Posts Tagged ‘Iftar’

Counting More Sheeps

Posted: July 13, 2013 in Challenge
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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.

Know Thy Limits

Posted: July 11, 2013 in Challenge, Food
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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.

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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
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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.

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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!

Oops..

Posted: August 16, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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I’m an avid Amazon shopper and have subscriptions set up to many things like coconut water, home supplies, etc. I forgot that I also had a subscription to this treat until it showed up at my door:

Yeah oops! Haribo Gummy Bears are halal gummy bears and they are addicting. I apparently have a subscription set to send me a 5 POUND bag every 6 months. Yeah, 5 pounds! I didn’t realize you could buy sugar in that kind of quantity. The sad thing is, the last time I ordered these was when I had my surgery and in the week I was in bed recovering, I finished almost the whole bag! I need to get these out of sight ASAP.

Sahoor

For Sahoor, I kept it simple and made 2 sunny side up eggs with another 2 egg whites in olive oil. I mashed up some sweet potatoes and had that as well. I always knew egg yolks aren’t the best for you, but I recently read an article on just how bad they can be for you. I have to do some more research on that and see if I need to cut down on those a bit.

Iftar

I was busy volunteering tonight so I didn’t have much time to prepare Iftar. I was able to pull out the chicken chapli kabobs I had frozen and turn them into a bun-less burger. I added lots of lettuce and tomatoes and called it a meal. I also had some cantaloupe.

Workout

I borrowed this workout from a reader’s blog. There are some great workouts on that blog that you can do anywhere with minimal equipment. You can do this one anywhere as long as you have a pull up bar:

10 Handstand push-ups
20 Dead hang pull-ups
30 Burpees
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
60 Push-ups
 
 

I don’t have a lot to say in this post because I’ve been spending a little more time concentrating on Ramadan. I hope everyone is going strong these last couple of days and is able to finish strong. It’s almost over!

Pardon the Egg Roll and Snacking

Posted: August 15, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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So last night was another situation where I had Iftar at a friend’s house. I talked about this a few posts ago about creating a game plan when you are on foreign turf. I stuck with the same principles last night and I was able to get a great Paleo meal in. Much thanks to my friend and his family for great food!

Workout

This workout was 2 short workouts put together. There was a little bit of a break in between them to recover but there is only so much recovery when you haven’t eaten or drank all day. I got through it though and even ran!

3 Rounds
15 Hang Power Cleans 135lbs
15 Burpees
–10 Minute rest–
5 Rounds
35 Double Unders
Run 200 M

My stamina is building up and my body is adjusting to this so I will be curious to see how my body performs when it’s fully hydrated next week. If I’m starting to perform decent now, I should be a killer next week right??

Iftar

There you see some meat, some greens, a broiled tomato, and a unique lemon with spinach dish that I have to find the recipe for. I made sure to empty a jug of water.

Last night was also Laylatul Qadr, or night of power. It’s the 27th night of Ramadan and is a very special occasion. During the nights of Ramadan, there is a special prayer called Taraweeh every night. During these prayers, the Quran is recited in it’s entirety over the span of 27 days. Last night was when the last bit was read. The turn out was phenomenal. There had to have been over 2,000 people in the mosque. This was the case at mosques around the world. After that is done, people spend most of the night praying, reading the Quran, and worshiping in other ways. It’s said that worshiping in this night contains more reward than 1000 months. I’m all about good deals and that sounds like a good one to me. So I spent the night back and forth from the mosque. Now, dinner was around 8 pm, I didn’t sleep till 6 am. I had to have gotten hungry, so how did I snack?

I tried to stay healthy while snacking most of the night. I did indulge on a few Doritos (booo yeah I know), but I contained it. I had some mashed sweet potatoes left over from the other night so I ate that. I ate some watermelon to satisfy the sweet tooth, the almond butter came in handy as well. What was missing was guac… I need to fix that. Anyhow, I also snacked on gluten free hummus and drank lot’s of water.

Sahoor

This took me right into Sahoor and I made Chicken Stir Fry with eggs:

    • 3 eggs
    • 1 Tbs of water
    • 1/8 tsp of sea salt
    • 1/4 tsp of chili powder
    • 1/4 onion, chopped
    • 1 small tomato, chopped
    • 2 Tbs of coconut oil
    • 2 Scallions, cut in to 1 inch pieces
    • 1 bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 clove of garlic, minced
    • 2 chapli kabobs, diced or 1/2 lb of cooked chicken breast, diced

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the water, salt, chili powder, tomato, and onion. Heat up a pan and add the coconut oil. Add in the scallion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute for a few minutes until they are tender. Add in the egg mixture along with the chicken and start mixing it around. Keep mixing and scrambling until it’s done.

Serve it on a plate with some slivered almonds. A sliced avocado would go great with it too. I had some sweet potato remaining so I ate that with it. I drank 1.5 liters of water and was full.

