Monday Not So Fun Day

I’m not entirely sure how I missed Thursday and Friday workouts last week but I did. My body just needed the rest I suppose. I had a stressful Friday and pretty much that led to binge eating all weekend. And it’s not like I dove into a gallon of ice cream, nor did I eat a whole lot but it wasn’t good either. I also decided that a garage sale was in order. So that left me on my feet all day for two days. MY FEET ARE DYING!

Walking into the BOOM Box this morning was a big debate for me. I could wait till the evening or just knock it out ASAP. NANCY was on the board! UGH. Running and OHS! I chose to knock it out this morning because it’s a big Texas Rangers game tonight and I don’t want to miss it!

Strength: Back Squat 5@65% 5@70% and 5@75%
This is the first time doing percentages with my new 1RM and it wasn’t too bad! Granted the percentages were light but doing 5’s isn’t always fun. I felt good. My hips were a little creaky but overall I was glad to put in the work.

9/30/13 WOD

MetCon: Nancy – 5 rounds of 400M run and 15 Overhead Squats
I had already showed up with the mindset to row instead of run. My shins, ankles and feet are tore up. I did do some mobility work and after Back Squats I was feeling much better. Coach T asked if I was going to run and I said I might as well. And for the first time in a long time I think I had a better time for a 400m run. 3 minutes. I know that’s not fast in any sense but I actually ran for a little bit and my shins weren’t dying. Still hurting but tolerable. It’s when I got to Overhead Squats that I fell apart. The weight is 65lbs. Not heavy at all! But after 5 reps, my right wrist was dying. It hurt to even grip the bar. So I dropped to 55lbs and it was still a NO GO. I have a hook grip on the bar and Coach told me to release that grip and to try letting the bar roll back onto my fingertips. This was a hard task. I’ve fought so hard to learn to be comfortable with a HOOK GRIP and now I’m letting it go. My brain was confused. I finally finished out the reps and went out for my next run. My wrist was in pain and I didn’t even want to walk but our time was limited and I needed to move. I did do more walking on this run but the running part was faster than my typically trot. Maybe it was the cooler air or maybe I’m finally shedding some weight. Either was I didn’t dread running near as much today. My second round of OHS was better than my first but I was at a light weight and I had just rested. Knocked out 10, then struggled with the 5. My third run was probably better than my second run but my OHS were done. I couldn’t find a happy place for my wrist. And then I DID for the last 5 reps. My goal was to get to that happy place for the 4th round. Finally, UNBROKEN. I should have gone unbroken the whole time, but that wrist o’ mine. It hurted! It was after 6am and I had to go. Today was a big ol DNF for me. Womp Womp. But I will run into Nancy again and she’ll know what I’m really made of. Time: DNF, finished 4 rounds in 25 minutes or so. Not real sure.

Barbells For Boobs
Hey, Hey, Hey…. PLEASE donate to my B4B fundraising page to support Mammograms in Action. Barbells for Boobs is a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere. Their aim is to help anyone that needs it, anywhere, whether they are male or female, no matter what their age or situation in life.

You can find my page here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES. No amount is too small. And if you aren’t able to donate at this time, please share me with your friends, co-workers, business owners, etc. Thanks in advance for your help and support.

That’s all folks!Keep on keepin on! Don’t give up! Don’t Quit! Be a healthier you. Even if you fail, get right back up and keep doing work!
And as always be AWESOME!

Obsessed, Insanity or Just a Healthy Addiction

This morning my two alarms went off and I hit snooze on both of them twice…. I KNOW I KNOW, not good for the brain and body! Let me just say that the inventor of SNOOZE is evil! But I digress. It was time to wake up and as I plopped out of bed, my every fiber was aching. Now was a good time to crawl back under the covers. This urge to stay in bed is the constant battle I have. When the cold hits, it will be an even bigger battle. I know I’m not alone. Early Birders you have to agree that your comfy bed is begging you to sleep just a lil longer.

So I make the choice to walk to my sink. I brush my teeth and put my hair up. I walk to my dresser to get my clothes and stand there. I think again about how much every muscle is sore and drained. I think again of crawling back into bed. I debate on how much more sleep I will actually get if I just lay back down. I may have fallen asleep standing up because I stood there for what felt like a rather long time. I’m sure it was less than a minute but it felt like 10 minutes. I had to convince myself that I was halfway to being ready. Don’t ruin it. Plus I’m in that darn Work Weight Loss comp and I need to stay focused. I also will regret not working out all day. I dressed and drove my tired ass to the Boom Box.

So I ask myself. Am I obsessed, insane or is this considered a “healthy” addiction. A health addict. Probably a little bit of everything to be honest. I know not every CrossFitter is all of the above. I know the term “addict” is deemed as negative but in this instance as long as I’m not hurting myself (which I’m not) I do believe you can say you have a healthy addiction. I’m pretty sure there are several Boom Boxers who take it as a workout and move on. But there are quite a few of us who might go into withdrawals if MIA for too long. In general though, whether I drink the kool-aid or not, I would be striving to a healthier me. I have just found that CrossFit fits my needs the best in many aspects. And I’d rather have a workout addiction than any other kind.

End Ramble.

9/25/13 WOD
Midline: 30 evil wheels
Evil is correct. Especially when my ABS are still fried from Friday! Doh! Below is kind of what they look like. Just like the handy dandy AB WHEEL but with a barbell. Roll out to preferably a plank position and roll back in. I probably didn’t even get halfway to a plank position.

Skill: Handstand Push Ups
Ugh. I used to be close to having these. I even had a handful of kipping HSPUs. But I know my recent weight gain has hindered me. I really have hopeful thoughts that when I shed some pounds I will be closer to mastering the HSPU.

MetCon: TABATA: Row (for calories), HSPU, Bottom to Bottom Airsquats and Strict Press 45/35
TABATA can SUCK IT TOO! For those who don’t know, TABATA is taking a movement and doing said movement for 20 seconds. You then rest 10 seconds. Alternate between work and rest for 8 rounds (4minutes). The idea is to go HARD for 20 seconds, since I know you folks who haven’t participated in such a ‘simple” workout are probably saying how can that be hard. There are different ways to score your TABATA. You can score by adding up all reps. Or you score, like we did today, by using your lowest rep count as your score. So if you start of strong with 10 reps but by round 8 are only doing 5 reps, then your score is 5. Not fun!

