Sun, Apr 29 - Day 4

8AM: Wake-up. UHHHhhhh. .. I SO wanted to sleep in! I lay in bed for awhile but can't help and start to list off the couple of things that I want to get taken care. .. which wakes me up. I was surprised that I didn't sleep a little bit deeper given the Tough Mudder race yesterday!

9AM: A few spoonfuls of almond butter + a banana. My new favorite bkfst.

11AM: Get measured and meet Meghan - YAY! SO excited to work with her. I do some very light yoga at Xfit.

12PM: I have a snack of dried apples.

2PM: Have "brunch" with Thai and Larissa. We are ready to eat our arms off by the time the food arrives. (Mostly my fault as I had to walk so slowly today with my bum ankle. I have eggs over sweet potato hash and chorizo at Day by Day cafe. I couldn't finish it because it was so spicy today and my stomach felt a little bit queasy. Larissa and I also shared a side of bacon. I had two pieces of that and gave the rest of my sweet potato hash to Larissa.

4PM: Have snack of dried fruit stick from TJ's. Tastes sweet. I like it. The tired-ness rushes over me and hits me - HARD. For the rest of the night, I lay on my couch, watch movies, and ice my ankle. I can't move!

8PM: I realize much later that I'm hungry but am too tired to prep anything. I eat a random sampling of my ready-to-eat groceries: I have a handful of plaintain chips (still working on the same bag for about 2 weeks), 2 pieces of proscuitto, 1 piece of salami, 1 more dried fruit stick, 1 cranberry almond kind bar, and a glass of unsweetned coconut milk. I know - not the best dinner but it's all I could muster and it did satisfy my hunger.

1030PM: Shared my blog with my dad. He said a few things that made me laugh: 1-"Are you trying to mimick your handwriting?", 2-"Wow, you eat a lot!", 3-"You have 0 comments."

11PMish: Bedtime! Looking forward to a productive day. Will also be another race recovery day!

Sat, Apr 28 - Day 3

745AM: Wake-up. My alarm clock was set for 8AM but I woke up before-hand and couldn't get back to sleep. Tough Mudder race day! I packed my bag, along with a bunch of paleo-friendly snacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5HdPM_QuE

9AM: A few spoonfuls of almond butter and a banana. Sipping on more coconut water.

1030AM: Scrambled eggs (I made in the morning) and a few pieces of deli meat (turkey and ham). These were purchased at a rest stop on the way to the Poconos, so not super high quality here.

1215PM: Right before racetime, I eat 2/3 of a cashew blueberry vanilla kind bar. My teammates eat the other 1/3. =) I sip on a lot of water.

1240PM: Our start time. We take the teammwork pledge. .. and our race begins! Hoo-rah.

220PM: (Approx timing) I keep rolling my left ankle and am thirsty and hungry. I pop a few of the fruit snack energy things at a water stop. I also have half a banana.

340PM: We complete all 26 obstacles and essentially ran all 12 miles of the course (despite a few very, very steep hills). The very best compliment we could have received at the end of the race. .. "Now that, looks like a team!" After every obstacle and as we crossed the finish line, Aaron yelled "Wharticus" and we yelled back "Maximus" 3xs. It was awesome. But yes, the testosterone levels were high!

4PM: I eat another half of a banana (I think) but am absolutely freezing from the last couple of obstacles. We go and get changed. .. and I can barely move my fingers. It reminds me of the English Channel swim!

430PM: I eat two all natural fruit sticks (one apricot and one strawberry) that I bought from Trader Joe's. They could not have tasted better. We then go get some warm food. .. Trying to keep somewhat paleo (but admittedly not doing a great job), I eat a hot dog without the bun and some eggplant fries (fried eggplant strips) and a handful of french fries. At this point, I couldn't help it. MMMMmmm, salt!

6PM: I'm still hungry but don't want to totally ruin my dinner. On our way home from the Poconos, we stop at the rest stop again. I get a chamomile tea from Starbucks (yay for warmth) and have some dried mango I brought along with me.

8PM: Our victory dinner! We have dinner at http://www.brauhausschmitz.com/ - if I knew this German hall/restaurant existed, I would have brought Alex's parents here! It was awesome. I did not imbibe in the beer drinking BUT, I did not eat the most paleo-friendly meal. Oops. Again with the fried (my downfall), we had fried saukraut balls for an appetizer and I definitely ate 2. I did not have the flatbreads, but as you can see, my meal was vienershnitzel, which is.. . yup, you guessed it, fried! Also definitely not as good as my mom's milanesa, might I add. The side of saurkraut and bacon was yummy, however. There was a mysterious white-ish looking dressing on my side salad. I didn't bother asking the waitress, as she was a little over-whelmed with our crew of 15!