This is it, less thanb 3 days left! Stay focused and let’s get through it.

Going Egg-less

Posted: August 14, 2012 in Food
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I realized I forgot to post last night about what I had for Iftar so I will roll it up into this post. I made some chicken scallions and rosemary with a side of mashed sweet potatoes. I made enough for 1.5 servings so I could have some in the morning too.

    • 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into pieces
    • 1 lb chicken thigh, diced
    • sea salt and chili powder, to taste
    • 2 Tbs of coconut oil
    • 2 scallions, sliced in to thick rings
    • 2 Tbs of rosemary, chopped

Wash the sweet potatoes and place them in a large pot full of water. Bring the pot to a boil and add 1 tsp of sea salt. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of water from the pot and drain the rest. Pour the water you saved back into the pot and mash up the sweet potato.

Season the chicken with the salt and chili powder. Heat up a skillet with 2 Tbs of coconut oil. Once the skillet is hot, add in the scallions and rosemary. Saute it for a minute or so and then add in the chicken. Mix and flip until the chicken is brown. Cover it and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

I served the chicken with the mashed sweet potato. It was an exceptional combo. I wasnt as hungry as I thought I was so I ended up saving a decent amount for later and Sahoor.

For Sahoor, as promised, I really changed things up. I decided to go egg-less. I have had eggs almost every single day this past month but it was time to break the habit. I had some of the leftover chicken from the night before that I heated up. I also made a little treat with a banana and almond butter.

    • 1 banana
    • 2 Tbs of almond butter
    • 2 Tbs of coconut milk

Cut the banana into small slices. Add in the almond butter and coconut milk. Simple as that.I love fruit with almond butter so this was great for me. The almond butter helps process sugar a lot better from fruits so it won’t keep you up and your body won’t store it. Also, the protein and fats you get from it are great. The coconut milk just made it easier to eat by softening things up. The small taste of coconut gave it the perfect carribean taste I needed in the morning.

Very simple Sahoor. I’ll try to do something different tomorrow too!

International Meals

Posted: August 12, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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For Sahoor I went international and made a Mexican dish. For Iftar I decided to continue on the international road and traveled to Zanzibar to make something from there. This dish is usually made with chicken thighs or drumsticks. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not a fan of bone-in chicken. I will go out of my way if I have to get boneless chicken. Call me lazy but I like to just eat my food with a fork and not have to worry about picking meat off a bone. Although, that probably is more Cave Man style. Oh well. Tonight’s dish was Zanzibar Chicken:

    • 3/4 lb chicken thigh (boneless chunks for me)
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1/4 tsp chili powder
    • 2 Tbsp of olive oil
    • 1/4 onion, chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 1/2 cup of 100% orange juice
    • 2 Tbs raisins
    • 1/4 cup of slivered almonds

Season the chicken with the salt and chili powder. Heat up a pan with the olive oil and add in the chicken. Cook the chicken until it’s brown. Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside for now. Add the onions to the pan and saute them until they become soft (2-3 minutes). Add in the garlic and mix it up. Drop the chicken back into the pan and mix it around. Now add the orange juice and raisins. Mix everything up for a few minutes. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let it simmer until the chicken is tender. Sprinkle the almonds on top and serve.

I’ve never had raisins and orange juice with chicken before so this was unique. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t hesitate while taking that first bite, but it was realllly good. Perfect balance of sweet vs spicy. I treated it like pho while eating it, fork for the meat and spoon for the “curry”. Even though the quantity of raisins is so low, they do their job of changing the flavor of the orange juice so it doesn’t taste purely like orange juice. This didn’t take very long to make either, just 15 minutes or so. I will make this again for sure if I am short on time.

Workout

Gym’s closed? No problem. Body weight workout time!

10 rounds for time
10 walking lunges
10 push-ups

Be the Example

Posted: August 11, 2012 in Food
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Eating properly when you are with out your peers is a lot harder than when you are cooking in your own kitchen. For one it’s all too easy to order something that you will regret later. You also have the peer pressure, the jokes, and the tedious task of finding something that would fit your lifestyle. This is especially hard when you are first starting out a Paleo lifestyle or any healthy diet for that matter. However after a few weeks, that diet becomes your lifestyle and all those former “tasty” treats aren’t as appealing to you. That might also be because you know how your stomach reacts to those things now when you go overboard on a cheat meal. Put those temptations to the side, lead by example and who knows what minds you will change. If a group of friends constantly sees you subbing the rice for vegetables, at some point they might consider changing their habits for the better as well. Be the example.

