247- Practicing What I Preach

Have you ever started up a conversation with someone wearing a Harvard sweatshirt about the town Cambridge, MA, only to find out they didn't actually go to Harvard and were just wearing the sweatshirt?  I suppose you could replace "Harvard" with any band, location, or statement, maybe its only me, but it bothers me when people make statements with their clothing and they don't even stand behind it.  End rant.


So last week, I was getting ready to head out for my lunch time gym class, and I smelled catered lunch at work.  I changed into my gym clothes, and then made myself a plate of food to hide in my cube and eat when I got back from the gym, since by the time I returned from the gym, the vultures would've devoured all hot food from the schaffers.  


I got back to my cubicle set my plate down, and realized something incredibly cool and unplanned had occurred:

Yeah, funny.  And I don't own a Harvard sweatshirt, but I do own an Oregon one.  :)  

249- Week of PR's

Yesterday our workout was to establish our 5 rep max for deadlifts, meaning the maximum amount we could deadlift 5 times without stopping except briefly at the bottom of the lift to touch the weights to the floor.  A few months back, we established our 3 rep max for the deadlift, and I did 205#.  I was hoping to match that for 5 reps today, but the bar was feeling extra heavy.  I started out with 3 reps at 135#, 155#, 175#, then when I picked up 195#, I just decided to go for my 5 then, and at the end, I knew that was my 5 rep max.  I went through this routine pretty quickly, and while some new folks to the gym were getting coached on technique, I decided to see what my 1 rep max is.  I haven't tried for that in months.  I knew if I did a 3 rep max of 205, that I could do 215#.  I was feeling bold and loaded on 225#.  Did it.  Then I put on 10 more pounds for 235#.  Nailed it.  I stopped there, satisfied with a new PR.  
 
Today, our workout was identical to last Thursday's workout- mini leg blaster (400m run, followed by 3 rounds of: 10 squats, 10 walking lunges, 10 jumping lunges, 10 jump squats) then try and find our 30 rep max back squat. 
 
Huh?  I said the same thing last week when I walked into the gym.  30 rep max backsquat?  Ridiculous.  Last week, I was paired up with a very fit girl that snorts when she laughs.  It used to bother me, but now it cracks me up.  This girl is nuts, she teaches boot camp classes, (like I said, she's fit) and then comes and does WOD's with us, and smokes us all.  One thing that is annoying is that she never chooses to do as much weight as she can.  Anytime we are given the option to pick a lighter weight, she does.  I was determined to make her 30 rep backsquats reflect her ablitity!  So we were warming up, and she tries to say 65# is all she can do.  I talk her into trying 75#, and then finally, 85#- which she nailed 30 reps almost effortlessly.  Then it was my turn.  I saw some ladies from the morning had hit 95#, but I wanted to do more.  So I did 105#.  The last 10 reps were tough, but I got through it. 
 
Now today, I was paired up with one of my buddies who started attending the gym at roughly the same time I did.  Come to find out we know a lot of people in common because his family business used to be the #1 competitor of a former company I worked for, and his business is one of the main suppliers of products to the bf deluxes restaurant.  The world is a small place.  He and I gossip like school girls before workouts because the food/restaurant industry is fun to gossip about.  Anyway, we were both at class last week when we did this, but he was paired with a new guy, and ended up doing his 30 reps at 65#.  He and I both knew he can do more.  I told him my 30 rep was at 105#, and he decided to try for that.  We warmed up to 105#, and then he did his 30 reps.  I decided to try for more, and loaded another 10# on, for 115#.  It was tough, but I did it.  30 reps at 115#.  Another PR. 

251- Wind Under Me

Laptop is fixed, just need to get decent spyware software.  Still blogging from iphone, still have a bunch of things I want to post from the past week, but, BUT something happened today that was worthy of sharing.  Today was a workout that I have never seen at a CrossFit before.  I mean, it makes sense, but I've just never been present for it.  I walked into the gym and saw: Run 3 miles.
 
