Sunday, December 28, 2008

Sleep: fell asleep with TV on, poor quality, abt 7-7.5 hrs

WOD: taking an active rest day, some situps, planks, and a long walk--week's plan is 3 on, 1 off, 2 on (M-W, F-Sat)

Food:
Should take a step back here and outline just exactly what the eating plan is--Crossfit recommends the Zone Diet for optimum performance nutrition. I've done some tinkering with eating Zone and it feels a little too carby for me; I was performing at my highest levels this past spring eating straighter Paleo: meat, vegetables, some fruit, fat to satiation, no grains or dairy--similar protein levels, lower carbs, higher fats to supplement for reduced carb blocks.

Right now I'm running at higher levels of bodyfat which is, of course, a euphemism for being a little bit overweight. So the idea is to get the machine fueled by existing fat stores rather than carbohydrates. To wit, in his Zone work, Dr. Barry Sears compares existing fat stores to an energy ATM: at a proper hormonal balance, what your body needs in energy, it withdraws from fat.

So I'll be endeavoring to eat Paleo quality on a zone prescription, subbing in fat for carb blocks per Robb Wolf's prescription of 3 fat blocks for every carb block removed. After reading Lights Out and some stuff from the Eades' blogs, I'm looking to keep carbs down to 25-45 grams a day, which works out to 3-5 blocks. At that level, as a 17 zone block eater, I should be taking in 17 blocks of protein, 3-5 blocks of carbs, and 53-59 fat blocks. I'm not going to go crazy measuring the protein and carbs--those I can eyeball pretty well--but I'm going to look at being pretty strict with the fat: 1/4 a jar of almond butter can turn into 1/2 or 3/4 pretty easily for me.

Something I've played with a little bit as well is the concept of Intermittent Fasting. One of the most common complaints among newbies to Zone eating is the onerous nature of all...that...measuring. IF takes a little bit of the load off in that it encourages occasional--intermittent--fasting to mimic Paleo feeding patterns. Sick of measuring? Miss a meal here and there. This works especially well with straight Paleo eating; more still, running AM workouts on an empty stomach in the middle of a fast (easier to hit a fast all the way through when the majority of the fast is sleepy time) hits fat stores for energy.

Today's food:
fasted from 3 AM-2 PM, broke w/protein shake--4 pro, 1 carb (spinach), 26 fat
3:15: 4 chicken sausage, 1 apple, 2 tsps flax--6 pro, 2 carb, 6 fat
6 PM: 10 scallops, broccoli, 3 tsps flax--10 pro, 1 carb, 9 fat
8 PM: 2 tbsp almond butter--10 fat
10 PM: 4 tbsp almond butter--20 fat (extra fat)