Holy CrossFit Victory, Batman!

Today was the last day of Fundamentals Class.  I am an official CrossFitter now!  :)  Today was the day that we see how far we have come.  On the very first day, this was our WOD:

• 200m run
• 12 squats/push ups/ring rows
• 9 squats/push ups/ring rows
• 6 squats/push ups/ring rows
• 200m run

Today, we had the same WOD.  If anyone in the class did not beat our original time, the entire class had to run an extra mile.  Yikes!  Talk about pressure.  Lately didn't show up.  Hmm...  I have to admit, when I saw the WOD written out again, it felt "easy".  Not easy easy, but CF easy.  I felt confident that I would beat my time by at least a few seconds.  My goal was 30 seconds and my aggressive goal was a minute.

After warming up and having some reiview time (LOTS of squats!), it was time.  We lined up, Bach fired up the timer and cranked up the tunes, then we were off.  After the first 200m, I was about 25m  behind the pack and solidly in last place.  Even though I did knee push ups the first time, I did full on push ups this time.  Bach even told me I have good form.  Sweet!! 

In the middle of the 12 set, I realized I was passing people!  I just kept going as quickly as possible.  When I left the building for the final run, there were still a few people behind me.  Lanky caught up and passed me during the run, but nobody else did.  I finished in 5:06!!!  Even doing harder push ups, I bettered my time by 4 minutes and 7 seconds. 

I was huffing and puffing, but I was unbelievably proud.  Bach's mouth was hanging open.  She said that she thinks it might be the most improved time they have ever had.  If it isn't, it's close.  I almost started to cry. 

I have never tried to do something so tough or push my body the way I have with this.  But I'm so glad I did.  I mean, in all fairness, I had a longer way to go than everyone else.  But not only did I catch up to them, I even passed some of them!!!  So happy.

And I even made a friend!  I gave Legs my cell number and she texted a little while ago.  I think we will definitely meet up in future classes.  Love that!

Bach took a picture of the group, so hopefully I will have that to post soon.

My first Big Kid's Class as a CrossFitter is Monday morning at 6am.  Holy crap.  I can do it!!!

Hugs!

BYOC

Bring
Your
Own
Crazy

A little ditty (courtesy of Drazil) where we answer a few questions on Friday to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break.  Copy and paste to your own blog if you so desire!  Enjoy!

1.  Sun or rain?  Roses or tulips?  Romantic movie or comedy?

I think in the past I would have answered "rain".  But I have found a new life this summer and it has been nothing but sunny.  I never thought I would be outside "enjoying" and running (that should probably be in quotes too) myself in the sun.  Who am I??

I love flowers of ALL kinds.  Red roses are special to me because of my sorority and I have one tattooed on my hip.  It's sweet if you ignore the giant stretch mark that runs through it.  :)  But my favorite flowers are probably daises which wasn't an option.  :)

I like to be entertained, so if it is good, it doesn't matter.  If I had to choose, most of the time I will pick a comedy.  But sometimes a girl has to have her sap and on a day where I might be daydreaming about my boyfriend Adam Levine balancing things on his face (no, I'm not being dirty, that is just apparently a talent that he has) or Gym Boyfriend becoming my personal trainer (okay, I might be being a little dirty) then a romantic movie might be good.

2.  I've been sick lately and haven't eaten in two days - except for ice cream (Draz speaking)...which leads me to ask - what's your favorite ice cream flavor?
I was always a straight up chocolate fan and I still love it.  But my two favorite flavors these days are Baskin Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon or Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche.  YUM!  My other favorite is Wooley's Vanilla Frozen Custard with Hot Fudge & Caramel.  Mmmmmmmm....  Damn it.

3.  Are you a door locker - in your house and car?
Yes, I lock everything.  I live in an apartment and on more than one occasion I have people try to walk right in.  I don't live in a crime ridden ghetto or anything, but car break ins happen a lot.  So, I double lock both apartment doors and lock my car at all times.

4.  In the spirit of my being sick and wanting to die (Draz again, even though I'm still getting over my sinus infection) - tell me your "go to remedies" for when you are sick?
Mostly I deny being sick until I can't function.  Although I have gotten better going to the doctor right away if I think it is an infection, i.e. coughing up the green stuff.  Yum!  Ice Cream thoughts gone. 

It always cracks me up when people don't go to the doctor because they "hate being sick".  Uh, yeah me too, that's WHY I go to the doctor.  Anyway, I'm much more on the mend and I think that treating it early and working out through it (since it wasn't a really bad infection) helped me get over it quickly.

Now if I'm dying, I like the cheese trifecta...doritos, macaroni & cheese and grilled cheese.  :)  I'm not even sure I could eat that anymore.  It has been a while since I was REALLY sick, obviously.  Ha!

