Meat... Meet Fruit and Veggies!

Chicken and Sausage....

Spring mix, tomatoes, strawberries and grapes...

A marriage of balanced nutrition and beauty.

A tour of CrossFit WMD in Angleton....

They had a BBQ and let me tell you, the brisket was melt in your mouth tender and after meeting my weight goal, I had a few slices, a small link of sausage and a Bud Light...

Nice, well organized facility ...

And love the WMD theme and murals...

This is my new House of Pain!

Like my Daddy always said...

Don't worry about the Mule....

Just load the Wagon!

1 small apple 1 banana and a 3-1/2 mile run

And bingo....

183.8 - Met my 185 goal....

That's 11 lbs lost in 13 days....

See?

You don't eat...

You lose weight!

Everywhere I go I see Fat People!!!

I just don't get it.

How can you possibly eat enough for long enough to get as overweight as the majority of the people I see?

Believe me. I'm not looking for it. I'm not trying to be mean. I just see them everywhere.... Probably 75% of the people I see.

I know the world is a stressful place and we are programmed to eat huge portions of processed unhealthy foods but at some point you just have to say....

No! And take charge of your life and health.

There's enough good information out there on diet and exercise to get you started and keep you on the right path.

It's pretty simple - just eat lean meat and fresh veggies with lots of dark, leafy vegetables in salads.

If you want something sweet, eat fresh fruit.

And eggs are a good thing. In fact, they're a near perfect food.

Stay away from dairy and bad carbs such as rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, beans and anything wheat.

Yes.... A lot of people are allergic to wheat. It messes me up bad. I get headaches and am incredibly sluggish when I eat anything with wheat.

And obviously, no pie, cake or pastries.

And limit your alcohol to 2 servings a week.

If you really want something sweet, eat 2 oz of good quality chocolate and call it a day.

Then find 3 days of the week to do some sort of rigorous exercise for 1 hour. If you miss a day make it up on the weekend.

Assuming you sleep 8 hours a night, that's 3 hours out of 112 hours per week.

Surely you have time for that especially for something as important as your health.

Think about it.

Final meal of the day...

Dice up a yellow squash, zucchini and half a sweet onion and dust with S&P and sauté in a hot cast iron skillet.

Add a small portion of diced Holmes Pork & Venison sausage and some fine diced garlic.

Plate it and had some thin sliced mango for sweetness and pizazz!

Dust it all with a little cayenne and enjoy!

Dialing 911 for a Workout Recovery Meal!!

And thar she blows....

Spring mix, tomato, strawberry, fresh jalapeño and boiled egg....

So where'a that post workout 30+ g of protein?

Aaaah.... There it is!!!

A nice thin cut breast of chicken.

Now let's put it all together and some red grapes for my sweet tooth....

So how was the introduction to CrossFit?

In a word....

CrossFit was TOUGH.

I basically did a warm-up and learned several different exercises / movements.

Started out with double under rope jumping for 50. Then throwing a 14# ball 9' up a wall for 20. Then front squats with overhead press for 20. They call them thrusters. Then 20 burpees.

Then shoulder stretching with a PVC bar.

Then myofascial release on hips and legs front and back.

Then massaging shoulders and chest with a lacrosse ball against the wall.

That was just the warmup.

Then the instructor showed me a "Core Elements" 3 exercise group consisting of 10 air squats (deep squats with arms held overhead), 10 push-ups (hands closer than normal - almost a Tricep push-up) and 10 Deadlifts.

We worked on form on those and then he had me do 3 rounds of those with a 200m sprint for each one for time.

I did 3 rounds of the 4 elements in 6 minutes flat.

Wasn't the best I could do but was very sore and tired from this week's workouts and running yesterday and from dieting for the last 11 days.

I weighed 185.6 after the workout.

In a nutshell, it was hard but I did it.

I will do 2 more Core Elements sessions with the instructor and then be released to do the normal WODs (Workout Of the Day).

I liked it.

I'm going back for more.

On 2nd thought this is my favorite place to sit...

I think I'm dumb...

But maybe I'm just happy.

My CrossFit preworkout meal...

Been watching what I eat pretty closely over the last 11 days and have dropped about 7 lbs.

Main reason was my body was telling me I was too heavy....

My left knee was starting to hurt again.... My back was hurting.... I was sluggish.... Breathing too hard in the strenuous Boot Camp workouts.

So I cut out all but the essentials.

Paleo 101...

Meat, veggies, fruit, water....

Oh and coffee....

That's a food group right?

Anyway, everytime I do this the carb addict in me screams for sugar in the form of the wrong kind of carbs and calories....

I want bread and peanut butter and jelly and baklava and rice and beans and potatoes and pasta....

Ok. I better stop there or I'll be making a run to the grocery store or a Mexican food restaurant.

What works for me is to satisfy my craving for sweets with fruit.

I know it's still sugar and it's still calories but for whatever reason, my body processes these calories and sugar different from the aforementioned kind.

So for my preworkout meal today (about 2 hours before the workout) I put together a beautiful array of fruit with a little protein sprinkled on top.... Literally!!

Start with a cut up ripe banana and a small delicious apple...

Note the mango and boiled egg on deck...

Cut up half the mango (save the other half for a post workout treat) and add it to the mix and then cut up the boiled egg and add it to the top with a sprinkle of salt.

It's beautiful, nutritious and packed with all the vitamins and electrolytes to power you through a strenuous workout.

CrossFit - here I come!!!