Kill Some of the Things

Rockin’ Day FIVE here on the Whole30 and they (Whole30) say that days FOUR and FIVE is the KILL ALL THE THINGS phase. Yesterday I was slightly agitated and today slightly more irritable on all fronts. Not necessarily wanting to kill all the things but I can tell I’m off a little bit. Patience is thin. Energy wise, I feel good.

So far, so good on eating, cravings, and what not. I seriously am not salivating at the thought of dessert which is my weakness. I’m doing good by not indulging on too much fruit. I think the last time I did this, I didn’t enough veggies. Now I’m not saying I’m the veggie queen now, but I’m making an effort to eat at least 2 cups of something veggie related for at least 2 of my meals. Breakfast is still hard to eat after a PWO meal, so I probably only choke down 1 cup of veggies, mostly spinach.

Day 4 Lunch. Leftover Asian Five Spice Chicken with Matchstick Salad. Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes, Blackberries, Coconut Flakes, Bone Broth. I seriously am addicted to BONE BROTH now. It’s soooo yummy!

I can honestly say I’ve never hit a “starving” point or had a craving meltdown. And yes I know it’s only Day FIVE. So much can still happen. But overall everything is going great. I tend to be a sucker for boredom grazing. But those thoughts aren’t even creeping in and I’m loving it. Last week, I would eat anything just to eat it. Chocolate? Sure give me the whole package. Chips? Why yes, can I have a coke too? Beer? No make it a whiskey. You get the idea. If it was edible or drinkable I was consuming it.

And BONUS, I have FAT KID jeans. You know that pair or pairs of pants that are your LIMIT. Like I’m not buying a bigger size jeans/pants. So I have those and well they were at their limits of containing me without busting at the seams. In just 5 days, these FAT KID jeans are no longer busting at the seams. Granted, they still are THOSE jeans that I’d rather not be wearing but at least I’m at DEFCON 4 instead of 5. So yay for a little progress!

BOOM Box Recap
Although I’m awake and not groggy or flat out so sore I can’t move, I’m still struggling getting out of bed and on my feet. I’ve been running a few minutes late to the box for the 5 a.m. class. I gotta fix that ASAP!

1/10/14
Strength: 200 ft KB farmers carry x 3 (heavy)
Thank goodness it’s not cold outside. It was pretty humid and probably 60° out. But that didn’t make the KB’s any lighter! I had two 53lb KBs and they were heavy and my shoulders and forearms were not happy. I was pretty much a big ol baby the whole time but I still carried the damn weight.

1/10/14 WOD

MetCon: 3 person team WOD with running clock – 20 minutes 3 rm Back Squat for each member 0 rest 10 minutes Row Max Calories. Add all the lbs and all the cals for score.
We ended up with a 4 person team cause that’s how many of us that were there so we went with it. I wasn’t really sure what my 3RM Back Squat would be. We’ve been doing a lot of Front Squats and because of my wrist, I haven’t been going as heavy as I would like. So Back Squat was a mystery. There were two of working together so we got ample rest in between sets and I was surprising working my way up nicely. My hips were good, my mind was clear, I was chugging along. Worked my way up 160lbs for 3 reps. My 1RM is 175lbs. And I figured I’d lost some strength in general since I’ve been such a slacker but I felt pretty good at 160, so I went up to 165 with like 2 minutes left and I failed on the first rep. I think the time limit got in my head and I was trying to rush. Ah well. I’ll take 160 for 3 reps.

As for the Row, we just were going to go hard then switch until the 10 minutes was up. I went first for 1:50 and only got 25 calories. But the rest of the team was getting after it. I got back on near the end for a minute but didn’t pay attention to how many calories I rowed then. Probably 5, lol. Who knows. Rowing is not easy for my short self. But I’m trying! Final: 855lbs total for Back Squat + 173 Calories = 1028.

An afterthought pic of my PWO meal. I only had roasted Sweet Potatoes for this morning. I do prefer pureed so I will make sure next week I’m covered. Also a little lean grass fed ground beef with tomatoes and onions.

That’s a Wrap!
I fear the weekend will my hardest days of this Whole30. With a work/school schedule, I have structure. With the weekend it’s all loosey goosey. We are still busy, but weekends are the times where drive thru’s are the best. Oh, we are all hungry? Ok, where shall we eat? It sucks. I just need to focus on packing up food I need and food I can eat in the midst of all our driving around. Or if we are home being lazy, then I need to stay focused and do something productive. That won’t hurt either I suppose. Just gotta stay focused!

Anyone else out there on the Whole30 or some other journey to better health? Chime in. Let me know how you’re doing. And it’s never too late to start if you’re still going back and forth. It’s doable. It’s worth it. Don’t neglect YOU anymore. It’s time to take time for yourself, for your family and get things rolling! Don’t sit there and sigh and tell me “it’s easy for you to say” or “I’m just not ready”. You just have to do it. Make the decision and do it!

Happy FRIDAY! Make the weekend SHINE!

Not so drained, but a little agitated

With the right mindset all things are possible. That is for sure. Over the past year I’ve tried getting back to it with the 21 Day Sugar Detox, Advocare, Weightloss Comp at work and whatever other promises I made to myself. But not one was fruitful. Now that I’m determined and willing, this is a walk in the park. Ok, it’s not like a lackadaisical stroll through some fairy tale wonderland but it’s definitely easier than my previous attempts at being good. Those before pics I took were really really motivating. Maybe one day I’ll share them with you. MAYBE!

Day FOUR! I’ve made it. I know it doesn’t sound like a big triumph. You might be saying “You’re only 4 days in. That’s nothing.” But seriously, 4 days of super clean eating. Proper eating. Getting in all the right portions, that’s no joke.

As for how I’m feeling, well, I was a little slow moving this morning but I’m not feeling anything negative physically at the moment. A little more on edge, irritable but in general I’m feeling fine. I thought I was getting a sore throat so I drank some water with apple cider vinegar. I’m becoming a firm believer in this stuff. And I’m not one for much of the “home remedy” type stuff. But everyday I’m becoming more and more of that person. I woke up and there is no sign of sore throat!