5.  Repeat question:  Summarize your week in blog land and in real life.

Blog land is spectacular!  My Blogger peeps really help me put things in perspective this week and figure out a go forward plan.  It makes such a difference to know there are people out there going through the same things and supporting you.  It truly does.

Real life is good and busy.  Even though I'm home this weekend, it is busy, busy, busy!  Sunday, I take weight and measurements to check how CrossFit July treated me, then the scale goes to visit Aunt Lizard.  No Scale August...I'm ready for you!!!

HUGS!

T-G-I-F! T-G-I-F! T-G-I-F!

CrossFit

Last night started with an 800m warm up.  I hate that...truly.  Then we practiced Snatches with a barbell.  Those puppies are hard.  The Snatch is an Olympic lift where you lift the barbell from the ground above your head in one motion (different from the Clean & Jerk which are two separate motions.)  I have good form with a PVC pipe, but when you add the weight of the bar...not so much.  I will have to practice that one for a while.  We also learned all the different and fun exercises you can do with kettlebells.  Kettlebell swings are when you bend over and pass the kb through your legs then use your hips to swing the kb out and over your head.  We also learned that True Form push ups require you to go all the way down to the floor with your chest then raise your hands off the floor before starting the next movement (knees can be on the floor).

WOD: 

• 200m run
• 25 KB swings (18#)
• 15 True Form Push ups
• 20 KB swings (18#)
• 10 TF Push ups
• 15 KB swings (18#)
• 5 TF Push ups
• 200m run

I still had 50m left in my run when the last person (except Lately) was already back inside.  When I started my KBs, I was significantly behind everyone else.  As I started my last set of push ups (knees off the ground for EVERY SINGLE ONE, although they both have multiple bruises from hitting the floor.  Crappy form, Beth Ann), I realized there were other people still on KB swings.  WHAT??  I had 4 push ups left when Army Girl started on the last run.  When I left the building to start my 200m run, I left with Lanky (who quickly passed me), but Pukey, notPukey, Legs & Lately were all left in the building.  Not only did I catch up during the strength portion, I passed some people.  Holy crap!!

Pukey passed me on the 200m run, but the other three finished behind me.  I was so proud!!  Bach had some wide eyes telling me how well I did.  I told her if I could just run, I could kick ass.  Ha!  It really did make me feel good.  I can't believe tomorrow is our last class. 

Bach mentioned that she would sign us up on Saturday if we wanted to go forward.  I told her about my desire to try morning classes and asked if the usual people in those classes were a bunch of alphas.  She said that the morning classes are all guys, but that they are nice AND she trains most of the 6am classes.  So that's a plus!  I make no promises or committments other than trying the morning class on Monday and seeing how it goes.  I plan to sign up for the 3x per week option, but if mornings don't work out, I will probably scale it back to 2x per week.

Oh, and apparently, the Hotness & Hotish have names.  I won't bore you with them, but the important part is they stayed around after their class (shirtless...sigh) and chatted a bit with Lately.  I know they would have talked to me if I would have looked up, but insecurities took over.  Stupid me.  At one point, they were doing these sit up things and it was positively delightful.  The Hotness looked right at me and I'm pretty sure he saw the drool.  Heh.  I do love the pretty!

The Scale

Today I'm finally at my lowest weight since starting CrossFit.  That weight gain was a b*tch, but I KNOW that my body is better today at this weight than it was a few weeks ago at the SAME weight.  Plus, I'm getting some guns.  Sweet!!  I still have a few pounds to go to get back down to my very lowest, but this is a good start.

Goals

Now this is the time of the week where things usually start falling apart.  I have over a 4000 calorie deficit for the week, it is BFF's birthday weekend, it would be time to let loose and have some celebratory food & drinks.  So, here is my plan: 

1. Lunch - we are going a tasty place with down home cooking.  Way old me would get the chicken fried steak, the fried chicken or the fried catfish.  Last week's me would get the grilled salmon and grits and only eat a portion of the meal.  Today's me will make the choice to have soup or soup & salad for lunch.  They actually have some good broth based soup, so I think it is a healthy as well as a tasty option.
2. Dinner - we are going out to an Italian restaurant (no nutritional information posted) for BFF's birthday.  We are going with a bunch of friends and I would normally get some sort of pasta dish and have a couple of drinks.  Today I will choose to have grilled chicken with vegetables and ONE drink.  I actually like grilled chicken when it is made well.  I've never had it at this restaurant, so it will be good to know what it is like anyway.
3. When I get home, I will have a pudding snack for dessert.

When I get home tonight, I will make a realistic food plan for Saturday and Sunday.  I think that these steps will help me not blow all my weekday progress on the weekend.  The only other big thing I have to deal with is getting up at 5:30am on Monday.  I will have to have everything planned out, packed and ready to go so I can just get dressed, brush my teeth and head out.  I will just focus on this one time, on this one day for this one class.  Everything else will come later.

