it tastes amazing. It's funny how restricting your body from having that sweet taste of anything makes you learn to live with less of it. Yes, I've gone down this road before and I'm gonna be careful. It's just encouraging to see progress--AT LAST!
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
1:15PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: What a wild day it was! When I woke up this morning we had at least 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and it continued to snow and snow and snow reaching about 8 inches--in SOUTH CAROLINA! This doesn't happen normally and it's the second time in less than a month that it has (we also had a white Christmas). Needless to say, everything was closed today including my gym. I was really itching to get back to my Peak 8 workouts, but it looks like those might be delayed for a few more days. That just means I'll need to hit it hard when everything thaws out...and I will. In the meantime, my mix of real foods devoid of wheat, artificial sweeteners, and very many carbs to speak of along with deliberate intermittent fasting is still seeming to work for me. I'm super-thrilled to see downward movement on the scale and I'm cautiously optimistic about it continuing as I keep this going. I decided to add back in some tea sweetened with stevia and it tastes amazing. It's funny how restricting your body from having that sweet taste of anything makes you learn to live with less of it. Yes, I've gone down this road before and I'm gonna be careful. It's just encouraging to see progress--AT LAST!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
January 9, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
8:45AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I've been kinda bummed about all the server issues with my sites this past week--so I took the day off to watch the NFL football games today. Thankfully we have most of the problems resolved thanks to some amazing yeoman's work by my podcast producer, but it has been quite stressful for us. It's a long story, but I needed a day off from working today like I haven't in a long time. I missed getting to the gym today and there's a huge snowstorm set to hit us overnight tonight and all day on Monday. So exercise might be hit or miss tomorrow. We'll find out soon.
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I've been kinda bummed about all the server issues with my sites this past week--so I took the day off to watch the NFL football games today. Thankfully we have most of the problems resolved thanks to some amazing yeoman's work by my podcast producer, but it has been quite stressful for us. It's a long story, but I needed a day off from working today like I haven't in a long time. I missed getting to the gym today and there's a huge snowstorm set to hit us overnight tonight and all day on Monday. So exercise might be hit or miss tomorrow. We'll find out soon.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
January 8, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
8:30AM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
9:00AM
3-hour youth basketball refereeing
3:15PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: It was exciting to get started refereeing again for the Upward basketball ministry at my church. As you know if you've been reading my menus blog for very long, I am regular referee for these leagues because it allows me to be active while serving the children in my neighborhood. The basketball is pretty intense to referee because you run up and down the court to watch all the action looking for any fouls or court violations. I LOVE IT...but it does workout the body pretty darn well! I plopped in my recliner when I got home from the church gym and it felt amazing. Looking forward to the next couple of months on Saturdays to ref these games.
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
9:00AM
3-hour youth basketball refereeing
3:15PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: It was exciting to get started refereeing again for the Upward basketball ministry at my church. As you know if you've been reading my menus blog for very long, I am regular referee for these leagues because it allows me to be active while serving the children in my neighborhood. The basketball is pretty intense to referee because you run up and down the court to watch all the action looking for any fouls or court violations. I LOVE IT...but it does workout the body pretty darn well! I plopped in my recliner when I got home from the church gym and it felt amazing. Looking forward to the next couple of months on Saturdays to ref these games.
Friday, January 7, 2011
January 7, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
11:00AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I'm stoked about how this new plan of action to attack my fat loss goal effectively is working for me and I did something very important in the process today--I RESTED! This is one of the things I've learned abundantly from so many of my podcast guests that is the vital ingredient in weight loss. I was still "feeling it" from the workouts this week and I listened to my body by taking a day off from exercise today. No biggie. I'll get right back at it hard and heavy again next week along with my new eating and I'm sure we'll see positive results happening with my body. LET'S DO THIS!
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I'm stoked about how this new plan of action to attack my fat loss goal effectively is working for me and I did something very important in the process today--I RESTED! This is one of the things I've learned abundantly from so many of my podcast guests that is the vital ingredient in weight loss. I was still "feeling it" from the workouts this week and I listened to my body by taking a day off from exercise today. No biggie. I'll get right back at it hard and heavy again next week along with my new eating and I'm sure we'll see positive results happening with my body. LET'S DO THIS!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
January 6, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:00AM
60-minute Cardi-yo-lates (10 minutes brisk walking, 50 minutes of yoga/Pilates)
12:00PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
3:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
120-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I wasn't going to update my weight for a few weeks, but the preliminary results of what I'm been doing since Monday have been pretty spectacular so far--7 pounds lost this week! Yes, I've lost weight before over the past year or so doing a variety of things, so the big question is sustainability. I have every intention of sticking with this for as long as it keeps working. I'm barely eating any carbohydrate right now to try to maximize the insulin-decreasing process of livin' la vida low-carb and it seems to be working. My weight today is 279.8, but more importantly it seems my waist is beginning to shrink again. Christine gave me a hug today and said she could already tell I'm losing fat in my midsection. This is fantastic news, but there's a lot of work left to be done. I don't really care if it's the changes I've made in my menus or the new interval training--all I know is it's working for me right now and I'm gonna keep doing it as long as it continues. This certainly gets 2011 off on the right foot for me.