As far as eating is concerned, I had my Day THREE lunch of leftovers. A hot mess of the Carnitas tower sans the avocado cause I forgot it, but had leftover asparagus to go with the pork and cole slaw. Threw in some coconut flakes with blackberries and that keeps me satiated through to dinner. No cravings. No daydreams of chocolate running into my mouth.

Lunch 1/7/14

For Day THREE dinner, I had the Salmon I made on Tuesday night. I never tasted it when it was fresh because I was too busy creating my leaning tower of carnitas. Well it was fantastic! It melted in my mouth, full of flavor and oh so good. I heated up the asparagus in a little bit of avocado oil and added a little bit of the butter lemon sauce that my other recipe was cooking in and it was to die for!

My attempt at making it more presentable.

Just in case you forgot how delicious the salmon looked!

I like being in the kitchen so prepping, slicing, dicing, cooking are not chores. Except for making things matchsticks. That sucks and I do not want to do that again. I’m sure there’s a fancy thingamajig that will do it for me, but I had a knife and a cutting board. And the recipe I was following from Weeknight Paleo called for veggies and fruits to be cut into matchsticks. Little did I know I am not good at this and it’s time consuming! It’s not hours of work but more work than I’d like to do regularly. I’m definitely finding the thingamajig that will make it easier.

But doesn’t it look so pretty?!? Asian Five-Spice Chicken with Matchstix Salad, Weeknight Paleo

I only cooked ahead for tonight because we will be busy and I won’t have time to “make” anything. Reheat I can do and that’s easy. And that’s where the Matchsticks came in. It called for radishes, jicama, fuji apple, bosc pear and carrots to all be cut into matchsticks. Ay ay ay! While I was cutting that up, I was heating up a modified schezuan sauce. The recipe called for things that I could not find without sugar and honey which is not Whole30. So I just eliminated and hoped for the best! After my sauce cooled, I tossed it in with the matchstick salad. As that was all marinating, I heated up a skillet with Coconut Oil. I took chicken tenderloins and coated them in Chines Five Spice (which I’ve never used and wasn’t sure I’d like by the smell of it) and a few other spices. And off to the skillet they went. After a few minutes of cooking I added grassfed butter and lemon juice and let the tenderloins finish cooking. Plated the matchstick salad and topped with the chicken and it was fabulous. I ate half a serving of that and half a serving of my salmon. Turns out I was right about the smell of the Chinese Five Spice because it had anise, fennel and cloves, bleh. Not my favorite spices, but all together with the butter lemon sauce it turned out rather tasty. And maybe in my past experiences the flavors were too potent for my tastebuds back in the day. Ugh I’m getting old!

I GOT THIS

Even though I have felt drained, irritable and still may have not seen the worst of withdrawals, my optimism is high! I can already feel the bloating going away. I don’t know about everyone else but when I’m eating poorly, I feel like the stay puff marshmallow at all time. Today, I can sit, stand etc and not feel like I’m busting at the seams. It’s a nice feeling. And helps keep my attitude in a good direction. I’m not hungry in between meals and I’m not CRAVING in between meals. It’s the cravings that get me. Cause I can have those any old time and not even be hungry.

You can do this too!
If you’re reading and are on the fence about doing the Whole30 or any other program for that matter just know you can do it. It is possible. For me it’s 30 DAYS. I just had to put on my big girl panties and stop with all the whining. I put my game face on and I’m going to destroy this little chunky monkey that I’ve become. You may or may not have weight to lose. You may need to get rid of those migraines that are bugging you. You may have allergies. Or maybe your joints just hurt and you’re on 17389 medications. Eat clean! Get moving! Cut out all the crap. 30 days isn’t FOREVER.

So I don’t eat grains, but you should get the idea!

That’s a wrap!
It’s my REST day so BOOM Box recaps today. Back to it tomorrow and maybe trying out a Yoga class on Saturday. It’s at CrossFit Boom, so you know that’s my second home. We’ll see. In regards to food, it will be a lot of reheating over the next two days. If you have questions, need a cheerleader, or someone to vent to about making that change for better health, then I’m your girl! Have a fab Thursday!

And then I got tired

I was feeling pretty good Day ONE and Day TWO. But it caught up to me. The HANGOVER as Whole30 states may happen in Days TWO & THREE. And I felt it this morning at the BOOM Box. Normally after the warm up, especially in the mornings, I finally wake up. The blood is flowing, the heart rate is up and my brain starts to work. But today, I was like a slug. Moving slow. Spaced out. Eventually adrenaline kicked in but the rest of the morning has been so blah. I know this will pass but right now I just want to crawl into bed. The good thing is that I truly believe the Clean Eating is instantly helping my sad muscles recover much more quickly. I’m not near as sore as I have been the past couple of months and my body is overall feeling better for the most part.

Many Whole30ers report headaches, fatigue, and general malaise during this part of the program. This, my friends, is completely normal. Your body is working its way through a whole host of junk it stored from the foods (or food-like-products) you used to eat. This process lasts a day for some folks, but for others it can take a few days longer. Relax, drink a lot of water, and keep making good choices. And do your best to earn sympathy and support from friends and family,
– www.whole30.com

And even though I’m feeling like the only thing I should do is sleep right now, let me tell you how excited I am that my meals are turning out great. That’s like the bright side to this nasty food hangover. The meals from Weeknight Paleo by Amber Beam are tasty and aren’t taking up much of my time. And no, I’m not getting compensated for plugging this book! LOL I WISH! Seriously though, the meals are great. And a success among all of my family… ages 10-29! Hehe.

I still am struggling with eating breakfast after my Post Workout Meal. And I fear that I always will. I have a good time frame of 1 1/2 – 2 hours after my PWO and it’s still so hard. It’s like I don’t want to chew. And part of Whole30’s thought process tells you to not drink shakes/smoothies! Chew your food! UGH! My face hurts!

Day TWO Everything
I decided to just give you all a run down of the day instead of splitting it all up! Maybe this will be better and less boring. I hope. Maybe. Don’t leave me! 😀

You should have already seen my beautiful breakfast in yesterday’s post and I only described Lunch. Got home, hit the BOOM Box and reheated some pork for the Carnitas–Style Taco Tower. But also remembered I had Salmon I did not throw in the freezer and needed to cook that ASAP. Turned out lovely, just lovely!

