ETP 3.2: WOD Day - So many carbs left!!! Can't bring myself to eat them all!!!

Had a good workout this morning, and I was HUNGRY afterwards! It was 3 rounds of 4 minutes of 20 second tabatas with 2 minutes of rest in between rounds. There were a lot of bar movements, which I liked...except for the front squats. I really need to convince myself that I LIKE front squats. And, of course, there were burpees in there, but I can handle burpees for 20 seconds. Those 2 minutes of rest sure do go by quickly! Just barely enough time to get the heartrate back down! I've been thinking about wearing my heartrate monitor to a class again just too see where my heartrate is these days during these high intensity WODS.

My macro ratios were looking really good when I left work today. I didn't know what would be for dinner since we go to Brian's mom's for dinner on Tuesdays, but she's always SO great about making delicious gluten/dairy-free dinners for me. Tonight was some roasted pork tenderloin and my favorite roasted sweet potatoes with bacon. I took a nice, big helping of sweet potatoes since I knew I was a bit low on carbs. I didn't have a scale, so just tried to guess 6-8 oz of pork, which ended up seeming like a lot - I was so full (turns out I didn't need as much anyway)! Not to mention that I had to cram it down my gullet extra fast in order to bring my daughter to Daisy Scouts on time. 

In the end, I ended up OVER my protein macros, and WAY under my carbs. But at least the fat was closer to where I wanted it. But  just can't bring myself to eat a bunch of carbs before bed, even though the Eat to Perform folks all think it's the best thing in the world! If I were hungry, that would be one thing, but I'm still stuffed!

Carbs: 25%, Protein %41%, Fat 34%

Pre-breakfast: Tea with honey & half a lemon's juice Post-WOD Healthy & Fit Chocolate egg-based protein shake 2 oz lite coconut milk 1 frozen banana
Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with green pepper and onions (no oil) topped with hot sauce sausage patty   1/2 grapefruit
Lunch: Big salad with chicken and 1/2 avocado Honey Chipotle dressing
Snack 1: 4 oz turkey 1 cup strawberries & blueberries
Dinner: roasted pork tenderloin baked sweet potatoes string beans
Bedtime: Magnesium supplement with honey

Totals	2,082	129	79	210	27	2,511
Your Daily Goal	2,585	280	85	175	15	2,500
Remaining	418	171	18	-35	-12	-11
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Fiber	Sodium

ETP 3.1: Control Day - Back to Eat to Perform and logging my food

Time to see exactly what I've been eating again. It's been quite a while since I logged my food, but I think I've been on the right path generally, with the occasional treat while out to eat. I didn't really plan out my nutrition today - I just logged it to see where I would end up. I want to give Eat to Perform another chance, but I'm just still so freaked out about eating so many calories and carbs! Especially after seeing how quickly I packed some pounds on when I tried it in July (although my energy was better that first week!). But the ETP moderators swear that if you keep with it, your body will adjust to having the proper amount of food to support performance, and you will lean out. So, here goes Eat to Perform 3.0 (third time I'm trying it!).

The Eat to Perform coaches recommended the following for me:
WOD Days: 2585 Cals/280gC/175gP/85gF (40C/30P/30F) 
Control Days: 1965 Cals/125gC/175gP/85gF (25C/35P/40F)

It's kind of annoying that I can't get My Fitness Pal to get the exact grams of macros correct for my goals, but at least the calorie goal is correct for WOD days. And on rest/control days, I just have to remember what my lower goals are for calories and carbs.

Today was a rest/control day, so I wanted to stay on the lower side of carbs and calories. Despite staying low, I was really full! So much food!

Pre-breakfast: Tea with honey & half a lemon's juice
Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with green pepper and onions (no oil) sausage patty    topped with hot sauce 1/2 grapefruit
Lunch: Chocolate chicken mole 1/2 avocado mixed veggies a few dried apricots
Snack 1: 4 oz turkey 1 cup strawberries & blueberries
Dinner: grilled chicken oven roasted broccoli
Snack 2: a handful of plantain chips s spoon of Sunbutter
Bedtime: Magnesium supplement with honey

						23% Carbs/ 30% Protein / 47% Fat
						Totals 2,084 118 108 159 31 3,026 Your Daily Goal 2,500 219 97 188 15 2,500 Remaining 416 101 -11 29 -16 -526 Calories Carbs Fat Protein Fiber Sodium

The genetic testing results are in! More low-carb and high intensity exercise for me!

As promised, the results of my Inherent Genetic Testing for Weight Management arrived only 2 weeks after I shipped out my DNA sample. Super fast! I kind of expected the results that I received since I have made progress doing just what they recommended for the past 18 months. But it's nice to have science backing that up instead of wondering if I should try other nutrition/exercise approaches to see better results.

Results:

The results of your test place you in the category of Responsive to Carbohydrate Restriction ("Carb Reducer") and More Responsive to High Intensity Exercise ("High MET").

