crossfit

Feelin Fine Friday!

Yesterday afternoon and into the evening I wasn’t feeling so fine. My stomach was a grumbling and I was just feeling like crapola. I don’t know if I was fighting some bug that was trying to make a home within me or what. I didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary but I knew I was blah. So instead of coming home and getting to whipping up some fab dinner, I went straight to the couch! I was down and out for a couple of hours but once Ernie got home from the box and we got some fuel I got to feeling a little better. After a semi good night’s sleep I was FEELING MUCH BETTER!

2/10/12 WOD

And today’s WOD was a team effort so good thing I was feeling better. It’s not as OK to let my teammate down. If I let myself down I can deal with it on my own. I don’t like dragging others down though! LOL.

We started off with backsquats. I knocked them out alright but nothing super exciting or beastly. Moving on to the MetCon. Sled pulls and sprints! I’ve expressed how sled pulls and I don’t get along so well. But I figure the shorter distance would be ok. And for the most part it was better than I imagined in my head. But they do take a toll on you. Mel and I finished 3 rounds of sled pulls and sprints in 3:38. I’m thinking we did alright 🙂 But wait there’s more…BONUS ROUND relay.

We lengthened our distance (measurement unknown) and it was so much further than 100 ft! 3-2-1 GO and whaddya know Josh (opposing team) is standing on my sled. I went 3-2-1 NOWHERE! It was funny for a minute, maybe less, heheh as I yelled out I HATE YOU! LOL! I’m not nice! He finally jumped off and I felt I had some good speed. It was the turnaround point where I think my butt fell off and I wondered at what point did this flat parking lot get a hill! Mel and I took the win despite the cheating attempt.

I’m so happy it’s Friday! Tomorrow is a open box FUN DAY Saturday at the BOOM Box. Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd. If you’re in the area come on by to check it out. 9am! www.crossfitboom.com I’ll also be teaming up with my coach for an online WOD competition. I’m sure he’s not to stoked that pullups are part of the WOD and as of right now I don’t have a full on pullup :/ Ruh-roh … Anyone got a magic pullup pill or potion?

Hope y’all enjoy your weekend. Make wise eating choices…. the weekends are the hardest for a lot of us! See ya on MONDAY if I survive the weekend!!!

Pullups and Wall Balls, What Did I DO to Deserve this?

I’m convinced I must have pissed off my coach. LOL! I know this might be someone’s DREAM WOD, but not mine! I promise! Okay seriously I know it’s about me (or is it?) but the workouts have been geared toward a lot of my weaknesses which is great because I need to get stronger but REALLY? Pullups and Wall Balls together in one MetCon and that’s it? It’s punishment, it has to be 😀

2/9/12 WOD

So as the white boards says… 3 rounds, :30, 1:00, and 1:30 then 1 minute rest. WHAT THAT MEANS is 30 seconds of pullups, 30 seconds of wall balls, 1 minute of pullups, 1 minute of wall balls and 1:30 of pullups and 1:30 of wall balls! And 1 FAST minute of rest. Yes I’m still doubling up on band assistance for my pullups but I can clearly tell I’m getting stronger due to the fact that my first round was pretty good in my opinion. It may not be great after the rest of the day and everyone else shows up on the board but hey I was feelin good! Then round 2 happened and well I sucked! My arms/shoulders were on FIRE. Wall Balls were horrible, SUCK! Since I can not do pullups, I said I would do RX wall balls. We don’t have a 14lb med ball so RX for me is the 10lb ball at the higher wall marking (10ft I believe). I had so many no reps it wasn’t even funny. But by the 3rd round I picked it back up a little and had a better overall rep count for that round. Total: 153 … Still wondering why I’m being punished! Jokes, Jokes, I’m just being silly. It was a good WOD and I needed it.

Prior to the insanity we worked on Split Jerk. Amazingly I feel pretty good doing it. Right now it ranks as the MOST COMFORTABLE lift I’ve done. It feels right. I always feel awkward doing all the other lifts. So for now I will state I like SPLIT JERK! Hahah, that may change but ah well.

Our hoodies also came in so I was happy to get mine and rock it out today. Hell ya! I love it 🙂 (pssst… the boom bear is my contribution to the art 🙂 so OF COURSE I love it)

BOOM!

