robotarmy's whole30

[robotarmy]

Thanks, guys. I'm just tired of being the only single person I know. I'm at the stage where all of my friends are in long term relationships or married, and I'm literally the only single person in my group of friends. All the good looking dudes seem to be taken or not interested in seeing me a second time. And I feel really weak writing this out and admitting it, like I'm feeling sorry for myself or something.

So I'm trying really hard to branch out and meet new people and find new experiences.

So I'm focusing on taking care of myself, through how I eat and how I move. I went for a run tonight and took 4 minutes off my 5k time! So that's a victory!

Ate okay today, but honestly I can't remember what I ate--let's see...a broccoli/jicama/cucumber/beet/sardine salad, dressed in olive oil and lemon juice. Um, chicken...I don't remember what else. A handful of pecans? I'm so irritated by this stupid stuff in my personal life that I'm just functioning on following the eating rules and beating myself up at the gym and on runs so that I can just get stronger. My goal in the gym this week is this: no fear. No fear of failure, no fear of falling, no fear of looking dumb. I already fail, I already fall, I already look dumb (at times). All I have to do is learn from these experiences and improve.

Good news: my back is starting to ripple when I flex haha. Just barely, but you can see some muscles back there!

[robotarmy]

Today is a new day! And it's day 14!! Heck yes!

Today I had ground beef and swiss chard, preWO Larabar, chicken, dates, and pecans. Oh and I drank a kombucha. Tomorrow I want to go super heavy with veggies. It just feels right.

Workout was good: practiced cleans, then 2 rounds for time: 15 power cleans + 50 sit ups. Gross. But I did it and I feel amazing. Have I mentioned I love CrossFit? Seriously. It's like the best thing to happen to me in forever.

Going out w/ new guy this weekend...we'll see. He's a little scared of the whole paleo thing. But he'll live, haha.

[robotarmy]

Day 15 halfway through #2!

Food: ground beef and Swiss chard, chicken, sauteed mustard greens. A handful of pecans.

Workout: rest day. I'm getting my butt to bed EARLY tonight. Hitting up CF hard tomorrow and going for a long run on Saturday.

General demeanor: pretty good. A vacation is looming for me, which is amazing. Tomorrow is my last day of work for 2 weeks, and even though I have to go in every day next week, I'm not actually doing anything. Weird, right? Yeah. Then one full week after that off of work completely. It's going to be so rejuvenating. I'm going to work out hard, eat amazingly, and take on challenges. Can't wait

[robotarmy]

Ahhhhh, 16 days done. Hit the veggies hard today. Spinach/arugula mix, beets, jicama, carrots, other stuff...grass bed steak. I still have some to finish from lunch. I'm post-WO right now and I'm not hungry, but I know I gotta eat.

Workout: Find a heavy 3-rep deadlift, then 3 RFT: 10 DL, 15 box jumps, 20 DB push presses. I love box jumps. Can't wait to jump higher.

General demeanor: really good essentially on a 2 week vacation now (even though I go into work next week I'm not actually working), going for a long run tomorrow, and going out with this new dude. I'm not sure I'm too into him, but I'm remaining open to new experiences and new people. I already mentioned he's kind of scared of paleo, but did I mention he's a young'un? 6 years younger than robotarmy. Not sure how I feel about that, but maybe it will be fun! Anyway, I'm off to bed.

Ready to take on tomorrow!

[Derval]

Have a great day!

[robotarmy]

Thanks Derval it was a nice day.

Body crying out for a rest day, so I'm running tomorrow morning. Then a baseball game with friends (it's spring training here!).

Food today: beef stew with a fried duck egg, Moroccan chicken salad on the date, dates and walnuts, sauteed calamari with tomatoes and scallions. I think I ate too much this evening but I'm doing 7 miles tomorrow morning so it's fuel. All the amazing things we eat are fuel. I may have a little extra in the tank tonight but it's going to burn off tomorrow.

Date? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Nice guy, very sweet. I hope he finds a nice girl that he likes. I would totally hang out with him again, but...not in any kind of romantic capacity.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. I just know it.

[robotarmy]

What a day! 7 miles on the schedule for this morning turned into 10! Fueled, hydrated, and rested well. Felt strong. For the first time in 2 years I feel like a runner again. And get this: I've gone from a 5 mile long run to 10 in 6 weeks. With virtually no \training. I'm 13 weeks out from my half marathon, so I guess I can actually train to go faster! So awesome! This running improvement is due to CrossFit, for real. My legs are so much stronger, my endurance is through the roof (for me). I only really felt like I was working during the last 2 miles or so. Simply amazing. I'm ready to race today, and have 3 months to improve!

