End of 2009

Wow, I haven't written on this in waaay too long. A lot has happened in my life since the last time I posted. I don't have the energy to go into all of that, and besides, the past is the past, so I am now getting ready to say Hello to 2010 and looking forward to new beginnings! This has been a year of self discovery along with realizing what really matters in life and who my true friends are. I feel very blessed to have such PATIENT, understanding, caring and supportive friends, parents and family. Without them, I would've never gotten over the hills that I encountered this year. So, I just want to say thank you! Most especially, thank you for never giving up on our friendship, even when I wasn't the most cheerful, attentive, outgoing person and even during the times I wasn't the easiest person to be friends with. I love you all very much and am so thankful for you. =) xoxoxo...

ANDREA IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Halfie Buddy/BFF/Love of my life/My everything, Andrea is back in Texas from Korea!!!!!! She is in Houston right now and will be coming to Austin this weekend and staying with me for a bit!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!! I am PUMPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is goin goooood!!! Had body comp on Thursday morning. Was almost identical to my body comp in April. Which means I gained but then lost. I know I gained from my vacation, but no regrets!!!!! Every bite of Roti-Bun, Pat-bing-soo, street car food, Paris Baguette was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I am just happy now that I have gotten rid of my painful bloating!! Paleo has saved my life!! I feel stronger and happier. I am also finally on a routine for my WODs.

M-6:30am CF Boot Camp
T-5:45am CF Indoors
W-Rest
Th-5:45am CF Indoors
F-6:30am CF Boot Camp
Sat-Workout with my weekend CF "Tribe"
Sun-Rest

I am seeing great results!! Not only physically, but mentally as well!!!

Another weekend full of craziness. Hopefully doesn't go by too quickly. I'd love some down time. It has been a super crazy busy work week and this morning I had car trouble and had to replace my battery. The office is freeeeezing today and for once, I am dying to get out into the Texas heat!!! LOL

I feel very blessed and very fortunate.

Gonna get ready to head out to start my weekend!! woo hooo!!!

...

Tired...been a looong week. bla

gona be a crazy weekend. I just want one day full of NOTHING.

Deadlifts!!!!

I love deadlifts!! Today we continued Totals. On Tuesday we did back squats and shoulder presses, today we did deadlifts!! I set a new PR!! I deadlifted 145lbs!!!!!!! I was in SHOCK!! That's more than I weigh!!! In May my deadlift max was 115lbs. (weaksauce!!) I don't think I tried as hard in May as I did today, or maybe I got significantly stronger? Who knows. All I know is that I am super pumped and surprised!!! =)

Maggie is comin back today!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOO!! I am sooo excited to see her tomorrow morning at CF boot camp!!!!

I really need to be a better blogger. Work has been keeping me rather busy, but I'll blog as often as I can!!!

Back to work for now. Lata!!!

Finally Friday!!!!!

Man, this week went by really quickly but I was really really anticipating Friday!!! This weekend is gonna be a busy weekend, but hopefully it'll also be relaxing. Mike is coming up to visit!! I wanna go see the movies The Ugly Truth and Funny People. CrossFit Central is holding a ton of events this weekend!!! Friday: Women's happy hour.. it is going on RIGHT NOW, I am at work =( Saturday: UTB free workout for adults AND kids, Indoors workout, and "The Movement." I am going to try to make it to happy hour after work cuz it's really close to my office. I am also going to try to make it to the UTB WOD, but it depends on if I wake up. I want Mike to come with me, but he is a night owl and doesn't go to sleep til 2 or 3am, so there's no way he would wake up and be able to do a CF WOD at 8am!!! Anyways, if I make it to the UTB WOD, I'm gonna try to hit up "The Movement." If I don't make any of these awesome CF events, I am gonna try to go to hip hop class Saturday afternoon and meet up with Bonita on Sunday for the usual weekend CF WODs!! So clearly, my weekend is up in the air, but filled with plenty of things to do. =) I've got tons of errands to run and things to do around the condo as well. Ahhh, as I am writing this I am realizing that I have soo much to do this weekend and there is just sooo little time.

