I Get Knocked Down... But I Get Up Again!!

It's funny..... I keep having people ask me if I'm still on "that Paleo diet".

I just smile and say.... "Yes... but it's not a diet.... it's a lifestyle".

That's the difference between a temporary eating plan and a way of life.

Part of managing that lifestyle is figuring out how you eat when you go out.

Once a week I have what I call a "Binge Meal".

I started to describe that concept to someone the other day and they said...

"Oh.... so you get to cheat and eat some really yummy stuff!"

My response is....

No.... I just eat a greater quantity and variety of the same type of stuff I eat regularly....

Like tons of fresh veggies!

And massive amounts of lean protein....

By the way this was from the Ryan's Buffet.

It's my favorite place to binge cause I can pick and choose really good food and it's cheap!!

Back at the hacienda.... I've been back on the Jacked Up Protein Path again....

Here it's an 8 oz blackened ribeye and at the top.... sweet potatoes....  something I added to my diet when I was sick....

I absolutely love them and am eating them everyday now!!

I poke holes in the raw sweet potatoes with a fork.

I bake a batch of them (6 - 8) in a 400 degree oven for 20 - 35 minutes depending on the size.

Then I fridge them, get one out at a time, skin it, slice it, put it in a bowl with a little water and reheat in the microwave.

I then add salt and pepper, a light drizzle of olive oil, honey and a couple of drops of vanilla extract and a dust of cinnamon.... 

Then mash it all together with a fork....

Geez..... it's fast, easy, sweet and delicious and loaded with slow release carbs and all kinds of wonderful nutrients.

Check this out!! Massive amounts of Vitamin A and a lot of Vitamin C and even got some protein.....

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2667/2

And there they are again.... with another Ribeye topped with an over medium egg and my favorite green veggie..... KALE!!!

Topped with sliced strawberries.

If this kind of food visual doesn't do anything for you with the beautiful orange of the sweet potato and the deep green of the kale.... and that deep chocolate blackening of the ribeye with the red splashes of strawberry.....

Then just go back to your underseasoned Burger and fatty fries..... cause you're a lost cause.

Well at least we're caught up to this week....

9 days without a post is a weak week plus 2 much of not enough.....

Working out!!

Back at the CrossFit WMD Ranch.... the Round Up continues...

Typical of this program.... there's a strength exercise focus... which today was Overhead Squats.....

I've said it before, but I'll say it again....

There's just something about squatting till your butt hits your heels with your arms stretched overhead balancing any kind of weight that makes you know that you are doing something that will make you better.

It's that simple.

People just don't get this whole floor to ceiling Range of Motion thing.... it is the essence of the advantage and effectiveness that CrossFit has over every other method of Training.

I see people in the gym doing these short little movements whether it's curls or bench press or even squats and they're doing like half movements or maybe even quarter movements.....

That creates short, bulky muscles.

But when you lengthen the movement from full contraction to full expansion and you couple that with the involvement of activation of ALL MAJOR MUSCLE GROUPS AT THE SAME TIME.......

And then you have an effective Body Building / Body Shaping  Exercise.

I am seeing this everyday.... I see the people doing these exercises changing the way their bodies look and as far as I'm concerned....

The CrossFit Body is probably the most versatile Bad Ass Body in the Fitness World!

BUT BUT BUT.....

The Working Out is less than 50% of what it takes to transform your body.

A HUGE Gap between getting to where you want to be is....

What You Eat....

The Proper Workouts stress the body and tear it down for a better than before rebuild....

That's the mechanism.... you initiate micro tears in the muscle tissue from stressing the muscle and these microtears repair themselves WITH PROPER NUTRITION AND RECOVERY to be denser and stronger than before.... and the process repeats over and over.

But you have to follow up a hard workout with an equally "hard" meal.

If you're a 170 - 200# guy, you need to be taking in 1.5 g of protein per pound of bodyweight daily to keep that process advancing.....

That means around 300g of protein a day.... that's a lot of protein.

That mean a Creatine and Protein supplement and a lot of lean meat..... and lots of vitamin and nutrient laden fruits and veggies.

Ribeye topped with sauted bananas - a wonderful salty sweet combo

Sweet Potatoes

Kale, Squash, Asparagus and Jalapenos.

If you're not putting down at least 2 - 3 plates of food like this a day, you're probably shorting yourself on the recovery part.

Here's that same type of meal with a 7 oz Ahi Tuna Steak with Sweet Leaf Spring Mix for more greenery.

Just can't get this haunting song out of my mind.....

Shake it up, Mix it up....

Experiment with your food like you experiment with your workouts.

That's fresh Fuji apple and cinnamon almonds scattered over the top of a ribeye, kale, poblano peppers and squash.

And the very last of my dessert.... I already polished off the bulk of it....

Black Grapes, Strawberries, Banana, Pistachios, Sunflower Seeds..... 

Drizzled with honey and dusted with Cinnamon.

So.... How's "that Paleo Diet" thing going?

I dunno.....

You tell me.