Hey – I’m as OCD/Virgo/lawyeresque as they get. But one thing about Pomroy is that you really don’t want to log anything. I think this is important. Let me explain.
You’re going to be eating what you’re supposed to for Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, and Dinner. You’re going to be weighing and measuring out what you’re supposed to eat. So there is no reason for you to log anything.
I know, you say, but you LIKE to log things. Nonsense. It takes up at least an hour of your day to log everything, and it just makes you upset (speaking from experience). And here’s the thing – the other eating plans (be they Zone, Krissy Mae Cagney, Macro Diet, etc.) require you to log. So you do, then you constantly “obsess” about whether you’re the exact percentage, or macro, or “block” that you should be. Am I right?
Not this time, sistah.
I want you to take a deep breath, cross your heart, hold up your palm and repeat after me…
(come on, CROSS YOUR HEART….atta grrl….)
“I will not log anything for the next 4 weeks.”
(I’m waiiiiting….say it out loud….)
I know it’s hard. I know it. But part of the deal here is that you need to do what the program says, and as you are going to do what the program says, no deviations, period, there is no need to log.
Let me tell you what’s going to happen if you start logging. You’re going to have all the other eating plans you’ve been on – Weight Watchers, Atkins, Zone, etc. – creep into your head. You’re going to say “HOW can this POSSIBLY work, when my Blocks aren’t stacked up in order? This will fail!” (Did I mention “speaking from experience” before?) You’ll bring in something you did on a previous eating plan, and apply it here. You’ll tell yourself you’re “not getting enough” fat blocks, or protein blocks, or whatever – and you’ll either sneak them in, or just obsess that it can’t “possibly” work. Which is stress. Which, as it’s not adrenaline/tiger stress, your body will perceive as…remember the last blog post?…FAMINE. And HOLD ONTO YOUR FAT.
You see, the way that things are ordered in this eating plan is that they balance out over the entire week. So logging is counterproductive, because it will make you that much more obsessive, and you’ll bring all the other eating plans that you’ve ever been on into the equation, and you’ll stress out.
Now, if you want to weigh yourself and get your body fat percentage – go ahead. But try not to do it more than once a week. Because we all know that just makes us feel bad. I have a fancy scale that does all of this – and my starting weight/body fat is above. In case you were curious. Accountability.
I’ll post another one every Monday.
But the real deal here isn’t your weight on a scale. It’s the inches and also those “jeans you want to get into.” Weight on a scale per se doesn’t really matter. Body fat certainly does, but unless you have a killer body fat percentage scale, often the numbers you get outside of a dunk tank are just wrong. But inches and “getting closer to getting into those jeans” is Truth.
Today is cardio again (as it’s Tuesday/Phase 1). I went to Crossfit and talked to the coach about what I could do that would be cardio, but not involve rowing (since I did that yesterday), or rope skipping/running/biking/etc. (because of my dang hip. Doctor’s appointment in an hour today.) So we came up with a body weight workout that I was to do as fast as I could. I did:
10 rounds of:
2 pullups (green band, so I think that’s 20? 30? lb. assist)
2 each leg reverse lunge (can’t do front – hurts my hip)
5 ab mat situps (soles touching)
5 pushups (green band assist)
I did get my heart rate up, so that’s great. Tomorrow and Thursday are weights – not sure what I will be doing, but the coach that I deal with knows that the next 2 days are weights but NO cardio, so he’ll set me up.
I also joined a swim “club” at the Best Western hotel that’s across from my Crossfit box. It was not inexpensive, as it’s the summer – works out to about $100/month. But it’s a beautiful pool, saline “filtered” (no chlorine), and as I said, nearly across the street from Crossfit. I know of other pools that are less expensive, but either they have a smaller window of time when you can use them (e.g., the high school pools), or they are farther away. This one is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and like I said, right across the road from Crossfit. I LIKE swimming, and hardly anyone uses the pool – it’s quite a secret. (A friend clued me into it, because her boyfriend belongs.) There’s also a hot tub and a wee gym, plus a place to shower and change. So I figure I can swim either during my Fri/Sat/Sun “chill out” days, or swim faster during the cardio days. I’m happy to have a non-chlorinated pool at my disposal again, and getting my “wind” back in swimming will make me more likely to get back to swimming in the Bay again, which I really like.
If you’re with me – how’s it going? By the way, we have a few of you starting NEXT Monday, so if you’re still on the fence, you can start then if you like 😉 The more the merrier. We can do it!
Check out the middle variety – The SHEPARD. Is my shape just DESTINY? LOL
My avocado-bodied self salutes you 😉
Today I started Pomroy again. If you somehow don’t know what I’m talking about, click HERE – it links up all (I think) of the blogs discussing what is going on in my self-centered little world (laugh).
The biggest issue for me is DRINKING ENOUGH WATER. If you’re starting today too, are you in this boat?
I did my cardio this morning – it’s Memorial Day and so everyone at my Crossfit box was doing Murph, but my hip/back are still in trouble, so I did a 5,000 meter row. I did it in 24:15, which is a little slow for me, but I didn’t feel terrible. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, since the sciatica drugs aren’t working, and neither are 800mg Tylenol. I gotta get this fixed somehow. It’s terribly debilitating.
the view from my rower.
Remember, Phase 1 in Pomroy (Monday and Tuesday) are cardio.
For breakfast, I did have time to make oatmeal, so I ate my oatmeal (1.5 cups – that is a TON of oatmeal!) with 1.5 cups of mango chunks. Then I went out to do the rowing.
I brought a bottle of water with me . . . and brought it home again! Harrumph. On the drive over, I had a big glass of hot herbal tea with stevia (stevia is allowed).
Then three hours later, I had my snack (an orange), and I had another couple cups of herbal tea. (My water bottle, however, is still sitting here in front of me untouched.)
One of George’s artworks.
My friends George and Donnalei Sumner gave me a little glass teapot and some tea for Christmas. The teapot has written on it “Sumner Serenit-TEA.” On the inside were tea “balls” – if you’ve never seen these, they look a bit like acorns. You add hot water to them, and they “blossom” into herbal tea. They’re apparently hand-“sewn” so that they do this.
I hadn’t used them, and thought this would be as good time as any. Here are some photos that show you what they look like going from the “tea ball” into the full “flower” in the pot (NOTE: I can’t seem to get them to line up as I’m typing this, but you can get the idea from the captions):
this is the little “tea ball” before it opensstarting to open (sorry, steam made this fuzzy)fully open “tea flower” in the pot (George’s writing is the green marker).
The issue here is that Pomroy states that you can’t “count” herbal tea, or even water with lemon in it.
I am already making bargains with this program, because I just can’t do that.
Straight water makes me feel bloated. I don’t like the “taste.” I put this down to the way I was raised – my parents never, ever drink water. Like, never.
So since I have to have a pitcher and a half (half your body weight in ounces) daily, I’m going to count herbal tea and things like water with lemon in it. I have to make this work somehow, and drinking straight water makes me ill. Are ya’ll making any bargains? I think this one isn’t a bad one to make, but maybe that’s because I’m making it! I’m going to drink the “plain water” too – but to get up to the ounce amount, I just gotta do something else too. What about you?
The only other bargain I’m making is that I need to remember to have a cup of coffee (black) every day.
I gotta get me this cup.
This eating plan says no caffeine/coffee (even decaf); however, when I did it the time before (after doing the Gottfried metabolic reset, which also cuts out caffeine), I had the mother-in-law of all migraines.
That time, as usual, I was lying in bed with the curtains closed waiting for my sight to return, belatedly remembering my first neurologist in high school, who said I could take a Cafergot pill every day, or drink a cup of coffee every day. When I say “waiting for my sight to return,” it’s because when I have a migraine, my sight dims from the inside out. When it’s at the worst, I can just barely see out of what would be the “corner of my eye.” The rest isn’t black it’s just “clear” . . . totally scary. I spend the hour or so that it takes for my sight to wane then wax reminding myself that this has happened before . . . “You will not be permanently blind, Sandy, chill.” (Only once have I had this happen while driving, which is quite awful. I spent a couple hours under an overpass on the highway, hoping a police car wouldn’t try to make me “move along.”)
While lying in bed, I listened to the Girls Gone WOD podcast about disordered eating. I had some thoughts about it. Perhaps my trying out different eating plans trying to address the 30 pounds of extra “me” that has accumulated is “disordered” eating. The gals on the podcast seemed to intimate that. However, the biggest difference that I personally see is that I’m not comparing myself to some Pinterest mythical “ideal.” I’m comparing myself to myself just a couple years ago. Due to hormone/metabolic changes, I have packed on the fat, and want to address it. On this episode (and the one before it) the gals being interviewed state that you can’t “just do an eating challenge for 30 days and then quit if you don’t see dramatic changes,” I beg to differ. You can have changes that occur in those 30 days, and they can then spur you on to continue on that program for another 30 days…and another 30 days. If you don’t see any improvement in 30 days, I don’t see a reason to hang on.
The reason I’m starting Pomroy again is that, after 10 days, I did have some noticeable changes, and it was easy. Sure, I’ve had friends do the “cabbage soup diet,” or some other crazy thing where you lose weight (likely water), and then gain it all back when you stop. But while on Pomroy, I was eating a lot, didn’t feel deprived at all, and saw changes in my skin, body fat percentage, etc. So while one of the interviewees on THIS episode states that “you have to be on a regime for more like years” because “it took years for you to get this way,” I’m not so sure that’s really exactly right.
Kind of a dumb picture, but this clearly shows my stomach. No “Joey” there like I have now. These are the jeans that I took the photo in yesterday, that I want back into. This photo is from 3 years ago.
I have to say that it’s been immensely frustrating trying to address this issue. (Don’t get old.) I was never someone who actually thought that much about weight, which is probably why this has sort of blindsided me. In my teens, 20s, 30s, even 40s by and large I’ve been one of those “pesky” people whose weight issues were easy to address. If it went up due to some bad decisions over time (like taking advantage of the donuts that were always available in Accounting on Mondays), I could stop whatever I was doing, pay attention, and I’d re-stabilize at the same weight. However, after I turned 50, things went haywire. Since I’ve never really had this issue in my life before, it’s been super frustrating. More so when my doctor (I blogged about this a while back) told me that I basically should just eat 1200 calories, work out more, and “realize” that “this is what happens” when you get older. Harrumph.
