Hold the Sugar, Hold the Grains.

Time for a new nutrition experiment. There has been a fair amount of buzz on the CrossFit Forum about no-sugar and also no-grain/no-sugar challenges. Amy and I finally decided to bite the bullet and jump onboard the no-sugar/no-grain train. We weren't strong enough (or maybe we were just honest with ourselves) to start this before Thanksgiving. We decided to wait until all the family had left and there was some semblance of normalcy about the house again.

So, what's the challenge? It's pretty much as simple as it sounds. Between December 3rd and December 24th we will do our best to not consume any thing that has any added sugar, or any grain products. So, this means no table sugar, no corn syrup, no high fructose corn syrup (pretty much try to avoid that at all costs anyway), no brown rice syrup (Clif Bars) no artificial sugars, no honey, no maple syrup. On the grain side, well pretty much anything that is a grain: wheat, oats, corn.

The hardest part of this challenge will be not having any bars for snacks. I will typically have 1 bar per day during the week, either a Clif Builder Bar, Think Thin Bar or now our new bar is the Purefit Bar. The other hard part will be not having oatmeal. I like to eat oatmeal 2-3 times per week and a fave in the Hollingsworth house is oatmeal with peanut butter and a touch of real maple syrup. Aside from that, I have been eating a fair amount of dark chocolate lately and my favorite salad dressing, Bragg Healthy Vinaigrette, has honey in it, so that's out.

So, what have I been eating? Here's the breakdown of my diet and my workouts for the last 2 days.

Breakfast 12/3 (weight 153.6)
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup mandarin oranges
handful of macadamia nut pieces
3 oz roasted chicken

Snack
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 small persimmons
handful macadamia nut pieces

Lunch
5 oz salmon fillet
3 raw carrots
1 orange
handful of nuts (walnuts, almonds, macadamia)

Snack
1 oz deli turkey meat
1 cheese stick
Honeycrisp apple
handful of nuts

Oceanside CrossFit WOD: Tabata - GHD sit-ups, Bottom Squats, Ring Rows, Handstand push-ups

Dinner
approx 5oz Pork Shoulder
some eggplant pieces
even less Bok Choy
2 tsp peanut butter right off the spoon and into my mouth, mmmmmm peanut butter

Breakfast 12/4
3 Eggs Scrambled
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
48 almonds (yes, I counted them)

Snack
2 oz roasted chicken
2 medium raw carrots
handful mix nuts

CrossFit Endurance WOD: Tabata Run @ 10.5 mph

Lunch
5 oz pork shoulder
1 cup cauliflower
2 stalks celery
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Orange
Handful mixed nuts

Snack
2 oz roasted chicken
1 medium apple
handful mixed nuts

Oceanside CrossFit WOD: 5 rounds Press/Push Press/Push Jerk @ 95# (low round 5 reps/high round 6 reps)

Dinner
2 oz pork shoulder
2 oz roasted chicken
sauteed mizuna
Salad w/ red leaf lettuce, boston lettuce, tomato, cucumber
Newman's Own Olive Oil Vinaigrette
2 small glasses Williamson Winery '04 Cuvee