Well I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!!!

Oh and I am no longer lil miss grump =) This morning I woke up and I finally didn't feel bad!!! I felt great!!! YAY!!!! Thank God!!

My Maggie is leaving...

Maggie is leaving for Mexico tomorrow morning and I am sooo sad. This means she will not be at boot camp on Friday, not be at happy hour Friday, not be at the Under the Bridge workout Saturday, not be at The Movement, not be at hip hop, not be at not be at boot camp next Monday, and worst of all, not be able to hang out/go downtown all weekend and all next week!!! I am sooo BUMMED!! But on the bright side we found out she will have access to the internet!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!

Today was a rest day and I am glad. I've been feelin like a grump this week and I am sooo ready for the weekend. I am also sick of this hot hot Texas weather. grump grump grump. Tomorrow is a new day and it begins with 545am CrossFit!!!

To eat or to not eat before super early morning WODs

So I do my CF workouts early in the mornings. On Mondays and Fridays (sometimes on Wed too) I do Crossfit Boot Camp from 6:30am-7:30am. On Tues/Thurs, I do Crossfit Indoor class at 5:45am-6:30am. Woooweeee eeaaarrrlyy. It's funny to think about how early I wake up now vs. just a couple years ago. When I was in college, I would complain about having an 8am class LOL!! Anyways, I have gone back and forth with trying to figure out if I should or shouldn't eat before I workout. I have been doing CF since March and I didn't eat before my WODs for a few months, then noticed my energy was low, so I started drinking advocare's spark and taking catalyst. This seemed to work great, however for three reasons (not in any specific order) I decided to stop using/depending on these:
1) I was spending waay to much $$$, it gets pretty pricey
2) I was becoming very dependent on these and I think it was more of a mental thing
3) I wanted to go 100% paleo, and spark and catalyst have some ingredients in them that are no-no's for paleo

While trying spark and catalyst, a few times I've also tried eating before my WODs. I tried almond butter, coffee, grapes, and some other random stuff. But for the past 2 months, I have not been eating prior to my WODs and after my crappy perfomance on Monday, I started thinking....'maybe I should eat pre-workout, but how do I work out the appropriate timing of eating and not having to wake up an hour or more before my class??' (I'm the kind of gal who likes to push it and sleep til 6:10am, be dressed and out the door by 6:15am to make it to my 6:30am class LOL)

I've asked other CFers and my coaches whether to eat or not before such an early morning workout because I know digestion time is important, and it seems to really be a personal decision. Some ppl get sick if they eat before a CF WOD, some ppl NEED to eat.

On Monday at boot camp, I was draaaggggiiin ass... BIG TIME. It was terrible. I thought it may be due to lack of sleep or that I need to eat pre-wod?? Since I knew that gettin up for my class this morning (Tues) was gonna be rough (gettin up at 5am is waaay harder than 6am for me), I started to think about how I could prevent another ass draggin WOD. I am on thyroid medication which I am required to take at the same time everyday and I cannot eat until 1 hour after I have taken my medication. Thus, I started thinking about what time I would have to take my medication in order to be able to eat before my WOD and also allow for appropriate digestion time. Time time time.. bla bla bla. bedtime, wakeup time, medication time, eating time, wod time. So I decided last night... just try it, just do it. Decision made: medication at 4am (yes, I wake up in the middle of the night and take meds and then go back to sleep, it use to be 330am! then I changed it to 530am and now I'm gonna try 4am) So I took my meds at 4am and then went back to sleep for about 1hr and woke up at 5am. At 5:30am I had some coffee with 1/4 cup coconut milk and about 1/4-1/2 cup mashed cauliflower. I drove to the CF gym and was PUMPED!! Again, I duno if it was mental, but honestly, I don't think it was.

The WOD was tough...it was a KettleBell WOD!!