9/25/13 WOD

The rowing was nice, I did well, for me at least. But only managing 4 calories each round. At least I stayed consistent. WE then moved onto HSPU. Well I used a box for assistance and only managed to stick with 6. These were a beating but not the beating the Air Squats delivered. I started off with 12 air squats. My hips were achy already and this just killed them. Sitting in the bottom of the squat for our “rest” was nice for the first 2 rounds then it just become misery. I went from 12 to finishing with 5. Womp Womp! Then came Strict Press. The shoulders are dead from HSPU but it’s a light weight 35lbs. So how come it felt like 90lbs?!? I stuck with 8 reps through 6 of the rounds but finished with 7 reps. Everything added up = 22reps. Booo. Hissss.

Barbells For Boobs
Time is ticking. Boom for Boobs will be here 2 1/2 weeks! Yikes, I don’t think I’m ready! But I’m doing it regardless. MY biggest fear is that I won’t beat my current RX Grace time! How sad is that? It’s a workout for FUN! And it’s a workout to support B4B. But my competitive side doesn’t want to fail. It still will be fun and all the fundraising goes to a great cause.

If you’d like to support the B4B organization, please go to my fundraising page HELP SAVE BOOBIES and donate. My goal is $100 and I’m halfway there.

Also, if you want to participate with us at the BOOM Box you are welcome. Even if you just want to spectate then come on out. The workout will be Grace (30 clean and jerks). Everyone is welcome to join in. It’s at 9am on Saturday Oct 12th.

The End.
That’s a wrap folks. I need a driver to to safely drive me home from work so I can nap. Any volunteers? Hehe. I know that’s a little far fetched, but I’m sleepy! Make today great and don’t forget to be awesome!

Grrrrr, WALL BALLS

Oh if you know me at all you know I have a great dislike for those darn wall balls, but I’ll get to those in a bit. Right now, I’m on Day 9 of my Work Weight Loss Challenge. I’m probably gonna try to stay off the scale until Day 30 and that will just to kind of gauge where one month has brought me. Overall I’ve done marvelous. I had one poor showing for dinner on Saturday but really that’s the worst I got and it wasn’t that bad! But boy was I craving SUGAR. I’m still having those sugar cravings but I keep telling myself it’s not worth it. So far that’s working just fine. Just STAY THE COURSE. 51 days to go!

I can already feel the snugness in my clothes slowly disappearing. Thank goodness, because I really didn’t want to have to buy BIGGER clothes because of my expanding waistline. I know for a lot of us that’s where the line gets drawn. But some of us just go out and buy those new clothes and just throw your hands up. The battle of the bulge wins! It doesn’t have to be that way. Clean eating and a little bit of movement will do wonders. All you have to do is take the steps to a better healthier you. For me I pretty much go cold turkey. But I know that’s not something everyone can do. So take those steps. Big or small! Below I’ve listed some things you can do to start the process. Please NOTE, I am not a Dr. or professional. And also know these are just baby steps which are better than NO STEPS at all!

1. Cut out sugary and diet drinks – sodas, sweet tea, diet sodas, other diet beverages. Boy I know that’s a hard one for some folks. Why the diet? There’s no calories. Well my friends, those diet drinks are still made of chemicals that are NO GOOD for your body. And to top it off the “fake” sugar still triggers the same response to your body and brain as if there is real sugar in your system. But in fact there is not SUGAR in your system. This starts a whole new bad reaction in your body.

After about a week of letting go of those drinks, you should be feeling ok about the whole situation. Please note that FRUIT JUICE is alright but only once a day or better yet, once a week.

2. Cut out Fried Foods. Let go of those deep fried yummies. Replace them with baked versions. I know it’s not the same but it’s not about being the same. It’s about taking changes to be a better you. Eventually, your taste buds change and you will appreciate food differently.

3. Try new vegetables. Have you ever had Cauliflower Mash? Or roasted Broccoli? How about Spaghetti Squash? These are all foods that you may not have tried, but should at least give them a whirl. These veggies cooked different ways provide nutrients you wouldn’t get from french fries or deep fried veggies.

4. Get moving. Take short walks around your block if you’re new to being active. Or try a new sport if you’ve just become complacent in your everyday activities. It’s important to get that blood flowing and those muscles working. Although I do enjoy CrossFit, you can find that NO EQUIPMENT is necessary to get fit. Body movements such as squats, lunges, push ups will do wonders.

5. Sleep. Proper rest is KEY to becoming healthier. Hopefully with eliminating foods and getting some exercise sleep will come more quickly but it may take some time. Make it a priority to get proper rest. This gives your body time to take care of it’s self.

Those are just 5 simple things. There a plenty more tips and suggestions but I don’t want to overwhelm you. If you’re starting from ground zero or trying to nudge that friend or family member into better health, just do something positive. You can see it’s not that hard. Remember we are grown. We make these choices. Make choices to feel good about you.

Since I mixed up the blog today, I’ll be short and sweet with my recaps.

9/20/13 WOD
MOBILITY: Calves, IT bands
Hurts so good! I never do enough mobility. So it’s nice to dedicate during class time.

Sprints: 3×400 m sprints (record times) If it’s raining we will row.
So thankful for RAIN. Rowing is much better and I need the practice. Unfortunately I only rowed well for the first 200m of each 400m, then I fell apart. I started of with great 500m pacing around 1:50 but by 250m I would be at 2:06, 2:19 and who knows. I think I averaged around a 1:40 400m. For some reason I left that out of the picture on the whiteboard

9/20/13 WOD

MetCon: 10 Rounds of 20 Sit Ups, 20 DU
Cakewalk! WRONG! After 5 rounds, I’m pretty sure I was somewhere right past the 5 minute mark. I’m thinking WOOOO, I got this. But right after 5 rounds, I started slowing down on those Sit Ups and messing up on DUs. Oh how it pained me to mess on DUs so much. It’s only 20. But fatigue does set in. Time: 12:36

9/23/13 WOD
I didn’t get any good sleep Sunday night so I totally missed the 5 a.m. My guilty conscience got to me so I HAD to show up to one of the evening classes.

