Hooray for Friday! Today is a lower carb experiment day. I am shooting for 100 grams of carbs. I went off to the gym for my dose of iron 😀
| Exercise | Set/rep/weight | Muscle worked |
| Stiff-legged deadlift | 3 sets of 10 at 75# | Lower Body |
| Seated Lat Row | 1 set of 12 at 40#
1 set of 10 at 55# 1 set of 8 at 70# 1 set of 5 at 85# (couldn’t squeak out 6!) |
Back |
| Captain’s Chair | 3 sets of 10 | Core |
| Seated Calf Raise | 3 sets of 10 at 140# | Calves |
| Barbell Bench Press | 3 sets of 8 at 55# | Chest |
| Pliet Squat | 3 sets of 10 with 40# DB | Lower Body |
| Prone Cuban Snatch | 3 sets of 8 with 10# DBs (20# total) | Shoulders |
| Good Mornings | 3 sets of 10 at 55# | Low back and hammies |
It was very quiet at the gym today. Not sure if the cold is keeping people away or the January resolutions are petering out?
I pulled out an oldie, but goodie – the prone Cuban snatch from New Rules of Lifting! Since we all just love to laugh at the name and I have a lot of new readers, here is the video for that again. (Please turn your sound down) It’s a good move. Basically you start with a row and then raise your hands so they are parallel with the floor.
Start with smaller weights on these. The row part will feel super easy, but the raise will get you.
On to breakfast! I planned out my day in advance last night on livestrong.com. I put in the things that I wanted to have in there for carbs, which were 2 cups of milk and a pear, then worked backwards to fill in the meals. I made a 1-minute pumpkin muffin, but left out the sugar. I topped that with a full serving of the peanut flour mixed with cinnamon and a tiny bit of salt.
I made the muffin, then split it and skillet toasted it. John said it looked like a cupcake, which it does. 😀
The taste was quite good, actually. Many people would likely add splenda or stevia to this, but I just don’t go for the sweeteners (even stevia tastes a little funny to me).
This had staying power. Let me tell you! I was full up until lunch. I was amazed at the staying power of this. When you reduce carbs, you have to replace them with something. I already eat a lot of protein, so I replaced with fat. Fat is filling. It’s a little scary, but I am up for going out of my comfort zone on that.
Speaking of lunch –
I had a cheese omelet cooked in some butter. I laid off the hot sauce a little bit to taste the cheese more. It was delicious.
And this cucumber was really sweet. Every once in a while they are that way, wonder why?
Latte time!
Nutmeg sprinkled on top.
We make the lattes with whey protein isolate when we amp up the protein (we don’t always do this, but a lot of days). This is really the only kind of protein that will readily dissolve and be almost undetectable. BTW – whey isolate is what Starbucks uses when you ask them for a shot of protein in a latte, so you can try it sometime!
I popped some chicken breasts in the oven for dinner. Emeril came to visit!
Gah’lic anyone? Dinner is served with sauteed brussel sprouts and a pear. Yay – fruit!
So, the day has been interesting. We shall see how I feel tomorrow. This is as low as I want to go with carbs. Personally, I believe the body needs carbs. Yes, I know the body can make carbs via ketosis, but why make the body work harder when a system is already in place for it (not to mention the bad breath). Note that this is not true paleo or primal with the dairy, although some primal people do eat dairy (thinking Mark Sisson people). So maybe this experiment will be Lori-eo eating. 
Tonight will be fun. As part of operation ‘do more things’ this month, we are going to a concert down at Skidmore. On the program?
Janacek- MládÃ
David Bruce – Steampunk
Beethoven – Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.
Evening snack is 1/2 ounce of toasted pecans. I also budgeted in coffee with cream for the post concert out, bringing my grand carb total today to 83. It wasn’t so bad!
What brand whey isolate do you use? I’m looking for a good flavorless one to try. Otherwise I just love the NSI vanilla whey powder. So good with none of the nasty stuff the other brands have.