BOOM Box 1/714
30 heavy Russian Swings
Used the 1.5 POOD. Not fun, but did the work

Skill: Pull Up progressions
So Coach wanted us working on the Rings! Ugh, me and rings. I have dumb fears, Hanging from those is another one of them. But I almost got Toes to Bar on those. Just need to practice.

1/7/14 WOD

MetCon: 8 rounds for reps of 1 min Over Head Lunges w/plate 45/35 and 1 min Burpees to the plate
Ya, I knew this was gonna hurt! I wasn’t sure how the OVER HEAD part was going to work with my wrist and well I learned real quick it wasn’t going to work. I did about 10 reps with the 35lb plate but my wrist won’t bend all the way, so I was off balance. I tried going to a 25lb plate and it was still a NO GO. So I just did lunges. I felt bad I was scaling way bad. But I totally sucked without weight too! The burpees got me. BAD. Final: 214 reps.

DINNER
So I said I came home to reheat some pork. I made the Cole Slaw that goes with it the night before. SUPER EASY. And I improvised on the “tower” part. I didn’t purchase the metal ring thing that was suggested. But I had this handy dandy cup/measure thing that I used to attempt a tower. As you will see in the pictures, it came out OK, nothing restaurant worthy but I just want to eat!

My contraption, nothing like what the cookbook asks for!

Hehe, my LEANING Carnitas tower! May not be purty but it sure is tasty!

And what the cookbook shows! (Weeknight Paleo) As you can see I was a little heavy handed with the guacamole in the pic above!

In between reheating and trying to create a masterpiece, I cooked up the Salmon for the Herbes de Provence-Crusted Salmon with a Citrus-Herb Sauce and Asparagus in Weeknight Paleo. Besides the “juicing” of the citrus fruit, this was quick and easy. Maybe 20 minutes from start to finish. Seriously EASY and QUICK and kind of fancy looking! So yummy!

Fresh out of the oven.

My attempt at making it more presentable.

SLEEP
Working out in the evenings makes it a little harder to sleep but once I did fall asleep I was out! I woke up fine when my alarm went off at 4 am but ended up hitting snooze till 4:35! Doh!

Day THREE
So I rolled in a few minutes late to the BOOM Box…. you can’t fault me for that when I’m showing up at 5 a.m.! Coach T already has his wheels turning on what I would be substituting for the WOD. Cause it was Thrusters and Hang Cleans on the board.

Midline: 30 evil wheels
With my wrist and lack of core strength I could only roll out so far, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t putting a beating on me!

Strength: EMOM 20min 3 thrusters AHAP. Once you have past 5 minutes you must keep that weight.
I am soooo glad I can’t do Thrusters with a BAR! They are misery! But I did get the opportunity to use 20lb Dumbbells. Of course the weight wasn’t there but I’m still working up my upper body strength since it’s been slow rolling. Still sweating and still a good heart rate.

1/8/14 WOD

MetCon: TABATA of Air Squats, Hang Cleans 115/75, C2B Pull Ups
Sometimes I love TABATA and sometimes, like today, I don’t care so much for it. Maybe cause I was already feeling drained after the Evil Wheels. So tired! 3-2-1 GO. I started off OK with Air Squats getting 20 in the first 20 seconds, then 16, then 14, then 12… I stayed at 12. Instead of Hang Cleans, I did Power Snatch with the 35lb bar. I did like 7 on the first 20 seconds, then held out with 5 for the rest of the time. By the time I got to my BANDED Pull Ups, I was just happy to be alive. I struggled a lot and ended up with a score of 2! Boooo! Final: 12, 5, 2

PWO MEAL
A serving of pork and a serving of Sweet Potato Puree. As exhausted as I felt, the food was good and went down easy. But as soon as I got home, I was already dreading breakfast!

BREAKFAST
Bone Broth! I’ve made the broth before but with less chicken carcasses and only used it for soups and seasoning veggies. But now I’ve made it properly and now I know that drinking it by itself is beautiful. And knowing all the health benefits makes it that much more the reason to drink it! Click HERE for more info!

I also had boiled some Eggs on Sunday, so this was going to be my breakfast. I was moving slower than normal and was glad I had this back up for food. I packed 3 eggs up, a sandwich bag full of spinach and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I figured I would eat this around 7:45 a.m. on my drive in to work. OH MY the spinach was so hard to eat as well as the EGGS. I was tired of eating that I failed to eat one of the eggs. I realized I was missing my “healthy” fat also but was so over it. I think/hope I’ll survive till lunch!

That’s a Wrap!
So there you have it for this lovely HUMP DAY. I’ll have REST until Friday morning! How sweet it is! This gives me time to cook up some chicken and ground beefs to hold me through Friday and maybe through the WEEKEND. I’ll be checking in tomorrow, hoping I’m not sooo tired and let you know how any food prep went down. Until then, take that step to cleaner eating, more physical activity or just getting more sleep! Do Something! Make a Change!

You may be asking…. What is Whole30?

So I’ll break it down for you. They do it quite nicely over at Whole30 but I know sometimes you just want to know what other people say. Sometimes you just might think that it’s too much or too hard or IMPOSSIBLE. I’m no one special. I don’t have anything that sets me above and beyond. I’m just a regular person with too much to do and too little time. I have faults and I have awesomeness but I am nowhere near perfect. I struggle with life’s curve balls and the little things that creep up daily. We all have our downfalls, struggles, success, wins, etc. It’s how we deal with them that either makes us or breaks us.

But to me at the end of the day, if I’m not aiming to be healthy in all aspects of my life then I’m letting myself down and my children down too. This blog is aimed at Fitness and Health. More specifically CrossFit and Clean Eating. And if you know me, I can totally kick ass but as you may have learned I can let it all slip away in the blink of an eye. I’m HUMAN! It happens.

So I’m back at focusing on CLEAN EATING. I’m true to my CrossFit but I’ve let the eating get in the way of performance and progress. I was at my best last January-April when I was following Whole30. And to me Whole30 is PERFECT. But even after success, I just flushed it all down the toilet shortly after. Yup, you can feel good and KNOW how good to be but it’s still so easy to fall down, dig a hole and stay in the hole.

