Archive for August, 2012

Weighing In

Posted: August 8, 2012 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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It’s important to assess your progress (or retrogress) in any activity you take on. In CrossFit, this is done by doing Benchmark Workouts or by checking your maxes in different Olympic and Power lifts. Along with those numbers, keeping track of your body fat (and sometimes weight) is important as well. With Ramadan 2/3s over, it was time to do a “weigh in” to see what sort of progress I had made and if I am still in line with my goals. First let’s talk about what I ate.

Sahoor – Again, (sorry) another day of scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes. Yeah I’m starting to get sick of this too. I also had a protein shake and a liter of water. I’ll try to get creative here soon, I promise. It’s actually hurting my workouts because I’m not getting enough fats in. I think it might be time for some more guac…

Iftar – I opened my fast with a protein shake at the gym since I was running late. Luckily I was having dinner with the family so I didn’t have to cook. My family isn’t exactly Paleo compliant but they are aware of what I am doing so they made sure I was accommodated. The dinner consisted of marinated whole chicken, chicken nuggets, fries, other carbs, and salad. Can you guess what I stuck with?I hacked some different parts of the chicken on to my plate, added in the salad, and indulged in some family bonding. Growing up, this was one of my favorite meals. The chicken is marinated in a blend of spices including chili powder, chaat masala, and crushed peppers all mixed with lemon and lime juice. You literally take a whole chicken, dip it in this mixture and bake it until it’s done. The spice mixture will drip off as it bakes but you can scoop it right back up to have with your chicken when it’s done.

Weighing In

So I weighed myself and I had a bit of a shock. I am down 13 pounds! To the average person that sounds great but to an athlete it could be detrimental. Is it 13 lbs of fat? Was it muscle? Has my body fat gone up since I’m eating less? Have I lost lean body mass?

Given that it’s Ramadan and those obligations comes first to me, I went into this knowing I would lose some muscle and strength but 13 lbs was a little scary. Sure, since my surgery my diet had been horrible and I barely made it to the gym so I had some pounds to spare. I made it over to Max Muscle to get my body fat tested. The result, I have lost almost 2% body fat! That may not sound like a lot but being at 11%, I don’t have a lot to lose there. Side note, when I first started CrossFit, I was over 20% body fat. Yummy.

So weight is down, body fat is down, how is my strength? I decided to measure my Press, Push Press, and Jerk lifts. I did several sets of each movement to find a 1 rep max.

    • Press – I didn’t come anywhere near my 1 rep max and I was really discouraged. I was failing at about 20# below my PR (Personal Record). I think I just wasn’t warmed up (or awake) enough at this point.
    • Push press – I picked up where I left off with the press to do a push press. I failed on my first one and this is when I began to worry. Had I lost that much? Or maybe I just didn’t eat right today? I decided to drop the weight down by 20# and work my way up. Success. I was able to work my way up pretty fast. I didn’t hit a PR or match my existing one but I came pretty close.
    • Jerk – I hit real success on this movement. I started a few lbs under where I left the push press off at. This movement requires some real explosion when you split your legs and I definitely felt myself weaker than normal days. I had to compensate by using more arm strength but I made it work. I was able to match my PR!! I mighthave been able to hit a new PR but I was pretty wiped after almost 30 reps at this point. Also, it was time for Iftar so I didn’t have time for another rep.

Here is a video of my one rep before I matched my PR. As you as can see I don’t have the explosiveness I should at all but I blame fatigue and hunger for that!

Overall I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my results. I knew I wasn’t going to make great gains this month but I’m happy to see that I was able to match my PR. I will do some more of these in the coming days with other movements to see how this Ramadan Challenge is shaping up to be!

Craving the Curry

Posted: August 7, 2012 in Food
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So let’s be honest, I’m from a Pakistani family and I love Thai food. It was only a matter of time before I would crave some curry based dish. I had some extra time today so I decided to make something curry-ish for Iftar that was Paleo friendly.

First though, for Sahoor I had scrambled eggs (2 eggs, 3 egg white) mixed with onions and tomatoes. I had some tilapia left over from last night that I added to it. I’m not sure if I have ever had fish and eggs before but it was a good combo. The lemon juice was still sponged in the fish, even after sitting in the fridge all night and then being heated up. It was spicy so no need for spices on the eggs. I drank about a liter of water as well.

Iftar

The curry dish I made was Chicken and Vegetables curry. It takes a little longer and requires more attention to make than my normal chicken dishes but it’s probably because it required several things going on at one time. I’ll try to make the instructions as clear as possible.

