MetCon

Back To It – TAKE 22

Roll Film! Hahaha, well lets hope we get it right this time around. Ernie seems to be back on the Clean Eating Road which in turn helps me to be on the right path. Although teamwork does help out tremendously, it’s true it can sabotage you just as fast. When Ernie took a moment to hang up his hat, I just followed suit and hung mine up right next to his. And it’s also true I’ve been strong and stood on my own, all alone trying to eat clean and be better. I just found that it was much harder this time around. All in all let’s just pray that I/WE can be a little better. I know I can’t go 100% totally strict or I would die! But I like to get pretty close to that mark. I started off well yesterday by making a roast. I have dinner planned for tonight so let’s keep this ball rolling and make the whole week a week of good clean food!

Starting off at the BOOM Box this morning, even though I was tired, I was ready to put in some work to make up for my craptastic weekend. With that said I also knew I was in for it due to my craptastic eating!

Skill/Strength: 3 x 3 Deadlift @ 90% of 1 RM
This ends up at 166.5lbs for me. I worked up to 165 and did one set of 3 at that weight. Since I didn’t pass out or struggle too much I moved up to 170lbs and finished out at that. Although it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t super hard either. I’ve been stuck at a 1RM of 185lbs for quite some time now. I’m really looking forward to blowing the doors off that in the near future. Crossing fingers and toes!

10/22/12 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 30 Walking Lunges followed by Sprint
Thank goodness it wasn’t weighted lunges or else I may still be lying in the driveway at the BOOM Box. Once we completed our lunges it was an all out sprint for an unknown designated distance. It was far enough and it was uphill 3 out of the 5 sprints! I really did try and push myself in those sprints and afterwards my legs were nothing but J-E-L-L-O! I was sucking wind big time but I knew that’s what I was in store for. I didn’t quit though. On my last sprint I could see the shadow of someone coming fast on me and I tried with all my might to not let him catch up I just couldn’t do it. Time: 7:43

Barbells For Boobs at the CrossFit Boom and #OccupyBoom
It’s almost here – the B4B event at the BOOM Box. This Saturday Oct 27th @ 6pm! The workout is GRACE (30 Clean & Jerks for time). Come one, come all! Watch, Participate, Eat! It will be all sorts of fun and you can come see what this kool-aid is all about. All ages, fitness levels, etc are welcome. Come support Barbells For Boobs and Mammograms in action. You don’t have to be a CrossFit junky in order to participate. You don’t even HAVE to participate. Heck I was only 2 months in when I signed up last year. I had no idea what to expect but I got to learn about this rock n roll foundation as well as watch and cheer on kids, survivors, newly diagnosed women, even a gentleman who had a prosthetic leg. It was AMAZEBALLS! Seriously come check it out and see what COMMUNITY is all about. So come out if you can and if you can’t but would like to donate then please click here. I’ve raised $40 of my $100 goal. It’d be great to even surpass teh $100 mark. Thank you in advance for your support and a Special Thank you Shelley and Rose for your recent contributions ツ

Post B4B will be #OccupyBoom where we will continue the fun and have teams go up against each in friendly competitions. More fun to be had and I’m sure a lot of hardcore insanity mixed with extreme silliness! Good people, Good food = AWESOMENESS. Let me know if you want to come and hang out!

That’s it for now folks. I had to rewrite this as somehow I manage to lose my original draft. Ah well. That’s MONDAY for ya. Let’s be AWESOME this week!

REPOST: Friday I’ve Missed You


NOTE: THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN SOME TECHNICAL ERRORS FROM LAST WEEK. THIS POST NEVER FULLY PUBLISHED. I WILL RESUME TO MY REGULAR BLOGGING HABITS TOMORROW 🙂

Has this been an extra long week for everyone else as it has been for me? I think I’m in some time warp and although it appears I’m in real time along with everyone else, my minutes and days just drag on. But alas it’s Friday. And surely I’ll enter into real time and my weekend will fly on by!

As for the BOOM Box I was not doing any sort of flying especially when it comes to our MetCon. 2 runs that are approx 1200m with a 5 minute rest in between. They were supposed to be Sprints but as I’ve mentioned before my sprint runs out after about 50 yds. So it turns into a messy sight. I’m not a pretty runner at all. I managed to run my first “sprint” in 7:01. We then get a 5 min rest from that time and go again. Final time was 19:49, so my 2nd “sprint” was 7:48. Not bad for being a sucky runner. One day I’ll proudly claim I’m a runner but that day is not near.

Skill/Strength: Floor Press 4 x 5, 3x Max Ring Dips
So prior to the MetCon we did Skill/Strength. I worked my way up to 65lbs for the Floor Press. Each round I added 5lbs. On my last set of 5 I was at 80lbs. I had to have some assistance on the last round. I can’t recall if I got through 3 or 2 Presses before needing help. I was fighting for it, but the bar was not moving.

10/12/12 WOD

For ring dips I used the bench for assistance again. I managed to get 5, 4, 7 or something like that. I think on my last round I finally just told myself to not suck at this movement. It’s so awkward and not natural for me to do. I bottom out and stay stuck and it’s not a fun feeling. I feel really helpless but on the last set I felt that I did better.