Warm-up: 400 m run and 30 TTB
Run. Meh. Toes To Bar for 30. Double Meh. For me, it was 30 GHD sit ups.

Strength: in 12 minutes find 1RM Front Squat
I had just PR’d my Front Squat not too long ago, so I wasn’t sure if it was in the cards today. And 12 minutes is not long at all! WTH? Let the work begin. I was feeling extraordinarily good doing these. Front Squat is not by best lift. But today everything was feeling good. By the end everything was tired. And that was in just 12 short minutes. Good news is that I got a 10lb PR. 155lbs suckas! Wooooo! I’m a PR MACHINE, well lately I am. Not always!

9/23/13 WOD

MetCon: TEAM 15 min AMRAP 3 Rope Climbs 12 Push-press (185, 125) no rack Teams of 3. One person going at a time.
Rope Climbs are a NO GO for me. So 6 ring rows were in my future. We decided to each do 1 rope climb/6 ring rows and then move onto 4 Push Press each. This worked out really nicely. And when Darrin, our only team member doing rope climbs just couldn’t go anymore he moved on to Ring Rows. The only down time we really had was the transition between our two guys, Andy and Darrin, on the Push Press. Even though this workout was intense we each got a little break since only one person could do the work. I worked at 85lbs because I just barely 3RM at 95lbs the other day. Final: 10 rounds, 18 ring rows + 1 Push Press. 15 minutes flew by!

9/24/13 WOD
Warm-up: 100 ft yoke push, 50 hollow rocks
Nothing like a yoke push to wake you up in the morning. That gets the blood rushing and really widens those eyes. The Hollow Rocks are miserable since I’m still sore from all those Sit Ups on Friday.

Skill: 3 Snatch positions top down
I am always in need of good mechanics. And as long as it’s not Squat Snatching I’m GREAT! Add the squat and I’m a mess. So frustrating!

MetCon: 60 Wall Balls in the black (20/14), 50 Pullups, 40 Barbell Burpess, 30 Snatch (75,45)
I’ve said this before and I’m more than happy to say it again: WALL BALLS CAN SUCK IT! Oh my goodness, it’s been a while since we have done these ugly lil monsters. And my butt was not ready for them. There was just sadness all around me when I was only 10 in and ready to die. 50 to go. It was slow and miserable. I just don’t know when or how I will ever find peace with this movement. I knew I moved slow but I didn’t look at the clock to see when I finished. Probably for the best. 50 Pull Ups. Now this is where I typically drag ass. I can rest for minutes before getting on that bar. Maybe my anger from the Wall Balls helped fuel me me to knock out 50 reps. There weren’t awesome but I chipped away better than I have known myself to do. Then came the burpees and right around 10 something cramped in my back BUT only when I was jumping left over the barbell. It finally went away but it slowed me down mentally, because I’m a big baby, for a little bit. It was like I was in molasses doing those damn burpees. Finally to snatch. I thought I will do 5 sets of 6. It was a good idea for the first 2 sets. Then I dropped to sets of 3. I just didn’t have any PUSH in me to fight through so I was taking a lot of time between sets. Ah well. Time: 21:16

9/24/13 WOD

Barbells For Boobs
Y’all know the drill. I love B4B. I have met the people B4B helps. I have met the community that comes out to help. They are a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere. Their aim is to help anyone that needs it, anywhere, whether they are male or female, no matter what their age or situation in life.

It’s a good cause and I’m participating in BOOM for BOOBS at my CrossFit Box, CrossFit BOOM. I have set up my fundraising page over at B4B and am asking for you to donate to the cause. It doesn’t have to be much. $1 would help just as much as $20 would. If you are unable to help out this year, I get it. There’s lots of people asking for money for all sorts of things. But do know, this is an organization that works for those who get left out. They work hard and bring a great time on their Pink Bra Tour. So donate if you can or share me to friends and companies that are looking to help out. I have a $100 goal, but more than happy to go above and beyond. You can go here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES! Thanks!

The End!
Ya, that was a doozy today folks. It’s only Tuesday too! Argghhh! Well chip away at the day. Make a change in your life. Drink more water, get active, eat clean. But above all BE AWESOME!

Hard. To. Breathe

This morning that is. I’m breathing just fine now. I’ve never been asthmatic, or one who hyperventilates. I’m not sure either one of those are even similar, but this morning I truly felt for the folks who have a hard time breathing. This morning at the end of my WOD, I was hurting so bad. It felt like my throat cramped up. I couldn’t breathe properly. I couldn’t inhale. It took me a few minutes to get in a good deep breath. I was freaking out! Which in turn makes it SO MUCH WORSE! Today was a ROUGH day in regards to working out. Surprisingly as the day has continued I feel freaking great! Go figure.

I will say that before my breathing issue I was already struggling. I was all by my lonesome at the BOOM Box. YES 5 a.m.-ers, ALONE! Where were all of y’all? This morning just wasn’t one of those days where flying solo was good for the mindset. I was already cranky and pissed. It’s the detoxing of chemicals from my body. And it hurts, mentally and physically! I broke out in HEAVY SWEATING and I had barely started anything. The only way I can describe it is that when I’m sick and feverish and the fever breaks and you are hot/cold, drenched in sweat, medicine head, etc. I felt like that for the whole hour. Thankfully Coach T is patient. Cause I would have kicked myself out in the first 10 minutes.

FOOD ADDICTION
Hi, my name is Stephanie and I’m addicted to food. It’s true, and it’s mostly NON-FOODs that I have issues with, but we as a society consider anything edible as FOOD when in reality it’s JUNK.

