Just Me

Hey folks

2009-08-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Hey folks, long time inactivity on this blog, I know! With my new job and responsibilities, as well as time spent with Boo Boo and trying to start LIVING in our new city......I am a busy girl.

Health, exercise and nutrition are my passion; with nutrition and cooking being the biggest part. Therefore, I have made the decision to exclusively become a food blogger. You can find all my future posts at Gone Paleo, as I share what I know and am learning about truely healthy nutrition; as well as recipes (mine and others).

This blog will self-destruct in 7 days.

Oh Happy Day

2009-05-21T13:28:00.003-04:00

I made First Class! Say "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, MA1 Mathwig!"

Agh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm sure I woke someone up this morning with my screaming.

3 year plan is right on track, should be an officer by my 30th birthday.

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, God.

Thank you to all those in Iraq who forced me to study. Statistically speaking, I should have not advanced. My advancement came down to scoring well on the test and having extra points awarded for having an Associate's Degree.

Woohoo!

17MAY09

2009-05-17T23:28:00.003-04:00

Interesting WOD today - mostly challenging on the grip.

Warm up was some stretching and calisthentics, I forget which ones.

With a partner, 7 rounds of:
5 HPC, 65lbs
4 TGU, 15lbs

While one partner is completing the TGU's, the other is doing the HPC's. The person with the barbell can not put it down until the other person takes it from them. In between each round was 6 burpees.

15:47

The penalty for a dropped barbell was 12 burpees, thankfully we didn't do that.

The cool down was more for the guys than the gals - 3 rounds of:

Guys walk to the fence and back (60m?) with their female partner on their back, then they complete 5 deadhang pull-ups and continue to hold while the females farmer's walk to the fence and back (20lb KBs). Penalty for dropping from the bar was burpees. I paired with Marco, and as it turns out, actually weigh 5lbs more than him! Haha! Thankfully he did not drop from the bar, so no burpee penalty for us.

16MAY09

2009-05-16T14:54:00.000-04:00

Marco is evil.

Saturday morning class:

Light warm-up, just stretching and thruster skill work with pvc pipe.

With a partner:
5 rounds of:
7 thrusters - 65lbs
25M overhead barbell walk
7 thrusters
25m overhead barbell walk

One partner is completing the thrusters and walks, while the other is doing knees to elbows. I really didn't get that many KTE done I paired up with a strong male who was feeling a little ill, so this worked out well for the both of us in regards to pacing. Most of the thrusters were unbroken, but half my walks ended in the rack position instead of overhead

22:18

MY SHOULDERS HURT. I laid on the ground afterwards, rolling from one side to the other to stretch out and get the weight of my own arms off my shoulders. LOL. Following K-Starr's advice today and icing them off and on while I do my homework (and take a nap!).

14-15MAY09

2009-05-16T14:40:00.000-04:00

What's a great follow-up to Grace? Why 4 hours of riot control tactical movements, of course! Thank goodness there was a breeze Thursday

Thursday night:

Warm up was stretching with 3 rounds of 2 push-ups, 4 squats and 8 jumping jacks.

400m run

5 rounds of:
9 push press - 65lbs
18 KB swings - 16kg

400m run

16:42

My shoulders were TOASTED by round 3 and the last two rounds took forever! I loved this workout! The 2nd run was tough too, I had my arms hanging at my side the whole time (fatigue) and it feels very unnatural to run that way.

Friday morning:

30 minutes of the Navy's favorites: push-ups, various crunches and jumping jacks. We then had 15 minutes on our own in the gym. WORST military fitness facility I have ever seen. It was very crowded with machines and absolutely no extra space to mess around in. I grabbed a bar off a bench press and practiced power snatch and OHS. Did I mention my shoulders hurt?

Friday night:

Coached the class at the CF gym, but took the day off for myself. Played around with jump rope, some light cleans and weighted planks at the end of class.

Grace says "Ha!"

2009-05-14T00:32:00.000-04:00

I was quite ill over last weekend, and ended up laying in bed the majority of it. I found the endless amount of fast food and crappy restaurant commercials interesting and extremely annoying all at the same time. I also found not being able to work out extremely annoying. Go figure. Here is my catch-up for the week:

Monday morning - Class PT - I was NOT feeling this....who ever thought a 1-mile jog (in early morning Texas heat) could be so HARD? Let's just say I had an internal battle going on inside me the entire time.

Tuesday evening - Still not feeling too great but really wanted to get to the gym

"Triple Nickel"
5 rounds, 5 minutes, 1 minute rest in between

5 reps each:
Box Jumps (I did 18" step-ups/downs)
KB swings - 16kg
Hollow Rocks (or something resembling hollow rocks, but definitly was not a hollow rock)
Burpees
Lunges (5 each leg)

Continue the circuit for the whole 5 minutes. 1 COMPLETE circuit is 1 "round" If you do not finish a round before time is called, you must start that round over when time starts again.

I finished 9 rounds. Not too shabby....only I was PEEVED with myself that TWICE I was one rep short of finishing the round. Seriously? LOL, one of those rounds was when I acidentally threw the kettlebell and went to retrieve it before going onto my hollow rocks.

Wednesday morning - Class PT - feeling much better today!

Wednesday Evening - Today I completed my longest warm-up to a WOD EVER. Over the course of approximately 1 hour I did the following, interspersed with chit-chat and apprehension on my chosen WOD:

stretch, shoulder dislocates, 10 squats, 10 OHS with PVC, approximate 5 minutes of jump rope

5 HPC, 65lbs
5 Cleans, 65lbs
5 C and J, 65lbs
5 C and J, 75lbs

2 minutes of jump rope

500 meter row, erg 10, 1:51 (definite PR by far)

GRACE - 75lbs - 5:46

Did full squat cleans. This hurt. Had two additional failed reps in which I did not manage to get up out of the squat towards the end. It definitly helped having a coach standing right there! We were debating over my pacing plan (4-5 reps per minute) and he called for 10 reps per minute (yeh, right) and we agreed on 7 reps per minute. Well, I managed to get 11 reps out the first minute, then it all went downhill from there. Everytime I dropped the bar, I got a 10-second countdown to GET BACK ON THE ******* BAR. So, I did. I actually think this whole workout went rather well.

Yay Friday!

2009-05-08T20:14:00.000-04:00

Last night was a little odd, 3 mini-WODs...very tough on me because I went heavy.

21-15-9 of 170lb deadlifts and dips

10:20

Not a great time, but we were one bar short and I was going to share with someone but he caught up to me to quick so I sat out for a few minutes to let him finish, then jumped back in. The dips started out as band supported rings but my shoulder wasn't having it and I moved to supported parallettes for the majority.

Then we did 2-man WOD of KB swings and sprints. I did 1 POOD KB, but no idea how many rounds/reps I actually did. I was exhausted.

Finish was 25 KTE and 400m run.

This morning I had standard Navy PT - stretching, push-ups, crunches followed by a short run. I volunteered to be road guard so I could get some sprints in.....bad idea. I'm so exhausted now. I decided not to go to the gym tonight. Eating lots of protein (bacon, pepperoni and eggs) and some good carbs (Rogue beer!

06MAY09

2009-05-07T13:03:00.000-04:00

Warm-up was stretching and then a mix of sprints and static holds of plank, squat and leg extension.

400M run
20 push-ups (knees)
20 cruches
20 lunges
400m run
20 kb swings - 16kg
20 sit-ups
20 squats
400m run
20 push press - 20kg
20 ab twist - 8kg KB
20 box jumps - 20 inch
400m run

22:20

The running hurt being my second time running for the day. Our first lap was actually longer because someone hijacked the cone marking the turn around! The reps sucked but were manageable.

Cool down for me was cleaning up all the equipment while coaching someone through the WOD. This included 7 total tire flips - estimated 300lb tire. Surprisingly easy but shouldn't wear flip flops when doing it.

PFT PR

2009-05-06T08:47:00.000-04:00

Quick post:

Just finished a Navy PFT....

2:00 Max of:
Sit-Ups - 61, minimum for my age group is 47

Push-ups - 15, I did the minimum because my right arm refuses to function right after all of Sunday's stuff, but I broke 90 degrees on all

1.5 mile run - 12:46! This is definitly a PR by at least 1:15 to 1:30 from last year and definitly all previous years that I have run the PFT. :pepper: I wasn't even running that fast, I was real dry in the mouth and didn't feel like pushing it.

Yay me.

Lonestar CF!

2009-05-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Well, the drive from San Diego to San Antonio went really well. I made it almost half way the first day, and buried the speedometer needle the second and made it here in great time. God's Country is gorgeous. Slept in today, did some homework, went to WF.....and went to check out Lonestar CrossFit. Very nice and friendly group! Turns out Sunday is team WODs day.

There was some misunderstandings between the posted WODs and what each team actually did, so I'm just going to write it the way my partner and I did the WOD:

20 MIN AMRAP - 2 person teams

40 push-ups with a "low five" clap in between each one (mostly knees for me)
20 sit-ups (each) with 14lb wall ball (touch ball behind head, then pass off to partner)
200m run with wall ball (we shared the ball, 100m each)

3 rounds plus 17 push-ups.....I was so dry, I had to stop for water twice. My partner did great, staying in the leaning rest when I was stretching out my arms during the push-ups. In case anyone's math sucks - I DID 137 PUSH-UPS. Fudge!

Class starts tomorrow, back to the real world of the NAVY. Should be interesting.

Check out my other blog, gonepaleo.blogspot.com for this month's eating without a kitchen!

WOD Catch-Up

2009-04-27T19:04:00.000-04:00

Ok, I haven't done very much over the past few weeks.....things have been crazy busy and I was plumb WORE OUT from traveling and sleeping on anything besides a bed.

From the Level 1 Cert:

Saturday:

6 rounds of tabata squats - 12 all across - I had a very large muscle in my inner thigh hurting that morning. I was so MAD at myself because my squats were really sucking and looked like I knew NOTHING about CF.

Fran - 55lbs, jumping pull-ups - 5:46 - surprisingly enough, my inner thigh stopped hurting during the first round of thrusters

Sunday:

AMRAP 10 min - 7 reps of 14lb med ball clean, push-ups - 8 complete rounds, with the first 3.5 rounds of push-ups all on my toes

There was some skill work which included a 500m row, and I rowed a 1:59 with erg 6! I was also told my kipping pull-up form was good, I'm just not quite to the bar yet.

Um, let's see, my notebook is not in front of me right now:

Wednesday, April 22:

10 16lb wallballs
5 20 inch box jumps
3 CTB Pull-ups - green band

6:something, extremely slow, I've been having a couple drinks every night, so that's probably another reason I've been a little slow. Need to get off of vacay!

Thursday, April 23:

Filthy Fifty, some mods IRT weight, 45:58, I think? I went slow, just wanted to complete the reps and not stress so much on time. It was HOT on Thursday. I SHOULD'VE done the double-unders a heck of a lot faster though, they took me like 7 minutes because I was only doing singles and doubles and resting to long in between.

Taking kind of a long break over the weekend, went to watch the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, very inspiring ladies there! I'm totally on for next years games! Which means I have a lot of work to do!

Kyle was gone for the weekend, and I wanted last night to be special for him when he got home, so I made a chili, which turned out to be AWESOME. Recipe will be on http://gonepaleo.blogspot.com

Locavore?

2009-04-24T12:37:00.001-04:00

As some of you know, I'm going to attempt to food shop for only locally grown/produced foods this summer. Although I have not made the full effort at this time, I have taken note of what I am buying. At the grocery store (conveniently located across a very busy street) they have everything labeled from what country it came from. Very nice feature, very dissapointing at how many fruits and vegetables came from outside the USA. Same thing with the two organic stores we have been to - some of it is local, a lot of it is not. I have not had time and/or vehicle to check out the farmer's markets yet.

Down the street is a Meat Market, very awesome! All the meats, seafood and veggies sold there are from the East Coast and the processing is all natural. Not all the meats are organic, but sometimes the choice between buying local or organic must be made.

We bought some berry bushes the other day, which will hopefully produce for us next summer (if I ever get them planted). Also, we purchased some small potable herbs and peppers. Still need to go get tomatos and basil sometime this weekend. I'm a little peeved about the chemicals being put on our lawns though by the HOA - which means one of us is going to have to be on the HOA.

Bright spot - also at the grocery store is a good sized section devoted to regional wines!

Online!

2009-04-24T12:20:00.000-04:00

Yay! After two weeks of intermittent to no internet, I am back online....for a few days anyways. We will see how things go when I am driving to/at school in Texas.

I'll post my WODs later on today. I am Level 1 certified now! Thanks to Gayle for picking me up not only for the cert, but getting me to the gym the past few days as well! I'm totally getting my ass kicked and realizing I need to GET TO CROSSFITTING!

I am down 7 lbs since my return to stateside, just as I expected. My daily activity level is WAY up, and my food quality is 200% better. Haha. I've been eating super dark chocolate, beer, wine, bacon, bacon grease, Ben and Jerry's.....and still losing weight! LOVE IT!

The new neighborhood is wonderful. The house is slowly coming together, even though I still don't have a clue what I am doing when it comes to home ownership and the like. Wash machine is being delivered this afternoon, so I think once I get all the laundry done, things will be so much better (decided to wash EVERYTHING since it was in storage for so long).

Micana and Kitty are doing great, even tolerating each other's presence up to about 12 inches. They did so well on the flight, it was amazing. Kitty is being her mischevious self, even ventured out for a walk the other night via a large gap at the bottom of the patio fence. Need to take care of that. Micana loves the neighborhood as well, lots of new scents.

As always, Kyle is awesome and amazing.

Until the next time!

status update

2009-04-16T10:53:00.000-04:00

Hi all! I've been crazy busy and then crashing (early) at the end of each day here in San Diego. Now that things are "mellow-ish," it is time to pack up again and head to MY NEW HOME IN CHESAPEAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

Except home lacks furniture and clothes due to a slight mishap/delay on the part of the moving company. So, basically, it's me, Kyle and our four legged loved ones sleeping on the floor for a few days. It doesn't matter. Not when you are with the love of your life.

CrossFit Level 1 Certification is this weekend also! I'm super excited to meet Gayle tomorrow, and for our weekend of fun! Although fun may be an overstatement when I have (cough cough) been slacking (cough cough). Totally unprepared....totally should've put more thought into this one when I signed up, but I was so mad at myself for not going to a cert last year when they were constantly in San Diego.

Here are some pics from the weekend with the crew:

The beautiful ladies.

Gibbo!

Mikey!
(Mikey doesn't get a posted picture because I don't like the way I look :) )

Birthday dinner at The Linkery

Grilled asparagus in ginger soy sauce (the beers were awesome, the Wipe Out better than the Hot Rocks)

Country-fried pig's ear chopped salad

Chorizo and goat cheese grilled flatbread

Grassfed Burger with "The Lot"

The Links - Asian Pork, Klobasa and Chicken Munson

This is where the picture I didn't take of the fruit and cheese tray would go. We also enjoyed a tap beer called 30th St. Pale.

Dessert! With delish french press coffee.

No, I did not eat ALL of this....we split everything in 1/3rds. That is the ONLY way to truely enjoy the Linkery IMO.

Skinny Cat!

The Hippies

Darn, I forgot to get a picture with newly super thin Sam and the always fabulous Lions Ladies.

2nd WOD of the day

2009-04-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

500 meter warm up jog to the track

401m walking lunges, 310 steps, 20:10 (last 5 minutes was raining)

The first 100 lunges or so were done with a complete "step-through" to each lunge, sets of 10 before doing a little "shake-off". The majority of the last 210 all had a pause before stepping completely through (sets of 10 again). These were painful, and when I started to lose balance, I could only think of Renee calling me a wimp again.

The last time I did the true 400m was in 2007 (my not so serious about CF days) and it was 300 steps in 23:something. I have at least one more time where I did 200m, but I didn't look for that in my book.

What usually follows 400m of lunges? For some reason I have 5k in my book and that just sounds HORRIBLE.

Oh, haha, forgot to mention that when we stayed in those tents the other night, I slipped coming out of the shower trailer and twisted my left knee a bit and even though it felt better today, I am feeling an extra twinge on that side now.

Yay CrossFit!

Not so terrific WOD day

2009-04-08T08:25:00.000-04:00

Somedays, you just need to do SOMETHING even if it isn't much.

I have been eating kinda crappy, drinking froo-froo coffees and sleeping on a terribly hard mattress for the past couple of days (plus, still having "issues" leaving me kinda dehydrated). Finally got back into the gym this morning, not much, just something to get me going again.

Just some stretching for warm-up.

Back Squats
20kg x 5 x 2
60kg x 5 x 3

Crappy form on last set, weight felt really heavy from the very begining.

Started to do 21-15-9 of burpees, 35# DB swings and squats, but only made it through round 1. Whatever. I'm going to go out and do 400m walking lunges once it cools down a bit.

The gym here BLOWS.

It's good to be an O-6

2009-04-07T11:58:00.000-04:00

Or at least to travel with a few....