The 21-Day Sugar Detox Sugar Reduction- Days 11 and 12
As I mentioned yesterday, I can’t honestly say I’m off the sugars completely. I’m consuming something on a daily basis out of time contraint, weakness and many other sad reasons excuses but not to the extent I was a few weeks ago. So I’m weaning myself if you will vs. going cold turkey. I’m ok with it… for now. There will be a point I know I will say to myself ENOUGH is ENOUGH but until then I will tread lightly with foods that contain sugar for now.

My half eaten, sugar free lunch: Roasted Chicken, Mashed Cauliflower, Spinach Salad with Hardboiled Egg, Bacon, Tomatoes and Olive Oil.

Barbells For Boobs
Just a small reminder I’m raising money for this great cause Barbells For Boobs. (link on the right hand sidebar) The BOOM Box is hosting their own B4B event @ 6pm, OCT. 27th The workout will be Grace. 30 Clean and jerks for time. If you would like to be a part of this event please visit the link on the right and donate at least $30 to mammograms in action. Even if you don’t want to participate, donations are welcome ツ

Barbells For Boobs Event 2011
Belton, TX

The B4B event is for anyone that would like to donate a few bucks and some muscle soreness. You do not have to be a member of this CrossFit box or any other in order to participate. All are welcome, bring your friends and family!

Barbells for Boobs is a non-profit breast cancer organization whose mission is to provide funding through the Mammograms in Action @ Grant Program for qualified low income and uninsured women and men who need screening and/or diagnostic procedures in the prevention of breast cancer. Please help me and my team CrossFit Boom in our fundraising efforts by clicking the link and setting up your donation.

Have a pleasant weekend! I hope the weather is beautiful wherever you are and that you are able to take advantage and play outside. I personally really want to hibernate but that’s a choice this weekend. Soon I hope, soon! See y’all on Monday. Until then, STAY AWESOME.

Looking Back

Today it really hit me as to WOW look at where I am compared to a few years ago, heck just ONE year ago in regards to my everyday health and fitness. NEVER in my life did I imagine myself doing Squat Cleans, Heavy Deadlifts, Clean & Jerks, Snatch, etc. And believe me, I’ve run the gamut when it comes to AEROBICS classes, Spin Classes, Jazzercise, Bootcamps, DVDs, Rec Centers, etc. I’ve been up and down in weight. I’ve given up on excercise and I’ve been a exercise junkie but I’ve never been COMMITTED day in and day out as I have been the past 20 months. I did know what a Deadlift was… Deadlifts with dumbbells, or a lightly loaded bar. I’ve done Clean & Jerks (or what I thought was a clean and jerk) as well with just a bar and not one inkling of an idea about technique but NOW I’m doing lifts that at 35 years old I could have never imagined. I’m pushing myself more than I have EVER probably pushed myself including those prime high school years. I LOOK BACK and see HOW FAR I’VE COME and I ♥ IT! I look forward NOW to see where I’ll go from here.

When I walked into the BOOM Box this morning I knew the MetCon had a heavy Squat Clean on the board. A Squat Clean weight that I’ve not reached yet. So I knew I would have to scale but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Before we hit the workout we worked on Mobility which is always NEEDED in hopes it would loosen us up for the MetCon.

10/11/12 WOD

MetCon: 15 minute AMRAP 3 Squat Cleans (85lbs), 20 butterfly situps. For those of you knew to CrossFit speak, and I’m sure it’s not only CrossFit speak but I never heard AMRAP before CrossFit. So anyways AMRAP means As Many Reps/Rounds As Possible. So 3-2-1 Go and you just go, rinse, wash REPEAT until time expires. Don’t Stop, Don’t Rest, Just GO! You have no idea how fast 15 minutes will fly by. And I had no idea how taxing those situps would end up! I chugged along with little rest between some rounds and maybe too much rest between other rounds. I guess it all evens out and although 85lbs is not heavy to everyone, once you get get that bar moving you learn that yes it’s HEAVY but YES you can do it. It’s a great feeling even though it’s hard. There were many rounds that I didn’t want to pick up that bar.

I didn’t want to fail, I didn’t want to grind through but really there isn’t a choice. I have to pick it up even if I don’t want to. Why else show up every day, day in and day out at 5am. TO SUCK at life? Hell no! I want to get better and stronger. I want to be strong and fit the rest of my life, not just my 30s. Final Count: 11 rounds, 3 squat cleans, 12 sit ups.

The 21-Day Sugar Detox – Days 9-11
So I’m just going to call this the SUGAR REDUCTION week! I haven’t managed to have a whole day without something tripping me up this week. It’s not super uber fails but it’s not perfect either. And to me I should be doing this with no slip ups. I’ve cleaned up a lot considering how bad September was for me but I need to get better. I’m just going to keep chugging along till I do get a full 21 days of NO SUGARS. So this may end up being the 42 day Sugar Detox, hehe, but I’m not quitting. I’m successful 80% of my day. It’s the evenings that are getting me. So that’s all I have to report on the sugar detox. I wish I could be more insightful or inspiring but at this point I’m doing the best I can.