That’s really it for now. I have yet to make anything special for Vday and the kid’s classes. I have a few more days before I commit to sugary badness or paleo-ish goodness! Oh ya on another note, Ernie cooked his first chicken! Reluctantly! of course but he did it and it turned out fantastic. That’s how easy it is y’all… ERNIE CAN DO IT! Hehehe. JOKES again 😛  I think he’s found a new job in the kitchen! Hehehe, I know he’ll say NO but a girl can dream right?

Is it spring yet? I know we’ve had some mild temps lately but I’m ready for long sunny days. Have a bad to the bone Thursday.

FANTASTIC! from Being Primal

ROCKIN IT OUT 1 YEAR LATER!

I’ve only been blogging for a couple of months but I’ve been on my fitness and good health journey for a year now! It was this week ONE YEAR ago that AJ Tucker from iChooseFit bootcamps called me up and told me I had no more excuses! There was a location practically in my backyard and it was my time to get moving.

iChooseFit

That phone call couldn’t have come at a better time. I had lost my mother a few weeks before that phone call. I was a hot mess of overeating and drinking a few too many alcoholic beverages. I was a round butterball standing at 5’2″ tall and about 160lbs. I know I wasn’t 250lbs but I was on my way there. I’ve had my roller coaster with eating right and getting fit since I had my first child almost 13 years ago. But I was in a bad spot getting worse at this point in my life. I was supposed to start Feb 7th but there was a ton of ice that week and I had other “excuses” pop up. It was actually Feb 14th that I started working out but it was this week a year ago I prepared myself to kick my own ass!

A year ago! Look at those chubby cheeks!

I’ll be honest the first two weeks of bootcamp were tough but I was still coming home and eating too much and having the occasional cocktail. After that first two weeks I had not lost a pound (even gained a pound if I remember correctly) and I was furious with myself. Why put in all the hard work at 5:30 am and NO RESULTS. I knew I had to change it ALL up at once. Jump in the DEEP END of the pool and get to work. And so I did. iChooseFit wasn’t only about getting your butt beat down it was about nutrition. There was a FoodCamp program included and I got all the info I could and I got to work. I got serious. I went shopping for good stuff, jumped in with Advocare and got my head on right and my tail into gear. In the first week of the program “shakedown” I lost 7lbs! HOLY SHIT! Are you kidding me? Who is this girl? I didn’t know her but I was already liking her. I’ll never forget I could barely do a pushup without falling to my knees and after that week I had lost 7lbs I was doing KNEE PUSH UPs. AJ was going on with some cadence about how you grew so it’s up to you to move it, in regards to weight. Then all of a sudden I hear “Stephanie, Get OFF your knees!” It was all nice and sweet in the cadence but it was serious. I surely thought that couldn’t be me he’s referring to (there’s at least 5 Stephanie’s enrolled) and sure enough he was talking about THIS STEPHANIE… he says you’re 7 lbs lighter get off your knees and do regular pushups and SO I DID and from there on out I did regular pushups to the point where I HAD to drop to my knees.

I never stopped pushing myself from that point! In 3 months I lost 20lbs! I was stoked! And maybe I was a little too stoked! I started eating a little more, indulging a little more and even though I was working out like a crazy person I started to feel like poo again. I would gain some lose some, gain some more, lose some more but just hovering. I had got myself into a funk of sorts. I needed another kick in the butt and I just wasn’t able to do it myself.

This was about the time I started CrossFit in August. CrossFit Boom to be more exact. I had met my coach, Grant Coomes, at a CrossFit challenge in Dallas. It was soon after that he opened his box and Ernie signed up. It was only a couple of weeks after that and I was “trying” it out. I was excited for something new and the competitive aspects of it all but I was hesitant because it involved a lot of NEW movements and a lot of learning and I wasn’t sure how competent I would be! I can’t even begin to tell how silly I was in thinking such things. As with anything you train, you learn and you practice. Baby steps! Before I knew it I was doing olympic lifting, slinging around kettlebells and doing “dirty girl” WODs. I even entered my first “competition” (for beginners that is) only 2 months after my start date! I didn’t KILL it but I came in 26th out of 50 women.

2 months in.... FIRST Competition... WODAPALOOZA

I was feeling better than ever, stronger than ever and started dabbling in the PALEO world. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve changed in the past year. And thus my blogging commenced. I should have started a year ago but I knew myself and I was a mess. I would try something for a few weeks then quit. I was a binge worker outer. But a year later I feel confident I am no longer that person. I’m an ATHLETE, in progress still, but an ATHLETE none the less!