Well, as I should've expected, our flight from Baghdad left no where CLOSE to the originally projected time. It was 8 hours late, which put us in Kuwait around 0130. From there, we had to be bussed to the nearest base, and since it was already so late, we did not get bussed to our final location. Instead, we were put in tents for 4 hours, and told to muster bright and early for the bus.

Now, just in the interest of time, here is a list of what I DID have available to me in the tent: 1 plastic covered mattress, stridex pads, toothbrush, toothpaste, and my long sleeved undershirt which I utilized for a pillow :) I managed about 2 hours of off/on sleep in the crowded, warm tent on the top rack of a very questionable bunk.

So we mustered bright and early only to be told that since the MAJORITY of the group hadn't shown up, the busses had been cancelled! What? The minority (which was still close to 40 people) no longer had a reliable way to get to our final destination? That sucked. As we baked in the semi-shaded bleachers, reading books and taking naps, the O-6's and a take-charge O-5 made some contacts, and I'm sure a few complaints. Between them, a retired CPO in charge of transportation and the wonderful people here at the Warrior Transition Program, four hours later we had some busses, and an hour after that we were on the road.

Camp Arifjan is a true oasis in the desert. The tents are clean, bright and air-conditioned (enough). Everything is close together, the rocks are minimal and the showers are spacious. We are mostly on down time here, told to relax and enjoy our little mini-vacation before the never ending commitments of family, friends and duty. It's crazy to think of how different live is going to be in a few days, as I will seemingly be "running around like a mad woman," all in the interest of life.

Life is good.

Surprise, surprise!

2009-04-04T13:58:00.000-04:00

A birthday party for ME? How exciting! They even managed to keep it a secret until about an hour beforehand.

Chilling at Uday and Qusay's pad for the party......getting crazy with the refined carbohydrates!

Yet another prime example of my inability to take ANYTHING seriously ;)

48 hours, give or take.....

2009-04-03T05:57:00.000-04:00

Yep, it's almost time to ditch this luxurious vacation resort....thank goodness!

I've been making lots of plans for my return to San Diego, for my vacation in Chesapeake and for the summer (plans stop there since I'll be going on deployment again at the end of the year). It's exciting, it's scary, it's all-in-one thrilling.

Can't wait to be back with my Boo Boo.

Can't wait to see the new home (although I am still apprehensive that I'm going to hate the flooring I picked out!).

Can't wait to use a bathroom without having to stumble through varying degrees of gravel. (On that note: If the boys are going to miss the urinal in the porta-potty anyways, why do they bother using the porta-potty?)

Can't wait......for it all!

Gotta go, lunch time!

April Fool's

2009-04-01T05:16:00.000-04:00

I am already well aware that any and all of the following may be classified as bitching, whining and/or TMI.

Sunday - Intentional rest day, was kind of busy, although I don't remember what and my shoulders were killing me from Saturday's WOD mash-up.

Monday - I don't know what happened Monday????? Where have my days dissapeared to? Agh! I'm so confused!

Tuesday - Something I ate on Monday hates me......along with the multiple trips to the bathroom I became very dehydrated yesterday and decided to just chill in the CHU and drink lots of tea and water and get to sleep early.

Today - woke up at 0500. Laid in bed for 90 minutes contemplating the realities of doing a WOD today, finally got up and made some coffee and kicked my own butt out the door. Started off ok......ended not so well.

2:00 min warm-up jog (approx. 300 meters) 15 squats, some stretching

Was supposed to be 4 x 800m runs, but I set the garmin wrong (400m) which I didn't realize until the first round was done. 2 minute breaks in between.

1: 2:40 - could've ran a heck of a lot faster if I hadn't been pacing for 800m
2: 1:44 - yay!
3: 2:06 (my stomach hates me, my stomach hates me, my stomach hates me)
4: Fail, took me 20 minutes to walk the last 1/2 mile back to my CHU including 2 porta-potty stops (Bless those TCN's for keeping the johns CLEAN).

Felt like vomiting, passing out, horrible horrible cramps.......lesson learned to not attempt this sort of thing again when likely highly dehydrated and still sick.

Had a delicious breakfast though (although my stomach disagreed to that also). I went two days of no grains/no sugar. The belgian waffles looked good today (actually the first time I have ever seen them offered), so I had one of those with apple-cinnamon topping, 4 eggs and some polish sausage. The best thing about eating the way I do - I can allow myself to have a HUGE breakfast and not feel guilty for going over calories recommendations or like I have to eat again in 3 hours to meet some stupid dietary guidelines. I might have some ice cream later, then I am shooting for Thursday-Saturday of NG/NS. I'm trying to push up to 4-5 days at a time of NG/NS, which should put me at a mentally healthy 90/10 ratio of good food choices/not so good food choices.

28MAR09

2009-03-28T17:20:00.000-04:00

Ha, I felt those GSC's today! I think the ONLY reason I have never really puked at the gym is because I would feel bad when the TCN's rushed over to clean it up.

Warm-Up
Run from CHU to gym (maybe 380m? I forget)
CFWUx2, no pull-ups, 3 straight dips (made sure I dropped my armpits below my shoulders, ouch) plus 1

Bench Press Warm-Up
20kg x 10
29kg x 10
37kg x 5
42.3kg x 5

I mashed Karen and Lynne together...and I hate doing pull-ups at the gym because their bars suck....so this is what I got:

5 Rounds:
10 42.3kg BP
250m row (damper 5)
30 11.5# wallball

4 minute breaks between each round

Rd 1: 4:21 - 10/1:04/11-remaining unbroken
Rd 2: 4:39 - 10/1:05/12-8-10
Rd 3: 5:12 - 7-3-2/1:09/10x3
Rd 4: 5:22 - 7-3-2/1:12/10x3
Rd 5: 5:29 - 4-3-2-1/1:11/10x3

Anyone else find that wallballs get easier as your body gets number??? I was about 50/50 on catching WHILE squatting and catching THEN squatting. Pretty brutal overall on my upper body even though I didn't rush anything. I just didn't want to be the person who dropped the barbell on their head while BPing.

7 and a wake-up!

Note: Curry and sauerkraut do not mix well.

Confessions

2009-03-26T17:53:00.000-04:00

I did something today that I haven't done since the Christmas holiday time. I over ate foods that are not good for my body. I purposefully thought of and purchased foods that I knew I didn't want nor would help me recover from today's tough WOD. Not only were these foods not good for my body, I DIDN'T REALLY LIKE THE TASTE. I just wanted to eat them.

I set myself up for disaster about a week ago, putting myself on a strict "I'm not eating any more dessert bar in Iraq." I already know this type of thinking doesn't work for me when it comes to controlling my food for fuel intake.

What does work for me is knowing that I CAN eat whatever foods I want but that some are better than others, that some will make me sick (and I need to be willing to pay the consequences) and that some will make me feel amazing. So amazing that I feel better, sleep better, think better and train better.

What surprised me tonight.....at the point where I was sure the bag of chips/chocolate was empty because I felt so horribly stuffed and disgusting.....I had barely made a dent in the bag. Progress through failure? I used to eat a whole bag of chips or candy and not even blink an eye.

Some qoutes I've found inspiration in lately:

Everything in moderation, even moderation - Veronica Carpenter

Dan John summed it up pretty good when talking about the V-Diet. It's a 28 day battle and you must stayed focused on that battle, period. Family, friends, work, dogs, sailing, skiing, etc do not come first, but rather the V-diet for 28 days comes first, period, end of story.

Now I know, some might think that is extreme, well, NO SH-T, it is EXTREME. Chances are the person that is on this diet is FAT and has been FAT and has not lost weight via other programs, so now it's time to declare war on the FAT. It's not for everyone, in fact, most fail, but those that do make it, feel stronger (least mentality), then return to a more healthy eating style(hopefully).

So, what's this got to do with your post, well Ms. Marianne, you need to plan better. You really need to think about what your next day eating is going to be like, THE NIGHT BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have a business meeting, or sporting event, you either eat before, or more on point, bring your own food. Don't tell me you can't do that, just mention, you have a food allergy or must eat certain foods. Done, don't need to explain any further. Open up your little fancy lunch pail and eat your own foods, which in most cases people will say "that looks good, wish I would have thought to bring some healthier food like that"

I have a friend that has Celiac disease, so no Gluten for her, and she has no problem passing up the pasta and bread made with junk white flour, but rather when the mood strikes, makes her own bread using potato, rice flours and a host of other gluten free products.

As to nuts, if they're your downfall, don't keep them in the house, or buy very small amounts. You probably are craving more fat vs the salt.

Bottom line, how bad, how really, really bad do you want to lose weight, get stronger, become a lean mean fighting machine????????????

Willing to be talked about, maybe lose a so called friend or too, go to bed earlier, maybe miss up a few social functions, yada yada yada.

Look at anyone that is at the top of their game, and you'll see someone that lives the 3 D's.

Discipline
Determination
Dedication

Everyone wants to go to Heaven, No one wants to Die. - Jay Cohen

I don't know about you, but I had never had a rockstar physique, but I've had ice cream before. I like choosing new things. - JT Scott

26MAR09

2009-03-26T17:40:00.000-04:00

Back on the mainpage for a little bit. CFSB was fun, but my legs were dying last week. Maybe I'll pick it up again in a few weeks.

For time:
75kg Deadlift, 21 reps
Run 800 meters
75kg Deadlift, 15 reps
Run 800 meters
75kg Deadlift, 9 reps
Run 800 meters

Round 1: 11/5/5, treadmill at 7mph
Round 2: 5/5/5, treadmill at 7mph
Round 3: 3/3/3, treadmill at 7.5mph, then the last 150meters or so was at 8.0mph

20:25

I actually ran more than 800 meters, I think. I always run the treadmill .01 miles over what I'm shooting for to make up for getting up to speed at the begining.

How come the deadlifts aren't hurting like they normally do after a METCON? I mean, it WAS heavy....

Conundrum

2009-03-23T17:19:00.000-04:00

I was playing around with an online body fat calculator today (a few actually). I first inputted my actual numbers and came up with 29-30%. Then I inputted my normal, non-deployment weight (which I still believe I will quickly go back to within the next 6 weeks) and came up with 27%. I then started changing the numbers, except for my height and my, uh, booty size (hips). See, I like the booty. It's part genetics, part CF, all good. No matter what other numbers I put in, without dropping my booty size, it would not calculate below 27%.

For the record, my waist and abdomen size are DOWN half an inch since December and the booty is UP half an inch.

Do I really want to sacrifice the booty for a lower BF%? There has to be a compromise somewhere.

22MAR09

2009-03-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

WAY to much chit chat at the gym today considering I was short on time as usual. People kept coming up to me to ask if I was/why I wasn't/would I please join their time for the MWR cup? Which I knew about, but I was unaware of the different events they were having. Today was squats. I told a guy I would join his team next week for bench press. So, I'm going to need to rearrange my schedule a little bit this week.

Oh, and since I didn't know about the squat thing today, I almost had a heart attack upon entering the gym! My beloved power rack was missing! In it's place was a C2......turns out the rack was in the aerobics room or the competition and the gym finally has another rower.

Not much of a warm-up at all, just a few push-ups.

Lift
Shoulder Press

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5 x 2

Work Set
25 x 5
30 x 5
35 x 5

These all felt pretty decent, the 35kg was much better than last week when I struggled through all 5 reps. I did record them (how many jump boxes and 10lb weights does it take to get a decent frame of shoulder press? ALOT!) but am kind of embarrassed at something I didn't realize I have been doing.

21kgs x 15-12-9

Solid, but tough, definitly was seeing things by the end of this though.

METCON
10->1
25kg Push Press
Burpees

14:53

Ouch.

Push presses went like this: 10 and 6-1 were unbroken; 9 was 7/2, 8 was 4/4 and 7 was 4/3.

Burpees: All but the first 5 push-ups were on my knees, but all were unbroken and I more or less maintained the same speed throughout.

I paused for water and breath each round between 9 and 5, but pushed through the last 4 rounds quickly.

Oh, and I had to clean everything from the floor again AND hit myself in the chin on the last push press of the 10-rep round.

21MAR09

2009-03-21T18:34:00.000-04:00

Today was an oddly amusing day in the gym, mostly with myself.

Warm-Up
500m row 2:08 Damper 5 - there was something very OFF about this thing today
Some stretching, squats

Lift
Front Squats

Warm-Up
20kg x 5
30 x 5

Work-Set
35 x 5 x 2
40 x 5 x 2

On the first warm-up set, I apparently wasn't very awake. I stepped into the power rack, ensured the bar was at proper height, got it tucked in nice and tight, stepped back, squatted....WHAM.....I had forgotten to check the height of the catch bars on the side, and totally rammed the bar into my throat HARD. A little bit worse than a heavy clean to the throat. Kept the weights light to work on squatting lower. Wasn't happy with the 3rd set, so hence 4.

METCON
30kg Hang Squat Clean 5->1
70kg Deadlifts 5->1
18" Box Jumps 10-15-20-25-30

11:08

This METCON was too much fun for me. I was going to do lighter deads, but 70 was already on the bar so I went for it. HSC's hurt, balance was off. Oh, and I smacked myself in the chin with the bar during the set of 3. Deads were kinda easy. Box jumps - first two rounds fast and unbroken, round 3 was slower and unbroken, round 4 was 10/10/5 and Round 5 was 10/10/10.

Since I've started working out in the morning, a couple of days I have taken a cue from George Mounce and had a little bit of Agave Nectar in my pre-WOD coffee. I did that today, and despite the whole bar to the throat thing, I was more awake and alert for the WOD. I'm almost out of agave, but will be notating for the next few days if I am more coherent or not.

19MAR09

2009-03-19T07:47:00.000-04:00

I do believe today is Grandma's birthday......let's just say she's kinda old and still kickin' it!

Despite not falling asleep until WAY past my intended bed time, and waking up early to the TCN's leveling gravel outside my CHU door....I'm feeling pretty good. Beautiful spring day here in Baghdad, so I grabbed my Garmin and took the long route to pick up laundry. So beautiful, I should've worn sunscreen. I haven't ran distance/outside since.....November, maybe? Felt pretty good.

2.44km (roughly equivalent to 1.5 miles, Navy standard PT run): 13:48

Good considering I was real thirsty and didn't really push it. Followed with approximately 5 minute recovery walk.

Then, I decided to do 200m x 4, and set the intervals wrong so it ended up being 200m x 5 (1 minute rest/walk).

1:00
:57
:53
:52
:51

I need to get back to running. I swear I'm going to do a marathon one of these days.

17MAR09

2009-03-17T19:25:00.000-04:00

Was supposed to meet someone at the gym this morning, which for me meant 2 WODs in less then 24 hours...and I didn't sleep. But he was a no-show, so I just did the lifts.

Lift
Deads

Warm-Up
40kg x 5
60 x 5

Work-Set
100 x 3
105 x 3
115 x 1

Somebody's dumb*** loaded the bar wrong for the first set and didn't feel like unloading it, so I gave it a shot anyways. I probably could have gone for 2 and 3 on the 115 if I had reset, but I didn't feel like it. I think that has been my theme all day.

random

2009-03-16T17:18:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted any random thoughts in a few days. I had one going earlier today, but then the situation that caused me to think about it changed.

I have a headache, my shoulders hurt, I'm easily annoyed, and food still has no taste. But all in all, things are going swell as the countdown nears single digits.

16MAR09

2009-03-16T17:18:00.001-04:00

I think I may be reaching my max backsquat soon.....

Warm-Up
500m row (erg 5) - 2:00 even
stretching, squats, push-ups, more squats with static hold (already tired at this point )

Lift
Back Squat

Warm-Up
20kg x 5
40 x 5

Work Set
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 2

Yep, didn't try for that 3rd one, even though I thought about it for a couple of seconds. Recorded all three sets today. Form was best on set 2. Will post on digital coaching later. Very SOB throughout all 3 sets.

METCON
AMRAP 10 min:
10 20kg thrusters
10 push-ups

5 rounds plus 5 thrusters

Notes: First 2 sets of thrusters were unbroken, all remaining thrusters done in sets of 5. First round of push-ups was full ROM unbroken, remaining sets were on my knees, mostly 4-6.

I need to lay off the shoulders for a bit.

15MAR09

2009-03-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Rushed morning, had to clean the weight from the floor (which is ok, because the two squat racks were actually being used for squats! it's a first!)

Warm-up
400m run on treadmill 7mph
stretching, 10 push-ups (nose to ground)

Lift
Shoulder Press

Warm-Up
20kg x 5 x 2

Work Set
25 x 5
30 x 5
35 x 5

35kg was kind of ugly and painful. Will stick at this weight for one more week.

21kg x 12-9-6

Slow in general, breathing was difficult, the set of 9 was tough!

No METCON, not going to sweat it either since I'm not planning a rest day until Wednesday. I'm really liking working out first thing in the morning, but it is taking some getting used to for sure. I am having one cup of coffee and my standard liter of water before going to the gym, but general coherency is lacking.

Virtuosity

2009-03-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

Photo as requested....I'll have to take another one of the front side of the shirt, I didn't get any full length pictures of that. It says "get your big girl panties on" with underwear (the full coverage kind) smack dab in the middle.