60-minute Cardi-yo-lates (10 minutes brisk walking, 50 minutes of yoga/Pilates)
12:00PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
3:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
6:30PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
7:00PM
120-minute competitive volleyball
NOTE: I wasn't going to update my weight for a few weeks, but the preliminary results of what I'm been doing since Monday have been pretty spectacular so far--7 pounds lost this week! Yes, I've lost weight before over the past year or so doing a variety of things, so the big question is sustainability. I have every intention of sticking with this for as long as it keeps working. I'm barely eating any carbohydrate right now to try to maximize the insulin-decreasing process of livin' la vida low-carb and it seems to be working. My weight today is 279.8, but more importantly it seems my waist is beginning to shrink again. Christine gave me a hug today and said she could already tell I'm losing fat in my midsection. This is fantastic news, but there's a lot of work left to be done. I don't really care if it's the changes I've made in my menus or the new interval training--all I know is it's working for me right now and I'm gonna keep doing it as long as it continues. This certainly gets 2011 off on the right foot for me.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
January 5, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
9:45AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
5:30PM
20-minute Peak 8 workout
6:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Well, I've been on this new plan for three days and I'm not going crazy yet. Yes, I've had the desire for something sweet, but I've resisted the urge to give in. I'm gonna give this pastured eggs cooked in coconut oil/grass-fed ground beef plan a chance to work for me in conjunction with the deliberate exercise I'm doing. I'm fighting the head hunger vs. actual hunger thing a bit, but it's not even close to what I experienced when I went on the Atkins diet in January 2004 weighing over 400 pounds. I'm in a good position--I'm GONNA do this!
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
12:45PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
5:30PM
20-minute Peak 8 workout
6:30PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: Well, I've been on this new plan for three days and I'm not going crazy yet. Yes, I've had the desire for something sweet, but I've resisted the urge to give in. I'm gonna give this pastured eggs cooked in coconut oil/grass-fed ground beef plan a chance to work for me in conjunction with the deliberate exercise I'm doing. I'm fighting the head hunger vs. actual hunger thing a bit, but it's not even close to what I experienced when I went on the Atkins diet in January 2004 weighing over 400 pounds. I'm in a good position--I'm GONNA do this!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
January 4, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:00AM
60-minute Namaste yoga
11:30AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
3:45PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: The main server that houses all of my web sites, including my blog, podcast, and discussion forum became overloaded and now everything is running ssssssllllllooowwwww. We're working to resolve the issue soon, but it's quite stressful dealing with something like this during what is typically my busiest time of the year. STRESS!!! That's one of the reasons why I love my yoga classes. When life gets hectic, yoga brings calm back to my body which keeps the stress hormone cortisol from sabotaging my weight loss efforts. Only time will tell if the physical manifestations of all those classes catches up with me. But for now the mental tranquility that yoga provides makes it totally worth it!
My new eating plan has been somewhat challenging (had a major headache the first day ostensibly from caffeine withdrawals since I quit drinking tea), but I'm sure my body will get used to the changes. Right now I'm stay very low-carb by design for at least a few weeks to see if fat loss will commence. If not, then something is DEFINITELY wrong that needs to be addressed medically. However, if I do start to see weight loss happening, then I'll know I'm on the right track with what I'm doing both in my diet and exercise routine. I'm hopeful about this plan of action and will do my best to make it work for me.
THANKS for your support of this next chapter in my low-carb journey!
60-minute Namaste yoga
11:30AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
2:00PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
3:45PM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: The main server that houses all of my web sites, including my blog, podcast, and discussion forum became overloaded and now everything is running ssssssllllllooowwwww. We're working to resolve the issue soon, but it's quite stressful dealing with something like this during what is typically my busiest time of the year. STRESS!!! That's one of the reasons why I love my yoga classes. When life gets hectic, yoga brings calm back to my body which keeps the stress hormone cortisol from sabotaging my weight loss efforts. Only time will tell if the physical manifestations of all those classes catches up with me. But for now the mental tranquility that yoga provides makes it totally worth it!
My new eating plan has been somewhat challenging (had a major headache the first day ostensibly from caffeine withdrawals since I quit drinking tea), but I'm sure my body will get used to the changes. Right now I'm stay very low-carb by design for at least a few weeks to see if fat loss will commence. If not, then something is DEFINITELY wrong that needs to be addressed medically. However, if I do start to see weight loss happening, then I'll know I'm on the right track with what I'm doing both in my diet and exercise routine. I'm hopeful about this plan of action and will do my best to make it work for me.
THANKS for your support of this next chapter in my low-carb journey!
Monday, January 3, 2011
January 3, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
11:00AM
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
1:15PM
Peak 8 Workout
3:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I had a conversation over the weekend with a respected naturopathic doctor regarding my weight gain over the past couple of years. The doctor asked me what I thought the issue is and I said that perhaps I need to come off of the dairy, wheat and artificial sweeteners for good. The doctor tee-totally agreed. So starting today you'll see my menus become much more bare-bones than they've been in a long time. The carbohydrate content will also remain very low by design to make sure I'm maximizing every opportunity to keep insulin under control. If I'm not consuming insulinogenic foods, then fat loss should commence.