But back to migraines. I have “vasodilator” migraines, which means that I have to keep the blood vessels to my brain “constricted” a little bit, which caffeine does. (HERE is a blog post that talks about it.)
This is the opposite of “vasoconstrictor” migraines, where you can not drink coffee, eat chocolate, etc. because they can set off an attack.
“My” kind – also called “halo” migraines because of the sight issue – don’t lead to throwing up, and supposedly our headache is not as awful as the vasoconstrictor migraines.
Personally, I feel that the blindness part makes up for the headache not being so splitting. And my headache is quite bad enough, thank you.
If I have to have migraines, mind you, I also don’t mind the fact that I “have to” drink a cup of coffee or have some dark chocolate every day to ward them off. I’m going the black coffee route, to stay as close to the eating plan as I can.
Anyway – I hadn’t had a migraine in forever – and I did have one after going completely cold turkey as I stated above – so I’m not doing that again.
Some readers mentioned (when I blogged about it before) that perhaps what I was having were caffeine withdrawals. However, since I only was going off of having a cup or two of half-caf a day, and the headache was preceded by that pesky “losing sight” issue, I know what I know.
This happens to me now probably once every couple of years. I decide to “eat healthy” and “go off” things that are purportedly “bad for me” – alcohol, caffeine, etc. – and then WHAM I get a migraine. It’s so silly!
Anyway – so those are my bargains. I’m going to count unsweetened, hot herbal tea and water with lemon in it as “water.” And I am going to have a cup of black coffee a day.
Now it’s just about time to have lunch: for me, that’s going to be a smoothie of greens from the fridge, uncooked oats, and watermelon (bought a big seedless one yesterday, cut it up and froze the pieces…why YES, my freezer is stuffed to the gills!), plus some steak left over from last night.
Snack will be an orange again…Dinner tonight will be a weighed-out 4 ounce 1/2 buffalo 1/2 grass-fed beef burger with tomato and onions on romaine lettuce leaves instead of a bun, an artichoke (no butter/mayo), plus a cup of quinoa. I got the buffalo and beef on Sunday, mixed them together, then took out the scale and weighed out burgers. I kept two out for today, then froze the rest of them to have them ready. (I did mention that packed freezer, didn’t I? 🙂 )
So, it seems like there will be a gang of us starting Pomroy on Monday. Some of you are shy and PM’ing me about it – some of you are right there in the Comments (love you!)
Here’s what I propose – I’d like to put together a Fempower(R) coaching class to motivate you!
This is how we’ll start…
If you’ve read my book or or its workbook (“Companion Playbook”), you know that one of the chapters is on choosing your ‘Bond Girl name.’ If you don’t have the book, go to Amazon (linked to “my book” in the preceding sentence), click on “Look Inside” (it’s at the top right of the book cover – takes a couple of seconds to show up so wait for it), then scroll forward to Chapter 3, and read the “Creating Yourself” section.
So.
If you’re interested in doing a Fempower(R) workshop together, send your numbers from the previous blog post – your hip-to-waist ratio, and your waist-to-height ratio. Or just say if you’re a pear, avocado, or apple, and if you’re in the “over 0.50 danger zone.”
Don’t forget to send me your Bond Grrl name!!
I will then set up a conference call, and we will all call in (using your Bond Grrl name, naturally), and help motivate one another. In your submission, send a little about you and your life, your weight loss journey, etc. to yourcardshark [at] gmail [dot] com. I will post them here in a private file before our Fempower(R) telephone workshop.
Now, mind you, I can’t be sure that this program will work for you! I was just so SHOCKED that it worked for ME, starting about Day 9. I wish that circumstances hadn’t been such that I went off it for the past 16 days while travelling.
More shocking was that my husband of decades mentioned that I had changed.
If you’ve been married for a while you sometimes wonder (with great love, of course) whether your partner sees You any more, or if “you” have become just a consolidation of the things that you do “around” him (or her).
So that’s what I’m suggesting. I’m willing to set up a Fempower(R) tele-workshop on this subject, so we can all help and motivate one another – because, ya know, misery loves company 😉 (JOKE! JOKE! You really won’t be miserable on this eating plan, I swear!)
Love, Solitaire 😉
P.S.: And for those of you who are PM’ers not commenters – get a gmail account that doesn’t reflect your name (reflect your Bond Grrl name instead!!), then comment 😉 No one will know who you are. And, it’s awesome for the other folks to see what’s going on for you, what your frustrations are, etc. It’s actually also really cathartic for you, too. (As this blog obviously indicates, for me!) I can certainly blog about what you’re sending me, but it’d sure be easier if you did it 😉
I’ve had a few folks message me and a couple brave enough to Comment (hi Michelle! Hi Kristen!), so sounds like a few of us will be doing Pomroy together starting on Monday (thank you, Amazon Prime LOL)!
As I blogged about HERE, I am re-starting after having some success, then going off the program while travelling.
I just realized, however, that if you are starting Monday, and getting the book on Sunday, that there is some prep that you might not realize that you will need to do for Monday. So I thought I’d blog a “jump start.” This is going to be a long post, but I hope it will be worth it. (It will be if you’re going to start this on Monday.)
You won’t be able to read the whole book in a day.
You definitely want to read through the whole book for the Whys and Wherefores of all this. Also, the recipes are super good and not that difficult (HERE is the beef jerky one I blogged about – Nom Nom Nom!). But the crux of the whole thing is basically being prepared, food-wise.
When you get the book, go to Kinko’s, and copy some pages. Post them on the fridge.
The photo that I posted on the right shows pages from the book that I copied and put on my fridge. This is enormously helpful. It allows you to cycle through the Phases and know immediately if you can eat whatever you’re about to put into your mouth.
Here is a list of the sheets to copy, and where to find them.
1. Long-Term Weight Loss Goal & Food Portions Sheet: page 105-107. This lists all the food categories you will eat in each of the 3 Phases, and how many ounces or cups a portion is for you. If you have to lose more, you have to eat more. I’m in the 20-40 pound range, so I copied that chart. It makes it easy for me to know how much of a particular food to have (or not!) in a specific Phase.
2. Phase 1 Food List: This is found on pages 52, 77, 78. On page 53 it gives you the protocol for eating in Phase 1, but as it’s just that on the one page, I wrote it onto the bottom of the page 52 copy (saved the extra dime at Kinko’s). I go into this below as well.
3. Phase 2 Food List: Pages 60, 79, 80. Once again, the protocol for eating is on page 61, so I just wrote it on the bottom of page 60. I go into it below anyway.
4. Phase 3 Food List: Pages 68, 69, 80, 81, 82. Because the summary of the foods you can eat goes to 2 pages for Phase 3, the “protocol” is on page 69. (This just means you get to eat more food! It’s a good thing! Worth the extra dime at Kinko’s! 😉 )
Along with the sheets, you’re going to need a food scale.
Look. I know this a pain in the neck. But in all honesty, I found out (a few diet plans ago!) that I was eating too much protein. (Wo)Man up. Get a food scale. I don’t know if there is a Bed, Bath and Beyond near you, but we are constantly getting 20% off coupons from ours. Go there, or get one off Amazon. THIS is the one that I got – it’s easy, efficient, and you really only have to do it for the first few weeks until you get a handle on how much is “X ounces.” (It’s super small too, if you want to carry it with you.) Do it.
However, if the idea of buying a scale makes you throw your hands up in the air and reach for your keyboard to switch to reading something else, then, fine, don’t buy a scale. It’s only to weigh the protein – the rest is all in cups and tablespoons. And if even that freaks you out, fine, guesstimate.
But if you’re really going to do this, all in, then do it right. If it doesn’t work for you, you will be able to 100% say it didn’t work. But if you do this half assed, or even 3/4 assed (I have a big one, that’d be a lot of ass), and then you don’t get results, well, can you really tell if it worked? If you’ve done Weight Watchers, or are in AA, or if you have taken your Level 1 in Crossfit, you know that these very diverse entities are all 100% based upon one thing – accountability and measurement/ keeping track. If you’re religiously logging your Crossfit PRs to the 1/4 of a pound but not willing to weigh your food for a little while until you get the hang of what 6 ounces looks like, hmmmmm.
Remember, I’m widcha, sistah! My stomach actually looks smaller here because my hands are over my head. but it’s depressing enough.
Take your measurements. And a photo or three.
Speaking of keeping track, on page 109 is a chart to take your measurements. I personally took more, because I’m a bit OCD about all this. I used the chart that Dr. Sara Gottfried suggests, which includes taking two belly measurements. I believe I blogged about this when I was doing her program (100% committed, no success). If not, basically take these:
1. Waist and Hips: measure your waist at your belly button, and also one inch ABOVE your belly button. Don’t hold your breath, be sure the tape is parallel to the floor, yadda yadda. Then measure your hips. Calculate the waist-to-hip ratio by dividing the belly-button waist measurement by the hip measurement, to get your “shape.” If it’s 0.80 or less you’re a pear. If 0.81-0.85 you’re an avocado. If over 0.86 you’re an apple. The higher the number, the higher the risk for diabetes, stroke, etc. (I’m an avocado).
2. Height: measure your height as it really is, not as you think it is. 🙂 I measured mine and was quite upset to find out I’ve lost 2 inches somewhere in the past 50 years. Harrumph. Take the “one inch above your belly button” measurement and divide it by your height in inches (or centimeters, whichever you used). If your ratio is 0.50 or higher, it’s in the danger range.
You can take other measurements if you want – BMI, net carbohydrates, pH, blood pressure, blood sugar, steps, sleep, thighs, arms, what-have-you. But the most important will be the two above.
Drink 1/2 your body weight, in ounces of water, a day.
This sucks. I’m not much of a water drinker, and you’re not allowed to “count” herbal tea, water with lemon, etc. Gotta tell you, this is the hardest part for me. A best friend swears by her CamelBak Eddy Water Bottle (pictured above) and so I ordered one. Any port in a storm, bay-bee.
Because I’m not a big water drinker, and I’m an old lady, this means I’m running to the bathroom about every 20 minutes. But I heard an analogy once that works for me, so I will share it with you.
If you’re not a big water drinker, your system is like an old, dried-up sponge. If you run water on it . . . it runs straight off! The sponge isn’t able to absorb anything, because it’s so dried up and crunchy. But if you take your time and put it in a bowl of water, ultimately, it will puff back up and be useful again.