50 KB lunges
25 KB squat cleans
10R/10L KB snatch
5R/5L KB push press
X 2

We had a huge group this morning, so Coach Crystal (yes, the 9th place winner at the CF games is my coach!!!! I know ur jealous!! ;) ) split our group up. I was in the group that started with doin KB snatches, then push press, lunges, squat cleans, repeat. I used a 10kg KB. There was a 16 min time limit and when she called time, I had gotten through 36 lunges of my 2nd round. I had a good amount of energy throughout the workout and after our class, I grabbed the KB and finished the WOD!!!

So, I think eating before is a good choice and I'm gonna try to do it from now on... I'm just wondering, what's the best pre-workout snack/meal and how long before I workout do I need to eat it?! I don't think a lot of ppl read my blog, but if anyone out there has any advice/suggestions/experiences to share, please post!!! Thanksss!!!

Tired...

This weekend was a very busy and fun weekend!!! Friday night Maggie, some friends, and I went out and had quite the night!! Great friends, great food, great everything!!! Saturday I went to Hip Hop class for the first time!! I've been trying to go ALL YEAR and I finally made it!!!! I gotta admit that I started to get super frustrated because its been years since I've learned choreography, so I felt like I was just not pickin up the dance as fast as I should've. But in the end, I got it down and it was a lot of fun!!! Gotta keep practicing the dance tho so I don't forget it!! LOL Well I guess the change in my sleep routine from Friday night caught up to me cuz on Saturday I took a nap from 840pm-1240am!!! I was gonna go out Saturday night, but I did not hear any of the text messages I had received!!! Not a single one made me flinch!! HAHA!! I guess I was wayy more tired than I thought. I didn't fall back asleep for about and hour or more and I had fallen asleep on the couch, so I woke up and stumbled to my bed. Then on Sunday I woke up way earlier than I wanted too but not early enough to meet Bonita and some other CFers for the Sunday 9am WOD, I woke up at about 850am!!! Def was a lose-lose situation for me. But I got up and started to try to do all the errands I've been putting off. I did tons of grocery shopping, bought a food processor and came home and had a cooking experiment extravaganza!!! I made Explosion of Bacon, Carrot Cake Caveman Cookies, and I tried to make Squash Fries. I used ground turkey and turkey bacon for the explosion of bacon. It smelled sooo yummy while it was in the oven!!! It tasted even yummier!! However, the turkey bacon is a bit too salty for me, so I'm gonna try to find some low sodium bacon or turkey bacon. I think I am destined to not have any kind of veggie chips/fries. I have been trying really hard to make homemade veggie chips from zucchinni and yellow squash, kelp and swiss chard and I constantly FAIL!! They are always either too burnt or too mushy. I duno what I'm doin wrong. So I tried butternut squash fries.... holy moly... cutting up a butternut squash is a total workout!!!!! I was totally sweating and cutting up just half of that squash was exhausting!!! Well, I put them in coconut oil, followed the steps of the recipe, and they burned.... some were still okay, and they tasted pretty good, but they sure weren't very crunchy, well either they were TOO crunchy and tasted like charcoal, or they were still kinda mushy. Why can't I just make some darn veggie chips?!!!! I'm veggie chip making impaired. Then came the Carrot Cake Caveman Cookies. I tweaked the recipe a lil so it wasn't sooo much fat. I used 2 cups mini carrots, 1 cup almonds, 1/2 cup coconut, ~2 tsp vanilla, 2tbsp coconut oil, 2 eggs, 1 egg white. When I first tried them I thought they tasted waaaay too "carroty". I was like YUCK. Then, all hell broke loose and I couldn't stop eating them!!! Omg, they were yummy!!!! Definitely plan on tweaking the recipe to decrease carrots, maybe add some cinnamon? I'm not sure, but all I know is that I ate waaay too many of them. They were great though~!~~ So cooking was a lot of fun!! 2/3 recipes turned out awesome!!!! I still am really trying to grasp the concept of "eat fat to lose weight." Don't get me wrong, I understand it, all the metabolic aspects of it and what not, but what I don't understand is how do you know when you're eating too much fat?? Almost all the paleo recipes I have found have a LOT of fat. So what I don't understand is how can people be eating that much fat and getting lean??? I wish someone could really explain this to me. My coaches and fellow CFers have advised me to paleo/zone. I have been doing this since I started paleoing. Not measuring PERFECTLY, but doing it as best as I can without it consuming a significant amount of time. But how the heck do you zone these paleo recipes??? They all are sooo high in fat, I think half of them wouldn't even bake correctly if you tried to zone the recipe. You can't even really portion it out either simply because the blocks of fat are significantly more than proteins and carbs. I'm so confused as to what to do. I usually just eat my pros, carbs, and fats separetely (i.e., 3oz turkey burger, 1-2 blocks carbs (i.e., 4 cups spinach, 3 cups shrooms), 1-2 tsp almond butter). But I want to start having more "complete meals." Something like a single main entree. Or a few different small entrees that fit together well. All in all though, the weekend was a success!! I am super tired today though and was dragging ass at boot camp this morning. It was pathetic. I thought all that fat I had yesterday might help me with energy today, but that was a negative. I think I'm still in need of sleep, so I'm gonna crash out early tonight!!! Wow, this is a really long post, guess its my way of makin up for slackin off so much on this blog.