    • 1/2 lb of skinless chicken thigh, diced
    • 1/4 can of coconut milk
    • 1/4 onion, sliced
    • handful of broccoli, chopped up
    • 1 carrot, shaved
    • 1 tsp of garlic, minced
    • 1 tsp of ginger, minced
    • 1 tsp of curry powder
    • 3-4 plum tomatoes
    • sea salt and black pepper
    • 4 Tbs of coconut oil

Add 2 Tbs of coconut oil in to a hot pan and add in the chicken. Let the chicken brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt and black pepper on it. While the chicken cooks, add 2 Tbs of coconut oil to a hot skillet and drop in the onions. Saute the onions for about 5-10 of minutes until they show signs of browning.

While the onions are being done, place the the broccolli and carrot shavings into a pot full of water and put it on the stove to steam. Mix it up once in a while until they get tender.

Now back to the onions. Add in the curry powder, garlic, and ginger to the skillet and saute it for a couple of minutes. Add in the coconut milk and let it simmer for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Add in the steamed vegetables and chicken to the skillet. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender and chicken looks done. Pour it on to a plate and serve with some chopped tomatoes.

It took some effort and caused a mess in the kitchen but it was so worth it. Another great Paleo meal in the books! Only thing I would have changed is that I let the coconut milk simmer too long so it evaporated a bit. Great, now I’m hungry again..

The Workout

Today was a rest day. Tomorrow will be an interesting day because I will be doing a weigh in and strength check. I don’t expect to be making any strength gains this month but the goal was to try to maintain as much as possible. Will I match my existing PRs? Will I hit a new PR?? Tune in tomorrow!

Go Upside Down

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Gymnastics isn’t something that the average gym goer incorporates into their training but it definitely should be. Gymnastic movements will help you build balance, coordination, and crazy core strength. When I first started CrossFit, I was afraid of Olympic lifting and didn’t have much respect for gymnastics. It didn’t take long after I scored my first oly lift and then was able to do a handstand to fall in love with these sports. Now these two elements are what I look forward to in a workout. My lack of respect for gymnastics was just ignorance. I had seen it on TV and the professionals made it look SO easy. I mean these guys pull themselves up on rings with such ease and do an Iron Cross as if it was as easy as standing up. My first time trying to pull myself up on rings was enough to give me a lifetime worth of respect for that sport. Some of the strongest and fittest people I have met have a background in gymnastics. Leaves me wishing I had taken on gymnastics when I was little instead of thinking I had a career as a Pro Wrestler. Oh well.

The Workout – Today’s workout was a couplet consisting of Olympic lifting and gymnastics.

5 Rounds
10 Handstand Push Ups
10 Power Cleans 155#
 

This was my first workout being upside down during Ramadan. It didn’t help with the dizziness I feel during workouts these days but I’m not sure how much of  it was from not eating vs a surgery I had a few months back. Every since then, I seem to get a head rush a lot faster. I spoke with a fellow CrossFitter who recently had a surgery in the same area and he is experiencing something similar. I’ll have to consult with Dr. Google on this.

I was able to do the handstand push ups unbroken first couple of rounds and then broke them into 5s after that. The weight on the Power Cleans didn’t feel too bad. I was able to string them together as I normally do with that amount of weight.

Food

Sahoor –  I had a scrambled eggs made in olive oil (2 eggs 3 whites).  I added some green peppers, chili sauce, onions and tomatoes to it. I had one Paleo muffin left over from last week so I had that as well. I drank 1.5 liters of water. Looking back I should have had some meat in the morning to have some more energy for the workout.

Iftar – Today was a fish night and I made Peppered Lemon Tilapia. Fish has all of the nutrients an athlete needs plus more. It’s a great source of protein, it has the all of the healthy fats you need, vitamin D, calcium, etc. Who needs pasteurized milk when you have good fish?? This does require a little more time than the other dishes so plan ahead. It’s completely worth it. Also, tonight I made enough for two meals so I could have this for Sahoor as well. This recipe is for 2 servings:

      • 4 Tbs of coconut oil
      • 1 lemon
      • 4 fillets of tilapia (or catfish, salmon, etc)
      • 1 tsp of chaat masala
      • 1 tsp of crushed pepper
      • 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
      • sea salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while you prepare the fish. In an OVEN PROOF skillet (not repeating yesterday’s fiasco), heat up the coconut oil and lemon juice. Season the fish with sea salt and pepper and place into the skillet. Coat both sides and lay them side by side. Mix the chaat masala, crushed peppers, and garlic powder up and sprinkle on to the top side of the fillets. Place the fish into oven and bake it for about 30 minutes. You’ll see the pan starting to blacken but that’s ok. The liquid from the oil and lemon will keep the fish nice and moist.

