Archive for the ‘Challenge’ Category

Cheat Meal

Posted: July 20, 2013 in Challenge, Ramadan
Tags:
0

Today I utilized my first cheat meal card for my Ramadan Challenge. I made it to day 12 this year without needing to have one which makes me happy. I really haven’t missed anything or craved anything outside of what I’ve been cooking. I thought for sure this year I would utilize my cheat card a lot sooner since my nutrition has been so bad leading up to Ramadan. Even today, I really didn’t have to use it but my sister was in town and it was her birthday so we decided to enjoy it with some bad food. Worth it? eh, I didn’t go overboard like I did with some of my cheat meals last year so I would say it was worth it, especially since it was for a family member.

Last year I went over what cheat meals  were and why we do them but for the new readers, I’ll touch on it again. Cheat meal is something to stick into your routine once in a while (once…in…a..while..) to refresh yourself with the “outside world”. It takes some pressure off, let’s you cut loose, and more often than not, grosses you out and reminds you why you are eating clean in the first place. That last part is essential. I am not proud to say that I have had plenty of cheat meals over the past couple of years that have turned into cheat months. Enjoy the cheat meal, but be responsible and keep your long term goals in mind. For more details, click the Cheat Meals tag at the beginning of this post to see more entries regarding the subject.

For Sahoor

Nothing special, same omelette with 2 eggs/4 egg whites with banana and some almonds. I hydrated myself up because I knew I had a long day out of the house.

For Iftar

This was my cheat meal and as always, it’s my dirty little secret so I won’t get into what I ate. I will say though that I showed control and really didn’t go overboard. I did enjoy a piece of food that starts with a c and rhymes with fake and my dinner also included some fried carbs from the eastern Asian influence. No soda or overflowing portions though.

It was ok but I didn’t feel like this was something I had to have done today. It was a good break from cooking but I’m ready to be back at it tomorrow!

Hydration FTW

Posted: July 19, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

The heat wave in DC continues but it’s ok, I was able to make it to the gym on time today after work and the heat wasn’t going to stop me. Today’s workout was mostly strength related so I didn’t expect there to be a lot of sweating (or at least as much as one would during a met con). I guess I underestimated the heat, even for 6.30pm because the pool of sweat I saw people swimming in as I walked into the gym disproved my assumptions real fast. This brings up a point I’ve mentioned in several entries now: hydration. I feel myself getting back on track with hydration and that I believe is the key to me being able to have enough energy when it’s time to workout. On days like today, had I not hydrated the night before and at Sahoor, there is no way I could have performed the workout successfully.

Now when I say hydrate, that also doesn’t mean you should be forcing a gallon of water into your body in the last 5 minutes of Sahoor. As good as water is for you, it can be damaging if it isn’t consumed properly. My 19 year old self can tell you a story about when he accepted a challenge to drink a liter of water in a minute. Clearly I wasn’t bright when I was 19 and it led to a painful rest of the day. Anyhow, the point is, know your body and use common sense. If you aren’t used to drinking a lot of water, start increasing your intake slowly. Your body will reject any sudden increase in water intake and pass it right through.

Here is a great calculator to determine how much water you need a day: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

The results will seem like a lot, but keep in mind that the food you eat contains water as well so that goes towards your final count. Enough about water for now. Tomorrow I will get into the importance of electrolytes, especially during days like today and yesterday.

For Sahoor

I had been hydrating the night before so I continued that this morning. I had a tall glass of water before I started eating my typical 2 egg/ 4 egg white omelette. Then as I ate, I consumed another glass or two. Then when I finished I had more water. I didn’t keep a count but it was probably close to 40-50oz over the course of 45 minutes. My body is used to doing that so I had no problem with it.

Workout of the Day

Today’s workout was all about Power Cleans. Normally one would squat when doing a clean so you can get further underneath the bar which means you have to pull the bar up less. However, with the power clean, you are working on building a strong pull which will inevitably help you get stronger for squat cleans.

Warmup: Run 400 meters, inch worms, 2 rounds – 10 pull ups, 15 kettle bell swings, side straddles, 2 rounds – 10 squats, 10 ring rows, pvc pipe pass throughs

Spend 20 minutes to find a 1 rep max Power Clean.
-then-
at 90% of your one rep max weight – every minute on the minute do 1 power clean.