Interpretation:

Responsive to Carbohydrate Restriction ("Carb Reducer"). Individuals with this genetic pattern are more sensitive to weight gain from excessive carbohydrate intake. They may have greater success losing weight by reducing carbohydrates within a reduced calorie diet. Individuals with this genetic pattern are prone to obesity and have difficulty with blood sugar regulation if their daily carbohydrate intake is too high. Carbohydrate reduction has been shown to optimize blood sugar regulation and reduce risk of further weight gain. If they have high saturated and low monounsaturated fats in their diet, risk for weight gain and elevated blood sugar increases. While limiting total calories, these individuals may benefit from restricting total carbohydrate intake and shifting the fat composition of their diet to monounsaturated fats.

More Responsive to High Intensity Exercise ("High MET"). Individuals with this genetic pattern are less able to break down body fat for energy in response to exercise than those with the alternative genetic pattern. They tend to lose less weight and body fat than expected with moderate exercise. These individuals require more exercise to activate the breakdown of body fat for energy and weight loss. They must also maintain a consistent exercise program to keep the weight off.

They also sent sent an extended report of recommendations with more detail about my diet and exercise recommendations.

So, looks like I need to stick to low carb and watch my fat intake. Although they're recommending that 30%-45% of calories should come from carbs, so that isn't terribly low carb, really, considering that I've been striving for more like 15-20%. They recommended 15% or more from protein and 40% or less from fat. I haven't really been paying attention to fat while eating most any cut of meat and cooking everything in coconut oil. The last time I tracked my food, my fat intake tended to be about 45-50%, so I do need to cut back on my fat a little, and focus on leaner meats. They also suggested more monounsaturated fats, so maybe I should go back to cooking with olive oil when it doesn't require high heat, since coconut oil is mostly saturated fat (although it's supposedly a very healthy form of saturated fat). I'm a little concerned about the protein though. I've been following Eat to Perform's recommendations to have about 1g of protein/pound of lean mass, so I've been striving for at least 160g/day, which is more like 30% of what I typically eat. So I hope that isn't too much (it did say 15% or more) since I have read that excess protein is likely stored as fat. So, I'll need to start using My Fitness Pal to track my macros for a while again and see where I'm falling and where I need to rein things in. 

The REALLY good news is that it recommended high MET exercise for me, so CrossFit was made for me!!! Phew! I didn't know what I would do if it didn't recommend CrossFit for me. Maybe I should add in a couple 30 min runs/week to ensure I'm reaching my goal of 13+ METS though. Although CrossFit metcons are intense, they're usually pretty short, so not sure how much they really add up.

Meanwhile, 2 women at CrossFit told me that I looked like I lost weight this week, so that was nice to hear! I do think that the muffin top that snuck back on during the holidays has mostly gone away again. But that damn scale hasn't budged a bit. THAT DAMN SCALE!!!

Could Inherent Health Genetic Testing for Weightloss be the key for me?

I feel like there's another piece to the puzzle missing for me to break through this plateau that I've been in for MONTHS now. After reaching an all time low of 183 in June 2014, I've put on about 12 pounds since I started following the Eat to Perform nutrition plan in July, and have been stuck there ever since (except for a brief 6 pound loss during my 2-month strict Paleo Lurong Challenge in the fall, which all came back again). Although I've been getting stronger as evidenced by some PRs, I don't feel like my body composition is changing much anymore, despite following these rules a good 80% of the time for the last 2 months:

• remain gluten- & dairy-free so I know I have intolerance issues with them
• keep my carbs under 100g on rest days (more veggies than fruit) 
• aim for around 200g -250g on WOD days (might be falling a little short here)
• only have starchy carbs before/after WODs
• eat 180g of protein/day to support my muscles

I definitely feel that every person's body reacts to food differently, and therefore, there's no one-size-fits-all that's ideal for everybody. Learning that I have intolerance to dairy, gluten, and some other foods through testing was a huge deal - having the concrete test results encouraged me to eliminate those foods, made me feel so much healthier, and helped me drop a lot of fat and water weight from inflammation. But after 18 months of avoiding those foods by eating primarily low carb Paleo, and doing CrossFit religiously, I feel like there's some other key thing I'm missing since I seem to have hit a wall. Does my body actually work better with more carbs? Have I been denying myself fruit, rice, and more sweet potatoes for nothing???

Then I saw an article about genetic testing that can help you figure out what type of nutrition and exercise program is more appropriate for you based on YOUR DNA. That makes a lot of sense to me since it's personalized to YOUR BODY! The article discussed the The Pathway Fit Test, which can only be administered by a doctor (but could be covered under insurance). 

Then I read a testimonial for a similar test by Inherent Health on a friend's Facebook health support group, and she feels that incorporating the test recommendations did enable her to make progress. I also found this woman's blog entry all about it, and she's gone on to lose like 80 pounds since following their advice. The Inherent Health test can be done at home. For $169, they'll send you a test kit which you mail back and then they provide your results and recommendations via mail and online, and it includes a phone consultation with a licensed, board-certified genetic professional to answer any questions.

In a nutshell, based on comparing your DNA to studies that were done with a group of pre-menopausal Caucasian women (that's me!), they will advise whether your body can metabolize fat best on a low-fat, low-carb, or balanced diet. They will also recommend the type of exercise program that will best metabolize fat - either low, med, or high intensity (if my report doesn't say high intensity for CrossFit, I'll cry!!!).

