We have a Winner!

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If you didn’t already know, the 3 Phase Paleo E-book giveaway ended on Friday. And the winner is one of my readers, Samantha! You know who you are and you’ll be receiving an email soon on how to claim your prize! Thanks again everyone for being a part of my first book review and giveaway. Hopefully it will be something I do more often! And you can still buy the book if you’d like. I have the link available on the menu bar to the right or you can click right HERE!

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In other news, I’m on Day TWENTY TWO of Whole30! I even had some successful outings over the weekend where I took control of my food and only craved non compliant foods for a half second 🙂

1/24/14
Day NINETEEN. At this point I can really throw anything into a bowl for breakfast and eat it on the way into work. Sometimes it doesn’t sound appetizing but I still eat it all up and stick to the Whole30 guidelines. As you all have probably noticed, lunches are typically leftovers incorporated into a salad. Just like the one below. I had some drumsticks and we have Franks RedHot Sauce at my j.o.b. So I tossed my already yummy drumsticks in the sauce for some extra heat. Paired with my salad and BAM, lunch was fantastic!

1/24/14 Lunch

1/24/14 Lunch

Boom Workout
The CrossFit Games Open is coming upon us and Coach must have been nostalgic for the workout 12.2! Snatches, snatches and more snatches.
Skill: Kipping/C2B/Ring MU
Well I’m really feeling better about my Kipping abilities. But that was just that one day for about 10 minutes. Another day could be a totally different story!

1/24/14 WOD

1/24/14 WOD

MetCon: This is an example of a CrossFit Open WOD WORKOUT 12.2 Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Well I know I can do 75lbs from one of 2013 workouts where we had a similar WOD. But they were sloppy and ugly. With my wrist being such a bugger lately, I wasn’t sure how far along I would get.

So I was flying through the 45lb reps and realized after about 12 I should slow it down. So I stopped at 15 and took a small break. I moved on to the last 15 and then it was time to load on more weight. 75lbs and me have issues. So after a few FAILS, I finally got it overhead. IT was still ugly but not as sloppy as I was a year ago. And I definitely had more UMPH in me this time around. I was able to do more reps but I was so slow to convince myself for each rep that I could freaking do it. So I took a lot of time holding the bar, leaving the bar, coming back to the bar, etc. I’m a girl baby. Final: 46 reps RX. Better than 12.2 where I only had 30 and better than Open 13.1 last year where I only got 5 reps at 75lbs. So YAY for small victories!

1/25/14 A whole Day of BOOM
The Boom Box was happenin on Saturday. Morning Community WOD, Morning YOGA and a Ladies Night Out. Fun, Fun and more Fun. We had a nice showing for the Community WOD and yay for us we did a Fight Gone Bad style workout.

3 ROUNDS of One minute of each: Row for calories, HR Push Ups, Butterfly Sit Ups, Burpee to Plate, and Rest.

1/25/14 Community WOD

1/25/14 Community WOD

Welllll, we have 4 rowers and one Airdyne. Lucky me got to use the Airdyne which is spawned from HELL. This little bike apparatus is not so little and not so cute. It’s evil and takes everything out of me. And I couldn’t get it to reset ever, so I’d be biking along with no Calories clicking. So frustrating. So by the time I did get some calories in, the minute was almost up.

Evil Airdyne

Evil Airdyne

Boooo. Then I moved to HR Push Ups. I started off on my knuckles then tested the water for normal HR Push Ups and I could do them! Wooooo! Not a lot at a time. But the wrist was being cooperative. My only movement that helped me gain reps was the Butterfly Sit Ups. Without those my score would have been much less. Because I was dragging by the time i got to burpees. I averaged between 12-15 reps there. Final: 180

Yoga

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Last time we had Yoga, I felt pretty good about the whole thing. This time around, I felt like a HOT MESS. I couldn’t stay still. I was fidgeting, itching and overall sore. Not a happy camper but I stuck with it.

Ladies Night!
All you ladies who aren’t sure about CrossFit should definitely come to a Ladies Night, well if you’re local that is! And if you’re not, maybe check out nearby boxes to see if they offer anything similar. It’s fun, it’s laid back and we still get work in. Plus we like to go eat afterwards.

Coach had us all warm up as a group. Then he separated us regulars from the new faces. He tasked up with Yoke pushes and Ring Toes to Bar. While we were doing all of that, he went over the fundamentals of CrossFit with the first timers. Then we all got back together for the main WOD of the evening. We split up into groups and he went over the work.