This is like your cells. If you aren’t giving them enough water, it’s not like they will immediately shout Hurray! and take it all in greedily. They’re like the dried-up sponge. So you need to be prepared that it will take a while before they are able to utilize the water that you’re going to be pouring onto them. Until that point – just remember the dried-up sponge (as you’re running for the restroom). Not very pretty, right? That’s what your cells are like.
Persevere. (I type this to remind myself, you realize. I really hate drinking water.)
Prepare your food.
Below, I’m going to give you the basic protocol for each of the three phases. This is not supposed to take place of you buying the book! It’s just for those of you who are waiting on the book, want to start Monday, and need to go shopping.
Phase 1
Here’s the basic deal. On Monday and Tuesday, you will be eating high-glycemic carbs and moderate protein. No fat. You need to eat every three hours, so if you get up early and go to bed late (shame on you . . . you need your sleep!), then you need another snack after dinner. The protocol goes:
Breakfast: Grain/Fruit Snack: Fruit Lunch: Grain/Protein/Fruit/Veggie Snack: Fruit Dinner: Grain/Protein/Veggie
The veggies and fruit are specific in each Phase. But let me give you an idea. Let’s say you aren’t hungry for Breakfast and are running around trying to get your family organized. Make a shake for the “grain/fruit” meal. If you have 20-40 pounds to lose, here’s the recipe for a quick shake:
3/4 cup uncooked steel cut Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats 1-1/2 cups fruit enough water for your blender to blend it. (NOTE: In Phase 1 you can have unsweetened rice milk, so if you’d rather use that instead of water, you can, but you’ll have to subtract those carbs from your oats. And no, NOT soy, almond, coconut, dairy, hemp, cashew, etc. – pay attention, you 😉 )
What? Uncooked steel cut oats in a shake? Uncooked? Yup. It makes it a little “chewy” (nutty?), but it’s FAST and it’s EASY. So as part of your shopping list, you want to get these oats. If you have a gluten-free aisle they’ll be there at your grocery store, or you may have to (wo)man up and go to Whole Paycheck oh I mean Whole Foods. I actually ordered a whole box of them off Amazon.
The interesting thing about this is it also reminds you to “chew” your smoothie. Our bodies don’t understand smoothies as food (instead of drink) unless we “chew” them. This is important! Chew your smoothie. The oats will help.
As for the fruit, go and get frozen fruit from Trader Joe’s or your grocery store.
Fruit that’s on the list for this Phase includes berries, cherries, mangoes, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, watermelon.
Believe me, you can make a delicious shake with frozen fruit, oats, go. Did you know that you can cut up watermelon, freeze it, and it works just fine? I didn’t either 😉 Berries, not so much. Watermelon, yupperoonie.
Et voila, breakfast, done.
For the snack fruit, I happen to like oranges, and they are on the list (as are apples, apricots, grapefruit, pears). You can of course use any of the fruit also mentioned above, but I need a snack fruit that I can carry. Stock up so you’re ready. Again – I’m writing this all out not so that you can short-circuit buying the book, but so you are ready for Monday. You’ll find the food you like to eat once you get the book and buy accordingly, but if you get the book on Sunday and are going to start on Monday, it’s going to be a squeeze to have the right food in your house to be successful. I’m listing the most likely candidates here.
In Phase 1, the difference between Lunch and Dinner is no fruit at Dinner.
The veggies that you can have in Phase 1 include beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery (including tops), cucumber, kale, lettuce (except iceberg), mixed greens, mushrooms, onions, spinach, sweet potatoes/yams, tomatoes, zucchini/squash.
bags of greens in my freezer.
So here’s the deal. I often can’t even really eat a “regular Lunch” because I’m so on the go. As such, I cut up a bunch of the veggies that are on ALL the Phases’ lists (kale, greens, lettuce, cucumber, celery), put them in a plastic bag, and throw them in the freezer. As the amount of veggies is Unlimited (no measuring), I can therefore throw a couple handfuls into the blender with whatever else I’m supposed to eat (fruit/grain in Phase 1), then have a piece of protein (usually chicken breast or deli meat). You can, of course, make an awesome salad but remember – no salad dressing in Phases 1 and 2, though you can use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
Phase 1 protein includes lean ground beef, ground buffalo, lean ground turkey breast, nitrate-free turkey/chicken/roast beef deli meat, pork tenderloin, water-packed solid white tuna. It also includes a bunch of beans (as in chickpeas) that are high in vegetable protein. I’m not much of a bean person, so I am sticking with animal protein.
What about protein powder?
As I said, I sometimes make a shake for Lunch. I almost always make one for Breakfast. The thing about protein powder on this eating plan is that it has to ONLY contain what you are allowed to eat in that particular phase. Since in Phase 1 you’re allowed rice, in my mind, rice protein is fine. But remember, you need to read the can, and the carbs are going to count towards grains, plus you need to have as much of the protein as required in that meal. It’s too much math for me. I personally have used Bulletproof Collagen Protein because it’s all grass-fed protein, but you need to use a ton of it and it’s expensive. So it’s sort of a last resort if you ask me. It’s also whey-based and you’re not supposed to eat dairy, but again, sometimes it’s “any port in a storm.” There are some beef-based protein powders, but I haven’t personally tried any.
Dinner, as you can see above, is veggie/grain/protein. The grains include brown rice (as rice, cereal, crackers, pasta, tortillas), steel-cut oats (you know that already), quinoa, spelt (pasta, pretzels, tortillas), sprouted grain (bread, tortillas), teff, wild rice. So this will likely be similar to what you would “normally” cook for dinner if you’ve been eating Paleo. Just watch the portion size.
I’ve mentioned this before, but if you cook up enough quinoa, or steel-cut oats, or “whatever” for the week on Sunday, you can cut a “slice” of it when you need it and eat it. If you’re not a microwave person (I’m not), then re-heat it in the oven on low or put it in a non-stick pan and “dry fry” it warm.
Phase 2
Phase 2 foods (Wednesday and Thursday) are very high protein, high vegetable, low carbohydrate, low fat. The protocol goes like this: Breakfast: protein/veggies Snack: protein Lunch: protein/veggies Snack: protein Dinner: protein/veggies
I already posted her beef jerky recipe, which is easy and amazing – HERE is that post. Otherwise, you have to snack on things like the aforementioned nitrate-free deli meats, hardboiled egg whites, or just cooked lean beef, pork tenderloin, white meat chicken/turkey, water-packed tuna.
NO VEGETABLE PROTEIN THIS PHASE, NO FRUITS, NO GRAINS, NO FAT.
The veggies in this phase are “liver supporting, alkalizing” greens. So that means leafy greens, onions, garlic, kale, mustard greens, watercress, lettuce, asparagus (no asparagus in Phase 1), cucumbers, etc. There are some things not on this list that were in Phase 1 (carrots, for example). If you freeze up a bag of veg to use for smoothies, there are a lot of greens that overlap, such as lettuce, cabbage, mixed greens, spinach, chard, so stick with those so you can use those greens for all Phases.
This is certainly the most “boring” Phase. If you’ve eaten Paleo for a long time, it’s completely familiar to you, but you have to be careful about the No Fat part.
This is SUPER important, because the idea is that for four days you’re giving your body NO fat but keeping it happy with other things, so it will use YOUR fat for that macronutrient. Then, in Phase 3, you GIVE it fat, just as it’s coming around to realizing that there has been no fat all week and that it might want to start conserving what you have.
Phase 3
Phase 3 is the high healthy fat, moderate carbohydrate, moderate protein, low glycemic fruit phase.
The eating protocol goes like this: Breakfast: fruit, fat/protein, grain, veggie Snack: healthy fat, veggie Lunch: fat/protein, veggie, fruit Snack: healthy fat, veggie Dinner: fat/protein, veggie, grain/starch
Very basically, the veggie portion includes all the veggies from both lists. HOWEVER it also includes avocado.
The fruit portion, however, is basically berries, cherries, grapefruit, peaches (no apples, oranges, pears, etc.).
The protein portion has some additions, like shrimp, scallops, lamb, lobster, fattier pork (chops), dark meat chicken/turkey, crab, whole eggs. (The reason the list matches fat/protein above is because something like a whole egg has not only fat but also protein in one “package.”) You can also use vegetable protein, such as unsweetened almond/cashew milk, or almond/cashew cheese, and lentils.
The grain portion is ONLY steel-cut oats, quinoa, sprouted grain bread/tortillas, wild rice.
The healthy fats include avocado (mentioned above), coconut, coconut milk and coconut water, hummus, raw nuts and raw nut/seed butters, coconut/olive/sesame oil. Remember portion size though – for example, if you want to lose 20-40 pounds, a portion of avocado is 3/4 avocado (I think if you have less to lose it’s 1/2 avocado).
egg muffins – recipe is a bit far down in the blog linked to the left.
So what would, say, a snack look like? Raw nut butter on celery. Or what might breakfast look like? Make your usual steel-cut oats, greens and berry smoothie, then also eat 4 ounces worth of hard-boiled egg. I personally throw raw egg into the smoothies, but I get organic pastured eggs from a local farm. Or maybe you add coconut water and some protein powder (see above) to the smoothie. You get the picture. You could also edit my egg muffin recipe a bit (use turkey bacon!) to have little protein/fat/veg “bombs.”
As a side note, my husband makes Bulletproof Coffee every morning into which he adds a couple egg yolks for extra fat. He was throwing the white (the protein part) away, but I now have him save it into a little bowl that he puts in the fridge. This allows me to use the egg protein. You could theoretically do the same during the week, using only the egg white part for Phases 1 and 2, then save and use the yolks during Phase 3.
I know this is a long post, but I realize that some of you are getting the book on Sunday, with the idea of starting (with me) on Monday. I wanted to be sure that you at least have what you’re going to need for Phase 1, presuming you can shop during the week for Phases 2 and 3. But with this blog you could be ready to roll for the whole week
IMPORTANT: Only Do Phase-Appropriate Exercise.
Also remember that you will:
* only be doing cardio on Monday and Tuesday,
* only heavy weights on Wednesday and Thursday, and
* only EASY stretching/yoga on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
If you’re a Crossfitter like me, this is a big change, since Crossfit tries to include a bit of everything on each training day. Talk to your coach beforehand if it’s important to you that they “know what you’re doing.” Some coaches get sore if you pick and choose what you’re doing. If (like at my Crossfit box) there are lots of folks who are doing bits and pieces of the WOD (or their own thing altogether), then practice your rowing or run repeats on Monday and/or Tuesday, your heavy weights Wednesday and/or Thursday, and then . . . this is hard for me to say . . . don’t go on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Do something else.