I decided to go with Inherent Health since I didn't feel like paying for doctor consultations, even though the doctor in the Pathway article is only 45 minutes from me and within my health network - that made it tempting since I did like her philosophy! I ordered the Inherent Health kit online on the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb 25th, and it was in my hands Friday morning. Here are some pics of the kit:

the kit	folder of info and test kit	brochure

drying!

After reading the brochure, watching the DVD (not terribly interesting), filling out my paperwork, registering my test online, and waiting the requisite 2 hours after my breakfast, I took the test. You just take the 2 little sterile brushes and rub each one around inside each cheek, then let them dry for 15 minutes before shipping them off and a pre-paid envelope. Results are supposed to come in 2-3 weeks.(an eternity!!!).

So, I'll provide an update with my results in 2-3 weeks!

Starting the year off with some good PRs and new recipes!

First, big news toward my #1 2015 goal: got my first strict chin-up today!!! Woo hoo! I've been committed to this pull-up progression program for the past 2 months. I haven't always gotten in 3 sessions/week, but I've gotten 2 in consistently. The first time I tried it, I could barely make it through all 5 sets of 4 negatives, and my back was SO SORE for the next couple days. But, they've been getting easier - I can lower myself a bit more slowly than I used to now. So, apparently, it's working! I've been having trouble doing the barbell assisted pulls with proper form, so my coach gave me some other band/PVC pipe moves to do instead (similar to standing close grip pull and straight-arm pulldown cable exercises). Although I think I might start substituting with this reverse row sit back move instead. And I got a couple toes to bar on Saturday! I don't know how...couldn't do them again. Aggravating! Got a bunch of toes to rings though - not sure why the rings are easier - must be because they swing back somehow...


I came across this old photo a couple days ago, and I just keep looking back to it and thinking, "WOW." Granted, I was 5 months postpartum with my first kid, but I just looked so much older and just UGH. And I remember being happy that I fit back into that brown blouse (the mega milk boobs did not help!)! I don't know what I weighed there, but I'd have to say there's a good 70# difference between these 2 pictures. I was a lean, mean 183# in the 2014 photo, which was my all time low since switching to my Paleo/CrossFit lifestyle in August 2013. I've put ~10# back on since then, but I'm happy to say that I still fit in those pants! I seem to be stuck around 195# when I'm not consciously trying to eat perfectly strict Paleo. But I'm happy that I can maintain under 200# fairly effortlessly. I feel like there's one more subtle change with my diet that I need to incorporate in order to lose a little more fat and be able to maintain at that weight easily, but I haven't figured out what it is yet. But looking back, I have a little more appreciation for the loose skin on my belly, back, arms, and thighs - it's done a lot of stretching through the years (and 2 pregnancies)! 

I had a great experience at the CrossFit Total competition I entered on 1/31/15. We completed in weight classes, so I had to step on the scale for the first time since October, which I was a little scared about...but I was happy to find that I was still under 200# at 195#. Nothing like a competition to drive me to bust out some PRs - I PRed all 3 of my lifts to hit my CrossFit Total goal of 600# (20# more than I hit in December)! I finally got my 100# strict press, then a 205# squat, and a 295# deadlift (psyched myself out at my attempt at 300# - next time!). There were 7 women in my Heavyweight class, and I ended up in 3rd place. The first place woman was a beast! And the second place girl was only 18 years old - oh, I envy her for getting started in CrossFit so young. I would be a monster by now if I'd been doing this for the last 20 years! 

295# Deadlift

100# Strict Press

The scoreboard

I had an awesome morning at Friday's WOD! FINALLY caught my squat snatch up to my 110# power snatch PR today!!! And hit it twice! For about a year, my power snatch has been higher than my squat snatch since I've mostly been doing power snatches because I've been wary of tweaking my wonky knee, but it finally seems to be on the mend (and I think it's the Lurong supplement that's helped). No longer afraid to get under that bar! :) And then got a new PR of 41 DUs unbroken! 

I got a deal on a BJ's membership, so I figured I'd try it out since I heard that they have a lot of organic/healthy products. I found some good stuff at decent prices:

• Applegate deli meats (turkey & ham) - $9/lb
• Applegate hot dogs $8/16
• antibiotic/hormone-free ground beef $5.33/lb
• Stoneyfield tube yogurt for the kids $6.50/16
• Antibiotic/hormone/cage-free chicken breasts  $4.30/lb
• Cage free organic eggs $5.79/18
• Uncured bacon $10.49/20oz
• Some good looking fresh produce (didn't need a lot of produce today, or would have gotten more)

We've been cooking up a storm for Food Prep Sunday. It's going to be a delicious week! Here are some great recipes:

• Beef barbacoa
• Pork chili verde
• Chipotle honey vinaigrette (Chipotle's copy cat dressing - I sub EVOO)
• Meatballs & sausage (gluten/dairy free, using a little ground oatmeal as a binder) with low sugar Simply Enjoy Marinara Sauce
• Grilled chicken for salads/snacks (some marinated for 2 days in McCormick Baja Citrus and some in Smoky Cowboy Rub)