I can’t say that I didn’t know this was in me because once upon a time in a land far far away I was a tiny little athletic thing. But I hadn’t been there in such a long time. I’m a different person now for certain with goals and long term thoughts of good health. Back then it was just who I was, a kid, ignorant to what laid ahead of me in life. I can’t say that I’m that much more knowledgeable now, haha,  but I have 3 kids I want to LIVE for and that I want to lay the foundation for them. I want to be around for their kids and be the baddest grandma in town!

So now I’m a good 30lbs lighter. I still fluctuate and probably always will. Right now it’s between 30-35lbs lighter. But I’ve truly learned to not let the scale lead the way. Sure mentally I’d like to lose a few more lbs. I’m only 5’2. And sure I’d like everything to be rockin but the fact and truth is that I’ve had 3 boys and I didn’t take care of myself like I should have but I’m on the right path now. It doesn’t happen overnight. I do know I feel strong. I don’t weigh everyday, not even weekly. I know I’m putting good things in me and I’m taking time to work on my physical self. With that comes confidence that helps me work on my mental and emotional self! It’s a WIN/WIN!

I know this wasn’t a workout update or a food update…. just a personal one to let you know, YOU CAN DO IT TOO! I wasn’t already skinny, getting skinnier. I wasn’t healthy and just dialing in on better health. I was and still am a regular girl, lady, woman….whatever, hahaha, I still call myself a GIRL. Life hits me hard sometimes but I know I can take it on. I have a great family. I have great support systems in both iChooseFit and CrossFit Boom. I’ve met a lot of like minded folks who inspire me. I FEEL GREAT. It’s a good feeling. Find your path. Find buddies. Find HEALTH! Live life. Don’t sit on the sidelines watching it go by. Don’t just WATCH the reality weight loss shows or READ the blogs. DO SOMETHING. MOVE YOUR BUTT! I promise you’ll feel better. You can see on my About Page my befores and afters. I don’t take many pics cause I’m still critical of myself in picture form! I’m working on it. But I did snap a shot of me today.

2/8/12 ME TODAY!

Have a super great Wednesday. Half way through the week. Start NOW, not later. Move NOW not tomorrow. Live TODAY!

Busy Busy and What I Think is a Better Attitude!

ARRGGHHH!!! That’s what I want to do, like in Garden State where they all just yell. I’ve been swamped with work, busy at home, cranking out some freelance work and just going bonkers. I NEED a vacation! STAT! I need Ford Escape Routes to CALL me and Ernie up and say HEY YOU’RE ON! Let’s go… pack your bags. But until that happens I need to play catch up on this ol (errr, still relatively new) blog of mine.

Oh the weekend. I finally slept in till a whopping 8:30 am on Saturday and Sunday! Woooooo! Go ME! And I finally finished The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Took me longer than I had hoped but I finally finished. For those of you who don’t care I’m sorry. Just doing a recap! Hahah, Get OVER it! We trekked out to Grandview again because our PORK BELLY order was ready and decided it was a good day for a field trip. We picked up some more meats as well. We were saddened that they were out of eggs, but I suppose that will happen. I didn’t take any pictures because frankly when I have 3 boys, Ernie and my Dad I just forget to do anything. We ordered burgers (sans bread) and they were delicious. We had a little fiasco where I thought I lost my debit card but I won’t get into those details. It was a big OL THANK GOODNESS my dad was there to pay for our order! We also made a stop at Rosey Ridge Farm to pick up more milk as well as some butter I ordered at the last minute. The boys had hoped there was a pig on the loose but he was where he belonged. They did however get to see a GINORMOUS turkey! He was big and very curious about us but he kept his distance. I bet he would be a tasty dinner! Again no pictures. I should have taken a picture of that beautiful turkey!

The rest of the weekend was just busy. Nothing else exciting to report :/

2/6/12 WOD

I do believe that I started this week out with the better attitude like I had talked about last week. I Showed up to the box yesterday morning tired as all get out but physically rested nonetheless. Worked the OHS (overhead squat) and hit my 5, 5, and 5+ which ended at 10 reps! Woooo. Granted the weight isn’t amazingly heavy. Worked up to 55lbs. My shoulder flexibility has greatly improved. My only downfall now is the flexibility on the insides of my wrists. The wide grip on the bar combined with the weight really puts a strain on the insides of my wrists. But I did get a little better overall.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the MetCon at first glance. Holding a pullup for 1 minute! YOWSERS! That was not easy. So every time you drop you get a point. The idea is to have the least points. I didn’t do so horrible. Just on the PULLUPS. I didn’t drop once on the pushup hold and I only dropped a few times on the LSits. There was a collective sigh of relief at the end of the last round. It was a painful morning!