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2K Row, 50 Burpees, 25 Box Step Ups each, 50 Burpees, 2K Row. So we could split the work up except for the Box Step Ups and we could only go one person at a time. I didn’t realize that I would have such a hard time coming up with the right words to help the new ladies row. Thankfully Coach stepped in to help out! But we all did our work and pushed through the workout. And hopefully the new folks had a good time.

Then it came down to EATING. The whole day I debated if I would go eat or if I would just go home. Even though I prepared some food to take to dinner, I wasn’t 100% sure I would put myself into dangerous waters. But I had fun with all the Boom Box ladies and wanted it to continue. So I went with my Whole30 Compliant snacks. And of course we went to a Mexican food restaurant! So many tempations. The chips, the tortillas, everything! But I held strong. Had me an iced tea and ordered some guacamole. Then I busted out my Paleo Ranch Dressing and some carrots and cucumbers and I was set. I also made sure to have more Chicken for my PWO meal so I wasn’t missing out on Protein. Was it the ideal Whole30 meal? No, but I feel I did rather well.

Dinner out with the Ladies of CrossFit Boom.

Dinner out with the Ladies of CrossFit Boom.

1/26/14
No working out today. All Rest. Shopping. Prepping. And Cooking. I did good this past week with no real Food Plan so I figured I’d wing it again this week. And score, my Whole Foods now carries Bearded Brothers Energy Bars. Score for me. They are Texas local and I had never tried their bars but I’ve read about them plenty. So it was a pleasant surprise when I was looking for Lara Bars to have found them. These are better than Lara bars in my opinion, but they are also a little more spendy. Well worth it though!

But my Sunday wasn’t all about shopping and prepping and so forth. It was my youngest kiddo’s Birthday! And we always go eat Japanese Hibachi. Welp, they cook with loads of butter, loads of oil and loads of SOY. I don’t like to be the one who asks for everything special so I just ordered some sashimi and brought my own coconut aminos. I also ate before hand so my minimal amounts of fish were just extra protein and fats. Oh did I want some fried rice. Not in the I’m might hurt someone kind of way, but I could taste the rice in my brain! So bad! But again I survived! Wooo! But I think the Fish got me. My stomach was unsettled all night and I tossed and turned not getting great sleep. Which left me missing out on the 5 a.m. Boom Box workout.

1/27/14
So with little sleep and a bleh stomach, I just had bone broth and half of a Bearded Brothers bar with GINGER to help settle the stomach. Still not feeling AWESOME but I’m getting through the day.

I’m hoping I’m feeling up to a workout tonight but if not, I’ll be fine. Extra rest isn’t going to hurt me!

That’s a WRAP!
So there you have it! I’m on the downhill stretch now! Feb. 4th is the 30th Day. It’s so close! Woooooo! I’m not planning on derailing, I’m just looking forward to not being so strict. Let loose a little and not be super duper concerned about every oil or seasoning something is cooked in. Anyhow….I hope everyone is doing good in their Health and Fitness Journey. And if you’re a little discouraged on your journey, this post by Whole30 should be a good read for you. Be strong! Be Better than Yesterday!

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No More Burpees!

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Can I just get a burpee BREAK?!? I know that won’t happen but wouldn’t it be nice? I had a busy weekend, lots of working out and some off road eating. Yikes! But have no fear. Whole30 is here to stay even if it’s on loose terms every now and then! Where should I start? I guess I’ll start with Saturday and work my way up to today! Hopefully I don’t dredge on for too long! I know y’all LOVE me but not sure how much exactly 😀

SATURDAY 2/2
Boom Box morning consisted of Deadlifts and SNATCH. Boy oh Boy. I failed to take a picture but ah well. I’ve been fairing much better in the Deadlift, at least I FEEL good at doing them!

Skill/Stength: DL 4×5@77.5%
Working at 77.5% isn’t so bad. Ended up being 155 for me. I felt good through all the sets. My hamstrings used to be so tight, they would light up like Christmas and hurt like hell. Now I don’t have all of those issues, which is nice.

MetCon: 10 min AMRAP Snatch 30 reps at each weight 75/45 135/75 165/100 210/120 Scaled 35 55 75 90
Argh, 12.2 of last years CF Open. I still don’t SNATCH more than 65lbs out of me being a weirdo. I know I can do the weight, I’m just a scaredy cat. So of course I went with the scaled weights. I managed to get through 35lbs and 55lbs. Had time to get a few in at 75lbs but that wasn’t happening. I still kept trying but I was getting nowhere. Although I don’t care for SNATCH that much, I do like lifting in general. Just one more thing to work on!