The more I know about CrossFit....the more I realize I know SO LITTLE and have so much difficulty in retaining and repeating the scientific part of CF. I want to be able to coach people effectively, I want to be able to answers their questions about WHY CF works. I want to LOOK CF, and I want to BE CF. I want to be able to follow the nutrition guidelines I KNOW work.

I came across Coach's Virtusity letter (while searching for a Journal article to back up some information). I had never read it before. But, as usual, he makes perfect sense. There is no house without a foundation, and there is no virtuosity in CF without a good grasp of the most basic of movements. I've skipped around on some of the basics either due to lack of knowledge or just plain don't like them (sumo deadlift high pull, anyone?).

I'm really hoping the Level 1 cert (36 days!) will help me set straight some of my confusion.

Goals for the rest of this month:

Keep working on my pull-ups
Start doing turkish get-ups (dumbbell)
No more dessert bar :(

12MAR09

2009-03-12T05:02:00.000-04:00

Not a good METCON day.

Warm-Up
400m run on treadmill 1.0 incline 7.5mph
CFWU x 2 (no dips or pull-ups)

METCON
3 rounds:
5 SDLHP #55lbs
10 HSC #55lbs
5 pull-ups (blue band, 1st round was "kip", 2 and 3 were deadhang)

MY GRIP FAILED. My original intent was 15 pull-ups and AMRAP 20 minutes, but that got changed when I realized I should've brought the green band (again). Didn't matter, because in the second round of HSC, my forearms started screaming and my grip completely gave out on me. I could barely get my thumb to close over the bar(s).

Why did my grip fail? Someone tell me, please. Yesterday was a rest day (I even got a wonderful 13 hours of sleep). I hve been GTG deadhangs at work, but nothing excessive....probably around 8 a night. I haven't done anything lately that would've taxed the forearms.

Help???

Guess I just got to push it tomorrow with the front squats and METCON.

really?

2009-03-12T02:20:00.000-04:00

Can't sleep, so today I decided to amuse myself by trying on my civilian clothes, just to see how they fit.

Rockies Jeans: These have always been a solid "good fit" for me, provided I wasn't bloated. Same thing today, a good fit, maybe a slight bit more skin than usual hanging on the sides, but a comfortable fit in general.

Blue/White checkered long sleeved shirt from American Eagle: When Kari first gave me this shirt, it did not fit. I could not get an appropriate amount of buttons to close. Then, one day I could get the buttons closed and realized the shirt was a great gauge of "back fat" for me. Sometimes it fit, sometimes it didn't. Today all the appropriate buttons closed, but it is now tight on my rather muscular arms (and I'm perfectly ok with that).

My Girl Power CrossFit t-shirt: I actually just ordered this shirt a couple of weeks ago, LOVE IT. Coupled with the jeans, overall looks good and fits comfortably, but a thorough inspection of self-portraits (yes, ok, I'm BORED) shows the little bit of skin thats popping out the top of the jeans and a little too stretched across the upper back.

It has been duly noted that all my weight gain is muscle. Blah.

Going to the gym soon, 20 minute METCON day! I have a good one in store! I'm a little scared after the METCON I did Monday night....I plan brutal.

10MAR09

2009-03-10T17:14:00.000-04:00

I haven't had an appetite for a couple of weeks now....led me to eating a lot of junk because of the way it tasted to me (I'm sure there are great psychological/physiological answers for this too). I've been getting better the past couple of days, but food is still not strongly appealing. So, yesterday after my late night WOD, I found myself forcing food down my throat - which still didn't meet half my daily needed calories. So, of course, I woke up hungry (and having to pee while listening to a rainstorm) and only got like 2 hours of sleep before the advancement exam.

EXAM SUCKED. I studied all the right topics this time, just the wrong questions. Also, what kind of advancement exam doesnt have ANY Navy history or uniform regulations on it? I was really dissapointed in the content of the test, even though I think I did well overall. At the very least, I could rule out 2 of the 4 answers given.....

WOD went well, despite circumstances.

Warm Up
400m run on treadmill at 1.0 incline/7mph
some stretching, static hold squats

Lift
Deads

Warm-Up
40kgs x 5
60 x 5

Work Set
90 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 2-1-1-1

I REALLY wanted that 110 to be a straight set. I took an extra long break before starting it. I guess I will attempt it next week again with 3x3.

70kg x 12-9-6 - this went unbroken today, even though I started taking extra breaths about half way through each set. I've never worked out at this time before at the gym, so I had a brand new audience today.

Was short on time and breath, did a few handstands and left.

Thought of the day:
You know you've drank too much kool-aid if you immediately follow your contrast shower with squats.

09MAR09

2009-03-09T16:48:00.000-04:00

I'm back! As well as my gym partner is back, so today was a lot of fun in the gym!

I decided since I missed most of last week, I would re-do week 3 of CFSB. This works out really well actually, because it'll put my rest/half week the week that I am doing all my flying. Then the next week will be a light week in prep for the certification.

Lift
Backsquats

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5
40kgs x 5

Workset
60x5
65x5
75x5

75kgs was pretty hard, it hurt. I might need to do a 3x3 next week. I may shoot for 80kgs though. We’ll see how I’m feeling by the end of this week.

METCON
3 rounds:
15 25# dumbbell thrusters (2 dbs, 1st round was 10/5, I have no clue what happened after that)
15 25# db swing (1 db, all unbroken)
15 25# db walking lunges (2 dbs, broken, had difficulty “stepping through” each lunge)

12:08

I just want to say that this REALLY SUCKED. I wasn’t sure if it was going to suck enough….but it was way worse than I anticipated. My butt cheeks hurt. Neither one of us could handle doing handstands afterwards.

I have a lot on my mind as usual, but am tired and have an advancement exam in 8 hours......

So tired

2009-03-05T22:26:00.000-05:00

My body is tired, but the mind is not. I often lie awake, or stay on the computer until I literally can not keep my eyes open....because there is to much going through my head. I am unable to relax. I want to sleep because I know my body needs it, but in the back of my mind I want to stay awake because I feel as if there is so much more I could be doing with my day.

I've got an advancement exam in 4 days. New, kind of heavy, workload. A home to buy (hello, stressful!!!!!). An old dog and a cancerous cat to move across country. School to attend. A new command to impress. Friends to make. Old friends that I need to stay in contact with. FAMILY. Homework. CrossFit.

Whenever I lay down, a to-do list starts running through my head. All the things I didn't do and the reasons I didn't do them. Some reasons are legit, some are out of my control, some are just a product of message board procrastination. (But, truthfully, I love the message boards and the people on them and all that I have learned and continue to learn). The less sleep I get, the less I am prepared for my day. If I train, I am not recovering properly. An endless circle of events that leads me to feeling BEAT and frustrated.

Although procrastination and endless to-do lists are not new to me, my reaction to them is unique to my current situation. I am usually able to set myself a list, accomplish it in a somewhat timely manner all while maintaining a busy daily life with plenty of Boo Boo time and 8 hours of sleep (and message boards). Not here. Somehow at the begining of this deployment, I thought I would have more time to do certain things - homework, reading, working out. I mean, I don't watch t.v., I don't sit in traffic, I don't have to cook myself dinner....and yet somehow, this time has been replaced with other events. Events that do nothing for the motivation of my soul.

I want my soul motivated. I want some sleep. I want to know how to not fall into this trap on my next deployment (about 6 months away if you are wondering).

03MAR09

2009-03-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

Today went much better overall. Ate a 2P/2C/5F snack around 2200, got to the gym around 0100, started deadlifting at 0115 and the METCON at 0200. Could barely fit all my minimum food requirements in for the day afterwards. I tried to meet the protein requirements, everything else was low.

Warm-Up - 5 minutes jump rope (more D/U's! Yay!)

Lift
Deadlift

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5 reps
40 x 5

Work Set
80 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 5

The last rep was a small struggle. I thought I could've done more, but since this is the first week I've managed to get deads into CFSB, thought I should start out light.

70kgs x 12-9-6

About 5 minutes laying on the deadlift platform gasping for air. The 12-9-6 was tough!

METCON
2 Rounds
500m row (kinda slow)
15 20" box jumps (unbroken)
15 45# thrusters (sets of 5, great form)

11:28

No gymnastics work, but I was out on the bar doing some dead hangs tonight with the blue band. I decided I'm not using the green band anymore, too much of a crutch for me.

Man, I'm exhuasted. Good night.

02MAR09

2009-03-02T00:05:00.000-05:00

Sunday is one of my rest days. So, Saturday night before I planned to leave work early I drank some midnight dream tea (aka valerian). Then I went to the CHU and took two valerian pills.....you think at this point I would've passed out and slept 10 hours.....BUT NOOOOOOO, it wasn't to be. I woke up constantly feeling as if someone was clapping an old chalkboard eraser over my head. I don't even know how the dust was getting in the room. So, I kept drinking water to rehydrate which means I also kept waking up to go to the bathroom......did not sleep well at all and did not get to the gym to do the WOD I knew needed to be done on an empty stomach.

The rest of this may be TMI for some...this is how my gym morning went.

Rowed 1k for time: 4:20

Stretched while waiting for the COL to show up. Almost thought he wasn't going to make it so I contemplated getting in the squat rack to warm-up when 2 guys wearing bodybuilding.com t-shirts dragged a bench into and started benchpressing (I'm pretty sure I could've benched more). Thankfully the COL showed up.

Started telling him about "Helen" and dumbbell swings and realized I desperately needed something I did not have with me and had to speed walk back to my CHU (800 meters round trip). Got back as he was finishing up his 3rd round.

Lift
Back Squat

Warm-Up
20kgsx5
40x5

Work-Set
60x5
65x5
70x5

The last rep was wobbly. But, the last time I did 70kgs, I only managed 3 reps, so this is good.

Started tasting the sunflower seeds I ate earlier.

Went to bathroom.

Warmed up for METCON with 20kg bear Complex (Hang power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, push press, repeat)

Went to bathroom again. Somewhere in the chronicles of the great Mark Rippetoe, he says not to squat when you have to ****......

METCON
3 rounds for time:
5 bear complex (1st round was 30kgs, second and third were 25kgs)
5 burpees

12:06

This METCON sucked. I knew I needed to do it on an empty stomach. I was actually shooting for 5 rounds. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Lucky me though, Charlotte has designated this week "Perfection" or something like that. Do the stuff you know you should even though you don't. So, my thing that I know I should do is work out earlier in the day on an empty/almost empty stomach. So, I'm going to shoot for between 2300-0100, and eat my meals after that. Hopefully this will also lead to me not overeating as well.

I'm buying a house!

28FEB09

2009-02-28T18:19:00.000-05:00

Not much of a warm-up, did some jump rope while waiting on a newb to arrive. I got some double-unders out of nowhere! Spent about 30 minutes with the newb (excellent form! go yoga instructors!)

Lift
Shoulder Press

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

Work-Set
25x5
27.2x5
30x5

Mostly decent form, struggled with the second set for some reason.

10-7-4 at 20kgs - easy, will do more reps next time with maybe 25kgs

Still not ready for a good METCON (it's a monthly thing), so I decided on 15 clean and get overhead any way I can with 40kgs. 12:27 due to having to take a break in between each rep for my shoulder to stop yelling at me. I'm glad I only did 15, as I picked up an audience around 10 and really wasn't in the mood for an audience.

27FEB09

2009-02-27T00:04:00.000-05:00

I was tired today, as I was recovering from pure and utter exhaustion yesterday that caused me to miss my morning workout with the Yoga instructor. Fortunately, he was incredibly understanding.

Warm-Up
1 hour of coaching the COL including 5x2 burpees with renegade rows

Lift
Front Squats
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

Work-Set
40 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 5

The last set was difficult, but not impossible. I'm sure I'll retract that statement when the DOMS kick in.

Back Squat
40kgs x 16 reps

I think I could've managed one more....but I'm so tired.

Skipped the METCON for today. I really hope to complete the whole program next week.

I got my work hours changed a bit so that I can continue to coach and not lose sleep.

I've been eating crappy foods. Well, somewhat. Some of the junk was homebaked goodies from Delilah's mom....which are really delicious and I really need to learn to eat in moderation. The other was store bought coffee cake and lemon bundt cake that were leftover from our shindig the other night. I do not think I will ever eat bundt cake again. We threw about half of it in the burn barrell last night with some cardboard and papers. The cake was the last thing to burn. It had dark orange flames, and did not disintergrate. In fact, I won't be surprised if there is still a chunk of it left when I go to work tonight. Seeing that the fire had no effect on the cake, I now have a great visual picture for next time I think I want sub-par desserts.

Yoga Fit

2009-02-25T00:51:00.000-05:00

Quick post....sleepy.

Went to yoga. Turns out the guy I made the deal with is actually the instructor. It was fun, and the static holds felt very good. Plenty of time spent doing planks, which are my favorite. This will likely be a weekly event.

I had arrived early, so I did a 1k row in 4:35 beforehand and hadn't quite recovered my breath by the time class started. I did one minute slow/1 minute fast.

Took the COL through deadlifts and burpees today. Made me want to cry that the old, overweight guy had better ROM push-ups on the burpees than all the young bucks. Yay for the kool-aid.

The Ubiquitous PR

2009-02-23T23:14:00.000-05:00

The personal record, PR, is constantly discussed in CrossFit. It’s like a game, who has the best PR? PR’s of the firebreathers become goals of those who want to be firebreathers. PR’s are a noteworthy improvement of functional fitness. PR’s are something to brag about at the office.

Even though I have been in the community for almost 2 years, these two little initials are nowhere in my training log. Why is this? Why have I never once in all my CF'ing adventures notated my accomplishments for myself?

There is my slow progression into becoming a true CF'er. Two years in….and I'm still doing scaled WOD's and struggling with my nutrition and weight. The want has always been there but the drive hasn't. I occasionally feel as if I am still a novice in the community and that my accomplishments are piddly when other people with less time in the community are kicking my ass.

I have either not completed or repeated many of the benchmark WOD's. Nor have I done any of these as prescribed. I do get pleasure from completing the WOD's as I can, putting my all into them. Even when I do notate an improvement in a certain movement, or an improved time, or a better form…I do not consider this my personal record. That record is still out there, yet to be obtained.

Taking pride in an accomplishment is often an uncomfortable task for me. Although I do want to be recognized for certain things....I always feel as if I should've done better, done more, or gone about the task in a different manner. Yesterday I was paging through all my pages from the last 7 weeks of heavy weights. Almost every single week, I advanced my power by several kilograms. I was almost tempted to write "PR" next to some of them. But, I couldn't. There is a bigger and better number waiting for me next week.

Maybe someday I will be ready for the PR. Until then, I’ll just keep pushing myself to be “smaller”, stronger, faster.

23FEB09

2009-02-23T00:38:00.000-05:00

Fun day, lots going on. Worked several pull-ups while at work, trying to grease the groove.

Warm-Up
500 meter row (note for later that I didn't warm up anymore because I wanted to finish my lifting in a quick time so that the 2 guys doing the main page WOD could get in the rack)

Lift
Back Squat

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5 reps
40kgs x 5 reps

Work-Set
55kgs x 5 reps
60 x 5
67.2 x 5

METCON
Jackie (mods in parenthesis:
1000 meter row
50 thrusters, 30lbs
30 pull-ups (green band, and used the heavy bag cage which means I had more of a cliff hanger grip going on than a hook grip)

13:34

This is the closest to RX'ed I've ever completed a named WOD. My forearms were toasted from the pull-ups. It was a fun, quick workout.

Handstands and OHS practice.

Then the Colonel showed up for his WOD. After 11 days of CF he has lost 6 lbs and I already saw some favorable changes in his body composition and he says he feels great outside the DOMS. We spent about 20 minutes working the fundamentals. Then set up for Fight Gone Bad.

The time limit for cardio equipment is 30 minutes if someone is waiting. While, unbeknownest to us, someone was waiting. I did set up kind of slow...but the person decided to inflate the time a bit when he decided to swipe the C-2 rower from us. The worst part was is that he was telling me how in the wrong I was while I was trying to count reps, watch the clock, watch the COL's form, encourage him.....he told me I "can't monopolize the equipment for 30 minutes when it's the only one." He then proceeded to set up another person on the rower and tell her, "ok, I've set it for 30 minutes..." Idiot.

On the bright side, I went to talk to the gym guys about getting another rower...they said they've tried. The Colonel came in and said, "No problem, the guy who would be doing the order is two doors down from me...." So goes my blessed life.

Increased activity for the day - playing with the pull-up bar at work, walked to evening chow (clear skies! no sandstorms!), walked to laundry and breakfast, all the fundamental training....very active day today.

Wednesday I'm going to yoga at the gym. I told a guy he should do some CF with his yoga....and he told me I should do some yoga with my CF. Fair enough. Thursday is his intro day.

22FEB09 Rest Day

2009-02-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

Rest day (as well as a fun cheat day).

Put the rings up today, and was going to play with those. Then I realized if I moved a stump, I could likely put one of the pull-up assistance bands up and use the stump to help me get into them. Spent many minutes of the night working kipping and dead hang pull-ups. I have found my new obsession for the next few weeks.

Today's sandstorm lasted forever and since I didn't want sand in my ice cream....I drove to chow. LOL. Sand flavored coffee is delicious though!