as a goodbye note.. our WODs today were:

warmup

21, 15, 9
thrusters with dumbbells (I used 10lb dbs)
dumbbell swings (total weight was 20lbs)
med ball cleans (6lb med ball)

my time: 12:41 disgusting. I finished last and just felt like crap the entire workout.

50,40,30,20,10
overhead med ball sit up
supermans
run (~400m)

I did the sets of 50 and 40 and got through 30 OH sit ups, but then we had to stop and stretch

DONE.

I felt like I was really really bogged down today at boot camp, but I pushed myself through it and I didn't give up!!! Gonna eat great paleo meals today and get a good nights rest and kick ass in my WODs for the rest of this week!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!!

I Love Paleo!!!

Paleo has changed my life!!! July 3rd was my first day of no dairy and no gluten!! I love it and wish I would've started eating this way sooner!! I am eating paleo and trying to also zone. My tummy is flatter, mental clarity, no more painful bloating, better sleep, more energy, no more constant thinking about food and portions!!! I'm in heaven!!!

CRAZINESS!!!

So on facebook there is an App. called "God Wants You to Know", and I try to click it everyday.. well today my msg was:

Lee got a message that on this day, God wants her to know...
... that you are what you eat.Food you eat becomes you, so take a good look at the food in front of you, - is this what you want to call yourSelf? What kind of food deserves to be called by your name?

How crazy is that? I just decided to go paleo and then I get this msg?? Just makes me feel even better about my decision to go paleo!!! woo hoo!!! (even tho its all prolly bogus... its still pretty bizarre how on target these msgs seem to be!!!)

anyways.. had to share this cuz it kinda freaked me out!!!

I have gone Paleo (day 2)!!!

After reading Melissa Byers' blog about her 30-day paleo plan, I have decided to go paleo to see if it helps my painful bloating go away and just to see if it helps me feel better overall!! Fortunately, this isn't too big of a change for me. I just have to remove the following from my eating plan: oats, stevia/truvia, gum, and lactose-free milk. Today is day 2 and I feel great!!! I really like the no measuring aspect of it, but I am still trying to zone it, but not stressing over it!!! My mind feels very clear and just after one day, I feel awesome!! I was extremely tired last night but I don't think it was due to paleo.. I think it was cuz I prolly didnt eat enough fats throughout the day and/or because I needed more sleep?! I will see how I feel today!

Woke up this morning and did the following WOD:

CFC Warmup

4 rounds of:
10 vertical jumps
10 push ups
10 sit ups
for time: 5:04

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 burpees and situps
estimated time: 10 minutes

Went swimming for about 30 minutes with my mom

Stretched

Laid out and chatted with my mom

The burpees were tough to get through, but it was a great workout!!! It is really difficult for me to workout on my own, but I woke up this morning with a crazy desire to workout, rare for me haha!! I asked my mom to join me, but I think shes still a bit intimidated by CF and opted to just swim with me.. I WILL get her to do a CF workout with me someday!!! I caught her watching me from the window so I know she is interested!!! Just gotta show her that she CAN do it!!

