eat clean

Thankful and Blessed

blessed

Hey everybody… I just wanted to thank all of you again for checking out my posts regularly. This is my part of the little world to vent, rant, rave, be silly etc. Even if I had zero readers I’d probably still blog away. I just want to re-iterate that I share my days, my ups and downs, my silly world with you so you know LIFE is a journey. Life can be hard, but it can be SUPER and rewarding as well. In the end, this blog is for fun, entertainment (sometimes), and a creative outlet. So thanks for putting up with me willingly 🙂

i-am-blessed

Yesterday we had a little bit of crazy enter our world. One of my kids lost complete feeling in his legs for a few hours and had all of us, including Dr.’s scratching our heads. All is well now as far as we can tell but it’s those moments in life where you sit back and evaluate. We should be thankful and appreciative daily but on a day to day basis sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. (Cliche I know, but you get me right?) And of course when I’m rambling here it’s mostly towards a specific love/hate relationship I have with CrossFit and clean eating. Like I’ve said, idrankthecfkoolaid.com is meant to share my experiences on my fitness journey. You get tidbits of the rest of my life but only tidbits. After some reflection and prayer, I know and have always known that I am truly THANKFUL and BLESSED. My life is GREAT. I don’t think I say that enough. It’s not perfect by any means, HELLOOO, I have 3 boys (13, 11 and 10). It can be a little insane. We have a lot of irons in the fire but we are good. God has truly blessed me.

20120517-092300

I just wanted to share that and put that out into the open but I still gotta recap my BOOM BOX morning where I forget all of those happy warm feelings! Especially when it’s 30° outside! And this morning I felt OLD. Not old like on my death bed old but worn out and heavy feeling. My bones felt heavy. I wasn’t feeling bushy tailed and wide eyed at all. I’m sure it was the mental stress of yesterday, the cold of this morning and the fact that I just might make all 5 days this week instead of sleeping in, feeling crappy or whatever. Ernie actually encouraged me to go this morning. So I had to roll out of bed and go.

Skill/Strength: 5 RM Deadlift

poohdeadlift
SOOOOOO being all sleepy and old feeling I forgot we had a 3RM day last week, so I was just going until I could go no more or until time ran out! After some good warm ups I was ready to jump up in weight and like I’ve been saying over and over, DEADLIFTS finally feel good to me. I used to dread them but now it’s like wow, I can lift this. My hamstrings aren’t wound up tighter than a (fill in the blank because I’m at a loss for something funny). I worked up to 185 and knocked those out. Coach said was that HARD. I was like NO but it’s not EASY either. So he goes it was easy. Do one more set and add weight. So I went up to 195lbs and besides losing grip, I felt good at this weight. Again not HARD but not easy. Just somewhere in the middle. I don’t do the math to find out what my 1 RM should be but it should be something amazing! Yay for Deadlifts!

3/6/13 WOD

3/6/13 WOD

MetCon: 3 rounds of a 3 minute AMRAP of 5 Shoulder to Overhead (155lbs/95lbs), 10 Burpees, 15 Toes to Bar, rest 1 minute.
Hhhmmmmm. Did I tell you all I felt heavy and old? Ya, 95lbs, hhmmm. I can get 95 overhead. My max right now is 105lbs. And then someone asks if we are cleaning the weight each round and the answer is YES. Duh, why would I hope for anything else. So my max clean is 105lbs too. Hmmm. I warm up thinking I’ll just go to 85lbs. Seriously I was ready to take a step back. Then I remembered how I fought through those damn Kettle Bell Thrusters on Saturday and told myself to do the 95lbs. Just suck it up and do it. You are already going to not do TTB as prescribed, you might as well do the weight RX! 3-2-1 GO. I cleaned the bar fine. I felt good. But HOLY SHEESH this is heavy going over head! I went slow. I dropped the bar after the 4th rep. HELLO you only have to do 5. Then I struggled cleaning the bar again. I got mental really quickly. Finally got it overhead and moved to Burpees. These are never any fun but got through them and I didn’t even try to do TTB, just went straight to Knees to Elbows. I didn’t even complete one round in the 3 minutes. How defeating. After our minute rest it was time for the second round of 3 minutes. I got a little more amped and aggressive with the bar and knocked out the STOH like it was easy or something. See what MENTAL does to you? Got to burpees. A little slower than last time. 95lbs is still heavy for me. I was tired. And then fought for those 15 KTE! Made it through one round. Yay! I pretty much went through the 3rd round the same as the 2nd. I finished even faster but wasn’t able to clean the bar fast enough to get it overhead before time was up. Score: 86 reps. Not super or outstanding but I put in the work and I was beat!

