Fitness Photo Shoot Prep

I am now 9 days away from the end of the Adonis Index Transformation contest. This was a 12 week contest that is meant to showcase the hard work and dedication of those that decided to participate. I am one of those people. The 12 weeks has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were days I didn't eat (fasting), days I ate on target, days I ate a bit higher than maintenance, and days I don't ever want to think about again. I took carb loading to a new level a few times. I really need to do a better job on avoiding those days.

My weight has fluctuated almost daily and I finally got to the point where I stopped weighing myself. My clothes continued to loosen and I do notice a difference when looking in the mirror. At last check, I have lost an inch off of my waist and added an inch to my shoulders.  This morning my weight is 176lbs which is about where I have been sitting for the last 12 weeks.

Now that I am a mere 9 days away from taking pictures and sending them in for all to see, I figured I needed to get really serious. So I did some more research on cutting water weight and now I am drinking roughly 2 gallons of water a day. No easy task mind you!

I am also cutting my carb intake down to 30 grams a day. This will deplete my glycogen reserves and help me to get even leaner and meaner. It's a bit of the Carb Nite Protocol that I attempted here. As you can read in that post, that attempt at cutting saw a 9lb weight loss. I was heavier then and didnt see much difference in body composition though. I am hoping this time will be better. I now have clearly defined upper abs and hopefully this cut will help to show the lower half.

I am still contemplating a spray tan.  I know that getting one will help to show off the definition that I have but I don't know if I want to go through the hassle of getting one and everyone knowing that I got one. It would be different if I was doing an actual fitness competition on stage but most people don't understand the whole 12 week transformation contest.

Below is a simple calendar that I came up with to track what I should be drinking and eating as I prepare for the photo shoot.

Make it Paleo Cookbook Review

Just one of the many perks of being a fitness blogger is that I get to review new and exciting products. Recently I had the pleasure of receiving a new cookbook entitled Make it Paleo courtesy of the fine folks over at Primal Palate.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I first received this cookbook. After all, I have quite a few Paleo cookbooks in my library already and it seems like everyone and their daughter is putting together their own cookbooks  How could this one possibly compare to the others?

Overall I am very pleased with this book. One of the first things I noticed when I opened the package was the quality of the book. It felt very sturdy in my hands and I could tell that it was a book that was meant to last in the kitchen.  Each page was printed on glossy paper and it had a large "format" feel to it with each recipe taking up two pages; one for the recipe and one for a picture of what you were to make. For me personally, pictures are important. I want to see with great detail, what it is I am going to be preparing and how it is "suppose" to look.

The second thing I liked about Make it Paleo was the actual recipes. The recipes are simple and easy to make. For the most part, there are no "fancy" ingredients that I need to go out and purchase in order to make something. Most of the stuff I already have on hand. No arrow root or rice flour here!

The book is arranged very well with over 400 pages of categories like entrees, salads, appetizers, desserts, etc. There are also subcategories within some of the main categories for further breakdown and ease of use. With a book of this size, having such organization is a must.

Now lets talk about the recipes themselves. I have already made quite a few items from within the pages of Make it Paleo and so far I have not found one that has disappointed. One recipe in particular has become a household favorite. I won't say it by name but let's just say it includes pineapple, chicken, and skewers. :)

If you are looking for a solid and well planned Paleo cookbook, you definitely cannot go wrong with Make it Paleo. I highly recommend it.

Here is a pic of a dish that I have made recently.

[caption id="attachment_2838" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chicken Pineapple Skewers with a side of carrots[/caption]

Sunbutter Pumpkin Cupcakes

[caption id="attachment_2823" align="aligncenter" width="289"] Not So Primal Brownies[/caption]

Last night I had a huge hankering for some of my "famous" primal brownies but since we have a tree nut allergy in the house I knew that wasn't going to happen. 

Or was it. :)

I decided to do a little bit of experimentation and substituted out the almond butter with sunbutter. I also poured the batter into cupcake tins instead of a brownie pan. So really these are more cupcake like than brownies.

Sue me.