Personally, I printed out the Bikram yoga routine, and on Friday, I put on some “tinkly winkly music” (as my husband calls it), went out into my garden, and did the Bikram routine, but in a very calm fashion. We’re re-setting our bodies here, and part of it has to do with lowering stress hormones, etc. Go for a leisurely walk on the weekend – not a killer hike. Relaxxxxx . . .
Our bodies and stress.
Remember – there are only two sorts of stress in “caveman world” – (a) you’re being chased by a tiger, or (b) you’re in famine. Being chased by a tiger includes blood-pumping adrenaline, etc., so if your body perceives that it’s under “stress” of some other kind, the only thing it knows is famine. So it will hold onto all its “precious” body fat . . . no matter how much you have! There’s no “convincing” your body otherwise through “logic.” So for this four week period, do what you’re told. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the exercise portion!
I know this was a long post, but if you’re starting Monday and getting the book on Sunday, I thought I’d better give you a head’s up on what to buy and what to expect. Don’t work out on Monday and go for a new deadlift PR. DO work out on Monday and row your brains out. Prepare that freezer bag of greens. Get your snacks organized.
Quick blog post – and a shout out to Michelle for reminding me to post this!
A few weeks back, I posted that I was going to try the Haylie Pomroy Fast Metabolism Diet (that post is HERE).
So here’s what happened. The first week I didn’t lose any weight/body fat, but I started to feel a lot better. If you didn’t read that post, you eat different food in three Phases during a week (Monday & Tuesday, then Wednesday & Thursday, then Friday, Saturday & Sunday) to address metabolic issues.
By the 10th day though, things had really started to change. My energy was way better and my “stress handling capabilities” (meaning, not crying at the drop of a hat) were also way better. I also have rosacea, and my husband even noticed that the redness around my cheeks was about half what it usually is.
Then, of course, I went off the eating plan.
I didn’t go off because I was bored, or because I was stressed out, or because of any number of other things. I went off because my husband and I purchased a couple of condos out of state that had to be demolished and re-built, and so we went off to do that for a couple weeks.
I actually tried to stay on the eating plan while I was gone, but it’s so tough when you’re not home. Especially not only “not home” but not even close to home. You know how it is – we were working 8-10 hours a day on these condos, running to Home Depot, Lowe’s, back to Home Depot…(you get the idea), gutting, replacing electrical, blah blah blah. It’s not the ideal situation to not, say, have a cocktail and something soothing at the end of the day.
The interesting part, though, was that I actually did stay on the plan in a half-assed way, because it’s quite easy to do that. But the no coffee, no alcohol, no fat on 4 of the 7 days went out the window. Also it’s super hard to do things like make a green smoothie or purchase specific veggies when you’re not on your home turf.
This is just a quick blog post to say that I will be re-starting on Monday. If you’re reading this and looking for an eating plan – I’d really recommend it. As you probably have seen, I’ve worked my way through a number of eating plans in the past few years, but this is the one I’m the most optimistic about. Not only is it pretty easy to do, but I think it will be easy to stick with even after the 4 weeks are up. After that time, you can add back in the things that were disallowed if you want (e.g., soy, corn, dairy, alcohol), and/or go off the “phase eating” all together. But as I saw these past two weeks, I actually think that staying on the eating regime even afterwards will not be that difficult.
So that’s my update – sorry, no photos, but I have about 10,000 emails to answer and I really just wanted to post a quick update, and also give ya’ll notice that if you’re looking for an eating plan, why not join me on Monday???HERE is a link to the book in case you need it.
2018 UPDATE! Use London Broil steak, cut against the grain (e.g., cut parallel to the short end, not the long end). It is WAY less expensive than skirt steak, and works just as well if not better.
Recipe:
1 gallon Ziplock bag
a cookie sheet (must have a lip) or two
a cookie cooling rack or two
aluminum foil (to wrap around the cookie sheet)
For every 1 to 1 1/2 pound meat you need:
1/4 cup tamari (gluten-free and organic is only pennies more . . . hint hint!)
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or onion salt, in which case use garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (see above – if you want to substitute garlic powder, use onion salt – or if you use powder both times, double the salt added below)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or less if you don’t want it spicy)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or less if you don’t like it spicy)
1/4 teaspoon red sumac (a Lebanese spice I use in everything – this is totally optional but if you find it and use it, you’ll be stuck on it too 😉 ).
Start with Skirt Steak.
1-1.5 pound packets of skirt steak
Our local market sells packets of skirt steak in 1-1.5 pound vacuum-sealed packages. These are fantastic, because you can buy a bunch of them at once and freeze them if you’re not going to use them – then when you want some steak, you can take them out of the freezer and throw them right into the sous vide, bringing them up to about 90 degrees “and holding” when you’re at work. (If you don’t have a sous vide, you might want to read my blog HERE.) When you get home, heat up a cast iron skillet super hot, scorch them on each side for a minute or so, voila, done.
But today, these are for jerky.
The photo shows four 1.5ish pound packets. With this recipe, you can double or triple or quadruple or ??? the recipe without any issues. The smallest of the packages in the photograph is just over a pound – the largest is 1.5 pounds. So I’m quadrupling today. Because my butcher’s packages are always about 1 to 1-1/2 pounds, I always figure one package = one “set” of the marinade ingredients listed above.
If you don’t have a market that has these packs, but you do have a market where you can talk to the butcher, just bring him the photo from the blog and say you’d like one of these, please. 😉 It’s not expensive meat – some butchers cut it up to make fajita meat, but it starts like this.
The recipe by and large comes from Haylie Pomroy’s book The Fast Metabolism Diet, which has some great recipes. This one is particularly good.
I started down the Fast Metabolism Diet road last week, and though I haven’t lost any weight, my energy is really good, and I feel great. I blogged about what it entails HERE.
You can use any “meaty meat” – halibut, turkey, buffalo, etc. – but it works particularly well with beef.
My issue with jerky is that it always contains some form of sugar, and/or some sort of preservatives. I’m sure there are jerkies you can order without these, but they’re probably immensely pricey. This recipe is so easy, it’s ridiculous not to make your own.
Cut the steak into 3 strips (against the grain).
skirt steak before cutting (about 3 feet long or so)
The photo at left is what a skirt steak looks like out of the package. I don’t have a “selfie stick” and even at the end of my condor arm I could barely get it all in the picture. It’s like 3 feet of meat.
If there is any obvious fat, trim it off – but this is a very very lean cut of meat.
The fat you see in this picture doesn’t count as “fat” by the way – that’s just “marbling.” You may, however, run into a bit of fat that run all the way through the meat – particularly at the “fat” end of the meat – that’s what you want to cut off. But to give you some idea, I did not have any in all 4 of the steaks that I cut up before writing this blog.
Get your kitchen shears, and cut the strip the “long way” (against the grain). Your steak will be meatier on one end and less so on the other. So that means you’ll have three strips on one end, and usually as you cut, you’ll wind up with only two strips on the other end.
this is the meaty end of the skirt steak – as you can see, I get 3 strips on this side.
I keep these in as long of strips as they go. (Yes, I’m juvenile enough to sort of make a game of it – like trying to peel an orange in one strip of rind.) Sometimes you hit a weak spot in the meat, so that “strip” breaks off – it’s not important. But if you’re using a full skirt steak, you want the width of the strips to be about 1/3 of the strip at the “fat end” or 1/2 of the strip at the “skinny” end. It’s not rocket science, just do your best 😉
marinade ingredients
Mix up all the other ingredients into the Ziplock.
Take the ingredients from the above recipe (multiplied by however much meat you have), and put them into a Ziplock. Take it from me, if you use a Ziplock with the actual “zipper” it’s a LOT easier to turn it upside down and shake it than if you use one that you just “press” together. No need for the excitement of the entire marinade and meat concoction slipping out on the floor when you shake it ‘cos you didn’t quite get the tracks of the bag to match….
A gallon Ziplock will take up to four times the recipe above, if you’re wondering. If you’re doing more than four times the recipe, I would use a couple of Ziplocks, but you only need one up to a quadruple recipe.
Again – the thing I really like about this recipe is that there is nothing sweet in it. Honey, sugar, whatever. And it’s delish. Trust me here.
Shake the marinade to mix it together.
Plop all the meat into the Ziplock.
Once you have all the strips in there with the marinade, seal the Ziplock almost all the way. Then squeeze down on it so that you get all the air out of the top little opening you’ve left.
Then seal it tight.
meat in marinade, all air squeezed out.
Now turn the Ziplock over and over to be sure the marinade gets to all the meat (like I said, this is the exciting part if you aren’t completely sure about your Ziplock zipper…)
Put the Ziplock into the refrigerator overnight (at least 8 hours, but better if it’s overnight).
Whenever you open the refrigerator between then and cooking time, give the Ziplock a few little tosses to move the marinade around on the meat. It will settle on the bottom side, so you want to be sure you let all the pieces get evenly marinaded.
After 8+ hours, drain & discard the marinade.
Squeeze the meat (while still in the Ziplock) to get it pretty dry. The easiest way to do this is to get the bulk of the marinade out first, and then zip the zipper back up most of the way, and squeeze the marinade out the “spout” by rolling it up from the bottom. This is similar to what you did when you were letting the air out to seal it, before putting it in the fridge.
You don’t want to pat the marinade off, but you do want to squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can, because you’re going to be dehydrating that meat, and more liquid = more time.
Take your cookie sheets and wrap them in aluminum foil.
You’ll need about two sheets and two cookie “cooling racks” for about each 3 pounds of meat, give or take.
Because the marinade and fat from the jerky is going to drip onto the aluminum foil, you may want to spray a little coconut oil in between the cookie sheet and the foil. I’m not sure if you have ever had this happen, but sometimes the foil “adheres to” the cookie sheet. So you might want to put a Pam-esque buffer. Personally, I use what are called “baker’s sheets” over my cookie sheets. They are PFOA-free silicone, non-stick, re-usable, and work like a charm. But as most folks don’t have these or do as much in-oven baking/roasting as I do, I am using aluminum foil in this recipe.
Put the cookie cooling racks on top of the aluminum foil, with their “feet” folded in.
If your sheets and racks are the same size as my sheets and racks, the racks will fit inside the lip of the sheet with a pretty good amount of room to spare. That will come up in a second.
