Mornings or Evenings

As you all know I’m trying to get back to my consistent workouts and slowly but surely I am getting there. (Too bad my blogging is still struggling, but I’m working on that too!) The biggest thing I’ve struggled with though is getting back to the EARLY MORNING workouts. I used to be so good. Getting up and getting to the box at 5 am was a no brainer. Just get up and go. Then I got lazy and chunky and sleep just sounded so much better.

Then there’s the evenings… those are oh so nice. My brain and body are awake. I’m way more limber and it’s not as hard to get moving and warmed up. My performance may not be better but I feel better! It does, however suck up my whole evening. And well that’s no fun.

But I did finally show up at 5 am today and boy oh boy I feel GRAND! I have energy. I’m ready to go and tackle the day. And in truth, I know I’m more of a morning person. But as with anything, you fall out of routine and it’s hard to get back. Yes this morning, I was achy and groggy. But by the time I was done and showered up, I was all woooooo!

I’ve been a slacker at the blogging so here are some quick recaps from the week!

4/18/14
Skill: Kipping HSPU Progression
We did a lot of stuff I couldn’t do, so this was mainly a sideline event for me.

4/18/14 WOD

MetCon: 400 Total Reps AFAP – 1 minute at each station of Burpess, Step Ups, Jumping Air Squats and Walking Lunges.
You just keep rotation until you get your 400 reps in. Or die. Thankfully no one died but I sure did feel like it at various times. There’s not much to say except my hips were smoked. This was not a FUN workout Time: 21:15

4/22/14
Skill: Muscle Ups
Ya, still not good at this.

4/21/14 WOD

MetCon: 10 rounds of 6 Cleans and 3 Front Squats, every 90 seconds do 3 HSPU or 1 Wall Walk.
Boy do I love me some Cleans. And the wrist is getting better everyday so I was excited for this workout all except for the HSPU or Wall Walk part. My wrist can’t handle Wall Walks just yet so Coach had me do 6 ring dips (band assisted). So I was back to happy place. That was until about round 4. I was over Cleans, my wrist was getting fatigued and I thought crap I still have 6 more rounds. There’s no way. But I hung in there and just chipped away. Time: 13:12

4/23/14
Game: Wall Ball Bowling
Well this was different. There were plates ranging from 15lbs to 45lbs set up like pins but flat and a medball. We split up into teams and got to roll medball for two frames. Whatever plate our ball landed on determined what movement the other team had to do. So if you landed on 25, it was 25 Push Ups for the other team. 15 = Wall Balls, 25 = Push Ups, 35 = KB Swings and 45 = Sit Ups. Thankfully our opponents weren’t very good so we only had 1 round of Sit Ups and and 1 round of Push Ups! It was fun though.

4/23/14 WOD

MetCon: 3 Turns of 2 rounds of 10 Dumbbell Snatches and 250ft Sprint.
We were supposed to get timed but that didn’t happen so we just did 3 rounds of hell AFAP. Except my fast as possible sprint included a slow trot by the end. We had 40lb dumbbells and had to alternate 10 reps. I actually got better as the rounds went on when I wasn’t dying from the “trot”. But 40lbs is still heavy for me. This workout was pretty much evil. But still a good one.

4/25/14
Woooo I finally made a 5am class.

Skill: Snatch
It’s been a while and my whole body hurts from the week so I wasn’t sure how I’d do, but besides a few rusty warm ups, I got back into this movement pretty ok. Not perfect or anything, but good enough.

4/25/14 WOD

MetCon: “Isabel” 30 Snatches for time
Coach didn’t want us to go so heavy we lost form and even though I’ve hit 85lbs just a handful of times, I wasn’t prepared for 85lbs or even 75lbs. So I went with 65lbs. That ended up not being too bad. Coach didn’t want us going light and finishing under 3 minutes, but he didn’t really want us going over 6 minutes either. I busted out two sets of 5, then sets of 2 then singles. Time: 4:14

That’s a Wrap!
So like I said it was slow rolling. A grumbly stomach prevented from hitting the box up on Monday and an unexpected ER visit for one of my kiddos prevented me from going on Thursday. But all is well and I’m still eating tons better than I had been last month. So yay for small steps! It’s possible for all of you on the bubble. You can do it! There’s not one day that’s better than any other day to getting back on track. You just gotta do it! So whatever that is… eating clean, getting active or anything to a healthier life, you got this! Have a great weekend!