13.1 is released today for the CrossFit Open and foodwise I’m not ready. Way to go Steph. Way to screw up Whole30 when it counts the most. It is what it is and I just gotta focus on eating clean over the next 5 weeks and just pray and hope to see improvement. I’m sharing a link about being a sugar addict. I typically share all 21-Day Sugar Detox and Whole30 type information. But found this to be another source/voice to add to my arsenal of information. This might be the words that you needed to read to kick the sugar, grains and dairy habit. http://www.beingprimal.com/could-you-actually-be-addicted-to-foods. Check it out. (Disclaimer, the only thing I don’t agree with is the beans in the detox salad) Kick that crap to the curb and carry on! Or just pretend you are doing all the right things and your health is in tip top shape. I know it’s gibberish to hear that GRAINS, something that is the basis of the FOOD PYRAMID and that has been bashed in our heads FOREVER are bad for you! But they are. It’s hard to believe that SUGAR is that bad for you. Even worse those NO CALORIE CHEMICAL SUGARS are gasp… BAD for you!

2images

Come on now. You know deep down all that processed food going in your body is not good for you. Or wait maybe you don’t. It’s becoming clearer everyday, from news shows, to reality tv shows that the GENERAL PUBLIC has no idea how BAD processed food can be for you. If it comes in a box don’t eat it. If it comes out of a window don’t eat it. If it has more than ingredients you can not pronounce or clearly define DO NOT EAT IT. I can’t force you to eat real food or make you believe me. You have to do your own research. You have to do your own self experimentation. I’m telling you that I physically have seen and felt the difference and I know others that have as well. Giving it a try isn’t going to kill you. At least I don’t think it will! Just try to eat better folks! Please!

Alright enough for today. It’s HUMP day! Take that one step for a better, healthier life – It will make you more AWESOME!

il_fullxfull.383130639_65p0

images

Wednesday Wall Balls

Wall-Ball-Progression-imp

EQUALS NO FUN for this girl! If you’ve been around long enough, you should know without a doubt that me and wall balls might as well be mortal enemies. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 10lb ball or 14lb ball, I DISLIKE this movement torture. To make matters even more interesting, it’s not just KAREN (aka 150 wall balls), It’s Karen + other crap.

But before I dive into that brutality, can I get a WOOOOOO? I can’t hear you! WOOOOOO! Ya let me tell you what you are yelling for (you better be yelling) … wait for it, wait for it … a 20lb PR on my Back Squat! YA!

Today was a retest for those of us that missed last week… cough cough ME. And I was a little hesitant/scared! I didn’t want to fall in the DID NOT PR category. But I am finally making gains. I went from 145lbs to 165lbs. So excited for that and now 200lbs doesn’t seem like a pipe dream anymore. It’s a realistic goal!

2/20/13 WOD

2/20/13 WOD

MetCon: 12.4 – 12 minute AMRAP of 150 wall balls, 90 DU, 30 MU
Last year when they released this WOD for the CrossFit Open, I pretty much laughed. This time around for this throwback WOD there wasn’t so much laughing but more of a sigh and OH HELL. At least I have a PR for the day. Just do better than last year! Right?

Even though I am dumb for defeating myself mentally before the clock even starts, I found some sort of pace and was over half way through the wall balls before I was halfway through the time! And then that wall that I like to run into popped up and I hit it, HARD! And then I just counted myself out. It’s not gonna happen. And with that sucky ass attitude why would it happen? I had about 10 NO REPS throughout where the ball made the distance but didn’t touch the WALL! So that was wasted energy! When time was called I had 133 completed. Yes it’s improvement over the 120 I had last year but I really feel like I should have finished. Barely a month after last year’s beating we just did plain ol Karen and I finished in 14:37 so I think for sure I would have beat that time. I know there are folks who get 150 wall balls finished in half the time or LESS. One day I’d just be happy with a SUB 10 minute score!

14 days till the open and I’m at about an 80/20 clean eating situation. I haven’t made it to a 90/10 or just an all out 100% commitment. What is wrong with me? I’m getting back there though, just very slowly! Ernie says he’s committed to being strict for the next 14 days and on into the open so maybe that will help me out! I know there’s a few folks at the BOOM Box trying it out now and I hope you all are staying strong and following through. Help me to get back on it! Please!

Also, my friend Vicki shared this AWESOME video, all about the PALEO:

On that note. EAT CLEAN ladies and gents! Smile! Share your AWESOMENESS with others and enjoy the day!

tumblr_mdnq88sfzE1rbs4oto1_500

awesomeoness

BuZZy Buzzy BEEE!