Whatever health/fitness adventure you’re on, please make sure you’re doing it for you. For BETTER HEALTH and for the FUTURE you. Not for what you once were, not for who you wish you could be, not for your spouse and not for your friends. I didn’t say not for your children because your children need you so change your health for you and your kids if you got them. And if your kids are your only reason you BETTER do it for them. Show them early that health is important.

Your body will change if you eat better, eat clean, move regularly. Your organs will love you. Your brain will brighten. You will see life in a different light. Looking back I have always aspired to be fit and some years I hit the mark and some years I was a glutenous mess. Now I’m on the right track, I still stumble and sometimes fall but I’m not down for long. Life is a daily learning process. Life is WORK. Don’t quit before you even start. Don’t let yourself give up when you haven’t even really tried. Just keep going. And while you’re going you’ll learn what AWESOME is and then you’ll NEVER want to stop being AWESOME! So go be AWESOME and enjoy life.

My sunshine is fading

As this month carries on, the sun stays with us a little less. I seriously get into a funk when the days begin to get shorter. I know I’m not whiny enough as it is, right? 😛 But soon enough it will be pitch black by 5:30pm and I’ll feel like I need to hibernate. It’s part of it, this happens every year and every year I look forward to those spring days when time springs forward. But for now I have to watch the sunshine fade away a little bit sooner each day. I feel less productive when the sun is not out till 9pm. That feeling has already crept in. Am I the only one that thinks this way? The upside is that I really want to go to bed earlier. Hopefully I’ll get some extra sleep!

This morning wasn’t hard to get up but my left eye was throbbing. Not sure from what but I considered staying home, unsure if the ache in my eyeball would disappear. Thank goodness it did by the time I got to the BOOM Box.

Skill/Strength: 5 x 3 Deadlift @ 85% of 1 RM = 155lbs actually 157.25 so we rounded down to 155. Warming up to this weight was smooth and easy. I jumped from 125lbs to 155lbs and I went from oh this is good to OH that was more than I anticipated. But it was only that first set that I felt that. The rest of the sets felt good. Coached chimed in saying I probably should have gone up to 160lbs then. I mean it wasn’t EASY but at the same time I didn’t realize that I probably should have pushed myself a little more and jumped up in weight. That’s where I don’t think forward enough. I should if I want to get better but I’m not wired that way to say, hhmm, maybe I should jump up that extra 5 pounds. Maybe because it’s 5am and my brain isn’t fully functioning. Hell my body surely isn’t fully functioning but I still feel good. I’m still moving some weight.

10/9/12 WOD

MetCon: 2 rounds of 2 minutes for 400m run 2 minutes KB swings, 1 minute rest
I seriously was thinking I will not make that 400m run in 2 minutes or less. IMPOSSIBLE. I suck at running, I suck at running more so in the cooler weather. But my first run I managed to complete in 1:45 (I THINK). It took me a minute to gain my composure and time was already ticking into my KB Swing timeframe. I knew I would have to hold on to that kettle bell the whole time and I I was doing good, 20 seconds to go and I had to let it go or drop it on my foot so I stopped for a couple of seconds but got back going to get an extra few reps. 62 reps for that first 2 minutes. The 1 minute rest was SHORT then it was back to the run. I kept telling myself you gotta make 2 minutes, you gotta make 2 minutes. I have no relevance of time when running, it always feels like forever but I managed to make it back in 1:55! But that didn’t give me much time to catch my breath. I didn’t start KB swings right away, maybe 20 seconds into my 2 minutes. This time I stopped a few times. Only getting 62. In the picture above my flash got in the way. And I was too unobservant at the time to notice. So total was 114, not 11 😀

The 21-Day Sugar Detox Days 8 & 9
Let’s just say I’m surviving. Moods are fine despite it being that time of the month… TMI? Eh who cares! But it explains the blah attitude. Better than angry attitude. I think overall I’m dealing well. Maybe all that weekend binging helped! Who knows. I keep neglecting to add that extra fat that I know I need in my meals, so I did add some avocado to my eggs and bacon this morning and wow I’m full. It wasn’t even a lot. Keep on keepin on… one day at a time.

That’s all for my Tuesday report. Also don’t forget I’m raising money for Barbells For Boobs. Please support this great cause. The link is in the sidebar to the right if you would like to donate. Thanks y’all and dont forget to BE AWESOME!

Just Breathe!

Crazy busy, hectic, non stop, rangers lose, sleepy, falling off the wagon, jumping back on the wagon, broken bones, cold weekend, cookies, BREATHE!

The WEEKEND WOD & Oly Class
The cold air blew in Friday and with that the Rangers were out of the playoffs. I dried my eye, went to bed and woke up to our first CHILLY morning in a long time. And it was COMMUNITY WOD day at the BOOM Box! Of course I was running late and in a rush, and of course I happened to freakin hit a car as I pulled in. NO MAJOR damage thank GOODNESS but damage none the less! (Sorry Jenn :/) And then it was time for a partner WOD. Not knowing what lied ahead I asked Russell to partner up with me. Boy oh Boy was I the wrong partner for this WOD. We first had a banded together 400m run. Did I mention Russell is about 8ft tall! Jokes, but seriously 6’4″ or something like that. And I’m a towering 5’2″! How’s that for a running buddy you’re literally stuck to?? FUN FUN! I just had to embrace the suck and deal with it.