Girls Night Out @ CrossFit Pantego
CFP is a box that is in the area and I happen to know the owners. They decided to host a GNO which sounded like fun to mix and mingle with other ladies from the area. Some folks were from that box, others newbies and even others came from other boxes. It was a good mix of novice and experienced women. Since there was such a good turnout the WOD didn’t consist of anything with bars or their pull up rig. It was all body weight movements. And it was a partner WOD to boot.

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200m run, push ups, 200m run, air squats, 200m run, burpees, 200m run, lunges, 200m run, sit ups. But wait there’s more. On your run you get a 10lb plate. While one partner ran, the other partner did the movement. Then partners switched. So each person did the run and the movement. Lucky for me and Mel, CrossFit BOOMer, we got the 20lb MED BALL to run with. That ladies and gentlemen is NO JOKE! We were hanging in there in regards to the running but towards the end we both fell apart. I figured if I was gonna suck at the run I better bust out the reps! Mel had the same idea as me and low and behold we score a whopping 528 reps! Wooo go us!

CrossFit Pantego Girl's Night Out

CrossFit Pantego Girl’s Night Out

After the WOD we headed over to a very generous hostess who let us come in and take over her house. We all brought some sort of eats. I myself brought Paleo Deviled Eggs and there was plenty of other goodness there to be had, Paleo and non Paleo but I stuck with the good stuff.

Monday 2/4
Boy oh boy am I sore! It hurt to do the warm up this morning. I was really afraid of not hitting the weight on the Strength portion cause I was sooooo Sore! But amazingly I did!

Skill/Strength: 3 x 2 Back Squat @ 95% of 1RMYup I got the reps in. Only one rep was kind of ugly but other than that, I did just fine. I am always slow at coming back up even though I’m trying to will myself to explode up! It just doesn’t happen. On my last set I kept thinking to myself to PUSH UP on the bar and low and behold I was a little quicker coming up. I know I’ve been told that. I know I’ve heard that on podcasts but today I really focused on that and whaddyaknow! It helped.

2/4/13 WOD

2/4/13 WOD

MetCon: 2 rounds 30 Burpees to plate, 400m run, REST 1:1,  then 4 rounds 15 burpees to plate, run 200
I bet you were wondering where NO MORE BURPEES came from and well now you know. Burpees last Saturday, Burpees this recent Saturday and Burpees this morning! And of course I’ve set a precedent that I can bust out burpees. This is a curse people, A CURSE! I can’t not do burpees well anymore. It’s a badge that I was proud of but I’m good now! I don’t need it anymore! So I didn’t even look at the clock to see how fast or SLOW I did the 30 burpees but I got back from the run in 4 minutes flat. So I got to rest for 4 minutes. Rinse and Repeat. I did the second round in 4:12. Woo I get an extra 12 seconds of rest! Not the goal I know but hey it’s 12 seconds. Then it was the 4 rounds with NO REST. Since most of you know I suck at running I wasn’t sure how it would all go down. I did my first round like a champ! Rounds 2, 3 and 4 a little hard! I got back from the first run and just went and knocked out 7 burpees, tried not to vomit then finished. After run 2 I only busted out 5 burpees, then dragged ass. It was the same after run 3! By the 4th round I was ready to quit. I got to 12 and I heard someone say just move and I finished the last 3 as if I was fresh out of the gate. Ran as fast as I could which wasn’t much. I finished the 4 rounds in just over 10 minutes with a final time of 27:02. Not too bad I hope. I’ll have to wait to see how the rest of the day pans out via the whiteboard though!

Whole30 – on track. kind of sorta!
So in the middle of Saturday I was tempted with Chick-fil-a, cupcakes, cookies, sweet tea, etc. All my fault as I purchased it all but it’s for a birthday party! I was GOOD! Excellent in fact, NO taste testing! By Saturday night, post GNO though I was tempted by those leftover cupcakes! I thought I’ll just take a bite. So I DID! And I SPIT IT RIGHT OUT! As good as I know they were since they were a hit with the kids, they were TOO SWEET! I would have never thought those words would come out of my mouth but they did! I didn’t swallow one crumb, I spit it out and rinsed my mouth out with water! Whew! It was a bittersweet feeling. Yay, I don’t need sweets and BOOO I don’t need sweets!