Its a great start to the wonderful 4th of July!!! Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday!!

I suck at blogging

So obviously I have not been blogging very frequently... a lot has been going on though... I just haven't had the time to sit down and blog. I feel like I have taken a downward turn when it comes to zoning and doing well in my workouts. My mind is in a better place though than it was before. I am more positive and accepting of my thyroid condition, but this newfound contentness has caused me to get further away from reaching my goals and I have to get back on track or else I will lose all the progress I have made. I was having a lot of trouble sleeping ever since I returned from Korea, so that really hurt my workouts, but I am trying really hard to get a good nights rest every night!!! Who knew that not being able to sleep would be soooo frustrating?!!! I think my body has finally re-adjusted though =). Hopefully soon I will find that inner desire to zone/paleo and stick to it and enjoy it. Life is such a rollercoaster.... but at least I'm smiling while being on this crazy wild up and down ride!!! =D

I'm back with a new and improved attitude!!!!!

I'm Baaack!!! I had a GREAT time in Korea and I didn't realize how badly I needed this vacation til I was actually on vacation haha. I have so much to write about but don't have the time right now.. just wanted to let ya'll know that I haven't forgotten about blogging!!

Will write more later and hopefully figure out how to post pics so I can post some pics from Korea!!!!

Off to Korea!!

I am about to head to the airport!! I didn't really get much sleep last night because I am so excited about my trip, but I hope to get some good rest on the plane. Last night was a rather rough night... I had pre-packed many zone-friendly snacks and meals for the long (approx. 15 hour) flight. Well my parents felt that I was taking too much food and said some things that really hurt and upset me... I am just trying to eat as healthy as I can while on the plane and in the airports...what is so wrong with that?! oh well... today is a new day and it's the beginning of my fabulous vacation!! I can't wait to see Andrea and Alex!! Prepare yourself for amazing stories when I return!!! Adios... or rather.. "Han Yong" (Goodbye in Korean)!!!!

Not feelin well..

Last night I ate like crap... way too much cereal ... and I feel sooo shitty today. I've had a tummyache all day... ugh... the cereal was sooo NOT worth it!!
On a brighter note... I'll be on a plane to Korea and on my way to see my bff in a couple days!!!! I can't believe how quickly time has gone by!! I am super excited and I definitely NEED a vacation.
Well I gotta finish my defensive driving course before I leave for Korea... so I'm gonna get back to doing that now while layin on my tummy so it doesn't hurt as bad. I'll try to write more before I leave!!!

Spartan 300

Last week as I was checking out CrossfitCentral.com I saw this link and I have to admit that my body got super hot, I started sweating, became flushed, and started breathing heavy and hard. I got really nervous and didn't want to watch this because I was afraid of how ridiculous I might look. Well, I took a few deep breaths and clicked the link: CrossFitter Mindy McDonagh shares her experience after finishing the Spartan workout
I look absolutely horrible, but hell, I just did the SPARTAN 300 WORKOUT baby!!!! What do you expect??! I emailed the link to my Uncle and he described the video and how I felt perfectly.... "You looked exhausted but exhilarated and I am proud that you were able to accomplish your goal." So although at first I thought this video was extremely embarrassing, I now think it's pretty cool and I am thankful to have a video of my 1st Spartan workout experience!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

I am really excited about this weekend!! It is going to be a very busy weekend but also a lot of fun! Doggie sitting, birthday parties, driving to sa, housewarming party, hair appointments, spartan workouts, packing for Korea, spending time with family, friend's brother dj-ing, cooking yummy zone meals, and the list goes on! This weekend is going to fly by!!! And before I know it, I'll be on a plane on my way to see my bff Andrea in Korea!!!!!! Today, out of the blue, my mom asked me to teach her about zone and paleo!!! I am so psyched to teach her!!!! Well I am off to begin my weekend!!! I hope everyone has a super weekend!!!