I pulled out two of the fillets for dinner and added some salad to the plate. Maybe I just got lucky but the fish melted in my mouth every time I took a bite and the lemon juice that was sponged up inside would gush out. It was purely amazing and it will be making a repeat appearance. Oh since I made extra, I guess it will be making an appearance in the morning, YES! For dessert, I had a bowl of watermelon after taraweeh prayer. Perfect end to a good day for me.

Careful, It Might Be Hot

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Hmm, I wonder if there is a direct correlation between lagged physiological response and hunger. I suffered my first burn in a long time while cooking and it’s sort of a funny story. Not only did I do it once, but twice the same way! This is after making the mistake of putting a pan with a wooden handle in the oven. I mean who does that??

I know I’ve been posting a day late recently but I will try to get back to posting sooner. Also I promised a change up in Sahoor items and I will try to do that this week. Omlette and scrambled eggs are just so easy to make! So for Sahoor I had the typical 2 egg/3 egg white omlette with a ground chicken pattie. I drank the typical 1.5 liters of water as well.

The Workout – This is a quick body weight workout that can be done literally anywhere. Just warm up your core and stretch your legs with squats and lunges.

10 rounds for time
10 hand-release push-ups
10 v-ups
10 squats
 

For Iftar, along with burning myself, I made Turmeric Chicken. Turmeric is a plant that is usually grown to powder form and used in curry based dishes. It’s used heavily in South Asian and Thai dishes. Recent research is proving some major health benefits in this plant including treating Alzheimer’s. Here is how the dish was made:

    • 1/2 lb of chicken breast, diced – seasoned with sea salt and chili powder
    • 1/2 an onion, sliced
    • 1 clove of garlic, diced
    • 1.5 tablespoon of turmeric
    • 1/2 lemon’
    • handful of cherry tomatoes
    • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
    • extra virgin olive oil
    • chopped of parsley

Coat a skillet (ahem, not a pan with a wooden handle) with olive oil and heat it up with medium heat. Once it’s warm, add in the onions and saute them for a minute or two. Add in the seasoned chicken to the skillet and let it cook for about 7-8 minutes. Add in the turmeric powder, garlic, and lemon. Stir it around and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so until it starts browning to your desire. In the mean time, set your oven to high broil. Coat your cherry tomatoes with salt and olive oil. When the chicken is done, add in the tomatoes and place the skillet in the oven. Listen for the tomatoes to start popping. Once they have popped, pull it out (with an oven mitt!) and add in the parsley. Done:

I burnt my onions a bit so that taste lingered. Other than that it smelled great and the turmeric was a great touch. Add some more greens to it and you have a meal!

So how did I burn myself? Well, my first mistake was using a pan instead of a skillet. Rookie mistake. Then, when I went to pull the pan out of the oven, my sister (assisting me) tells me it might be hot. It just didnt register in time. I found myself holding the burning hot handle thinking, hmm something isn’t right. Doh! So I came to my senses and used an oven mitt to pull it out of the oven and on to the counter. A few minutes later I went to transfer the chicken to a plate and I grabbed it again! Seriously?! I blame the hunger.

Lessons learned, pans do not go in the oven and things from the oven might be hot. Be careful kids..

Pardon the Samosa

Posted: August 5, 2012 in Food
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So here is an issue we all face at some point during Ramadan and there is just no way of avoiding it. The Iftar invitation to someone’s house. I’ve been asked by a few people on how to do deal with that so I will share my experience with this.

First though, for Sahoor, I had my typical 2 egg 3 egg white omelette and a liter of water. I threw some hot sauce on it and had a Paleo muffin. I’ll try to switch up my Sahoor meal a little bit this week so I can share some more recipes. I have had some people send me some dishes that I will try to convert to be Paleo friendly as well.

Ok so Iftar: During Ramadan when you go to someone’s house for Iftar, you will see a sea of food. There will be everything from samosas to egg rolls, to rice and bread, and just about any other carb/sugar loaded fried food you can think of. Your success will depend on how you scope out the food, run a quick investigation of the setup, and come up with an attack plan on what will make it to your plate. Traditionally the fast is opened with a date, simple enough. Now comes the hard part. Some people will have appetizers before the evening prayer and main meal. Simply put, (if done wrong) eating these appetizers are usually the worst thing you can do to your body. Since you are probably really hungry at this point, there is a chance of overlooking the fact that 90 percent of the items laid out have been deep-fried and/or contain tons of carbs. Your stomach starts making the decisions at this point instead of your brain and before you know it, your plate is full of samosas and egg rolls. This is similar to grocery shopping on an empty stomach, I come home with nothing but frozen pizza and ice cream. This is where scoping out of the food comes into play. Learn what’s on the table, where it is, and evaluate what you really should be getting. Stick to that plan! Ignore your stomach and go for what seems to have the least amount of oil and bread in it. I scoped out a veggie dish and loaded my plate with carrots, celery, and broccoli. Yeah some of the other stuff looked good but I also knew what sort of pain my stomach would have been in if I took in the grease and bread. Appetizer, success!