We then had to do 21, 15, 9 of Step Ups and KB Thrusters with a RUN between the sets. So I warmed up with a 1/2 POOD KB (17lbs or so) and I could manage that. Those got taken up quicklike by other teams so I gave 1 POOD a go. Well I could complete the movement with my right arm and the left arm was weak! But that’s what we stuck with. After many FAILS I was downgraded to a 20lb dumbbell. RELIEF! It was now only the running that was miserable. When we came back for the sets of 15 I saw I now had a 25lb dumbbell…. sneaky sneaky Coach! That was still better than the 35lb KB! Poor Russell, I apologized about 7978798 times for being slow at the runs and for sucking in GENERAL. We came in last, I didn’t even look at the time. It was sad.

After the MetCon, we moved outside to work on buddy carries. I didn’t think my legs would hold up anyone so I didn’t try carrying anyone. Probably for the best. And I wasn’t feeling particularly light in weight so I didn’t offer for anyone to carry me either. I was pretty much OUT on any sort of carrying. Well Coach wasn’t having any of that and carried, ran, skipped and spun me in circles for about 50m! Good thing I don’t get sickly easily. It could have been disastrous.

OLY Class
Right after the Community WOD we had an OLY Class. Due to the boys’ football schedules, I’ve missed some classes. It was good to be back. I need to work on technique in a bad way. And that is all we did – Work on Snatch technique. With PVC and a 35lb bar I’m pretty confident. But once I start putting weight on, I let the FEAR creep in. The self doubt. The weakness. It’s mental. So we worked on that. Mentally letting go and landing in that squat position. Learning we could fall down and it’s not the end of the world. Learning that dropping the bar is not the end of the world. Just doing it over and over and over. I’m not anywhere near being GREAT at snatch but I felt I came a long way in just an hour this past Saturday. I understand where I was coming up short this time around. Coach had me do “close-grip” snatches with the PVC and later with the bar which is really funky and not normal feeling at all, but it definitely showed me where I lose stability. A lot of times I don’t feel it or understand where I go wrong. But I can feel it now. I can feel where I put the brakes on too soon. And at least with that knowledge it’s easier for me to work on this movement. It’s truly all technique and confidence. I’m getting there. I really AM!

The 21-Day Sugar Detox –  Day 5-7 And the wheels came off!
I did so well Friday and all day Saturday. I stayed true. I obeyed. I was strong. On Friday my cousins were eating all sorts of badness at the Ranger game but I was eating pistachios, carrots and drinking lots of water. Then Saturday rolled around and I fueled myself up properly after my 2 hour workout session. Headed to football games stayed strong despite it was perfect Caramel Macchiato or Hot Chocolate weather. But by the end of the day at late o’clock, I was still hungry and cold. I caved in for some Chic-fil-A. And not any healthy choice either. I did stray from the sweet tea but I still indulged in some sandwich yumminess. Did I hop back on the GOOD KID train on Sunday? Hell NO.

Went to our favorite butcher where I typically get a frankfurter with no bun but YES I did have a bun. And then I just went further down the rabbit hole as Ernie convinced me to make the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies that had come in from our football fundraiser. Yup ate a few of those too! All in all I had about a 24 hour relapse. It’s all good now. I shopped well for the week. And hopefully my little splurge is out of my system. It’s not that I craved the sugar, I just went off the grid for a moment. For those of you who think it’s ok, it’s not. It did do a number on my stomach. But y’all don’t want those details!

So you could call it starting over or you could call it moving on. I’ll restart my 21 days but still consider myself on day 8. I’ll just finish on the 28th instead of the 21st.

Back on Track KICK OFF MEAL!

10/8/12 WOD
And we’re finally to today’s WOD. It was so nice and cozy in my warm bed, it was really hard to get up and at em. Looked at my phone and it said 40° outside and I really wanted even more to stay in bed. When I arrived at the BOOM Box it looked like I wasn’t the only one that thought of staying in bed but I was one of the few who actually didn’t stay in bed and showed up… cough* slackersscarredofalittlecold* cough… where was everyone? Ah well. You can’t get better if you’re not showing up to do work.

Skill/Strength: 5 x 5 Back Squat at 82.5%, for me that was 120lbs. I did a few warm ups and then worked my way up slowly to the 120lbs mark. My first set of 5 weren’t too shabby. I felt good. Since it was extra cool in the box, Coach suggested I work on stretching my hip between sets. My second set wasn’t so pretty but I finished. I ended my sets strong and really fought for the last rep in each set. I felt good. It doesn’t sound like a lot but that’s some weight I’m not used to moving around and it got my heart going. It was good work.