There is a science to it all with Whole30. The Hartwigs are good about backing up their statements. They have the research behind them, but they don’t BORE you with it all. Some folks NEED that science but it’s not necessary. It’s not exact to each person. There are days you have to experiment to what makes you feel good. Do you need more fat in your day? Are you eating enough carb dense veggies? There are days you will feel exhausted and days you are full of energy. For a lot of folks this is NEW. Clean eating is NEW. There are so many “easy to eat” processed products out there, some folks forget what REAL FOOD is. But in the end, hopefully, you are learning what makes you tick on the inside. What foods are best for you, ratios, portions, etc. Whole30 is a reboot for your health – the brain, the gut, and your immune system.

Whole30 is an elimination program. Cut out all the junk. Eat only real foods. Follow their guidelines on eating proteins, veggies and fats. FOLLOW THEM WELL. You will see results. You will feel better. You should lose weight. You should learn to appreciate and like new REAL FOODS.

You CANNOT half ass the program. If you do – You will fail. You will give up. You will quit. You can’t say “it’s just this one meal I’m cheating on day ___, I’ll be back to it tomorrow.” You NEED to commit to the full 30 days. Sometimes even longer. NO CHEATING. But LESS than 30 days is not going to do it. Below are their foods to cut out. You can find them HERE as well with more details. The idea is to keep processed, sugary junk out for good. For some folks it’s easy to do, for folks like me…. well it can be hard. I’m a glutton for punishment. My body will tell me the food is not good for me but my brain is stubborn.

Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.

Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)

Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.

Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).

Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)

Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits (chips and fries) and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold, and fingerling potatoes off your plate.

Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.

No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.

Are you running away now? I know it’s a lot to think about but it’s totally worth it! I promise. If you feel after 30 days you just can’t LIVE without something, reintroduce it, see how you feel. You experiment from there. If you just can’t let go of the fact that WHEAT is bad then bring it back in. Do you turn into a hot sniffling mess? Get bloated and achy? Maybe that wheat wasn’t such a good idea. The same goes for sugars, dairy and other grains. Just cut them out though for the 30 days and see what happens before you decide to go back to your old ways.

I started yesterday and had a SUCCESSFUL DAY ONE! I planned/prepped/cooked over the weekend. It took time. It is work. It’s not a snap of your fingers but it’s not draining either. You don’t have to be a chef to be successful, you just have to make a plan. KNOW what you will eat for at least one week at a time. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

If and when you commit to the program, you will find that there is a good community in the forums. Find folks you can relate too. There are numerous websites and blogs out there that share meal plans, ideas, tips, etc. But if the interwebs aren’t for you then SHARE the program with friends and family. Challenge your family to do this. Make it fun. Learn together!

If your still not sure then check out It Starts With Food. Last year the Hartwigs published this book. For me this was what I needed to read. It gave me enough explanation on how our body works, because truthfully, I HAD NO CLUE. I don’t know how my innards work but they tell you. I had many “aha” moments while I was reading the book. It was definitely helpful in me committing to the program.

I hope this was enough to spur your interest. You can start any day that ends in Y. I advise not to just JUMP in without any support. Research and plan. Then do it. It’s so easy to fail but if you are prepared then you will do great!

Day ONE and DAY TWO Whole30 RECAP
Yesterday I went over my Post Workout Meal and that it was easy to take in in such a short amount of time after working out. REAL FOOD. Chicken and pureed sweet potato. But breakfast 2 hours later was a little more challenging to get down. But I survived and wasn’t let with any cravings. I wasn’t even STARVING when lunch came around but I knew I had to stick to the schedule of eating.

Lunch consisted of Roasted Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and a Spinach Salad (2cups spinach, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, coconut flakes, cucumber, green onions, mini sweet peppers). I really had all the workings of a Whole30 recommended meal. It was nice and held me over till I ate dinner at 7pm.

Dinner was already premade thanks to Weeknight Paleo by Amber Beam. I made her Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork with Stellar Sweet Potato Home Fries on Sunday and all I had to do is a little reheat and I was done. Granted Sweet Potato Home Fries are much better right out of the oven, but they are still tasty as a leftover. I added some Kim-Chi to my pork and I was set.

Bedtime
I went to bed at 10pm. I rarely have problems falling asleep in general but I felt better overall, mentally. I’d done GOOD! hehe. I woke up thinking I would be seriously dead in the ABS and Legs with all the work we did at the BOOM Box and surprisingly NO PAIN! One day of clean eating and I’m already recovering that quickly? Not entirely sure but I’ll keep you posted if the DOMS hits me later today!

Day TWO
Breakfast
I wasn’t really hungry and I’m really not much of an early breakfast kind of girl but I have to plug away and do this right. I made two eggs over medium using Avocado Oil (delicious). After those were done, I plated them, then threw in 2 cups spinach to same pan with a little more oil added along with some green onions (precut on sunday). Had a small handful of raw trail mix and breakfast is down for the count!

Lunch
I had a choice of Pulled Pork or more Roast Chicken (made on Sunday as well) so I went with chicken. Last night as I was reheating my food, I did a quick boil of water, threw in Asparagus for 4 minutes, drained, added olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and there you have it, green food for lunch today! I still have some sweet potatoes left over as well. Throw in some Coconut Flakes for that healthy fat and a few blackberries and my LUNCH is legit!

That’s a wrap!
My workouts will be pretty much back to back. One class this evening and then another at 5am. I should be able to still get plenty of sleep and still have PWO and healthy dinner. The plan for the left over Pulled Pork is to make Carnitas–Style Taco Tower. I don’t have the tool to make it look fancy but I’m sure it will be tasty all the same! I’m so excited that I’m finally committing to this again. I feel good and positive about everything. I’m not dreading the days to come. I will conquer this! You can too! Don’t be scared! Have a Happy Tuesday!

It has begun – Whole30

Happy Monday folks. If you’ve been following along most of you know, I put off my New Year’s resolution till today. This has worked out just fine. I had plenty of time to prepare mentally and get my ducks in order food wise. So this past weekend, consisted of eating mucho food and then shopping to get my health back to goodness. I know, I could have just made any day D-Day, but today seemed logical. I’m ready to do this. And I really don’t want to be back to this OOMPA LOOMPA state again, EVER. I already thought I was past this and would never return, especially to the extreme I’m at now. Sadly I did return and now it’s time to ANNIHILATE this chunky monkey.