The workout felt great. I clearly didn’t have 100% percent of my strength as you can see in the video.  My legs did not land properly on some of the reps but it wasn’t terrible either. I was able to max at 225# and failed at 235#. It wasn’t a PR (personal record) but it will do. I attribute the success to being properly hydrated otherwise there is no way I could have maintained composure while lifting that bar.

For Iftar

For Iftar I made chili chicken. It’s another quick recipe that you can put together but it does require some prep ahead of time.

  • 1 lb of chicken breast, diced
  • 1/4 tsp of cumin
  • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp of chaat masala
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 3 scallions, diced
  • coconut oil
  • small amount of cilantro to garnish
  1. Marinate the chicken with the cumin, chili powder, chaat masala, and salt. You can either put it in a bowl and do it or you can put the ingredients into a plastic bag and shake it up.
  2. Set the chicken mixture aside, or put it in the fridge for about an hour.
  3. Heat up a pan and put in the coconut oil
  4. Add in the chicken and let it cook. Stir often.
  5. Once the chicken starts browning, add in the scallions and peppers
  6. Add in lime juice and cilantro and stir some more.
  7. Place a top on the pan and let the chicken simmer for a few minutes before you eat it

20130719_205935

You can serve this with guacamole and it would taste amazing. That was my plan until I went for the avocados and saw that they were spoiled. Fail. Lesson learned, Wegman’s avocados don’t last 10 days. Oh well it’s on my shopping list for this weekend. Speaking of which, it’s the weekend! If you have any recipes or dishes you want me to try out, please let me know!

Away from the Kitchen

Posted: July 18, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
Tags: , , , , , , ,
2

So today I had one of those situations that everyone faces during Ramadan, having to eat away from your kitchen. This usually involves going to someone’s house for Iftar and being force fed fried egg rolls and samosas before the rest of the carb and sugar loaded dinner is served. When you think it’s almost over, a tray of kulfis are busted out and well, how can one say no to that.

I’m here to say you can say NO! It may get you some weird looks and you may deeply insult the aunty who cooked but sometimes it needs to be done because at the end of the day, it’s your body. Become comfortable saying no and picking out what you want to eat rather than feeling pressured into having to try everything.

This was my first experience having to go out for Iftar this year but it wasn’t as bad as they usually are. It was an interfaith dinner at the local mosque and a commission that I serve on along with other elected officials in the county were invited to it. It’s an annual tradition and one that I really enjoy. You get to break your fast with neighbors in your community, many of which may never have known what Ramadan is. Everyone has a good time enjoying the food while sharing what Ramadan is about and also learning about cleansing, purifying, and fasting in other religions. If you don’t have one of these in your community but have some pull with the mosque leadership, I highly recommend you look into organizing one and invited local elected leaders, pastors, rabbis, etc to it. If you need help or advice on organizing this, feel free to contact me. A little (paleo) bread breaking with the community goes a long way.

For Sahoor

Before I talk about Sahoor, I do want to mention that I did start hydrating better. The night before I had some watermelon which has tons of water and then I paced myself in drinking about 32oz of water in between Iftar and when I went to sleep.

For Sahoor, I started hydrating while I made my eggs. It was the typical 2 egg/4 egg white omelette with onions, green peppers, sea salt, and tomatoes. I had everything cut up already the night before so in the morning I just threw everything together to make it in coconut oil. I added half an avocado to the plate as well and had about a handful of almonds. I finished up with probably 40-50 oz of water consumed. That’s a lot of water and not the best idea for someone who’s decided that today is the day they are going to start drinking water.

For Iftar

So while standing in the buffet line to get my food, I did my snooping to see what was being served so I could develop a game plan. First up salad, check. Second, fried rice. Yum… I mean no, pass. Next, tandoori chicken, don’t mind if do. That station will always get me looks because I will pile on for a while. Usually it’s the most Paleo thing there so I have to take advantage. Then there was a spinach dish; paleo-ness was questionable because of the type of oil I tasted in it but I had some anyways. Lastly, grilled beef kabobs, check.

Like I said, I’m not shy with the tandoori chicken. I should have gotten some more greens but other than that, it was solid. Paleo (for the most part) while being away from my kitchen so I didn’t have to worry about cooking, check, check, and check.

