I'm in love with cashews. I'm even more in love with the cashew butter I made today. I think I love it as much as peanut butter, which I've been avoiding since it's a legume which is not a paleo food.
I've been eating paleo for almost a month now, with a few cheats here and there, and I like it a lot. I just feel better. Plus I get to eat bacon. Mmmmm bacon. Even though I love the paleo lifestyle, I was still having a hard time saying no to chocolatey processed sugary carby nonsense. Like the bag of cookies and cream chex mix and mocha frappacino I consumed Sunday night. That is when I decided I needed to crack down, and decided to start the 21 Day Sugar Detox the next day.
For my personal detox, I've chosen to eliminate all sugar, natural and artificial, including fruit. Since I've already been eating paleo the simple carbs like bread are a given. I am thinking that I will probably cheat with the carbs once, because I have a fight in 11 days, and will need to refuel, but I'm not going to eat chocolate and drink sugary sports drinks or have pancakes and syrup like I often do.
I'm currently on my third day. Days 1 and 2 weren't bad at all, I just had a few cravings that were easy to ignore. Today is Halloween, so of course it's been a little more difficult, but I haven't strayed. I feel like I may be eating a little bit more fat, mostly in the form of nuts, but I think that I can level that out as much cravings subside.
Here's an example of what I ate today:
Breakfast:
3 whole eggs
2 slices bacon
Water with lemon (I'm not counting the small squirt of lemon as sugar. That's just ridiculous.)
Morning Snack:
3-4 Tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds (I haven't been measuring much lately, so that's a guess)
Water
Lunch:
Roasted chicken (some white and some dark meat)
Coconut almond cauliflower "couscous"
A couple tablespoons of cashews
Water
Afternoon Snack:
A few tastes of the cashew and almond butter I made
Baked sweet potato fries (probably about 3-4 ounces)
Water with lemon
Dinner:
2 Bacon meatloaf muffins ( adapted from a recipe on paleomg.com-seriously check this site out, the recipes are awesome and the writer is hilarious!)
Not perfect, but sugar free at least. I'm going to take progress pictures each friday, so we'll see about visual progress in a couple days :)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Caged Aggression 8
Shame. On. Me! I haven't posted in ages. If only I was getting a grade on this, I would be much better at sticking to it. But I'm not, so it gets pushed to the side. I'm a terrible blog owner. Anywho...I had a fight this past weekend, it was a ton of fun, and I'm still undefeated! Woo!
Since I've left you in the dark for such a long time, I'll rewind a bit, go through what I did to prepare for this fight and all that jazz. I did things a little differently this time around.
It's been two months since my August fight, and my diet for most of those two months was a freaking roller coaster. I'm a stress eater. *forehead slap* That's the main reason I decided to fight this fight at 145 pounds. I've had enough on my plate with work and school that I didn't want to have to crash diet for two weeks to get to fight weight. It was a good decision.
Around two and a half weeks out, my nutritionist/personal trainer Danny J made a new meal plan for me, and she wanted me to try paleo. I was excited because a lot of people I know have had success with it, and I get to eat bacon. And whole eggs. And BEEF. It's fantastic. I've been experimenting a little with some paleo recipes and ingredients, making my own almond butter (which did not turn out the first time by the way) and coconut flour, so I can have a treat now and then. And I bought a Ninja food processor. Best gadget EVER. Chops veggies in like 2 seconds flat. Anyway, paleo really seems to work for me. I only had to cut 8 pounds the entire week of the fight, and 4-5 pounds of that was water weight. I didn't have to sit in the sauna nearly as much as other fights, and that was awesome. The sauna is the devil.
My opponent was unable to make it to weigh ins, so I didn't get to see her pretty much until the fight started. I was excited. I knew what I wanted and I knew I was going to get it. My coach told me ahead of time that she was going to come straight at me, fast and furious, throwing bombs, and that's exactly what she did. I could have stood and banged with her, but I was looking for a submission or ground n pound win. I went for a takedown right away, but it was kinda sloppy and she stuffed it. I got her in my guard and basically just waited...because I knew she was going to leave an arm open for me if I could catch it quickly. I took a lot of shots there on my back and was really worried the referee was going to stop it, but luckily he let it go on. I'm not sure exactly how long it to me to submit her, she almost got away when I first threw my leg up for the armbar, but i fought for it and secured it and cranked hard. I was going to get that armbar if I had to break her arm. Dead serious, I was thinking that to myself as I bent her elbow backwards. She tapped. My hand was raised. She was not a happy camper. I was pumped.