Now I’m not going to go into a whole I’m a DOCTOR and you should listen to me spiel but rather an I’m AWESOME, I KNOW ALL and you should definitely LISTEN to everything I say! Jokes, Jokes. For real, I’m not a doctor, professional, or anyone you should take super serious. I am however a REAL human being that has put my body through a plethora of diets, exercise programs, and whatever gimmicky shitstorm that has passed my eyes for the past 15 years or so. I am a person who learned to research and read and to know not everything is TRUE but if I try it out and it legitimately works for me then I might be on to something. Make sense? So I will say, I do believe GLUTEN is bad, processed SUGAR is really bad and all the processed foods with chemicals that I can’t even pronounce MUST BE FROM THE DEVIL. But they all taste so good! It’s so hard. I know! I’m with you.

I did find some links that hopefully will lead you into researching on your own and finding out more. Mostly gluten related and it’s not anything too intense but hopefully you’ll be intrigued. Being the slacker that I am I have never just given my LIFE to researching and backing the scientific data but I believe these things because I’ve experimented with myself AND I can feel the differences in my body. It’s not some mental hoooo hah. I know, SHUT UP ALREADY, but I really can’t tell you enough that when I eliminate the crap foods, my body instantly feels better in many ways. If I’ve gone rogue for too long like I just recently have, I feel good in some things but worse in others. ADDICTION is a bitch. Headaches, MIGRAINES, joint pain, stomach aches, brain fog, etc. There are so many symptoms and I do know that eventually you just cope with all of those symptoms and blame it on lack of sleep, old age, etc. Give “giving up” junk and gluten for just 30 days. Some of you may experience withdrawals for 2 days and others 2 weeks. Just push through. It does get better!

http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/peptide.asp

http://www.corepsych.com/2007/08/celiac-notes-opiate-withdrawal-from-gluten-and-casein/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-perlmutter-md/gluten-impacts-the-brain_b_785901.html

http://www.growyouthful.com/remedy/sugar-addiction-recovery.php

http://www.livescience.com/25588-junk-food-withdrawal.html

9/19/13 WOD
Ya I know. I talk to much. And I know it’s mostly rambling. I apologize. Onto the workout!

Strength: Split Squats w/KB 4×5
I did mention I was cranky right? Also sore. And also tired. These took everything out of me. I remember we had already been introduced to split squats using a barbell. Maybe I wasn’t a junk food junky back then. I think I even liked them. This morning, I was hating the whole idea of all squatting but especially Split Squats. I struggled. And I wasn’t even using heavy KBs When I did finish all my sets, I was literally drenched in sweat. WITHDRAWALS SUCK!

Replace Dumbbells with Kettlebells and that’s what we did.

MetCon: 21-15-9 of Deadlift 225/145, Burpees and Run 200m between rounds
Burpees SUCK more! Especially after trying to bust out Deadlifts like I did. My only strength going into this workout is that I can do Deadlifts just fine and I just recently had a 245lb PR. So 145lbs should be a walk in the park! Uh NOT SO MUCH. I did 11, 5 and 5. I just couldn’t go 11 and 10 even though I wanted to so badly. My hands were hurting too much. Then Burpees! I got through 10 fine, then struggled with the next 11. Coach T knew I had a bail out plan for the run – WALKING, so he went with me to at least keep me at a trot. It worked for round 1. And almost worked for the other two rounds. For my second round of Deadlifts, I surprised myself and busted out 10. I don’t know what came over me. I had a plan of 8 and 7. So yay me! Burpees however were even uglier on this round. I had the run for about 3/4 of the way, then walk, then trot, then walk. I tried at least. For round 3, I did the Deadlifts UNBROKEN. How in the hell I was able to do that I still have no idea, but I did it. I think I only had 2 sucky burpees and tried to keep good form on the other 7. But when I finished I went in to full on CAN’T BREATHE MODE. I struggled on the last 200m. It was bad. About half way I finally regained my breathing somewhat and tried trotting the rest of the way in. It was half ass but I was done. Time: 17:31 RX

9/19/13 WOD

Barbells For Boobs
To Save lives through the early detection of breast cancer, regardless of one’s age, gender or ability to pay. Barbells for Boobs is a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere. Our aim is to help anyone that needs it, anywhere, whether they are male or female, no matter what their age or situation in life.

You know I want your money! So just go ahead and send it in. It’s easy. And it goes to a good cause! Just click here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES

The End
Yup you finally reached the end of this post! Hopefully y’all will keep coming back. If you don’t know me well enough, just know I tend to rant and ramble and sometimes not make any sense. Part of it! 😀 Now go on and have a great day. Make it AWESOME!

Putting My Blinders On

Entering Day 3 of the Work Weight Loss Challenge and Nov. 14th seems so far away! I’ve steered clear of temptations, COOKIES, FAST FOOD and other worthless junk. But again, only 2 full days in. I have the opportunity to hit up 3 different Starbucks on my journey into work. Oh DOUBLE TALL CARAMEL MACCHIATO, I need you. But noooo. I can’t give in. I gotta be the rock…the good example for my coworkers. I’m trying to find balance in all my meals and snacks. So far so good, I just need to stay prepared and to stay ahead of the game. BLINDERS: ON!

Nevermind that my body is in full withdrawal mode. Crying out for sugar, wheat and everything processed. Everything hurts and my eyes are heavy even with proper amounts of sleep! I know this will pass, I just need it to pass sooner.

Just this morning, as Coach T threw in Burpee Broad Jumps into our warm up, I gave him the YOU MIGHT GET PUNCHED IN THE THROAT LOOK. Then I said I’m in withdrawals and may or may not have said that he was evil. Not sure if I kept those thoughts to myself or not, but I will tell you anything with Broad Jumps is just plain torture in my book.

9/18/13 WOD
Skill: Work getting into a handstand (Wall/Rings/Free standing)
Thankfully I can pop up into a handstand with wall assistance with NO PROBLEM. I can barely hold a freestanding one for a few seconds. But anything else and I’m out! I can’t even fathom doing a handstand on rings!

