Drumroll please……… DAY 30!

You know it. Although my Day THIRTY is not complete, it soon will be! I made it! I am crossing the FINISH LINE!

It wasn’t the smoothest ride but I fared pretty well. I ate compliant foods the whole way and although some of my weekends were a little off on proportions, I still hit this one out of the park. I was mentally prepared for the challenges I knew I would face and by the end of this journey, the temptations and cravings were no more. I know I will not be 100% from here on out but I hope to be 90-95%. I hope to continue with my food prep and staying on task but if I go rogue once a week on dinner, it won’t be the end of my world. I have no plan post Whole30. I just want to be better than I was for a majority of 2013. I don’t think that will be hard because I feel so darn good. I like where I’m at. And I don’t want to go back!

I learned that no matter how good you are at clean eating or how disciplined, there will be pitfalls. I know there will be struggles. I know, because I fell into the abyss around April of 2013 and it took me 9 months to find the light. I’ve learned that if my body and brain feel better then I’m not as harsh on my physical self that I see in the mirror. We are our worst critics and I’m super bad! But when I feel good because I’m eating good, I’m less likely to nitpick at myself. I’ve RE-learned that just because we are busy that I can always make time to get GOOD CLEAN food and I can’t use TIME as an excuse. I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s true.

Superbowl Sunday baked drumsticks with a mango glaze and tossed in Ghee and Franks Red Hot Sauce. YUMMO!

Whole30 and Beyond
I do plan on trying new Paleo recipes so I will try and share those as I go along. Honey and some pastured dairy are all I really plan to add occasionally back into my kitchen. If I eat anything non-compliant it will because of a social outing. And of course, I’ll let you know when my off-road eating gets the best of me!

I’m here to cheer you on, be your support system, or answer any questions if you choose to do your own Whole30. There are also many supportive folks in the forums at Whole30.com. So don’t be afraid to see what’s going on over there.

CrossFit Boom
As always, I will continue to post my workouts here so that’s never going away! I did end up making it to the Friday morning workout, so yay for that. Then there was the Community WOD and Yoga on Saturday, both of which are fun.

1/31/14
Test Day BOOM Total: Snatch, Squat Clean Thruster, Back Squat ADD Total weight!

Ain’t no thing but a chicken wing! So even with the wrist not 100% I was still able to hit my 1RM on Snatch. That’s not great since I feel I could do more weight, but I a scaredy cat As for Squat Clean Thrusters it’s a NO GO. I could clean the bar by itself but to Squat and then do a Thruster was too much. Coach T asked if I wanted to do something funky in regards to Cleaning the weight so I said SURE! Let’s Clean like Kelly Starrett!

Yay, that was fun! And I can actually do my favorite lift now! I didn’t start out doing the Mixed Grip, which probably would have helped with heavier weight. But I did get to 105lbs which isn’t bad for my first go round at this new Chicken Wing method. Moving on to Back Squat, I feared I wasn’t going to get close to 175lbs which is my 1RM but I managed to hit 165lbs. I’ll take that for now. I know you can’t always max out or hit new PRs. It’s been a hard lesson learned over they years but I finally found my peace with it! Totals: 75, 105, 165 = 345lbs

1/31/14 Test Day

2/3/14 Chicken Wing Pt. 2

Midline: 30 T2B
Have no fear T2B are still here! Woot Woot! Now if I could just string them together!

Strength: Back Squat 5×5 @75%
Mondays and Squats. Just wasn’t feeling it today. So 5 sets of 5 at 135lbs felt HEAVY. I was ready to go home after that! My hips are smoked!

MetCon: 4 min AMRAP of 10 HrPU and 5 Cleans 115/75 rest 3 min then 4 min AMRAP of 10 HrPU and 5 Cleans 115/75
I was so excited to actually be able to do Cleans in a MetCon again! Granted, they will be slower than normal because I can not touch and go with a chicken wing but I can do them! This time, I started off with the Mixed Grip and felt that my hand was less likely to try and revert to a normal Clean movement which was good on the wrist. Since the weight was not heavy I tried to catch the weight at the bottom so I could have a little more fluidity. This only worked half of the time though. Push Ups are what got me. I only got 4 Push Ups in and my wrist felt tight and achy, so I moved back to fist Push Ups. This was no fun and I really dragged ass. Final: 8 rounds RX

2/3/14 WOD

That’s a Wrap!
Thank you all in general for being faithful readers. And an Extra BIG Thank You for your support during my Whole30. I would hug you all if I could! Having something to blog about other than my workouts is definitely nice but now that Whole30 is over, I hope you continue to stick around. I’m still planning on getting involved in more giveaways and what not so stay tuned.

Remember it’s not about being perfect, it’s about making progress! Every meal is a new meal, every day is a new day. If I were to pick one thing to eliminate for good that would be WHEAT. I know what it does to my body when I reintroduce it and it’s not good. So just pick one thing to ADD or ELIMINATE from your life for at least 30 days. See if anything changes. Then change something else for the next 30 days. No one said you had to go cold turkey! But it sure is helpful if you do! Don’t forget Paleo Parents has a handy dandy e-book, 3 Phase Paleo that will help you make the transition. You can find the link to the book in the menu bar, top right!

Have a beautiful Tuesday and Whole30 ON!

Found!

At the corner of Clean Eating and Consistency, I FOUND my Toes To Bar! What! What! This my friends is a big deal. Back in early 2013 I still had them but as time went on, the LBS packed on and my Boom Box attendance floundered. I slowly but surely lost them. I wasn’t beastly at them in the first place but how sad it was to know how easy T2B can just disappear. Now boys and girls they are back! I was so excited, you have no idea. Whole30 will not do you wrong! I can’t promise it will always be rainbows and unicorns but eventually you find that happy place and it feels good.

So it’s Day TWENTY THREE and Day THIRTY is out there in the shadows. So much of me wants to just keep on keepin on, but so much of me wants a little break too. This is such a hard mental battle. I’m determined to stay on the right track but I’m already making up excuses in my head for days I have to offroad a bit. I’m hoping when push comes to shove, that I just stick it out and stay strong. WholeLife it on.