This doctor friend also told me about an interval training workout that only lasts 20 minutes and you do it a few times a week. It's called Peak 8 and Dr. Joseph Mercola has popularized it over the past year. I gotta tell you, this workout is intense: a few minutes of warm-up, then 8 consecutive intervals of 30 seconds each followed by 90 seconds of recovery. I did this for the first time today and I did pretty well considering I'd never done it before. My heart rate got up to around 145 after the first interval and by the end of the eighth interval it was closer to 170. I plan on doing this workout at least three times a week with my yoga, Pilates, and volleyball to see if there is any impact on my weight, body fat, etc. As I'm typing this several hours after doing Peak 8, my quadriceps are still on fire. Lactic acid baby!
3 eggs cooked in 1 Tbs coconut oil with sea salt and pepper
1:15PM
Peak 8 Workout
3:45PM
1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with sea salt and pepper
NOTE: I had a conversation over the weekend with a respected naturopathic doctor regarding my weight gain over the past couple of years. The doctor asked me what I thought the issue is and I said that perhaps I need to come off of the dairy, wheat and artificial sweeteners for good. The doctor tee-totally agreed. So starting today you'll see my menus become much more bare-bones than they've been in a long time. The carbohydrate content will also remain very low by design to make sure I'm maximizing every opportunity to keep insulin under control. If I'm not consuming insulinogenic foods, then fat loss should commence.
This doctor friend also told me about an interval training workout that only lasts 20 minutes and you do it a few times a week. It's called Peak 8 and Dr. Joseph Mercola has popularized it over the past year. I gotta tell you, this workout is intense: a few minutes of warm-up, then 8 consecutive intervals of 30 seconds each followed by 90 seconds of recovery. I did this for the first time today and I did pretty well considering I'd never done it before. My heart rate got up to around 145 after the first interval and by the end of the eighth interval it was closer to 170. I plan on doing this workout at least three times a week with my yoga, Pilates, and volleyball to see if there is any impact on my weight, body fat, etc. As I'm typing this several hours after doing Peak 8, my quadriceps are still on fire. Lactic acid baby!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
January 2, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
7:30AM
Vanilla Almond QuestBar
12:00PM
2 cups spinach leaves with 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, and 4 Tbs Ranch dressing, mashed cauliflower with 1 Tbs butter, 1/4 pound hamburger patty with 1 slice of American cheese, 2 Tbs mayo, 1 Tbs mustard, and 8 slices of dill pickles
7:30PM
2 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread with 2 Tbs natural tomato sauce, 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, and 12 pepperoni slices
NOTE: Today was the last day of my same old, same old routine. Tomorrow is a new day that will begin a new personal revolution in Jimmy Moore if I have the sticktuitiveness to make it happen. I'm ready, willing and able--let's see what happens.
Vanilla Almond QuestBar
12:00PM
2 cups spinach leaves with 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, and 4 Tbs Ranch dressing, mashed cauliflower with 1 Tbs butter, 1/4 pound hamburger patty with 1 slice of American cheese, 2 Tbs mayo, 1 Tbs mustard, and 8 slices of dill pickles
7:30PM
2 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread with 2 Tbs natural tomato sauce, 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, and 12 pepperoni slices
NOTE: Today was the last day of my same old, same old routine. Tomorrow is a new day that will begin a new personal revolution in Jimmy Moore if I have the sticktuitiveness to make it happen. I'm ready, willing and able--let's see what happens.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
January 1, 2011 Low-Carb Menu
10:30AM
15-minute brisk walking, 30-minute Pilates
1:00PM
2 cups spinach leaves with 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, and 4 Tbs Ranch dressing, mashed cauliflower with 1 Tbs butter, 1/4 pound hamburger patty with 1 slice of American cheese, 2 Tbs mayo, 1 Tbs mustard, and 8 slices of dill pickles
8:45PM
2 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread with 2 Tbs natural tomato sauce, 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, and 12 pepperoni slices
NOTE: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010 wasn't the greatest in the world for my weight, but I hold out great hope for 2011 to figure out the right mix to make it happen. Onward and upward!
15-minute brisk walking, 30-minute Pilates
1:00PM
2 cups spinach leaves with 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 slice crumbled bacon, 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, and 4 Tbs Ranch dressing, mashed cauliflower with 1 Tbs butter, 1/4 pound hamburger patty with 1 slice of American cheese, 2 Tbs mayo, 1 Tbs mustard, and 8 slices of dill pickles
8:45PM
2 slices Julian Bakery Smart Carb #1 bread with 2 Tbs natural tomato sauce, 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, and 12 pepperoni slices
NOTE: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010 wasn't the greatest in the world for my weight, but I hold out great hope for 2011 to figure out the right mix to make it happen. Onward and upward!
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