Week 4: Spartan Challenge + Mission 17

One of the things I learned after the Spartan Challenge last year is that my workout journal and my food log can be helpful training tools — if I take the time to review them. So each weekend, I’ll be reviewing my notes and sharing what I’ve noticed… to make sure I’m honest with you and myself.

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Week 4 of the Spartan Challenge and Mission 17 has been full of change. Based on the scale not budging for three weeks — and my attitude and energy falling into a black pit — I knew I needed to make some dramatic changes to my eating habits, but I didn’t know quite how to do it.

I talked to Crystal and Megan and Erika and Dave and my friends at Weight Watchers and Melissa Urban. And I fretted and talked and worried and talked and read and talked… and when Melissa’s advice aligned with Crystal’s recommendation to add more fat, Erika’s stories about giving up dairy, I enlisted Melissa to be my foodie mentor for the next six weeks. (More on the fabulous Ms. Urban in a future post).

I REFUSE to say I’m paleo — and you can’t make me say it — but these are the new goals I’m working against each week:

• no starchy carbs (except my post-workout Saturday breakfast)
• no Balance Bars
• no coffee
• no dairy
• a big dose of good carbs after my workout
• more fat (this one is fun!)
• updating my food and workout logs every day
• two rest days per week

So how did I do?

So far, so good. I’m learning how to re-shape my thinking to accommodate everything I learned from Weight Watchers, the Zone, and now my don’t-call-it-paleo approach. I’m still eating tons of veggies, but less fruit throughout the day. Lots more fat. A little more protein. The food puzzle pieces are fitting together a little bit differently than before… and bananas are back!

The immediate results are encouraging: My energy is significantly higher, and my mood is way, way better. Just ask Dave. I’ve been sleeping through the night again — that is HUGE. Also, I lost two pounds this week. I’m opketical — and also thrilled.

Here are some stats from my workout journal and food log:

The Spartan Challenge+Mission 17 Index: Week of 5/31 through 6/6

# of workouts: 5 (4 CF + 1 run)

# days of training: 5

average hours of sleep per night: 7.5

lbs. lost/gained: -2.0

consecutive days without a tortilla chip: 28 (!)

# of Balance Bars: 0

On a scale of 1-10
(with 10 being “AWESOME”)

satisfaction with workouts: 9. I had fun with my training this week, and enjoyed my rest, too.

satisfaction with diet: 9. The new stuff seems to be working great.

overall mood/level of optimism: 8.5. I’m dangerously close to being really excited about my new plan, but I don’t want to count my chickens too soon.

Favorite workout: I enjoyed Tuesday’s Spartan + run a lot: 5 rounds of pullups, situps, and lunges, followed by a CFEndurance run around the lake.

Bad attitude moment: The only one I can think of (remember a few weeks ago when I had two?! Now I can barely think of one.) was a mini-meltdown before dinner one night when I was frustrated trying to decide what to eat that would fit within the blocks I had left and could be made from the food in the house.

Gold-star behavior: I taught Dave about the Zone and helped him plan menus for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I feel pretty good about that.

Tweak for next week: I want to get more facile with my new guidelines so every meal or snack isn’t a giant production. And more sleep!