Attempted to work my way through a yoga video sent to me by a friend. The instructor was slightly annoying in that "I'm a super sensitive male" kind of way, but otherwise it wasn't bad. Although I did not make it through more than 15 minutes. I wasn't holding the poses very well. I think I'll give it another shot in a few days.

The most activity of the evening was the almost 4 straight hours of laughter we had going on at the office. Schooling the young YN on how to be a proper MA.....good times.

21FEB09

2009-02-21T00:35:00.000-05:00

Warm-Up
5 manmakers with 15lb dumbbells, some stretching and squats

Lift
Shoulder Press

Warm-Up
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

Work-Set
25kgsx5
30x5
35x5

Form was good on all but the last one, used dumb strength to lock that one out.

METCON
Warmed up with 20kg thrusters x 5 x 2, and 5 pull-ups with the blue band

Fran
Round 1 - Slow but unbroken 20kg thrusters, extremely slow and broken pull-ups with blue band. Should've brought the green band with instead (and the bar sucks for grip!)
Round 2 - 10/5 thrusters, unbroken jumping pull-ups
Round 3 - unbroken thrusters and jumping pull-ups

Officially renamed stupid Fran! 11:18. Need more time with the green band again. But, the kip part is getting better.

3 x 20 second L-sits

Stupid fran

I was not amused to wake up to a mini sandstorm today. This made the prospect of trying to add extra activity into my day very......iffy. I literally had a conversation going on in my head for an hour whether to walk to chow or take the truck. It went something like, "It's so dusty, the air quality if bad, really you don't want to walk in this" to "It's just sand! You're tough, there are people in WAY worse conditions than you, lazy bum." Eventually, I walked - 20 minutes round trip.

After the gym, I walked back to work to do my homework, then to breakfast, laundry, chu. About 25 minutes of walking added in there.

So, increased activity for the day - 55 minutes of moderate walking. Why can't I get brownie points for most of that walking being "wading" through gravel? Gravel is tough to walk on, especially after a taxing WOD or lifting day. I am extremely grateful for the gravel though....beats mud ANY day of the week.

Thoughts

2009-02-18T23:07:00.001-05:00

CrossFit is not a weight loss program. It is a functional fitness program. Increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. My strength, core stabilization and work capacity has improved immensely over the past few months. I love that I have become stronger. But I would be lying if I said the scale didn't matter to me. Especially when the number on the scale keeps going up. I don't care if it is mostly muscle......why isn't the fat going away?

How can this be? I am eating cleaner than ever (even when I am not eating well, it's not as much or as often as it used to be). I have been putting out bigger, faster, stronger in the gym. I've been devoting my heart and soul to trying to improve my CrossFit-edness........and now I am reaching a point I swore I would never be again.

An evaluation of what is different, what's not working, has led me to this - deployment. Deployment takes away many daily activities that are otherwise taken for granted; i.e. grocery shopping - walking around the store, carrying the bags to the car, then into the house, putting the groceries away. This ONE activity requires more effort than my entire day on deployment.

Kyle and I used to go for walks on the beach a few days a week, just to chit chat and see who we would run into. This would usually be no less than 2 miles. EVERY house I have lived in the past 3 years had parking a substantial distance away from the door. In the training department, we hauled our training gear up and down the stairs 2-3 times a week (heavy stuff too). All this daily activity contributed to me maintaining my weight.

I have essentially been in the same one square half-mile of space, everyday, for the last 4 months (give or take a few trips to other parts of the complex). I walk 5 minutes to work, sit on my ass for the majority of the shift....and if I have to go anywhere....I drive the truck. Then I walk 5 minutes to the CHU, 5 minutes to the gym and back to the CHU. That is about 20 minutes of walking. Not including the gym, I would say that my current daily activity is LESS than an obese couch potato. Ouch.

Working nights does not help this. Despite me being a bad ass, I do take precautions regarding wild dogs and random weird folks, and don't really wander around base in the dark. But, this is no excuse for me to not be getting in extra activity.

For the next 7 weeks, I am going to try to incorporate:

- Walking to get my evening chow instead of taking the truck (Extra 15-20 minutes of walking, depending on which chow hall I go to)
- ALWAYS walk to drop off and pick up my laundry (really, I'm just to lazy to get up before work to do it, but this is another 10-15 mintues of walking to and from my chu to laundry)
- Walk the PFT run a few days a week after my PWO meal (2 miles, 30-40 minutes)
- Even though walking the beach, hiking and biking are out of the question for my active rest days, there is no reason I can't go jogging, box or do yoga

In short, LESS SITTING, MORE MOVING!

19FEB09

2009-02-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

I missed deadlift day due to inability to recover properly from the first day of squats and DBS....I was hurting. Lack of decent sleep didn't help either. Then I went with the regularly scheduled rest day, and today got back in the gym for a 20 minute or less METCON.

I had planned to do a half-Murph, but the gym was VERY crowded and I didn't feel like fighting for space. So, after my 5-minute jump rope warm-up and some stretching, I went with 150 burpees for time OR 20 minutes - whichever came first. about 5 minutes into this, I also decided that if I ended up seeing the chocolate chip muffins I had 6 hours earlier, that would also be suffice to quit (not really, but they REALLY wanted to make an appearance).

120 burpees, 19:00.

LONG cool down, then 10 L/R pistol practice on a box (not too shabby, but not great either).

16FEB09

2009-02-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

I meant to get in a workout yesterday. I woke up before work to meet someone at the gym, but by the time I got done putting him through his initial CF workout....mine just wasn't happening. I am incapable of function without coffee. hehe. Thanks to Jason and another unnamed guy at the gym, we have 4 official CrossFit converts in one weekend. Yay!

After going through the CrossFit Strength Biased article and reading some of the questions and answers in the thread, I realized a few things.

1) I've done this before - a few workouts at CrossFit SoCal when I was going there sporadically.

2) It isn't that different from what I've been trying to do this month, only better planned.

3) What I've been trying to do this month has only been nominally working for me, so I guess it's time to switch it up.

So, conclusion? Day 1 of CFSB.

WARM-UP
400 meter run on treadmill 1.0 incline/6mph
CFWU x 1 - green band for pull-ups, 4 dips in a row followed by 6 real single dips (this is much improved out of nowhere!)

Heavy Lift
Back Squat
Warm-Up
20kg x 5 reps x 1 set
40 x 5 x 1

Work Set
55 x 5 x 3
60 x 5 x 3
65 x 5 x 3

These were all solid, I really concentrated on sucking in my core before going into the squat. I likely could've done more weight, but this was fine for day 1.

METCON
1/2 Eva - 3 Rounds (mods in parenthesis)
400M Run (6mph for rounds 1 and 2, 6.5mph for Round 3)
15, 35# dumbbell swings
15 pull-ups (green band)

16:23 - not quite the under 15 minutes prescribed, probably could've ran faster the first two rounds and moved faster between the treadmill and pull-up bar. The swings were good though, completely unbroken even though my body was screaming for the last round of them

15 minutes of handstand/HSPU practice. I think I need to lay off these for a few days. My arms are getting wore out and the gains I made last week in this skill are going back down. Guess I'll move onto something else tomorrow.

another long day

2009-02-14T04:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I took a rest day because my arms are torched from so many handstands/handstand negatives lately. Today was very much an emotional roller coaster, which left me sitting in the office until 5am....at which point I remembered I really had to get some files completed....so I just decided to stay awake until it was time for the introduction to crossfit class. The intro class went really well and Jason did a great job of explaining all the concepts (which surprisingly, I've never heard in lecture format before) to the interested persons (we had 4 people show up).

While waiting for the group to show up, I spent a few minutes doing handstands. Then, the group workout was

2 minute tabata rounds of:
squats - 20, 17, 15, 15
push-ups - 15, 14, 9, 12
sit-ups - 9, 8, 8, 8
burpees - 5, 4, 4, 4

I guess my consistency on that wasn't too bad, nice little metcon considering how long I'd been awake at that point and bad nutrition.

Ms. Kitty has been quite sick. Her lifespan is questionable, but at this time her foster mother is trying an herbal medication that seems to have rejuvenated Kitty and given her significant more enegy than she has had the past couple of weeks. I hope all goes well. Life without Kitty would be sad.....I was looking forward to her precious face waking me up every morning.

Time to take a quick nap before work again.

Easy Day

2009-02-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

Everyday I make more CrossFit friends. Spent the first 30 minutes at the gym talking to a Level 1 who volunteered to do an intro to CrossFit class for all the guys who emailed me this week. CrossFitters are so cool.

Warm-Up was jump rope for 5 minutes. No double unders, getting used to the new speed rope though - it's good!

Power Cleans
40kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
45 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
55 x 2 x 1
57.2 x 3 x 1
57.2 x 2 (3 fails)
55 x 3 x 3

Overhead Squats
20kg x 3 x 5

The cleans went well, even if I did end up failing at the high weight - the last time I did power cleans, I couldn't get that weight at all. The OHS were tough! I was really pushing myself into the squat part though, so I think I did pretty well with them overall.

15 minutes of handstand practice. I might've overkilled yesterday's practice a little bit, because my arms are hurting today. So, even though I stuck all the handstands today, not so much work on the negatives and partial ROM's.

Just another day

2009-02-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I took a nice 14 hour nap after being awake for 34...it was good. Then I had my Valentine's box from Boo Boo....and it was good also. Although I think it definitly had an affect on my WOD (the slight throw-up in my mouth during the second round was the indicator). Why do I find myself always checking for the nearest trash can these days? Even on the days I eat good, I check. I have found myself laying on the floor a lot more also, not moving for several minutes after the WOD is complete. LOL, forgot to mention on Monday I left perfect butt check imprints on the box I was sitting on after my WOD.

400 M run on treadmill 1.0 incline 5.7mph
CFWU x 3 - did the last round of push-ups on my knees, 5 real dips, 25 negative dips and I finally got some bands, so no more silly jumping pull-ups! I used the green band, first set of kipping pull-ups unbroken. The other two sets were ok. I will get my kip back SOON.

Kelly (mods in parenthesis): 5 rounds for time of:
400 meter run (treadmill 1.0/6mph)
30, 24-inch box jump (20 inch box, sets of 15)
30, 20lb wall ball (11.5lb ball, sets of 10)

44:52

Holy schniks! I took way to many breaks on this, but I was hurting! It completely sucked the wind out of me!

Handstand practice was GREAT. I stuck all but a couple, am now able to shift my hands around so I started working on negatives and even a few partial ROM push-ups. I'm totally getting this skill handled by the end of the month. Oh, even worked a bit on trying to pull my feet off the wall so I'm not being supported the whole time.

MUCH NEEDED Rest Day

2009-02-09T16:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's METCON had me so jacked up, along with a constant stream of thoughts going through my head....I never slept. I went to work about 5 hours early, and surprisingly enough managed to keep myself quite busy with all the responses to the base wide announcement that went out regarding the upcoming CFT competition. So, here I am, 34 hours later......sleepy time.

Oh, the insanity....

2009-02-08T19:59:00.000-05:00

Today's METCON WOD has been on the back burner for a couple of weeks. It was given to my by Jeremy, so because of the odd numbers, I am assuming it originated at Crossfit Omaha. I've had some time to contemplate this WOD, and I thought it was going to be way worse....but it still SUCKED.

11 rounds for time of (mods in parenthesis):
250 meter run (treadmill, 1 degree incline, 6mph)
5 slam balls (the only decent ball bounced too much, causing me to catch the ball at waist height)
10 pushups (knees)
15 squats

32:36. Holy goodness. I may have done more than 11 rounds, because somewhere between 7 and 8 things got a little hazy. Took a LONG break before going onto handstands.

I am so glad I chose to scale the push-ups right away. It allowed me to complete the whole workout in a decent time, and still got a good "burn" going in my shoulders. Scaling can not be stressed enough when it comes to Crossfit. Scale to your ability level. When it comes to METCON's, I generally choose a weight or adjust the bodyweight exercise that will allow me to complete the entire workout. When scaling though, it is still important to use proper form. My scaled push-ups were still completed with full ROM (nose to the ground) and a straight back.

Handstands kicked butt today! I worked on them for close to 30 minutes (with a 10 minute chit chat in there with a new friend). Stuck all but 1 or 2, held the majority for several seconds and even managed a couple of tries at doing negatives. Today I realized that I need to grunt right as I step into the handstand. Similar to any time I do cleans, grunting just seemed to make the airflow and the muscles all work much better.

New friend has a great idea, should be interesting if it works out. Will post more on that if it gets going.

On Church

2009-02-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

I do not always go to church here and today I realized why. Today I went because I felt like I should, that I had not gone in a couple weeks and that was wrong. Although I love the vibrancy of the church here, and get an immense amount of pleasure and relaxation from the songs....the sermon confused the heck out of me. This is my thing - I understand the message most when I am struggling to make decisions or understand something. On days I NEED to hear something, are the days I am blessed with hearing the perfect sermon or song that helps me through my trials. This is my relationship with God. I know he is in my life everyday and thank him for it...he lets me know when I need a bit more to help me through.

Military churches are different, in a way that I think is awesome. There is no posturing in a military church, because the community is so large and ever changing....no one goes to church just to be seen. We go for the message, for the peace, for ourselves. There are no church politics or bickering over the way things should be done - because the RP's and Chaplains have already taken care of everything. They leave only one thing for the rest of us to do - hear the word of God.

Shout out to JC (not THAT one, the other one) - I'm sorry I slept through most of your sermons while I was growing up. I appreciate you always letting me be open with the way I feel about Christ, God and other religions. I also appreciate that you normally had a 15 minute, to the point message. Perhaps you could figure out what the Chaplain was saying today, but I can't. ZLC has been blessed by your presence all these years.

Now, it's time to go to the gym. Surprisingly enough (or not) I think about spirituality at the gym a lot also. But, that is a whole different posting.

Squats!

2009-02-07T20:37:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what to think about today's work-out. The weights were heavy, but I blew through them very quickly and had energy leftover at the end. Could it have been that I actually ate decently all day? Or was I just not challenging myself enough? Or both?

Back Squat

20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
60 x 2 x 1
70 x 3 x 5

I think if I had done 5 x 3 for the last weight, I likely would've had a fail or two. So, the next time I do BS, I'm sticking with this weight but shooting for 5 x 3.

Bench Press

45lbs x 10 reps x 1 set
75 x 5 x 1
85 x 3 x 1
95 x 2 x 1
110 x 5 x 3

The last time I did 110, I had a spotter and failed a couple reps. So, being able to do all the reps without a spotter is good! Only the very last rep gave me trouble.

Deadlift

40kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
60 x 5 x 1
80 x 3 x 1
90 x 2 x 1
100 x 5 x 1

100kgs was heavy today, managed to do 2 in a row on the last set before having to reset.

With my leftover energy, I decided to do some light squat cleans. 10 reps at 40kgs, might've been more, I kept losing count and had one fail as well. I like cleans.

15 minutes odf handstand practice. I can proudly say that I stuck most of the handstands today, even if I wasn't able to hold them for very long. I was trying to figure out where my hands need to go so I can start working on negatives. Unfortunately, I don't have enough balance yet to where I can move my hands once I am in the handstand. Oh well, keep working on it.

Oh, and the CFT competition is on! March 8, earlier than what I would've liked, but I know it will all turn out well. Yay for Crossfit!

...and I'm back!

2009-02-06T21:03:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how quickly days with no workouts can go by when not paying attention. I thought I didn't PT for 3 days, but really it was 5. Not good.

Warm-Up:

400 m treadmill run, stretching, CFWU x 3 - 25 good push-ups, 2 sucky, 3 on the knees; jumping negative dips and jumping pull-ups

KAREN - 150 wallballs for time - 11.5 lb ball - 13:04

Done in sets of 10, I was shooting for under 15 minutes. I could've gone a lot faster if I was a little more fluid in catching the ball and dropping into the squat at the same time. Instead I kept doing little pauses.

20 minutes of handstand practice. Still not so great at it, but I got a couple. Got the breathing figured out again.

Today is another TERRIFIC reminder on why food intake needs to be kept in check. I overdid the nuts and could feel it in my stomach and in my throat throughout the workout. I'm so glad I am not a puker, but somedays puking would probably feel good. Seriously....one of these days.

10 things

2009-02-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

There are some things I have been thinking about everyday that I will NEVER EVER take for granted when I return back home. Here are my top ten daily life things I can't wait to return to:

1. Boo Boo bringing me coffee in bed first thing in the morning.

2. A warm bathroom within 20 feet of my bed that requires little to no clothing to utilize.

3. The ability to be active! Hiking, the beach, the grocery store…I miss being able to just GO and do something.

4. The precocious Ms. Kitty waking me up early in the morning by laying on my chest and staring at me until I move.

5. Micana the Guamanian street mutt and her tendency to run into walls.

6. Having all the oils and other good fats at my disposal.

7. Not cooking all my meals in the microwave and having to store all my food in plastic and/or Styrofoam. This is the worst environment for a Green Girl such as myself.

