Cleaning My Plate (Again)

January has come and gone and the ol' glute/lower back pain still persists. I've committed myself to 'suffer' through this layoff as my stubbornness to continue working out at my normal intensity is what (I believe) got me here in the first place. The good news is it's a little less painful when I stand up from sitting, so I take that as improvement. I'm still going to the chiro 1-2x/week, getting massages, rolling out, doing stretches and (sometimes) doing the Jane Fonda-style lower back/glute strengthening exercises. Admittedly I've slacked on those a bit.

After 4-weeks of upper-body-only workouts you'd think my arms and back muscles would be ripped, but they're not. I'm know that's because of the less-than-stellar eating habits I can't seem to shake even though I'm $10 and 1-month into a friendly weight loss competition. I want to eat healthy and clean, but danggit those m&m's, chips, and cookies keep jumping into my shopping cart while I'm not looking.

As of today I'm starting back up on my clean-eating rules. (Because you can't start anything unless it's a Monday, right?). When I did this in the summer/early fall my punishment was 100 burpees if I 'cheated'. Since I can't do burpees right now my punishment is 100 calories on the airdyne bike.

No - "Processed foods" (oreos, cheesy poofs, cereal, etc), Dairy (because it's an "inflammatory food" and I have more than my share of allergy problems), Refined sugar (this should be mostly eliminated by avoiding store-bought snacks as I already use agave/honey at home). 

Yes - Real food (vegetables, sweet potatoes, eggs, chicken, turkey, fish...), More water

Random January Numbers:
miles run - 7.3 (very early in the month before deciding to take time off)
pushups - 856
pullups - 354 (some with band assistance, some without)
ring dips - 150
bench press - 115 lbs (3 rep max)
rope climbs - 5
m&m's - (1) 56 oz bag