Then this afternoon: baseball game with friends! Sooo fun! We have spring training here where I live, and the day was PERFECT for the game. So amazing.

Pre-run: dates + walnuts (this was excellent before the long run)

Post-run: Larabar

Lunch: hamburger, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard (at game. Googled mustard, ingredients looked okay. If it turns out there was something non-compliant, I'm not going to sweat it.)

Dinner: spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, grass-fed beef, mushrooms, onions, garlic. (Kinda SWYPO-ish, but tasty.)

I'm going to down a kombucha and get to bed really early tonight. But not before a coooooold shower. Muscles in need of it.

Back to feeling invincible!

[robotarmy]

Took another 52 seconds off my 5k time. Sweet.

Okay: During this 2nd W30 I'm learning what my body really needs. It's cool to really figure out what to eat when and how effectively I'm fueling myself.

Breakfast: not hungry

Lunch: fresh fruit and a big green salad with olives, hearts of palm, tomatoes, etc.

Pre-run: dates + walnuts

Dinner (post-run): big tuna steak, cooked tomatoes (this was excellent)

I felt good during my run, though I was pushing my pace a little. The dates and nuts are great pre-run fuel, but I know I needed more protein earlier in the day. Tomorrow I'm going to make sure I get some eggs first thing and see if that's better. I just hate hate hate eating first thing in the morning. I'm never hungry. I'm just whining. These are not bad problems to have

Date guy from Saturday asked me out again, I let him down gently. Onward.

Weekend packed full of plans, none of which involve trying to date someone. Family, friends, and paleo meetup group. Fantastic.

[robotarmy]

1 day of work left before my legit vacation starts! Requested the day off Friday and I'm getting it Then family time, some out of town time, paleo meetup group, a little freelance work, and then who knows?

Ugh, can I take a moment here to vent? I am so tired of people being all, "OMG PALEO SO DID YOU HUNT AND KILL THAT SALAD YOURSELF? DO YOU EAT RAW MEAT??" or other similar stupid questions. And before you say, "Oh but robotarmy, they just don't know any better, don't let them get to you," let me say: I know. I know. But people. Seriously. It's really grinding my gears today.

Anyway. Food.

Breakfast: 2 eggs and broccoli

Lunch: salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pine nuts, oil and vinegar), olive medley

Pre WO: 4 dates, 1/2 c walnuts

Post WO: sardines, 4 dates, 1/2 cup walnuts

I'm supposed to go out to dinner now with friends, but I'm not hungry and I don't know what's on the menu I can eat. I'm not concerned. The food isn't the point of this meeting, it's the camaraderie!

Edit: DINNER: OMG. (Disclaimer: I know this is SWYPO, but holy crap. This was a great meal.) Duck tacos in jicama shells, fruit salsa, and pico de gallo. Side dish: raw vegetable "pasta" with dairy-free pesto. I housed this meal. It was great. And I was so happy to spend time with my friends too

Anyway. Just had a great workout, am feeling grand. Watching the CF Games Open online, and maybe some Duck Dynasty too...

[Derval]

This might shut them up - "paleo is a logical framework applied to modern humans, not a historical reenactment"

[Renee Lee]

One of my fave quotes, Derval

[robotarmy]

Awesome, Derval

So I'm back after a few days out of town and off to my first paleo meetup group event! Should be a good time. Then a small bit of freelance work and getting together with a friend for tea.

Food whilst out of town was all good. And I just realized I'm in the home stretch of W30 #2! Last day is March 15. Which is wonderful, because I'm going to a paleo potluck on Saturday and not everything there will probably be W30 compliant.

Moving long runs to Saturday so I can rest the day before I go back to CrossFit on Monday. Got in 8 miles yesterday morning. Shorter (but faster) than last week's 10. And I know for sure I had another 4-5 miles in me at least. I'm so stoked to be this well prepared 12 weeks out. Again, I'm going to work on speed.

And it's probably time to add more carbs back into what I'm eating...dear sweet potatoes in my kitchen: nom nom nom.

[robotarmy]

The paleo meetup yesterday was LAME. I got there at the start time and only one person was there. Then a couple more showed up. And, just as I had to leave, one more person came. So 5 total out of 16 that RSVP'd yes. So we all chatted a little bit and I think they'll all be at the potluck meetup this weekend (which I'm also going to).

Pre-WO: dates and walnuts

Post-WO: sardines

Lunch: lettuce-wrapped burger and side salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Workout: Thursters. Stupid, stupid thrusters. Actually I don't hate them. They just get really hard after a while.

General demeanor: Great. It's beautiful here, I'm on vacation, and I'm living life to the fullest. (Ugh, but even though I'm technically on vacation, I've had to work yesterday and today! Gross!)