8. Speaking of green, being able to use my reusable bags instead of getting plastic bags from the PX all the time.

9. The possibility of having conversation with more than the same 5-6 people every…..single…..day.

10. Knowing, or at least having a really good idea, where my meat has been and what’s been used to cook it.

.....and now I have to get dressed to use the bathroom. Dang it!

Off days?

2009-02-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I have had 3 off days from the gym now, and this is the last one. I've been having some abdomen pain, so decided to lay low to make sure it wasn't being caused by my workouts. Well, no workouts and the pain is still there, so tomorrow it is back to the gym time!

Spent part of my evening making delicious grilled foods to eat over the weekend. Will post on later. I also made a delish "candy bar" type treat.....chopped figs and chopped macadamia nuts held together with melted hershey's chocolate. If I had my way, it would've included some coconut oil and utilized dark chocolate instead. Still, it was good and WAY better than a conventional candy bar. LOVE dried figs.

Now I am tired, partially from a meat hangover......

02FEB09

2009-02-02T22:48:00.000-05:00

5k Row - 24:47

This is my fallback for when I have no energy to do anything, but know I should do something. The last 5k row was on Thanksgiving, a few seconds faster.

A Legend Never Dies

2009-02-01T22:00:00.001-05:00

QMC (Ret) John Kirk, USN, died today.

For those of us lucky enough to know John, he was truely a wonderful human being, with a pretend grouchy side. I remember the first conversation I ever had with Lion John....he said, "you don't want to join that club, they suck! Join ours, we sing!" Boy, could John ever sing. I think his singing voice was leftover from his younger drinking days with the Navy. John always had great stories from his Navy days too. Some he couldn't tell because "the statute of limitations hadn't run out yet...." Others, such as his time as a brown water river boat captain in Vietnam, you knew he was quite proud of.

John has been through so many medical issues in the past few years - cancer, multiple heart attacks, strokes. Do you know what he did? He said F*** it. He kept on going. He took his pills, and he drank his beers (with salt) and he kept on finding ways to stay active. "John" is a household name in National City, CA. I do not believe there to be a person in the city who has not been affected by him in some way. Through the National City Host Lions Club, Christmas in July and whatever other adventures Mr. Kirk could find - he was in it all, often trying to do it all. Up at the crack of dawn, and with the energy of a 20-year old, he was always looking for someone to help. John was a perfect role model for "love thy neighbor."

Even though he has often told me that he wouldn't be around much longer, I never thought he would die. There came a point when he just seemed invincible. But, legends never die. His name and his good works will live through his family, his friends, the Lions and all those he has touched in his life. Only now, John is laughin' and scratchin' in heaven, reunited with his beloved granddaughter and other family.

John Kirk, I am blessed to have known you. May you rest in peace.

31JAN09

2009-01-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

Still wasnt really feeling the gym today. 400 meter run on treadmill for warm-up, stretching and some attempts to balance the bar across my shoulders while doing squats (getting better, not there yet).

Front Squat
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
30 x 5 x 2
40 x 3 x 1
45 x 2 x 1
50 x 3 x 5

In the mirror I could see my butt dropping way below parallel, which I was happy with, but struggled somewhat on coming back up. I was dealing with acid reflux the whole time due to an overabundance of cashews earlier in the evening.

Shoulder Press - from behind the neck
20kgs x 1-1-3 reps x 1 set - it's not that I couldn't do them....my hair kept getting in the way. I almost went 80's with the ponytail on the top of my head...almost.

21kg x 5 x 1
22.2 x 3 x 1
23.2 x 2 x 1
25 x 5 x 3

Behind the neck is tough, but these felt and looked very solid the whole way through.

Snatch - on to something I haven't worked with much
I'm thinking the pipe I was practicing with weighs 10kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

20kgs x 1-1-1-(1 fail)-1-1-1-1

These were not cool. I had troubles bringing the bar up and dropping into the squat at the same time, my butt was not going below parallel and my knees kept bowing out. More practice needed.

During my rests, I was thinking about my nutrition. I have been mostly paleo this month, except for some pizza (yuck) and chocolate (yum!). But, I have not been tracking my food very well and often will mindlessly eat nuts....all....night....long. There are days I start my day counting zone blocks, but then I get annoyed when I think they aren't going to last all night. The thing is, I know that I have to eat post-workout or I'll wake up with a headache. So, my AH-HA moment today was to plan my meals backwards! Starting with 3 blocks for PWO, I went backwards from there. Since I have troubles combatting the feeling of wanting to snack all night, I decided to go with eating 3 blocks every 3 hours - which put me at exactly 1600 for my first meal - which is when I get to work anyways. Here's hoping.

30JAN09

2009-01-29T22:05:00.000-05:00

I really did not feel like going to the gym today, so thankfully the pre-chosen WOD was short and I didn't do much for warm-up, just a stretch and a few push-ups.

Lynne
5 rounds of:
max bodyweight bench press
max pull ups

I scaled the BW down to 100lbs, and managed reps of 8-7-8-7-8. As for the pull-ups, I managed 1 half-ass kipping pull up before losing grip for each round. Took 3 minute rest between each rounds. I can't wait to find a decent pull-up bar, I'm going to get my kip back very soon!

Didn't get any handstands today, I felt odd, couldn't get my breathing right for it either.

CFT Competition

2009-01-28T20:06:00.000-05:00

So, in the interest of Crossfitters at VBC and my needing something to do - I have decided to head up a Crossfit Total competition here in Baghdad! Yay! I am still waiting for approval on utilizing the gym, but it shouldn't be a problem. I am very excited, as I feel we Crossfitters are really fighting for gym space here and this will highlight Crossfit in a positive manner.

The BIGGEST highlight of the week so far though is that when I emailed CFHQ to ensure I could utilize the name, they put me in touch with Coach Rippetoe! I talked to him on the phone for about 15 minutes the other day in regards to how to plan the competition. It was rather surreal, considering how many videos of his I have watched - I already know his voice. I think my mindset was somewhat that I still thought I was listening to one of the videos when I was on the phone with him.

So, I am hoping the competition will be March 22, which means I've got A LOT of planning and sponsor finding to be done in a short period of time. For those who know me, you will not be surprised to learn that I know NOTHING about weight lifting competition. I only know Crossfit is the best and I think CFT will be fun.

Stayed off the rings today, taking a true rest day. Ok, that's not quite true, I was doing snatches and OHS with the stick, but only for a few minutes. Tomorrow, it's back on!

28JAN09

2009-01-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

Stretching followed by 10 manmakers (no renegade row though, forgot again). More overhead squat and hang squat clean practice with PVC pipe.

WOD
Run 1200 meters
Hang squat clean 70lbs, 21 reps
Run 800
HSC 15 reps
Run 400
HSC 9 reps

I never thought I would say I was grateful to be running. The runs were SO easy compared to the HSC, especially since my right hand is cramped up (more on that later). I broke the 21 reps into 7, 7, 3 and 4. 15 reps was 5, 5, 5 and 9 reps was 3, 3, 3. It was a great workout, and I had to rest for a long time before practicing my handstands. Handstands went ok, probably needed more rest than I actually took.

This week my LPO found a thick enough pipe that we could hang my rings from AND support our bodyweight. So, it's been a lot of fun having the rings up. I'm constantly out playing on them....dips, jumping pull-ups, push-ups. I felt fine the first day, after day 2 and 3 though, my hands are hurting. Got to start stretching them out more. My core and shoulders feel terrific! Also got a broomstick in the office to practice snatches and overhead squats.

27JAN09

2009-01-28T19:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the routine I am going to start is one Girl WOD, followed by a strength day, followed by a running WOD then a rest day. So, I was going to start with Fran. I really think I could've had the kips down, even if they were slow and tedious. BUT, the darn gym doesn't have a single decent pull up bar and I couldn't maintain a grip on anything. So, I skipped to a strength day. LOL. The girls are going to be back though.

400m run on treadmill, overhead squat and thruster practice with PVC pipe.

Back squat - went light today to work on form and dropping below parallel.
20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
55 x 2 x 1
65 x 3 x 1 - this turned out to be too heavy for what I was doing
60 x 5 x 3

Overhead squats - I haven't really done these in....a long long while.
45lbs - 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2

Deadlift
40kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
60 x 5 x 1
80 x 3 x 1
85 x 2 x 1
90 x 5 x 1

I was hurting on deadlifts. I was trying to go through the sets without resetting, but the muscle on my lower right back didnt want to. So, lots of resets, but the strength was there.

20 minutes handstand practice, got several, figured out my breathing for this, haven't figured out the hand placement to be able to do HSPU.

Lifting

2009-01-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

I didn't lift at the competition.

I'm already stressed out from other things.

I was looking forward to the competition, knowing that gym time is good time for me.

Several of the rules were changed at the last minute, seemingly on the whim of one individual. One of the rules was that a lifting belt is REQUIRED for all 3 lifts, including the bench. I questioned it, since the written rules had said it was optional. He insisted, that for my safety, and all his wisdom as a former power lifter, that a belt is neccessary and therefore required. Even though I have never trained with a belt. Even though they are allowing people to use "suicide grips" on the bench press if they have trained that way, even though the written rules said no suicide grips. Even though many people were wearing cushy running shoes that are highly likely to cause a balance issue as opposed to a core issue.

Personally, I think a thick-ass piece of leather wrapped around my mid-section, regardless of how loose or tight I wear it, would compromise my safety. If I don't have the core muscles to be lifting the weight, then I shouldn't be lifting the weight. I wasn't out to set any records, but I didn't plan on being weak either.

Now I'm peeved and off to work so I can spend a couple hours on my homework that is definitively due by 0800 Monday morning, my time.

23JAN09

2009-01-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

Warm-up: .4 mile run on treadmill - running in the VFF's is getting much easier, going to start striving for longer distances each day.

WOD - MODIFIED Fight Gone Bad!
3-5 minute rounds of:
Wall Ball (didn't weigh it, it might've been 20lbs)
25lb db swings
20" box jumps
dips
row

My score was a measly 190. Poo. The DB swings were a great compliment to yesterday's work-out, my body kept wanting to stay in the upward swing since the downward part hurt so much. Love the row, it's so relaxing after all the rest.

The guys wanted to do handstand push-up practice afterwards, for which I really wasn't too excited since I have never even managed a handstand. I got 3 today (wall-supported)! Yay for me! The first one was short, the other two I managed to hold for several seconds. I had many attempts, one which ended in a straight crash to the ground (ow).

Handstands and burpees - I suppose I could be obsessed with worse things.

22JAN09

2009-01-21T23:28:00.000-05:00

Since Sunday's powerlifting competition is the unofficial end of my SS cycle, today we all met for a "light" workout. Hehehe. "Light" and Crossfit in the same sentence is an oxymoron.

My individual warm-up was running on the treadmill, boxing for 10 minutes, stretching and squat practice.

Group Warm-Up
While one person rows 250 meters, the other two are either doing burpees or holding 2 45lb plates in their hands. We went through this cycle twice. Brings a whole new meaning to "My warm-up is your workout."

WOD - compliments of Crossfit OMAHA
5 rds for time of 15 deadlifts (105lbs), 35 squats

I did 4 rounds, 110 lb deadlifts in approximatel 23:00.......seems kinda slow, right? Well, I thought the WOD was going to be easy (another oxymoron that I still haven't learned after two years) but something about deadlifts and squats causes the lower back muscles to EXPLODE. Also, I was not so bright about my bar of choice and ended up with a really scratchy one that caused me to not want to keep the bar close to my body while doing the lifts. At least I can only improve from here.

Today I realized that I will likely be weighed when I get to my "C" school, so it's time to lose the holiday/SS poundage. This morning's discussion was basically throwing around ideas on how want to continue the heavy lifting days, but also do Met-Cons and more running. Looking forward to it.

I hope my Chuck Taylor's arrive soon! Or I won't be able to squat on Sunday!

21JAN09

2009-01-21T19:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, so for today I was only expecting one gym partner...but he didn't show up, so I was left to my own devices today. It was one heck of day too. I was already partially dehydrated from eating way too many pistachios, and somewhat emotionally drained from a few days of thinking too much.

Warm up consisted of a 400 meter run on the treadmill, then several minutes of stretching, front squat balance practice and 3 sets of 5 rep manmakers with 10lb dumbbells (youtube that one, they just might be my new favorite warm-up/cool down). I managed to ram my VFF covered toes into one of the dumbbells too, ouch. Tried some side planks with dumbbells also, but the VFF's versus freshly mopped floor didn't go over well (actually nothing goes over well with a freshly mopped floor, I almost wish they would never mop in there, it takes forever to dry).

Front Squat
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
55 x 2 x 1
60 x 3 x 2
60 x 2, reset, 1 x 1
60 x 3 x 2

These were definitly difficult and I could see my form going bad on the 3rd rep each time, so I might stick at this weight for a couple days to work on getting better form, then doing 5 x 3's instead of 3 x 5's.

Press
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
25 x 5 x 1
27.2 x 3 x 1
30 x 2 x 1
32.2. x 5 x 2
32.2. x 4, reset, 1 x 1

These sucked. I had to do lots of stretching in between each set, but until the last rep where I reset, I wasn't having to contort my body to get the weight up. I actually got the weight up with good form (although I'm not 100% sure if my arms were completely locked out at the top, couldn't really feel them doing anything at all).

So then I took a really long, and needed break while waiting for the deadlift platform to clear (fellow crossfitter at least, doing deadlift's with most excellent form).

Power Cleans
40kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
45 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
55 x 2 x 1
57.2 x NONE - 3 FAILS AND I'M OUT! I accidently threw the weight off the platform again, maybe I should start posting warning signs????
56 x 3 x 1
56 x 2, (1 fail), 1 x 1
56 x 3 x 2

Then, just because they were so much the first time around, I decided to do 2 more sets of manmakers. Only without the row (forgot) and had to use 15 lb dumbbells (the 10's were not surprisingly being utilized).

All in all, this took me THREE HOURS, 4 bottles of water and a heck of a lot of determination (aka grunting and cursing at the barbell).

19JAN09

2009-01-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

400 meter run on treadmill at 1 degree incline, 6.0mph - yes, it's a little slow but I was wearing my brand new and super cool Vibram Five Fingers! These were very fun to wear today, as well as much more comfortable than just the socks (which seem to pick up every drop of moisture on the floor). 10 minutes of boxing with the heavy bag, 10 minutes of stretching, push-ups and air squats.

Backsquat
20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
60 x 2 x 1
70 x 5 reps, 4 reps and 1 rep

Then the boys broke out some (later determined to be) 8.5 lb chains that they hooked onto the barbell. Interesting exercise. With 60kg plus 17 lbs worth of chains, I had 1 squat, 2 fails, then 2 more squats.

Bench Press
45lbs x 10 x 1
75 x 5 x 1
95 x 3 x 1
115 x 2 x 1
110 x 5 reps, 3 reps, 1 rep, 1 rep and 1 fail

Then time for the chains again, 95lbs plus 17lbs of chains for 5 reps.

Deadlifts

50kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
60 x 5 x 1
70 x 3 x 1
110 x 2 x 1 (i have video of this actually, hopefully my internet connection will allow me to upload it soon)
100 x 5 x 1

Then it was like 70kgs plus the chains for 3 more reps. Video of this also.

Then for cool down we (ok, I, because I have a new sick fascination with complicated forms of burpees) decided on 7-45kgs deadlift burpees. I did mine, Jeremy did his and showed off with a clean, then thruster; then Steve did his and got confused on the count and gave up after like 9. I thought I could also manage a clean and thruster. I got distracted by KBR guy talking to us, but managed the burpee, the deadlift, the clean........then somehow ended up throwing the barbell because the thruster just wasn't happening....and the barbell knocked the squat rack out of place, then rolled underneath the bar of the guy doing bench presses in the power rack. Funny, and a great way to end a heavy lifting day. As I turned around laughing, I realized that I had temporarily grabbed the attention of the majority of the gym. Some more cool down stretches.

Hello DOMS! I can feel them creeping up in my hip area.

.

A withering fig tree

2009-01-19T17:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday’s sermon was beautiful, and as always in my blessed life, just what I needed. As the Bible story it was based on is relatively short, I will type it out for you here:

Matthew 21: 18-22

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately, the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you can also say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

This was a story that was initially difficult for me to understand. Why does Jesus act so quickly and abruptly to more or less kill the tree? What the heck does a dead tree have to do with life?

1)The tree promises delicious fruit with its alluring leaves, yet gives none to a hungry Jesus. The same can be said of people. Although I pride myself on being a good judge of character, and having the BEST taste in friends, there are times I have been distracted by a person’s “leaves.” No matter how hard I tried to find the fruit within, it never materialized. In line with the story, this person’s friendship left me hungry. Strangely enough, in the end, the relationship ended just as abruptly as Jesus’ perceived anger with the tree.