Happy Happy Tuesday y’all! If it’s not happy, I hope it gets better for you out there. Before I get to my BOOM Box recap I just wanted to be a quick source of tell it like it is for all of you thinking about leading a healthier lifestyle whether you’re just thinking about it or off and on like I’ve been lately. So it’s also a pop in the head for me, ha! It’s a roller coaster folks but once you ride the roller coaster a few times it’s predictable right? The initial excitement fades away. This means two things to me… YOU GET THE HANG OF IT and learn that it’s not all that bad. OR YOU GET BORED and are ready to MOVE ON …. FORWARD I HOPE. Either way, it takes time to discipline yourself.

It takes time to get consistent. Don’t let little shortcomings get you down. I can’t stress how important it is for everyone to take steps towards a healthier life. EATING CLEAN is the best thing you could do for yourself. Getting past the first 2 weeks of withdrawls will be anywhere from hellish to oh that wasn’t too bad. Making time to do the prep work for meals is WORK. Quit being LAZY! YES it’s that freakin simple! QUIT BEING LAZY! 80% of all you do in effort to be healthy is about NUTRITION. Yes you should move and be active but if that’s what is holding you back then just look at the math. EIGHTY PERCENT of it comes from what you put in your mouth folks. It’s simple.

I’m sure many of the peoples out there are tired of me checking in on Facebook…. oh look she’s at that CrossFit Boom place again. Oh there she is blogging about her workout. WTH did she cook this time. In the same turn I’M SICK OF READING ABOUT PEOPLE’s migraines, head colds, coughs, flu symptoms, sick kids, etc. I know it happens. I know there are people out there with conditions that are beyond their control and I’m not addressing those folks. I’m not saying my kids don’t get a bug every now and then but I can guarantee you that my family and I are not brought down week in and week out with sickness and I would bet a butt ton of money it’s because we are ACTIVE and we EAT pretty CLEAN! We don’t live off of boxed and bagged processed junk. I say junk becuase it’s not food, it’s JUNK. Again we aren’t perfect but it’s not even that I’m tired of reading about people complaining. I’m tired that people don’t do anything about it. They just layer on the feel good meds till whatever sickness passes. Those feel good meds are doing a number of BAD things to your insides. Over time your insides can’t handle it and then you have bigger issues to deal with. Pair that with poor nutrition and your body doesn’t heal. WOW, I get so fired up I just get lost in my thoughts. Take care of YOU! Please! It’s all you have.


Today’s WOD
Even though it was a little warmer this morning it felt more COLD than yesterday! I was not happy but it’s hard to be happy at 5am. I was a little excited for the workout though. LOTS OF CLEANS. I love me some Power Cleans!

Skill/Strength: 3,3,3,3,3 Power Cleans
Well I feel I am best at Power Cleans when it comes to the BAR. So it’s a good morning. The goal in the sets of 3 is to have a HEAVY goal for the last set. So we need to start out heavy too. For me that’s starting around 85lbs with a goal of 105lbs. I’m pretty sure my PR is 100 and it was ugly but don’t quote me on that. Just trying to set a good goal. I managed really well at 85, 90 and 95lbs. I get to my 4th set of 100 and I get it up but it’s a miss for the 2nd rep. NO biggie, I have one more attempt. After a little extra rest I attack the bar get it up, go for the 2nd rep and it’s a NO GO :/ Ah well. At least I got it up twice! Maybe next time. Who would of thunk it… I can clean 100lbs without dying! I was feeling pretty AWESOME at this point. One day 100lbs will be a joke and I’ll be pushing for much grander numbers, but for now I’m happy with where I am at. I need to build that confidence of dropping under the bar!

10/30/12 WOD

MetCon: 4 rounds of 400m run, 12 Power Cleans (85lbs), 2 minute rest
More Power Cleans, and I’m still in a happy place. Internally I was torn between doing 85lbs or dropping the weight because 12 reps  x 4 is A LOT …. in my head, but externally I just stuck with the weight and was going to do it come hell or highwater. You should all know I suck at running by now. I hate it with a great passion. Running is not for me but it’s part of the MetCon so I do it. It took me 2 minutes to run the 400. So far I’ve been pretty consistent. Get back to the bar and it seems to take forever for me to get focused. The cold makes my nose run, I’m a mess. My first round of 12 was sloppy and ugly. Coach broke it down for me in my 2 minute rest, thank goodness for rest and I just played the movement in my head for the rest of my 2 minutes. Off to run again. I felt I ran a little better this time around but I can’t recall my time. I got back and focused on dropping under the bar and having the bar land on my shoulders and I did do much better. I was really trying to do the Cleans UNBROKEN but I failed at 7 reps and had to pick it back up. The 2 minute rest was really beneficial because I don’t think I would make it running. My 3rd run felt even a little better than the 2nd run. It was amazing, but I don’t think I was any faster! For my 3rd set of Cleans I got to 8 or 9 reps then dropped the bar. I just couldn’t hold on to it. My 4th run was SLLLOWWWW. I took off at 16:05 and returned at 18:43 or something like that. I knew I had to make up for it on the Cleans and low and behold I did them UNBROKEN. Time: 19:31. If I could only run better!!!!