If you’re only doing 1x of the recipe (silly you, you’re going to eat all that jerky before anyone gets home . . . 🙂 ) then you can likely use one sheet, or use two and leave more room between the pieces.
one rack, set up – about 2 to 2-1/2 lbs.
Put the meat on the racks, cutting it to size as you go. It can be close together, but shouldn’t overlap.
Although the recipe I used stated that you have to have the meat strips 1/4″ apart, they shrink up a LOT. So, I snuggled them up close, and as I checked the jerky, I was able to move them farther apart as they shrank. If you leave the strips long, be sure to tuck the ends down into the pan, so that they drip into the pan (not onto the bottom of the oven). That said – I’d still put down aluminum foil in the oven anyway, just in case. 😉
Remember I mentioned the space between the rack and the sheet? I personally actually laid a couple strips along the “long side” of the sheet (between the sheet and the rack) and then another along the “short side.” The jerky drips a LOT as it’s dehydrating, but that basically means that about 1/2 way through, you’ll be able to move those strips up to the rack and out of the drippings.
As you can probably tell, I’m not too fussy of a cook 😉 I just wanted to be sure that you knew that everything came out just fine when I did things this way. I wasn’t interested in doing two batches, because that’s a lot of time. So I made it work. Also, to give you an idea, I’m doing 4x the recipe this time around (I did 3x last time), and I’m still going to use the same setup. They really do shrink up a lot as they cook.
Bake the strips uncovered at 200 degrees for about 3 hours.
At three hours, you want your oven timer to go off so you can check on them. If you have two pans of strips, this is the time to swap the bottom pan for the top pan. It’s also time to re-arrange the strips as you may need. You can taste one, but they’re not going to be close.
4x the recipe in the oven, so about 4 to 5 pounds of meat.
If you have some other situation – more strips down the sides/off the rack or some such, you’re going to need to get them up on the rack as soon as you can. So you might be checking more than just once at 3 hours and once when “nearly done.” But this is what I did. At 3 hours they had shrunk in enough for me to get all the strips that were off the rack onto the rack, plus I was able to re-arrange them to allow a bit more room between all the strips.
Bake the strips for about another 3 hours.
I say “about” because I have a convection oven, and mine were done at 6 hours total. If you don’t have a convection oven, I think it’s going to be more like 7 hours. Leave the temperature the same, don’t cover them . . . just do what you just did, and come back 3 hours later and check on them.
You’ll know they are done when the meat is dry and leathery. And you can’t stop eating it.
Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating or freezing in an airtight container. (I just took the cookie cooling racks off the pans and set them aside until the jerky was cold.)
If, that is, you can make it that far, and don’t eat them all as you’re waiting for them to cool. 😉 .
On this Haylie Pomroy eating plan, the first two days are basically fruit/veg/grains/some protein, then the next two are strictly veg/protein (with protein as the snacks – enter the jerky), then the last three days are a lot more relaxed with fruit/veg/protein/grains.
I made the jerky on the first of the middle two days, and actually weighed out how much 3 ounces was, to be sure I got the snack portion right. Yeah . . . then I weighed out 6 ounces, to get the lunch portion right . . . and another 3 ounces for the next snack . . .
leftovers from last week. NomNomNom 😉 I think I have to have one…And YES, this is all that’s left of 3x the recipe 🙂
It’s very addictive, and so easy to make!
By the way, the aluminum foil is going to be coated with a thick mixture of hardened on marinade, fat, etc. While the jerky is cooling, get that off the cookie sheet and throw it away. (As I use baker’s sheets, I just hit them with super hot water and this slides right off, then I pat the sheet dry, and hang it to use for the next roasting/baking extravaganza 😉 ) If you have a dog or animal that might go through your trash, I recommend crumpling it up into a ball and zipping it into the Ziplock that you marinated the meat in. It’s harder to smell that way 😉
Any questions…?
And..speaking of recipes…tonight is roasted chicken night – if you didn’t catch it last time, HERE is the recipe for the easiest and best roast chicken in the Universe 😉
Whenever I think about my rapidly expanding lower body self, I seem to hum this song. (Perhaps because I have an ever-expanding “bass,” and very little “treble”…Why can’t fat go where you want it?) As I’m typing this blog, I’m humming this song. So I thought I’d share a little earworm with ya.
That done…
When we last left our heroine, she was lamenting the fact that no eating plans seem to work . . .
The end of last week, I saw my chiropractor and my doctor. My doctor prescribed something for the hip/glute/back issue that I’ve been having, that addresses sciatica. Now, if you want to immediately feel ancient, just let someone tell you that you have sciatica. I think it’s right up there with gout and cataracts. He asked if any pain meds had helped, which they had not. He said that sciatica is a nerve issue, not a muscle issue – and that if anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen) weren’t working, then it’s unlikely to be a muscle thing as I have imagined it to be for the 5-6 weeks I’ve been suffering from it – and addressing it with my chiropractor and my fascia guy.
He had basically nothing to say about the weight issue, though there is apparently a program through my insurance company where the co-pay is $4,000 (yes, you read that right), and it’s all based on eating pre-packaged food and shakes that they give you, and coming in every week and logging everything you eat and do. Um, no thanks. He did remind me I need to drop “what looks like around 30 pounds.” Yup, gotcha. Thanks, buddy.
Then I had an appointment with my chiropractor. I told them that I had been prescribed this med. They still thought that the pain was more likely a disc thing than sciatica. (Note: As I write this, the issue has really gone down to a dull roar, so I may actually have sciatica, as the drug seems to have worked.)
However, they had a lot to say about the eating stuff.
We talked about the fact that intermittent fasting and also the high fat diets a la the Bulletproof Protocol don’t seem to work for some women. As a Commenter to my blog even stated in my last post, Dave Asprey has even addressed this. I discussed that I’d done Dukan a few times and that the weight definitely came off – but then when I started to “eat normally again” it came right back.
I mentioned that I’d just finished a month doing the Dr. Sara Gottfried “Hormone Reset” eating plan, and hadn’t seen any changes. It’s possible that this is because all the foods she has women “get off of” in a tiered fashion are foods I already don’t eat (grains, fruit, sugar/sugar substitutes, dairy, alcohol, etc.); the only thing that I gave up that I eat a fair bit of is four-footed animals. (The protein in her plan comes from seafood, birds, beans.)
So the Haylie Pomroy “Fast Metabolism” eating plan was brought up. I’d never heard of it. It’s a lot different than any of the other programs I have tried, and really different than the way we eat, which is basically Primal. For the difference between Paleo, Primal, etc. see #4 in this blog post.
Because of the Bulletproof protocol and also Gottfried, I haven’t had fruit in like three months (actually, maybe more).
In contrast, the Pomroy protocol has fruit in two of the three “Phases” that you do over 4 weeks, Each week, days 1 and 2 you eat no fat, lean protein, and then a crapload of carbs (including grains)/fruits, days 3 and 4 you eat basically your standard Paleo/Primal green (alkalizing) veggies and protein, then days 5, 6 and 7 you eat fat, some fruit (more along the berry variety), lots of veggies, protein. There’s more to it than that – some veggies are “off limits” at some times and not at others – no wheat, no corn, no soy, blah blah. But that’s the basics.
The idea behind this protocol is to address a stalled metabolism.
The first couple days are supposed to “soothe” your adrenals by giving them a ton of carbs, which they apparently like. It’s as if you are telling your body: “You have plenty of food, it’s all going to be okay.” Then the next couple days are mobilizing your fat. So over these 4 days, your body is burning your fat when it goes looking for “fat” – but not the energy that’s stored in your muscles (sugar), because it has plenty of that in what you’re eating. Then, the last three days you do eat fat, just as your body is thinking “Wait a second…There hasn’t been any fat here…we’re going to slow down the metabolism and hold onto the fat that we have, something is up.” So, it’s kinda like the whole “muscle confusion” thing, but with food.
As it is 100% different than anything I’ve done in the last year, I thought – what the heck – why not? So today was Day 1, Phase 1.
Breakfast is 3/4 cup (uncooked) of any grain on the list, and 1-1/2 cups of fruit that’s on the list. I had gluten-free slow-cooked oatmeal plus 1-1/2 cups of sour cherries. Can I tell you how much oatmeal 3/4 cup uncooked comes out to? Holy oats, Batgirl, it is a lot, a whole lot of oatmeal! (Bob’s Red Mill makes a steel cut, gluten-free oatmeal that I used.)
As with all these eating plans, you have to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water daily as well – but she doesn’t let you count like water with lemon in it or herbal tea. This is an issue for me, because I hate drinking water. I perpetually forget to do it. So I filled up the biggest pitcher that I had (and it was still not big enough…) and the plan is to down it plus another few cups every day.
You are required to eat every 3-4 hours, because, as she puts it, “If you don’t, you are eating – your body is just eating your muscles.” #NomNomNom.
So snack was an orange. (It’s fruit from the list)
Then lunch is right now, and hello….this is WAY too much food. I’m having trouble eating all of this. I mean – !!!
(The interesting part, though, was that I was really hungry before lunch . . . since upping the fat I eat, I haven’t been hungry in forever. I was stomach-snarling hungry.)
Lunch is 3/4 cup (uncooked) grain, 3-4 cups veggies, 5 oz. lean protein, 1-1/2 cups fruit – all from the list. I made all the oatmeal last night, so for any meal with a “grain” I just need to cut a “slab” of it out of the casserole dish. I had it with peaches this time. Plus 1/2 of a 1/2 of a chicken breast (5 oz – big chicken), plus about 2 cups of broccoli, both from last night’s dinner. I can’t finish. It’s supposed to be more broccoli, and I just can’t do it.
Another snack (fruit) will be in 3 hours – if I’ve finished lunch by that time, mind you. (I’m trying.)
Then dinner is the same as lunch, minus the fruit. The plan is to do pork tenderloin, broccoli, maybe quinoa or rice.
You also do exercise that’s phase-specific.
Phase 1 you do Cardio at least 1 of the days.
Phase 2 Lifting at least 1 of the days.
Phase 3 Yoga at least one of the days.
We’ll see how this one goes . . . It’s sure different than anything I’ve ever done.
My Amazing Race partner and I haven’t heard anything, and the CBS rep had said that we’d hear “Monday or Tuesday” if we were chosen to go on to the next step in L.A. So, unlikely.