MetCon: 5 min AMRAP (13.5 style ladder) – 3 rounds of 15 Push Ups (HR), 15 Power Cleans 95/65. Go up the ladder until you can no longer complete the rounds under the cap. 5 min=3 rounds; 10 min=6 rounds; 15 min=9 rounds; 20 min=12 rounds

9/18/13 WOD

Woooo for movements I can physically do without question. Now would I make it past the first 5 minutes? My shoulders were feeling good so I got through the Push Ups just fine. Moved on to the Power Cleans and did those UNBROKEN as well. All in less than a minute! Then I got down to do more Push Ups and I did ONE! And I wanted to die. I was breathing so hard, I couldn’t catch my breath, so I lied there for what felt like FOREVER, but it was probably 30 seconds in reality. I couldn’t stop, that’s only ONE round with 2 to go. I mustered through the second and third rounds with maybe 20 seconds to spare in that first 5 minutes. I was really slacking in the Push Up dept. As with most WODS that I can most assuredly do the movements just fine, I tend to reflect and beat myself up for not doing better. Just making it to the next 5 minutes was relief at the time. So again, I just laid there after doing about 3 Push Ups into my 4th round. Knowing I couldn’t just quit I chugged along. 3-5 at a time for finishing the 4th round and moving into the 5th round. As for Power Cleans, I always tried to do at least 7, then 3, then 5. I tried to go UNBROKEN with 1 minute left in that 2nd 5 minute time frame. But I failed! Final: 4 Rounds + 15 Push Ups + 12 Power Cleans. So close to finishing 5 rounds…. so close!

Barbells for Boobs
Thanks to my lovely friend Vicki, I am halfway to my fundraising goal. But of course I am not limited to $100, I’d love to be able to help B4B with as much as possible. With that said, I’m not picky 😀 If you can donate $1, I would be thankful and appreciative of your support. If you can’t help out at this time but know friends or businesses that can support the cause then please share me with them. HELP SAVE BOOBIES!

In Vicki’s case, she is donating in memory of her Grandmother who fought the Breast Cancer Battle. I told her I would rock out her name in my attire when I do Boom For Boobs on Oct. 12. If you have someone you’d like to donate in memory of, then I will add their name as well.

What is Barbells for Boobs?
A wonderful organization that helps to SAVE lives through the early detection of breast cancer, regardless of one’s age, gender or ability to pay. Barbells for Boobs is a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere. Our aim is to help anyone that needs it, anywhere, whether they are male or female, no matter what their age or situation in life.

What is BOOM for BOOBS?
It’s CrossFit Boom supporting the cause and hosting an event! So come on out. Click HERE to join. Saturday, October 12, 2013. 9 a.m. 2401 Callendar Rd Suite 111, Mansfield, Texas 76063.

The End
That’s all I got for today. Well just one more thing – I ask that you join me for the next 57 days to find good health via clean(er) eating and being active. You can do it. I know you can! Get a group of friends, co-workers, family, etc and get your butts in gear. It’s always helpful when you have others holding you accountable. The weather is cooling down, so there’s no “IT’s TOO HOT” excuses. I promise you two things. 1. Your food does not have to suck just because it’s clean eating and 2. You don’t have to kill yourself in the activity department to be healthy. You know you want to ENJOY life! So step on up! It can only make your more AWESOME than you already are!

Challenge Accepted!

Hi guys! It’s been a week since I last checked in here. I’m sorry! You see, last week a weight loss challenge was brought up at my job. There were quite a few of us that said we’d do it… FOR REAL, and battle it out for most percentage of weight lost over the next 60 days. So for me that meant, PIG OUT the rest of the week. Eat up buttercup! And that my friends is what I did. I enjoyed BEER! And all kinds of non healthy FRIED foods. I even had an all COOKIE dinner consisting of Oreos and Chips Ahoy for my last hoorah Sunday night. Oh ya, I went big. And oh ya, I paid for it come Monday at the BOOM Box.

My body definitely felt the pain all week and I just said to hell with it. I’m going to enjoy, enjoy and enjoy. Because I knew that I would have to cut it all out. There’s a potential to win $400 bucks here. It’s not a super grand prize but it could definitely buy me some new clothes that I’m in desperate need of.

I also figured that I better commit to something. Cause so far I’ve had a complete FAIL with the Get Fit, Stay Fit Challenge and another fail with the Mobility Challenge that Jenn over at Wine to Weighlifting has going on. I’m a mess, we all know this. But I got this. I’m in it for the CASH money and well of course a healthier me, right? hehe. YES a healthier me is more important but the CASH is definitely a good incentive.

My current plan is Paleo, but not stressing over it too much. Then Oct. 1 go full on Whole30. And if I’m feeling frisky, I may even take on a 21-day sugar detox, starting Nov. 1. Our weigh in is Nov. 14th so it would be perfect. Nothing is set in stone but it’s a good start. Right now I’m just worried about today. I made it through yesterday with no snags or hiccups and today should be on track as well. It’s SATURDAY AND SUNDAY that I need to prepare for! DOH! I hope I can make it!

But enough about my Challenge, lets get to some BOOM Box insanity.

9/16/13 WOD
After all my weekend eating, my sleep was not all that great for the early bird class on Monday. Plus it was a 1RM day for Back Squat. There was NO WAY I was going to have a good morning so I made it to the 6pm class.

We worked on mobility for quite a while. Oh boy did it feel awesome. My body was rested but seriously running on JUNK! So everything was hurting. Started my warm up with just the bar and about 10 seconds after just barely warming up, my Quads start hurting. Not a cramping type of hurt but more of a ARE YOU F’ING KIDDING ME, what is this weird pain I’ve never felt before. I was concerned. I rolled out. Tried out the bar again and although the pain wasn’t excrutiating, it was present and odd to say the least. So I kept rolling out and slowly adding weight. In the end the pain mostly went away but I knew I wasn’t going to PUSH to hard for that 1RM.