Food NOTE: I baked a pumpkin last night. Didn’t have time or energy to puree it, but hopefully I’ll get creative tonight. Stay Tuned!
Have an AWESOME day. I sure am gonna try! Here’s a little video of what’s been living in my house, NOW FINALLY getting removed. Bee AWESOME!

Rest Day Ramblings

It’s my rest day but I wanted to chit chat via blog rambling to myself and to you the readers if I can hold your interest at all.

Simple Dinners!
I’m just guessing but I would think most people have the excuse of I don’t have time to do everything. Therefore the drive thru it is or even some microwavable turd of a dinner. I’m guilty of it too. I have 3 BOYS! I’m guilty less now more than ever but YES I am a guilty party. I’m tired, I’m over it, blah blah blah, Chif-fil-A here I come. Taco Bell it is. (NOTE: I still eat clean unless I testify otherwise but I force my kids to eat like crap sometimes cause I’m being lazy) And just last night I proved to myself that although the fast food can be fast and easy we all know it’s not healthy and it’s just not worth it!

Kids have practice at 6pm so they only have time to get a snack in them like Almond Butter and Apple Slices and then we don’t get home till 8:45ish. It is a circus in our house. But the past couple of nights I have been Johnny on the spot in getting nutritious, clean meals to my kids bellies. And it only takes a little advanced preparation and some random throwing crap good stuff together. On Sunday I made meatloaf for dinner. Instead of one loaf, I made 2. Voila instant protein for Monday night dinner. I didn’t have enough Mashed Cauliflower to go with it but I had zucchini and made Zucchini Latkes. This is quick and easy and gave my kids enough to fill them up. They each had a KIWI for dessert!

Last week I made meat sauce for zucchini pasta and had an overflow so I froze it up and used it for the kids dinner last night. I shredded up more fresh zucchini and sauteed it a bit in some coconut oil along with some salt, pepper and thyme. Added my heated meat sauce and BAM easy dinner. I didn’t have enough zucchini for Ernie and I but I had Kale! I heated up some pork fat in a pan, did a quick sautee of the kale. All the while I had leftover roasted chicken which I heated up in coconut oil along with mushrooms. Added my kale and BOOM a really yummy dinner for Ernie and I.

Yes it was all leftovers but it didn’t taste like leftovers. With some fresh foods added and the leftover food re-created it was all yummy. And took me 20 minutes to knock out each night. It also helps to be creative with spices!

Also know that if you have chicken to cook but don’t want to bake it FOREVER then just cut it up and sautee it. It cooks in a fraction of the time as baking it or grilling it does. Just don’t over cook it! Add some veggies on the side and you’ll be rockin and a rollin.

Just Do It ALREADY!
In addition to finding simple meals YOU need to start moving. I may scare some of y’all with all the CrossFit terms and the extra workouts but it’s not a scary world out there. I watch Chris Powell’s Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition, and if you’ve seen it you know how it goes. He picks a desperate truly OBESE person to help out over the course of a year. He has the same opening routine for them all. He puts them through a FIGHT or FLIGHT workout.

If you’ve never worked out then the stuff he puts them through will hurt. Hell it will hurt those that moderately work out. Picking up weights heavier than 10lbs is gonna hurt. But your body will do so much more than your brain will tell you that you can do. And he shows that person that they will live through it even if they think that they can not. He works with these people on their levels and helps them push through mental and physical barriers for 3 months. He is not always nice but deep down these people know they need the tough love. Then he leaves them to their own where they have to do it on their own for the rest of the year. He checks in on them but he doesn’t have that daily interaction. Some struggle more than others but they all learn and grow.

We all aren’t so morbidly obese as the folks on the show are and we don’t all have that person in our face, in our home and in our lives so we have to take it upon ourselves to do it. And for most of us even if we did have someone telling us what to do we probably wouldn’t listen. Hell so many people ask me HOW I DO IT, or WHY I DO IT and it appears I amp someone up but then I see them in the same ol’ routines or even worse. I can’t make anyone take it on. It takes YOU and only YOU to make the change. I didn’t start out without a support system. I was doing my best to eat right, get up and workout daily and there Ernie was stuffing his face with Sonic, Chic-Fil-A, Braums, etc. It sucked. I smelled all this yummy badness but had to persevere on my own for my own good. I was thinking about my future and my health. A few months later Ernie did come on board and blew my “GOOD HEALTH” out of the water with this Paleo nonsense! I then followed suit and we make a good PALEO team (for the most part).