Lastly, potential new dude on the radar. We'll see

[Derval]

That's crappy that so few showed!

Enjoy the day, evn in work

[robotarmy]

Up early, hard workout. Didn't eat pre-WO (not feeling it, and nor forcing food when not hungry). Post-WO: tuna steak, sauteed greens, almonds. Pretty big meal, but going out soon and don't want to eat while I'm out. Now I'm off to enjoy our national pastime on this beautiful day! So happy it's baseball season here. Dinner: chicken and sauteed greens. Was reallllly tempted to just call it a day on this Whole30 and go get Mexican food tonight. But I recognized the craving, went home, and ate well. So happy to know that cravings can be vanquished. I was legitimately hungry. But my brain really wanted salty, crunchy chips and salsa.

Then: went on 5 mile run with friend. It was awesome. We're training for the same half marathon! Yay!

Tomorrow I kind of want to just rest. I want to go to a baseball game, but it takes a big chunk out of the day and I'd like to be able to relax a lot. I'll probably lay off CF and running tomorrow, just to rest and regroup.

I'm really looking forward to getting to bed I'm tired and ready to sleep.

[robotarmy]

Well it's the second to last day of my 2nd Whole30. I've been eating great food and working hard. Getting busy as spring is upon us--working a lot of extra hours on top of my regular 40. Which is good, but really time consuming. Feeling focused, positive, and grateful.

Physically: feeling a bit under the weather...going to take it easy until CF later today. Also need to get in some sprints, if up to it.

[robotarmy]

Day 30! And heading into the last weekend of my vacation. It's going to be a great weekend! Today: a little bit of work. Tomorrow: 5k in the AM and paleo potluck in the PM. Sunday: ummmm laziness? Possibly baseball? Dinner with a friend? The possibilities are--well, they're not endless, but there are lots of them

Today in CF we did Open Workout 13.2, which was tough! Glad I did it though. Always happy when I complete a workout.

Pre-WO: Larabar

Post-WO: sardines

Lunch: pulled chicken in tomato sauce with a fried duck egg

[EileenRBe]

Congratulations on #2. Way to go!

[robotarmy]

Thanks EileenRBe! How's everything going for you these days?

Finished with the W30 yesterday Ran a 5k this morning, despite not feeling well. I have a cold and did NOT feel like running this morning. But I did it anyway. Got some new trail running shoes and celebrated with some unholy non-paleo Mexican food. Just didn't feel like cooking. So I have some rice, corn chips, and like one forkful of refried beans in me, but I'll live. Going to stay strictly paleo, but maybe not W30 strict. Like, I might have some cheese now and again. Or some bacon here and there.

I'm also learning when my body needs/likes to eat. It's great.

Definitely more Whole30s in my future. Cheers!

[EileenRBe]

Doing pretty well, thanks. I've been posting my reintros in Bill and Eileen's Excellent Whole 30 Adventure Post-Challenge Report. We love eating compliant whenever we can and are bending if we need to when out to eat.

Keep us posted on your dating adventures if you like. I believe that somewhere out there is someone who will value how you take care of yourself and who you are.

[robotarmy]

Awesome I've been pretty bad about keeping up here in the forum. Updating my journal and getting off the computer. Will come check out your post W30 log--am sure you've been cooking up some great stuff!

Just started a post W30 log of my own, so will keep y'all filled in on the fun details of the dating (if there are any, hahahaha).

Thanks for your kind words and all of your support. See you in the post W30 section

[robotarmy]

GUESS WHO'S BACK!

That's right. #3. I started last week but after a really brutal hike yesterday I had rice with dinner because OMG HUNGRY. And also beer because OMG I FELL SO HARD ON A ROCK. So today I'm going to officially start #3.

Really want today to involve duck. And braised red cabbage. I want to eat all the good food.

Let's go!

[robotarmy]

Okay so where did the last 3 weeks go? Work has been INSANE. I've been eating pretty well, but not W30. Something had to give, and I let food go. And there was beer. Anyway. Onward.

I have a race coming up on Sunday--San Diego half marathon. Going over there with friends who are also running the race, and really looking forward to it. I kinda just want to go W30 right now to clean up what I've been eating. It won't affect my race. It'll only make it better.

I'll admit it: for the first time since January, I've lacked the focus and discipline to do the Whole30. So I'd like to just DO it. And commit to coming by and letting y'all know what was on the menu for the day. I miss it here. So I'd like to make this a part of my routine again.

So, dinner tonight? I'll root through the fridge and let you know.

[percypat]

robotarmy, I just read through your log and it was so much fun to read. You funny! I hope you post more so us n00bs can enjoy you