Grocery Shopping

Last night I went grocery shopping and as I was walking down one of the aisles I realized how my "grocery shopping habits" have changed over the past few years. A lot of things in my life have changed over the past 4-5 years. I went to college, moved to a new city, moved into an apartment and lived completely on my own and started doing things on my own (like grocery shopping), decided to become a vegetarian, went on awesome spring break trips, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, started working out regularly, and so much more. When I first began grocery shopping on my own, I bought all the foods I enjoyed eating. The chip and snack aisles were ones I always made a visit to. I never looked at the labels or ingredients. I rarely bought anything from the fresh produce area and I bought a lot of "food" from the frozen section. Frozen pizzas, hot pockets, frozen breakfasts, etc. Grocery shopping was rather simple and thoughtless. As I was swimsuit shopping for our spring break trip to padre in 2007, I noticed I had gained some weight. I realized that it was important for me to begin cooking for myself because I must have been eating too much crap food, so I asked Andrea for some recipes because she is a great cook!! My trips to the grocery store changed a little as I started making my way to the foreign lands of "fresh produce" and "meat". I discovered that cooking was fun!! Then, I made the decision to be a vegetarian. Again, my trips to the grocery story changed as I began reading ingredients and labels and selecting vegetarian foods while still preparing my own meals. I ate as "healthy" as I knew how to, and exercised, but I noticed that I was continuing to gain weight and it seemed abnormal. Andrea suggested I have my thyroid tested. After several doctor visits over a span of many months (I'll tell this story someday)... I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. This explained my continuous weight gain despite my decent eating habits and activity level. Thus, another change to my grocery store trips. I had to make a tough decision... my doctor told me that I need to avoid soy products and most vegetarian foods have soy. Even bread has soy!!! Thus, I slowly began eating meat again and taking thyroid replacement while watching what I ate and exercising. My focus now was to lose the weight that I had gained. Now, my trips to the grocery store changed SIGNIFICANTLY!!! It was no longer quick, simple and thoughtless. I read label after label, ingredient list after ingredient list, checking for soy, amount of fat, amount of sugar, etc. Grocery shopping became something I dreaded and that took a great amount of time. When I first made this change, I was very bitter. Grocery shopping made me feel depressed because I could no longer eat the foods I use to love and enjoy. I was angry and frustrated and really hated grocery shopping. I ate clean foods and lost a good amount of weight from eating well and exercising. Then I went through a phase of finding foods that I COULD have (soy-free, low sugar, low fat) and I found some excitement in grocery shopping. I then tried to find "substitutes" for foods I use to enjoy. I went down the chip aisle and discovered sun chips. I went down the baking aisle and found sugar-free, fat-free jello and pudding. My grocery list changed from 4 years ago, but I was now beginning to be okay with the fact that I couldn't eat frozen pizzas and hot cheetos anymore and realized it was not a bad change, it was actually a very good change. I did more research and learned the importance of eating "clean", non-processed, fresh foods. I then came to realize how bad these "substitutes" really are. They all have artificial sugars and your body is not made to digest that crap. So time for another change........ it was like anything I found that I liked was being taken away from me. No more sun chips, no more sugar-free, fat-free jello and pudding. No more splenda. I was upset for a little bit but then surprisingly, it was easy to stop eating this crap. So last night, as I was grocery shopping, I realized that I don't even go down any of the aisles anymore, I ride around the wall of the store. I now spend most of my time in the fresh produce and meat areas. Quite the 180 from a few years ago. I no longer step foot into the chip and/or snack aisles nor the bread aisle. I cut through aisles if I'm in a hurry and thats when I realized last night how much things have changed for me. As I glanced at the crap-foods I use to buy, I noticed myself feeling soo happy that I no longer buy those crap foods. That was a completely unexpected feeling. After always feeling angry that I couldn't buy snacks and chips and certain foods because of their ingredients and labels, it was surprising to me that I felt proud of myself last night. I was proud that I am now feeding my body the RIGHT foods and GOOD foods. I no longer even WANT the bad foods. weird huh? I feel better now, both physcially and mentally, eating good foods! I use to be angry at my "condition" for taking away the "yummy" bad foods I use to love so much, but now I realize that because of all the changes I had to make, I now have a much better understanding of healthy foods and I know what is good for my body and now I can have "yummy" GOOD foods. Now, my grocery trips have become quick, simple and thoughtless again! It is crazy how things work out! It is very interesting to me how things gradually changed and have played out. It wasn't a sudden huge change, rather it was a slow change that took place due to various unexpected choices and circumstances. I truly do believe that everything happens for a reason, even the things that we see as "not so good things". I now enjoy grocery shopping like I use to and I actually feel better about it now than I did when I bought crap food because I know that I am feeding my body the nutrients it needs!!! Like I said before, eating healthy isn't a bad thing... it's a very very good thing!!! There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating clean, non-processed, fresh foods! There are a LOT of things wrong with eating sugary, high-fat, crap foods. But frankly, the crap foods are tasty and easy to prepare, that's why everyone buys this crap food. Clean foods are yummy too!!! There is nothing better for your mind and body than yummy clean food!!! It's both good for you and tasty!! almond butter and an apple! strawberries, stevia, and some almond slices! sweet potato with cinnamon and chicken breast! a huge spinach salad with nuts, fruits, and seeds! It is all so colorful and delicious!! I now am so thankful for this crazy round-about way that I discovered how clean foods make me feel good and what foods are good for me. I also discovered a new love.... cooking!!! My Uncle and I both share this love for cooking and it's a lot of fun to share our recipes with each other! Everything happens for a reason... =)