The day before Day ONE – PREP and COOK
I mentioned last week that I purchased Weeknight Paleo, by Amber Beam over at www.paleosavvy.com. The decision to buy this cookbook was spurred by the fact that it had some interesting recipes that were a little bit outside my comfort zone but not completely way out there. I tend to get stuck in “food” ruts, which leads to boredom, which leads to laziness, which leads to me swimming in the abyss of junk food. The book lays out shopping lists, when to cook/prep things and how long I have to use the foods.

So off we went to Whole Foods. I told Ernie to be patient with me as I was buying specific items and not our “normal” veggie and protein stash. We had our shopping trip down to a science. A very boring science. So now I’m shopping for Jicama, specific fruits, and stuff off my normal radar. I’m also shopping for cuts of meat I’m not accustomed to asking for at the meat counter. To be safe, I still got some of our go to staples. This made my overall total bill a lot more than I’m used to but the meats are easily frozen to be used for another day.

Some of the foods already packed up and ready to go!

My first step in prepping was to get my PORK SHOULDER ROAST going. Then I was on to chopping up veggies for salads during the week. I also roasted a chicken and split it up into portions for post workout meals. Pureed some sweet potato to go with my PWO meal. Roasted sweet potato for meal 1 of the Weeknight Paleo. And I also boiled some eggs for quick breakfast when I don’t have time for much else. This took me a couple of hours but I think it’s well worth it to be prepared.

Day ONE
Well it’s only the beginning of Day ONE but my PWO meal went down easily. My breakfast on the other hand was much more of a chore. I just am not a big eater in the morning. Like I told Ernie, had I been sipping on a nice coffee drink and a sweet pastry, it would have been gone in 3 seconds. But 3 EGGS with veggies, however tasty they were was just a beating to get it down. I had to keep telling myself that I was resetting my gut, rewiring my brain, etc. Mostly rewiring my brain. I’m such a baby. But I ate it all and I survived. And I’m pretty satiated at the moment. My lunch is packed to the specifications of the Whole30 guidelines and dinner is pretty much ready to go. Just gotta heat it up. Woohooo. Day ONE should be successful… let’s just hope Day TWO and beyond reach the same success.

BOOM BOX recap
1/3/14
MetCon: (running clock) 3 minutes Elbow Plank, rest 2 min, 5 minutes max Wall Balls, rest 5 min, 5 min AMRAP of 20 Double Unders and 10 snatches 75/45. Score Wall Balls + reps from AMRAP

How’s that for a Friday workout. Doesn’t seem to daunting right? First off the Elbow Plank. Ya I suck at this. Barely made it a minute in without having to drop. Then was barely getting 15 seconds at a time after that. The rest following the plank was much needed. Because Wall Balls were about to destroy me. It’s been at least 3 or 4 months since I’ve done a Wall Ball. Doesn’t help I’ve been injured. I started slow with a 10lb ball and seemed ok, then moved to the 14lb ball. HOW IS THIS SO MUCH HEAVIER?!?!? I could get it up there but I was scared as I fatigued that catching it would put too much stress on the wrist. So Coach ALLOWED me to let it just drop and catch on the rebound! WHAT? I loved this idea! Cause I’m a bum. But that fun left pretty quickly. I only managed 50 Wall Balls in 5 minutes.

1/3/14 WOD

Then it was time for the 5 minute AMRAP of DUs and Snatches. How does 5 minutes in Wall Balls last forever and 5 minutes of this AMRAP finish in a minute. Oh my rebellious brain. Before we started I wanted to test out my Snatch. So I got the 15lb techniqe bar and threw it up and NO PAIN. So I moved to the 25lb bar and NO PAIN. I was scared moving up to the 35lb bar but I picked it up and BAM, NO PAIN. Coach had me stay at 35lbs which was fine by me. And it was so much more fine once the AMRAP started and my shoulders were DYING! I got through 3 full rounds, 20 DUs and 4 Snatches. Final: 164 reps.

1/4/13 Track WOD
Oh why oh why did I show up for this misery. Because I need to get back to it and start being a mini beast. That’s why. But it sure does suck at this moment. I also got my kids up for this crap. Good thing for them is they are good at running!

Warm up: Leg swings, 400m jog, dynamic movements
Let’s just say the 400m JOG was practically a crawl. More sucking at life.

Conditioning
A: 50 yrd sprint x 6 (walk back for rest)
Uh, ya, no fun. And I typically like sprinting. This was hurting my shins and my right hip, lower back.

B: Team WOD 400 m run, 100 yd Buddy Carry, 400m run
I was done as far as running was concerned. TOO. MUCH. PAIN! So I teamed up with my kiddos. Only one person working at a time but since I was barely hanging in there Coach let me walk one 400m while the other two ran. I barely finished the walk to keep up with them. Then it was my job to buddy carry them. So I carried one kid halfway, then swapped out for the way back. At the end of that I was DUNZO, so they ran the 400m and I cheered them on! So proud of those boys! They worked hard.

C: 50 yd Lunge, 50 yd sprint for time
And here I thought we were done after those 400’s. NOPE. I had a 50 yd lunge and then a 50 yd hobble. At least I showed up!

1/6/13
HOLY SCHMOLY, it’s cold outside. I’m talking in the teens here. We haven’t seen sub 20° in a long time! And I almost snoozed right through the 5am class!

Midline: 30 hollow rocks
Getting slightly better at this misery. But still struggling.

Strength: Front Squats @ temp 102X1 (10 sec neg, 2 sec hold, fast up, 1 sec at top) 3×5 then 20 reps AFAP (w/ doable weight)
Uh yaaa. I should have slept in! Taking 10 seconds to hit bottom is HARD. By the 3rd round, at a measley 60lbs, I finally had it figured out but I could only do 3 consecutive. My hip/lower back was dying. Like a permanent cramp. I still did the work, but I was not liking it at all. Then it came time to do 20 reps As Fast As Possible. I did 12. Then racked it. Hip/lower back was on fire. Plus, I’m Frankensteining it and that sucks even more. Finished my 8 reps then laid on a foam roller for a long time.