10/8/12 WOD

MetCon: 3 min AMRAP of 5 Air Squats and 5 Push Ups, 1 min rest, 3 min AMRAP of 3 Pistols and 3 Handstand Push Ups
I left my OLY shoes on for the MetCon because I figured it would help me in my squats and pistols. I tried to fly through the 3 minutes without pause. I wasn’t 100% successful but I managed to get by with few pauses. I got 11 rounds. The next round wasn’t that pretty. I am pretty confident on my right leg with the Pistols. It’s the left leg I don’t trust. That IT band drags across my knee which is painful but it’s not the pain that gets me, it’s the idea that I feel my knee is weak and it’s hard for me to feel confident. I did work on getting full depth by being on a box but I really struggled on my left leg. With that struggle and transitioning to HSPU modified on the box, that sucked up a lot of time. I completed 4 rounds. That second 3 min AMRAP weighed me down bad. Total of 15 rounds.

I do hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. I hope you have an even better week! If you’re on the fence about The 21-day Sugar Detox, paleo, working out or whatever it is, just know holding out isn’t getting you anywhere. Waiting till tomorrow is doing NOTHING for you.

Waiting for next Monday or Nov 1 is giving you more reasons and excuses to wait till after Christmas. Just start NOW. You might fall down like I have just done but guess what? You get back up. Even if you fall down everyday. You can’t reach your goals if you aren’t even trying. Hell if you don’t have goals how are you going to get anywhere. Set some goals. TODAY and ACT TODAY. and BE AWESOME!!!

Ouchy Mama!

Mobility was the focus first thing at the BOOM Box and if you do regular mobility or follow KStar over at mobilitywod.com then you know that mobility is bittersweet. IT HURTS! but then you fell much better at some point. Today we started with this:

And I was drenched in sweat from doing this. I have such jacked up body parts and it hurt so bad good. I thought I was going to pass out from the pain on my right side. My left side was a little more tolerant or less wonky I should say but it still hurt hella bad!

After working our shoulders we worked our hips and quads. My legs are smoked I need to really up my mobility work. LIKE A LOT! I just get lazy. And now I can feel the laziness as I sit here and type in pure ache-yness.

DO MOBILITY. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER! We will all be supple leopards together!

10/5/12 WOD

MetCon: TEAM WOD 4 rounds of alternating KB Swings (1POOD) and Wall Planks. 1 round = 2 minutes.
What we have here is something that looks simple enough but in the end is KILLER. For two minutes teammate 1 holds a wall plank and teammmate 2 gets as many KB Swings as possible. But if teammate 1 freakin drops off the wall then teammate 2 must stop KB Swings until teammate one is back on wall. EL SUCKO! I started off with wall planks and in my head I thought they would be much easier. They were NOT.

We had our arms extended but you get the idea. NO FUN!

My feet kept sliding down and there’s a point where I’m just not strong enough to hold it out. I kept wanting to stick my butt up in the air instead of keeping my hips down. It was horrible. My shoulders were on FIRE! Holding for 2 minutes straight was not going to happen today. There was no rest between rounds so we had to move fast. I tried to get as many swings in as I could but I felt like I was in slow motion. It sucks when your partner drops because you lose your rhythm but it’s hard to be the partner on the wall so I’m not complaining!

Barbells For Boobs!
On another note, we all know OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the CrossFit Community steps up to plate with the Barbells For Boobs Tour. This year CrossFit Boom is doing a community WOD to raise money and support the organization Barbells For Boobs. BARBELLS FOR BOOBS ® is a 501(c)3 non-profit breast cancer organization whose mission is to provide funding through the MAMMOGRAMS IN ACTION ® GRANT PROGRAM for qualified low-income and uninsured women and men who need screening and/or diagnostic procedures in the prevention of breast cancer.

I will be participating with my box doing the workout Grace, which is 30 Clean & Jerks for time. It’s a great way to do what we love and raise awareness. If you would like to support this cause and support our team over at CrossFit Boom with a donation then please click the link on my sidebar or right here https://support.barbellsforboobs.org/individual-fundraising/stephhayes/. Thank you!

Also, if you are in the DFW area and want to participate with us then come on! All are welcome! It will be a blast. OCTOBER 27th, 6pm @ 7501 US 287 Hwy Suite D-2 Arlington, TX 76001, www.crossfitboom.com

The 21-day Sugar Detox – Days 4 & 5
Yesterday was the first day I didn’t have any cravings for the sweetness. This doesn’t mean I’ve made it or am successful yet, but it was a day where I truly didn’t think GEEZ I WANT SOME FRUIT. I was content and it probably because my meals, especially lunch, were more balanced. I’ve been eating a lot of chicken because that’s what we had an abundance of in the freezer but hopefully this week I’ll get more beef into my life, maybe some fish too. Last nights meal was roasted chicken with mashed cauliflower and a few carrots. I know not gourmet or even worth mentioning but it’s my blog and I’ll bore you if I choose! Hahah, please don’t run away. I try not to be boring, but sometimes I have no choice! Seriously though I did learn that for me it’s mostly mental especially once the sugar cravings truly go away. It does become a battle of the mind.

This morning I had what has become repetitive for breakfast and that was eggs and acorn squash. I have sweet potatoes sitting right next to the squash and the squash won all week! Even the kids were pretty stoked on my little breakfast. My youngest tried to sweet talk me into letting him have it. But I only let him have a bite. I have more roast chicken today with some spinach salad and MORE Cauliflower. After this week I’m cauliflowered out! I’ll have to mix it up for sure. But like I said earlier this week I was not prepared. Next week should be much better in the food variety…. I HOPE!