Both of us were distressed at “where we are,” body-wise, compared to where we’ve “been.” We talked a lot about this when sitting on line (I mean, if you get there at 4 a.m., you have 5 hours ’til the doors open, and not all of it can be spent practicing your “schpiel”!)
I was told by my doctor that doing the Lavaman triathlon then 5 marathons in a row in a year (it was an accident . . . ), I screwed up my hormones. My TAR partner believes that doing the Ironman screwed up hers. She has done Lavaman (with me) and a few “fun runs” and the back half of the Nike Women’s Marathon with me since, but she feels that, post-Ironman, it’s been a lot harder for her to lose weight, etc.
us at Lavaman in 2012
And – let’s get it straight here – that was all now a couple years ago.
I am also battling a hip/back thing that’s been going on for like 5-6 weeks now. I’ve seen my fascia guy, my chiropractor, and yesterday I saw my doctor. He put me on a drug for sciatica, but I am pretty sure that’s not the issue. It’s frustrating and so I haven’t really done Crossfit or much of anything for that time, since every time I do, it aggravates the issue.
Back to weight. I’m precisely 30 pounds overweight now, and can’t address it at all. My body fat percentage is over 30%, and my “waist to hip” ratio is 84, so very fast approaching “apple” … already “graduated” from “pear” to “avocado” and of course, the rounder you are (the higher your “waist to hip ratio”) the more toxic fat you’re carrying. My waist to height is 46.4, up 1.4 inches since I started the Dr. Sara Gottfried Hormone Reset Diet now 21 days ago.
Yup, another “eating plan” a/k/a diet. These aren’t “cabbage soup” diets, these eating plans/diets make sense to me. This one goes for 21 days – every 3 days, you cut another “thing” out of your diet. It’s based on how long it takes to reset the hormone that you’re addressing. So, at the beginning, you quit alcohol and eating “four footed animals.” This addresses estrogen. Then 3 days later you quit eating sugar/sugar substitutes (except stevia) – and stay with the no alcohol/meat. It goes through subtracting fruit (including nightshades), then caffeine, then grains, then dairy, then “toxins” (shampoo, makeup, etc.)
I wasn’t drinking that much alcohol anyway – some champagne on Friday nights with my husband. The “four footed animals” was a little difficult because we eat a lot of beef and pork, though I diligently swapped out my recipes for turkey, chicken, and shellfish (I am allergic to fish-fish). Sugar/sugar substitutes was no big deal because I don’t eat any. Same with fruit. These are remainders from doing the “Bulletproof” Diet earlier this year, again, trying to address my burgeoning tummy. Caffeine wasn’t that big of a deal to give up. Though as we have Bulletproof coffee in the morning, I swapped to decaf (it’s only 2 cups a day), then used ghee instead of butter. I don’t eat grains. I don’t use toxins.
Moddie and I did measurements yesterday, and my waist at 1″ below my belly button, as well as at my belly button, is up an inch after the 21 Day thing.
I stopped doing “metcons” at Crossfit months and months ago, when it was recommended that they were potentially affecting my hormones. I’m not sure what to do from here. The only thing I know how to do is eat immensely clean, and work out. And sleep. (I sleep like the dead.) The thing is, the working out I know how to do to address weight is running, or potentially cycling or swimming. Because of the hip/back issue, I haven’t really been doing Crossfit for the last while, as I said – and I know I need to get recommitted to that. But running hurts my back.
Moddie and I are going to check out Pelo – a new spin class that’s scientifically based on perceived exertion that is actually quantified via bikes on the computers. As if I can afford this, when I’m paying close to $400 for Crossfit, but I just don’t know what to do.
stomach actually looks smaller here because my hands are over my head. but it’s depressing enough.
We’re going to Hawaii in a few weeks, because my husband needs a break. I put on a bathing suit yesterday and just cried. Why is this happening to me?!?! I work so, so hard. I eat completely clean, and my calorie intake is around 1600/day. I sleep well. When I tell folks about the inability to lose weight, they say that it “must” be “muscle gain.” Nope – my fat percentage isn’t budging from 30%.
I feel like this is penance for having been so “easily slim” through my 30s. My legs are so fat that the only place they don’t touch is a tiny window between my ankle bones and mid-shin.
Of course the “evil twin” in me wants to just give up. Have a donut. Have a glass of wine. I feel completely deprived – tell myself that if I can lose one percentage of body fat or even (though of course scales aren’t reliable), 5 pounds, I can have, like, an orange. But no. So the regime continues, lemon/turmeric/ginger hot water in the morning, Bulletproof coffee, “snack” of 1 cup of chia seeds soaked in almond milk and coconut milk (‘pudding’), lunch of the previous day’s dinner, dinner of about a pound of vegetables (yes, really) – plus chicken, turkey, or shellfish – all eaten within about a 6 hour period. No starchy vegetables – standards are zucchini, brussels sprouts, kale, chard, Southern greens, squash (various kinds), salad greens (no tomatoes/bell peppers because of the nightshade issue), onions. Yup, pretty boring. Logging everything (again) in MyFitnessPal.
So, that’s my pity blog post for the day.
And…sigh…we took photos yesterday. So, here they are. Sure, we’re not Biggest Loser material, but this is not healthy….In fact, since my hands are on my head, my belly looks better than it usually does (it’s “pulled up” by my hands being on my head – it usually sags down over my beltline).
Yup . . . I also did a video submission. As I mentioned in the last blog post, Jamie Fellrath and I do the podcast for the BeingJamesBond.com website – but we’ve never met in person. So we did a Skype video, hoping to play on the fact that Amazing Race is doing a #BlindDate trial this Season, plus, the new James Bond film, SPECTRE, will be coming out right around when the actual filmed season of Amazing Race would be aired.
Let me know what you think! 🙂
Oh, and yes, yes, we know that we should really be #TeamVenetianBlinds…shut up 😉
P.S. – the video doesn’t show on the email feed, but if you pull it up you can see it on the website. Sorry – something technical goin’ on . . .
The Amazing Race came to San Francisco to do in-person tryouts today. I read obsessively what I could about the intakes on various blogs, and peppered my cousin Christopher (who has tried out for Amazing Race 2x and Survivor 2x) with a ton of email questions. (As a side note, I also did a submission on video with my friend Jamie – we do the BeingJamesBond.com podcast together – but this was an in-person one.)
If you want to know what happens…
The problem with the blogs that I read is that they didn’t go into a lot of detail. Being a Virgo, lawyer, Year of the Ox, I wanted to know the “nitty gritty.” So that’s what I’m going to cover here.
Get there early.
We decided not to camp overnight, but, as the “intake” was from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., we decided to arrive at 4:00 a.m. We were Team 37 – in other words, there were 36 teams in front of us, the bulk of whom had spent the night. I don’t think it’s a requirement to spend the night, but you really need to get there early. If they do another one in S.F. and you’re driving, your best bet (for cheapest parking) is to drop your teammate off at the line at the store – which is just off Union Square on Post Street – then drive back to Stockton/Sutter garage. Parking was only about $10.00 from 4:00 a.m. to about 11:00 a.m. (which is when we got back to the garage).
If you want to stick around to the end, my cousin told me that they will give you the dates and places for Survivor and Big Brother auditions. I wasn’t interested in either one, though Moddie was . . . but after our camera time, we didn’t want to stick around for another four hours!
Moddie and the line in front of us at 4 a.m.
Bring chairs and a blanket.
I sort of imagined that this went without saying, but find someone who has a set of camping chairs, and borrow them. Bring a blanket, and wear a puffer jacket. It was warm once we emerged from the taping, but it’s not warm when you’re sitting around for hours, and certainly not if you have to sit on the cement. (There was a couple up at the front – who had camped over – they even had a kerosene heater!)
Know where bathrooms are!
This might make you laugh, but we’re two nervous (I mean “excited”!) gals in our “mid-years” (um, that is if I live to over 100…) and so knowing this critical bit of information was very important to us! In the Marmot location, you can go up one block (up Kearny) and then left 3 blocks (Stockton/Sutter parking) and you will be at the Hyatt Hotel. Walk in, head left between the elevators, then go downstairs to the bathrooms. Don’t ask, because they have people walk in off the street all the time and will try to dissuade you from using their bathrooms, but if you act like you know what you’re doing, they won’t stop you.
Also, the Starbucks at the corner of Stockton/Sutter (across from the garage) opens at around 4:30-5:00 a.m. After I had dropped Moddie off and parked the car, they were just getting ready to open when I walked past. This Starbucks opens at least an hour/hour and a half before any of the other Starbucks that are closer to Marmot. If you want coffee/Starbucks treats before about 6:00 a.m., go there, but they’re pretty eagle-eyed about who uses their bathroom (as they should be, since they’re right on Union Square). The Hyatt is directly across the street from them – as per the above, use the Hyatt for the bathroom. You can tag-team the bathroom breaks with your team mate, or, as you will be surrounded by a ton of super-nice people, they’ll hold your spot too.
Make friends in line…
This might be the best people-watching on the planet. Here’s hundreds of folks who theoretically are “just like you,” as they are trying to get on The Amazing Race. Except, of course, for the guy with the unicorn horn. (Yes, really.) But seriously – get to know the folks you’re sitting around. They’ll watch your spot if both of you need to “go to the Hyatt” (how’s that for a new euphemism?) at the same time – and it’s really fun to find out what everyone’s “schtick” is. The gals behind us were both named Julia, both were first generation Americans – one born in Russia, one in China, both came over at age 3 – they had been competitors in Academic Decathalon from rival high schools and then both wound up at Harvard together. In the student “intake” on their first day, China-Julia recognized Russia-Julia, and they became fast friends after China-Julia reminded Russia-Julia (who hadn’t recognized China-Julia) that they had detested each other as rival Decathletes in high school! China-Julia is now an M.D./Ph.D. and Russia-Julia an economist – they are still big pals.
As for making friends…Remember – if you don’t get on The Amazing Race – how great would it be to cheer on someone that you were sitting with at 4 in the morning, like #TeamJuliaAndJulia/#TeamNerdyGirls/#TeamAmericanDream 😉 ???
. . . and don’t block the doors of the other merchants.