I must try that muffin, I wonder if you can replace some of the flax with some protein powder?
Too dang hard for me!
I will have to work up to that work out move!
Mmmm, an omelete with hot sauce. I love it! Cheers, Rick
Your weight training is so inspiring, Lori! I’m embarrassed to send you my piddly plan for strength training! LOL!
I completely agree with you on fat being filling. I’m less likely to get snacky when I’ve had a meal with more fat and protein.
Aaah…the prone Cuban snatch. My favourite move…only because it makes me laugh so much.
I will have to check out livestrong.com. I would like to know how many carbs I usually have in a day.
Enjoy the concert!
That actually looks like a very good and enjoyable day of food. Funny how you do have to carefully plan out a day like that though.
“Fat is filling.” Indeed! One of the early mistakes I made in my loss phase was trying to go low-fat. I didn’t understand the nutritional/satiety aspects of it. Fortunately, I’m a fast learner! 🙂
Thanks for the muffin recipe! I’ve seen various versions around the ‘nets, but I haven’t tried them yet. No time like the present! 🙂
I like this muffin recipe, and my gym is really clearing out now too. I do think it’s due to the Resolutionaries fleeing en mass. That’s good for me; not so much for them.
Looks like a great experiment Lori! I could probably do your way but not the Paleo way.. well I should say that I don’t want to do the Paleo way but I probably could force myself for a day or too. 😉 Like Cammy, I had to learn that it was OK to eat some fat in the diet & it has made a difference. I go 25-30% on most days but it does vary….
Did you mix you PB flour with water & how much flour to water there. it looks great!
PS: I meant to ask about the PB flour if I confused you is what did you do for that pic.. how much flour in that serving on your muffin.. sorry!
The peanut flour on that muffin was 1/4 cup of the peanut flour (30 g) mixed with about 3-4 tbsp of water (I forget exactly). Just to get the consistency I want.
Can’t wait to hear about the concert!!! Have a great weekend Lori.
Hope you had fun at the concert!
Read you were jealous at 50 degrees at Amy’s blog. I’m this mean that I’m going to double your jealousy 🙂 we have 50 degrees too, feels like Autumn instead of Winter.
I like your ideas about the low-carb days and how you make those days Lori-days. Gives me inspiration and makes me think more about my own food.
I am jealous.
I think with the lower carb days, all I have to do is not have the grains that day. I note now that I can add another fruit to my lower carb days, so I will be doing that. 😀
Very low carb eating is a topic I love to talk about. While it worked amazingly wonderful for me, it is not a lifestyle I can maintain, and that is what is really important. I eat more primal now I suppose, although I probably eat more fruit than most primal eaters advocate. I do best when I stay away from the grains and the dairy though.
I am more curious about the grains than anything else. I am not giving up dairy ever LOL!
Hi Lori! 🙂 Am I reading this right? are you seriously cutting down carbs from your diet?! Well, I give you props because carbs play such a big part of my eating and in keeping me satisfied (the good whole grain/wheat kind of course). Well, best of luck. Keep up updated on your progress ;). My favorite part of this was that pumpkin muffin. Looks yummy 😉
No, I am not cutting out carbs. I am doing some carb cycling, where I will do some lower carb days. I will still eat fruit, and I will have my twice weekly bagels. But, I am focusing on less flour products. This is a good time to experiment for me because I am in a down period of exercising with no endurance needed for a few months.
Love the video. Going to try that one today! Thanks for the visual aid — it’s quite helpful!
I wish my gym would slow down a bit! I keep whining to my friend, “Haven’t people given up on their resolutions yet?!” I might look into a membership at another gym as Planet Fitness is just way too crowded when I go.
How was that chicken rub? My friend and I used the steak rub for a bit when we were doing our weekly steak nights, but I found it to be really salty…
That Planet Fitness is very crowded. I noticed that the last time I was at the mall. The price is good there, but the time it would take to drive there and back each day makes it worth it for me to pay more to only go less than 2 miles to my gym.
The chicken rub was good, but garlicky.