So I weighed in this morning 6 pounds less than I weighed 30 days ago. Not bad considering all I did was take out sugar, grains, beans, and dairy out of my diet.

I had a celebratory meal tonight and enjoyed the margarita, but didn’t like the tacos and ate very few chips. I found the tacos to be heavy and overbearing. These are the same kind of tacos that I’ve eaten and enjoyed dozens of times. I guess my tastes have changed.

This experience has shown me that once you get cleaned up, you’ll find that you just don’t want the stuff that made you sick in the first place. It’s my job to make sure that I don’t get hooked again.

What I’ve learned so far:

• What I thought was “once in awhile”, or “a little bit”, were neither.
• I’ve learned that it’s a lot easier to be compliant than it is to balance eating what’s good for me with what isn’t good for me.
• The sugar cravings are less frequent, but still come if I don’t eat promptly
• I really don’t miss dairy or grains
• I’ve noticed the U.S. really favors sandwiches for lunch.
• I have a long way to go before I get healthy, and I’ve just started.
• It’s worth the effort.

How to Succeed on the Whole 30 Program

• Stay fed. As long as I stay fed, I’m nearly impervious to cravings or temptations.
• It all starts with breakfast. I found that if I miss or have a lousy breakfast, the rest of my day is off and it’s tougher for me to make good food choices.
• Eat enough fat. In addition to eating promptly, I found it very important to eat enough fat. For me, avocados and olives are a good source of fat.
• I prefer skinless, boneless sardines. I was unfamiliar with sardines so I’ve tried a few varieties and found that I really enjoy them skinless, boneless in olive oil. I often eat them straight from the tin with a few olives in the mid afternoon, especially if I’ve had a salad for lunch.
• I need to have good choices easily available. I’m not great at preparing my meals ahead of time. In fact, I suck at it. Fortunately, my new office is near a cafe and a small grocery store that offer excellent Paleo choices for lunch and for snacks.
• Eat starchy vegetables if you exercise. I need more calories when I exercise, so eating a sweet potato after exercise helps me get more calories and feel full.
• Stress makes this more difficult. Last time I tried this program, I was in a miserable work environment and one of my reactions was to seek sugary carbs for comfort.

There are a couple of things that I’m still finding tough this time.

• I still occasionally want to drink sugary drinks. I still want a Chai Latte or a sweetened tea drink. I’m finding that annoying, but not debilitating.
• I really want to weigh myself, but I think it’s really smart to wait until the 30 days are complete. Not seeing the results on the scale can be discouraging and can cause us to decide this really isn’t worth the effort.

Is it Worth It

Yes.

Why

My goals are to be healthier as measured by my blood test results and my fitness results. Avoiding the foods that have been slowly poisoning me seems like a great place to start.

Learn More

• Whole 30 Website
• Robb Wolf’s Website
• Robb Wolf’s book, Paleo Solution

After reading the article, I had to send an email to the woman to try to convince her that she missed an opportunity to teach an important lesson. Here is my email to the assistant principal and the superintendent:

Ms. Allen,

I just read an account of your decision to suspend a student from the school bus because she was disrespectful to the school bus driver. You certainly have the right and duty to teach the children life lessons including the respect for authority. I think the lesson of respect would have been better if you had also suspended the bus driver who displayed a tremendous lack of respect to the student and to her parents.

The bus driver is an adult and in a position of authority who should have demonstrated better judgment in this case. Her job is to safely deliver the students to and from school. I also imagine there are policies against picking on other kids and tormenting them. Bullying and hurtful words can and often do lead to violence, which I’m sure you’ve seen in your years as a teacher and administrator. An adult in a position of authority has no business adding more hurtful words to such a dangerous situation. Her job is to diffuse it.

I can appreciate that you have a tough job and making a mistake can earn you more attention than you might want, but you have a chance to correct that mistake. The bus driver should be suspended for being disrespectful to the student and her family, and for fostering and encouraging a hateful environment. The bus driver should also have to attend a training class on how hateful words can lead to violence. Perhaps other members of your staff could also benefit from such training?

I believe this is a better approach to handling this situation. This lesson is that we should all respect each other and that both adults and children are subject to punishment for acting in a disrespectful manner.

I pray that you and other members of your staff learn this life lesson and that you are able to teach it to the kids and members of the community.