20130718_205441

Lastly, I’m not sure how many more of these rest days I have left before you guys write me off about this being a workout blog as well. It’s been a rough, long week but it’s almost over. Have I blamed traffic yet? If not I would like to blame that for not letting me make it to the gym in time so that I could get home in time after that to cook. For those that are wondering why I don’t workout after Iftar, here is my (attempted) schedule in the evenings:

6:30-7:30 – Workout. This means I have to make it to the gym before 6.30 from work.

7:30-8:30 – Getting home from gym, clean up, and cooking my Iftar meal.

8:30-9.30 – Break the fast, pray Maghrib prayer, and then dinner

9:30-9:45 – Do a couple of things for work

9:45-11:30 – Drive to mosque, pray taraweeh, drive back.

11:30 – sleep – Write this blog and prep for sahoor. Oh and then be up by 3:30 to make Sahoor.

So basically, if I don’t make it to the gym by 6.30, everything else will be thrown off if I do decide to stick around for a workout. Oh well, I’ve had 10 days to adjust to this schedule. I should be good after this weekend!

Guac Cameo

Posted: July 16, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Those of you who followed this blog last Ramadan must be wondering where the guacamole has been hiding. Honestly I’m not sure what happened to it. I still love guac but haven’t gotten around to making it the past 7 days. Well today, even though it really didn’t fit into the dish, it made its appearance. I still love the stuff and still think it’s something I could eat everyday.

For Sahoor

I had a decent amount of Thai Red Curry from last night left over so instead of making anything new, I had a healthy serving of it with the cauliflower rice. I had a peach to go with it and plenty of water. I need to start doing this more often, making enough food the night before to eat for Sahoor the next morning. It takes a lot of pressure off of you and allows you to just sit down and eat with one eye still closed (yeah you know what I mean).

For Iftaar

This was just a bunch of randomness tonight but in the end, it filled me up and tasted great. First I had even more leftovers of the Thai Red Curry (still not complaining since I love that stuff) along with cauliflower rice. I scraped what was left of it onto my plate. Second, I made a little bit of tilapia. I followed the same recipe I did last week, minus the olives, green peppers, and shallots. Last but not least, I had some guac. The recipe was the same as last years but over time I’ve reduced the amount of garlic I put in it. I guess garlic and I have grown apart recently. Here is the recipe again:

    • 2 ripe avocados, peeled
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime
    • 1/4 tsp of cumin
    • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
    • 1/2 clove of garlic (or less, or none), minced
    • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
    • 1  tomato, diced
    • 1/2 red onion, diced
    • handful of cilantro to garnish, finely chopped (how-to)

Instructions: Put everything in a 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 in tupperware and refrigerate it asap.

This is what all of this randomness looked on my plate:

2013-07-16

Workout of the Day

I was actually able to refrain from doing the metcon today and stuck with strength training. Ok fine it wasn’t that hard to stay away. The metcon was for one of my coach’s birthday and was 35 minutes long in this heat wave. No thank you (sorry Sara, I’ll make it after Ramadan!). This workout involves olympic lifting and then a sprint metcon.

7 rounds: 1 Snatch then 3 snatch grip push presses
*heaviest weight possible
-then-
50 Burpees for time

This is what a snatch + snatch grip push press looks like:

Today overall was a good day. I didn’t have to worry about preparing much food since a lot of it was already done ahead of time. It allowed me to relax a little in the morning and get my workout on in the evening.  8 days done folks!

Asian Invasion

Posted: July 15, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

I can’t believe we are 1/4 of the ways done already! I’ve now gotten to the point where I don’t even feel hungry or thirsty anymore. Rest is normalizing as much as it can as my body gets used to being able to sleep at certain times and with a certain amount of food in my stomach. Eating clean is a huge part of how good I’m feeling. With fun dishes like this past weekend and the one tonight, the time is just flying by!

For Sahoor

Alright so there isn’t much of a recipe here. I had left overs from the weekend so I had enchiladas and meatza. I then had some watermelon to fill any remaining spaces and aid with hydration. Food still tasted great and got me through the day just fine.

For Iftaar

Today I made one of my favorite Asian dishes, Thai Red Curry. It’s a really straight forward recipe and I’ll show you how to make “fried rice” for it too. Of course rice isn’t paleo so I will be using cauliflower in its place. This recipes serves about 4 people.