1/27/14 Lunch

Food and the work that comes with it!
A lot of people moan and groan on how much work it takes to prep and cook when they start off on the Whole30. It’s true, it is work but it does get easier. For a lot of people, this is completely new and it can be a little bit overwhelming. You aren’t just picking up your normal items in the grocery store. You aren’t buying processed, full of badness, boxed food where you just add a protein. You have to hunt down specific things and maybe even venture into other grocery stores, which in itself could be a confusing adventure. It can also be very defeating because there a lot of staples out there that just aren’t Whole30 compliant and you’ve probably been buying them your whole life. At this point, I’m hoping you’re determined enough to at least start. But as with any new endeavor, once you learn the ropes, it all starts becoming easier. You learn and make new kitchen habits. You will try to find ways to be more efficient and soon enough it will be second hand. I would say that halfway through Whole30 is when you probably will find ease in your prepping. You’ll know what works for you.

What worked for me most, is that I keep all of my free Whole30 downloads with me, along with a copy of It Starts With Food. I keep my phone linked to Whole30 forums so I can do quick and easy searches. On my first Whole30, I tagged all the important pages and I constantly referenced them. This time around, I mostly just keep them with me so I have ZERO excuse when I want to give up. I literally carry a bag with me with all of the literature. It’s with me at work, it’s with me in the car, it’s with me at home. All of the time. I know with technology you can have your smartphones or iPads, but there’s something about me physically carrying the paper and books that keeps me focused.

Even though I’ve made Paleo Mayo a lot, I still bust out the Whole30 recipe and put it on my counter. I’m in a hurry most everyday so I’m liable to screw it up. I make sure I read the recipe every time even though I have it memorized. It’s not work anymore. It’s just what I do. I’ve made new habits. You will too. And remember it’s only 30 days. You can push yourself outside your comfort zone for one month out of a year!

1/27/14 Boom Box
Midline: 50 Hollow Rocks
What can I say? I still don’t like Hollow Rocks. Same as it ever was.

Strength: Back Squats 3×10 @65%
Who doesn’t love Squat time? But it’s been a while since I’ve worked on Back Squats. We were doing a lot of Front Squats and my wrist was holding me back so the weight wasn’t as heavy. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. But 65% of 175 isn’t so bad. My first set wasn’t weak but it was slow. I picked up the pace for the other two sets and felt much better about everything.

1/27/14 WOD

MetCon: 8 min AMRAP of 8 T2B and 5 DL 225/135
Well you already had the spoiler at the beginning of this post, but I wasn’t sure I’d do Toes to Bar. I really had the mindset coming in that I would do Knees to Elbow. But Coach had us warm up a little bit with Knees to Elbow before we started and I realized how close I was to T2B so I went for it and FAILED. But I was so close. So I went for it again and I failed! I probably did that for 4 or 5 times and finally my TOES hit the FREAKIN BAR! Well I done did it. Now I have to do it in the workout! Doh! So even though I hit the bar, I wasn’t sure I’d do it for 8 reps or MORE!

Even though I couldn’t string them together it turns out FOR MY STATUS, I was killing it! I only had 2 No Reps, and I probably did rest a little more than I should have but I kept chipping away. Deadlifts were relatively light but again. I rested a little too long before picking up the bar. Final: 4 rounds + 3 T2B RX! Small victory for me 🙂

That’s a Wrap!
It’s cold down here in Texas and I’d love nothing more than some comfort foods. So I’ll probably have Steak and Cauli Mash for dinner! But a lot can happen between now and then. So we’ll see. I do hope you all are making things happen. I’d love nothing more than to see and hear happy reports of progress and change! Stop waffling and get on board if you haven’t committed yet. Do something NOW!

Tiger Blood…not just yet

It’s Day SIXTEEN of Whole30! Yayaya. Made it through the halfway point and holding strong. By now I should be feeling like I have the blood of tigers. That’s what they say on the Whole30 timeline. While I’m not ready to take on the world I sure as heck feels tons better. So it’s coming along. This past weekend though seemed to be the hardest on me as far as wanting to stick with it. I was ready to throw in the towel and just go out to eat. Have some tasty food and beverages.

But I just sucked it up and stuck with my compliant foods. Saturday, however, was probably too much snacking for me. Boredom struck. And I found myself eating too much trail mix and too much fruit. I didn’t really feel any ramifications from it, but I KNEW I should have held back and think things through better.

I’ve been really bad at taking pics of my food. I have a couple here but nothing too exciting! As far as following Weeknight Paleo, I opted out for week 3. There was some tasty dishes but they included honey. And I just can’t imagine the recipes tasting the same if I eliminated some key ingredients. I wasn’t prepared ahead enough for other weeks either. So I just bought enough staples that I know I will eat for this week.

1/17/14 Lunch

1/20/14 Lunch

Boom Box 1/17/14
Skill: Bar Muscle Ups
I was able to work on some of the progressions but I could only do so much. The wrist still needs work. A lot of the pain is gone, now it’s mobility and getting back on track. I still can’t hold my body weight, but I’m getting closer.

1/17/14 WOD

MetCon: 12 min AMRAP of 15 Wall Balls, 3 Bar MU, 6 T2B
Ya, so I showed up for the 5pm class and whaddya know. Badasses show up. I’m the only on there who can’t do MUs or T2B. It’s depressing and motivating all at the same time. I was able to drop the ball for Wall Balls since catching the ball puts a lot of strain on the wrist. Still wishing I could carry on this modification, but I know I will have to go back to catching that darn ball. I did banded pull ups instead of Bar MUs. I was, however, stringing more reps together. Yay! And for the T2B, my hands didn’t hurt nearly as much for my Knees to Elbows. I can only attribute Whole30 and eating clean. Because a couple of weeks ago, I was way more of a baby. Final: 3 rounds + 5 Wall Balls.

1/20/14
Midline: 50 Hollow Rocks and 50 Superman Rocks
We ended up doing these at the end of class and I’m so much better at Superman Rocks than Hollow Rocks. Why is that?

Strength: OH squats 2-2-2-2 Tempo 10/4/x/1
O M GEEEE. This tempo negative stuff is killing me. Last week it was Front Squats, now it’s Overhead Squats! Doh! I was just happy that I could do them! Wooooo! Told you my wrist is getting better. I started off with 55lbs and felt good. 10 seconds to go down, hold for 4 seconds, pop up fast and repeat. I felt good, so I jumped to 65lbs… TOO MUCH TOO SOON! My weak right forearm was not prepared and fatigued fast. So I dropped to 55lbs, but I was done. So I continued with the bar. Baby steps I know. But I’m so ready to do work. And the wrist is so close to feeling better!