If you know you will be going out and you know what restaurant you will be eating out, do your homework. Most places will provide a menu online. Look through it before you head out and see what you would like. That way when it’s time to order, you aren’t put into a bind and make the wrong decision under pressure. Check out what sides the meal may come with and what your alternatives could be. Go in with a game plan and backup game plan. If the menu isn’t available online, don’t be shy about asking the staff for nutritional facts or how things are made. Most places will be more than happy to provide you with that and if they don’t, well then place might just not fit your lifestyle. Also don’t hesitate to ask for substitutes. Chances are the greens you ask for are a lot easier for them to provide than the cheese or rice. Do your homework, have a game plan, and stick to it at all costs. You never know whose life you could change at any given moment.

Sahoor – Today was going to be a workout rest day for me so I didn’t eat as well as I should have. I had 2 scrambled eggs with onions, tomatoes, and peppers. I added some sea salt and ground pepper to it as well. I also had a chicken chapli kabob (the ones from yesterday). I downed a liter of water and called it a morning.

Iftar – I went out to dinner with friends and took my game plan with me. I searched for the restaurant’s menu online, found what would be Paleo friendly, looked up was in it and some nutritional facts. I ended up ordering Tokyo style Ahi Tuna with mixed vegetables and steamed broccoli. Usually this dish comes with vegetables and rice. I had my game plan with me though so I knew I would substitute out the rice for something else. I chose to go with broccoli. It also came with soy sauce (probably sodium loaded so I avoided it), wasabi, and ginger.

I did falter slightly with the desert afterwords and had some frozen yogurt. I stuck with the non fat yogurt but it’s still processed junk. My friends decided to call me out on it so I posed for a picture eating it to remind myself to stick to the game plan next time!

Overall, do your homework, have a game plan, avoid peer pressure, and hold your self accountable. (phew, doesn’t that line just blow you away??) haha anyways, until next time!

Power of a Good Breakfast

Posted: August 10, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Hey, did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Snore. Duh, we’ve all been hearing this since we were little. Oh but do we really spend the time and effort every morning to eat a nutritional breakfast? By that I don’t mean pouring a bowl of sugar packed cereal or grabbing some toaster pastries as you are leaving the house. I mean actually budget time in the mornings to prepare a breakfast that contains protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. What you have for breakfast will affect the rest of your day every single time. Not only will it decide if you will have a sluggish or energetic day, it can greatly affect your workout. Today I was able to have a great meal for Sahoor and it resonated throughout my day, all the way to my CrossFit workout in the evening.

Sahoor

For starters, I had scrambled eggs, 2 eggs/2 egg whites (I ran out), mixed with onions and peppers. Going back to being prepared, I made guacamole the night before because I knew I wouldn’t have the energy nor time to make it in the morning. I added a generous amount to my plate. I even scooped some up with my fork and ate it afterwards by itself. I followed this with a protein shake and 1.5+ liters of water. I felt great already and knew it would be a good day!

The Workout

Today’s workout consisted of a strength portion followed by a met-con.

Every Minute on the Minute for 7 Minutes
1 Clean and Jerk – 185 lb
 
3 Rounds for Time
7 Front Squats – 185 lb
21 Kettle Bell Swings – 53 lb
Run 200 meters

The only thing I modified was the run. The rest of the athletes ran 400 meters. Other than that, I was able to do all of the Clean and Jerks at that weight with no issue. The 7th one was challenging to maintain form but it didn’t feel heavy! For the met-con, in order to do your Front Squats, you have to Clean the bar to your shoulders and then squat. So the key is to do them unbroken. As soon as you drop that bar, you have to spend a decent amount of energy to pick that 185 lbs up to your shoulders. I was pretty good at doing those unbroken until the very last Front Squat in the very last round! Picking that bar up took some time since your quads are getting destroyed by the KB swings as well as the run. Nonetheless, I was excited that I was able to finish it in a good time, WITHOUT feeling dizzy!! I honestly feel that my nutrient filled breakfast attributed to my successful workout.

Iftar

For tonight’s Iftar, I decided to make another bunless burger. This time around I used Chicken Chapli Kabobs.

    • ground chicken meat
    • onions
    • green peppers
    • tomatoes
    • chili powder
    • eggs
    • olive oil

Add the onions, peppers, tomatoes, and chili powder to a food processor. Blend it up and then add the mixture along with the eggs and oil to the ground chicken. Use your hands to mix it up real well. Grab a meatball sized amount of meat into your hands and then form it into a circular pattie. Slap it onto a grill and let it cook. I usually use a George Foreman grill and make a large batch at one time. I then freeze them for future use. They are great to pull out for a quick meal when you don’t have time to cook.

I added a layer of lettuce to my plate, added on 4 or 5 chicken patties, topped with some sliced onions, cucumbers, organic Dijon mustard and the remaining guac. You can really add whatever you would normally enjoy on a burger (as long as it’s not processed and loaded with junk!) I had a protein shake and some fish oil as well. Great way to end the day.

To recap, breakfast = very important. Breakfast….=….very important. Note what you eat in the mornings and you will find a direct correlation to the function of your day. Make that meal count!

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!

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