For the Curry

  • 1 lb chicken thigh, sliced or diced
  • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1-2 Tbsp of Thai Curry paste. Look for the brand Aroy-D or Mae Ploy.
  • 1 cup of coconut milk, full fat
  • 1/4 cup of basil leaves, shredded
  • 1 bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 large carrot, diced
  • Other optional vegetables – Mushrooms, squash, broccoli, etc
  • Coconut Oil

For the “Fried Rice”

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 2 eggs
  • small ginger root, minced
  • 2 scallions, diced
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • small handful of chopped cilantro

For the Curry

  1. Heat up a pan and add in coconut oil
  2. Add in the chicken and let it brown, stirring occasionally. Once it browns, take it out and set it aside.
  3. Add the scallions to the pan and saute until they are soft.
  4. Bring the chicken back into the pan and add in the curry paste. FYI, the more curry paste you add, the spicier it will be. Start with less if you aren’t a fan of spices
  5. Stir-fry it for a couple of minutes until the smell of spices is pungent.
  6. Pour in the coconut milk, bell peppers, carrots, and any other vegetables
  7. Raise the heat to High and stir it up. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat back to medium-low and let it simmer.
  8. Leave it for about 10 minutes (or until veggies are soft) stirring occasionally.
  9. Add in the basil leaves

For the Rice

  1. Place the cauliflower into a food processor and hit go.
  2. Add eggs to a pan with coconut oil and whisk. Make it an omelette and remove it from the pan
  3. Add in the scallions and salt to the pan.
  4. Saute until they are browning and then add in the ginger. Stir for about 1/2 a minute and then add cauliflower.
  5. Put a lid on it and turn the heat to low. Leave it that way for about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Slice the omelette and add it and the cilantro into the mix. Stir it all up again and leave on the stove for another couple minutes until the cauliflower is soft.
  7. Remove it from the pan and into a dish.

Serve the curry with the rice. Keep it separate until you are ready to eat other wise everything gets soggy.20130715_205619 20130715_20563620130715_205936

It turned out to be great. The cauliflower obviously has a little more pungent taste than regular rice but when mixed with the curry, you could barely tell that you were eating a paleo meal. It tasted great, wasn’t super complicated to make, and most importantly, it’s healthy.

I’m craving some right now. Luckily there were leftovers so it will probably make an appearance tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!

No WOD today. I had a busy personal day and wasn’t able to cook early enough to go work out. Tomorrow for sure though! If not, someone yell at me to keep me accountable. Thanks.

Trading the Grain for Almond

Posted: July 14, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

Today I made a couple of dishes that are usually heavy in starch, carbs, sugar, and everything else that leaves you with a stomach ache. For the most part, it’s as simple as swapping out the grain for almond flour! I made pancakes for Sahoor and enchiladas for Iftar. The recipes below are examples of how you can still enjoy everyday food without feeling guilty or fat.

For Sahoor

This is a recipe for about 2 servings of Paleo Pancakes with syrup. Huh? Syrup? Just read on..

For the Syrup:

  1. Pour the juice into a sauce pan and and heat over high. Bring it to a slight broil.
  2. Once it starts to broil, lower the heat to medium and let it reduce. This takes about 10 minutes but in my experience, once it starts to reduce, it goes fast and becomes thick. You want it to thicken up a bit but too much is annoying.
  3. Once it’s at syrup thickness, take it off the stove and let it cool for a little bit before pouring it on your pancakes.

For the Pancakes:

  1. In a bowl, mix the almond flour, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.
  2. In a seprate bowl, mix the milk and eggs. Mash in a banana if you want to.
  3. Combine into a cup that you will use to pour the mixture into the pan. I use a measuring cup that has a spout. Mix it all up.
  4. Heat up a skillet and add a little bit of coconut oil to it
  5. Pour less than 1/4 cup of the mixture into the skillet at a time.
  6. Cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes or until the sides start to brown up
  7. Flip and cook the other side for only a minute or so. Be careful while flipping, these are very fragile and take one or two rounds to get the feel of it before you can flip them without breaking them. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Once everything was done, I placed the pancakes on to a plate, put a little bit of the Kerrygold butter on top and then drizzled syrup on it. Tasted better than packaged pancake batter and kept me full in a healthy way throughout the day.

20130714_042342

For Iftar

I love Mexican food. Mexican food does not like human bodies or else it wouldn’t be so evil. It helped Mexico beat America in becoming the fattest country in the world! I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. Today with the assistance of my sister, I made open enchiladas. This dish is a little more time consuming to make so plan ahead and have a partner. It serves 2-3 people.