1030PM: I got home and took a glorious, hot shower. It felt amazing. I also saw my battle wounds, up close and personal. Yikes.

All thanks to this course: http://toughmudder.com/events/pennsylvania-2012/
Was it worth it? Hoo-rah. .. YES!

12AM: Fell asleep around midnight, after re-gailing all the stories and obstacles of the race to Alex. An awesome way to finish off my Wharton journey with a fantastic team and a bang.

Fri, Apr 27 - Day 2

9AM: Wake-up. I am finally able to sleep in. .. but not without waking up at 7AM first. I can't wait until my sleep schedule is back to normal. URGH! With the tough mudder tomorrow, no training today.

930AM: Lots of almond butter for breakfast.

1230PM: Scrambled eggs with bacon made by yours truly. 3 pieces of salami, yellow peppers + hummus.

230PM: Handful of plaintain chips.

430PM: Starbucks tall decaf soy latte.

530PM: Tough Mudder BBQ at Aaron's home. Grazed on the proscuitto, chorizo and olives I bought at Trader Joe's.

630PM: Plateful of greens, bbq chicken, steak, and chicken chorizo. Something didn't sit well with my stomach (plus, I probably had nerves since we were talking through the obstacles), so I couldn't finish my meal. Was super hard not to indulge in all fresh-baked brownies Elena baked for the team! (I'm talking so many brownies!) Sipped on water + coconut water.

830PM: Got home and talked on the phone to model Tom (home-building advice) and Alex.

11PM: Went to bed but it took forever to fall asleep. Slept very lightly all night!

Thurs, Apr 26 - Day 1

8AM: Wake-up. Have naturally been waking up at 7AM because of Tough Mudder training. Darn it, Aaron! Still feeling super tired from finishing up classes earlier in the week. Spoonful of Almond Butter.
830-930AM: Very light Tough Mudder Workout. Practice rope climb and stretch. (Race is on Saturday). 12 ft rope climb will be a tough one for me.
10AM: Breakfast meeting at Le Pain. Chicken chorizo scramble - yum. Side of greens and chamomile tea with honey.

1PM: Total Leadership Womens' Lunch at Marathon Grill. Salmon salad with spinach, green beans, cous cous, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Lemon vinagrette dressing on the side

4PM: Kind Bar as a snack. Blueberry Pomegranate.
5:30PM: LFC Transition Meeting at Wharton. Distrito take-out! Shrimp ceviche (shrimp, spicy tomato sauce, plaintain chips, and avocado) and tacos without the corn tortilla. Carnitas (pulled pork), and shrimp/chorizo.

 1130PMish: Bedtime!

Day 1 of the CFCC BCCC

SOOOooo. .. this is Day 1 of the Xfit CC Body Composition Challenge - which I signed up for! It's also the first time I've ever created a blog. I'm excited.

Purpose of participating in the challenge and creating the blog:

• Keep track of my daily intake of food
• Allow my coach, Meghan to provide me nutritional guidance
• Help others hold me accountable!

Prior to today, I've been holding myself to about an 80% paleo diet. I went strict for the first time with my friend Dylan and lost 10+ lbs (the stomach flu may have helped in there - Thai, know you love that bug!) I've creeped back up in weight and want to do another strict challenge with the following goals:

• Reach a goal weight of 125 lbs by May 13, just in time to look good for Wharton graduation (-5 lbs where I am now)
• Increase my athletic abilities, specifically:
1. Increase my upper body strength --> get my own strict pull-up
2. Increase my core strength
• Expand my knowledge of "good foods" I should eat
• Set myself up to maintain a weight of 125 lbs longer-term

My primary obstacles:

• I don't know how to cook (and I don't really like to). I am spoiled because Alex (my husband) cooks for us when we're together.
• I view food as pleasure and a reward. I get a lot of satisfaction from eating!
• I sometimes crave salty, fried foods.
• I'm often "on the go".
• Gradution celebration with my family and friends May 11-14. I anticipate celebrating with a lot of food. .. and especially at Chinese restaurants, where I'll be surrounded by the temptation to eat a lot of carbs (rice and noodles).

With your help, I want to overcome these obstacles and reach my health goals! Please send me your thoughts.
My plan will be to update this blog on a daily basis with my diet and sleep habits - and record how I feel.

Thanks for reading!

PZ