Things I Miss, Not Drinking and A Healthy Fridge!

Coming home from town yesterday we once again drove straight past Further North, my favourite little bar. Ordinarily, I'd have suggested to Donna that we stop (it's always me that makes the suggestion!) and I'd have a beer of some description and Donna would have a gin and tonic. I didn't say anything as we drove past yesterday. Donna asked if I was missing beer and this led to talking about the things I miss now, nearly 3 weeks into the challenge.

At first, I was missing load of stuff, mainly sweet stuff. But now, 3 weeks in, the 'craving' for anything sweet has gone and it's easier to see the things that are more important to me. After a while I decided that beer and cheese were at the top of the list, followed by milk to make a decent coffee!* Guess what will be at the front of my 're-introducing' schedule come November!!

So beer dodging ended up being a bit of a theme, as on Friday night I was out at the dog races at Kinsley on a leaving do for one of my team members. Couldn't use the driving excuse, as we all got a minibus together! I ate before we went, although the ticket included food. I had no idea what the food would be, so didn't take any chances! Had 2 pints of soda water (and did get to eat some chicken, too), so job done. Out at a friends on Saturday night, again, I stuck to water - treated myself by taking over a proper glass bottle of San Pellegrino!! The company was really good and not drinking didn't spoil the craic at all, so nothing lost really, and we didn't need to pay for a taxi!

Healthy Fridge!

Yesterday's  food was difficult to get right, too. The morning was easy enough, but a squash match at 6pm and getting over to a friend's in Horsforth  by  7:30 / 8pm made time tight and timings tricky.... Ended up having a late lunch / early dinner, then nothing for hours and hours,  leaving me feeling very hungry before Hill Sprints this morning. A late night also meant I was in no mood to get up early, leaving a  tough decision: have nothing before Hills and risk running on empty or have something and risk seeing it again...

One thing that has certainly changed over the 19 days of the challenge so far is the inside of our fridge! Donna remarked the other day that it was the healthy looking fridge she's ever seen!!

OK, I admit it - I'm a coffee snob...

*Regarding Coffee
I normally drink an espresso based coffee with smaller amounts milk, such as a piccolo or a flat white. I'm passionate about good coffee and have a decent enough set up at home to make something I'm very happy with and that only a few indie coffee shops can match or better. I've just been having espresso at home and either espresso or a brewed coffee (such as a V60 or Aeropress) when out. I don't drink coffee at work, as it's shit. I've experimented with different milk substitutes over the last 3 weeks and have now found that mixing 50/50 almond milk and coconut milk is just about acceptable!! I can't wait to try some organic raw milk next month...


Friday Training: 7am CrossFit class.
Deadlift 6x3:
Warm ups:  5x60, 3x100; Working sets: 120, 120, 130, 130, 130, 130kg
21-15-9:  Box jumps (24", step downs), OH lunge (20kg), press ups.
6m38s, Rx'd. Slowed down by my press ups.

Friday Food
8:00am, post-training shake (tried the Omni-MX leancore today, only 1/2 serving, though - don't think I'd order this as the carb and calorie levels scare me!)
8:30am, breakfast: Omlette with 3 eggs, 2 rashers, mushroom. Coffee: piccolo with almond and coconut milk mix.
1:15pm, lunch: very small piece of grilled chicken, half a sweet potato. A satsuma.
5:00pm, dinner: Thai Green Curry & Cauli rice (leftover from earlier in the week, with chicken, pork, etc)
8:00pm, snack: A chicken leg quarter which had a mexican rub.
Other snacks: A banana, a satsuma, 2 plums.


Saturday Training: 10am CrossFit Class - roll the dice special!
Too complicated to explain!!
6:00pm Squash match. Win. Straightforward.

Saturday Food
9:30, pre-training: Protein shake (IDW)
11:10, post training: Protein shake (tried the Whey Plus ripped core again, to make sure liking strawberry flavour wasn't a fluke - it wasn't and I'll be ordering this one).
1:30pm, fruit flurry: banana, plum, satsuma
3:00pm, snack: A few coconut pieces
4:00pm, main meal: Sirloin steak, 2 fried eggs (coconut oil, obvs), 1/2  avocado, 1/2 sweet potato, tomato, salad leaves. This was very, very good.
8:00pm, snack: satsuma.
1:00am, A piece of hot-smoked salmon and a plum (I was really hungry!).


Sunday Training: Hill Sprints with Spirit Master Wully Bully.

Massive Omlette

I had some issues with this today. As I'd not eaten much in the preceeding 16 or 17 hours, I woke up pretty hungry, but with little time before starting to run. I opted for a beefed up (or rather banana'd up) shake. I don't think it worked fast enough and I ended up with wobbly legs at one stage and had to have a little break and miss one run. Not too bad, but not brilliant.

Sunday Food
8:40am, pre-hills: Protein shake (IDW) with a banana and an egg blended in.
1:00pm, brunch?: A MASSIVE OMLETTE: 4 eggs, 4 rasher, mushroom, 1/2 red onion, a piece of hot smoked salmon (sliced), 1/2 a courgette (fine sliced), cherry tomatoes, spinach (hat tip to Hendo!)
Tonight I'll be having
7:00pm, dinner: Roast chicken (leg qtr), butternut squash, romanesco cauliflower, 1/2 sweet potato.
And some fruit (I'll edit later to insert!).


Black Marks
2 more, both for sleep - Thursday and Saturday nights.