It’s awesome if you have a support system but not everyone does so you have to make a support system for yourself. Plan rewards for yourself; make new friends with the same goals; write your own blog (wink wink), find a fitness forum; find an online buddy if you need to do so. JUST START DOING IT ALREADY. Don’t let that wedding or upcoming birthday party delay your start. Start now and deal with whatever upcoming social event when you get to it. It’s not going hurt you to start a path to good health.

But Stephanie I’m happy with myself just the way I am! I’m no expert but I find it rare that someone who says they “could/should” lose weight but don’t “care” because they are “happy” just the way they are lying to themselves and everyone else. Also those who aren’t in need of weight loss but are in need of good health saying they are slender already, I’ll be fine, but will you? You may be a kind caring soul with a happy heart but physically are you happy. So I’m talking to all walks of life from the anorexic to the overweight, to the addicts or to the uneducated. Being overweight (unless a real health concern like thyroid issues) is just as much a sickness as anorexia or even addiction to drugs and alcohol. If you saw a frail disappearing girl that’s starving herself to death you might judge her quicker than you would judge someone who is 50lbs overweight. WHY? I have no idea but our society tends to accept that someone who is overweight doesn’t have similar types of body issues as those are wasting away. People with addiction to food, or alcohol or whatever all are similar in some regard. Again I’m no Dr., nor do I claim to be. I just take in what I see, what I grew up with, what I learn and where I see our society going and take it all in. Yes I am making my own assessments but it doesn’t take a super genius to figure it out. We can see that kids are bigger than EVER and more and more people are diagnosed with disease and more and more pills are being shelled out to FIX all these “bad” things that are suddenly plaguing us. It’s the quick fix. It’s the drive through, the magic microwave, the boxed food with all those chemicals and then we top it off with a cocktail of prescription medications to lower all the bad things that are elevated! Are you kidding me people?

Do you break a sweat walking 100 yards? Does it hurt to get out of bed in the morning? Do you have constant health issues? Migraines, High Blood Pressure, Joint Pain, etc? I’m telling you it’s about food intake, exercise and proper sleep. You can still enjoy life. Eating clean isn’t a death sentence. Feeling GOOD is a future. Getting endorphins flowing from exercise is a new way to happiness – A way better happiness than from getting high off of eating really tasty “bad” food that in the end always leaves you down in the dumps.

No I don’t look like this girl, not even close. I don’t know with my age, shape, etc that I could ever look like her BUT I feel pretty awesome none the less! I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, STRONGER than I’ve ever been and I feel great 99% of the time. The other 1% is girly moments, really sore muscle moments and the occasional STREP THROAT infection that I hope never happens again!

Last Night’s Outdoor WOD
Whew, my ramble took it’s own path. So let me close with my evening fun from last night. DEATH by 10 METERS! The DEATH part sounds scary but the 10m well, it doesn’t sound harsh but it gets ya. I had my youngest help me out with the clock since he didn’t have practice last night. He’s a very encouraging kiddo and even though I’m sucking wind and wanting to pass out, he’s totally telling me I’m doing good and getting faster and just being the best. If you don’t know what Death BY anything means then I’m here to tell you. My apologies to those of you who know and have read it 89787687 times. You start your clock and run 10m for the first minute. On the next minute you run 10m x 2. The next minute 10m x 3 and so forth. You keep adding 10m each minute until you can not fit the amount in the 1 minute. So if you are on your 13th round but it takes you longer than 1 minute to complete your score would be 12. Because the last minute you completed was 12. And the 13th round was just bonus work. (You can do this with any movement like squats, burpees, push ups, pull ups, etc.)

It’s such a short distance and it does get old and little bit of dizzy inducing. But it’s not easy! I completed 14 rounds and was so close to 15 but just didn’t have anything in me. Including my not completed 15th round, I sprinted 1190m! It adds up fast.

After some rest and water, I ended up throwing the football around. It’s not intense work but I was still on my feet moving. It was a good evening!

Have you had enough of me already? Or did I spark a fire from within? Either way, I got some of what I feel/think out. I get lost in my own thoughts as you can probably tell just from reading. It’s hard to communicate it all at once but rather than go crazy every post I save it for ever couple of weeks/months. I’ll be back to the regular scheduled programming tomorrow. Have an AWESOME day!

Mondays Suck but the OLYMPICS make it better!