2)Although the tree may provide fruit in the near future (as indicated by its leaves), that does not satisfy the needs of Jesus in the present. Jesus needs the nutrition the fruit will provide him, as well as the satisfaction of his hunger being quieted. To continue to wait for the tree to produce fruit will only cause Jesus to become more hungry (and from a nutritional stand-point, will also cause a multitude of complex bodily functions which will leave a person tired, irritable and overall non-functional). Companionship with others is an amazing thing, that it is one of the most natural actions and feelings a person can have, and still be an incredibly difficult task. Along with being a judge of good character, I have also held the belief that if a relationship with a person does not make you want to be a better person, then that relationship is not worth having. Some people are just inherently evil and bent on making others miserable – these are not my kind of people. In a more complex manner, a relationship that was once fruit producing, may change. A fruitless person is not necessarily as easy to cast aside as a fruitless tree though. The question becomes, “Do I continue to starve in hopes of the fruit one day returning?”

3)Finally, one can not have actions without faith and vice versa. It is not enough to merely say that you think something should be so. Words require belief, actions and prayer. Jesus told his disciples that if they truly believed, anything is possible. Prayer requires a trust in God, that He will always lead you on the correct path. Most people know the popular phrase of “Actions speak louder than words.”

Regarding Food

2009-01-17T17:22:00.000-05:00

I have finally stopped eating copious amounts of crappy foods. I even zoned a few days. I have decided to implement plain oatmeal and protein powder into my foods, as it is very filling and easier to digest as my first meal of the day then the lunch time grub (my workday now starts at 1300).

I’ve become really good at evaluating the treats laying around; i.e. Today there was a very large box of various chocolates in the break room. After evaluating the diagram, there really was only one that I wanted as I figured out a few weeks ago I don’t like “filled chocolates” and there was only one candy left in the box that wasn’t filled. I also managed to share the majority of the chocolate covered almonds that Boo Boo sent me as well.

I also discovered that it is true that doing another activity while eating can distract you from the taste and pleasure of the food. We were running a bit behind schedule the other day, and I started eating my dinner about 5 minutes before our advancement study session began. The first few bites of my meal were surprisingly outstanding (broccoli with very flavorful baked salmon). Then the session got started and I had to pay attention to the person talking and take notes….suddenly my food didn’t taste so great anymore.

I made a great ice cream substitute the other day using whole milk, a banana and banana crème flavored protein powder. It was an almost perfect 3/3/3 as far as the Zone goes. Then the blender broke.

17JAN09

2009-01-17T17:21:00.000-05:00

With the addition of a 3rd person to our weightlifting and the time crunch of actually having to be someplace at a certain time, the 3 of us were flying this morning. Usually, with 2 it takes 2 hours to do all the lifts and a cool-down. This morning with 3 it still only took 2 hours. It was a nice motivator and upped the intensity a bit. But, as my weights got heavier, I had more fails – but refused to give on most of them, so the numbers are all skewed again. We finally learned to count though (methinks).

I arrived much earlier than the other two, so I warmed up with 15 minutes of boxing with the heavy bag. Whew, forgot that is a little sweat inducing. Then did some practice with squats, balance and stretching.

Front Squat

20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

40 x 5 x 1

50 x 3 x 1

55 x 2 x 1

60 x 5 x 1

60 x 4 (1 fail) 1 x 2

Press

20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

25 x 5 x 1

30 x 3 x 1

37.2 x 3 (2 fails) x 1

35 x 2 x 1

35 x 3 (1 fail) x 1

35 x 1 (1 fail), 1 (1 fail) x 1

30 x 5 x 1

Squat Clean

40kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets

42.2 x 5 x 1

45 x 3 x 1

47.2 x 1 (1 fail) 1 x 1

47.2 x 2 (2 fail) x 1

45 x 2 (1 fail) 1 x 1

45 x 2 (1 fail) 1 x 1

5 years ago, if you had told me I would one day be screaming, cussing and grunting loudly in the gym….I would have told you that you were insane because only meatheads do that. Well, the meatheads don’t have anything on me these days! Squat cleans require a lot of bit of primalness, and those extra grunts and screams (and even the cussing) just help push me through.

15JAN09

2009-01-17T17:20:00.002-05:00

I was in the gym by myself for this day. That was the first problem, as I still wanted to up my weights but really needed the encouragement and spotting of a partner. The second problem was all the people doing ¼ squats! How distracting! Just squat people! I swear, it was like a nightmare, ¼ squatters everywhere, as if I could even see them with the “eyes in the back of my head.”

Then, as I was slowly working through my deadlifts with all these distractions, some guy twice my size (and a similar shaped friend in tow) approached the platform. I assumed he wanted to use the platform, so I removed my earbuds to talk to him. Any guesses as to what he said to me?

“Do you wrestle? Do you want to take it to the mats?”

Huh? I really am dumb because I still thought they just wanted the platform……so I said I’d be done in a few minutes, but no, I don’t wrestle. Then he asked me again if I wanted to wrestle with them. Um, no dude, you’re freaking me out. It was not until much later, during conversation with Delilah that the true idiot blatancy of this male struck me. Do I look like I want to wrestle you? Oddly enough, a co-worker had asked me the same question a few days prior.

Backsquat

20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

40 x 5 x 1

50 x 3 x 1

60 x 2 x 1

65 x 5 x 3

Used the 12 inch box again for all reps, but only to check for depth

Bench Press

45lbs x 10 reps x 1 set

75 x 5 x 1

85 x 3 x 1

95 x 2 x 1

Ok, so I maxed out at 110, and did the reps all broken up because my pretty face is not worth attempting to stick to the program without a spotter. Reps were 3, 1, 1, 3 , 2, 3, 2.

Deadlifts

40kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

60 x 5 x 1

100 x 3 x 1 (um, so I only meant to do 80…..)

105 x 2 x 1

107.2 x 5 x 1 (that’s 236lbs people!)

I’m pretty sure I hurried out of the gym at this point, the meatheads were driving me insane and I was about to start approaching random people and offer completely unsolicited advice. Wait, I had already done that one regarding a girl attempting to do thrusters with super cushy running shoes on. LOL.

12JAN09

2009-01-17T17:20:00.001-05:00

Warm-up – 10 burpees, weightlifting buddy’s stretch routine

Front Squat

40kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

50 x 5 x 1

55 x 3 x 1 (plus 1 fail)

56 x 2 x 1

57.2 x 3 x 5 (mixed the reps and sets today to concentrate on the higher weight)

Shoulder Press

20kgs x 5 x 2

25 x 5 x 1

27.2 x 3 x 1

30 x 2 x 1

35 x 3 x 5

Power Clean

40kgs x 5 x 2

50 x 5 x 1

51 x 3 x 1

53.2 x 2 x 1

55 x 3 x 1 (1 fail)

55 x 3 x 1 (1 fail)

55 x 3 x 3

2 sets of push-up planks to alligator planks, 2 sets of right and left side planks with 10 lb dumbbells. No time, just a purpose of not dropping before the other person.

10JAN09

2009-01-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Warm-up 800 meter treadmill run, 10 very slow squats

Backsquat

20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

45 x 5 x 1

55 x 3 x 1

60 x 2 x 1

65 x 4 x 1 (1 fail)

61 x 5 x 2

Used a 12 inch box to do box squats on the final 2 sets

Bench Press (weightlifting buddy decided to hybrid this today since I made a dumb comment about the routine being a little dull already)

45lbs x 10reps x 1 set – 45lbs push press x 10 x 1

65 x 5 x 1 – 45lb push press x 5 x 1

75 x 3 x 1 – ditto

95 x 2 x 1 – ditto

105 x 5 x 3 – there were some resets required on this one, but I have no clue what

Followed up by 20 more 45lb bench press (10, 5, 5)

Deadlift

40kg x 5 reps x 2 sets

60 x 5 x 1

75 x 3 x 1

100 x 2 x 1 (someone really needs to learn to add)

90 x 5 x 3 – I have finally learned a good set up and grip, deadlifts are getting easier

Cool-down – 5 burpee deadlifts (40kgs)

10 minutes of pistol practice – which meant lots of practice falling on my butt, even though that is already one of my better skills.

back online

2009-01-15T05:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't pay my internet last week when it expired, because I used the money to instead buy some super cool Sailor Jerry print Chuck Taylor shoes so that I could compete in a powerlifting competition in a couple of weeks (high tops required, weird, yet an excuse to buy shoes!). Although I can do a lot on my work computer, no blogs, picture/videos websites and similar stuff are allowed. I do all my blog reading through google's RSS feed, which means I often forget that I want to comment on someone's blog when I get home....even worse when I stay offline for an entire week. So, I've got a lot of commenting and writing to do, as well as a few other things! Will be catching up over the next few days. Oh, plus work is a little busier lately. Good times. Peace.

another learning experience

2009-01-08T17:46:00.000-05:00

I'm a slow learner. This was obvious when I never figured out how to read in the 1st grade. But, sometime in the summer between 1st and 2nd grades, I figured it out and for the next 10 years, I was constantly reading anything that my mother would let me. Fiction reading has slowed down quite a bit as an adult, but my thirst for knowledge continues to grow.

I have also been a slow learner to healthy eating. Even though I knew I was big and struggled with eating decently during my high school years, I never really realized I was considered OBESE until I tried to join the Navy. I was 10 pounds over the maximum allowable limit, so I joined Weight Watchers and starved off exactly 10 pounds. This was 7 years ago. In true dieter fashion, not only did I gain those 10 pounds back, but also put on an additional 10 more; settling right above 190 lbs when I arrived in Japan for my first duty station. (There are days I wonder where my weight would've gone if I hadn't joined the service???)

I have come a long way in 7 years, from the clueless girl ready to starve herself for acceptance into the Navy and into the always critical world around me. I am now accepting of many aspects of my body, but still feel as if I am never going to obtain a weight/size that I am truly happy with.

Reduced activity over the past couple months, as well as too much eating has led to a weight gain that is affecting not only my performance; but also the way I value myself. Like I said, I'm a slow learner. But, on the bright side, at least I was in the gym during my latest learning experience.

Yesterday was an epic fail, IMO , at the gym. With the increased weight, my period, bloat and several days of crappy eating habits….I did not feel up to par when I went to the gym yesterday. I had already overslept a session with my weightlifting buddy, I wasn't about to miss my make-up session. Balance was off, I was using more "brute dumb strength" than good form to finish some of the lifts. I struggled with every single lift.

Front Squat:
20kg x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
45 x 3 x 1
50 x 2 x 1
55 x 5 x 1
55 x 4 x 1 (1 fail, couldn't clean it back into the rack either, had to unload the weights to reset)
55 x 5 x 1

Press:
20 x 5 x 2
21 x 5 x 1
25 x 3 x 1
26 x 2 x 1
31 x 5 x 2
31 x 4 x 1 (1 fail, got the bar pretty high but couldn't get the elbows locked).
I didn't "feel" the good form that I learned from the last press session.
Now for the extreme epic fail part…..

Squat Cleans:
40 x 10 x 1 – extremely slow, long breaks and resets between each lift, actually, I attempted to do 11 – the very first one was a fail. Knees were wobbly, balance kept trying to pull me forward
42.2kgs – (1, 2 fails, 3, Fail, 1)

Ok, I do have a "3 fails you're out rule" for myself. So at this point, I was out. Especially since I had started throwing the bar when I realized I wasn't going to get back up from the squat. Not healthy for me or fellow gym patrons.

Need to get myself back on track with the Zone, and stay on track with my trifecta - positive emotions, healthy eating, strong PT.

yay! burpees!

2009-01-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Not adjusting to well to my new schedule. I am conking out at my desk each night, and struggling to stay awake the rest. Despite all my good intentions, my sugar intake is still high. Most of my day consists of meat, some greens, fruits and a lot of nuts….then today was delicious, soft, chewy most chocolate with walnut brownies and ice cream (only 1/3 cup, so getting better). Coffee and tea intake is extremely high, which of course requires a lot of water. I think my assumptions about sugar and grains in relation to PMS symptoms may be true, as I am hurting this month (also could be another culprit of why I am conking out).

Monday mornings workout: In true globo-gym, 1st Monday after New Years style, the gym was packed and all the treadmills were being utilized already by 0530. So, to warm-up I did 10 burpees – on a wet floor. I’ve gathered that it really doesn’t matter what time I go to the gym; the TCN’s will have just finished mopping whatever area I want to utilize.

Once again, I impressed myself with my burpees form – how much easier it is getting to drop down in to the push-up and bring my legs back into the squat position. Now, once I get the jump up part down, I’m going to be a burpee champ!

Again, some of my reps and weights are a little screwy due to losing track of what was going on.

Back squat:
20kgs x 5 reps x 2 sets
40 x 5 x 1
50 x 3 x 1
55 x 2 x 1
60 x 5 x 3

Bench Press:
45lbs x 10 reps x 1 set
55 x 5 x 1
60 x 3 x 1
75 x 5 x 1
85 x 5 x 1
95 x 5 x 2

Deadlift:
40kgs x 5 x 2
61 x 5 x 1
80 x 3 x 1
90 x 2 x 1
90 x 5 x 3

Woah! The deadlifts were tough today, but I am so close to breaking the 200 lb mark, I’m very excited for the next session! What’s fun is how HUNGRY lifting makes me. I feel almost as if I am entitled to eat and eat and eat and never stop. So, I had two small, but delicious flavored pancakes along with my eggs and bacon PWO. The vanilla nut was very good, the cinnamon apple was good but I probably won’t get again. I had never even seen the specialty pancake grill before, so hopefully it’s not something offered too often. Or I’ll be hitting it up more than I want to.

Here is a weight watchers tip that has stuck with me through the years – when using a sauce or dressing, get it on the side and dip your fork in it before picking up the food. As I was enjoying my pancakes with minimal syrup this morning, I was trying to figure out how many times I have doused BAD pancakes or waffles or French toast in a massive amount of syrup….instead of just not eating them. Or, how many people dump syrup all over their food without even considering what the food might taste like without it? That is how I know I won’t get the apple cinnamon pancakes again – I tried a couple bites of each without syrup. This is also yet another reason why I won’t eat lettuce – lettuce just doesn’t taste that good without something with it; i.e. dressings.

2009-01-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

I have yet to finish my latest book, due to being busier than normal lately, but here are some short thoughts on my Intuitive Eating Project.

I don't know why I ever would've felt food deprived as a kid, or even feared that I was not able to access all foods I wanted. With the restaurant and not being poor, that was obviously not going to happen. I have some theories on using food to cope though. The need to cope ended right around the time I noticed I was significantly larger than several of my friends (height and weight) and that these friends had boyfriends and I didn't. Well, I'm an adult now, and well over that silly teenage BS. The deprivation studies noted in the book (need to find literature on this as well, intrigued) stated that simply the idea of not being able to access all foods I might want can lead a brain to think it is being deprived - i.e. deployment.

Although on one hand I know care packages will continue to arrive and have things I want in them, including dark chocolate and nuts....on the other hand, I am not always sure how long my "supply" will last until the next care package. I can tell you that even though I put Becky's box of goodies out for everyone to enjoy....I secretly wanted them all to myself, so continued to eat them even when not neccessarily hungry.

I'm eating as much protein as my stomach can handle due to the Starting Strength program (do not want to repeat the headache I had after the last session, which I think may have partially been caused by high carbs/low protein during the day).

I don't think I've ever mentioned my favorite book website before - www.a1books.com. Because I do like to buy any suggested book regarding nutrition, this site with it's amazing 50-95% off prices has been a huge money saver and my collection of knowledge has gotten significantly larger these days. It's got everything I've wanted, I've yet to not find a book on there.

Today was a rest day, but I have not rested as I have been awake 27 hours during a rather rocky transition from night to day shift. Bed time is very very soon though.

time shift

2009-01-01T23:13:00.001-05:00

Switching to days, kind of. Doing a half-days/half-nights for a couple weeks. Decision was made when I came in late on a half-day though, meaning I slept in. I'm thinking about just shooting for a 24 hour day with lots of coffee since sleep seems to not be an option right now.

Sore from yesterday, but not as sore as I expected. I do a lot of whole body stretches, have been trying to ingest as much water as my stomach and bladder will allow, and ate a massive amount of protein last night (to compliment the massive amount of my annual Rebecca Scharpe Holiday Baking treats). I also drank Emergen-C (1000mg vit c) right at the begining of my work-out yesterday, so maybe that helped. Vitamin C, from my research, should help lower the cortisol levels in your body. Cortisol controls the body's reaction to stress, and therefore assists the muscles in recovery when they are stressed. I think when my eating is more back to normal and I have less sugar pulsing through my blood, I will attempt to vary the time/amount I take the Emergen-C to see which works best for me. It's a simple, but effective method to help with recovery - and the powdered kind comes in many delicious flavors!

Peace out. Be sure to check out http://gonepaleo.blogspot.com!

i'm pooped

2009-01-01T01:10:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of starting strength.....I ordered the book yesterday, so hopefully it arrives quickly and I can ensure I am on the right track. I know today wasn't the right format (as according to the Wiki), as somewhere between presses and cleans my brain started to go fuzzy.

So anyways, here is what happened today:

Front Squat (all x5 reps): 44lbs, 88, 110, 110, 112.2 (I think those little .5 kg plates are my new best friend)

Shoulder Press (all x5 reps): 44lbs, 44, 55, 66, 66, 66 (uh, ouch!)

Squat Clean (this is where it gets confusing): 44lbsx5repsx2 sets, 88lbsx5, 99lbsx5, 110 lbsx1 (x3 fails), 88lbsx (1 fail) and 5 reps

Fails hurt, the pride mostly, but also the body. All my fails were inability get back up from the squat.