The end result was pretty amazing if I do say so myself.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup SunButter (I used the Omega-3 version which has small bits of flax seed in it. I won't buy that one again for this purpose)


• 1 cup mashed pumpkin


• 1 egg


• 1/3 cup honey


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 2 scoops protein powder (completely optional and I only added it because I need some more protein in my diet for the day. I used Body Fortress Cookies and Cream)


• dash of all spice (not sure why I used this but it worked)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well.  Pour into a greased cupcake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Serves 12.

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

It's been along time since I have done a recipe. That all changes today!

Below is a "breakfast" casserole that I made for dinner. It was quick, easy to put together and yielded a great taste. Enjoy.

[caption id="attachment_2802" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Crockpot Breakfast Casserole[/caption]

Startbeingfit.com: Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

5 cups of frozen hash-browns
1lb of ground beef
1/2 yellow onion
1 red pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
2T Worcestershire sauce
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Beat the eggs and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl and then set aside.

Next up, brown the beef in a pan

Add chopped onion and red pepper

In the crockpot:
start with a layer of hashbrowns
followed by the beef mixture
then the cheese
then repeat the layers
Top it off with egg and Worcestershire combo

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 8 hour(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

4 out of 5 stars:  ★★★★☆ 1 review(s)

Copyright © startbeingfit.com
Recipe by startbeingfit.com.

 

Another 5k in the Books

This last Saturday, I did something that I have not done in years: I ran a 5k. To add a twist to it, I did it pushing my 18 month old son! I did not have a huge desire to run but the proceeds of the race go towards a really good cause - The Kade Meyer Celebration Run . I also wanted to show my kids that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. My kids have never seen me run a race and knowing that my entire family would be waiting for me at the finish line cheering made me feel pretty good.

I woke up that morning suffering from some severe seasonal allergies. My legs and lower back hurt but I committed to run this thing no matter what and run it I did! I finished the entire race in 29:06 and that includes some walking time in the beginning while I shuffled for room to run! My wife and kids were so proud and my youngest son had a blast in the stroller! I can now see me doing another race and I cannot wait for the chance to bring my wife and daughters along for the run as well.

 

Back to Higher Reps

After a year or so of heavy lifting via Reverse Pyramids (squats, deadlifts, bench, etc) I have transitioned back to a higher rep lower weight routine. Diversity and change are good and I needed it. I was getting bored doing the same routine with little variation and I wasnt putting in the effort needed to obtain the change that I desired. I am in week 2 of this new routine and so far I am loving it. I feel utterly exhausted after every workout and I love and have missed that feeling. The workouts are intense enough to challenge me and each week is a bit different from the previous. It sort of reminds me of the days I did P90x. I got great results from P90x and I anticipate getting the same great results with this routine. I am already noticing a difference in my shoulders and chest area.

One thing that has been tough with this new routine is watching some of the bigger guys doing the workouts that I used to do. Bench press, deadlifts, squats, etc. I used to laugh at the guys not doing those exercises and now I am one of the guys not doing them and I feel like people are laughing at me. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy them and I do miss them from time to time, I just needed to do something different for a while. I was getting bored. My muscles were getting bored and I felt like I was getting injured more often. My elbow is still really sore and inflamed and I feel this was a direct result of doing really have deadlifts.

If anything, this change has taught me an important lesson. Everybody is different and has different ways to get into shape. Who cares if your ideal exercise is to do curls on a bosu ball. Who I am to criticize someone who wants to squat and nothing more?  I am so tired of these blogs that critique people on their exercise of choice or snap pictures of someone doing something they consider to be a worthless move. I have started to unsubscribe from those blogs. They were wasting my time.

If I have ever offended anyone on here or twitter regarding your exercise of choice, I am sorry. I now applaud you for at least getting into the gym and doing a workout.  Do what you want, just practice good form and go as heavy as you can.

Tennis Elbow

My right elbow continues to give me problems. I have done everything from taking a break from working out, to hot/cold compresses, to icy hot. At this point I am really not sure what to do next. I think it may be time to start lifting for reps for awhile rather than try and set PR's on everything I do. It's not ideal and not what I really want to do but I am getting really tired of this feeling and it's effecting the amount of weight I can lift anyway.

Does anyone else have any ideas on what I can do to get rid of the pain? I am pretty sure its tennis elbow.