1/20/14 WOD

MetCon: 6 min Ladder of 1 Push-up HR, 1 HSPU, 2 Push-ups HR 2 HSPU …. The mod for HSPU is box step overs. get as high as possible!
Uh ya, I had higher hopes for this MetCon but I did the best I could. I totally forgot to wrap my knuckles with tape before we started. And they got beat down pretty fast. I always feel like I’m going to tear. And I’m a big baby. So it didn’t add up for fast reps. Not sure if I had been doing regular push ups that I would have done better, but it HURTED and again, total cry baby here! Final: 9 rounds + 3 Push Ups.

This weekend is a COMMUNITY WOD at 9am and Yoga at 10am and Ladies Night at 6pm! Not sure if I’ll make the morning classes or not but I will be at Ladies Night. If you are in the DFW area and want to check out CrossFit and see what our box is about, YOU ARE INVITED.

That’s a Wrap!
Just want to remind you I’m hosting a giveaway. It’s for an e-book by Paleo Parents called 3 Phase Paleo. If you’re not ready to go COLD TURKEY into Paleo living then this is the book for you. Even if you’re already Paleo, there are still 75 recipes, along with nifty tips and links to keep you on the right track.

READ MY REVIEW of 3 Phase Paleo and ENTER GIVEAWAY!

This e-book provides helpful strategy to transition you and your family over to the Paleo lifestyle. Here is the post. At the bottom of the post you will find directions to enter the giveaway. Go enter now for a chance to win a copy. If you’re ready to just buy buy buy, then Click HERE. Or find the link in my menu on the right hand side.

Other than that, let’s get through this week STRONG! Are you staying hydrated? Eating enough Veggies? How about that Healthy FAT? Let’s do this folks. Chime in on how you are doing so far. February will be here before we know it!

Icemageddon 2013 @!$$%&*!@***

Thank goodness the ICE is melting away. For those of you who don’t know, I live in TEXAS. We don’t get nice fluffy snow to play in. We get ICE. And we get ICED in. No fun. I fell several times on the ice, once even trying to catch myself with my bum wrist/hand. That HURT. But so far no further major issues. I’ve been a caged bird. And to top it off, I had to get my AC/HEAT unit replaced on Monday. So after a cozy stay at my dads for 4 days. I had to return to my freezing cold home while I got a whole new system. Brrrrrrr. But all is better now that I have a heater that works and the roads are drivable…. for the most part.

At least the kids had fun!

11/5/13
Last week I left off saying I was going to miss Thursday workout, but due to the incoming weather, all afterschool activities for my kids got canceled and I got to make an evening class at the BOOM Box.

3 sets of 100 ft sled pull backwards (3/2) plates and 20 Air Squats AFAP, rest 2 minutes between efforts.
Out of the 4 of us there, I was the only girl. With 2 sleds I was pulling the sled with the 2 weights. But by my 3rd pull, there was 3 weights so we could get out of the freezing cold weather. Instead of taking off the weight, I just pulled it. And OMG it was freakin hard. And of course it was on the uphill of our parking lot. I thought I’d just be tough and I think it almost killed me! It was only an additional 45lbs but it felt like an additional 100lbs. Coach saw me struggle and was going to rescue me but I just dug in and finished. Kind of felt good to finish strong like that. The 20 Air Squats after that were so miserable though.

12/5/13 WOD

MetCon: For time – 250 m row, 30 kb swings (2/1.5), American, 500 m row, 20 kb swings, 1000 m row, 10 kb swings
Before we got started I tested out the KB swings at a lighter weight. American standards are to get the KB overhead. With my wrist still being wonky, I opted for Russian swings which are at eye level. I still did the 1.5 POOD though. The first row didn’t go as bad as I thought it would. I don’t recall my time exactly but I’m pretty sure it’s one of my better times. It was all downhill from there. I suck at rowing but oh how I wish I was good at it. The first set of KB swings weren’t too bad. I did 15, 5 and 10. I just didn’t feel like I had a good grip. The 1000m row I thought was going to kill me. There was a handful of times I was literally fighting internally with myself on if I should stop. I’m glad I didn’t stop but it wore me out. For my last set of KB swings, I just had to keep telling myself HOLD ON. DON’T STOP. It was struggle to the end. Time: 13:35.

12/6/13 ICEMAGEDDON has arrived.
After a lot of bs’ing and statements of bravery at Thursdays WOD, there was a decision that if the roads were driveable then we would have a 5am class. It’s fortunate I’m not far from the BOOM Box. And it was fortunate that the white stuff on the ground was slushy at 4:30 a.m. The slush didn’t stay slush, making FRIDAY, SATURDAY and half of SUNDAY miserable!

Mobility: Hips and Shoulders

MetCon: 20 min AMRAP of Elizabeth 21-15-9 Squat cleans 135/95 ring dips
Of course I had to modify. I did Front Squats and Push Ups. I still don’t have the wrist mobility to rack the weight so I’m over there Frankenstein-ing it. My squats are week. I think I only had 65lbs on the bar and I was STRUGGLING! I did closed fist Push Ups instead of the ring dips. I started off strong but had to resort to scaling down to my knees.

12/6/13 WOD

Elizabeth is normally just 21-15-9 for time. But this icey morning called for an AMRAP. Woooo fun. It was a perfect beatdown before the CABIN FEVER, STUFF MY FACE WOD commenced for 3 days straight. I managed to get through 2 full rounds + 5 reps into the 3rd round of Squats.

12/9/13
Once my heater was installed and my bones warmed up, I figured I get a WOD in. I had a killer headache at 5am, probably from all the junk, and just couldn’t get moving.

Strength: Back Squat 3×5 @80%
I may not have the flexibility to rack the bar for front squat but I now have some flexibility for back squat. I didn’t get NEAR my 80% but I was able to FINALLY hold the bar for the Back Squat in general! WOOOO!