Oly lifting buddy decided on 10 burpees for our cool-down. I was actually quite impressed with my form today, the overall motion has become much more fluid, and I got my nose to the ground in the push-up without even thinking about it.

I'm exhausted.

I'm getting tired of allowing myself to eat all my "cravings" already. I don't want to get sick of ice cream, I just want to learn to eat it in moderation.

Happy 1 year to me and Boo Boo!

Happy Birthday to Lisa (Kyle's mom) and total props for taking the plunge into Crossfit this week!

Happy New Years y'all!

Starting Strength

2008-12-31T01:44:00.000-05:00

If you spend any amount of time on the Crossfit message boards (ahem, or a lot, like some people, whatever) you will often see Starting Strength (SS) mentioned. SS is a weight lifting program, designed by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, for beginner's that focuses on powerlifting, form and weight. Seeing as how I have never really progressed very well with my Crossfit weightlifting (consistency is key....), and I am working through my "Intuitive Eating" project, I thought now would be a perfect time to do SS. Although, the how-to book didn't appear in my stocking this year, so until I order and receive it, I am going 100% off the information so nicely provided on the internet by those who have read the book. Thanks for sharing guys!

Day 1 (yesterday) - determine your max weight for squats, bench press and deadlifts.

Back squat (all x 5 reps): 45lbs, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 105, 115, 125, 125, 125 - I met my new gym buddy right before the last set! Yay for Crossfitters!

Bench Press (all x 5 reps): 45lbs, 55, 65, 75, 75, 75

Deadlift (all x 5 reps): 88lbs, 110, 154, 165, 187 - Ok, I know those were not in 10 lb increments like they were supposed to be, but the bumper plates are in kgs and kgs confuse the heck outta me! New gym buddy really gave me some good pointers on my deadlift form, then we worked on the basics of doing a kipping pull-up.

As usual when lifting, I didn't feel fatigued upon leaving the gym but my body is screaming today! I now understand why there are only 3 lifting sessions a week, and the other 4 days are supposed to be rest days. Anyways, this is my project for the next 4 weeks. Going to have find something to do with those rest days though!

Ok, I'm sleepy and usually type my posts at work, but I was busy last night....so nothing new for http://gonepaleo.blogspot.com/ today, but I'll try to double up tomorrow since I have a plan in mind for what I want to say.

Happy New Years!

Weekend Wrap Up

2008-12-29T01:01:00.000-05:00

Not much going on this weekend at all.......I haven't been sticking to clean eating and PT though. This leads me to my trifecta of good health.

Strong, Solid PT - Positive Emotions - Clean Eating

If I lose one, the other two seem to fall apart as well. Which makes sense, because when I have all three together life is awesome, and I feel terrific and that I could take on the world! At times like these, where I beat myself up mentally for not adhering to my PT and clean eating, I just constantly remind myself of where I have come from. Some of the things I think of:

1) I don't weigh 190 lbs anymore, and I never will again.
2) I used to not be able to run 400 meters (1/4 mile) without having to walk, much less make a good time on PT tests. Now, even if I don't run for a couple of weeks, I can generally get 2-3 miles before becoming fatigued (and will usually push out another mile more).
3) My "guts" behave these days (most of the time), through much research as well as trial and error, I have found a way to eat for health and fun that doesn't make me ill.
4) I'm getting older and getting better! Better at everything, better at life, better at being me. Never ever did I think that would happen.
5) Even though I do still do "girl" push-ups on my knees for max reps, or when I am fatigued, but never again will anyone be able to accuse me of cheating my real push-ups. Those are a full 90 degree elbow bend, I can do several and my biceps/triceps are looking great because of them!

Be sure to check out http://gonepaleo.blogspot.com

gosh darn internet

2008-12-27T03:37:00.000-05:00

Still unable to upload pictures, but here is what I wanted to show you.

1) Me on Christmas Eve, opening my gifts from the Any Sailor stocking.
2) Me with my new diploma! I'm a college graduate now!
3) Me with my super awesome patriotic blanket from the Fred and Joyce Weckworth family in Arlington.
4) Why I should've joined the Air Force - a container full of LOBSTER TAILS from midrats at the Air Force chow hall.
5) The new sign on my work computer: "Step away from the candy! Do 25 push-ups instead!"
6) A picture of why I need the sign - a file cabinet drawer full of candy (before a good chunk of it got cleaned out).

Have a great weekend everyone! Be sure to check out my newest blog at http://gonepaleo.blogspot.com!

Christmas in Baghdad

2008-12-25T01:24:00.000-05:00

I'd like to share photos with you, but the internet is to slow to upload today....so, I guess it'll have to be done some other time. But, candle light service in the rotunda of the palace, followed by a Christmas Eve BBQ/Bonfire at the office. I pulled off some rather impressive and tasty little dishes considering our limited options (I do love a challenge) and then proceeded to pass out after ingesting one to many roasted marshmallows.

Merry Christmas to all! Muah!

Weekend Wrap Up

2008-12-22T01:08:00.000-05:00

Um....

Boo Boo bought me a pink camoflauge P22 Walther pistol for Christmas! Woohoo! I can't wait to get home and take it to the range. Although, I'm still trying to figure out how his hint of, "we can play with it in the front yard when we get a house" fits into the equation. Last time I checked, we were not moving to the backwoods of Kentucky (which I actually wouldn't mind provided we can still get high speed internet).

Which reminds me, more wireless routers installed recently, so internet in the CHU has gotten drastically faster!

I zoned 4 out of 7 days last week, did not lose any weight but did lose about a 1/4 inch off the waist and abdomen. Yesterday I slept crappy, skipped the gym, ate sugar and felt miserable and got all emotional and sappy.......see, it's a vicious cycle. Today, I ROCKED the gym and loved my workout and even though I did eat some goodies towards the end of the evening, did not feel guilty about them. I learned two things today in regards to moderation: I went to HQ, and there were 3 different home baked goods sitting on the counter. I ate one, set one of each of the other two aside to take with me when I left. As I walked out the door, I started eating one....and it was good, so good I wanted to turn around and get more but I told myself "no." Then I took a bite out of the second one, and it sucked. Instead of tossing it, I continued to eat it! Why? I don't know, it provided me no satisfaction and it totally ruined the enjoyment of the first two treats.

I might have had a sign from God in regards to my future, it was very much a lightbulb moment and I'm super excited to follow through on it.

Mood: Great! I'm in a super good mood!

Food: Even if I didn't make it straight through for 7 days of zone, I'm still pretty happy with myself. I did not reach for low-quality junk foods this week. I do hope the onslaught of homebaked goods slows down a bit after Christmas though. Can't handle the constant temptation really well. The days I did Zone, I felt pretty good and satisfied. I made some notes, but I think I need to get even more extensive to figure out my energy levels in relation to PT and food times.

PT: More Crossfit buddies in the gym! Something about wandering on and off the deadlift platform, it's a dead giveaway for a Crossfitter. I woke up to the new neighbors moving stuff around in their room, so I had a while to think before I actually got out of bed. I decided to try and do 5x10 of squats, push-ups and sit-ups everyday when I first wake-up. It not only gets the blood flowing, but once I start PT'ing for a day, I usually don't want to stop. So, I did that today and completed the work in 6:07.

Dips went well again, even though I was using the wider bar. Also included deadlifts in my warm-up to find out what weight I would be comfortable with for the WOD. The RX'ed weight was just a little too much, so I went lower.

Today's WOD (mods in parenthesis):
3 rounds for time of:

50 24-inch box jumps (20 inch because the gym doesn't have 24)
21 reps, 135 lb deadlift (121 lbs)
30 pull-ups (Rds 1 and 2 on gravitron, Rd 3 was push-ups because I couldn't maintain a grip on the gravitron anymore).

Time was 34:25, some of that time was spent on switching the weights on the deadlift, exchanging names with new CF buddies and asking the guy who his water, gloves, towel, etc on my box to move.

Box jumps went great! I haven't done any of those since August (other than that one disasterous day last week), and every single one was jump up/jump down, no trips. I know in the past, I usually end up doing some step downs and tripping. All sets were broken though.

Deadlifts, Rds 1 and 2 were done in 3x7, Round 3 was 7x3. I thought round 3 was never going to end. Breathing is so incredibly important.

Pull-ups, I hate the gravitron. I need that assist band, like last month. After I start sweating, it is almost impossible for me to hold a grip on any of the bars in the gym. The callouses on my hands hurt. So, I decided to improv Round 3, and did 30 unbroken knee push-ups. I was surprised, even on my knees I've never gotten so many unbroken before.

Yay for dips!

2008-12-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

Remember that smart and articulate post I said I was going to write? Eh, me neither. I know it has to do with all the note taking I have been doing lately, but I don't actually remember the particular subject. Darn it.

Anyways, I have 3 different notebooks going on right now. The small one is where I track my food and time of intake. Then there is the WOD log, which is more than just what exercises I did for the day. I also write in warm ups, how I felt during/after the WOD, any modifications and whether a weight or exercise was to much/to little, etc, etc. The third notebook I just started last week, and this is where I write all my random thoughts that I am thinking when I start eating crap food (or thinking about eating crap food) and how it affects my body.

This third one is very handy, as it has helped me identify a few things that I wouldn't have otherwise. Example - it is not neccessarily sugar that makes me feel like doodoo afterwards (small amounts of sugar anyways). It is the ingestion of grains that causes me any one of the 12 different issues that I identified last week. These issues range from gas to pre-UTI symptoms. Just those two in general are pretty good reasons to not eat crap food. The in-betweens are: lower abdominal pain, yucky taste in mouth, stomach distention/bloat, nausea, headache upon waking up the next day, lethargy, wt gain, dehydration and heart burn. All this for a boxed donut? I must be on crack.

This hasn't been easy for me to record everything, as I am generally very hesitant to write down what I eat. But, I am trying. I am even weighing my meats so that I do not underestimate. It turns out I'm pretty accurate most of the time.

I might have been too gung-ho in saying I was going to Zone for 7 days straight. Mainly, because it didn't happen. There the notebooks helped me identify that I seemed to be going in 2-day cycles. So, I decided to shoot for 3 days on/1 day off (hmm, that sounds familiar) and work from there. Today is day 2 of the cycle and it went pretty well. I wish it was easier to get more veggies into my day.

Mood: Happy!

Food: Zoned. Even on days I don't purposefully IF, I still seem to eat within a short period of time (less than 8 hours). This is mainly because I either do not eat before a WOD or have a very small amount of food. So, over half my daily amount of food is eaten within a 1 hour period after I work out, which generally leaves me satisfied until breakfast time (got to have my eggs and veggies!).

PT: I didn't go to the gym for two days, then yesterday was my half day off and I didn't wake up until late. So, I did tabatas of squats, push-ups, situps, incline tricep push-ups. It only took 16 minutes and woke me up and got me charged again as far as PT is concerned.

Today I did Nasty Girls (mods in parenthesis):

50 squats
7 muscle-ups (35 jumping pull-ups, 14 jumping negative dips)
95# hang power clean (65#)

Squats were good, I really want to move beyond jumping pull-ups! I need a rubber band thingie. Negative dips were strong and the hang power cleans were good, and I probably could've handled more weight if my hands hadn't been so sweaty. Today's big accomplishment is that I managed 4 true dips during my warm up! I wasn't even shooting for 4, I was shooting for 3, got 4 and was half way through 5 when my arms quit. Woohoo!

Today's Quote: Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self esteem, and personal satisfaction. - Brian Tracy

Hello!

2008-12-17T23:49:00.000-05:00

I have some really super smart people stuff to say, but I want it to be articulate, therefore will work on it for a day and post tomorrow.

In the meantime, I just want to say that I have been with the love of my life for almost a year now, and since I spend the majority of my time thinking about him, have been reflecting a lot on the begining of our relationship. What an amazing time. I swear I loved him right from the very very start, as my world became brighter with him in it. I love you, Boo Boo!

Just another thoguhtful Tuesday

2008-12-17T00:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I got some Christmas cards off today, which is about 7 days earlier than normal, so I'm doing good on that! Every year I get a little more efficient at this holiday thing; one of these days I may even purchase all gifts before Thanksgiving! Doubtful. That would require non-procrastination. I'm big on procrastination, ever since I was introduced to high-speed internet. Then again, low speed internet is addicting also, since it just perturbs me that when so many high speed connections are available, that an internet connection could be so worthless. Did anyone hear the next president's thoughts on high speed internet? The gist of the speech I heard (over a week ago) was that he think it is a shame all children do not have easy access to the internet, and this is part of the reason we can not compete for jobs with foreign countries. I'm not neccessarily disagreeing with it, but the way the speech sounded to me at the time: There are a lot of other more shameful things going on in this country regarding children than lack of internet.

Mood: Blah blah blah, same "stuff" different day. I'm thinking about teaching the omelette guys that phrase because although they know my face and that I want fresh eggs, scrambled - for some reason they still expect me to ask for anything other than a massive amount of mushrooms and onions with 1 spoonful each of peppers and tomatos.

Food: Not exactly in my Zone today, but I do have a pretty good idea of what my blocks were! I think I started the evening off wrong, by allowing myself to eat early and have a small square of lasagna (dairy and grains). Although I did not eat them in huge portions or a reckless manner, I did have chocolate chips in my trail mix and 6 oreos; hence why I went over my blocks. I like oreos. They are totally worth the extra calories.

NOTE: THERE WAS A 30 MINUTE BREAK BETWEEN THESE TWO PARAGRAPHS.

PT: This part of the post was supposed to be about how awesome I am, and that even after having the oreos I went to the gym and knocked out some heavy back squats and deadlifts, setting new personal records (PRs) and am now ready to sleep because I am exhausted. But, no, that didn't happen. During the course of morning turnover discussion, Delilah happened to open a package from her mother that contained homemade, CHOCOLATE COVERED peanut brittle. I got a whole package for myself. You can gather what happened from there. Delilah is my care package buddy, because both our families send really yummy, mostly healthy stuff and we share with each other. I am sleepy now.

I will leave you with today's qoute, from weightlifting coach, Mark Rippetoe: You can't make people smarter. You can expose them to information, but your responsibility stops there.

I miss Boo Boo

2008-12-16T00:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been another one of those days, where the day is ending and I really don't know what made today different than any other day this month (or even last month). I have been gone from my Boo Boo for 2 months, 2 weeks and 4 days now and it feels like FOREVER! How did people ever handle seperations before internet? Haha, I should ask my grandparents that one.

Weight: I have stashed the scale on top of my locker, and behind my trunk so it is difficult to get out. It will make appearances only on Sundays for awhile. I have been a slave to it for many years now, so I think it's about time to give it up.

Mood: Distracted.

Food: I have stayed zoned again today, so two days down, 5 to go! True story, I had chocolate and even managed to stay within my numbers! 1 Ghiradelli square, trail mix that had about 8 or 9 m&M's in it and one Girl Scout cookie (samoas, who can resist?). All the other food I had was very filling, as I got some Amy's Chili from the parents, and put a cup of that over a huge mound of broccoli, salsa and chicken. Yum yum.

PT: Skipped the dips and pull-ups today, because my upper body was hurting from all the burpees yesterday and I planned on doing more burpees. Prescribed WOD was 50-40-30-20-10 of double unders (jump rope) and situps. I practiced double unders for 5 minutes, but just couldn't quite get the hang, so I modified by doubling the amount of jump ropes for a total time of 10:24. 300 single unders doesn't sound that bad until your calves start screaming. Did 15 burpees before calling it a day.

Bed time now, peace out.

This is why I fail math classes

2008-12-15T00:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was another off day for me...I had full intentions of going to the gym, but forgot my ID card in the computer and decided it was to cold to do all the extra walking...lazy butt me, which led to another rather disgusting food binge. It started with too many nuts, which would've been ok, but then it moved onto Little Debbie Streusel cakes (never had them before, thought they would taste bad, turns out they don't) and bear claws. But, seeing as how this was my second food binge in 3 days, I started jotting down some notes in regards to how, when, why, etc. A quick review of my workout and food logs revealed I generally binge on days I don't PT. Hmm, interesting. Why? Not sure yet. Also, I've tried to start remembering all the silly yet effective phrases I've heard over the years - like the first one I learned in Weight Watchers - "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels" and my new one, "By eating this (insert junk food here) I do not want to burn fat for the next 3-4 hours." Does anyone else have any good phrases they have learned over the years that helps them control their eating?

I also made a list of how my body felt as the processed food hit my system...this list continued even after I woke up. I now have 9 reasons to think of why I shouldn't eat something or eat in excess of something next time. 9 reasons compared to the one reason of "well, it'll taste good."

But today was another perfectly zoned day and I am preparing for bed soon, with no hunger or cravings.