Nothing fancy for dinner. Roast chicken, brussel sprouts, and broccoli. I did however take note from my co-worker on what to do with the broccoli stems.

Broccoli Stems Marinating

It’s not entirely PALEO but pretty darn close. So you take your stems and clean them up, Peel them like you would a carrot the get rid of the hard exterior. Chop them up, put them in a bowl, pour a little bit of sesame oil, vinegar, minced garlic, salt and a lil sugar. Toss it all around. Seal it up and put it in fridge. I used Apple Cider Vinegar because that’s what I had to use. This morning we opened it up, I let my 12 yr old try it out and he was very receptive to it. He said it tasted very Asian and it was good! My 9 yr old… eh not so much the same reaction. Ah well! Can’t get them to like everything!

Could have been a little more "RED" Velvet Whoopie Pies

But they were excited to try the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies I found over from the good folks at Health-Bent. They have some pretty awesome recipes kickin over there. Check them out! These sweet treats are Gluten Free but not entirely on the Paleo list of things to eat! If you’ve been following along I’ve been testing out recipes for the kids Valentine’s parties. Although my children appreciated the little snack and gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow, they came to a census that kids at school may not be so excited. They told me “we’re used” to not eating so much sugar, so it’s good to us! LOL, it’s true. If you are a sugar junkie…it may not be as delicious as it is to us. It was a fail for Ernie however. Too dry he says. Like I said, I can’t win everyone over. So 4 out of 5 enjoyed them. That’s pretty good in my eyes. I have one more “treat” to test before I just throw in the towel and make cake pops or something! LOL!

2/7/12 WOD

Finally I’m to this morning. Almost caught up now! Skill Strength consisted of Pistols. Damn YOU PISTOLS! One legged squats are what we call pistols and I do not like them. I have nothing else to say on the matter. Moving on the the MetCon…I wussed out and didn’t do the RX of 1.5 pood. I feel I could have Goblet Squatted fine (at a much slower pace) but I had more trouble just picking that darn Kettlebell up … UPSIDE DOWN. So I went for the lesser weight. 400m run, 20 Goblet Squats, 400m run, 15 Goblet Squats, 400m run, 10 Goblet Squats, 400m run, 5 Goblet Squats = 11:08. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th runs were HARD and I’m a wussbag! Go figure.

There ya have it. Missed a day but all caught up now. It’s Tuesday. Come on FRIDAY where ya at? Come on Ford Escape Routes, Give me a CALL! See ya’ll tomorrow!

It’s Friday I’m in Love

TGIF! I never thought this week would end!!!! Yesterday I was declaring a week of SUCK and despite the dreary rain, today has started off really well. I had a better attitude this morning at the box, got out of the house at a decent time and HWY 360 northbound played nicely – Besides the typical work woes… woohooo it’s FRIDAY!

Todays WOD was a lot of legs. Back Squats for skill/strength and Squat Cleans for the MetCon! Yowsers! Much needed break from all the upper body. I was feeling strong in the Back Squats, really focusing on the little things. It was a 5, 5, 5+ session. 100lbs, 110lbs, 115lbs. On my last set though I got stuck at the bottom on my 4th rep. ARGH. I finished with 5 and not +anything. Ah well. I still moved the weight. And I didn’t let it stick with me for the rest of the workout! So that’s an improvement 🙂

MetCon: 2000lbs of Squat Cleans! Say what? So the idea for the MetCon is pick your weight and do reps that add up to 2000lbs. For example if you squat clean 100lbs, you need to push out 20 reps. I chose 70 lbs because I felt that was doable both in weight and reps without being easy and also not becoming impossible. 29 reps was my end goal and I completed it right at 5 minutes. I knocked at 10 pretty quickly. Then proceeded to 5 reps at a time. It wasn’t easy and I was left breathless. I don’t think I’ve ever done that many squat cleans but once I got a good rhythm and better form I felt pretty good about it all. I’ll be feeling it in my lower body later today and all day tomorrow I’m sure! But I finished my BOOM Box week STRONG and less whiny!

Tomorrow is field trip day. The pork belly we ordered is in and I need to go pick it up. Probably will add a few items to the order and take the kiddos along so they get a chance to check it out. Maybe even buy them a couple of burgers as well 🙂 And if I’m on top of it I’ll try to take more pictures! LOL, I’m forgetful as you probably should have figured out by now.