9/16/13 1RM Back Squat

A couple of weeks ago we had 103% on the board and I hit that for 170lbs. Today my goal was 185lbs. I think under different circumstances I would have hit it. But I took a week off. I did absolutely ZERO in regards to good health and knew it wouldn’t be pretty! I hit 175lbs and it was HEAVY but I felt 185 was there… maybe. Got under the bar and I didn’t feel that it was too heavy till I went down and that’s where I stayed. It was HEAVY! Hahaha. After a few minutes rest, I dropped to 180lbs. Got under the bar, dropped and could only get halfway up. I was stuck. I wasn’t going to hit 180 today. But woohooo for another PR! 175lbs!

And I just want to say GOOD JOB to everyone who killed it! Amazeballs.

9/17/13 WOD
I made it to the early bird class! What??!?? Yes sir. Back to back workouts.

Strength: 3RM Push Press
My shoulders were feeling alright considering my gluttony. It’s my wrists that were really feeling the pain. But overall the Push Press was feeling good. So good that I 3RM at my 1RM of 95lbs. I think maybe I could have hit 100lbs but time ran out and 95lbs wasn’t a walk in the park. Next time!

MetCon: in 3 minutes 500m Row Max pull-ups with remaining time. (ring rows for mod) rest 3 min repeat until you have 3 rounds.
I was due for a good row. And 500m isn’t all that far right? HOLY DONKEY BALLS it took everything out of me. On each round around 250m it felt like I hit quicksand. It looked like the numbers were going backwards instead of forwards. To get from 300m to 400m felt like an eternity! I did hit the first two rounds right at about 2:10 and the last round at about 2:20. Not great, but for my OOMPA LOOMPA legs, not too shabby. My first round of Ring Rows got me good. My quads are still pissed off at me from yesterday. Add rowing this morning and just to hold my body up was a task. I got 10, 9, and 8 for my Ring Rows. Total: 27 reps (booooo) I was cursing myself on every pull of the rower and every time I let go of the rings. It is what it is though and I can only get better from here.

Barbells For Boobs
Oct. 12 is quickly approaching! Thankfully I committed to getting healthier with the weight loss challenge, so hopefully I’ll kill it at Boom For Boobs. Although in the end it’s not about killing the WOD, it’s about raising MOOLAH and awareness for Barbells For Boobs, a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere.

I’m fundraising and you can find my personal fundraising page here: HELP SAVE BOOBIES. Donate if you can. $1, $5 or whatever you can. If you can’t donate then share me to someone who may be able to support the cause. My goal is $100 but I’ll be more than happy to raise more. Thank y’all in advance.

And of course if you’re local, YOU ARE INVITED to come participate or spectate. It will be a good time. Lots of fun!

The End
And that’s all for this fab Tuesday. I feel good about finally shedding some pounds and encouraging my co-workers to do the same. Take that step for yourself to find a healthier you. Health still comes in all shapes and sizes. So don’t go for what a magazine or tv show tells you how to be. Go for feeling better and enjoying life. And you know the drill…. be awesome!

Running on Fumes

Ok, not physically running, because I despise running, but I didn’t get the good sleep I was hoping for and I’m exhausted! Two nights in a row now. 4 hours of sleep each night. Not good! I didn’t have a good dinner either So that’s a double whammy for me.

Needless to say, I rolled my lardo butt out of bed and slept walked right into the BOOM Box. In the end, I’m glad I went but I really probably could have used the sleep more.

9/5/13 WOD
WarmUp: Sled drag around building + tire flip mechanics
Whew, that sled drag only had a 35lb plate on it, probably making it 50lbs or so and it about took me out. My calves were going to burst. The tire flip I have done, but this morning it was a struggle. My whole body was still in wake up mode and not wanting to cooperate! But flipping heavy ass tires always makes me feel like I can do anything!

Strength: DL 3×5@75%
Gosh darn it for drinking PR juice two weekends ago. The downside of hitting big PRs is that your percentages go up. I mean it’s well and grand that I can now Deadlift 245lbs but 75% is 185lbs and well this morning it was freaking heavy. I struggled. My hands hated me and I was not a happy camper. Coach T was reassuring that yes it does suck but in time I will not struggle so much. Plus have I told y’all I’m really really tired?

9/5/13 WOD

MetCon: 12 min AMRAP of 10 Squat Snatch 95/65 and 30 DU (mod is 12 burpees)
SQUAT SNATCH! HOLY HECKOLA! The weight I can do. But stringing them together was not something I was looking forward to. Snatch is already awkward. Then adding the squat and trying to hold onto the bar for multiple reps. Didn’t work out so well for me. And my first round was horrible. I was in my head swimming lazily. Started, got the bar up, put the bar down and starred at the bar. I didn’t want to do rep 2. After taking forever, or what seemed like forever. Maybe over 2 minutes, I finally finished 10 reps. Onto DUs. My lifesaver. But not for round 1. Crap. I lost my double unders. I was so out of it, I couldn’t do more than 3 or 4 in a row. What is wrong with me? Sleep deprivation. I looked at the clock and it was just over 4 minutes and I thought wow I’m not doing very well. I willed my resistant brain and body to try harder. And it worked a little bit. I strung 3 reps in a row for 6 reps, then 2s then 1s. UGH. Got back to DUs and low and behold they came back. My wrists and feet were communicating again and 30 went by unbroken. I know the time was close to 8 minutes. Round 2 was a smidge better than round 1. I was tired for round 3 but I had to finish it! Had a hard time stringing the Squat Snatch again, but instead of dropping the bar and walking in circles, I’d drop the bar. Stop the bounce. Regrip. Go. Overall Coach T said my form was good the whole way through. Thank goodness! This lift is a weakness! Got to DUs. Was on a roll up to 22 reps. Finished it out with time to spare. I only pushed out 2 Squat Snatches into the 4th round. I was beat! Finished! Broken! Final: 3 rounds 2 reps RX

BARBELLS FOR BOOBS FUNDRAISING
It’s that time of year again for the Pink Bra Tour and the big fundraising push put on by Barbells for Boobs. Barbells for Boobs is a non-profit organization that provides funding to pay for breast cancer detection services as a last resort for thousands of people who don’t qualify for assistance elsewhere.