1/6/14 WOD

MetCon: 3 Rounds For time of 20 Sit Ups, 10 Push Ups, 10 T2B, 5 HSPU
Today was all about the core. I probably won’t be able to roll out of bed tomorrow. Sit Ups and Push Ups, I got. T2B and HSPU, not so much. So it was Knees to Elbows and Overhead presses with the Multi-Grip Bar which I was kind of excited about. I need to work on that overhead strength. I felt I did well with everything but KTE. So frustrating. Hanging onto the bar hurts SO bad! Time: 8:26

That’s A Wrap!
I worked out 6 days! Wooooo! It’s been a while since that has happened. With school and baseball picking back up I fear that it won’t be a common occurrence but I’m shooting for 5 days. I’m all prepped for the week to SUCCEED at the Whole30. And I sadly took “before” pics of myself. It’s funny how one (me) can live in denial about where one is at until one sees pictures of oneself. That’s a slap in the face. Big time. Bleh. I’m definintely determined for those “before” pictures to NEVER BE AGAIN! I’m up MANY pounds over where I’d ideally like to be. And when I say many, I’m mean 40-50lbs over. That’s the icing on the cake for me. So no more icing and no more cake. Gotta shed this weight and get back to the leaner version of me.

I hope you all have a fabulous day and if you’re rebooting, starting something new or making a change today then BE STRONG! BE A ROCKSTAR! I’m here to cheer you on and send you virtual high fives! Whole30 on!

My tshirt that I ordered from Savage Life Apparel! So cute!

Getting Prepared for the Whole30

So I’ve been really lazy this past year and I know all it takes is a little bit of preparation during the weekends to have a successful week of eating. And even though I’m ready to get back to eating clean, my brain is still in LAZY mode. I just want a meal by meal, tell me what to eat, tell me how to cook it, etc plan. I know I’m plenty capable of cooking good clean foods. Hell I did it for a year and was really good at it, but I tend to get stuck in ruts and start making the same stuff OVER and OVER and OVER. And then I’m burnt out. I know food should be fuel, but it should taste good too in my opinion. Some folks can eat plain chicken breast, plain veggies, etc. everyday forever. I, however, am not one of those people. I can do it for a short period then I’m out. I want flavor, I want spice. And that’s how I cook, but I’m still a bum right now. I’m trying to rewire my brain!

So I scoured the interwebs and I found lots of resources out there but one seemed to shine brighter than the others. I found Weeknight Paleo over at paleosavvy.com. Author, Amber Beam, seemed to have a well rounded cookbook with meals that didn’t look boring or mundane. Bonus for me, they don’t look hard or complicated in regards to prep or cooking.

Now not all of her recipes are Whole30 compliant but they can be easily modified to fit in with Whole30. Her website even has a Whole30 calendar with meals you can make for the course of your journey. I haven’t made any of her recipes just yet, but I plan to start cooking this weekend. She offers a checklist of essential Paleo items for your pantry and fridge and in addition gives you a shopping list for each week of dinners/meals. So to prepare, I hit up a Sprouts Market during my lunch break to stock up on some of the essentials I’m running low on and spices that are called for in Week 1 of meals. Below is a picture of what I found at Sprouts. I didn’t find everything there but I’m confident WholeFoods will have the rest of what I need.

About $50 spent here.

Now I know what you are thinking. That’s a lot of spices and they all look expensive. To tell you the truth, some were cheap and some were not. But these are items that will last a while. They won’t be gone after one meal. They should last my Whole30 and beyond. It’s a good investment and they are crucial to having flavorful meals. There are some items like Chinese 5 spice that I wouldn’t have regularly in my pantry but there’s a recipe that calls specifically for it. I’m sure there are many more recipes in the book that will call for it later down the road as well. Amber, addresses the “cost” factor in the Introduction of her book as well. Here is an excerpt:

“The True Cost of Paleo
Either you pay the farmer or pay the physician. Lots of people think that Paleo is expensive. I can say I used to be one of those people. During my first trip to the grocery store as a Paleo newbie, I was dumbfounded by the sheer number of items in my cart when I exited the produce section of my market. I continued to the meat department, where I stocked up on what seemed like an enormous amount of protein. I realized that I was not supplementing the fresh food with processed food. I didn’t need to venture into the
supermarket danger zone—the aisles filled with cookies, crackers, and grains. I was building a menu based primarily on high quality protein and fresh fruits and vegetables. Overall, my grocery bill hasn’t fluctuated very much over what I used to spend. I started buying grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork more often. Organic and farm-stand produce also make a regular appearance in my kitchen. For what I spend on these items, I save by not buying nutrient-void carbs that come in shiny, colorful packaging and cost an average of $3.50 per box. You can do the math. On average, I may spend 10–15% more per week, than pre-Paleo, but I consider that money well spent. Higher quality food often costs more, but is more nutrient dense, so I strongly encourage eating the best food you can afford. I see the difference a quality diet has had on my quality of life. So for me, a slight increase in food cost is merely an investment in my overall wellness. The foods I eat ensure I make as few trips as possible to the physician each year and that’s an enormous cost savings.” – Weeknight Paleo, Amber Beam

I always tell people it’s an investment in my health when they give me that crazy eyed look (YOU SPEND MORE MONEY FOR GRASSFED BEEF). It’s only $2 a lb at Walmart or wherever. And it’s true it is cheaper to buy grain fed meats, just not healthier. In the end it’s my choice as it is yours to buy what you like. It’s my health. I prefer not to be sickly. And in general, my family and I are not a sickly bunch. We are not immune to everything but compared to classmates, co-workers and peers, we tend to avoid most of what’s floating around. I don’t only attribute that to good eating though. Our active lifestyle also helps keeps our immune system strong. But good health starts in the GUT. And if we have clean eating habits then we are better off. Keeping those Dr.s, medications and BILLS away.

And if you can’t afford it right now or are not ready to make the jump, it’s going to be fine. You’ve been doing fine so far right? Just make the best choices you can make with the budget you have. Try to be better. Research. Find the deals. If you can afford to buy organic veggies, then buy them. Here is a link of foods that you should try and buy organic, click HERE.

