Ripped Hands are Not Cool/November Favorites

The title says it all. If you're a weightlifter, crossfitter, powerlifter or strongman, ripped hands take time away from training, make normal life hard (washing your hair with open blisters will cause screaming) and simply is painful. A few steps after training and after showering can prevent rips and tears.

It starts with washing your hands thoroughly after working out. Remove all chalk and dirt. Then apply a hand lotion or salve that moisturizes and protects. I came across American Oak Hand Salve on facebook and love the product. It softens and smooths my hands. It has a non-greasy formula so I can apply it and then hold onto a barbell. Ingredients include coconut oil, shea butter, carnuba wax, almond oil and lemon balm and it can be used as a lip balm.

Then a few steps to keep calluses under control. After every shower I grab the same two tools; a callus shaver and a ped egg. One I use the callus shaver to remove excess layers of skin on my palms, thumb and other knuckles. Two Gently rub the ped egg all over your hands smoothing away any rough patches. Three Apply a lotion that protects and moisturizes.

Top is hands immediately after working out. Bottom is after washing, shaving and applying American Oak Salve. I train five days a week for hours at a time. There is zero reason for your hands to be a mess. Daily hand maintenance is the key.

November Favorites

Training Tips  Starting with an older article that I love the thought behind. It's discussing if Christmas is a good time to start a new health challenge and it's by the creators of the Whole 30 diet.
"Some foods hold a significance that far exceeds the sum of its vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. That kind of food should be honored, savored and shared in the company of those you love. And in this special instance, in the company of those you love, it doesn’t matter that your Mom uses an entire cup of Crisco in the cake batter. Because that cake is full of memories, history and tradition, and makes you feel as warm and safe and loved as you did when you were a kid."
This does not mean a free pass to eat whatever this holiday season. Enjoy a frosted cutout cookie with your kids. Just don't eat 5 of them. Enjoy it, relish it and don't beat yourself up over it.

Good Stuff to Eat I don't take supplements or shakes. I prefer to eat real food and I enjoy cooking. But sometimes I need something quick to eat and I came across these Zone Perfect bars. They are high in protein, lowish carbs, yummy and inexpensive. My favorite are the mint chocolate.

Apparel and Accessories I hope all of you reading this have taken advantage of the black friday and cyber monday deals on Amazon, Reebok and Rogue and grabbed yourselves a new pair of lifting shoes. With prices on Addisas Adipowers under $100 and Crossfit style lifters available for less then $80 you really don't have an excuse to not have a pair.

Diet choices

I posted this to Instagram a week ago, but wanted to give more details. No need turning Instagram into a blog post.

I get asked often how I eat or what supplements I take. I'll start with the don'ts. I don't take protein or other supplements. I don't eat paleo. I don't count calories or track macro or micro nutrients. I don't drink pop. I don't look at certain types of food or food groups as off limits. I don't eat out very often.

And the do's. I do drink plenty of water, close to a gallon a day. I do sleep 8-9 hours a night. I do eat lots of vegetables. I do cook. I do train around two hours a day. I do drink alcohol. I do make sure there are quick snack choices always available.

When prepping to compete I eliminate the alcohol and limit my carbs to just vegetables. I have more specific details for the day before and day of a competition. I'll save that for another post.

Unsolicited thoughts on 15.4

It's finally happened. An RX movement paired with an RX barbell weight. With week four they've  made it clear that if you want to play along with the RX version of the open you're going to need to be able to move both body weight and barbell weight. Like last week many will spend the weekend trying to get their first handstand push-up.

Here's a couple of my thoughts. It's awesome that you are working on expanding your bag of tricks. There's an abundance of video tutorials and a good coach can help you give this movement a try. Keep in mind why you workout to begin with; to be better living life, to be pain free, move better, look good in a bathing suit, etc. You joined a gym to get a workout in and then pickup your kids and chase after your dog. If the barbell weight is your one rep max or close, if push pressing a barbell overhead and achieving a good overhead position is a challenge, then get a great workout in and tackle the scaled version. Handstand push-ups are not exactly high on the functional movement list. They are more circus trick then something you would ever need to do in real life. Take the opportunity to try a new skill and then get a good workout in.

And my second thought. Just like any competition there is a standard for this movement. Hold yourself to it. I've competed next to women who have argued and cried in the middle of a workout because the judge held them to show control at the top of the handstand push-up. Have some integrity. If you can't do it correctly then do the scaled version. Scaled is not a dirty word. It's making the workout appropriate for where you are today. 

Paleo Baking Vent

I was taught how to bake by my mother and grandmother.  The process of measuring out cups of flour, leveling them off, mixing and knowing just when to pull something out of the oven is soothing to me.  I refuse to give this up.  At first I tried substituting paleo ingredients into my old recipes.  This does not work.  Things end up too wet, or too dry.  I've found it's best to seek out paleo recipes.  Google paleo baking and hundreds of blogs come up with paleo versions of pancakes, bread, cake, cookies, etc.