First of all, I think we all should get paid vacation so we can focus on the OLYMPICS… it’s not like it’s every year. We should support our country as a whole ツ I don’t care about doing work, I care more about watching the USA compete even in sports that I know nothing about! I get goosebumps every time I hear some wonderful back story or see the pride on an athlete’s face whether they are on the podium or had a good performance clearing the path for a medal finish. The work, the blood, the tears…. EVERYTHING they put into making the Olympics their time to shine. It’s FANFREAKINGTASTIC!!!!

I was never much into weightlifting but since starting CrossFit and the fact that Olympic Lifts are part of it, I made a point to watch weightlifting. So far I’ve only watched the 48 kilo class and those tiny women are STRONG and make it look easy! It blows my mind. I’m really new to it all and I’m sure that’s the norm if you’ve been training your whole life for such things but it still blows my mind!!

I know, enough already, you’re not a sports writer or anything of the sort. I’m just a blogger, half ass one at that so I’ll move on to what I do regularly bore you with my daily crap! So the eating got a little better over the weekend and this week is going to be 100% back on track. I have 3 weeks till Europa and I need to be at my best. Europa is a Fitness Expo and they are hosting a CrossFit Competition that me and several other Boom Boxers signed up for as an intermediate team. Why oh why would we do such a thing? Mostly for fun! Secondly because this is where I first saw CrossFit in person a year ago. I totally wanted to be these people. I wanted to compete. I wanted to participate. Little did I know HOW HARD THIS SHIT REALLY IS and how hard it STILL is! But we signed up anyways. Win, Lose, FAIL… it will be fun. I just hope we are more on the winning end! So ya, this is why I need to clean up what I eat ASAP! And that process has begun.

GREEN SMOOTHIES
This is a work in progress that I admittedly did not want to be involved in. Ernie was determined to make a Kale Smoothie yesterday and although the flavor wasn’t bad, the thickness and chewability factor was horrid. He drank ate his smoothie and didn’t go for round 2.

This morning we failed at defrosting pork belly, SIGH, what will I have to eat now? Well a wild hair of an idea popped up and I said I’ll make me a green smoothie now! Why not? We have the stuff so I googled Paleo Smoothies and clicked around till I found one that sounded good to try. This smoothie called for a half frozen banana, spinach, cocoa powder, coconut oil, almond butter, cinnamon, almond milk and some ice. I started blending it all up, looked like a green/brown cup of nasty and tasted it… WHOAAAA too much cocoa powder, it’s unsweetened so it’s a really strong taste! Something was off – I FORGOT THE BANANA! DOH! So I threw half of a frozen banana into the food processor, added my green/brown concoction back in and gave it a whirl. This was much better in flavor but still too much cocoa. I know better next time and hopefully will have a better flavor profile. (YES ERNIE I DRANK IT ALL!)

WOD
I seriously considered sleeping in this morning. I just wasn’t feeling but I knew I had to shake my funk off and get to the BOOM BOX. I wasn’t the only sleeping in! I was the ONLY one there for the first 10 minutes. One other person showed up and that was it to our 5 am class. Not sure if folks are on vacation or just being slackers. But I definitely felt better about myself for just showing up!

Skill/Strength: 10 – 40yd sprints. I don’t really consider this skill or strength but only cause I’m a big baby and don’t like running. Although I’d rather sprint than run a damn mile. It is what it is. We didn’t really time anything out, just worked on form and form. I wish I was a better runner but I really don’t enjoy practicing the actual act of running. I’m screwed!

7/30/12 WOD

MetCon: Death by Front Squats – 65lbs. I know I’ve explained the whole Death By more than once but I gotta be fair to any new readers. When you do Death By anything it means you perform the movement you are assigned or the movement you choose on the minute, adding one rep for each minute. Soooooo you start clock, do 1 rep then rest till the start of the next minute. When that minute arrives you do 2 reps. Rest till the start of the next minute then do 3 reps. You keep doing this until you can not complete the amount of reps in the minute. With that said, I completed 11 rounds. I went for the 12th minute but I felt a tightening pain in my back/lat/somewhere in that region and it just hurt. I didn’t want to continue. It didn’t hurt when I “cleaned” the bar just when I would go from standing to squatting. Even if it didn’t hurt I probably wouldn’t have made it past 12. Regardless, including the 5 I completed in the 12th round, I did 71 Front Squats at 65lbs in less than 12 minutes. I was a hot sweaty mess. It was good work! I did some mobility afterwards and the back/shoulder/whatever is much better.

I hope tomorrow doesn’t involve running!!!! It’s only Monday. I’ve put my big girl panties on. Let’s do this! Commit to something good for YOU this week. It doesn’t have to be major but it surely can be ツ Make a goal this week. Eat clean, work out, walk, lay off the booze, meditate, read a book. Just commit to better mind and health. And let me know if you need MOTIVATION! I just wanna help! I want to help YOU, whoever YOU may be… crazy stalker, an old friend, complete stranger, etc. I know I sound CRAZY but I’m not really….uhhhhh depending I suppose on your definition of crazy, hehehe. Ah well. Ask for help if you need it… ENJOY your day! See you all tomorrow! Be AWESOME!