Make sure that you don’t block the doors of the merchants next door to Marmot. Where we were in line, there was a bank that had a Peet’s Coffee/cafe on their bottom level, so quite a large door “opening” (two swinging doors next to one another, glass panels to the left, center, and right). NOTE: This cafe does not open on weekends – you will have about 1,000 people come and try the door! Once Marmot actually opened up, the first thing they did was sweep through the line and “crowd you” forward or back to make passage for the doorways you were basically blocking. If you’re against a wall when you first arrive – great. If not, just leave the space in the doorway, and put your chairs on the other side of it. No one is going to cut in front of you – greet the folks in line in front of you, and point to them that you’ll be “on the other side of the door.” Because our “doorway” was so large (not just a single merchant door), it was super hectic to try to clear this area. I’d say there were at least 8 teams, all of us in front of that bank/cafe front. So when the staff came out and made us “clear it,” we had to push folks back and around the corner and make the people who had actually camped out (way in front of us – probably the first 10 teams) pick up their tents/bags/etc. so that we could squash out of the doorway. If you wind up in this situation – don’t say I didn’t warn you 😉
Funny side note – if you’re not right at the store door, you will have a lot of teams ask you which direction the “front of the line” is. We always gestured around the corner, though the guy in the team in front of us, after our tenth time doing this, pointed way up Kearny (perpendicular street) and said “It’s way, way up there…blocks away.” We all got a huge laugh out of that – not so much the team that was asking, of course 😉 #5amLaughs…
Practice, practice, practice.
Don’t decide that you’re going to “just wing it.” It doesn’t work. There are another 299 teams there, and each of you is vying for what one of the CBS folks told us was going to be 1-5 spots that would move on to the next interview, in L.A. That’s where they do the physical/psychological stuff, background check, etc. So, your job is to get to L.A.
You need to practice it enough so that it doesn’t look scripted – you do need to look natural, which takes effort if you don’t have a clue what you’re going to say and you’re staring like a doe in the headlights into a camera with a producer watching you.
In general, they want to know two things. What your story is, and “why you.” Will you make it in the tough times? Show some drama? Persevere? That’s the first part. When I was scripting, this, to me, was the “how will you keep the current audience engaged” portion of the talk. They also want to know that you actually watch The Amazing Race (some of the folks there had never seen it – !!), so if you can, throw a few references in.
The second thing that they’re looking for is how you might bring them “new blood.” What is going to be new and different about you, that will bring them publicity, advertising revenue, more viewers? How might you appeal to people that aren’t already watching?
They’re also all about the social media links, too. So do yourself a favor, and be sure that you give yourself a “hashtag.” You’re telling them immediately what your “thing” is. #MilitaryMoms ? #SweetScientists ? #RollerGirls ? You get the idea. This takes a bit longer than you might think, so take some time and prepare a good one.
You will get about a minute in front of the camera.
Since Moddie is more a “wingin’ it” type (and she’s had a very hectic schedule recently, with school, relationship stuff, finding a new job, etc.), I “scripted” out our “schpiel.” The blogs I initially read said that you got three minutes (that is also what you get if you submit a video). So when we were actually practicing on the first day Moddie could make it (the Thursday before the Saturday intake), that’s what we used as our timing.
Kat, the daughter of a friend of mine (with whom I do archery) has studied rhetoric, so once I got “out of my system” what I thought we should say, she helped me deconstruct it, then “build” it into a persuasive three minute script. She practiced it with me for days, added “memory hooks,” and we rounded the rough edges. Then, when Moddie was able to join us a couple days before the intake day, we practiced and practiced and practiced in front of Kat, making sure that the words we were “giving her” fit in her mouth. Kat edited the script on the computer as we tweaked it, and told us what seemed to be working and what was too long or fell flat once the two of us were actually “delivering” the talk.
Once we got comfortable with the three minute talk….I started getting the emails from my cousin Christopher. He said it was “no more than about a minute or maybe a minute and a half.” So we had to regroup, and cut 2/3s of it out! We then practiced just the “most important stuff,” getting it down to a minute. This gave us the ability to be “ready” if it really was only one minute, but also the ability to “fill in” if it was more than a minute, with things from the three minute version.
Dress alike!
Moddie and I wore our Team In Training Ironteam jackets, jerseys, black running skirts, black running capris, and matching purple compression socks. We carried backpacks with Nalgene bottles on them. We were shocked at how many people were not dressed alike. This is like the “don’t wing it” thing – as Roy Rogers said, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Don’t blow it.
Our “schtick” included the fact that we are dichotomous. I have a ton of degrees…Moddie is way more physical than I am…I’m over 6 feet, she’s just 5 feet…she’s “tan” I’m “working on my tan…” You get the picture. Since that was part of our “thing,” I had my ever-suffering hair stylist Donna Beaumonte (best hair stylist ever!) make me super blonde and give me super straight hair on Friday. (My husband didn’t recognize me – it was hilarious.) Moddie had her hair braided with “Afro-puffs” at the bottom of the braids. So while we were dressed exactly alike, we played up our differences as that was part of our story.
Stay focused. Be appreciative.
The producer that you’re assigned to is going to make his/her decision in the first few seconds of your taping – they just use the actual video for backup. As it was described in another blog that I read (by a guy who made it onto The Amazing Race years ago, and after his five years of “non-disclosure” revealed what happened to him), each producer picks their top choices from the teams they see, then the videos are used to winnow it down to a handful. At each location, there are from 3 to 6 producer/camera “booths” – so you can do the math from there as to how many teams will be seen in an intake.
In some locations, there is an “assistant producer” that is with each producer, but in our case, there was just one “assistant producer/helper” at the door to the room where all the camera/producer couples were, and we were ushered in three teams at a time. Remember that these folks do this for a living, so be respectful (they are happy you’re there, but not as over-the-top as you are)…but also of course be excited. Thank everyone that you see! You’ll be one of the few!
It’s Almost Show Time…
lucky number 37 . . .
At about 8:00 a.m. (remember, doors opened at 9:00), Marmot staff went through the line and handed out 300 slips of paper. They say your place number, and then you print both your names on the sheet. They want your full name. Make best friends for life in line, and bring pens with you for the folks in your area that don’t have pens. (They didn’t have any that they handed out.) In our case, if you were around the corner in Maiden Lane, you got “provisional” or standby sheets, that were still numbered (301, 302, etc.) Once you had your sheet, you can get out of line and walk around, etc. As they said, “…this is like Southwest Airlines…” – once you have your number, you can do whatever you want, but be back by 8:45 a.m. to line up.
We bundled up our camping chairs, puffer jackets, blankets, etc. – basically everything except what we needed for our time in front of the camera – and took them back to the car, had some “Hyatt time” (that was funny – there were a TON of gals there, all for the tryouts), then went back in line.
Oh – and – be sure to print out the video waiver online, and bring it with you. There will be a one page video waiver linked to the page describing the actual intake (ours was on the webpage of our CBS affiliate, KPIX, as well as on the Marmot S.F. webpage). It is not the waiver and intake information on the Amazing Race website – that’s for folks submitting videos for their submissions, not showing up in person. If you don’t print the waiver, they will hand out more when you’re in line, but, again, no pens 😉
The doors open…
They will line you up in “Southwest Airlines” style, against the gutter side of the sidewalk to keep the walkway clear. This is when the dry mouth starts 😉 From our position (Lucky #37), it was hard to figure out what was happening. So this is what happens.
They will usher you in a few teams at a time.
waiver table, just inside the front door
As you step in the door, there is a table where they have a clipboard (there, there’s pens!) You will print both your names, one email, and one phone number, and hand in your waiver forms. In line, we were trying to figure out how they would know to contact us if they liked us – since the number that we’d received just had our printed names on it, and the waivers just had our signature. This is how they know how to contact you if they like you. Print clearly!
As I mentioned – be friendly! The person collecting the waiver is likely the first CBS person that you will see. The folks outside were Marmot staff. Another thing that you should certainly consider is “friending” your filming locale, your CBS affiliate, and Amazing Race on Facebook and knowing their Instagram and Twitter handles, plus the hashtag that they’re using for the day. That way, when you take photos in line, etc. you can immediately post them and give them some love. 😉 Marmot was giving out bottles, car coffee “Go cups,” coupons, little stuffed marmots (!), etc. but only if you answered the questions that they were posting on Twitter, on Twitter, using your Team number. Remember – they’re doing this to get traffic into their store and online!
Now, you wait, but not for long.
After you turn in your waiver, there is a line from the waiver table towards the back of the store, where there is another table and a door down to the three camera set-ups. (That room wouldn’t hold any more, so if you are reading this and heading to Marmot S.F., that’s what you’ll get!). They are going to take you three teams at a time. Just like lining up at Disneyland, you can’t really tell until you are closer to the door that leads to the camera room who is going to be your “other two” teams. You can figure it out once they’re about two sets of teams away from you – obviously – just count by three (or, six, if you are counting heads).
In Marmot S.F., you go through that back door, they take you downstairs, around a corner, into a hallway, and then there is an Associate Producer at the doorway, and you will see the teams that were in front of you in that room doing their “thing.”
my Amazing Race Flag nails. Hard to see the thumb and pinkie are glitter yellow 😉
A little commercial break…
When we were in line, we really had fun with the folks in front of us (a married couple, met playing soccer, both work in hospitals) and the two sets of folks behind us (#TeamJuliaAndJulia and a guy team that we thought were a couple, but actually had been friends from high school). We got nervous together, practiced a bit together, etc. (That part was funny – at first you’re all being secretive, then I – yeah, me and my big mouth – said loudly to Moddie: “Um, as if we’re all going to steal each other’s stories??” – which got a big laugh. After that, we sort of listened and helped those folks that were in our surrounding area – which was great.) Anyway – so as the 4 of us teams got toward the back of the store, Marmot turned on its sound system. It was super loud – we must have been standing under a speaker. The first song that belted out into the previously silent store was Billy Jean by Michael Jackson. We all started dancing and singing to it (at the top of our lungs), because it was so loud! It was a great “tension breaker,” especially the high notes in the chorus. None of us had a particularly tuneful rendition! The Marmot and CBS staff around us were laughing hard at us. Right before the final “…Billy Jean was not my lover…” I shouted out “Now, in GERMAN!” and everyone down the line broke up. It was great to breathe and all of us in that area (and the folks smiling at us down the line and the staff) could feel the tension dissipate.
…down and around the corner!