For all you new folks, let me give you a brief breakdown of my B4B experience. I was completely new to CrossFit. Only a month in and CrossFit Boom owner/coach’s former box, CrossFit Centex, was hosting this Barbells For Boobs event. Of course the name made me giggle, but with Coach’s encouragement, it sounded like fun. We took a little road trip to Belton, TX about 3 hours south of us in the DFW area. We showed up to a pinkalooza fest, including ourselves decked out in all pink. I was excited and nervous. I knew we would be working out but I didn’t know how it was going to go down. There were so many people, and all of them soooo nice and so encouraging. We did a big group warm-up and then went over the workout – GRACE. 30 reps of Ground to Overhead as fast as possible. I knew how to clean and jerk BARELY and thank goodness I wasn’t the first heat so I got to spectate for a minute. What I witnessed in regards to community, dedication and spirit was beyond belief. There were all walks of life present – young, old, fit, newbies like me and SURVIVORS. Their stories were tremendous. The support was overwhelming. Never in my life would I have pictured WORKING OUT as a community outreach. Sure people do 5ks and walks, so it’s not inconceivable but this was so much more to me.

Even the pets got their pink on! 2011 B4B

When it came time for my heat, I was piss my pants scared. Then I was calm, like I got this, then scared again. My overachiever self debated with Coach on weight and we picked 75lbs. That was a doable weight but I only got a few reps in. I had the best judge though. She was super encouraging and a great cheerleader, but I had to drop to 65lbs. Once I did that I felt a lot better even though I still struggled so much. My form went south and I was melting. In the end I finished around 5:30 and was proud I even participated. I don’t think I left the workout area after I finished except to get some food and water. I stayed there and cheered on and cheered on my fellow boxmates and complete strangers. I’ll never forget that event. That day, well over $10,000 was donated to B4B. It was awesomeness!

2011 Boom Box Crew B4B

The next year the BOOM Box held it’s own event and I bugged everyone on here and everywhere to donate monies to the cause. And was happy to raise $100 towards our Boom Box team. This year I’m at it again. We plan on having our own B4B event October 12, 2013 at the Boom Box. My goal again is $100 but I’d be over the moon to raise more. If you can help, are able to help or know of people or businesses that would like to help then please click/share my fundraising page: HELP SAVE BOOBIES. There is also a link in the right side column that will take you there. Just click the B4B image.

I’d also like to invite you out to spectate OR even participate. Even if you don’t CrossFit you can still do the workout. It will be scaled to your level of fitness. It’s a great cause and it will be a lot of fun!

Thanks in advance for any and all support!

And that wraps up my Thursday for this week. Besides lack of sleep, I’m chugging along just fine. I need to prepare mentally for the weekend. At least try for an 80/20 in the eating department. We’ll see. And that’s all for now. Not sure I’ll be waking up for the 5a.m. tomorrow but I’m gonna try! Have a beautiful day and as always BE FREAKIN AWESOME.

Naptime yet?

Holy smokes I’m tired today. But first of all, HELLO to all you new peeps. I don’t know who sent you or where you came from, but WELCOME! Feel free to comment and share how you found me. I’d love to thank whoever is sending you my way.

Just an FYI, I’m typically a hot mess of a blogger and I tend to come off as a big ol whiny baby, but I assure you that I LOVE all things CROSSFIT. And no matter how much I cry or sound like a debbie downer, I still show up and put work in and eventually progress is made. I try to share all my experiences and although I’ve been slacking in the recipe department, I do hope to catch up on that and start being a more productive blogger. I live a busy life, so this is more of an outlet than a job. One day though I rule the world! Ok probably not, but I’m here anyways. Again, thanks for finding me. I hope you stick around 🙂

Back to my ramblings. So I stated I needed to focus on my clean eating so I can release this extra fluff I’ve accumulated on my body. Really to that “not liking” myself stage and I really don’t like feeling like that. That’s a lot of dislike going on around here. And most of you probably know how that just snowballs into a big ol quitters mentality. But yesterday I stayed strong. I even added a mini WOD at my kiddo’s baseball practice last night. We all know I despise running, so I figured I need to work on that. I did a Death by about 20yds, give or take some yards. My oldest son and I looked it over and both agreed it was about 20 yds. So I’ll just stick with that!

If you don’t know what DEATH BY ________ is then let me share. You take a movement, in my instance 20 yd sprint/run/jog. You start a clock. In minute 1 you do 1 rep of the movement and rest till minute 2. In minute 2, you do 2 reps of the movement and rest till minute 3. You keep adding a rep each minute. When you can no longer complete the amount of reps to equal the minute you are on, you are done. So if you are at the 10 minute mark and you only completed 9 reps then you tap out. Done son. And I finished didn’t make it past 10 minutes. It was brutal, I was so out of breath but I soooo worked a weakness.

And if that wasn’t enough I did 5 rounds of 10 butterfly sit ups and 5 Hand Release Push Ups. I got sidetracked with some other kiddos who were interested in joining me. Which was AWESOME. Yay for inspiring little ones to get their workout in! I finished under 3 minutes but took some time to explain what I was doing.

Stayed eating clean for dinner even though Chick-fil-a was the “fast” food option for the rest of the family. We get home after 9 on a school night, the boys need food ASAP … don’t judge! LOL, Heck judge all you want. We make it work when we can. I then stayed up way past my bedtime to roast a chicken to ensure I had no excuses to eat out for lunch!

9/4/13 WOD
I dragged my sleepy, chunky butt into the BOOM Box knowing I wasn’t liking what was on the white board!

Skill: Skin the cat Try and work up to the straight bar.
Uhm ya, we worked on this a couple of months ago and well I’m not any closer to mastering this movement. With some assistance from Coach T, I managed. This time around it didn’t completely kill my shoulders. That’s definitely a good sign but still not a skill I can proudly claim.

Skin the Cat

MetCon: TABATA! One leg split squats (one foot on bench or box), Burpees, Kb swings, True Push-ups
If you know TABATA, you know it’s good but it’s killer. TABATA is taking a movement and going hard for 20 seconds, then resting for 10 seconds. Rinse and Repeat for 4 minutes. That’s 8, 20 second rounds. But we’re not done yet folks. You keep count of how many reps you completed. And you take your lowest rep count for your score. The key is to keep up the intensity even though you feel like quitting. Yay fun!