Surviving the Week

It’s Friday! Woooo! Only one bad meal this week so far. And it was only bad due to the beverages I consumed. But other than that this week has gone along quite nicely. I’m struggling a bit with the workouts but I am getting them done!

Considering this isn’t my first rodeo, I thought I would be feeling more food withdrawals. But this time around, I’m only feeling a little sluggish. But not much more than that. I’m not even a full week in though, so there’s still time for a little bit of misery. Not that I’m hoping for it, but I don’t want to relax and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. That would be a good time to fail

It helps to try and have a positive attitude though, which can be hard. Along with most of the overweight world, I wish there was an easy fix. But there is not. I wish that my couple of days of hard work translated to 20lbs weight loss. But it hasn’t. I wish that as long as I’m working hard in my workouts than the food I eat doesn’t work against me. But it does. All of those things could bring me down, but then I’d be back in the same rut. Miserable. There’s no time for loser talk though. Chin Up. Move forward. Think happy thoughts!

But it does take time and it’s not instant. It’s not the Biggest Loser Ranch over here, where they workout for hours and hours each day. It’s life and it’s busy. But feeling better is half the battle and that my friends is my instant gratification. I don’t feel as bloated and my mind is much clearer. I feel better. I just have to wait a little bit to feel super awesome, when the fluff melts away. And the fluff will melt away!

4/16/14 WOD

Warm Up Game: coaches choice (have fun)
I don’t know that our “games” were fun. We held Planks in the Push Up Position and passed a Medball around like hot potato. But after you got the ball and passed it you had to do a push up. When one person fell, the circle got smaller. The was a burner on the triceps. I was out after a couple of minutes. The second game was a 200m run with a cone. Kind of like carrying an egg on a spoon run. I gave up after 100m.

4/16/14 WOD

MetCon TEAM WOD – at least 3 person teams. 1 person working you must tag in from the starting line (mats)

5 min cap
40 Pull Ups
50 Russian KB swings 1.5 Pood for everyone

rest 2 min

8 min cap
100 Sit Ups
70 Back Squats 75# for everyone

rest 2 min

3 min cap
15 Burpees
10 ft ring for the guys
8 ft for the ladies

For our first round, only one of us has Pull Ups. But coach allowed us to do Ring Rows instead of Pull Ups but we couldn’t do more than half of the reps. So Tory, did 10 Pull Ups, Karen and I did 10 Ring Rows each and Tory finished with 10 more Pull Ups. Then we moved onto the Russian KB Swings. I put in 25 reps and Karen tagged in and picked up the other 25. Thankful that Tory could do Pull Ups, she got a break! Time: 3:51

For the second round we were pretty confident going in. Tory started us off with 30 Sit Ups. She felt she was slowing down, so she tagged Karen in. Well Karen went all out and busted 50 reps in, leaving me with only 20 to do. Back Squats were light but for some reason I wasn’t feeling it. Tory started us off with 15, Karen and I both did sets of 10 and then I don’t remember the rest. But we got our 70 reps in. Time: 6:45

And finally the third round. Burpees then jump and touch 8ft target. Before class even started I was practicing to reach the target and I was missing it by half an inch. Tory then pointed out I might be better off if I was directly under the target instead of Jumping at it from an angle. Well that worked! So I was ready. Time started and Tory did 15 of the reps right off the bat. Easy! So Karen and I split up the 5. My first attempt at hitting the target was a fail but I finally got it and didn’t have a problem after that. We didn’t get our time written on the board but it was some were around 1:33.

Overall that was a good Team WOD … no running involved!

4/17/14
Midline: accumulate 5 min of low plank
I know all this midline work is good for me but it’s really a pain in my arse. I held on for 1 1/2 minutes before I dropped. Then finished in 20 – 45 sec increments. Took me right at 8 minutes to accumulate 5 minutes worth of plank.

MetCon: 4 rounds of 200 m run, 10 DL 225/155 and 10 T2B followed by TABATA dips
I warmed up to 135lbs on my Deadlift and it felt heavy, maybe cause I’m tired. Who knows. But I thought 20 more lbs. I just need to throw it on there. I did a couple and was like I’ll be slow but it’s doable. I forgot however that Toes To Bar followed! Doh. We just killed our core doing plank. Now I have Deadlifts and T2B after a run. I just wasn’t sure I’d survive.

