Ten months down, a lifetime to go

[Shannon Mullens]

That's fantastic progress!

[Mark E. Wallace]

Originally Posted by Shannon Mullens

That's fantastic progress!

Thank you, Shannon!

- Mark

[Paul Casimir]

Congrats on the great progress.

How did your nutrition change during this time?

[Mark E. Wallace]

Originally Posted by Paul Casimir

Congrats on the great progress.

Thanks!!

How did your nutrition change during this time?

Good question. Below is how I would generally describe the before/after for my typical nutrition. Timeline is that I started CF in late October but didn't really change my diet until (I s'pose) mid-December.

Breakfast
- Before: Cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese. Maybe a banana as well. One mug of my fabulous home-roasted coffee. Sometimes the bagel was replaced by a bowl of granola with either milk or plain (good quality) yogurt.
- Now: Typical breakfast for me is 3-4 eggs cooked in bacon fat (usually scrambled, but whatever), maybe 4-5 pieces of bacon, veggies (usually either greens [kale, mustard, turnip, collard], zucchini/squash, broccoli, cauliflower, plus an avocado and maybe a handful of fresh berries. One mug of my coffee too. Sometimes the eggs are replaced by meat of some sort; pork chops or beef.

Lunch
- Before: Lunch with the work gang. Usually sandwiches at Firehouse Subs, burritos at Chipotle, Chinese food, BBQ at one of Austin's many joints, or something battered & fried. Common theme is that my lunches almost always had a bread component, either as part of the main dish (sandwiches) or on the side (fluffy roll with the BBQ, rice with the Chinese food). Iced tea with Sweet & Low usually.
- Now: Generally, I just look for whatever is on the menu that (1) has as few ingredients as possible, (2) has as much meat and veggies as possible, and (3) undergoes as little processing as possible to create. Grains are basically gone entirely. Every so often (maybe once every two weeks) I'll allow some rice and beans into a Tex-Mex meal if the main course is too skimpy. Big-*** salads are a big part of my lunch framework, as they usually meet all three of the above criteria.

Dinner
- Before: Whatever the wife was making, which meant (and still means, for her) pasta, pizza, burritos, tacos, ground-beef wrapups (flavored ground beef baked inside croissant dough), burgers. She's a pastaholic, so at least three meals per week had some sort of pasta component, either as main course or side. A near constant was grains. A few meals per week would have steamed frozen veggies.
- Now: Same general description as breakfast, although the eggs are almost always replaced by grilled, smoked, or baked meat of some sort. My wife still generally does her own thing for meals (see: pastaholic), but every so often she'll partake of what I have cooked if there's enough of it and she's too tired to make her own meal. Again, grains are gone. Usually just water to drink. If we eat out, I follow my lunch framework.

Other tidbits:

• The most common theme throughout my dietary change is that grains have basically been eliminated.
• I've never been much of a person for sweets or alcohol. Hence no mention of having eliminated them. I really have just about absolute zero processed sugar in my diet; can't even remember the last time that I added sugar to anything. I have a drink (usually a Bloody Mary) maybe once every 2-3 weeks.
• I don't weigh/measure any of my foods
• I don't really worry about P/F/C ratios. I don't even know what they are, nor do I care.
• My grill and steamer are my best cooking friends.
• I eat when my body tells me it wants me to. I eat until it says it's satisfied. This does not mean I pack myself full. I just eat until I don't want any more.
• It's an extraordinary rarity for me to eat anything from a package.
• With exception of stuff like spices, nearly all my foods come from the outer edges of the grocery store. I want my food to be able to spoil if I don't get to it quickly enough.
• I use some salt, but sparingly.
• I eat some fruit, but not a whole lot. Usually it's berries, peaches, nectarines, or bananas.
• Every 3-4 weeks (whenever I feel like it), I add nuts into my diet. Usually almonds and/or walnuts. These are usually just snacks.
• Some dairy, but very little and very rarely. Usually just a few swigs of milk or a cup of fresh yogurt. This even means no creamer in my coffee, which I have always taken black anyhow.
• I'm also on fish oil, Ca/Mg/Zn, Glucosamine/Chondroitin, Vitamin D, creatine monohydrate, beta alanine, and I have a PWO shake of Optimum Nutrition protein powder, mixed into plain water.
• I don't drink enough plain water and need to fix that.

Phew. Hope that's a complete enough description.

Cheers,

Mark

[Mark E. Wallace]

Me today wearing the belt I was wearing when I started Crossfit.

The point on the belt that I'm holding with my right hand is where I was notching it ten months ago. It was a little tight at that point. As I'm wearing it here, it is notched comfortably.

There is an exact 11" difference between the two points.

[Jim Crowell]

Awesome Job

[Mark E. Wallace]

Originally Posted by Jim Crowell

Awesome Job

Thank you, Jim!

[Mark Kosmowski]

Thanks for sharing your progress. Looking forward to continuing to read your insights as you keep going forward.

[Mark E. Wallace]

Originally Posted by Mark Kosmowski

Thanks for sharing your progress. Looking forward to continuing to read your insights as you keep going forward.

Thanks, Mark. I think my next one will be the somewhat traditional one-year testimonial. So, late October. I look forward to putting it together.

- Mark

[Melissa Mattson]

Congratulations! I'm very impressed!

I've noticed you post frequently on the message boards and you are always very respectful and encourageing. I, for one, appreciate it!