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Superbowl Sunday hits and I get a little off the path. I savored a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks. It didn’t send me spiraling downward. Did affect my stomach, but not sure if that was coffee in general or the combo of coffee, dairy and caramel? But I was good. Then I was all ready to go and ENJOY my paleo foods at a Superbowl Party. Plus our hosts had Paleo foods as well. BUT of course there were non Paleo foods in my face as well. I started off pretty ok. I had a few chips to go with the Guacamole I made but just 2 or 3.  I had brisket and deviled eggs and my favorite treat BACON WRAPPED sweet potato! Those were like candy to me. Then I chose to taste cake batter dip, which was made with Greek Yogurt. YUM, that was good! Then I chose to try TRASH DIP that had cream cheese, chili and some form a melted cheese. YUMMY. But they were just tastes! By the end of the night there were some BRISKET nachos being made. Well, there was my line. And I was going to cross it! And it was good. Chips, queso and Brisket! TRIPLE YUMMY! And won’t you know it within the hour of eating those my face got all itchy, my nose started running and I was a mess! And of course Ernie was right there in my face… THE NACHOS! argh, the probably VELVEETA cheese, although I did not inquire. But most party quesos in a crockpot consist of something along the lines of highly processed cheese such as velveeta. I still slept fine and woke up fine. Maybe a little more bloated feeling that I would have liked. Just a confirmation to stay on the WholeLIFE path! Stick with the clean eating and I’ll be fine. The good news is that YES I want to stay clean (sound like an addict much?) and I didn’t jump off the deep end and go bat shit crazy over junk! I think if I do indulge in treats they will be dark chocolate based or some sort of fruit sweetened muffin made with coconut flour or almond flour. Maybe some almond flour pancakes. But other than that, I don’t see myself diving into a banana split anytime soon.

I was back to eating my Whole30 plan of attack today. Even ventured out a little bit and made some Salmon Cakes! And my oh my they were tasty. I was limited on cooking and prep time so they were basic and they still turned out fabulous! Added some of my HOMEMADE PALEO MAYO that was leftover from the deviled eggs and BOOM I had a lovely lunch! Seriously, I could get crafty with these Salmon Cakes and I mostly likely will start soon!

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How’s that for a busy, fun, trial and error weekend? Good times! It’s just Monday but I am a ball of energy! Who says that? MONDAY and ENERGY?!? No freakin way! YES SIR! Go now, enjoy your day and BE FREAKIN AWESOME!

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CrossFit Games Open 12.2 – Snatches Galore!

I’ll be honest, I’m really not feeling the blogging today but I figure I’ll share my disappointing attempt at 12.2.

SNATCHES! They are pretty much the most awkward lift out there, for me at least. It’s odd and uncomfortable… oh wait that’s me. For real though, this is not an easy lift. There’s so much to think about and it all happens so fast.

I walked into the BOOM BOX with very little excitement. 😦 I am not prepared to KILL this WOD at all.

CrossFit Games Open 12.2 - 3/01/12

Let’s break it down. It’s 10 min of Snatches. For the ladies its 30 reps @45lbs, 30 reps @75lbs, 30 reps @100lbs and then max reps @120lbs. I don’t think I’ve snatched over 55lbs so pretty much I’m out. I took my time and knocked out the 30 reps with just the bar. I loaded up the bar with 2 – 15lb plates and HOLY SHITAKES it was heavy. I can clean and jerk the weight but going straight to overhead is no joke. I couldn’t do it. I spent the remaining 7 minutes weakly attempting it but it was a no go. I sucked. I’m hard on myself and that’s just the way it is I suppose. I wish I had at least got freaking got 1 rep. Ah well. I jokingly said at the box that I’m dedicating my life to snatches. We giggled and then I realize I really do need to get this lift mastered. It’s always going to be there. So I better get on it.

From Burpees, which anyone can do, to SNATCHES which clearly I can not do… the CrossFit Games Open will keep us on our toes. Now we just gotta wait for next weeks announcement of 12.3 – MUs, HSPUs and running? It might as well be that after 12.2. Ha.

ON a different note, I did roll out on the TriggerPoint GRID foam roller and it is NICE. It’s hard for me to explain how great it felt. It has “zones” which have different patterns, textures, etc. so that you can really pinpoint your trouble areas. I have only used it twice now. But I did feel better recovered after my second use. I spent more time working out all my leg issues and it seemed to benefit better than a regular foam roller.

That’s all I got. I’m just not chatty today. Hopefully Friday starts looking up. I could use a little cheer right about now.