12/9/13

MetCon: 3 rounds 1 min at each station HR Push Ups, Box Step Overs 20″, Hollow Rocks, Jumping Split Lunges, Ring Rows, Rest
This was Fight Gone Bad Style. I did mention I stuffed my face for several days right? This wasn’t going to be pretty.
My Push Ups were a hybrid of my left hand being flat on the ground and my right hand in a fist. The Box Step Overs were dizzy-ing. The Hollow Rocks SUCKED DONKEY BALLS. I probably did best at Jumping Split Lunges even though I paused frequently. And RING ROWS were a butt whoopin. I had a low score of 310 reps. There were names on the board at over 500 reps… WTH?!?!? I bow down to you beastly folks.

The End
And then there’s today. Where my roughly over an hour drive into work turned into 2.5 hours. I should have just stayed home. Let’s hope my drive home isn’t so miserable. There were reports of people being stuck in their cars for 24 hours on Friday evening. SO GLAD I didn’t attempt that trek! It’s good being back at the BOX consistently. And hopefully I can get on to cleaner eating now that the depression is wearing off. I hope you all are doing well, staying on track and of course BEING AWESOME!

Putting in the WORK

I know, I know. I had this super duper I HEART CrossFit moment then I’m not posting again for a whole week. I don’t know where time goes but I’m here, I’m still putting in the work. Still showing up at the BOOM Box. And I’m still crying like a little baby when RUNNING pops up on the whiteboard.

So have no fear. I haven’t fallen into a giant hole of depression. I’ve just been busy! And just like everyone else, I can make excuses or I can find solutions. I encourage you to find solutions. I encourage you to find good health. I encourage you to get active. When Biggest Loser was airing I would always get teary eyed and happy for the folks. Now I’m on the Extreme Weight Loss season kick and to me it’s more inspiring but maybe only because it’s focused on one person.

And you get to watch their individual success and struggles… each person is so GUNG HO the first 90 days. They are amped. Then like most folks, it gets old, it gets harder, it gets complicated. But they have to fight through and they still have to put in the work. Chris Powell, in my opinion, is a great motivator. He can’t go run the miles for them though. Sure he can send them on wonderful trips when they hit goals but he can’t put in the work. I wish I could be the person that could surprise you with cool gifts and prizes. But I can not. I can give you a virtual HIGH-FIVE and a lot of woohooos and way to go’s! And really that’s what most of us need. We need a support system, someone to hold us accountable. And you need to find a reward system that doesn’t involve “cheat meals” or food in general. So if no one is on board in your personal life to help you change then chat me up and I’ll cheer you on. Or find an online community for that extra inspiration or an online buddy with your same goals. You may even find someone in a bootcamp, fitness class or running club. But you have to put yourself out there. You have to make yourself vulnerable. In the end it will only make you stronger.

In my roller coaster world of fitness, I’ve had friends, co-workers, etc… to help kickstart goals and in the end a lot of them wandered off (me included). We’d all start of strong and just disappear into excuses. When I finally made that decision to start my journey and not look back, I realized it relied all on me. No one else but me. I told myself I wasn’t going to let some workout kick my ass then go eat like crap. I started bootcamp with NO ONE. I didn’t know anyone there. I didn’t have any friends that wanted to show up at 5 am to workout. It was just me. I made friends and we shared in the same soreness and same results. It became fun. I started a food plan and all of our fast food habits and busy schedule didn’t mesh with it. So guess what I carried a cooler bag with me EVERYWHERE! It’s all possible. I found a support system in that group of bootcampers. My family realized the work I was doing and they jumped on my support team. So go DO WORK people! It will all fall into line once you make that decision to become a healthier you!

And now for what you all have been waiting for…. my Boom recaps! Hahah, ok so maybe you don’t care so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

7/11/13
TABATA Push Ups / Sit Ups
TABATA anything sucks. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest for 4 minutes of any movement. For us it was Push Ups and Sit Ups. I started off way too strong on Push Ups with 15. And I dropped from there on out. I believe I finished with 7 Push Ups in the last 20 seconds. UGH. As for Sit Ups I didn’t go all out for the first round and I can’t remember how many I did do but I know I ended up with 9. But I stayed pretty consistent in the 9-11 range.

MetCon: 12 Min AMRAP (get as far as you can) 40 Thrusters (115, 85) 6 Rope Climbs 20 Thrusters 3 Rope Climbs 10 Thrusters 1 Rope Climbs
I was thinking I would not survive. I went with 75lbs on the Thrusters, not know really how long it would take me to get through 40 and if I recall correctly I did them all in just under 5 minutes. Not stellar but I really suck at Thrusters so I was happy with my time. No such happiness for Rope Climbs. There is something in my brain that says if you loosen your feet to regrip the rope then my hands are automatically going to let go too. I know in reality this won’t happen but my hands stay on the rope in a death grip. So much that my hands were sore for days. So I only got 40 Thrusters in.

7/11/13

7/12/13

Strength: Front Squats 5@60% 5@65% 2×5@70%
Finally being in attendance on several front squat days has made life easier on me. I think I’m actually getting better now. Duh I know I’m getting better. Just have to show up consistently!

You can barely see the 75 but that’s my 1RM for Snatch!

Skill: Power snatch positional breakdown Metcon Power snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1
Same with Snatch. I’ve been present on days where we work on this movement and I’m getting a little more comfortable. I’ve always had this fear of dropping under the bar. I know, I have a lot of fears! I’m a headcase. I was stuck at 65lbs FOREVER because I’m scared. Finally for the CrossFit Open I was able to manage a handful of 75lb reps. But that was the last time in a long time I worked on that number. Today I worked up to 75lbs and made it official that I have a 75lb 1RM. I can get the bar up no problem. But dropping under the bar a whole other story. I need clear the fear and start getting that weight up!

7/13/13 Community WOD

We rarely know what rabbit Coach is going to pull out of the hat on Community WOD days and this was no different. He had has get in groups of 3 and handed out a chipper! Woo fun! NOT! Between the 3 of us we had to do 210 Wall Balls, 150 Over the Box Jumps and each Row a 1K. So if you know me at all, I suck at Wall Balls. I say it’s a short person issue but it’s just really a “ME” issue. Then I’m literally frightened to jump completely over the box so stepping over was acceptable. Then it was time for the row. Can I blame being short keeps me from being awesome at rowing too? I opted to Row the whole 1K without switching it up with my team. It was miserable. But I’m determined to get better at it. I can’t despise running and rowing. So I choose rowing! I know we finished under 35 minutes. I just don’t know the exact time. 33:34 or 34:33. Something like that. It was a beating 🙂

7/15/13

Strength: Squats 8@65% 8@70% 6@80% 6@85%

For real, we’ve been doing a shit ton of SQUATS. It’s good for me I know and I’m making it through but the reps and the percentages add up. And I’m surviving! PR I can’t see you yet but I know you’re there!