 

Slow rollin’

Still in depression mode. Eating better but not 100% yet. I can feel it holding me down. I’m getting there but it’s a SLOW process right now.

I made some sweet potato noodles last night and low and behold they were different types of sweet potatoes! Made for a nice plate (of which I didn’t not take a picture of) but I recommend mixing it if even by accident. The different textures of a white fleshed sweet potato and a regular ol’ orangey one made the slightest difference and it was all for the good. Pretty – Check; Interesting – Check; Tasty – Check! As far as food and cooking go I’m back on track. It’s the snacking on stuff like chips (leftover from vacation) that is ruining me. Plus the fact that I’m still recovering from food overload last week. It takes a while to clean your system and if you’re not completely eating clean it’s not going to happen any faster :/ I’m trying. It’s hard. I just want to sleep and eat junk.

This vicious cycle is ruining my WODs at the BOOM BOX or at least that’s what I’m telling myself!!!! I mean I did PR twice last week but that was before it all the badness could build up and shut me down.

7/26/12 WOD

Skill/Strength: BAR WORK! ARGH! DOUBLE ARGH! I chose to work on Toes To Bar because I can do them but I need to do them better. I think I got absolutely NOWHERE in the whole doing them better department.

MetCon: 4 rounds – Complete at least 10 Thrusters in 30 seconds AS HEAVY AS POSSIBLE, 1 minute Plank, 1 minute REST (add weight time). So the goal was to start off at a lighter weight and work your way up to as heavy as possible with the Thrusters. I know I can do 65lb Thrusters but can I do 10 in 30 seconds?

Annie Sakamoto showing how Thrusters get done!

I struggle with this movement and to think once upon a time in a land far far away I thought Thrusters were my favorite movement. In reality THEY SUCK! But in my opinion they are probably the best OVERALL barbell movement for your body, bang for your buck movement. They STILL SUCK. I started with 55lbs and I struggled. I did 5 real quick then slowed waaayyyy down for the other 5. My knee, my shoulder, everything – ALL HURT, ACHED, ETC. Went to plank position when the 30 seconds was up and felt okay. Quads started burning halfway through plank but I was fine for the most part.

Good solid PLANK! NOTE: back is straight. Some people hinge at hips and their butt is way up in air and some people let their hips sag – Both will help you get nowhere!

So I moved up to 60lbs during our REST period and was ready to go kinda sorta. Got the 10 knocked out with 2 seconds to spare – whew that was too close! The next plank was horrible. I couldn’t control my breathing, I was hurting and my shoulders were spent. 1 minute turned into FOREVER! On the 3rd round I decided to stay with 60lbs. I don’t think Coach was over the moon with that decision but I was feeling WEAK! I still got my 10 reps and I was a little better with the PLANK. On the 4th round I stepped it up to 65lbs. Just like the first round I did 5 reps with the quickness and then BAM slowed down, I finished right on the button. The 4th plank was the worst. I dropped to a knee for about 5 seconds I think and was trying to go from elbow to elbow to relieve my shoulders. It was horrible. Our score was our heaviest round completed. I know I won’t be sitting at the top of the board today but I am learning to deal with my weaknesses and not let them get to my head. One day they will be my strengths! That’s what I keep telling myself at least! Hahaha.

I’m super sleepy and it’s all because the past two evenings I can’t get to sleep. I typically don’t have a problem with sleep. My head hits the pillow and I’m OUT but the past two nights I’ve been tired but my brain won’t shut off. Again I’m attributing this to poor eating. Hopefully that’s all it is and hopefully I’ll get back to good sleep. One more official workout for the week. If I’m feeling spunky I may try to do something over the weekend but right now lazy lazy lazy is all that is in my brain.

I’m trying to be awesome but having a hard time. So please be EXTRA AWESOME to make up for what I am lacking! Have a better than mediocre Thursday!!!

MED BALLS can SUCK IT!

I knoowwww, when will she ever shut up about medicine balls… well probably NEVER! I learned today that it’s not just wall balls that suck big ol’ donkey balls, but doing PUSH UPs on these miserable balls of NOT MEDICINE suck as well. Or should I say I SUCK at them! You could seriously play a drinking game for every time you read the word suck on this post! I will complain more I’m sure but I need to get to the full agenda of this morning.