Have a rockin weekend! Push past your limits, go outside your comfort zone, do something new, and have fun!

Big Ol’ Week of Suck!

So I lied about the debbie downer talk getting to me! This week had been hard for me mentally and physically. I am not sure why. Just finally wearing down? Job getting in my head? A little bit of both? NO clue as to what exactly but I’m sure it’s a little of everything. The week isn’t over just yet so I have a day left to redeem myself!

I understand I can’t be “ON” everyday and every week but it’s hard when your whole week has been blah. Alright enough complaining and onto the WOD!

2/2/12 WOD

We worked on Power Jerks and I just couldn’t get my body to get under the bar. Every time I was trying to muscle it up. ON my last attempt I FINALLY did it properly! I know how to do it but for some reason I just wasn’t getting anywhere. The weight wasn’t too heavy, just me being in my head like a loser 😦

The MetCon was Toes to Bar and running. WOOOO Fun! LOL! I can do toes to bar but not well enough to knock it out in a WOD so I did knees to elbows. It’s really hard for me to get in a good rhythm but I did find myself knocking out 5 at a time. It definitely shows that I need to work on my upper body movements because I am no GOOD! Between the barbell pushups and the knees to elbow I have just been beaten down. Hopefully this just means I’m getting better. I just don’t see it right now. I suppose I used to not even be able to do knees to elbows, haha, so I should be stoked! I am! I truly am. I’ve come a long way. But my suck ass attitude is getting in the way.

As I sit here typing this I realize WOW you are such a girl baby! Put on your damn big girl panties and STFU! Really Stephanie! So rather than edit, abort and do over, I’m leaving this as is so I can remind myself of what I sound like and hopefully refrain from such depressing mindset. And also hopefully some of you will be motivated to not SOUND like me! Rise above people! Don’t come down to my level!

Here’s hopin to a FANTABULOUS FRIDAY. Rock on.

Snooze + Infinity!

Holy cow I did not want to get up this morning. Knowing Wednesday has become my rest day, I still wanted to get up and get the kids some almond flour pancakes going. I however slept in till the last possible minute I could possibly sleep and still get ready and get to work on time. I really could have slept a few more hours. I wanted to badly, so much I was ready to call in sick or something! LOL. I didn’t though and I rushed around like a maniac! Fortunately my kids are old enough to fend for themselves and even help their slacker mom out.

Obviously not my kids but I'm sure they feel like this when I'm running late!

Speaking of slacker and since I don’t have much to report, here are some interweb stumblings I thought I’d share 🙂 And then I have treats to share as well!

With that said, I found some before and afters of random strangers to hopefully motivate anyone into pushing themselves outsided their comfort zones!

N0w that you have inspiration to LOSE weight I will tempt you with PALEO-ish goodies! Ha, I’m cruel like that. It’s true I have a sweet tooth and I have kids that I like to share my sweet tooth with. Now I can be really good and just go without but I like to provide some sort of treat during Christmas and Valentines and maybe even a little bit at the end of the school year. I’ve always provided some homemade treat and I’m trying to cut out the glutens, processed crap and whatever else there is to making desserts. It’s hard, as we aren’t meant to consume junk, but it’s so easy to make and buy. But I am trying and that is why I have treats on the brain. Earlier I made those yummo NO BAKE treats and they were a hit. So I found these PALEO-ish treats from Paleo Parents. And I was hesitant at first because I’m a choco-junkie but they are DELICIOUS! And definitely fall under the DON’T MAKE EVERYDAY list! Only cause I’ll eat them till I explode.

SNICKERDOODLE WHOOPIE PIES

Ready to Mix and Bake 🙂

Ready to Bake

Finished Snickerdoodle Cookie

Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pie

There ya have it… A good treat but not an everyday treat. I have a couple more recipes to try out before Valentine’s Day then I’ll probably go on a sweet treat hiatus. I need to get back to eating with less sugar in my life 🙂 But I’ll definitely be trying to whip up some good savory meals!

Happy Wednesday Folks! I’m glad it’s my rest day today… I NEED IT. I hope you are getting your rest in as well!

Suck It Up ButterCup!

Found this and LOVE it... so if anyone wants to buy it for me, feel free! Hahah!

Yup I need to SUCK IT UP! I’ve been a bag of whine and defeat lately. My body was so spent that I was leaning against the wall while blow drying my hair this morning! I do hit my WODs the best I can and I do want change but I’ve been letting my brain discourage me lately. I realized that this morning, hence the SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP. Am I still complaining on here… HELL YES! It’s what I do best but I understand I’m just hurting myself this way. So I am putting forth the effort after this post to stop beating myself up!