Sincerely,

Becki True

The Basics

Dumbbells and some sort of pull-up bar are what you need to get started. If you don’t have those, I’d suggest starting there. I already have dumbbells and a kettlebell, so those are covered. We’ve been getting by with a door frame pull-up bar, but it’s limited. For example, we can’t use it to kip and doing beginner pull-ups puts me in a dangerous position.

I decided to purchase a Studbar pull-up bar, gymnastic rings, and an Olympic weight bar. I’ll get bumper plates and weight stands as the budget allows.

I bolted the Studbar to the garage ceiling. I can’t do a pull-up just yet, so I’m using the rings to help with my progression. I’m hanging the rings from the Studbar (it’s a beast). I’m also using the rings for push-ups. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m having so much trouble with my push-ups, but that’s the way it is.

Studbar and Rings in parking mode

The weight bar is going to help me work on the very technical Olympic lifts. I’ll need plates soon to get the full benefit though.

What About the Cars?

I’m not willing to park my car in the driveway, so it was important to me to be able to find a way to use the garage as a gym and a garage. The rings are adjustable and easy to remove and install if you prefer. I just adjust them and leave them where they are and I can park my car without any issues. I pull my car out of the garage to do the workout and pull it back in when I’m finished.

Benefits

It’s nice to have (almost) everything I need to do my workouts here at home. Now there’s no excuse for taking the 5-20 minutes it takes to do a Crossfit workout.

A side benefit of this project is that it has forced me to get my garage more organized. I guess it’s just another way Crossfit benefits my life. I’m afraid that I have a way to go with all of it however.

For some reason I did the Buttercup scale even though I’ve been at the puppy scale. I’ll do puppy next time.

Buttercups:
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 6-10 pound ball, 8 ft target. (Reps): 27, 24, 18 = 69 (previous: 26, 20, 20 = 66)
Sumo deadlift high-pull 15-25 pounds (Reps): 15, 12, 5 = 32 (previous: 17, 12, 8 = 37 )
Box Jump 10” box (Reps): 25, 17, 15 = 57 (previous: 26, 15, 14 = 55)
Push-press 15-25 pounds (Reps): 27, 19, 15 = 61 (previous: 20, 16, 12 = 48)
Row (Calories) (burpees): 7, 6, 8 = 21

Total 240 (previous 206)

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

Post reps for both exercises in all rounds.

I’m a puppy so I did push-ups and pull-ups using my fabulous Elite rings

1: 6 / 3
2: 5 / 5
3: 4 / 5
4: 4 / 5
5: 3 / 4

Here’s a picture of me struggling with the push-ups

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups

Puppies:
Use appropriate weight
sub Beginner Pull ups, Assisted Pull ups or Ring Rows as necessary.

I used 8# dumbells and beginner pull ups.
5:20 PR beat last time by 42 seconds.

Muscle-ups 100104

Puppies:
Three rounds for time of:
5 Muscle-up progressions (Seated, Jumping or squat)
25 Squats

The other option is to sub 4/1 pull ups, dips to muscle ups. (I did this option… sort of)

I did this in 11:

===============

400m, GHD, Hip Extensions 100105

Puppies:
Three rounds for time of:
Run 200-400 meters (I ran 200m)
15 Sit-ups
15 Hip Extensions

8:00

This was the 1st time I’ve run since my knee problems

================

Wall-balls & Pull-ups 100106

Puppies:
Three rounds for time of:
20 Wall-ball shots with 10-14 pound ball to eight foot target
10 Pull-ups (Beginner or assisted pull up okay)

5:08

A funny thing happened on our Titus Canyon trip. We planned to meet Geff and Lisa for lunch at KC’s in Beatty. We bumped into (literally) Stits in Beatty at the gas station. He was doing some photography work in Death Valley and was gassing up before heading back to Vegas. We invited him to join us for lunch. Geff hadn’t seen him in about 4 years since we all worked in the same place, so it was mini-reunion of sorts.

I really enjoyed the rest and am ready to get on with what’s coming up. Work will keep me busy of course, but I also have the last 8 weeks of coursework remaining for my MSIA degree, and my teaching duties at ITT. My biggest challenge will be staying focused on my revised diet (veggies, meat, fruit, nuts, little starches and no sugar) and my Crossfit workouts. It requires me to keep up with my obligations – including those to myself – and to avoid procrastination. One of the quotes I’m using to help me with this is:

The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most – Robert Kiyosaki

Here’s hoping that all of you have time with you families, friends and passions. And don’t forget to take care of yourself so you can be around to take care of each other!

Now I’ve got to run to Trader Joes to stock up for the upcoming week.