Hope everyone has a FREAKIN AMAZING FRIDAY and weekend. GO RANGERS! It’s do or die tonight for them.

And pray I survive our cold front and rain that hits tonight and tomorrow. We have football all day and there’s small chance it will get canceled. I’m a TEXAS girl and a wuss to the elements especially when the elements are cold and wet. So pray I make it through the weekend because the cooler weather only encourages comfort foods :/

Remember to BE AWESOME!!

DNF! UGH!

Over a year of CrossFit and today I had my first DNF – Did Not FINISH! I may have dragged ass but I have always finished. But in the end it’s better than a DID NOT START! And I did start off good this morning with the the Skill/Strength but for the MetCon I just didn’t have it in me; maybe it’s the sugar detox; maybe I’m not eating enough foods; maybe it’s the sadness of the Texas Rangers blowing the AL West Division title; I just don’t know what happened this morning.

Skill/Strength: 4 x 6 Floor Press @ 65lbs, 3 rounds of max Ring Dips
Floor Press felt good today. By the 4th round it was a struggle to get the last few reps in but I completed them without fail. It’s always a relief when you don’t get a fail! The 3 rounds of Ring Dips are not as fun as Floor Press. My shoulders are tight, my hands start hurting, I just turn into a mess. With the green band I only pushed out 10, 8 and 8. I don’t hold that in “good” standards, just bleh. Coach then had me drop the band and use a bench for my feet. I tried like 3 times and I had NOTHING. I took a few minutes to rest and then finally got a count of 3. That’s not a lot I know but after feeling helpless with a count of 0, I’ll take 3.

10/4/12 WOD

MetCon: 10 rounds of 200m Sprint Jog, 6 Pistols, 3 Handstand Push Ups, 22 min time cap. Sigh. I was done after I only READ 10 rounds and 200m Sprint. But I pretended I wasn’t and took off. It took me a whole minute to run that 200m. I’m thinking that’s pretty slow. And the rounds to follow only got slower.

When it comes to Pistols please note I did modify them by using a box to stand on and also note I have no confidence in my left leg due to my IT band and the pain it induces when I hit a certain degree of bend in my knee. I still manage to bare down and get it down, it’s just not pretty. Shoot, my right leg pistol isn’t pretty either but at least I can get better depth. After a few runs, I basically just stood on the box to catch my breath…. wasting time. Then more time wasted getting situated doing modified HSPU. I learned a few rounds in that I wasn’t doing HSPU exactly right and had to change it up. I struggled at first but finally came to terms with feeling better at doing it right. The runs just killed me. We had a time cap of 22 minutes. I finished my 8th round right around 21 minutes, I had to run still although I really just wanted to stop. By this last run, I had a side stitch, I didn’t want to run, I barely did at most points and even deferred to walking. How’s that for a DNF?!? BOOOOO.

The 21-Day Sugar Detox – Day 3 & 4
I was much better for the rest of yesterday. Last night after one of my kiddos football game, I had to go up to the school to pick him up. While waiting I know that I don’t really have much to prepare for dinner. There was meatloaf leftovers for my other kids but I couldn’t have any because there is honey in the sauce. I didn’t have the energy to cook anything so as I sat there waiting for my kid to get out I decided I would just go to Boston Market. So I did and I got their Mediterranean Salad, no cheese, no dressing. It’s a simple salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onion and rotisserie chicken. They gave me a fair amount of chicken which is nice but I really was hoping for a more hearty salad. It did the job though and filled my belly. Today for breakfast I went with a small serving of acorn squash (yummy) and 2 eggs, and for lunch I have chicken, kale and spinach salad. Probably more chicken for dinner with some veggies. I also have eggs and bacon for a snack. I still want something bad. It’s not even that I want something really bad. I just want a nectarine. Or some strawberries. Or a brownie!  I’m being strong though, fighting through and hoping this lack of energy will disappear and I’ll be back to my normal achy feeling self! I gotta start planning tonight what I’m going to eat tomorrow. We’ll be at the Wild Card game that the Rangers are playing in. And if it’s as stressful as yesterdays game I’m gonna need to be food prepared so I don’t drown my stress in hot dogs and nachos!

It’s so close to the weekend! Peace out! Be AweSOme!

Overhead Squats I GOT YOU!

I’m so feeling the pain in my hamstrings after yesterdays Romanian one legged kettlebell deadlifts. They are sore and tight! Nothing like a good dose of the BOOM Box to help me forget the pain!

Skill/Strength: Press 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 Starting at a lower weight moving up to heavy. Being that my 1 RM is 70lbs and I’m stuck there FOREVER, my goal was to finish at 70lbs. After some warm up reps I jumped to 50lbs and although that felt rather light I know moving up will get ya. By the time I got to 65lbs I was feeling strong. I got this. Until the freakin 70lb set. Houston we have a NO GO! UGH! So frustrating.