So now on to the main meal. Same strategy should apply. Scope things out and come up with a plan. Stick with the basic rules, avoid the rice/naan(bread) and find the meat! I ended up finding a tray of tandoori chicken and beef kabobs. Jackpot! Yeah I got some looks as I bypassed all of the oil based dishes and rice, and especially some looks when I loaded my plate with tons of tandoori chicken, but oh well.  Here was my plate:

I added some salad and mint yogurt to the mix. Main meal, success! Having Iftar at your relatives’ for friends’ house can be done but it requires a lot of self-control and obedience. Have a game plan and stick to it. Others around you will load their plates up with unhealthy items and it becomes that much harder to avoid those things. However, stay focused and keep your eye on the big picture!

The Half Way Cheat

Posted: August 3, 2012 in Ramadan
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And just like that as of 8.18 pm today, Ramadan 2012 is half way over! To be honest I was really dreading this year’s Ramadan. Not because I didn’t want to fast, but the usual fear of how long the days will be and how it was going to be.  However, whether it’s the fact that I’ve been so busy at work these past few weeks or that I really forced myself to focus for Ramadan so I could make this challenge successful, time has literally flown by. I almost find myself trying to slow it down so I can get more done! SubhanAllah this month is full of miracles. So far, I’ve been able to eat clean every single day (aside from the cheat meals), I’ve been able to work out successfully, and I’ve been able to fulfill my Ramadan obligations, almost without any effort at all. Sure a few mornings I’ve woken up wishing I could sleep a little more but seriously, it’s been amazing so far.

So that brings me to today’s half way celebration. I figured today was a good day to throw in a cheat meal (ahem, or two). Again, I won’t discuss what I ate because as you know it’s my dirty little secret. If you didn’t read my post from last week about a cheat meal/day, I talked about the importance of having a day where you “reward” yourself for doing well. Sometimes it’s during a night out with friends or other days you want to unwind and not worry about gathering Paleo ingredients. The key is to know your boundaries because for one, if you have been eating clean for a while and you decide to down a burger with a liter of Mountain Dew, you are in for a painful night! Also, you have to make sure you contain that cheat meal to just that meal. The last thing you need after all of the hard work you are putting in is to step onto a slippary slope and making a cheat meal a daily habit.

So here we are, half way done. For those of you fasting, how will you take day 16? Are you at a point where the repitition of waking up early and not eating/drinking all day is getting to you, or are you focused even harder now because you’ve passed the hard part? For me, it will be the latter. We are now in familiar territory as far as fasting hours. Ramadan starts on average 10 days earlier due to the lunar calendar every year. We have already fasted these hours and we survived. If you are losing strength, take a minute to refocus. Focus Focus Focus, gather your blessings and make this Ramadan count!

Day 16, back on paleo and back to the gym! See you then

 

Waking Up to a Good Day

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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After not sleeping much the past couple of days because of work and Ramadan, I managed to sneak in 7+ hours of sleep last night. I woke up feeling great and ready to tackle the day. Rest is key. Finding a way to get your rest is even key-er(?). If your rest and nutrition aren’t up to par, what you do in the gym is pointless. Last night I disconnected myself from everything, even shut my phone off at 10.30 pm (whoa what??). I prayed Isha and taraweeh at home and then it was off to bed.

Sahoor

Since I made guac last night, I was pretty excited about Sahoor! I made scrambled eggs with 2 eggs and 3 egg whites. I mixed in diced tomato, onions, sea salt, and some chili powder. Oh and of course, I placed a healthy serving of guac on my plate.  I washed it down with another 1.5 liters of water.  Breakfast of champions.