Ok.  I could do this.  I've been on exactly 2 runs since spraining the fuck out of my ankle.  Both were fine.  As we began the warm-up it became quickly apparent how sore I was from yesterday's workout.  Let's take a few sentences to go over yesterday...we did Death by Thrusters.  I think I've explained the "death by" format before, the clock starts, and you have 1 minute to perform 1 of whatever movement (in this case 65# thrusters).  You can choose to perform the movement right away, and then have the remaining time to rest, or you can wait till the last 10 seconds of the minute and perform the movement.  Just as long as on minute 1, you do 1.  Minute 2, you do 2, etc, etc.  Get it?  Its pretty boring until about minute 5, your rest time shrinks drastically, you begin to slow down, and by minute 9 in my case, I was done.  But we weren't done yet.  We got a 2 minute rest, and then had to work backwards from our highest completed round in the same format.  So, after my rest I had one minute to do 9 thrusters, and go back down to 1.  I tallied it up at the end, and I did 90 thrusters in 18 minutes.  Jesus. 
 
Alright, back to today and me noticing my soreness.  I swear when I woke up, I felt fine.  Now that I'm in the gym I'm instantly all-over sore?  Even more reason a nice 3 mile run would be good for me.  I learn the route, strap on my shoes, and head out.  The first mile SUCKED.  I couldn't get into a rhythm, and just felt slow, although I wasn't the last one.  There was one guy behind me.
 
Mile 2, felt better lungs wise, but my crazy sore quads were so heavy, it felt like I had weights strapped to my legs.  I didn't wear the best pants, and they kept slipping down my belly, forcing me to have to pull them up every 2 seconds.  Partway into mile 2, guy behind me passed me, but I kept right on him.  WTH?  I thought I was keeping a pretty even pace my ankle started out with a dull pain, but now I wasn't feeling anything- that can't be good.  He hit a stoplight and I caught up immediately.  I realized that this should be the end for me, I didn't want to push my ankle any farther.  As we are waiting for the light to change, he says to me "do you run, like as one of your outside of CrossFit activities?"  I was like, "um, I haven't been, I sprained my ankle 6 months ago, and haven't fully gotten back to it."  He's says "well, you have the wind under you, keep it up!"  
 
I was confused.  I mean, he and I were fighting it out for LAST, and he tells me that I'm doing really good?  Maybe he meant I'm doing good for someone as large as me.  Or maybe he wanted to make his ego feel better?  Or maybe he was just being real, and I'm a bitch that can't take a compliment.  Hmmm.  I'll think about that for awhile.  
 
Anyway, I headed back to the gym after mile 2, fearing I was at a 12 minute mile pace and didnt want to be running all night, and he kept going.  My time upon returning was 20 minutes, meaning that I was probably at a sub-10 minute mile.  Right back to where I was before ankle.  I think I'm going to start running more again.   

Technical difficulties

Having some issues with the laptop. They are being resolved soon. Don't worry, I'm still on track and have a plethora of posts lined up. Stay tuned.

258- New Year Re-resolutions

I've never been into New Year's Resolutions.  I guess because if I notice something about my behavior that I don't like, I resolve to fix it, whether its the middle of the week, middle of the month, or middle of the year.  Doesn't everyone do that?  I mean, if I felt lazy and out of shape March 11th, I'd resolve to start running or whatever and possibly start March 12th.  Usually I'd be good for a few weeks and then slowly peter out, only to make the same resolution again in August.  I suppose resolutions at the new year are just meant to be goals or things to work on, and who doesn't love the idea of a clean slate like the day 1/1 implies?!
 
As I put on my gym clothes today and was about to head out to my first workout of the new year, it dawned on me how lucky I am.  I'm in a pretty good groove right now.  I'm happy with my eating style, I'm happy with my workouts, and I've been steadily (sloowwwly) getting smaller since August.  My mood is almost always good, I like my job, my home, my friends, my family, my life.  I'm not starting from a resolution, I've been at this for months!  To honor that, I'm making a list of all the things I currently do that might be viewed as resolutions, but since I already do them, they are re-resolutions?
 
1) Eat clean- doing it!
2) Regularly attend a gym- Yup!
3) Drink more water- you betcha (and aiming for a gallon a day)!
4) Take supplements (fish oil, vitamin D for me)- yes
5) Pick specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound goals- this one is relatively new to me, but trying!
6) Lift weights- duh
7) Be less sedentary- standing desk!
 
A sense of relief swept over me as I headed out.  I can't explain it, for the first time in years I didn't feel any pressure to "make this year the best" because I know I'm already well on my way to making that happen.  Many many years of mine have passed with the best intentions for the new year.  I've never been good at sticking to what I tell myself I want to do, maybe because before I always picked things that were too hard, or unsustainable?  Looking back to how I got here today, to this feeling of relief, I see that I didn't do everything all at once.  I also stumbled some, but made sure to get right back at it.  Now making tweaks to my routine is easy.  For example: trying to drink a gallon of water a day.  I've already cut out soda and juices, and have been drinking water only as my beverage of choice, and adding a few more glasses per day won't be daunting like when I was 19 and FIRST STARTED DRINKING WATER.  Yeah.  Years of learning I tell ya!     