For Enchiladas:

  • 1 lb of chicken, diced (you can actually use whatever meat you want)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2-3 tsp of chili powder
  • 1 tsp of cumin
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  • coconut oil

For Tortillas

  • 4 tablespoons of Almond Flour
  • 1/4 tsp of baking powder
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 table spoons of almond or coconut milk
  • 1 tsp coconut oil per tortilla
  1. Preheat your oven to 370 degrees
  2. Place the meat onto a baking dish and bake it for about 15 minutes
  3. Heat up a pan and saute the onions on medium heat until they become soft.
  4. Add in the tomato puree, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Stir it up while it simmers on low heat for about 15-20 minutes
  5. Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until it’s a smooth sauce.
  6. Place the tortillas in the baking dish and place the almost cooked chicken on top of them.
  7. Pour the enchilada sauce on top.
  8. Cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil and place back into the over for about 10 minutes.
  9. Cut up an avocado and some lime to enjoy with the dish.

Making the tortillas is pretty simple. Adjust the amount of ingredients to make how many you want. I would make these during step 4 above.

  1. In a bowl or cup that has a spout, mix in the almond flour, baking powder, eggs, and milk. Mix until all of the lumps are gone.
  2. Heat up a pan and add in coconut oil.
  3. Pour the batter into the pan. Move the pan around to thin it out. You can make the tortillas small if you want to make open enchiladas like I did or make them large if you plan on wrapping them closed.
  4. Cook for about 1 minute and flip them. Cook for another 30 seconds or so and they are done.

20130714_19175820130714_20171420130714_2019502013-07-14 (2)

So there you have it. Delicious meals that normally would have you feeling guilty for a week done in a healthy way. I hope you enjoy them!

Counting More Sheeps

Posted: July 13, 2013 in Challenge
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

It’s the weekend! That means one thing. SLEEP IN! Well that’s usually the plan but my insomniac self who is now used to just basically napping in between Iftar and Sahoor only managed to sleep for an extra hour or two. Still worth it. My plan is to take advantage of that tomorrow as well before the work grind starts again. Not a lot to talk about today but I do have a real treat for Iftar. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

For Sahoor

Speaking of sleep, I slept too much and barely woke up with enough time to make something quick and eat it this morning. Luckily, like I had said in my last post, I had omelette stuff cut up already so I just had my standard 2 egg yoke/4egg white dish. I really didn’t drink a lot of water but I had been hydrating the night before. Oh and yeah that caused me an extra bathroom trip. Anyways, that’s all I had plus an apple.

For Iftar

This dish is called Meatza…pizza but just meat. It’s a combo of ground beef and chicken with various spices. My apologies go out to the vegan community for this recipe. The directions below make about 1.5-2 servings.

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 lb ground chicken
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 small tomato
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 3 -4 stems of parsley
  • 1/2 tsp ground cilantro
  • 1 sweet potato, skinned and diced
  • 3/4 tsp oregano
  • 2 tbsp of hot sauce (If you aren’t great with spices I would lower this mount)
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a food processor, drop in the onion, tomato, salt, chili powder, green pepper, cumin, parsley, and cilantro. Put aside 1/4 of the mixture for the chicken. The rest will be used for the beef.
  3. Place the beef into a bowl and mix in the processed items. Then move it to a baking dish and place into the oven. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.
  4. While that bakes, heat up a pan and add in the coconut oil. Add in the sweet potato and then place a cover over it to steam. Cook it for about 5 minutes or until it is soft.
  5. When the sweet potato begins to soften, add in the chicken and remaining mixture and stir. Add in the hot sauce as well. Cover it until it’s cooked.
  6. Once the beef is done, add the chicken/sweet potato mixture to the baking dish.
  7. Bake it for a few more minutes and you are done. I dressed it with a banana pepper but that’s optional.

2013-07-13

WOD

AMRAP 12 minutes
50 Double Unders
10 Burpess
20 Squats

Stay tuned… Next Sahoor will be Paleo Pancakes with syrup! Iftar will be something fun as well. Also, I’m going to attempt some Paleo desserts. I’m excited, you should be too.

Being Ready for the Audible

Posted: July 12, 2013 in Challenge, Food
Tags: , , ,
0

Well there was audible called in my plan for the day hence why this post is so late. I came home early from work thinking I was going to relax for a little bit, come up with an awesome Iftaar recipe, go to the gym and then of course write this post. Let’s just say I got the relaxing part done…  2 1/2 hours later I realized I had fallen asleep on the couch and had about 30 minutes before it was time to eat. Oops. So with 30 minutes to make an iftaar meal you’ll see what I did.