1/31/12

Today’s WOD did get me…. DAMN YOU BAR PUSHUPS! Let me begin with skill/strength first which gave me a boost of confidence for a whole minute… IF THAT! Handstand Push Ups! I have yet to master this skill. So we practice and we practice by stacking some bumper plates and throw and abmat on top. So we stacked it high enough for me to feel pretty confident in myself. Easy. I had to drop a whole centimeter, LOL, Jokes but it was rather easy and definitely confidence boosting. Well it can never just stop at easy so we replace one plate with a thinner plate and attempt more HSPUs. I still got it! Wooo… but again nothing close to full depth. Now I must rest with my head on the abmat and push from there. Guess what? I did it! 5 reps NO Problem! And now we remove the thinner plate to just the one plate and the abmat. I got 1 sad little “strict” push up and I was out for the count. Still a little confidence but when put to push past my limits I was at a fail. I know I have made major progress towards this movement so I’m not completely defeated but my HIGH was taken down a notch.  And we’re only on skill/strength!

Yes these KILLED me today!

The MetCon (key in dramatic music). 5 rounds for time… 5 Power Cleans (75lbs) 10 Bar Pushups! And this is when weakness overcame and I was sucking bad. Power Cleans – I got those. Towards the end I wasn’t getting my elbows up high enough so it took a little work but I was feeling pretty good and looked forward to the Power Cleans! I knocked out my first 10 bar pushups pretty ok. It’s the rest that killed me. It’s the rest that sucked up all the time and all my energy. What is a Bar Pushup? Well it’s when you put your hands on the barbell (pushup position), stabilize yourself (cause it rolls) and you knock out pushups. Chest must touch bar for it to count. I had about 7 NO REPS! ARGH! Misery! By the 5th round I had to do them one at a time. I had no strength left. I finished just under 10 minutes! I wasn’t even looking at clock because that would have brought me down more :/ Finished in 9:59. And then I just laid there. I thought I was learning to appreciate pushups and I wouldn’t say I love them but I don’t despise them… NOW after bar pushups I am reevaluating my relationship with the pushup in general!

Dinner! Such a Dull Pic but NOT Dull in Flavor!

I am not however reevaluating my love for food! I tried out a couple of new recipes! And they were yummo! I had ground beef out for dinner and had a couple of acorn squash. There must be something wonderful to make and I did find a recipe on the Whole9 Blog. They had stolen it from someone and now I have stolen it from them. I did not have dried cranberries but I did have dried cherries. So I replaced that one ingredient 🙂 And I doubled the recipe so we would have leftovers.

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 acorn squash
  • 1 pound grass-fed, organic ground beef (ground turkey would work, too)
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 finely-chopped apple (we used a Braeburn, but find something local-ish)
  • ½ cup chopped cranberries (fresh, not dried)
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp sage
  • unrefined coconut oil
  • salt, pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to ~400 degrees.
  • Cut the acorn squash in half, and scoop out the seeds and any stringy stuff.
  • Place the squash cut side up in a large baking pan, and put a tablespoon of water into each “cup”, and pour ¼ cup of water into the bottom of the pan.
  • Loosely “tent” the pan with aluminum foil, and bake for 30-35 minutes.
  • While squash is baking, chop the onion, apple, pecans and cranberries.
  • Saute the beef and onion in a little coconut oil for 2-3 minutes, then add pecans, cranberries, and herbs. Add salt and pepper. Do not completely cook this mixture.
  • Pull squash out of the oven, spoon the mixture into the “cups” (heaped to overflowing is okay).
  • Bake uncovered for another 15-20 minutes.

Acorn Squash Getting Prepped to Bake

My Horrible Tent – I did fix it a bit but did not take pic :/

BEEF - It's what's for dinner!

Ingredients to Go with Ground Beef (that apple sure did brown super quick)

Everything sizzling and cookin' - YUM

Acorn Squash FILLED! Excuse my DIRTY oven. I just cleaned that thing a month ago1

Mine came a little overcooked on top. I should have paid better attention. But the rest of the meat mixture was perfect!

In addition the squash I had some Kale. I had never made Kale other than in “chip” form so I searched the interwebs yet again. Nom Nom Paleo had a good simple recipe. I did add mushrooms because I LOVE mushrooms and it turned out quite well!