Workout

Again I was talked into doing the met-con when I had wanted to work on olympic lifting strength work. Oh well, I did ok. I modified the workout slightly to make it easier:

Row 400 meters
3 Rounds
15 Pull Ups
15 Kettle Bell Sumo Deadlift High Pull
15 Hand Release Pushups
Run 200

Originally I thought I could run 400m (1/4 mile) but my throat dried up too much so I cut that in half. The rest was fine. I didn’t feel too dizzy but I was losing my grip on the pull up bar faster than usual.  The hand release push ups are tricky. The first time I heard about them, I thought it was going to be easier than regular push ups. Turns out you lose all momentum when you touch the ground and raise your hands. They require a lot more stamina. If you have never tried them, try 15 or so right now, they’re fun. This was around a 12 minute met-con for me so it’s longer than the other ones I have done. I survived though so my body must be getting used to this! The fact that I slept well last night played a huge role in my performance today. I made a video to show the movements in case you want to try this out:

Iftar

Tonight I was able to have dinner with the whole family and we all shared some paleo food. A couple of days ago I made Steak Bites served on Carrots. I had some beef left over from that day that I had to use today so the dish resurfaced, this time enough for the family. Everyone loved it and the remarks I got (as usual when they try Paleo) were “Wow it actually tastes good”. Well, yeah! I’m not making cardboard over here. I’m proving every day on this blog that eating healthy doesn’t mean that you eat rabbit food all day. I have always been a food fanatic and don’t settle for just mediocre taste. If it’s going in my mouth, whether it’s ice cream or Paleo food, it better taste good! I have found that there are tasty alternatives for all of your favorite junk food dishes. For instance in this recipe, carrots replace rice. In doing so you have cut out tons of sugar, numerous grams of saturated fat, and countless amount of simple carbs. If I can do this, anyone can. Create that mind set, create your goals, and push your self to a healthier lifestyle. It doesn’t take long until you aren’t craving fried rice and pizza every night, trust me.

Anyhow, so my plate looked pretty similar to the other night except well, I had something left over from yesterday…. GUACAMOLE:

And with that, I am sadly out of guacamole. Time to make some more! If you have favorite foods (non-Paleo) that you want me to make using healthy stuff, comment and I will try it out. I plan on trying some unique things out this weekend!

Craving the Guac

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Food
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So I’ve been told by some that I eat a lot of guacamole.  I don’t think I eat enough! Love that stuff. If I had ripe avocados being delivered to me on a daily basis (hmm, wonder if Amazon Prime can do this), I would probably make some for every meal. I know some of you are still making faces at that word but have you tried it yet?? It will change your life. Well not really but it’s one of the best alternatives I’ve found for sugar/carb loaded sides. It has the essentials like monounsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins C and E and potassium that you need to get through these long days of Ramadan. According to the American Heart Association, monounsaturated fats from avocados can help reduce your cholesterol level, a huge contributor to heart disease. Oh so I guess it could change your life!

Guacamole can be eaten with almost anything too. Chicken, eggs, carrots, literally anything (ahem, including chips and pizza but that’s not the point of this blog). Anyhow, by popular demand and to save you from having to scrolling down too far, here is the recipe again. I’ve tweaked it a little bit:

    • 2 ripe avocados, peeled
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime 
    • 1/4 tsp of cumin
    • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
    • 1 clove of garlic (or less), minced
    • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
    • 1 diced tomato, diced
    • 1/2 red onion, diced
    • handful of cilantro to garnish, finely chopped (how-to)

Instructions: Put everything in bowl and mash it up with a fork until the avocado chunks can’t be seen anymore. Simple enough and it only takes a few minutes. It tastes best served right away. If you want to save some as leftovers, make sure you put it tupperware and refrigerate it asap.

The meals

For Sahoor I had a large omelette with tomatoes, onions, and peppers. I sprinkled some sea salt on it and added some hot sauce to it. I had a Paleo Muffin as well. I drank my usual 1.5 liters of water with it.

For Iftar, I was craving the guac so it was time to make some more. Keeping with that theme, I was craving something tangy so I made Chicken Fajitas.

    • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced up
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp chili powder
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • 1 Tbs coconut oil
    • 1/2 red onion, sliced
    • 2 bell peppers, sliced (red makes it look nicer)
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime
    • 1/2 tomato
    • 1/2 tsp of chopped cilantro

Instructions: In a bowl, mix the cumin, oregano, chili powder, and sea salt. Toss the chicken in and coat it with the mixture. Heat a large pan and add in the coconut oil when it gets hot. Throw in the onions and let them satuee for 2-3 minute. Add in the chicken and stir it around until it’s almost done (10-15 minutes). Add in the onion, bell peppers, lemon juice, lime juice, tomato, and cilantro to the pan. Stir it up for another couple of minutes and you’re done. Serve with some guacamole, and lettuce. 

Workout

Sleep, for time. I scored 7.5 hours! This is more than I’ve slept in a while. I know I’ve taken two rest days here but sometimes it’s needed. Just make sure it doesn’t snowball. I am relaxed, energized and ready for a good workout tonight. Oh and I have guac in me so I’m sure I will be awesome!

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