For Sahoor

I stuck with eggs because, same amount 2 egg yolk 4 egg whites. I did however switch from omelette style to making them sunny side up. You can say I wasn’t in the mood for onions or tomatoes in the morning. I cooked them in extra virgin olive oil. Once on the plate, I sprinkled a bit of sea salt and chili powder on them and went to town with a fork. I added half of an avocado to the plate as well.

For Iftaar

1/2 lb of chicken breast, diced
1/2 tsp of chaat masala
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 tomato, sliced
mixed vegetables (how ever much you want)
1 Tbsp of coconut oil

Heat up a pan and add in the coconut oil. I marinated chicken with the chaat masala and sea salt. If you are wondering what masala is, click the link in the ingredients and you can see what its made up of. Add the chicken to the pan and stir it around until it’s nearly done. While the chicken is cooking, heat up a pot with water and add in mixed vegetables. Broil them until they are done. When the chicken is nearly done, add in the onion and tomato. Stir until the tomatoes become soft and the onions are crisp.

20130712_205910

This was super simple to make and it tasted just fine. I sprinkled some lemon juice on the plate to add some tang. This isn’t orthodox, but if you are a spice nut like me, you can sprinkle some chili powder onto the vegetables for an extra kick.

One thing that I will say is that because this month is so busy, you have to be prepared ahead of time for situations like this because they will come up. The chicken I’m using was skinned and diced well ahead of time and frozen. When I get home from work, I make sure to take the meat out and let it thaw. This way, if I do get delayed at the gym or in a nap, I can still prepare something decent to eat. I do the same thing with my omelette mix. I try to cut the onions, peppers, etc ahead of time so in the morning I can just quickly prepare the meal. Do what you can ahead of time this month! You may sacrifice a little bit of freshness but I barely notice it and prefer that over having to do all of the work while racing against the clock.

WOD

Nap for time

Am I disappointed I didn’t get a workout in? A little bit but that’s ok. My body needed the rest and that’s one of the 3 points of the fitness triangle. I will have no excuse for the next day!

Know Thy Limits

Posted: July 11, 2013 in Challenge, Food
Tags: , , , ,
0

A jam packed day 3 is in the books and it was full of stupid decisions by this guy. Well really just one big stupid decision and it came when I went to the gym. More on that in a bit. Hunger wise I found my self holding up real well today so my body is starting to get used to it. I was working from home today so I was able sleep an extra hour or 3 which helped. I felt a little hungry in the morning and felt a bit dehydrated during the workout. Based on past experience, the first part will go away on its own but the second part will require some effort from me. I need to start hydrating better! It’s not easy chugging water in the morning after you’ve just eaten so I have to find a better way. Coach Dan B. once told me to start hydrating the night before. I’ll have to stop being lazy and try that advice out. We’ll see how many times I wake up in the middle of the night…

For Sahoor

I had a bit smaller omelette this morning, 2 egg yokes and 3 egg whites. This freed up room for some mashed up sweet potatoes I had left over from the other night. Sweet potatoes is another thing I found that keeps me full for longer and gives me good energy. I also had an apple, fuji of course, and drank about 64 oz of water. The water intake is going to have to increase if I want to WOD in this heat. Other than that, this meal held me up very well throughout the day so you will see this pop up again.
Again, I promise I have some fun recipes outside off just eggs coming up. These first few days of Ramadan have just been hectic with all of the adjustments.

For Iftar

I’ve made chicken dishes for the past few days so it was time to switch it up. Today I made a Greek-ish fish meal.

2 filets of tilapia
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed pepper flakes
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup of olives, halved
1/4 green pepper, sliced
2 shallots, diced
extra virgin olive oil
*Disclaimer* – I like my food spicy so adjust the peppers to your taste

Mix the chili powder, black pepper, crushed pepper, lemon juice, and salt into a bowl. Coat the fish with this mixture. In the mean time, warm up a pan and add olive oil to it. Once the  oil is warm, make sure the stove is on medium heat and place the marinated fish on the pan. Fish cooks fairly fast so keep an eye on it. I cooked it for about 12 minutes.

