In the Kitchen

You do not have to cook to be paleo.

A lot of the time, I don't bother.  My go-to meal is grilled chicken breasts (grilled by others, sliced into approx. 4 oz portions by moi), cut up peppers (this part I do, largely because no one sells organic peppers pre-sliced) and some (read: 10)  olives.  Occasionally, I'll sauté some spinach.  (Or buy some pre-sauteed)  Done.  I can eat this a lot.  

But, when lawyering doesn't get in the way, I actually do prefer my own cooking.  Last Sunday, I cooked up a bunch of Livin Paleo's baked chicken fajitas.  (I left out the cumin because I didn't have any.  Also, I baked for an extra 10 minutes.)  That night, I ate it with some cauliflower rice (made my moi) and guac (made by Fairway).  

Voila: Mexican paleo.

The next morning, I scooped some into my eggs for a Mexican scramble.  

Being paleo does mean eating a lot of eggs for breakfast.  Or chicken.  I made a batch of "egg muffins" this past week to save time in the mornings.  They were very convenient, but not my favorite flavor-wise.  I'm going to have to play with the ingredients a bit.  

Also on my menu this week were hazelnut chicken tenders.  (Cut slices of chicken, dip in egg, roll in hazelnut flour, bake at 350 for 15 minutes).  These were yummy, but I will probably try this recipe next.  

-Gym Belle-

Gym Belle Q&A: Mommy, what are you doing with that ball?

Lexi asks, "Mommy, what are you doing with that ball?"

My pre-run routine varies from day to day, but it always includes some mobility work.  I use a couple of self myofasicial release (SMR) techniques to loosen things up and restore some range of motion.

No matter what, I work on my ankle flexibility.  This helps to prevent shin splints.  I'll either set up my little Trigger Point roller on top of a block and roll my ankles out, or I'll take a lacrosse ball and hack at the back side of my ankle to loosen everything up.  If I don't have my toys handy, I'll sit down with my legs folded up under me, knees spread apart, and move my weight around to get a nice ankle stretch. KStar covers most of these techniques in Mobility WOD Episode 270.  I highly recommend checking this one out, particularly if you're a runner.

Most days, I also like to roll out my IT bands, either on a Trigger Point roller or on a foam roller.  

Rolling out my feet like I'm doing in the picture is new.  I picked up this trick at the CrossFit Endurance seminar that I attended a few weeks ago.  I start with the lacrosse ball at the ball of my foot and bring it back and forth, slowly working my way down towards my heel.  Then I go bottom to top.  

Then I warm up and I'm ready to go!

-Gym Belle-

To The Top

Today's WOD was my first workout in TWO WEEKS.*  I had been giving my knees and shoulders some rest in addition to bi-weekly ART treatments with Dr. Mike.  It definitely paid off.  I kept the weights light today, and I am happy to report that I had no knee or shoulder pain during the workout.  Phew.

It felt great to be working out again.  I also got to test out my new new kicks.  (Yes, I am fully aware that I have a sneaker problem.)  These are the Inov-8 F-Lite 215's.  Inov-8 calls them "grape" colored - I think raspberry is more accurate.  They're definitely in the pink family and very cute.  I got a lot of compliments on them today. 

Inov-8 F-Lite 215's

The 215's are the new version of the 230's.  The big difference is the more substantial sole.  They don't look all that different than the 230's, but when you put them on, you feel the extra cushioning.  You don't feel the ground through the shoe the way you do in the 230's.  They've also reinforced the places on the soles that tend to get beat up on rope climbs.

Speaking of which, I did my very first rope climbs during today's WOD!  I hadn't tried since last fall, so I had no idea what would happen.  On the way to the gym, I kept thinking that if I can do pull-ups, I should be able to do this.  But I also vividly remembered my failed attempts.  

The head coaches demo-ed three techniques: no feet (the hardest), a simple feet pinching and a swirling technique.  The feet pinching technique spoke to me.  You start standing next to the rope, pull up with your arms and then sweep the foot farthest from the rope under the closer foot trapping the rope between them.  You reach and pull with your arms, and re-pinch the rope under you as you go.

We only have three ropes at the gym, and class was packed, so when it was my turn, I just went for it.  I got a few feet up and decided that this was totally doable.  I did all six of the rope climbs in today's workout just like that.  At the top, you're supposed to touch the metal rod that the ropes hang from  I touched the knot of the rope instead, so I short-changed myself by a bit.  I don't know why that last bit of reach freaked me out.  I should get it next time, though.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

*I did do yoga a few times with the doctor's permission.