Training for NY Internationals

Last week was a bit better than the few weeks before. I got some good rolling in during the week and finished off good on Saturday during open mat. The Gracie Diet is beginning to get a little easier. Most of the junk that we can't eat is out of the house at this point so now it is just a matter strategic grocery shopping. Although she is pregnant, my wife is still pretty disciplined in the grocery store. So I think we should be good to go. The diet was a little rough last week. We were eating pretty good but not planning very well. Between Tuesday night and Wednesday night we ended up eating way too much fruit and cheese. Wednesday night in class I was holding my stomach and when I got home...well, you don't really need to know the rest. In any case, my wife had the same problem. So we learned our lesson and are dividing the meal groups up a little better now. One of my favorite eats right now is a frozen banana and watermelon smoothie. It works like this:

1. Freeze some bananas so that they are totally frozen. We keep a stash frozen always.
2. Chop up some watermelon and place them in the blender. I use 1/2 of a small watermelon. The Gracies would say to recycle that back through the Gracie juice bag to avoid pulp. I don't have one yet so I just keep it as is.
3. Add just a squirt of apple juice. Use either some freshly juiced apples(preferred)or buy 100% organic apple juice from store
4. Blend the watermelon and apple juice.
5. Add about 3-4 frozen bananas in the blender. Break them into small pieces.
6. Blend with the juice.

Tip: If you want it to be like a smoothie you don't have to put in 3-4 bananas. You might try less bananas or more juice. To make it like ice cream use more frozen banana. I usually make it thick, put it into a bowl and eat it like ice cream. It takes longer to eat this way and is more filling. This recipe is for one person, one meal. You can also slice some cheese to eat with it.

It is a better alternative to ice cream for sure. We have been eating banana ice cream for about a year now even before actually sticking to the diet. I saw this video last year and have been doing this ever since. We do have a champion juicer and are able to do it this way but I bet not everyone has a champion juicer so the blender works fine. I found that it is fairly easy to make it in the blender especially if you want to add to it a little.



I am anxious to see how I feel by the end of the week. Today I feel pretty good. I am ready to train hard and really put the diet to the test.