10/2/12 WOD

MetCon: 5 rounds of 1 minute OHS (55lbs), 1 minute Double Unders, 2 minute rest. The RX for OHS was 65lbs which in hindsight I probably should have done. BUT, the OHS gets me good in the wrists and it HURTS soooo bad. I feared by the 5th round I wouldn’t be able to even hold the bar up. Well my fears were wrong. Last time I worked on OHS Coach had me work on bringing my hands closer in on the bar and that helped a lot. Little did I know that would be my saving grace in all 5 rounds of today’s MetCon. My wrists were fatigued but not in excruciating pain. OHS I have conquered you mentally and physcially…. WOOHOOO… until you get real heavy, sigh! I believe I got 15, 13, 17, 16, 17 for my rounds with the OHS. Doing DUs right after OHS really sucked. My shoulders were tired and I didn’t want to spin the rope around. It took me a little bit to get in a groove and get used to jumping with my OLY shoes. I’m sure I could have done a few more DUs with my regular shoes but then maybe I wouldn’t have been as strong with the OHS. I’ll take the OHS reps over DUs. I believe I got 40, 50, 41, 39, 37 on my DUs, but I can’t recall perfectly. Score: 285. Looks pretty weak amongst the other scores but they all did singles. I didn’t earn an RX either by going 10lbs lighter in the weight so there I sit with my sad 285. I’m ok with it though. I didn’t drop the bar once which I’m notorious for!

21-Day Sugar Detox – Day 2
Yup I survived Day 1. I wasn’t sure that I would. I’m probably hitting the actual water intake that I need because I’m chugging a shit ton every time I want a piece of fruit or something junky. I was struggling on the way home from work yesterday but my Dad’s house had a nice little surprise, GREEN bananas! Thank you baby Jesus, I’m allowed to have a green tipped banana and I needed it! Dinner was Roasted Chicken, Mashed Cauliflower and Spinach Salad. I didn’t manage to get in any salad I just wasn’t hungry.

This morning I had 2 eggs and some Acorn Squash with a dash of cinnamon. So delightful! Then I get to work, review the program and realize I’m not to have ACORN SQUASH! WTH?

ACORN SQUASH IS ON THE NO FOODS LIST!!!

I thought I knew this. Clearly I did not and clearly it was too good to be true! I did know that you could have 1/2 sweet potato if you were an Athlete (hehehe, yes I consider myself an Athlete), so I followed up on that and relearned that I could choose from the “Dense Carb” list and whew I’m in the clear. I will however have to forgo the rest of the squash that I had set up for lunch! Chicken and Cauliflower for lunch. I really need to add some green food. I will for dinner. I must!

And that wraps up my Tuesday. I hope everyone is having a fine day. Make it AWESOME, BE AWESOME!

Making It Happen

You know it! It’s Day 1 of the 21-Day Sugar Detox in my lil world. It’s long overdue! September was full of eating FAILs and hardknocks to our typically uneventful life. But we persevere like we always do, like we are made to do. Thank goodness I stayed true to my workouts! Time to get back on track with the FOOD!

21-Day Sugar Detox – Day 1
So here we are October 1 – Can you believe it’s October? It’s great, the weather is instantly cooler, the RANGERS are in the playoffs and the holidays are right around the corner ツ AND today I start my Sugar Detox. If you’ve been with me since at least May then you know I have made it through with only one hiccup on Mother’s Day. This time around I aim to not have any slip ups and just do it and do it right! I LOVE LOVE LOVE sugar in all forms and although I’m not the junkie I once was but I haven’t been quite the saint either. I know this first week may not be easy for me because the past two weeks were filled with all sorts of nonsense in regards to food. You all reading shouldn’t be affected but those that know me personally may get a short tempered, angry person in their face. I apologize in advance!!! So far for the day 3 eggs over medium, 1 cup of Mint Tea, lots o’ water. No veggies cause I’m lame and didn’t prepare properly but I have veggies for lunch and will have some for dinner too.

10/1/12 WOD
Skill/Strength: 4 x 10 Single Leg KB RDL AHAP. What is a Single Leg KB RDL? Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift. The objective was to do 10 on each leg for 4 sets and move up to as heavy as possible. I started off at 1 POOD and that wasn’t too bad. I have pretty good balance so that helps out. The thing I don’t have is good grip. It’s weak! But because I didn’t struggle at 1 POOD, I moved up to 1.5 POOD.

I’m am stronger when my right leg is planted but this started taking a tole on my hip. By the 4th set I was struggling and my left leg felt much stronger in the end. I’ve done this movement with no weight many times so I know with added weight I will feel this in the morning. I’m scared!