While that cooks, heat up another pan and add about a Tbsp of olive oil to it. Once the oil is warm, add the olives, green peppers, and shallots to the pan. Saute this for a few minutes constantly mixing it. Once they appear done, turn the stove to the lowest setting and finish cooking the fish.
Once the fish is done, place it on a plate, add the olive mixture on top and you have yourself a great finding nemo meal. If you like a tangier taste, squeeze some lemon juice on the fish.

20130711_205801

WOD

Ladder with a Partner – Reps are done between two people.
10 Burpees
20 Toes to Bar (on a pull up bar)
30 lunges
40 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls with a Kettle Bell
50 Squats
40 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls with a Kettle Bell
30 lunges
20 Toes to Bar (on a pull up bar)
10 Burpees
-Then-
Partner Core Work – switch off with partner as often as you want. Not for time.
Partner hold plank – other partner does 20 Toes to Bar
Partner hangs from a bar – other partner does 30 Pull Ups
Partner holds handstand – other partner does 15 hand stand pushups
Partner holds squat – other partner does 50 hollow rocks

This is where I got a little senseless. I had wanted to start out slow and just do strength training today. However when I got to the gym, I saw it was a fun little partner metcon. Next thing you know I’m warming up to do it. I survived the WOD pretty well but then there were extra core workouts we were to do. Half way into the core work, the dizziness from dehydration hit me hard. I had to stop for a little while before I got back into it. Of course that was the big mistake. I should have quit when I had the chance. I finished the hollow rocks but life was not fun for the next 15 minutes or so. Luckily I didn’t get sick or pass out but I don’t think I was far off. I guess it’s part of the adjustment so this shouldn’t scare anyone off from working out. Just know your limits and know at what point you have to stop. This isn’t your everyday working out. It takes a whole different level of thought and today, I left all that at home. Oh well lesson learned. 

On to tomorrow!

First WOD, sort of

Posted: July 10, 2013 in Challenge, Food
Tags: , , ,
2

Day 2 in the books and it’s getting easier already! I was actually able to catch up on some sleep last night which made for a better day. I had planned on going to the gym today to work on Olympic lifts but I left work later than I anticipated. I did however do a mini home WOD before opening my fast.

For Sahoor

I had a similar sahoor meal as yesterday, 2 egg yolk/4 egg omelette with onions and tomatoes chopped up into it. I had half an avocado with it as well. I also had an apple today (Fuji apple, my favorite). This was a great addition but contains a lot of sugar so I had a spoon of peanut butter with it. The protein in it helps break down some of the sugar from the apple and also gives me some extra calories to get through the day with. I wasn’t able to drink as much water as I wanted but my tolerance for drinking a lot of water at that hour is increasing. It did the job; I barely felt hungry throughout the day…well, until I started staring at the clock with 10 minutes to go.

For Iftar

Here is another simple recipe that I cooked up that takes very little time and effort  and tastes great.  Here is what I had today:

12oz of Chicken breast, diced
1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp of crushed pepper flakes
Handful of chopped spinach
1/2 tomato
1/4 onion
1/4 tsp sea salt
Baby carrots sliced in half

Heat up coconut oil in a pan and then add the chicken to it. Add in the sea salt and chili pepper. Mix the chicken up and let it saute. When the chicken is nearly done, add in the crushed pepper, spinach, tomatoes, onion, and carrots. Continue to mix it up until the carrots start to get soft. Then, put a top on the pan and let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

20130710_192437

It turned out well. I think if I had added broccoli it would have tasted even better. Be careful with the chili powder, it gets spicy fast. If you like chutney, you can add that to your plate and it will compliment it well. Later in the evening I had some watermelon for dessert.

WOD

Like I had mentioned, I wasn’t able to make it to the gym today but I did do a short home WOD. The home WODs I’ll post will be workouts you can do on the go and won’t require any equipment. I utilize these when I travel or when I’m short on time.

6 Rounds For Time

10 Pushups 10 Air Squats 10 Sit Ups

Also, I know these posts have been real late both nights. I promise these posts and recipes will get more exciting in a few days once I figure out my schedule. I’m trying to figure out a way to balance my schedule so I can cook for Iftar, workout, eat, go to Taraweeh prayer at the mosque and then sleep at a reasonable time. As the days get shorter the schedule should ease up a bit since I won’t be rushing off to Taraweeh right after Iftar.

See you guys tomorrow!

Older Entries
Newer Entries