As I said, once it was our turn, they took us into a hallway, down some stairs, into another hallway, and then we had to wait at an open door into the room where they were filming. We were the third team of our set of three, though they were actually shuttling people in basically one at a time, as the people in the room didn’t all finish together. There were three camera set ups – one right in front of the door so you could see the team being interviewed, then two out of sight. The team that was at the camera at the door was a fireman pair. As we walked up, they “got the hook” – the producer said to them, as they were in the middle of telling their story, “That’s time, gentlemen.” They were a little shell-shocked. As teams had been coming out when we were waiting up in the store, I had buttonholed a number of them and asked how much time they got, and they all said “about a minute and a half, give or take.” But after seeing the firemen “get the hook” as it were, I knew that I wanted to stay “conservative” on our timing.
The timing was somewhat up to me – as I mentioned, we had cut our “schpiel” into a 50 second bite, then we had about a half a minute from the best bits of the three minute “schpiel” we’d scripted that we inserted for another half minute or so, then we had a sign-off 10 seconds from the original 1 minute. We had been told by my cousin that you would get a 5-10 second “warning” if you were coming up against your time deadline, so I practiced that final “hook” and had a 5 second and 10 second version. We never got the warning, so we were within our time, which was great. Maybe we could have added one more “example” to our story, but I’m glad, frankly, that we didn’t, because we both feel that we did a great job.
…we’re ready when you are…
Our producer was a wonderful, perky, super nice gal. We were at one of the back two camera stations, which was great – it felt very cosy back there, and no one could “watch us” from the line.
While, in my cousin Christopher’s case, they had to wait for the red light on the camera – and he cautioned that you need to wait for the cue to go, because if you don’t, they aren’t taping the beginning of your “schtick” – our producer said: “Camera’s on, start when you like. I can ask you questions, or just do your thing.”
photo after we were done. Note my “graduation scalps,” and Moddie’s belt indicating she’s a “do-er,” plus the map of course and the bundle of cash!
I’ll put what we said and what we did, basically word for word, next. Because that was the thing that I didn’t find in any other blogs, and I was super curious to know what other people did. In our case, I had purchased an Amazing Race “mat” from the CBS.com store, and that was a huge hit. My cousin Christopher had said that if you can get the producer to smile or laugh or look like she’s engaged, you’ve won the battle. We unrolled the mat when we were in the “Southwest Airlines” line (I don’t know why we were keeping it such a secret up to that point – as if someone could get one at 4 a.m. the day of…) and it got a visible “ripple response” in the waiting line. In fact, one of the Marmot guys took our photo with our number, the mat, etc. and they posted it on their Facebook page.
There is nowhere to put down “stuff.”
I was super duper glad that we’d taken the time to get the camping chairs, blankets, etc. to the car and “suited up” there. Because it was “cramped quarters” in the filming room, with just the space that you were going to stand. If we had done what we were ready to do – bring in the camping chairs, put the blankets and puffer jackets into a folded-up Costco bag we had – I’m really not sure what we would have done with them. I suppose that we could have left them out in the hallway where you stand before you go into the camera room. Just know that when you’re walking into that room (if you do the filming at Marmot), it’s a tiny, tiny space – so if you do have things that you don’t need as “props,” leave them in the hallway.
camera 3 – where we stood against the racks
In our case, we were actually backed up against a rack of Marmot clothing (this area is obviously usually a store room). When we were finished and trying to gather our stuff up and get out, Moddie kept backing into and then hanging back up the clothes on the hangers. I quipped to the producer that we were “obviously just trying to get more camera time.” She just shook her head with a big smile on her face (as Moddie knocked another outfit to the floor… LOL!)
Try to have 3D – not 2D – props.
Some people in line had posters with photos on them, things like that. I actually know from previous work in front of a TV camera (I was on TV a number of times for my book) that it is impossible to see things like this. If it’s so important that you really honestly need it as part of your story, do up each photo BIG – like, bigger than 8-1/2 x 11. Make sure that you also have it glued down onto something sturdy, because if it’s just on a sheet, it’s going to flop around and look unprofessional. Also, make sure that they are matte finish – glossy will reflect light and you will not see them on camera. We were originally going to have photos as well – us each finishing the Ironman, etc. – but from blogs I read, it’s discouraged. So try to make your props 3D.
Also – and hey, I’m not saying we will get picked, so why listen to me (heh heh) – but our producer was very engaged by the props we had. As an example, remember, we’re dichotomous. So I took all 4 of my graduation tassels (“graduation scalps”) and put them on a stout cord, with knots in between them, and hung them around my neck so that you could very distinctly see there were 4 tassels. Moddie wore a climbing harness over her TNT clothes with an ice ax, a bike helmet, a hammer and tape measure, and a few other things hanging off of it. So when, in our script, we said I was the “thinker” and she was “do-er,” I could hold up my tassels and indicate that I have four college degrees, Moddie pointed to her belt, indicating that she had been up to other things while I was in school 🙂 It also helps you remember what you want to say. We had a similar “prop setup” for the fact that I’ve traveled the world, but with my husband doing the planning, but Moddie hasn’t been out of the States – I held up my 5 passports fanned out, she held up her one passport and said “empty…” You get the picture.
Our script…
Sorry that this has weird fonts – I cut it out of Evernote and can’t figure out how to make them uniform! 🙁
WEARING Ironteam jackets, unzipped, over Ironteam bike jerseys, black running skirts, black capri pants, purple spotted socks, sneakers. Sandy has New Zealand Maori necklace (like Phil’s) on, plus “necklace” of graduation tassels. Moddie has climbing belt with ax, hammer, bike helmet, etc. Carrying Tribags. Nalgene bottles with names of honorees hang off of Sandy’s Tribag and Moddie’s belt.
SANDY: We are Moddie Stone and Sandy Shepard! As Hashtag Team T-N-T, we’ll plug you in to the Leukemia Society’s Team In Training (Moddie turns around, showing LLS and TNT logo on the back of her shirt) – which has had over 600,000 participants, and 10s of 1,000s of cancer honorees like our personal ones on these bottles (Moddie indicates BOTTLES).
PLUS, we’ll earmark $100,000 (Moddie throws down bundle of CASH) of the prize money for cancer research in YOUR name, which means you’ll be featured in the Leukemia Society’s annual report and President’s address, and come to the attention of researchers, other donors, and board members!
Listen – If you don’t know about Team In Training – it’s A Thing! You could be running on a back road in Alabama (Moddie mimics running), and if you’re in your jersey, someone is guaranteed to lean out of a truck and yell GO TEAM! Hashtag Team TNT will attract that same energy and attention!
MODDIE: We’ve overcome many obstacles, Speed Bumps and U-Turns together while going for money fundraising! We’ve done marathons, triathlons, and even an Ironman (Sandy shows back of jacket with pockets – 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, marathon – then puts on shark hat and takes out shark “puppet.”) We’ve swum in the frigid San Francisco Bay with the “wildlife.” (Sandy hums a little of the Jaws theme). We have super different backgrounds though, which might work to our advantage, or, if we pick the wrong person to do the task, it might lead to that audience-pleasing drama!
NOTE: The part in pink is what we got to say because we had a minute and a half. The above part, and the part below in black, was what timed out for us at a minute.
SANDY – Though we look like the Sweet Scientists – just a bit older! – that’s where the similarity ends. I’m the thinker (hold up graduation tassels), she’s the doer (point to climbing belt with everything on it.) Married (indicate wedding ring)
MODDIE: single!
SANDY: (bring 5 passports out of bike jersey, fan out) I’ve traveled the world, but my husband does all the planning…
MODDIE: I haven’t been out of the States – but I have a passport!…and I’m not afraid to do outrageous things (brandish razor, turn it on) – I shaved all my hair off for fundraising!
SANDY: Ohhhhh no…(look at producer) She was so not allowed…(look at Moddie) you were SO NOT supposed to bring that razor!
MODDIE (looking smug, brandishing razor)
SANDY: Girl, if you make me shave my head, I am so making you eat bugs!
MODDIE: Ohhhh no, you are the bug eater…
(NOTE: The producer was really laughing at this, so I went on – because she was laughing – with this next bit)
SANDY: (Looking at producer) OH, and speaking of bugs, as karmic retribution for what you make those teams eat, I brought you a Cricket Bar (hand over Exo bar from back jersey pocket) – Hashtag Nom Nom Nom!
(NOTE: Producer was surprised, and was really laughing. I jumped back on mat – this last part is the end of our minute part – like I mentioned, the pink was the “filler” because we got a bit more time).
SANDY: We’re Hashtag Team T*N*T* – for Team In Training –and for a Dynamite – if Dichotomous – Duo…
(both cross fingers)
MODDIE: Non elimination round – ?!?
So that’s our story.
I’ll spruce it up some, add photos, and all that jazz in a bit. But I’ve had about a dozen folks wondering how it went, so I’ll post this now and on Facebook, and jazz it up next week. We’d love to hear your Comments! 🙂
NO LOGGING!
Let me tell you what’s going to happen if you start logging. You’re going to have all the other eating plans you’ve been on – Weight Watchers, Atkins, Zone, etc. – creep into your head. You’re going to say “HOW can this POSSIBLY work, when my Blocks aren’t stacked up in order? This will fail!” (Did I mention “speaking from experience” before?) You’ll bring in something you did on a previous eating plan, and apply it here. You’ll tell yourself you’re “not getting enough” fat blocks, or protein blocks, or whatever – and you’ll either sneak them in, or just obsess that it can’t “possibly” work. Which is stress. Which, as it’s not adrenaline/tiger stress, your body will perceive as…remember the last blog post?…FAMINE. And HOLD ONTO YOUR FAT.
10 rounds of:
If you’re with me – how’s it going? By the way, we have a few of you starting NEXT Monday, so if you’re still on the fence, you can start then if you like 😉 The more the merrier. We can do it!
my husband calls it), went out into my garden, and did the Bikram routine, but in a very calm fashion. We’re re-setting our bodies here, and part of it has to do with lowering stress hormones, etc. Go for a leisurely walk on the weekend – not a killer hike. Relaxxxxx . . .
t need to cut a “slab” of it out of the casserole dish. I had it with peaches this time. Plus 1/2 of a 1/2 of a chicken breast (5 oz – big chicken), plus about 2 cups of broccoli, both from last night’s dinner. I can’t finish. It’s supposed to be more broccoli, and I just can’t do it.
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![20150420_153716[1]](https://i0.wp.com/beabondgrrl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/20150420_1537161-e1429638545899.jpg?ssl=1)
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it enough so that it doesn’t look scripted – you do need to look natural, which takes effort if you don’t have a clue what you’re going to say and you’re staring like a doe in the headlights into a camera with a producer watching you.