9/4/13 WOD

For the One Leg Split Squats we alternated legs. So 4 rounds per leg. You might think ooo a little break for the legs, but there is no such thing. I managed to get 10 per leg in the first couple of rounds but dropped to 8.

I knew the Burpees were going to be my downfall. I started off strong with 6, then 5, then 4 for the rest of the time. Not cool TABATA BURPEES, NOT COOL!

PreWOD I knew I could knock out some KB swings. But I was so smoked from Burpees I didn’t fare so well. I started off weak with a late start and only managed 12. The second round I lost grip of the KB and was done at 4 reps. I was so pissed I just stood there. I stuck with 4-6 the rest of the rounds but 4 was my score. I was not happy.

Then it came down to True Pushups, not HR Push UPs which I could have been somewhat successful. Good ol fashion ones. My score was 3. Yes 3. Note for future self: WORK ON PUSH UPs.

Totals: 8, 4, 4, 3 = 19 Booooooo

We’ll see what tomorrow morning brings. Hopefully I get to bed at a better time tonight. Happy Hump Day folks! Be AWESOME!!

Focus

It’s time for me to put my game face on and focus on my eating habits. It’s time for me to put away the excuses and get back to clean eating. I’m considering competing in a competition in December. A LONG ways a way right now (even though I’ll blink and it will be here), but registration is in a month. So I need to get my shit together mentally and physically, NOW, so that I won’t feel all bleh and icky about actually signing up in October. From there I have 2 months to focus even more. So FOCUS is my primary thought in all things food. I know it will be a struggle because I’ve dug such a deep hole. And I know I won’t be perfect, but I gotta get pretty darn close!

9/2/13 HOTSHOTS 19 MEMORIAL WOD

Nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighting team tragically lost their lives on June 30, 2013 while fighting a fire in Yarnell, AZ.

If you aren’t of the CrossFit world you wouldn’t know that there are HERO WODS. These workouts are designed to serve as an “in memory” of fallen heroes. They are tough, grueling and sometimes damn near impossible to complete. The Hero WODs from CrossFit are named after heroes who have given their lives in the line of duty. Their purpose is to remind us to think outside of ourselves.

The HOTSHOTS WOD was and is a fundraiser to help support the families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew. On Aug. 31, a huge event went down in Prescott, AZ. Many Elite Athletes showed up. The CrossFit Community in general showed up. It was an amazing thing to watch. If you are able to donate then you can do so here: https://hotshots19.crossfit.com/

We at CrossFit Boom along with many other Boxes nationwide went on to tackle the HOTSHOTS 19 MEMORIAL WOD for this past Labor Day.

Six rounds for time of:
30 Squats
135 pound Power clean, 19 reps
7 Strict Pull-ups
Run 400 meters

To be honest when I see HERO WODs I run for the hills. The workouts tend to be well over 30 minutes, often times up to an hour long. And even though I know the purpose to DO and REMEMBER, I just see PAIN. But I wasn’t going to run away from the workout! Plus it was a day off from work so I could roll in for the 9 a.m. class, which is quite nice. Way better than 5 a.m.

9/2/13 HOTSHOTS 19 MEMORIAL WOD

I opted for the 85lbs Power Cleans, which I knew would get heavy halfway through, but once I committed, I was committed. I started off great. All up until the RUN. And runs walks were slow. This is where most of my time was eaten up. Every round I moved fairly well from squats to power cleans to pull ups (banded). I did all 30 airsquats for the first two rounds, but broke them up into 10’s or 15’s for the last 4 rounds. I started off in small sets for the Power Cleans, but picked up the pace the further along I got. Not sure how that actually worked for me but it did. By the last rounds I was doing 8 and 9 Unbroken before opting for smaller sets. It was the 400’s that were at a snail pace! It was bad. We only had 45 minutes of class time to complete the workout. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. There wasn’t a class afterwards, so Coach let me finish my final round. Time: 56:06

Hopefully the FOCUS on eating better will allow me to lean out, which in turn will lighten me up, which will then lead to better run times. HOPEFULLY!

9/3/13
And it’s back to the “get up before the suns up” workouts. I’m still sticking with my theory that the bars are heavier in the MORNING!

Strength: Back Squats 5@60% 3@70% 2@80% 2@90% 1@95% 1@103%
Whoa nelly! 103% That is an auto PR if I hit it. I have never seen over 100% on the board. I know I’ve been feeling strong and I know that I’ve been wanting a new 1RM and today would be the day. It was only 5lbs but it was 5lbs more than I’ve ever done. NEW 1RM at 170lbs! So it was nice. But after that 1 REP, I lost the desire to really test my 1RM. It was HEAVY this morning!

9/3/13 WOD

MetCon: For Time 15 Wall Walks, 10 T2B, 5 MU, 10 T2B, 15 Wall Walks
Oh how my brain deceived me, I thought it said WALL BALLS. And if you KNOW me at all… I would never want to do wall balls. But I’d rather throw a damn med ball than do a freakin wall walk. They make me dizzy. They are dumb and well they are dumb.

I haven’t had to do wall walks in my fluffy state, so they were even more miserable than I remembered. UGH! Needless to say it took for ever to do the first 15 and it took even more forever to do the last 15. I did Knees to Elbows instead of Toes To Bar. And I did 15 Banded Pull Ups instead of the 5 MU. Time: HORRIBLE 14:42. My shoulders hate me.

That’s all I got for y’all for this HOT HOT TEXAS TUESDAY. If you are like me and need to get back on the clean eating train… then let’s do this! Start today, start tomorrow,…. just start this week. OK? GREAT! Make today AWESOME!

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

Month: September 2013

Monday Not So Fun Day

Obsessed, Insanity or Just a Healthy Addiction

Grrrrr, WALL BALLS

Hard. To. Breathe

Putting My Blinders On

Challenge Accepted!

Running on Fumes

Naptime yet?

Focus

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