4/17/14 WOD

And we’re off. My shins hate me, but I ran most of the first 200m, just walked in the last 10m or so. Then I got 5 DLs in before dropping the bar, then did the other 5. Got to the T2B and slowly did one at a time. I can’t string them together and it takes a lot of effort to do just one, but I am getting better. I didn’t even look at the clock when I finished round one cause I knew it would be sad. The “running” part of my runs got shorter and shorter each time but I at least trotted or jogged 3/4 of the run. I got a little better at the Deadlifts and stayed about the same with T2B. Time: 21:10 RX.

I was still dying when I was reminded we had TABATA dips to still complete. TABATA is doing a movement for 20 seconds, then resting for 10 seconds for 8 rounds. It doesn’t seem like it would be hard but it’s not easy. This is a workout where you want to get as many reps as possible in the 20 seconds. Then the goal is to meet that same rep count each round. Your lowest score is your score. I did modified dips and started off with 6 then dropped to 5, then 4, then held out at 3. My triceps died. Score: 3

That’s A Wrap!
My biggest battles are the weekends. On the go = opportunity to eat really really bad. Hopefully I can conquer this weekend and be successful! I hope you all will too. It’s Resurrection Weekend aka Easter to most folks. A weekend that has the potential to be full of lots of yummy foods and candies. Show some restraint if you can because this weekend isn’t supposed to be based on celebrating food. Unfortunately, as a society, myself included that’s what we are drawn to – FOOD (savory meals, big desserts, easter candy). Sure there’s fellowship and church and family but a lot of times FOOD is the center piece to all of the above. I’m not opposed to indulging every now and then but if you’re on a mission, whether your months in or days in. Just remember you have work to do and you don’t have to go nutso on the eating. And if you by chance do lose it, it’s going to be ok. Monday is a whole new day. Have a beautiful weekend!

Just One Day . . .

Makes a huge difference. ONE DAY OF CLEANER EATING, it’s almost unbelievable. I wasn’t even perfect, just a whole lot better!

I can’t promise everyone will feel this way. And I’m sure in 2 or 3 days, I’ll feel like crap going through food withdrawls. But I was high energy all day. And even though I sucked at my workout, I didn’t think or feel like I might die. Annnndddd, I woke up this morning before my alarm clock, wide eyed and bushy tailed. I finally made it to a morning workout! Which is key for me and our busy, crazy schedule!

4/14/14 WOD

Midline: 50 Hollow Rocks and 50 Russian KB Swings – choose a weight and go for unbroken
Coach said we should do the Hollow Rocks Unbroken. I laugh at him. Maybe 20, then 10, then 5’s. As far as the KB swings, I didn’t go heavy cause last time I tried I didn’t go UB. So I opted for a lighter weight and barely made it. I was smoked. Can I go home now?

Strength: Front Squat 5×3 @ 75%
Finally, I can front rack the bar without any pain in my wrist. It’s so nice. But today I had my back plaguing me. I was warming up and 30lbs away from my 75% weight when my back was not feeling it. Coach had me mobilize, which helped some but when I retested the weight the pain was still on my right lower back. More mobilizing for me. Sadly I didn’t get to put in the reps.

4/14/14 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 12 Cleans and 6 Presses 115/75
Warming up I felt ok, but my back was still a little off. To be safe, I went with Hang Cleans at 65lbs. This alleviated the stress on my back which is good. I don’t need an injured back. After 1 round of the Presses, my wrist decided it wasn’t happy. I did 6 Hang Cleans in round 2 but was worried I wasn’t going to be able to finish. I was just going to take a DNF. I don’t know how long it took me before I decided to ask Coach what I could do as a substitution but it was at least 3-4 minutes of me standing around. Maybe more! He had me use the AirDyne instead of Presses and go until I hit 12 calories. By then my wrist was feeling ok enough to do Hang Cleans, but I was glad to not be going overhead. Once I had it in my head that I just needed to not worry about the clock anymore and just do work, I did fine. The AirDyne though is EVIL. Very EVIL! Time: 12:07

4/15/14 WOD
Oh yaaa, I got up early and went to the 6am class as a trial. The 5 am class is a better suited time frame because I gotta get kids to school and myself to work. But Tu/Thurs that isn’t an option. If I go into hyper mode when I get home it appears I can make it on time. But there is ZERO time to stick around if the MetCon runs late.

Skill: Muscle Ups or Double Unders
We kind of worked both, but if you have or are closer to a Muscle Up then they worked more on the MUs while those of us who don’t worked on DUs.

Gymnastics WOD: EMOM 5 min – 2 MU or 5 min max DU
Ya, I think I used up all my DUs in the skill session. And I kept tripping up which then led me to stand around and not do anything. I managed 183 reps in 5 minutes. I don’t think that’s very good but it is what it is.

