Fittest by Forty: Determined to make some progress!

Maybe it's just that time of the month and all, but I feel like all this Eating to Perform is making me a bit thicker. I'm afraid to hop on the scale to confirm. And my stomach has been very unhappy for the last 2 days (could it be the tapioca starch in the turkey sausage that I didn't know about when I at it?). Generally feeling crappy. But instead of giving up, I'm going to trust in the process, and I'm redoubling my commitment to make big progress.

First step toward that commitment today: showing up for a running WOD, which is definitely one of my goats. Today's workout was "Death by 10 Meter Run" which is just as horrible as it sounds. It means that for the first minute, you run 10 meters, and then get to rest for the remainder of the minute. Well, that's easy enough. Then on the second minute, run 10 meters, touch the ground, and run 10 meters back, then rest the remainder of the minute again. Well, that's all well and good for the first few minutes. But, slowly, running times get longer (and you have to run faster), and resting times get shorter. I made it through the 13th minute, just barely finishing the 130 meters in the minute. But then, NO REST into minute 14, and I was already beat! So that was the end for me, but I still pushed myself to run another 80 meters instead of giving up completely. What really impressed me was that I actually kept up with "the runner" of our box - the guy who runs marathons for fun, and laps me on every warm-up run. He missed the 14th round by 10 meters, only going 50 meters further than I did! Pretty proud of myself for keeping up with him.

Second step toward that commitment: signing up for the Eat to Perform Team Challenge. I'd been waffling over whether to join it since it's running August 1st - Sept 30. My main concerns are the following events that will be happening in the next 2 months, which I'm afraid will negate my efforts and I'll end up disappointing my team.

long weekend trip to a family reunion (some boozing, and hard to eat perfectly while staying in a hotel w/o a kitchen, although planning to hit a CrossFit in town a couple times)
my birthday (gotta have a bday margarita!)
my birthday karaoke bash (might have ~~a couple~~ A LOT of drinks)
CrossFit summer party (BBQ and booze)
the worst offender: 10 days in Disney World (big nutrition challenge, and a few vacation drinkies)

However, one of the ETP moderators suggested that the Disney trip might not be as damaging considering all the walking we'll be doing. And maybe I can rein in the drinking a bit... So, what the heck, I signed up. Now I have to go get a BodPod test to measure my "before" stats. It's available at a couple local universities - I'll probably go to Sacred Heart and get their package of 4 tests, which only come out to $40/apiece.

I've been pretty good about getting my nutrition back on track this week. I'm finally starting to get the carb cycling concept. This article gave a good explanation of when to eat carbs, and when not to. I'm still finding that I'm so full most of the time that I don't feel like eating all my calories! I honestly can't imagine bumping my calories up even further (I should supposedly be eating another 200 calories of carbs). Although one night, after a control day ending with a tasty bowl of Fruity Pebbled, I woke up at midnight STARVING - I guess I didn't eat enough that day for my revved up metabolism. But, I'm definitely seeing gains in my strength and endurance, so something is working right.

Post-WOD: Healthy & Fit Vanilla egg-based protein shake frozen banana 2 oz lite coconut milk
Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with spinach, green pepper, and onions sauteed in a little coconut oil sausage patty topped with hot sauce
Lunch: Slow cooker pork carnitas topped with guac sugar snap peas 1/2 grapefruit
Snack 1: 4 oz Boar's Head Cajun turkey 1 cup strawberries & blueberries
Dinner: Simply Enjoy marinara sauce with ground beef & ground pork Barilla gluten-free penne
Snack 2: 2 oz rice milk 3/4 c Fruity Pebbles 1 scoop of Healthy & Fit Vanilla egg-based protein shake