Ready Set Go

Starting to Journal my Food and WODS in preparation for the CrossFit Games Sectionals and/or a place on Team CrossFit Academy's TEAM.

Breakfast--4 Blocks
1 c weak coffee with 1tbsp organic milk (weak coffee doesn't upset my stomach at all)
2 eggs
2 oz ham
1 pear
2 figs
1/2 avocado

WOD AM
Snatch – Heavy Single--68#
Then 85%x1x3

Lunch--5 Blocks (trying to gain 10lbs)
5 oz grilled ham
1 block collard greens
2 blocks cooked carrots and celery
2 blocks pear
5 blocks almond butter

Missed snack

Dinner--4 Blocks
4 oz grilled chicken
4 blocks pear
2 blocks avocado
2 blocks almond butter

PM WOD

Original plan was to do Diane
Failed at first HSPU--proof positive of overtraining, so

Clean and Jerk--Heavy Single 98#
Then 85% X 1X3
Couldn't even rise from 98# clean, so DONE--home to bed.

Snack
3 blocks ham
3 blocks pear
3 blocks almond butter

NOTES:

It is truly a challenge to run a business (especially a new one, which you are trying to get off the ground) and train 100%. My biggest weakness is lack of sleep. However, after last night, I REALLY GOT HOW IMPERATIVE IT IS that I decide that sleep is important.

So, from now on, I am shooting for 7 hours a night. That's a huge improvement over 5. I will note what happens here.

I sent a letter to The Paleo Diet Newsletter recently, when I realized I have been suffering from IBD. How cool is this? They responded to me personally. This letter confirms what I have been noticing regarding what foods I eat and shed some light on some others (ie chili--I wondered why I suffered so badly the week I made chili--thought it might be the chili powder--indeed, I was right).

I am so impressed to have received such personalized attention. Here is the letter in full, in case it might help any of you suffering from IBD symptoms (diarrhea, chronic stomach ache--especially after eating certain foods, etc.)


"Dear Shannon,

Indeed, inflammatory bowel disease (Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn's Disease)
patients usually do very well with The Paleo Diet, as nutrients are one of
the main environmental triggers of this condition.
Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mounts an
attack against its own tissues, in this case the cells lining the intestine.

For an autoimmune disease to occur we need a genetic predisposition and an
environmental trigger.
The genetic predisposition depends on genes coding for the HLA system.
On the other side, one of the environmental triggers may be nutrition,
besides infections, geography (vitamin D deficiency), physical trauma or
vaccination.

One of the key points in this process is increased intestinal permeability.
This means that the gut barrier allows increased passage of bacterial or
food proteins (antigens) into peripheral circulation, skipping a process
known as oral tolerance. Once antigens get in contact with the immune system
located in the gut associated lymphoid tissue, they may elicit a T-cell
mediated immune response against those antigens.
If the molecular structure of the dietary or bacterial antigens is similar
to that of the HLA system (part of the immune system presenting cells
machinery), chances are that a cross reaction between foreign antigens and
self antigens (produced by T-cells) occur. This is termed molecular mimicry
and leads to self injury by the adaptive immune system.

Hence, decreasing intestinal permeability is one of the treatment targets.
There are several nutrients known to increase intestinal permeability that
you may want to avoid, at least until symptoms subside. Here you have a list
of them and the noxious substance in brackets:

-Cereal grains (lectins and gliadin)
-Legumes, including soya and peanuts (lectins and saponins)
-Tomato (tomato lectin and alpha-tomatin)
-Potato (lectins and saponins)
-Chili (capsaicin)
-Quillaja (foaming substance)
-Quinoa (saponins)
-Egg white (lisozyme)
-Alfalfa sprouts (saponins)
-Amaranth (saponins)
-Alcohol

Moreover, some nutrients exert an adjuvant-like activity (they stimulate the
immune system), which is something you don't want to if you are suffering
from an autoimmune disease. Nutrients containing adjuvants:
-Quillaja extract, found in root beer
-Tomato alpha-tomatine

Dairy products and vegetable oils also have deleterious effects upon your
immune system.

I hope this helps.


Maelán Fontes Villalba.

Center for Primary Health Care Research
Faculty of Medicine, Lund University
Malmö, Sweden"



Dr. Barry Sears also claims The Zone helps IBD sufferers, so I am doing Paleo foods in Zone proportions. I have been doing this for one week, with ZERO IBD symptoms. Most excellent!