So here's the vent.  A good portion of these recipes disregard the usual process of baking.  You should add wet ingredients together, slowly mix in dry, don't throw hot melted butter in with eggs (they'll scramble), there is such a thing as over mixing, cold dough that's been allowed to rest will make thicker cookies, etc.  The instructions usually amount to throw everything into a bowl, stir and than dump into a pan.  It pains me every time I see it.  And than the comments from people who follow these directions that want to know why the texture is off, or they took forever to bake, or they burnt.  Baking is chemistry.  There is a reason why you use certain amounts of each ingredient and follow an order for adding them. 

I'm going to make a huge generalization here.  We have become an eat out, premade, add hot water and your done kind of country.  Part of what is hard about eating paleo, or clean, or just better for you is that it requires you to actual cook.  There are hundreds of bloggers out there creating recipes, following recipes, complaining about how horrible things taste, how difficult it is to follow this lifestyle, and a huge part of the problem is they didn't know how to cook to begin with.

Civilized Caveman's Banana Bread

I've complained enough.  I should share some of the good ones now.

Civilized Caveman- Great stuff here too.  Some of the baking recipes fall under the dump it all into a bowl and mix, but if you follow traditional methods for baking you end up with great results.

Clean Eating for the Realistically Minded- Delicious recipes that everyone will eat and won't have a clue they're healthy.

PaleOMG- Her recipes are easy to follow and yummy, and Julie is just hysterical. I will never be a fan of cake in a mug, it's way too dry no matter what I've done to tinker with the recipe, but otherwise everything I've made off this site is stellar.

Meal Planning

My first Crossfit competition is just a little over 30 days away.  I'm starting to get nervous.  To take the leap and spend the $ to register and travel, etc. makes me so nervous. I want to do my best and I want to feel prepared.  Today I distracted myself from the pressure I'm putting on myself by meal planning.  I get some sort of weird thrill finding ways to provide healthy, cleanish meals for my family (cleanish because I have to make some concessions for the not-anywhere-close to Paleo/clean husband of mine).  I thought I'd share what I came up with.

Everything was based off our local Kroger add.  I start with what's on sale protein-wise and than hit my recipe books, internet, etc.

Chicken with ginger, mushrooms and asparagus Using chicken instead of sea bass.
Spicy pasta with sweet potatoes I'll omit the sugar and substitute plain greek yogurt for the cream cheese.
Pork medallions with caper-sauce Without the olives.  No one in my house will eat them.  Add I may substitute almond flour for the dredge.
Baked zucchini coins This one is especially for Miss K who prefers her veggies fried.
Also soft-shell tacos and homemade pizza. 

Add in the regular odd's and ends like milk, cheerios, yogurt, fruit and snacks for the kiddo and that brought the whole bill to $126 and some change.  With leftovers and probably one meal out somewhere over the weekend, we should be good for the next two weeks.

I don't coupon.  I've tried many times and find that I spend too much time sifting through all the coupons for prepared foods to find the one or two I may use.  It's just not worth it to me.  I keep hearing of these mystical coupons for fruit and veggies.  I haven't found any yet, but if you know where to find them please share!

Sort-of, kind-of Paleo

That's the best way I can describe where I've ended up after my husband has been gone for a few months.  My husband and I make dinner from scratch close to 90% of the time.  When he leaves I go from having no desire to cook to thinking I can make what I want to eat so I should take advantage.

I have heard the words paleo and clean thrown around on facebook and on the magazines near the checkouts.  I've read hear and there and realized that without intentionally trying, I eat a clean diet.  When K started having digestive difficulties we switched to almond milk, added more fruits and vegetables and became more aware of food labels. 

When I started a crossfit style workout in March there was a lot of talk about eating paleo.  On a whim I stopped eating bread and pasta and noticed immediately how much I leaned out.  My digestive issues that were frequently a problem disappeared.

Where I've ended up is a focus on making all our meals from scratch.  I've moved away from white flour and sugars and eliminated pasta, rice, bread, and grains.  I read labels closely to prevent any sneaky sugars in.  But I drink wine, I use sea salt, and I just can't break my greek yogurt addiction.

As far as the kiddo goes, I do make her the occasional bowl of mac and cheese (the commercial crap, there's something about fake yellow cheese that makes her go nuts). On-the-go snacks are where I'd like to do better.  It's just easier to buy a 9 pack of goldfish crackers than to make my own protein bars for her to munch on.  Some days she refuses to eat the healthy stuff, and since she has always been on the skinny, tiny side I am constantly concerned that she's not eating enough.  I won't get into my rant that the percentiles are based on a good majority of kids who eat horrible processed diets and are therefore bigger.  That's for another post.