7/15/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 Rounds 12 DL 135/95 9 Power Cleans, 6 STOH, 3 MU (Scale is x3 dips)

It was a tough decision on if I wanted to RX or not. I’m still not 100% in regards to killing it. My wrists were a little sensitive and well I’m a baby. I went for 85lbs instead of the 95lbs. I always check with Coach first though. He’s pretty good at making sure we’re going to get work in and gauging our performance. So 85lb Deadlifts were so “light” and I thought Power Cleans would be too, but they felt a little heavy this time around and for 9 reps it wasn’t like it was 21 reps. Shoulder to Overhead was where I wasn’t sure how I would hold up. I know I didn’t want to drop the bar but I know the longer I hold it in a front rack position the more likely I am to fail. So pacing myself had to be key. I probably took too much rest in the cleans by dropping the bar too often but I really didn’t want to fail at STOH. I did scaled dips with a band and no matter what , your shoulders will fatigue! Time 11:30

7/16/13

3 rounds 800M sprint 150ft OH Lunge W/bar Rest 5 min 2×500 m row (rest as needed) aka HELL ON EARTH. Or at least that was my take on it.

1. I don’t like running. 2 My dislike for running has made me get worse. 3. I don’t like running.

Good runners probably run a 3 minute 800? Great runners probably run it in 2ish minutes? I’m not sure but sucky runners do it in about 5-7 minutes and mostly cause I was walking ! It was horrible and I’m not just saying that to say it. I KNOW I am horrible at it. And I do zero things to make it better. So I knew I had to do better at the LUNGES. And these were not going to be easy. I started off with a 45lb barbell. I made it almost halfway without stopping. My shoulders were dying. I then made several stops to the end. For the second round of Lunges I dropped to the 35lb barbell. With this weight I made it halfway without stopping! Great success! I then made it to the end with only one other stop. And for the 3rd round I again made it halfway without stopping and then finished without stopping! I knew I was dragging ass for the runs and had to make up for it somehow. After resting it was time for those rows. And it was too late to try to find a happy place. My upper body was smoked, my lower body was smoked. I was content with a 3 minute 500. I’m just glad I finished! Time for runs/lunges: 34:30.

7/16/13 WOD

7/17/13

Warm-up: 50 n 50 GHD, Yoke Push 50ft x 2

Booooo GHD. And didn’t have time Yoke Push… HOORAY!

Strength: DL 5RM

I was excited for Deadlift day. Way better than HELL ON EARTH day. That was until I got warmed up and started putting weight on the bar. I could feel my hamstring on my right leg. It wasn’t a horrible pain but it was enough to tell me to not push myself into injury. So I worked up to a 185lb 5RM. I know I could do more but I didn’t want a bum hammy. So I laid off and took it for what it was.

7/17/13 WOD

Skill/Metcon: If you are able to do the following movements you will go ME for the minute. If not you will work the skill of the move for 4 minutes straight. EMOM 20 Odd-PU/MU Even-Pistols

Yup it was all skill work for me. I am no bueno on the Pull Ups or the Pistols. WompWomp!

And there ya have it faithful readers. That’s my week! Go forth, get moving, eat clean(er), and BE AWESOME.

CrossFit Games Open 13.1 – and Breathe!

By now most of you know or have heard of the CrossFit Games. The sport of CrossFit has grown tremendously over the years, from being an “underground” type workout and small competitions to ESPN televised, Reebok sponsored, worldwide registration and all around insanity. The OPEN is seriously just that. Open to anyone and everyone who wants to throw their hat in the ring. Even with NO HOPE to make it to regionals, tens of thousands sign up. Don’t get me wrong there are some ELITE BADASS MOFO’s out there. Much respect and awe to them, but the rest of us are just having fun. Right? Fun is correct but let me tell you it’s still stressful. Knowing that you are registered, you will be documented and you will be put to the test is downright nerve-racking! It’s a test of where you stand among 100,000 folks. I know I don’t stand very high on the totem pole but it’s a blast trying. Boxes unite. People come out of their shells and COMMUNITY is in the air. It’s a lovely sight and a great feeling. I don’t have the words to really paint the picture I want to share with you all. Just trust me, it’s beautiful!

So 13.1 was announced Wednesday evening and there was much speculation going on as to what they would throw at us. Last year it was 7 minutes of burpees which was almost laughable. Well it was laughable. People everywhere were scratching their heads. Who knew it would be the talk for weeks, hell the whole year. And as we all wait to see, we had a sigh of relief that it wasn’t a repeat WOD per se, instead it was a combination of previous WODS!

17 minute AMRAP of:

40 burpees (with target)

30 Snatch (75lbs, 45lbs)

30 Burpees

30 Snatch (135lbs, 75lbs)

20 Burpees

30 Snatch (165lbs, 100lbs)

10 Burpees

Snatch (210lbs, 120lbs), as many reps as possible

Julie Foucher is one of my inspirations. Oh to be her, or just a fraction of her. Below is what 13.1 should look like. I can guarantee I was not that graceful.

There are many videos out there for help on technique and strategy. I love them all, but I really love:

http://gymnasticswod.com/content/crossfit-games-breakdown-131

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2013/03/crossfit-open-13-1-prep-the-dream-team-edition-carl-paoli-diane-fu-brian-mackenzie-kstar.html

Last night at our OPEN Skills slot at the BOOM Box we went over Burpee strategy and basic Snatch Technique. It was good to kind of mix and mingle with everyone and work on basics so we were better prepared today. But are we REALLY prepared?!? I know I was a Nervous Nelly this morning! I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one feeling it either.

My worst bar movement is SNATCH. I have FEAR, big time, scaredy cat type fear. I don’t like that I do, and I try to psych myself out of it but it’s there lingering. With this said fear I have had many troubles getting more than 65lbs up and over. I know the facts, I can Overhead Squat 90lbs, if not more. I can Deadlift at least 200lbs. This combination should make for an easy 75lb Snatch but not for me. I SCARED! And I hate it.