4/15/14 WOD

MetCon: 12 min AMRAP of 40 DU and 20 HR Push-ups
So if my DU’s were gone in the skill session, they were definitely gone after 5 minutes of doing nothing but DUs. I at least thought I could do the first round Unbroken. But I only got about 20. I don’t think I strung more than 25 together ever in the 12 minutes. My shoulders were smoked. I couldn’t relax. Then Hand Release Push Ups were of no help. Just smokin’ the shoulders more! The whole 12 minutes was a mental struggle. My shoulders are dead. And so are my calves. Final: 4 rounds + 36 DUs RX

That’s a wrap!
Yes I had a poor poor petri post yesterday, but I’ve been gone from the blogsphere and I had to recap. Ya dig? And now I’m ready for my 798797th time to get back on the proverbial horse. Better than staying at the bottom I suppose. Just hoping to find my happy place this time around. Winning the lottery and becoming a stay at home mom would really help!

And yes let me say ONE MORE TIME, that I’m barely in day 2 of just eating better, more balanced, etc and I feel AWESOME. Not PERFECT but way better than any day last week, or the week before, or the MONTH before. Seriously folks. Just slight changes. Cutting out sugar. OR lessening sugar if you must. Eliminating or lessening grains. Eliminating or lessening processed foods. Adding veggies and protein with some heatlthy fat. Drinking MORE AGUA, aka WATER! And I get it, I feel you when you think NO way, not gonna do it. I keep going back to that place too. And I feel like crap and I get headaches and I lose the will to leave the couch. And to be honest it’s dumb to feel that way everyday and be okay with it. It’s just dumb. Yes I realize I’m calling myself dumb and it’s the truth. Especially when I can feel good physically and mentally just by cutting out junk. It’s easier than you think or make it out to be, I promise. I can guarantee you, that I don’t have extra special will power. Or that I’m better than any one of you out there. You just have to decide enough is enough. Make Tuesday your day of change!

The Hiatus is Over!

Hidey Ho folks! Believe it or not I didn’t completely disappear! I was however, in a huge blogging funk. I wasn’t being very productive, not eating great and just overall blah. I suck. Mission: Obliterate Chunky Monkey has fallen off course. But after trying to find new pants and not liking what I was seeing in the dressing room, I MUST make a plan of attack. I’ve had enough with the excuses. And I promise you I’ve had plenty of them. And most of all, I did what I tell all of you NOT to do. I let the biggest excuse of them all get in my way. NO TIME! And well alcohol, yes that could be a big factor as well

But there is time. And I can lay off the beers and margaritas.

The time I have is just not the time where I want to be in the kitchen or focusing on being healthy. My brain and body say sit down. Take a break. So I do. And with everyday that goes by that I’m “taking a break”, the harder it is to get back on track.

I finally got my lazy self to be more consistent at the Boom Box. And that’s been tough. I literally force myself to go. It’s better than talking myself out of going but it’s an internal fight. It’s weird saying that because I’ve always been “willing” to go. I’ve always looked forward to enjoying the workouts. But the past two weeks were tough. Of course I feel awesome POST workout but the thought process of getting dressed, driving there, and doing the work have been the opposite of motivating.

I think that mostly comes from me not meeting my goals. I’ve let myself down a handful of times over that past 12 months and I give up. I shut down. I quit. And then I wallow. I pretend I don’t look at myself in the mirror. And then I say screw it. I eat and drink whatever, whenever. But all the while, I’m kicking myself. Asking myself why? And I don’t really have an answer. I have no valid excuses.

I don’t know why I get this way. I know I’m not alone. I just wish it were easier for me to step out of the funk. I even signed up for another work Weight Loss Challenge. It started 3 weeks ago and I have done nothing to try to win. THREE WEEKS! But today, it has changed. I don’t have a big plan of attack except to eat clean and show up at the BOOM box. I don’t have meals planned or prepped (I KNOW, this doesn’t help in my success) but mentally I’m over being a slob. I’m over being half ass. That will help me make better choices in the long run. The next couple of days may be unprepared but mentally I know I have to choose my foods wisely and push hard in my workouts. I will find my happy place.

I WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.

I did get some workouts in. Although I sucked. And my food choices are getting better. I’m sure that salad in the bento box is chock full of sugar. I didn’t say I was perfect! But I’m getting better.

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Month: April 2014

Mornings or Evenings

Surviving the Week

Just One Day . . .

The Hiatus is Over!

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