Post-Halloween.  This is the most dangerous time of the year for me, figuratively speaking. Figuratively - as in my figure.  Cooler weather sets in, comfort food cravings hit, and my vow to eat healthy during the holidays doesn't even come close to lasting as long as Kim Kardashian's wedding vows. 

So to counteract my inevitable diet sabotage, I am going to do something drastic.  Something that has never been attempted on this oh so popular, widely read, exercise log of mine.  I am going to start....a food log!  There, I said it, I am now committed.  I am going to document what I eat so I am accountable to all, uh, 3 of my followers out there.   

Seriously though, the cleanest I have ever eaten was when I kept a food log with a friend of mine.  Each day we would report to each other what we had eaten, how much, and our total caloric and fat intake for the day.  What a difference it made to have to reveal what eating choices I had made in a day.  It definitely made me think twice when I reached for that doughnut or that 3rd or 4th slice of pizza!

I make no pretense that with this food log I am going to be the perfect eater. In fact, you'll probably cringe and be as disgusted as I will be with some of my daily journals.  I will, however, be honest to the best of my ability.  My goal is to first, get an idea of exactly what I am eating and next, look at how I can change and improve.  

Here are some great reasons to start a food journal:

• Encourages you to focus on your food choices, and hopefully make good ones
• Helps you to control the urge to binge
• Allows you to track your progress
• Creates a means of evaluating the connection of what you eat with how you feel (or how your CrossFit progress or performance is affected) 
• Helps you to make sure you are eating enough of the nutrients you need
• Helps you acknowledge the reality of how much you eat

I will post my food log on a separate tab from my exercise log. 

10.28.11

Running day!  I decided to run Wykoff this morning, just for fun :)  To warm up, I ran up to the top of Buck Ave, which is a good warm up hill.  I didn't do Tabata sprints this time - I just went straight up the hill, no stopping.  I went up the short steep side - the other side is a longer, more gradual climb.  When I got to the bottom, I considered going back up the longer side, but wasn't sure if I would have time - next time!

My total run ended up being 3.5 miles

10.26.11

REST DAY!  This was not a planned rest day but I have been battling an off and on migraine headache for the past 4 days.  When I tried warming up with some double unders, each rep felt like I was getting hit in the head with a sledge hammer.  SO, decided to make it a rest day.

10.25.11

SWOD: Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

Erica and I teamed up and shared a bar.  This is the first time I've worked on deadlift since the Total.  We started at 165 and worked up to a 205 3RM.  I was pretty happy with that since I failed at a 200# 1RM attempt when I totaled.

Metcon:
4 Rounds of:
Max push-ups (46)
Max ring-rows (30)
15 Toes to Bar
250m Row (fastest :56)

This was a good one for me to work my weaknesses, namely push-ups, ring-rows and toes to bar!

10.21.11

Running WOD

6:00 of 100m sprints every 30 seconds (12 sprints)

3:00 Rest

4:00 of 100m sprints every 30 seconds (8 sprints)

2:00 Rest

3:00 of 100m sprints every 30 seconds (6 sprints)

I haven't been running for a while so I felt slow and didn't get much of a break in between sprints!  

3 hours later:

SWOD: Snatch practice

Metcon: 2 power snatch + 4 burpees on the minute for 12:00 @ 65#

10.20.11

SWOD: Push Press 5RM
85X5
Took it easy on the push presses today because my wrists weren't cooperating with the weight.

METCON:
10 Wall Ball
10 Box Jumps
10 Toes to Bar
AMRAP in 15 minutes

5 Rounds + 10 box jumps + 10 wall balls + 4 toes to bar

Because of the crowd at the 5:30 class tonight, I started on box jumps.  Box jumps went quickly so there was a little back up waiting for my first round of wall balls and then I ended each round with toes to bar.

I tend to tear my hands up more than I do with pull ups, I made sure that I protected my hands with this method:

Although it takes a while to prepare these, it's totally worth it to me.  Today's workout involved 54 toes to bar and 0 blisters!

10.18.11

SWOD:


Today I made up yesterday's SWOD - 3x5 Front Squats @ 85% of 1 RM.  I can't remember the last time I front squatted so I really needed to hit this workout.


My previous 1 RM was 155 but as I did warm up sets, I didn't feel comfortable going up to 85% of my previous 1 RM, so I stuck with 115# which was 75%.  


The 3 sets were pretty difficult and I really concentrated on keeping my elbows up and pushing my knees out as I came up out of the squat.  I will definitely be feeling these tomorrow, and the next day, and the next....


METCON: 


Tabata Mash-up of Sumo Deadlift High Pulls and Abmat Sit-ups


20 sec on of Sit-ups
10 sec rest
20 sec on of SDHP
10 sec rest
 Repeated 4 more times


I was first introduced to the Tabata concept doing Spin class years ago. When I first heard about it, I couldn't believe it and was sure my instructor was misinformed.  So I researched it a bit and was shocked by what I learned. 


The concept was originally used by the Japanese national speed skating team.  When exercise scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata (for whom the protocol was named after), learned about it from the team's coach, he was intrigued. His research efforts focused on the effects of exercise intensity on fitness and he believed that intensity was just as, if not more important than exercise duration. (Hmm...sound familiar?)


So he developed a nifty study using stationary bikes rather than speed skates.  For six weeks, one group biked using the four-minute Tabata protocol five times per week.  The other group biked at a moderate intensity for an hour, five times per week. 


At the end of the six weeks, the moderate intensity group improved their VO2 max (the maximum capacity of a body to transport and use oxygen during a workout) by 9.5%.  Not bad, right?  Well the Tabata group improved their VO2 max by....14%!  


But wait...there's more!


He also measured both group's anaerobic capacity which is basically the amount of power the body can produce without oxygen.  The moderate intensity group increased their anaerobic capacity by ZERO and the Tabata group?  They increased anaerobic capacity by 28%.


As a runner at the time, logging 30+ miles a week, I could hardly wrap my head around the concept that just 4 minutes of exercise (and not really even a full 4 minutes, with rest times) could have such staggering results.


So which would I rather choose - a method that with 5 hours a week yields a 9.5% VO2 Max gain and a 0% anaerobic capacity gain? Or 20 minutes of work in a week for a 14% VO2 Max and 28% anaerobic capacity gain?  It sure doesn't take a super smart Japanese fitness and sports scientist to figure that one out.  Well, actually I guess it did but I've got one word for ya - TABATA!