Part of the reason I am excited about this win is because I learned something new about my abilities. There have been times where I've wondered if I was getting pounded on my back if I could fight through and win. I'd never really taken a beating on the ground, and I'd never submitted anyone of my back. I found out I can fight through it. I'm pretty proud of that.
Now that the fight's over, I let myself eat what I wanted, paleo or not, I chilled, I finished my homework. Now it's Monday and I'm back to the paleo plan. Next weekend I have a couple family parties and I'm going to let myself have some treats there, but for the most part I'm gonna be good. I want to get back to fighting at 135. I'll be lifting tonight and back to training tomorrow. I can't wait for my next fight!
Since I've left you in the dark for such a long time, I'll rewind a bit, go through what I did to prepare for this fight and all that jazz. I did things a little differently this time around.
It's been two months since my August fight, and my diet for most of those two months was a freaking roller coaster. I'm a stress eater. *forehead slap* That's the main reason I decided to fight this fight at 145 pounds. I've had enough on my plate with work and school that I didn't want to have to crash diet for two weeks to get to fight weight. It was a good decision.
Around two and a half weeks out, my nutritionist/personal trainer Danny J made a new meal plan for me, and she wanted me to try paleo. I was excited because a lot of people I know have had success with it, and I get to eat bacon. And whole eggs. And BEEF. It's fantastic. I've been experimenting a little with some paleo recipes and ingredients, making my own almond butter (which did not turn out the first time by the way) and coconut flour, so I can have a treat now and then. And I bought a Ninja food processor. Best gadget EVER. Chops veggies in like 2 seconds flat. Anyway, paleo really seems to work for me. I only had to cut 8 pounds the entire week of the fight, and 4-5 pounds of that was water weight. I didn't have to sit in the sauna nearly as much as other fights, and that was awesome. The sauna is the devil.
My Dad and I after my fight
My opponent was unable to make it to weigh ins, so I didn't get to see her pretty much until the fight started. I was excited. I knew what I wanted and I knew I was going to get it. My coach told me ahead of time that she was going to come straight at me, fast and furious, throwing bombs, and that's exactly what she did. I could have stood and banged with her, but I was looking for a submission or ground n pound win. I went for a takedown right away, but it was kinda sloppy and she stuffed it. I got her in my guard and basically just waited...because I knew she was going to leave an arm open for me if I could catch it quickly. I took a lot of shots there on my back and was really worried the referee was going to stop it, but luckily he let it go on. I'm not sure exactly how long it to me to submit her, she almost got away when I first threw my leg up for the armbar, but i fought for it and secured it and cranked hard. I was going to get that armbar if I had to break her arm. Dead serious, I was thinking that to myself as I bent her elbow backwards. She tapped. My hand was raised. She was not a happy camper. I was pumped.
My totally non-paleo fight day french toast
Right to left: my Uncle Pat, Me, my Dad, cousin Patrick, and family friend Megan
Part of the reason I am excited about this win is because I learned something new about my abilities. There have been times where I've wondered if I was getting pounded on my back if I could fight through and win. I'd never really taken a beating on the ground, and I'd never submitted anyone of my back. I found out I can fight through it. I'm pretty proud of that.
Some of my battles scars-my eye is more purple today, I have a couple vicious scratches behing my ear and on my back, and some little bruises here and there. I like them :)
Now that the fight's over, I let myself eat what I wanted, paleo or not, I chilled, I finished my homework. Now it's Monday and I'm back to the paleo plan. Next weekend I have a couple family parties and I'm going to let myself have some treats there, but for the most part I'm gonna be good. I want to get back to fighting at 135. I'll be lifting tonight and back to training tomorrow. I can't wait for my next fight!
My training partner Courtney and I
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