PT: Warm up of 5x10 burpees (hey, I'm getting faster at these!). Did a few Clean and Jerks with just the bar, then added 2 - 10kg plates on. This is why I fail math class. So, a 24kg bar plus 2 - 10kg weights equals how many pounds? 96.8 (plus the stoppers which I didn't count). So, this is almost close to the maximum weight I did for clean and jerks about 2 weeks ago. But, I didn't do this math until well after I finished my workout, therefore was frustrated on why I was struggling with the lift. 100 lbs was my max clean and jerk just two weeks ago, and here I was trying to start at almots 100 with a pained shoulder. I failed 1, completed 1, failed one before deciding to just do cleans.

Cleans 7x1: 5x44kg, 1x49kg, 1x49kg (fail), 1x49kg - yes, I'm stubborn, I always shoot for 3 before I give up on a weight.

Back Squats 5x5: 65lbs, 75lbs, 85lbs, 105lbs, 115lbs

Finished with 7x10 burpees. I got 80 more to do tomorrow as part of my "No grains/no sugars" challenge. They really aren't that bad when split into 10's.

Isn't the desert supposed to be HOT?

2008-12-13T01:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a rest day for me, as well as another binge day. I think an important thing I have learned in the past 5 weeks (my week of eating TOO many sweets followed by 4 weeks of the "no grains/no sugar" challenge) is that when I really think I want something - just eat it. I can tell you what truely set off the 2 day binge fest - it was the waffles at midnight chow. I wanted them, but I told myself "no." But, I still wanted them and kept passing them up. I was imagining the taste of the waffles and maple syrup and whether I would put the super sweet looking strawberry topping on or not. So, I ended up eating other foods; and nothing quieted the craving. Finally, yesterday morning I decided to have the waffle, along with some butter and maple syrup and a little potato cheese casserole looking thing - and you know what? I was dissapointed. It tasted like doodoo. So, in the future when I want sweets, I will think cinnabons first and also think about how no breakfast food can compare to my homemade buttermilk pancakes (right, booboo?). Which, BTW, I am thinking about modifying this recipe to be more paleo-ish, but that will obviously have to wait.

On to today - a perfect zone day for me. I counted all my nuts (that is such a silly phrase) and made sure I had enough blocks for breakfast after my run. I felt satisfied all night, and even felt a little too full after eating all my vegetables. Yesterday, I scoped out the "pre-packaged" protein options at the BX, and found Bumble Bee brand pre-seasoned/pre-cooked fish and chicken. I had the salmon and it was pretty decent! I also picked up canned oysters and sardines - something I have never before been tempted to try, but you know, a hungry girl needs to do something!

PT: CF WOD was (with my mods in parenthesis): As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of: 15 (jumping) pull-ups, 15 ring (no rings for me, I did knees) push-ups, 15 back extensions (supermans) and 15 GHD sit-ups (I did regular sit-ups). 11 sit-ups short of 8 rounds for me. Push-ups are tough! There gets to be a point when the arms just don't want to bend any more.

CFE WOD - So, Baghdad is getting a little cold. Like below 50 (I know, you MN folk are laughing at me! Stop!). But, you know, I'm a tough girl, born and raised in the cold and figured I'd warm up after my first 1/2 mile or so. NOT! I spent my 5x800m runs just trying not to trip due to my freezing joints. Times: 3:51/4:15/4:23/4:37/4:21.

Did everyone see the report about how the moon is closer to earth this cycle? It was very apparent last night, as around 4am I saw the most beautiful sky ever. The moon was bright, and everything had a white glow to it - and the clouds, I don't know the meteorlogical term, but the clouds were gorgeous and there was just a pristine calm to it all. I did not have a camera, but one of my coworkers did take pictures, so I will see if I can get those to share. It was a sight that can not be described in words.

the answer

2008-12-10T23:56:00.001-05:00

On the 4th, I posed some questions in reference to PMS, to which I now think I have partial answers to:

So, are the lighter, almost non-existent symptoms yet another advantage to my paleo lifestyle? Maybe, but being the hormone free girl that I am, sometimes it lasts for days on end, and last night the cravings got to me big time. Without getting into nitty gritty details, I can tell you the immediate bloat and naseua are a good reminder of why I try to stay grain and sugar free most of the time. Not sure if this would've happened had I been in an enviroment where I could've gone and found myself some high quality sweets. I have often left Whole Foods with nothing more than a small one-scoop serving of gelato or my favorite peach iced tea and not craved sweets for many days afterwards.

Can Kyle look forward to a life where I don't try to start a massive arguement with him at least once a month? Haven't tried to start an arguement with him this past week, in fact, I try to find new ways to tell him everyday how much I love him.

Can I please get some super dark organic chocolate around this place before the next time??? I still don't know the answer to this question :)

Weight: 173 (maybe this is just meant to be my weight? I have been thinking about this lately, but that is for another post.)

Mood: Not exactly happy, but it has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the heartache a new friend is suffering through, and there is nothing short of bad jokes that can be said to remedy the situation.

PT habits: Well, since I have said I would take it light on my shoulder for a bit, I did something today that I swore I would never do again - gravitron pullups (aka assisted weight machine pullups). Yeeeccchhh. I set a really high weight so that my focus was more on the action of my muscles, not the actual weight. The prescribed workout was a crapload*** of squats and muscleups. Not only do I lack the rings to do muscle ups, I lack the muscular ability (for now, this will be a 2009 goal), so I subbed pullups and dips.

100 squats, 10 pullups (gravitron), 2 jumping negative dips
80 squats, 20 pullups (gravitron), 4 jumping negative dips
60 squats, 30 pullups (gravitron), 6 jumping negative dips
40 squats, 40 pullups (gravitron), 8 jumping negative dips
20 squats, 50 pullups (gravitron), 10 jumping negative dips

Time: 29:57, lots of time lost to constantly wiping down my hands and the rubber grip bar, and putting the "seat" down to do the dips.

Today I had a brilliant moment, and rotated the bars on the machine inward to make a narrower grip for the dips - instant less stress on shoulder during the movement! Why didn't I think of this one earlier?

Insert Catchy Title Here

2008-12-10T00:28:00.000-05:00

Well, today I'm tired and headachy, and decided it must be contributed to one if not all of the following:

1) Someone in the office does not know how to make proper coffee. Only two of us drink it regularly, and both of us would eat the beans with our teeth if we had to.....and like to fill the filter to the top with grounds. We try to remember to make fresh coffee before shift change for each other. Occassionally though, someone else (and no one will admit to doing it) will and there isn't even enough grounds for half a pot, much less the whole pot. So, along with weak coffee, at about 3am I discovered I hadn't even drank my whole mug. (Don't worry, L, the majority of my night is spent drinking tea :)

2) I readjusted my food intake to be more in line with the prescribed Zone, and in just two days have discovered I was quite a ways off target. My fat intake was way over, my carb intake low and protein was almost correct, but still under. So, I will give this a whole week to see how I feel after my body has a chance to absorb the adjustments. Might have to tweak again. I'll tell you what though; limiting my nut intake is hard! I literally measure out what I'm going to eat, put them in a bowl, and pick each nut up one by one so that it takes longer to eat them. Mmm, right now I'm thinking about fresh avocados, EVOO and organic bacon. Good fat.

3) Last night I ate shredded pork, which was liberally mixed with what I can only assume was BBQ sauce (read: sugar, and being that it is mass production food, let's go ahead and say some HFCS also). I love pork, I will compromise certain rules to have pork but that doesn't make it sit any better in my body.

PT last night was short and sweet (ish). Warm up was good, 23 solid push-ups, no dips or pull-ups (don't want to do to much to aggravate shoulder). Attempted thrusters again, no go. Modified a mainsite WOD of 5 rounds of: 35 lb dumbbell, 10 walking lunges, 15 db swings. Sounds easy, right? No, this is one of those feel the pain later workouts (especially when I spend a good part of my walking time in thick gravel). I modified with 20 lbs and held the db in one hand while lunging. The first round was left hand at the shoulder, 2nd round right hand at shoulder, then the rest of the rounds were at my side - it got kinda tough. 20 lbs was definitly a little light as far as I was concerned, but good for my shoulder. 5:58. I was going to do some back squats, but the racks were all taken over by Chatty Cathys.

On an exciting note, as I was walking around the gym, I noticed someone doing burpees on the deadlift platform! There's only one group of people I know who do crazy stuff like that! I didn't want to interrupt his workout, but by the time I turned around again, he was gone! I thought maybe it was an illusion. But, no I saw him again on the treadmill, then kinda tracked him around until I got the opportunity to talk. Yep, two guys who do Crossfit most nights of the week, so I'm going to try and join them a few times. It's funny, I rarely start my own conversations with people, but I just walked right up to these guys and started chatting away.

DOMS made me change my mind on doing CFE this morning also. Will do tomorrow or Friday morning, and shoot for 3 days next week.

Weight: 172

Mood: I don't like it when I don't feel 100%, or at least a good 95%. What actually kicked off this latest cycle of PT/nutrition of mine (and hopefully it is no longer a cycle) was being injured this past summer. As I spent about 3 days doing NOTHING (and the first day whacked out on medical issued pills), I felt worthless and couldn't help but think that if I had a stronger body, I wouldn't have been injured (maybe, maybe not, I got stepped on by 2 250lb or so guys while lying on the ground). I promised myself that anything I could do to prevent my body from betraying itself, I would. I also vowed that if someone else causes me to be injured again, through their own stupidity, they better put me in the hospital because an injury as simple as a pulled back muscle is just plain old annoying. This last time, I just ignored them as I was trying to hold back tears from knowing I would be unable to complete the class I was in. Also, I obviously had nothing nice to say, and my mother taught me better than that :)

This is my angry face....grrrrr

2008-12-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

Last night's workout did not go as planned. Between my coworker having his half-night off, and picking up someone from the airport, it got to be a little late. By the time I got done with the airport run, I was extremely hungry and decided to eat a full meal and go to the gym at the end of shift.

Today was scheduled for "Fran," then about halfway through the evening I saw a short version of a 2 day Starting Strength schedule and decided, "What the heck, I've got no where to be...." (Note: Starting Strength is on my Christmas Wish List for the 2nd year in a row. Might have to buy it myself one of these days:)

Get to gym, bloated and feeling a little bit apprehensive about "Fran" v. "Pukie," because my food did not sit well. Decent warm-up, I banged out 29 full ROM push-ups, with a bit of a struggle but I kept form. Dips were good, still can't do a pull-up.

Only available place to do thrusters was a squat rack. So, I get in the rack, kick off my shoes, start testing my squats....can't stay on my heels. What the heck. Do a few more, decide maybe if I have the bar to weigh me down, it'll go better. Grab the bar, squat, up, thrust, arms locked out....shooting pain in right shoulder. Put bar down, stretch, repeat for 3 more times before I decide to change to a different WOD.

Locate boxes, 12", 20" and 30". Ok, so 20" it is. Boxes are varnished? No, I'm really not joking, I think the most they are used for is for people to set their water bottles on. So, I wipe the 20" down several times, the floor, my shoes, trying to get everything nice and dry. I test 15 lb dumbbell thrusters, figure I can muscle my way through them. Start my new WOD, trip 3 times in the first 10 jumps, lose the ipod (I know, I know, shouldn't let it interfere, but it keeps me focused!) and again, pain in the shoulder.

Decide to call it a day. Don't even bother with SS cause I already feel like a loser for tripping on the box.

On the bright side, I stopped to talk to the front desk on the way out about the boxes, and they said it shouldn't be a problem, that management usually tries to get people equipment they request. Hmm, good time to ask for a few other things then!

So, I guess I have a few things to correct, such as being prepared with my food, because I shouldn't expect to be able to go get dinner at specific times. Stop eating all the goodies from home in vast amounts so that I don't run out in between care packages. Get workout done before shift on co-worker's half-days so I can eat, because eating before most CF workouts is a bad idea for me. As for my shoulder, I think maybe I need to reduce workout weights for a little bit and stop trying to be SuperWoman all the darn time.

Weekend Wrap Up

2008-12-08T01:18:00.000-05:00

Hmm, let's see, getting orders was exciting. Kyle made it home to PA after an excessively long road trip. I received an email that Kitty has been sick, but is doing much better now after some alternative therapy treatments. Oh, she has also lost 8 lbs! She is almost a normal sized cat now, lol. Ms. Nanncy has her on an extremely good feeding schedule that I will need to maintain (and keep Kyle from feeding her a bag of treats in one sitting). I had a pretty good, productive weekend at work also, and that made me feel good. I'll admit, it is sometimes hard to feel as if my job is really contributing - but weekends like this one, I know it is.

Since I have so much energy these days and find it almost impossible to fall asleep soon after getting off work, I have decided to add Crossfit Endurance into my training. Crossfit Endurance is for people preparing to run/bike/swim competitions/long distance style. But, training is not long distance, instead it mixes short interval training with the mainsite WOD's. I will only be doing the running for now. I have a week or two of putting myself through the beginner runs before attempting the regular WOD's.

Weight: 172, body measurements were the same, but since my weight is down from last Sunday, my BF% actually calculates higher.

Mood: Good, hyped, nervous. What other emotions usually come in when a person is contemplating a monumental change in their lives?

Food Habits: After many days of overdoing the nuts and PB (and friday's sweets binge), I am rededicating myself to a strict zone/paleo/IF. Zone is the quanity of food I eat, paleo is the quality, and IF is the time period in which I eat it all (starting after I work out until approximately 4-6 hours later). On zone, it is actually difficult for me to eat my recommended number of protein/carb blocks per day (14) because it's alot of food! So, I dropped the carb blocks to 10 and upped the fat blocks. (Much like desserts, there is always room for more nuts!)

PT habits: I'm going to start posting real numbers and stuff here, because super cool fellow Crossfitters actually read this and will understand! I'm behind on the mainsite WODs.

Shoulder Press 7x1: 65, 70, 71 (fail), 66, 66, 66, 70, 71 - my right shoulder is tight, which definitly affected this. My last press was during CFT, and it was 85lbs, but I have a note that I might have been doing more of a push press that day (no mirror or spotter). Today was definitly solid presses.

CFE: 5x800m runs: 3:59/4:08/3:59/4:05/4:08 - I'm happy with these times, as my normal 1 mile average is 9:00.

Finally, check out this inspiring woman!

A-Hem! Attention, announcement!

2008-12-06T01:17:00.000-05:00

There has been something gnawing at my mind for the last couple of weeks. As any normal person would, I have been stressing a little bit about where I will be in 6 months. Going to a new duty station was easy the first time around, it was just me. Now I have Kyle (And Kitty!) to consider. I want Kyle and I to be equal, that neither of us should have to sacrifice a career for the others. Even though this at first seemed impossible, as our relationship grew over the past several months, it became more obtainable. Through discussion of our wants, needs, dreams and what was truly important (each other), we thought we had it figured out. When the last set of available orders came out, Kyle at that time had not heard back from the agency he had applied for. So, the decision of picking East Coast based ships for me wasn’t too difficult, but I also had a San Diego based choice last on my last.

But, then, after my requests had been submitted and closed out – Kyle heard back from the agency. We weren’t sure if it would be possible for him to work with this agency outside of San Diego….so I then became nervous. I prayed. Prayer can be difficult when a person wants to be selfish. I wanted to be selfish and scream for God to give me orders for San Diego so that I can be with Kyle. I emailed the career counselor at my command telling him the situation, asking if San Diego could be bumped to my first choice. I never heard anything back on that one, which I am not surprised as this email request was just a couple days ago – long after job selections can be made. But, I just decided to pray for God to show me the best path.

Then Wednesday, Kyle went to the first in a long series of interviews, and got some news that his application could be transferred to the East Coast. So, that made me even more nervous. I love San Diego and the command I picked would’ve been great, but the opportunities available to me for career advancement on the East Coast were outstanding as well.

The results of my requests were due to come out 1630, Friday Tennesse Time (what time zone would that be?). So that was 0130 Saturday, my time. About 1130 I broke and started eating all the sweets and chocolates that I had stashed away for Christmas. At 0100, I started logging in and out of the site, in hopes that maybe just this once the results would be posted early (that was a big negative). FINALLY, approximately 0132, there it was - a nice bold “S” (for selected) after the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Norfolk, VA.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings. The only reason I love San Diego as much as I do is because of the beautiful and awesome people in my life there. I will miss them and the joy they bring to my daily life (much as I do now). But, on the other hand, they will always be with me in my heart.
I will go anywhere with Kyle, because I know we are going to do things our way – and our way is fantastic! I look forward to what our East Coast journey has in store for us.

Intriguing happening....

2008-12-05T01:28:00.001-05:00

Yesterday my period started. LOL, I know, big deal, right? Well, it is, because it just kinda snuck up on me! How could that have happened? All my perioding life I have dealt with cramps, headaches, massive cravings for sugar, and usually a crying session or two in the week prior to my period.

But it didn't really happen this time around. I had one short lived craving for chocolate, which I attempted to satisfy. The chocolate tasted like doo-doo and I didn't want anymore. I knew it was time, but I had no other symptoms other than being massively tired at the end of shift the other night. At first I was concerned that I might be overtraining, but thankfully that isn't the case!

So, are the lighter, almost non-existent symptoms yet another advantage to my paleo lifestyle? Can Kyle look forward to a life where I don't try to start a massive arguement with him at least once a month? Can I please get some super dark organic chocolate around this place before the next time???

Peace, love and happiness!