 

So here’s the dirty WHITEBOARD for the day. Gymnastics for the skill/strength. I chose to work on Handstand Pushups for a couple of reasons. 1. We’ve had too many pull up workouts in a week so if that’s not practice I don’t know what is. 2. My IT band was EXTRA painful so no PISTOL work for me. 3. Dare I say Muscle Ups without giggling…well I’m no where close to that. AND 4. I’m closest to actually getting a HSPU so that makes most sense.

6/14/12 WOD

Besides still having a plate under the mat, I am having a hard time tapping my head to the mat and busting right back up. I have to get the timing down. I can do 5 pretty ok but then I fatigue and I struggle waiting for contact with the mat and then rest instantly once my head touches. I know it takes work and that’s all I can do for the moment. I do feel stronger with this movement in general.

MetCon – Ah yes by big ol suckfest MedBallalooza. 10 minute AMRAP of 5 Wall Balls (14lbs), 8 Ball Push Ups. My thought process going into this is I HATE WALL BALLS, BUT 5 is doable. I can do 5 Wall Balls! What I underestimated was doing 8 Push Ups on the sucky gray and red med ball. You have no idea how bad I wanted to let my knees hit the ground to make it easier. But I didn’t I held tough though and stuck through it. This was not easy for me at all. Final: 7 rounds + 5 wall balls + 1 pushup

These Med Balls + Form in next image is what my Push Ups looked like.

Ok maybe I wasn’t a SOLID BOARD but I tried!

In other news:
I’m still doing good at limiting my sugar. I won’t lie I’ve had some dark chocolate and some extra fruit intake but I’ve kept it limited. It’s not daily and I still stick to the 21-Day Sugar Detox ideals. I feel pretty good and when I do eat a little fruit or the yummy chocolate I have no apparent issues mostly because I’m not inhaling it by the pound. No sugar comas, upset stomach or headaches. I did eat a burrito the other day which equaled INSTANT HEADACHE. I don’t know why I do dumb things like that STILL but I do and one day hopefully I won’t! Processed foods are no bueno for you.

Eating Clean is the best thing you can do for yourself. I know it’s hard to wrap your brain around it if you days are filled with kids, busy lives, fast food, boxed foods, or tons of grains. But when you do the research, make the time and test it out for 30 days AT LEAST, you will notice a difference.

I found this on Facebook yesterday. I don’t have research statistics to back it… it is Facebook people.  But at the end of the day a lot of these ailments that are treated with unnecessary medications are reduced with fat loss. True Story.

In one month I’ll be on a beach relaxing (and CrossFitting).

Maui

Also, I’ll have a certified TEENAGER. In two months I’ll be in my first ever TEAM WOD Competition at Europa in Dallas and I’ll be the big THREE FIVE. So much to look forward to this summer.

Start Moving if you haven’t, Keep Moving if you already started…. be AWESOME.

Sleeping Stephanie ZZZzzzz!

Lazy bones checking in I got nothin for ya today really. I completely missed my alarm this morning. I have no idea how I slept through it. I suppose I just dismissed it and went back to sleep but I have ZERO recollection. I just know I woke up and the room was lit up due to the rising sun! It was 6:30 am. TWO FREAKING HOURS past the time I should have got up! NO BOOM BOX for me. 😦 I was so lost this morning. So out of it. I had no idea. So ya, Go ME! I guess my body needed sleep more than anything.

Day 18 Sugar Detox
Going STRONG! I feel great, I feel awesome. Life is good. I’d like to say I’d kick sugar forever but I do love me some fruit. Give the good ol’ Sugar Detox a try folks. It’s not going to kill you, I’m still kicking. YES it takes time, YES it takes planning, YES you have to go outside your COMFORT zone. But if you can make small changes towards a bigger goal, you’ll get there. And NO I’m not sitting in my ivory tower. I haven’t been fit my whole life, I haven’t been skinny my whole life. I HAVE BIRTHED 3 children, I have EATEN food by the truckloads, I work FULL TIME, I have made EXCUSES, I lived in disgust with my own body and did nothing but stuff my face more.

I’ve been there done that. I can promise you that eating clean, eliminating JUNK and living for your future and your kids (if you have them) is WORTH missing out on everyday indulgences. Am I saying don’t ever eat a piece of cake? NO, I’m saying TRY to do something good for you and get out of old habits. Don’t reward yourself with food. Make food your fuel source, not your happy place. Please know that doesn’t mean you HAVE to eat boring bland food, it just means you have to WORK at cooking a little more. Ya I know WORK. Grow up, do work, live healthy, feel good as a result and enjoy life.

So my nothing turned into a little rant. Either your still reading or your not. It doesn’t matter. I just hope you all live for good health so you can enjoy your lives instead of being in pain, whatever pain that may be.

Have a good weekend. Take a step towards clean eating, moving more and loving life! Become addicted to being AWESOME!