Somebody get me off this thing!

Alternate title: Confessions of a Cyclical Carb Counter.

Over the past 6 weeks or so, I have been going back and forth between a series of really good nutrition days and then falling off the wagon face first. It all started with the vacation to NorCal, then I followed that with a trip to Indianapolis.

After the NorCal trip, Amy and I made a fairly conscious decision to try to go more Paleo and not so strict Zone. The non-dairy experiment didn't last long, but unfortunately we got really comfortable with skipping the weighing and measuring (WAM'ing) that goes along with the Zone. We tried to stick with the Zone parameters, but were just eyeballing it. Now that I'm back to WAM'ing, I can tell you that my eyeballs need to be recalibrated.

As is typical, during the week things went well. Of course, it was on the weekends that the wheels would come off the wagon. Let's see if I can recount some of the more egregious meals that I found myself consuming:

1. There was the Beach Bash that I already blogged about.

2. We got together 2 days later with some old friends from Guam at Leucadia Pizzeria. I knew that this would be a challenge. Basically, the gloves came off and it was a no holds barred contest pitting me, the heavy favorite, against a tag team duo of garlic bread and a smorgasbord of pizza. I won easily, decimating both without hardly breaking a sweat. I suffered for my efforts though. That big ball of dough sat in my gut and kept me awake until 1 a.m. I won the battle but lost the war.

3. The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom. We started it off right. I had a good breakfast and make a bunch of little egg bites, packed a bunch of fruit, a Clif Builder Bar and cheese sticks. that got us through until about 1pm. Then it was Cheesseburger and fries. We followed that up with dinner in which we shared a Pommes Frittes (yes, more fries), a Monte Cristo, Crab Salad Sandwich and Ratatoullie. What the hell the day is already shot, so we finished off the evening with a hearty helping of Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream.

4. This past weekend we went up to Long Beach for Amy's Uncle's 50th Birthday Party. I had made up my mind going in that I probably would cheat at the party. Started it off with pita chips and hummus and a small handful of tortilla chips and salsa. For dinner I skipped the potatoes and opted for a small portion of the chicken pasta and 2 1/2 super soft dinner rolls. It's a birthday party, so of course I had cake...uhhh...make that 2 1/2 pieces of cake. Oh yeah and I washed down dinner with a Sprite. Stellar!

So, where does that leave me. My weight this morning was 153.6, just 0.4 below what I started this whole experiment at. In all fairness, I'm not doing this to lose weight, so that's not a big deal to me. I do feel like I gained back a little of the belly fat that I had initially lost. As far as performance in the gym goes, I don't feel like I have suffered all that much. I'm still hitting the WOD's as hard as I can and for the most part I'm still posting consistently fast times. Today is Helen, so I'm curious to see how I'll compare to my last effort.

I am starting a whole new experiment though. This time I'm going sugar-free. No processed, refined sugar until Halloween. This means no cookies, ice cream or soda, obviously, but I'm also going to avoid honey, maple syrup and the really hard one, Clif Builder Bars. The only sugar I will consume will come from fruit. I say this, knowing that I already have 2 cheat days planned. I'm going to a birthday party this weekend and my own birthday is October 4th. I will have cake on those 2 days, but that's it. Other than that no sugar. The real hard part for me will be the Clif Bars. They are such an easy midday snack. Just means I will have to plan ahead from now on.

Wish me luck.