I DID IT!!!!!

I AM SPARTA!!!!!!!!! This past Saturday I completed... yes COMPLETED, the Spartan 300 Challenge at the intermediate level!!!! I did make a few adjustments... jumping pull ups and most of my push ups were on my knees, but not all of them =) .. and I finished the workout in 19:38!!! I literally cried tears of joy after I completed it. I honestly did not think I was going to finish it. I am soo thankful for all my friends and fellow cfers and cf coaches who were there cheering for me!! You all really gave me that extra push I needed and I am so grateful for your encouragement and support!!!

Now the challenge begins... I have noticed that my energy level has been low so Coach Crystal adjusted my "diet". Hopefully this change will give me more energy and also help me reach my goals.

gotta run.. will write more later....

TGIF!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!! Today has gone by sooo quickly!! I began my day with a 6:30am boot camp and I don't think there is any better way to start the day!!! A lot of cfers came today and we had some affiliate coaches watching us!! I am so proud of all the cfers that came out this morning and kicked butt!! It was a tough workout, but we all completed it!! Mel has the brutal workout written out on her blog, check it out!! The hot topic of today was Spartan 300!! The challenge is tomorrow morning!!! I am not quite sure why but my energy level this week has been really low, but I am super excited about Spartan tomorrow and plan to get as much sleep as possible tonight!! I am psyched that Maggie, Mel, and I will be doing the workout at the same time tomorrow (8:40am)!! YAY Team MMM's!! hehe. I know that we are all going to kick butt and surprise ourselves at how strong we really are! I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks and watching my strength increase and body fat % decrease. It's going to be a tough but fun ride!!! I wouldn't be able to get through it all without the wonderful support from all the people I have met at CF. Every single person there is rooting for you and always has a positive attitude. I am so thankful to be a part of such an awesome community!!! Good luck to everyone who is doing Spartan tomorrow!! Get lots of rest and drink plenty of water!!!!