10/1/12 WOD

MetCon: TABATA of Jumping Lunges, Handstand Shoulder Touches and B2B Air Squats. TABATA just seems EVIL! TABATA hurts! TABATA will in the end KICK YOUR ASS! but TABATA is good for you whether you like it or not. TABATA is 20 seconds of one movement, 10 secs rest over and over for 8 rounds. You are supposed to count your reps and the round with the least reps is you score. Well we started with Jumping Lunges and somewhere from the beginning to the middle I started cheating doing Stepping Lunges. This was not my intention but I was called out on it which really sucked because 1. I was doing them wrong and 2. I didn’t realize I was doing them wrong and 3. Well I sucked. I ended up with a score of 8 for Jumping Lunges. My LEGS were dead. We moved onto Handstand Shoulder Touches during the 10 second rest. I opted for Handstand Rocking because prior to the whole TABATA start I could only manage to get one shoulder touched. I couldn’t complete a rep on my left side. So I modified. Thank goodness our legs got some rest but this is a butt whoopin on the good ol shoulders! I started off strong but fell to 10 reps for my last three sets. Ah well. Our legs were punished once again when we hit those air squats. My true pain came from HOLDING the squat in the 10 sec rest period though. About halfway through my right hip was just dead. Holding the squat made it burn. I was done. I was trying to keep my reps up but ended with a score of 9 on the Air Squats 😦

To WODapalooza or Not To WODapalooza? That is the Question! A great BOX in Temple, TX – CrossFit DSP is sponsoring the 2nd annual WODapalooza. I competed in this last year with only 2 months CrossFitting under my belt. It was a blast! Now it’s a 2 day event and I’m torn on whether I should bite the bullet and compete! Registration started today, hopefully some spots are still available by the time I make my decision!

That’s it y’all! It’s Monday. Make it great! Be AWESOME and it’s not too late to start the sugar detox. No one made it a LAW to start on the first of the month. Just start!

Getting Back on Track … uh on monday?

Isn’t that the good ol excuse? The weekend is here, I already screwed up. Let’s keep this party rolling. I keep telling myself and you all “you’ve only been eating not so great for a few days, a week maybe”. Well that week turns into two which WAM BAM turns into a month quickly. How does that happen so fast?!? Seriously Whole30, 21 day Sugar Detox, Paleo Challenges are short and feel like forever. But eating like crap feels short term and ends up being too long. It’s crazy how that works! I fall down too people, I’m not perfect. But I get back up!

Now I haven’t been weighing myself regularly because I’m getting over that scale addiction, and truly I was feeling good about me – physically and mentally. The past few days I have really felt poorly with my self image and I have felt and seen where I’m starting to expand/jiggle and I know exactly why, it’s not rocket science. And I’ve been in a mental fog as well. Some of that is emotional stress but I think a lot of it is junk fogging up my brain. Just eating poor dinners can really f*^! things up. Then add some poor weekends…And now it’s all catching up to me. So I gave in to that damn scale and weighed! Which is no real judgment I know, I’m stronger, I’m healthier… the scale doesn’t determine that at all, but I stepped on it anyways. And although I’m not in a super bad place, I’m not in a super great place about it either.

So I declare a Sugar Detox is much needed! The good folks at 21 Day Sugar Detox have a monthly start date and it starts Monday as will I. Who’s with me? ………. I think I hear crickets. I know it’s daunting people but you can do it! Only 21 days! That’s it. I hear you, “but you just said it feels like forever.” That I did, that I did but it’s mental. It’s still only 21 days. And now is perfect! Right before the holidays, then you can be strong to resist all the office/school/social function temptations! Let me know if you’re on board. The link is right there to the right! Let’s do this! 

Now that I’ve got that out of the way I will share my morning at the BOOM Box.

Skill/Strength: 4 x 6 Back Squat @ 80% of 1RM and Band Sprints
I felt pretty good with my Back Squat, maybe that extra weight I’m carrying is giving me a boost. Or maybe I’m just getting stronger! Hehehe. I ended up at 115lbs for the 4 sets. Coach had me work on bringing my hands in closer on the bar. I tend to have trouble with this because my shoulder flexibility isn’t great but this really helped my drive back up.

9/28/12 WOD

Band Sprint were short and sweet. This is where you take a band and put it around your waist. You have a partner that holds onto the band and anchors down creating a fair amount of resistance making you work for short sprints. We did 6 sprints each. Nothing super special about these. It’s work that’s for sure.

MetCon: Team WOD Death by Pull Ups x 2 … woohooo… yay… fun.. i love pull ups. Say It, Believe It right? Ah heck I want to love pull ups, I really do. Pull ups just don’t love me. So Death by… means do a rep on minute one, add a rep each minute, go until you can’t meet the reps required for that minute. Well by 2’s means just that, instead of adding ONE every minute you must add two. 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. TEAM means YAY I have someone to struggle with me and pull my weight! Hehe, only the first part is really true and hopefully the 2nd part is only because I am weak. My partner, Andrea, knows of my weakness. It did help that we got to split up the reps. When we got 5 reps each I slowed down bad. I’m pretty sure by 6 reps each, Andrea did 1 extra one for me. By 7 reps each, I’m pretty sure she did 2 extra reps to make up for me. And by 8 it was 3 but I ended up coming back to do 1 of them. We didn’t make it for 9 reps each and I wouldn’t have made it without her, so THANK YOU Andrea! Final round counted 16 total pullups, so 8 minutes. Can I get new arms now? Please? Pretty Please?

Well that’s it for this week. I’m already looking forward to 2013. Maybe then I can have a year of goodness. But I’ll take this weekend for sure right now. Texas is due for some cooler weather so the weekend should be good! Enjoy yourselves and BE AWESOME!