Coming into the BOOM Box at 5 am, I was already mentally prepared to have a score of 100 reps. And I would just work on trying to get 75lbs up when the time came. 3-2-1 GOOOOO! Burpees with target overhead. I got this right? The idea is to not bust through them but to not drag ass either. You don’t want to kill yourself because SNATCH is something you don’t want to joke around with. I was really mentally fatigued and I let that mess with my burpees. 20 reps in and I was ready to quit. Dumbest workout EVER. I was not happy. Kept dwelling on my less than stellar eating, house maintenance issues, etc…

My mind was processing everything BUT the workout. Finally, much longer than I had wanted, I finished 40 burpees. Onto Snatch. 45lbs is lightweight. I was seriously smoked from Burpees though. So I just went in sets of 5. I knew there wasn’t a rush. 75lbs was not reachable for me. And I have 17 minutes. Well by now I probably had 14 minutes but you know, I had a LOOONNNGG time! I stopped looking at the clock and went straight to burpees after the first set of Snatch. I felt I was out of my head now mostly because I was tired so I chipped away at the 30 Burpees. Then I took my time adding the weight for 75lbs. Drank some water. Took some deep breaths, and just relaxed. I had quite a bit of time on the clock and figured 75lbs wasn’t going overhead. My first attempt NO REP, and then I don’t really remember after that but I finally got 1 overhead! HOLLYYYY COW! I did it! PR! Get back on the bar and NO REP! Hahahhaha, shitfire. What’s a girl to do but keep trying. I did complete 5 reps at 75lbs. Probably could have had at least 10 if I would just DROP under the bar (cue Beastie’s Boys music here). MMMM DROP! Ah well. I have to be HAPPY with a PR and multiple reps at that! Do I regret dragging ass at Burpees now? A little! But that’s how CrossFit go. Will I do a REDO on Saturday? Probably not. I’m good knowing I did better than I had mentally forecasted! 13.1 done! Total reps: 105. Bring on 13.2!

3/8/13 – 13.1 CrossFit Games Open

I did stay and watch some inspiring folks at the 6am time slot. Three ladies who I adore were up and they did awesome. Andrea, Annette and Sherry …. Y’all were amazing. And that’s all I have to say about that! I’m looking forward to cheering on the 6pm class tonight!

And that’s it for today you beautiful readers. I won’t be hitting up the WOD in the morning because we are in BASEBALL season and my Saturdays for the next few months will probably be hit or miss. Also PRAY it doesn’t RAIN RAIN RAIN on us and that the fields are playable. I hope you all have a freakin’ badass weekend and don’t forget to be AWESOME! Bye!

I want a MAKEOVER!

Yes I watched the Biggest Loser last night and I was wishing someone would come and scoop me up and take me out for a fresh look! Sure I could make a day for myself but how much more fun would it be for me to just show up and BAM! I’m made over! I wish I could get a mental makeover too. Something that would help me Quit SUGAR completely because right now the “little” cheats are sabotaging me! I was good on the Whole30, as a matter of fact I was GREAT! But now I sit here in guilt and bloatedness! Someone just slap me. Ok, just kidding don’t slap me for real. Just become my personal chef so all of my meals are cooked daily. Thanks!

Skill/Strength: Pistols (AKA one legged squat OR really frustrating dumb movement)
Damn you LEFT IT BAND. It pains me to even do modified pistols on my left leg and puts a little fear in me that my leg isn’t going to support me at all. This morning I worked on that a little bit by starting out at the bottom of the pistol resting on a medicine ball and working on the UP part. That in itself is hard for me on my left leg. Right leg not a problem as far as technical goes just need to build up the balance, strength, skill to execute a Pistol properly. Not my favorite movement!

3/5/13 WOD

MetCon: 10 minute AMRAP of 30 Double Unders, 15 Jumping Back Squats
Jumping Back say WHAAAT?!? Haven’t done this one before. Thankfully it was with the bar only!

This was hard for me to gauge in regards to how many rounds I would finish. Watching the guy above do 51 in 60 seconds after I was smoked just doing 15 makes me realize I need to reevaluate this movement! I wonder how I would have performed if I had watched the video before the workout! I also tend to shut down on DUs when a clock starts! Who knows what I’m in for! But this morning I busted DUs out quickly and was onto the Back Squats really fast. I finished those pretty quick as well and thought I got this. One round complete in less than a minute! Hahaha, it’s true, but that second round of DUs SUCKED! By the end of round 2 my hips were on fire! Then came the “I think I might pee my pants doing DU’s” part.

Thankfully I did not but I sure was worried for a minute. I was super fatigued in round 5 and probably rested too much during the Squats but I got to round 6 and finally did another set of UNBROKEN DUs. Then dragged ass on those Squats again. With 11 seconds left I whipped out 14 DUs going into round 7. Then ran to the bathroom! Score: 6 rounds, 14 DUs

Another day down. Still trying to keep up that positive attitude at the box but it is hard. One little negative thought can ruin it all. If I catch myself, I try to reword the thoughts in my head for something better. If I say something bad outloud then I try and turn it around to be more optimistic. As long as I keep showing up and trying, right?

That’s it for my Tuesday report. I’m thinking I may slow the posts down to a couple a week and try to be more “content” aware instead of rambling along daily. Let me know your thoughts faithful readers. And with that take your AWESOME to new places today!

Trying NOT to SUCK

Woooo Monday again. Yippee Skippy! I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. It was hot in our part of the world. And we spent it all outside on Saturday for some foosball.

Before the kid’s football games, I made sure to hit up the BOOM Box, I’m sad I’ve been missing the OLY class but my baby boys come first. At least I can squeeze in the Community WOD and boy oh boy was it fun! I can rest assured that if my vehicle breaks down on me that I am capable of pushing it out of the way!

We started off with a typical warm up, then tested our Kettle Bell Skills. We did max KB swings for 90 seconds. We did American style swings and for me at 1 POOD I managed to get 42 swings in.

Annie Sakamoto doing what looks like 2 POOD. I am not that beastly. I only did half that!