Quick and Simple Stir-Fried Kale and Bacon

Here’s what I gathered for the recipe:

1 bunch of lancinato kale, leaves removed and thinly chopped
3 slices of bacon, cut in 1/4” strips
splash of Banyuls vinegar (the original recipe uses a squeeze of lemon)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Cook bacon till crispy, Add Mushrooms and let sautee for a couple of minutes. Add Kale in a bit at a time, letting it wilt some before adding more. Once it’s all wilted, add a dash of vinegar (I USED RED WINE VINEGAR). Voila! It’s done. Simple enough right?

Experimenting with the Kale

All Nice and Wilty... Really Vibrant Green... Love It

I was ambitious last night but not too ambitious so I wanted to make a quick sweet treat. I found a gluten free recipe for NO BAKE COOKIES. NO offense to the creator but I’d rather just call them No Bake Treats as they aren’t really “cookie” like. But still super tasty and addictive. I found this recipe on Gluten Free Fix. I substituted ALMOND BUTTER for the peanut butter.

New Treat - No Bake Cookie

Gluten Free No Bake Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (ALMOND BUTTER)
  • 3 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. In a pot, combine butter, honey and cocoa powder.  Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly.  Remove from the heat.
  2. Stir in peanut butter, salt and vanilla.
  3. Stir in coconut flakes.
  4. Scoop cookies onto a parchment lined sheet tray.
  5. Refrigerate to set.
  6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 1 week and freezer up to 1 month.

*yields 3 dozen gluten free no bake cookies

No Bake Cookie, More like NO BAKE TREAT - Addicting!

I’m pretty sure you could add just about anything to these that compliments the main ingredients and you will win. So give them a try. Big win in our house and easy to eat more than one so you gotta be careful!

Alrighty then, that’s it for this Tuesday. Remember to SUCK IT UP and just DO WORK! There’s no whining in CrossFit and there shouldn’t be any in LIFE. See ya mañana!

Beef, Milk and Is This Month Going to Ever End?

It seems like January will last FOREVER! We are stuck in this month. 2012 is dragging it’s butt! I am, however, quite pleased with the pleasant temperatures that we’ve been having. And I do truly FEAR February as it is quite unpredictable in regards to the weather. And all I can say is that Texas folks don’t fair well in icy conditions. The roads become a HOT mess!

But back to the nice weather. WE had a sunny and beautiful weekend. We get bouts of spontaneity and we decided to take a little field trip about 30 miles south of us to a nice little place by the name of Burgandy Boucherie.

Burgandy Boucherie

Farm Fresh Eggs (Ernie was excited there was a feather included)

They claim that they are the first and only exclusively pastured meats butcher market in the D/FW area. I have not researched this claim but I believe them 🙂 The place was stocked with a great variety of grass fed beef cuts both fresh and frozen. They also carry chicken, lamb and pork. In addition to their meats they also had fresh farm eggs, cheese, local honey, Himalayan salt and a few other goods. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. And on the weekends you can order up hamburgers. They have several picnic tables in the boucherie for you to enjoy your meal. We were very pleased first time customers! I have yet to try any of the meats but we thawed out some ground beef for tonight’s dinner.

While we were at the boucherie we asked if they provided raw milk and some law doesn’t allow them to sell both but they referred to a few places. We chose the one closest to where we were at and by the recommendation of another customer. We headed a few miles south and ended up at Rosey Ridge Farms.

RAW MILK - YUMMO

Michievous Pig at Rosey Ridge Farms (they say he likes to escape often)

Being city folk we weren’t sure we were in the right place as there was just a few farm houses, cows, and horses on this dirt road our GPS led us to. We called to confirm we were in the right spot and they assured us we were and of course we finally spotted their sign! Go figure! We were a little bit in culture shock because we are clueless to country/farm living but it was quite the experience. The Hooley family was very nice and patient with us thankfully because we asked a lot of questions. Silly and serious. It was fun. Their milk is straight from the cow. No pasteurization, no homogenization, no hormones, antibiotics… NOTHING. Fresh MILK! We were anxious to get home and give it a try. Is this Paleo… NO not according to some but we still like our milk so we still buy milk. It’s not an every meal kind of thing. We add it to protein shakes, kids drink it with pancakes, etc. So before I get anyone out trying to be smart, I’m letting you know AGAIN, we are not on point 100% of the time. But we aim to eat clean, whole foods and keep it simple. Paleo 80%, 100% of the time.

