246- Mid-month Update

January 15th, already?  This is going to be another one of those years that flies by, isn't it?  Tomorrow will be March, and then next week will be June, and in a month it will be Thanksgiving!  


So after my December hiccup, things have been going much better.  I challenged myself this month to try and drink a gallon of water each day, and after spending the first week thinking my organs were going to need life vests, and being awoken in the middle of the night by my bladder, I think my body has finally adjusted.  Even on the days I don't quite make it to a full gallon, I'm still getting 80-90oz of water (you can see I started adding my water info in with my food/exercise log).  I would say that prior to this self-challenge, my water intake was around 40-50oz.  Huge difference.


Last week, without really any prior thought (as in I woke up on Monday and decided), I decided to see if I could go a week without coffee.  Today is day 7 without coffee, and I've finally adjusted to that.  I can't remember the last time I didn't have a cup of coffee within a few hours of waking up.  Its kind of nice not having to drink coffee first thing to get my day going.  Also, my water intake starts sooner, and therefore I am drinking more by the end of the day.  I think I'm going to extend this past a week- I tried drinking some green tea for the first time ever this morning, and might be able to get used to it, I got used to coffee after all!  


This past week was also exciting for me at the gym, as I hit a new Deadlift PR.  235 pounds.  When I first started crossfit a little over a year ago, my max deadlift was 185 pounds, the same as my max back squat.  This was puzzling to my trainer, because normally people can deadlift about 15% more than their max back squat.  Not sure what was up with me, perhaps underdeveloped hamstrings and back?  The next time I attempted a max deadlift was maybe 6-8 months ago?  I hit 205.  I was pretty happy with that because it was my first lift over 200#.  My back squat was at 195#, so I was beginning to deadlift more than my back squat.  Then on Tuesday, to hit 235, it was awesome.  Not sure what my max back squat is now, but I'd be excited if it was 200 or 205.  Ultimately, I'd love to have a back squat around 250#, and a deadlift of 300#, but that will take some serious work.  Also, as I (hopefully) lose weight, pulling those kinds of numbers will be a even great feat.  


On a sort of related note, I went shopping yesterday because I was near the mall, and it was snowing.  Snow in Seattle is chaos because everyone just abandons their cars everywhere and crashes into ditches.  I wanted to try and avoid some of that, so I ducked into the mall for a few hours.  I tried on a pair of colored skinny jeans, in the size that I thought I am, and I was swimming in them.  Never thought I'd be swimming in skinny jeans.  They were too expensive, so I didn't even bother trying on the smaller size.  I went into old faithful (The GAP) and found tons of deals!  I grabbed two pairs of pants in the smaller size I should have chosen for the colored skinny jeans, and both fit- like, really fit, and not just me putting on sausage casing.  Before I get too excited, I'm convinced The GAP has changed the size of all their clothes, so that this smaller size is really the larger one I was thinking that I am.  Stupid vanity sizing!  Anyway, I can get pissed about vanity sizing, but I'm not pissed about scoring a pair of jeans, a pair of black dress/work pants, and a sparkly cardigan for $50!!  


Here's to another two weeks of eating real food, drinking a gallon (or damn near close) a day, no coffee, and lifting heavy things!