259- Paleo Waffle Review

Today is my last day off four days off work.  It has been fantastically relaxing, I've managed to get so much done around the house, and actually feel ready to go back to work tomorrow!  In honor of my final day home, I decided to search out something exciting and different to make for breakfast.  I really thought waffles sounded good, but doubted my ability to find some sort of grain-free, added sugar-free recipe.


Enter reason 1,327 of why I love the internet.  After about a half-second search, I found this beauty on Marks Daily Apple:

Primal Blueprint Recipe: Coconut Pancakes/Waffles from Adam Kayce on Vimeo.



Normally, when I go searching for a recipe and click on the one that looks most appealing, and I get a 'video' of how its done, I get super annoyed and click back.  Since this was a post on MDA, I felt that was a pretty good reference, so I watched.  This guy was actually mildly amusing.  He really had me at "entire can of coconut milk."  And he's not lying.  These are for people that love coconut.  If coconut is not your thing, sorry, and ha ha, you are MISSING OUT.  


If you don't want to watch the video, just fast forward to the last 10 seconds, the recipe is posted.  The instructions are simple- mix everything together.  I omitted the cinnamon.  Also, they need longer cooking time then regular pancakes/ waffles.  One thing I also learned is that they don't expand like traditional waffle recipes, so make sure you fill each square with batter- a lot of the batter is liquid, which evaporates (contributing to the non-expansion), and you are left with a rich, crispy treat.

It tasted so good, I almost forgot to take a pic.  I topped with grass-fed butter and sugarless preserves.  This is definitely not an every-weekend type of thing, once a month maybe?  They are very rich, suitable for a guilt free special occasion treat!  This recipe makes quite a bit of batter, so I might try the batter out as pancakes tomorrow.  

260-Janurary 1st Progress Update

Happy New Year!  I woke up this morning (without a hangover!) excited to watch the Rosebowl Parade and my Ducks play.  Then I learned that is tomorrow because the Rosebowl takes Sunday off.  WTF?  


Enough of that.  Let's get to the fun stuff, huh?  For those of you that have been reading for awhile, you know that December ended up being a tough month for me and I stumbled a little.  Looking back at my December 1st update, I KNEW it was going to be a tough month.  Here were my goals for the month of December:

Goals for December:

Continue eating a paleo diet

Continue to work on kipping swings at gym/increasing my dead hang hold time

Take fish oil and vitamin D daily 

More vegetables 

Formulate a good plan for all occasions coming up this month- Christmas party, Las Vegas, etc.

take a picture of myself today in a new outfit

perform as many push-ups as I can in a row (on my toes).  

Here are my pictures from December:

And here are my January pictures taken this morning:

 

I don't see that much difference.  Which is to be expected.  My side picture looks like my butt got bigger (it could just be the light), which I'm totally fine with- I keep having to explain to my mom that big butts are "in" right now.  

I'm about 0.5 pounds heavier on January 1st then I was on December 1st, but over the month I have lost 3 inches from my body.  

For the month of December:

Progress Report:

Recent lifts/workout feats that come to mind-

Back Extension hold- 1:40
Plank hold- 2:10
Box jumps- back on the 20" box!  

Sleep- getting plenty and still waking up before my alarm most days

Standing all day at work

Water consumption- fair

Supplements- really focused on vitamin D this month, and hope to continue that

How did I do on my mini-goals?  Fair I'd say.  The month started out well, and then just kinda fell off a cliff.  December challenge buddy had a lot going on, so I think we only managed 2 updates.  I was much better this month about taking supplements, I really think vitamin D is key here in NW winters.  

Oh, I did do my push-ups this morning, and on December 1st, I did 17 uninterrupted push-ups on my toes.  Today, I did 20. 

Goals for January:

Focus on getting back to a clean paleo diet- too many things have been slowly creeping back in (dark chocolate, nuts, corn chips, etc.)
Drink 1 gallon of water/day
Weekend at home kettlebell workouts with the new toy
Continue with Fish oil/vitamin D supplements


Ready, set, GO!  Here's to another great year filled with love, laughter, fitness, good food, family, friends, and success!