Goodbye Yesterday

Yesterday was a tough day for me, both mentally and physically. I have this crazy addiction to granola... yes... of all things... granola. I have been eating so much granola over the past few days that I think I am finally almost sick of it. Well, in the midst of trying to get over my addiction to granola, the other day I found these "veggie chips and fruit chips" at whole foods and thought to myself, maybe the "crunchiness" of a "healthy snack" is what I need, rather than granola. These are basically veggies and fruits that are sliced and baked. They are much lower in sugar and fat vs. granola. So I bought some. I began my day yesterday with the goal to zone all day and get back on track with my fitness goals. Breakfast went well, then around lunchtime, I got a little hungry, but I wasn't starving, so I decided that I would have some of these "veggie/fruit chips". Well, they ended up giving me a bad tummyache that lasted all day. no fun. So I didn't feel like eating at all the rest of the day but I knew I had CF that evening and needed food in order to get through the workout. So around 3 I ate an apple and a little bit of a larabar. Then I felt terribly bloated. I got some coffee and forced some ground turkey down my mouth around 5 hoping some protein would make me feel better. Well I started to feel better as the day ended and made my way to CF. We began our workout and immediately I felt the lack of food affecting my performance. I had no energy. I was still very bloated and this just made me extremely frustrated. Mentally, I got down on myself and started getting frustrated with the fact that I haven't lost any weight over the past few months even though I have been working out and watching what I've been eating. I broke down into tears after the workout... pathetic.. I know. I was also so disappointed in myself because I wasn't able to lift as heavy as I wanted too. I now understand the meaning of food being fuel. You must give your body the right foods in order for you to feel good and to go full out during your workouts. I felt so terrible yesterday and the previous days, that now I am determined to zone and eat the foods that my body needs. So far, I have done really good today and feel great! I'm a little tired, but that is probably just due to lack of sleep. CF tonight at 6pm!!! I'm gonna give it my all!!!

I want to thank my friend Bonita for her constant support and words of encouragement. I met Bonita through my coach, Crystal, and I have never known such a positive and strong woman. She is so driven and inspires me to work hard and to never give up. I send her several emails almost on a daily basis (I probably drive her nuts) and she always replys with positive words and advice. One of the things I love about her is that she doesn't bullshit anyone, she speaks her mind, doesn't care what people say or think, and is always honest. She tells me things that I may not want to hear, but NEED to hear. Her mental and physical strength is incredible!! She is unstoppable! I would not be able to get through many of my "mental battles" without her. Although we have not known each other for very long and we really don't know each other very well, she has had a significant impact on my life and I am so thankful for her unconditional support. Thank you Bonita for being such a wonderful friend.

Gettin Psyched for Spartan!!

I can't believe how quickly time has flown by... this Saturday is the Spartan 300 challenge!! I did a prelim spartan challenge a couple weekends ago with some friends and in the 20 minute time limit I completed 25 pull ups (assisted with band), 50 deadlifts (67 lbs), 50 push ups (most on my knees), 50 box jumps (about 12" box), and 50 floor wipers (65 lbs). I still had 50 kb clean & presses and 25 pull ups left to complete the entire workout. Thus, some of my goals for the final spartan challenge in June are:

- complete the entire spartan 300 workout in the 20-minute time limit
- be able to do at least one pull up with no assistance
- do at least 10 more push ups on my feet than I do this weekend
- zone at least 6 days a week

The hardest part of this challenge will be trying to zone while I am in Korea. I will be going to Korea for two weeks right smack in the middle of the 6 week spartan challenge. I want to enjoy my time in Korea and try all the different Korean dishes, but I don't want to fall off track. I feel silly for worrying about this when I should be excited about visiting my mother's home, my bestest friend and her fiance, and my family; but instead... my worrying-ass is stressing about how I will stick to the challenge while I'm in Korea faced with temptation and having no idea where I will be able to do my WODs. What I am super excited about though is that Andrea and I are going to go hiking and she is so pumped to do CF WODs with me!!! I guess only time will tell how this trip will affect my goals.

A New Beginning

This is the first time I have ever blogged... I am a blog virgin. There have been many unexpected changes in my life over the past couple years and my best friend introduced me to the world of blogging and said that its a great way to express yourself; so given that I want an outlet to help me get through any new obstacles that life presents me with, I am going to give blogging a try. I am now focused on living life to the fullest and my adventures and challenges will be noted here. Strap yourself in and hold on tight, this rollercoaster ride, also known as my life, is like one you've never imagined. Enjoy!!!