So that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend. Prepping, planning, organizing and getting mentally ready for this Whole30. It’s not going to be easy but I will make it through. Join me. Make the change. Even if it’s only one meal a week for you. Or even one day a week. Let’s get to clean eating and healthier ways. I promise you, YOU will feel better.

Boom Box Recap
1/2/13
Strength: Front squat: 60%x5, 65%x5, 70% 2×5
Boy oh boy my body is hurting. The last thing I want to do is Front Squats. But I gotta do it. I’m still Frankenstein squatting which takes a toll on the arms but I’m low on options here. Thankfully, I was able to do the percentages based on my 1RM of 155lbs. Which is GREAT. I’m gaining my strength back by not being a big ol girl baby!

1/02/14 WOD

MetCon: 18 min AMRAP 10 HR Push Ups, 10 T2B,10 DL 185/125
GEESH, 18 minutes of misery! After the 3rd round, I was convinced I wouldn’t get past 5 rounds. I am however getting better at doing knuckle push ups. Go ME! I’m not awesome at them but I can bust through them at a better pace. It’s the Toes To Bar that I’m still struggling with. So it’s Knees to Elbows for me. There’s nothing like a big ol’ belly to get in your way and make you super depressed. Well I got myself in this hole. And I’m the only one that can dig myself out of it. Hopefully in the next few months I can regain getting those toes to the bar! As for Deadlifts, they felt pretty light and easy, and after about halfway through I realized I had 35lb plates on the bar and not 45lb plates. DOH! I was only working at 105lbs! No wonder it was so light! Ah well. I did all but one round unbroken. I still was putting in work. Final: 7 rounds. I pushed to the last second to get that 10th Deadlift in!

Mobility: I did it! I set aside 15 minutes before I went to bed and I rolled out and stretched. I worked mostly on my legs but I also got some shoulder mobility in too. Finally. Now let’s hope I make this a habit!

Happy Friday!
I hope everyone has a great weekend. If you’re feeling froggy, jump in with me and lets get 2014 kicked off this Monday with clean eating, consistent workouts and good sleep! You don’t have to do Whole30. You can just start eliminating foods, drinking more water, start walking… ANYTHING that is a change for the better. Let’s do this boys and girls.

Another year, a better year

It’s 2014 ladies and gents. I hope everyone enjoyed not only their Christmas but ringing in the new year as well. As you all know, January is the month to start fresh. Gym memberships increase. Weight loss plans go into play. Etc. Etc. And yes I will join the cliché and “start over”.

I’ve never been one to make resolutions or goals really. I kind of say it in my head what I want to do but never write it down, unless I say it here in the good ol’ blog. I think mostly because I don’t want to let myself down by not meeting my goal or holding on to my resolution. This year will be different! I have some things I need to get accomplished physically, mentally, in the gym, outside of the gym and everything in between. But I’ll only bore you with my health and fitness goals 😀

My Health Goals:

1. Annihilate Chunky Monkey
2. Be a better planner/organizer so that all of my goals come to fruition.
3. Eat Clean 90% of the year. There will be vacations and there will be life celebrations and life just happens. But I really want to live that clean eating dream.
4. Complete at least one Whole30. This starts January 6th for me. And is the boost to eating clean for the year.
5. Dedicate at least 15 minutes a day at home to mobilizing/stretching. Work my way up to 30 minutes a day.
6. Get a freaking Pull Up. This includes making the time to work on this movement at home.
7. Improve my attitude towards running. I think some weight loss will help in this area. A lighter me will be a less oompa loompa me!
8. Lose weight. I’m not putting a number on this. I know where I’m at, where I’ve been and what’s ideal as far as I look and feel. I’ve learned to not weigh obsessively over the past two years and I’m not going to let that get in my head again. I just need these added layers of flub to be gone. Hopefully in the next 3 months.

I don’t think I’m asking too much of myself and I’m just hoping I can make all of the above HABITS. What are your goals? What do you want 2014 to bring?

Boom Box Recaps
12/31/13
Skill: Turkish Get Ups
Welp, with a bum wrist these aren’t ideal for me. So coach had me do some mobility. MUCH needed mobility! And some KB swings. Bleh.

12/31/13 WOD

MetCon: “Annie“ 50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds of: Double Unders and Sit Ups
Oh Annie, this is one MetCon I can kill, 8 months ago. But now, not so much I’ve never been so slow at sit ups. In April I had a sub8 time. For the last day of the year I had a time of 9:07. And it was the sit ups that got me! I thought I had my 50 DUs unbroken but failed at 44, then at 46, then at 47. So frustrating. But I did 40 unbroken. At 30 I did like 15, then 15. For 20, I did 18 or something dumb and failed. And I managed to do 10 unbroken. I only stopped twice during Sit Ups but there were on SLOW MO. I thought I was going to puke. Thankfully I did not!

I felt like Annie was a good way to finish the year. And a good benchmark for me to retest in a couple of months. With clean eating and hopefully some weight loss, I hope to destroy my 7:58 time from April 2013!

1/1/13 FRAN NIGHT
I went back and forth on if I was going to go to Fran Night. Every year CrossFit Boom rings in the new year with FRAN: 21, 15, 9 of Thrusters and Pull Ups – the dirtiest girl WOD out there. I knew I couldn’t physically do the actual workout because I can’t do Thrusters right now, but I knew Coach would have something equally as painful for me to do. I wasn’t sure though, if I was going to have the energy to be AWAKE to workout. Well thanks to the Chick-fil-A bowl and my beloved AGGIES making it an exciting game, I was pretty awake. Two of my three kids were home. And one of them wanted to participate with me. So we loaded up and off we went.

