Archive for July 24, 2012

Home Turf

Posted: July 24, 2012 in Challenge, Food
Tags: , , , ,
4

I want to start by saying that I appreciate all of the positive feedback I’m getting. Every remark is making me stronger in this venture and is really motivating, so thank you! If you want to receive updates when I post entries, add your email address in the box to the left

So just like that, the quick trip is over and I deem it pretty successful from the challenge point of view. I was able to eat pretty Paleo and use what was available in the hotel gym to perform a CrossFit workout. I made it home right before the last CrossFit class of the day at my gym so I was able to join in on the fun. Today’s workout was:

“Cindy”
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 mins 10 mins
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

I modified this classic CrossFit workout to be 10 mins instead of 20. I managed to complete 9 rounds. I felt a little dizzy after round 7, probably because of all of the walking in the heat today and lack of sleep, so I decided to end at 10 mins. I might have been able to go for more after a minute or two of rest but I decided not to push it yet. I can feel my body adjusting to working out without food and water so I’m hoping I can start tackling more difficult workouts soon.

For Iftar, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare so I whipped up some quick Coconut Chicken. It took almost no time to prepare so it’s great for a busy day. As usual, to open my fast I had 3 dates. Here is how the coconut chicken was made:

  • 1/2 lb chicken breast
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/8 tsp of sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbs coconut oil

Almond flour is a real treat for Paleo eaters, it almost feels like cheating. It’s a gluten-free substitute for flour and tastes great. I’ll attempt some Paleo muffins this weekend using almond flour. Healthy muffins, sounds like an oxymoron but we’ll see how it turns out.

Anyways, to make this you place the shredded coconut, almond flour, and sea salt into a bowl and mix it up. Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it. Dip the chicken into the egg bowl and then coat it with the coconut/almond flour mixture. Heat up a pan and put the coconut oil in it. Place the chicken on the pan and fry it until it’s cooked. Simple and done! Here is how it turned out:

It had a great sweet taste that you don’t expect when you think chicken. It confused the taste buds for a minute. I added some salad to it and chugged on a lot of water, including a Vita Coco Water to restore my electrolytes. It was a lot of food so I didn’t finish it. I did get hungry later on so I’m eating the rest of it now. So much for leftovers.

So I know this has been a lot of chicken dinners but I promise to switch it up with some beef coming soon. Stay tuned!

Road Sahoor Success

Posted: July 24, 2012 in Food
Tags: , ,
6

Sahoor on the road was what I was really worried about. I’ve had issues with this before so I wanted to make sure I was prepared this time. Luckily I was shown a great place by a friend in the area and it had everything I needed. I had a found an alternate place, a 24/7 deli with a decent salad bar, around the corner from my hotel just in case I woke up too late or the other spot was closed. Luckily choice number 1, a 24/7 French restaurant, was open for business when I got there at 4 am. Here is what I got (yay Sahoor pic):

Ahem, err..notice something wrong? It’s like Two Face from Batman, a good side and an evil side. Let’s start with the good. That is a 3 egg omlette with spinach and smoked salmon. Not sure what type of oil it was cooked in but it was delicous. I also had numerous glasses of water. Pretty sure the waiter thought I had issues drinking 9 glasses of water at 4 in the morning.

So the evil side. As you can see it came with fries. Fight the temptation and don’t touch them! Ask for a substitute when you can, a lot of places can be accomodating. If they aren’t, well then pack it up and give it to a homeless person on the street. Once it’s out of the picture, replace it with something like this:

That my friends was off the dessert menu and it was the largest plate of fruit I have ever seen. I ate about half of it and packed up the rest for Iftar tonight. This should be enough to hold me up through the day.

I hope to be home by Iftar time tonight so I should be able to pull a Paleo meal together in my kitchen. Oh and I just saw the workout at my gym, it’s “Cindy”. This will be interesting…