We then moved outside and Coach got in his truck and told us we would get in teams of 2 and have 30 seconds to push his truck as far as possible. I was up first with Omar and we were killing it till we ran out of room. So Coach decided to set his truck up going uphill towards the exit of the warehouse complex we are in. It was kind of amazing most everyone got the same distance. No team was drastically over the top. After we went in teams of two we split up into teams of 5. We got a little further but we also hit a steeper part of the hill and that took a lot out of me for sure. I think both teams hit about the same spot. After that Coach rolled his truck back and said it was time to go all on your lonesome if you wanted.

Coach showin us how it’s done … with Briggs and Leigh on the back!

My partner, Omar, decided to give it a go and made it pretty far, so I decided HECK I should just give it a try and well la de da de I could move that truck! I don’t remember how far I made it because I was sucking wind but it felt good to know I could do it! All the peeps who showed up and gave it a try did really well – BOOM!

After all the Super Hero truck pushing we still had a MetCon to do! We had a 5 minute AMRAP of 5 Push Ups and 10 Air Squats. I managed through 12 rounds + 5 Push Ups + 1 Air Squat. Wasn’t the greatest as I slowed down a lot on Push Ups. I was beat and ready to go home!

This morning I was not ready for the BOOM though. I was tired. I ate poorly and I was super sore, not sure if it was the truck pushin or the 121 air squats from Saturday but I definitely was walking funny!

Skill/Strength: 4 x 8 of Back Squat @ 70% of 1RM then 4 x 6 of press moving up in weight each set. I ended up warming up to 105lbs for my Squat and completing my 4 sets of 8 at that weight. It wasn’t super hard but it was definitely taxing on the ol’ lower body. I felt good throughout though which is a NICE feeling overall. Typically something starts giving me grief but today I felt I focused.

Moving onto Press was pretty nice as well. We were pressed for time and I felt the little bit of rush helped me at first. There was no time for thinking and I just did. The downside for limited time is that I don’t feel I rested enough for my last set. I failed at 65lbs which isn’t shocking because my max Press is 70lbs. So I dropped down to 60lbs and finished out.

9/24/12 WOD

MetCon: 12 minute AMRAP of 10 Box Jumps (20″) and 10 Regular Push Ups. This is where the SUCK came in and I tried not to SUCK but I couldn’t help it. Box Jumps! Argh. It’s been a while since we had the BOX Jump in our MetCon and it took a hold of me and beat me up. And then my Push Ups fell apart. It was so bad I had to drop to my knees to keep up any kind of form. Blah. I completed 9 rounds + 10 box jumps. Womp Womp! I still did work. I was spent. So it was a good work just a sad showing in my opinion.

There’s always tomorrow to redeem myself! Let’s just hope I do so!!! Until then! Be AWESOME!

UUMMMMMMM……….

It’s not that I have writer’s block this time around, but it’s been a busy weekend and I don’t even know where to start. Do I start with today and go backwards or start with Saturday and move forwards? These are the silly little chores that burden me in regards to blogging! What’s my title going to be? Witty? Dull? Straightforward. ARRGGHHH! I’m not a great writer as it is and then to add the other things, it can make one go bonkers. But at the same time it gives me peace. A creative outlet of sorts to get my thoughts straightened out and something for me to reference in my CrossFit/Paleo/whatever you want to call it journey. Also hopefully I provide some sort of “FIT”spiration to you the readers; that if someone as plain and simple as myself can muster up the energy and discipline to work hard consistently and eat clean that you can too. You just have to want it bad enough. I know I do want it!

Which leads to me to today’s WOD. I’ll summarize the weekend afterwards ツ I was dragging more than normal this morning because we were at the Ranger game till later than expected and we left before the game got exciting! They went 13 innings. Thank goodness we left though because I was spent. So spent I almost didn’t get up in time for the BOOM BOX!

7/9/12 WOD

Skill/Strength: 3 x 5 Back Squat +5lbs from previous week. Well I didn’t do Back Squat last week so I added from the week before. Today was 3 sets of 5 at 110lbs. After working up to that weight I was already done! So I struggled on my last reps. I always feel so weak when I struggle so much at a lighter weight. I shouldn’t think that way. My max is 145 and that’s 1 REP…so ya I know but geez I still feel like a weakling!

MetCon: 21, 15, 9 of Overhead Squats (OHS) and Shoulder to Overhead (Push Press for me). The prescribed weight is 65lbs but with my weak ass OHS I went with 55lbs. And it’s weak I promise. My wrists are not made for the OHS at all. And my shoulder flexibility is worthless. I was not looking forward to this at all. And I can tell you that for me it was probably one of the worst MetCons that I have endured. We broke this down into two groups, thank goodness, so we could have a counter. Thank you Martha for counting. I wouldn’t have made it otherwise.

Not me of course, but a good example of OHS.

I don’t even remember how I broke up my OHS for the first round. I think I started off strong with a good number like 10 but then fell apart and knocked them out in 2’s. My wrists were fried and I still had PUSH PRESS to go. I struggled with the first 21 BAD! By the 15’s of the OHS I tried going in 5’s but that didn’t work out so well. I definitely felt better this round and Coach was there in my face so I had a little more to prove and push through. I did the 15 PUSH PRESS UNBROKEN!!!!

Again not me but I figure not everyone knows what all these movements are and pictures always help!

I felt like super woman because my wrists were just losing life and I just blazed through those 15. Only 9 of each to go and I just didn’t know if I could get those OHS completed. I wanted to cry. I knocked out 5, then 4 and saw I was at 9:40 on the time. I tried to get the bar up and move to make it under 10 minutes but I was 5 seconds too slow. Time: 10:05 I then laid (rolled around like a loonball) outside for a good 5 minutes, chugging water, hoping not to die. Although I struggled I felt accomplished. It was tough but it was a tough I needed. I always feel a little more badass when we do MetCons like this.

Weekend Wrap Up
Started off my Saturday morning at the BOOM BOX. Besides work this place gets a lot of my time! It was paint Kettle Bells day. The last time we did this was right before Easter and they were all cute and pastel but that got old fast! So this time we were doing Patriotic KBs, for the 4th and maybe even for the Olympics. I showed up mid painting, so I just stood around, watched and took pics.

Our Patriotic KBs ツ

Triston getting his paint on!

Josh showed up with some Spray Paint skills!

Travis and Kristen trying to find some other letters that we could could “make” look like b’s and o’s for BOOM!