After we all warmed up we split into two groups, the 2013 Fran and the 2014 Fran. I decided to make Fran my first workout of the year and I let my son, Justice, do the 2013 workout. I was so proud of my monkey. He is athletic and he is tough but he’s never really done a WOD at the box for time. And he’s for sure never done Fran. Coach gave him a 15lb bar and off he went. And I didn’t let him slack. I NO REPPED him on some Thrusters and several Pull Ups. He eventually had to move to bands to finish out the Pull Ups. Time: 7:18

Then it was my turn, womp womp. I was tasked with Front Squats and Pushups instead of Thrusters. The break down was 7 Squats, 7 Push Ups with fists x 3, 21 Pull Ups, 5 Squats, 5 Push Ups x 3, 15 Pull Ups, 5 Squats, 5 Push Ups, 4 Squats, 4 Push Ups, 9 Pull Ups. This was a beating. A pure beating. And I went from 1 green band and 1 blue band, to 2 green bands, 1 blue band. It was terrible. But I did the work. I haven’t actually done Fran in probably over a year and it was modified. I’m pretty sure I had completed this benchmark in the 8 minute range. For this year it was a slow 10:43! This is another WOD I need to retest in the future.

Looking forward.
And there you have it. I did start of the NEW YEAR strong. And starting Monday I plan to start eating CLEAN!

I have all the resources I need at my fingertips. Now I just need the mental aspect to stay focused. This is a year of Looking Forward, Planning Ahead and Staying Focused. I’m also replacing AWESOME with something else. I think I’ve awesomed myself out and probably all of you as well! Any suggestions on a new WORD/PHRASE for the year?

What a YEAR, come on 2014, Bring IT!

Hello faithful and new readers. It’s the last day of 2013 and I’m ready to get on to a New Year! I can’t say 2013 was horrible but I’m really hopeful that 2014 has better things in store for me. I know it’s ME who has to make it be the year that I need it to be but I believe that sometimes there are driving forces out there testing my will and faith constantly. And I believe I was tested a little more than I’d like! Ah well.

As far as health and fitness go… I “shipped” my pants! If any of you have seen the Kmart commercial, you should be giggling. If not, google it! But for real, I started the year off STRONG by killing the Whole30. I was feeling the best I’d felt in a long time. Then I let the excuses slip in. I let baseball travels and schedules overrule proper food planning. I let my consistency at the Boom Box drop to some lows. And then I let the mindset of “well I screwed that up, let’s eat!” come into play. After many failed attempts on getting back on track, I just decided to give in completely. In this last part of the year, I am still struggling with food but am trying my best to be at the box to get my workouts in. It’s been a process with having a bum wrist. But it’s getting better and I’m not gonna let it slow me down.

I’ve decided to Kick 2014 in the bootay! Seriously! I tossed around going balls to the wall tomorrow or Thursday, but I’m not prepared in my kitchen for such things, and I haven’t had the time to get prepared. So this weekend, I’m gonna clean everything out of my pantry and fridge. Go grocery shopping and get to clean eating on January 6th! I need to get my ass back into gear and get these extra layers of chubalub off! Join me if you will, whether it’s Whole30, Advocare 24 Day Challenge, or just cleaning up your eating in general. I love to cheer folks on. I love to be a support system. I can do that for you if you let me know. It’s time for:

MISSION: ANNIHILATE CHUNKY MONKEY!

12/30/13
After a week off, I knew showing up to the BOOM Box was going to be brutal. And it was.

Midline: 30 Hollow Rocks
Don’t like these, never will. My ribs feel like they are broken

Skill: 7 minutes practice strict Muscle Ups or Pistols
Oh MUs are laughable and Pistols are too. Although I have a better chance at getting Pistols. But the one legged squat has not become easier for me as I’ve gained the weight. It sucks. I make it a goal to get Pistols in 2014.

Strength: 5×5 Pendlay Rows by feel
I’m finally not feeling so awkward with this movement. I worked at 85 lbs. It took me 3 sets before I got into a groove.

12/30/13 WOD

MetCon: For time: 30 lat burpees, 30 clean and jerks 135/95. Split work up however you like!
I tried cleaning the bar and although Do-able…. still some wrist pain. And I’m not going to take steps backwards by hurting myself. So for me it was 6 rounds of 5 Burpees (with fists), 5 Deadlifts, and 5 Overhead Press with the Multigrip Bar.

Holy Schmoly… it’s been a while since I’ve done overhead work. The bar is 65lbs. But because I can grip it where I can lock out my wrist, this is perfect to get some work in. But boy oh boy have I lost some strength. 65lbs used to be easy, now it’s a struggle. I’m so happy to be lifting heavy things overhead though 🙂

Even though I was only doing 5 burpees at a time, they got me. All that good homecooked Mexican food I had in El Paso over the weekend was weighing me down! So worth the pain though! Besides so extra laying around from not wanting to get up from a Burpee, I felt I pushed hard enough on the Deadlifts and the Overhad Press. Time: 8:25

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can’t thank y’all enough for sticking with me yet another year! I quietly passed through my 2nd year blogiversary but I’m looking forward to a more productive 3rd year. For those of you I follow regularly, forgive me for being a poor reader, I’ve slacked on all fronts, but you all know I still love you and you all inspire me daily (even if I’m reading a week or two at a time, doh!). I look forward to your new success in this new year!

I’m feeling hopeful, as most people probably do with new beginnings. I know I can be strong through March, it’s when the boys baseball picks up that I know there will be tough times. I have the next 3 months to mentally prepare. Also hopefully purchase products like thermos type containers to keep food warm, cold, etc. So if you any of you have any suggestions or ideas of how to keep me sane through a weekend at the fields let me know!

Like I said, this year I plan to be more productive. I’m going to try and boost my blog, but I’m not making any major promises or goals. I just want to give y’all more than my rambling brain! Try to do more product reviews, more recipes, maybe even venture into giveaways. We’ll see!

So that’s a wrap for this last day of 2013. I plan to hit up the Boom Box this evening and if I’m brave, I’ll show up for FRAN NIGHT. This will be CrossFit Boom’s 3rd year to ring in the new year with FRAN. I may just go to cheer folks on. Thrusters aren’t for me with the wrist in bad shape and I still can’t do pull ups. I WILL GET PULLUPS in 2014! I WILL!

I hope all you have a safe night and I wish you all the best for a great year! And you can not forget, must not forget …. to go out and 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!

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

Food

Kill Some of the Things

Not so drained, but a little agitated

And then I got tired

You may be asking…. What is Whole30?

It has begun – Whole30

Getting Prepared for the Whole30

Another year, a better year

What a YEAR, come on 2014, Bring IT!

Grrrrr, WALL BALLS

Hard. To. Breathe

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