I really failed in the photo op dept. I am sorry and I promise on our next visit I will be less in the moment and more in the snapshot mode. If you’re in the DFW area, I encourage you to take a weekend drive out to Grandview, TX. I wish I had brought my kids to see everything and I’m certain I will take them on our next trip out that way.

Now for this moring and my WOD. It was a simple day at the BOX, which I find really nice. We rarely have simple so it was a nice treat. My upper body is still beat up from last week. We started out with front squats which I can honestly say are not my favorite. But I did alright. My wrist/forearm flexibility still could use some work. I did struggle a little with just holding the bar but after a few attempts and experimenting with hand placement I got a little more comfortable with holding the bar. We did 5, 5, 5+ and I managed to get 12 reps at 80lbs on my last set. Which is pretty amazeballs because I’m not so strong on the front squats. So I should have a new PR sooner than later.

01/30/12 WOD

The MetCon was 6 50 yd sprints with 90 seconds of rest in between. Not so bad. I’m not a sprinter but I put forth my best efforts.

That’s it. The End. Happy Monday.

TGIF For Real! It’s been a LONG WEEK!

Finally made it to Friday! I wasn’t sure that I would but alas it is here. I totally lied about not making dinner last night. I had to drop some stuff off at a friends house and they don’t live far from Whole Foods. I got to swing by and pick up some fresh beef and bacon before I headed home. Yay for me!

But first let me talk about today’s WOD. I really had a hard time getting up this morning. I typically wake up on my short drive but this morning was HARD. I was dragging bad! We dedicated some time to practicing Muscle Ups. I know I shouldn’t say I won’t ever get them but dang it FEELS like I will never get to that point. It seems like it should be so easy. And they look like fun. I just don’t have it. That’s all there is to be said. It’s definitely a goal though. How will I ever compete in a top level event without MUs? 😦

1/27/11 WOD

Our MetCon changed a little from the picture… well it changed alot! Ha! We did do the Plyo Push Ups but we did V-UP situps instead of flutter kicks and we did Snatch Balance instead of KNEE JUMPS. Why I can’t do Knee Jumps is beyond me. It doesn’t LOOK hard but I could not get my big butt up. My kids however make it look easy! Dang kids. Anyways the MetCon was a 15 min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible). I managed to complete 10 rounds and get 4 push ups into the 11th round. Not bad I suppose. That’s 124 pushups people! My upper body is DEAD!

Once I caught my breath post WOD and post mobility right before I walk out the door I decide to bust out my jump rope. We are having a Double Under Challenge in March. Who can do 100 consecutive DUs and if more than 1 person achieves them then who can do more! Hahah, I’m in it to win it folks. So like I said, I bust out my rope and just GO. I got on roll and then got excited then let my brain get in the way but I got 49 in a row. WOOOOO! I’m so excited! That may not be a lot for some but for me that was big jump. And that made my Friday 🙂

Moving on to dinner last night: I didn’t buy anything fancy or make this amazing culinary delight but it was tasty and did it’s job. I’ve been buying sirloin tip steak – it’s not the “best” cut but it’s grass-fed and it’s not as spendy as the other quality cuts. I know I should marinate it for several hours if not overnight but I’m crunched for time so we make due. I sliced it up as thin as I could with the tools that I have and threw it in a gallon zip lock bag. I tossed in some olive oil, garlic powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I had sliced up one steak and put my oldest to shaking the bag and pretty much massaging the steak while I cut up the other piece. I had him do this for a good 15 minutes. I think it really helped the meat tenderize a bit. I threw it in a pan, sauteed for a couple of minutes and only a couple because I did not want it overcooked. It turned out pretty alright.

Not a BEAUTIFUL pic but HEY at least I remembered to take one!

I had purchased parsnips over the weekend with intentions of mixing them up with cauliflower but I never got around to that. I’ve never eaten a parsnip so I had no clue what to expect. I peeled them and chopped them up. Boiled them in chicken broth with onions and garlic till they were tender. Drained them but kept the broth for later. Threw parnsips, garlic and onion in the food processor and let it get all blended up. I added about 3 TBS of butter, 1/4 cup of reserved broth, salt and pepper. Ended up with a nice consistency more mash potato like than Cauliflower. Parsnips are sweeter than I expected but also have a spice to them. I couldn’t decide on the best word to describe it. It’s just a weird little bite. Still good and different than everything else. I’ll have to experiment more with them. But you should definitely try out some parsnips. 🙂

Have a FIERCE FRIDAY! Make it worthwhile. SMILE! See y’all on Monday 😀