Grant AKA Coach preppin the KBs.

Sherry getting the letters on before the painting begins.

Once everyone else started arriving we got to warming up. We had no idea what was in store for us but it ended up being a WOD I liked. 10 min AMRAP of Power Cleans (my fave)! For this AMRAP we partnered up and were told that we would do 5 cleans each and alternate for the 10 minutes. And then we were told that 5 cleans equaled 1 REP. I was partnered with another Stephanie AKA Briggs and we were set up to do 65lb Power Cleans. I said I love POWER CLEANS but I wasn’t sure if I’d love this AMRAP. My form got sloppy every now and then but for the most part I felt good. I have some bruises on my collar bone, chin and upper thighs. I look like I’ve been brawling. Thank goodness it’s only with a barbell! Briggs and I killed it with 33 reps which in turn ended up being 165 power cleans! And I still had the OLY class afterwards!!!!

OLY Class
We worked on Clean & Jerk and Front Squats after some much needed warm up on the PVC. For the Clean & Jerks we worked at 75% of our MAX. So I worked at 70lbs. We had to do 3 x 1 and take our time. Coach took some video of my first attempt and showed me where I could improve on form. I was already spent from the week’s work and from the power cleans but I took note and corrected. It helps to watch yourself and have someone show you EXACTLY where you went wrong. Most of the time I know something is off but I can’t pinpoint it.

After our Clean & Jerks we worked on getting a Heavy Front Squat. From there we would do 80% of the weight and do 3 x 3. I ended up at 125lbs for my heavy and did my sets of 3 at 100lbs. I was so glad when that last set was done. I was starving and ready to vegge out FOREVER!!! All in all good work put in and I feel stronger and better!

In other news:
We went and saw Savages which I thought was a good movie. I hate to say GREAT because then everyone will tell me how great it wasn’t. I liked it. I like those kinds of movies though. I was entertained! Got my pre-vacay pedicure and then I was out. I was passed out before 8pm! And I slept till 8am! That was a much needed sleep!

Not gonna lie, my eating wasn’t great the past two days. I’m on vacation brain. And it’s still not just crazy out of control but I know myself and I know I’m not sticking to what I know best lately. And that’s clean eating! Two Mondays in a row now that I’ve sabotaged my weekend!!!!! I know I will try to eat clean most of the time I’m out but I also know there are some things I won’t be able to pass up. We stay pretty active on vacation so besides maybe having some post eating ickiness I should be fine in the weight department, it’s just a horrible feeling that here I am trying to be the good example and I’m failing all of us

Also if you don’t watch baseball or keep up on sports you should check out the reaction to a GINORMOUS THUNDER/LIGHTNING crash that hit at the Rangers Ballpark last night. We were there and it was insane!

So that’s all folks. It was a busy weekend and I’m hoping this week flies by! Have a reMarkable Monday!

I am SMOKED! And it feels like Monday again, WTH?

Actually it felt like Sunday but I have work so it then felt like a Monday! Two Mondays in one week?!?! Sigh! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We didn’t do much. Watched the parade, lounged around, cleaned house and ate sub-par. ☠ Below are a couple of parade pics. I’m not a photographer, just an iPhone pic snapper.

I knew I was in for it at the BOOM BOX. Our Skill Strength was 8 x 20 yd Flying Sprints. I know what sprints are but I’ve never heard of flying sprints. I know I don’t have wings so unless Coach had magic fairy dust to help us sprout some I was lost! Ends up you get about 10 yds to build up to FULL ON SPRINT, then you carry that on for 20 seconds. We did 8 rounds and the whole time really focused on good form and good starts. It was a good WAKE UP SHAKE UP.

7/5/12 WOD

MetCon: 15 minute AMRAP of 5 Push Press, 20 Lunges. RX weight was 85lbs and I’m pretty sure my max Push Press is 85lbs so Coach had me work at 65lbs. After looking through the ol’ blog, my push press max is 90lbs. So I’m sure I could have added more weight but I really felt like 65lbs was a good weight when you’re talking about a 15 min AMRAP! The real death blow were the 20 lunges. That’s 20 lunges total, not 20 each leg, THANK GOODNESS but it was still insane. You use your legs quite a bit in the Push Press and combo that with Lunges! You catch on FIRE fast! Literally in round 3 I thought HOW IN THE HELL AM I GOING TO GO MORE and in that thought and thinking of how sucky I ate, I sucked up my inner baby and just went. Somewhere around my 6th round the FIRE disappeared, well it didn’t really disappear but I stopped thinking about it. And I just charged through. 15 minutes is a long time!

Final: 14 rounds 2 Push Press. (Note: I really pushed here. Typically when there’s like 10 seconds left I struggle with getting the bar up and just sit there struggling with the bar till time expires but today I really broke some barriers by getting that bar up and pushing out those 2 presses!)

Bonus: Although it’s not the full lift recorded and it’s only one rep, I did have a video fairy catch part of my Clean & Jerk from last weekend’s OLY Class. You miss the whole “CLEAN” part and just see me coming out of the squat though. Nothing magical here but at least you can see me doing work and I’m not randomly blogging about made up crap 🙂

One week till my much anticipated vacation! And for some reason I’m a glutton for eating bad lately. Is it because I’m on vacation mode already? I have no idea. But I should be on lock down. Eating clean as possible until departure and even through most of vacation. Let me be clear, I haven’t thrown everything out the window and just on EAT mode. Instead I’m ruining it with little things but ruining it none the less. Big SIGH! I’m really trying for this week to just be like I’ve always been: Eat clean 90-95% of the time and not try to sabotage myself! We’ll see how it goes. I really already don’t want to be in swim attire as it is, I know I REALLY won’t want to be if I keep letting the little things ruin my eating!

Happy 2nd Monday folks. Tomorrow is FRIDAY and I’m ready for the weekend!! Be AWESOME!!!

idrankthecfkoolaid

and it's good

AMRAP

Drumroll please……… DAY 30!

Found!

Tiger Blood…not just yet

Icemageddon 2013 @!$$%&*!@***

Putting in the WORK

CrossFit Games Open 13.1 – and Breathe!

I want a MAKEOVER!

Trying NOT to SUCK

UUMMMMMMM……….

I am SMOKED! And it feels like Monday again, WTH?

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