Have a Boom Badoom Boom Boom weekend, y'all.  I plan to!

HUGS!

Thursday Thoughts

I mentioned yesterday I was sick.  Can I tell you how glad I am that I took the time to go to the doctor yesterday?  As bad as I feel today, I know I'm on the upswing and I cringe to think how I would feel sans meds. 

This sickness has just been another reminder of how different I am.  I'm a justifier.  So "before", being sick meant not eating well, not exercising if I didn't want to, blah, blah, blah.  Yesterday, the doctor examined me and said that her examination matched up with the symptoms I discussed, but she did so with a quizzical look.  When I asked her why she had the look, she said, "you are awfully energetic and chipper for a sick person."  I laughed because she was right.  I knew I felt like crap, but I wasn't going to let it get me down.  Plus, I have 10x more energy than I did before.  Sickness my knock me down a couple of pegs, but I'm still way ahead of where I was.  Make sense?  Great NSV!

I told you all about the fire drill yesterday.  I put on some lipstick and made sure I looked good in case Gym Boyfriend was downstairs.  I lead the pack down the stairs and would have beat them by about 5 floors if I wouldn't have kept stopping for them.  Heh.  When we reached the bottom, I put my hands in the air and jumped up and down in victory like a Wii character.  I'm a nerd.  Anyway, it was a completely different than the last time I walked down the stairs.

I actually had to look it up in my blog!  Last August, the elevators in our building broke and I had to leave so I walked down the stairs.  My legs were jelly and I could barely Jazzercise at all.  The next day I thought I would die from leg pain!  So I walked down 17 flights of stairs everyday for over a week.  Ha!  I'm a masochist.  :)  This time, my calves are little tight, but more in a "they were worked well" sort of way. 

Anyway, back to yesterday.  After looking at every person who had made it down the stairs and not seeing Gym Boyfriend, we started back into the building.  My fellow VP, who I will call Burrito, asked if anyone was up for taking the stairs back to the 18th floor.  I laughed and said I will if you will, knowing FULL WELL he would not.  Godmother chimed in and said she would as well.  At that point, his ego wouldn't let him back down and up we went.  17 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS!  As proud as I was for how successfully I went DOWN the stairs, I can't tell you how proud I was going up.  I'm not going to lie, I wasn't bouncing up the stairs...more like a trudge.  Heh.  But I did it!  ::insert Wii victory jump::

My mom has been on vacation and has been catching up on my blog.  Yesterday she asked me what all this No Scale August thing was about.  And I started in about how I need to do this for myself to break away from the numbers...  She kind of interrupted and said something about coming here next month.  Then I realized that my also scale-addicted mamacita will be here for a portion of my NSA.  Oopsie!  And HA!  I honestly don't know if she believed me that I didn't do it on purpose.  I really didn't, but it does make me giggle.  She will live.  Love you mama!

Amanda talked yesterday about the frustrations of the scale especially in response to all the hard workouts she has been doing.  My weight gain from CF is part of my reason for No Scale August.  The reason is actually twofold:

1. My pants fit just fine.  They did not tighten up like they would if I REALLY gained 8 pounds.  In fact, if anything, they are looser.  Today, I'm actually wearing a shirt that I haven't worn before because I was always self conscious of how it fit.  I don't know if I'm smaller, tighter or just more confident, but I'm wearing it.  Bottom line is that the scale isn't truly indicative of my progress right now. 
2. I am the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde of dieting.  During the week, I'm practically a robot.  (Not really.)  But I eat well and keep my calories well below target.  And really I don't feel deprived.  I'm satisfied.  I also work out a lot.  It is not uncommon to have around a 4000 calorie deficit Monday-Thursday.  The problem is that Friday comes and I go off the rails.  Again, it is not at all uncommon to have a 2000 calorie (or more) surplus on the weekend.  I don't THINK I'm doing anything too terrible at the time...a couple of margaritas here, some ice cream there, maybe a candy bar, oh I will just have some more chips & queso.  NONE of those things are bad in moderation, but having it all at once is not okay.

This brings me to a couple of things to ponder:

1. During the week, the reason I do so well is that I plan in advance.  I log my meal plan for the day and then "mark things off" as I eat them.  Occasionally, I have to change things up when something comes up, but for the most part, it really helps keep me on the straight and steady.  I don't do this on the weekends.  Something to think about.
2. In addition to not planning, I tend not to be good at tracking until WELL after the fact.  I'm not yet in maintenance meaning I can't just "live" yet.  That may not make sense to anyone but me.  :)  But I don't want to structure my weekends so much that I feel like my entire life is a diet.  How can I find the balance?  How do I stay aware without beating myself down?

Make no mistake, these thoughts come from a content place.  That's part of the problem.  :)  There is a big part of me (my excess weight perhaps?) that isn't ready to be content.  I do think that taking the scale away for a while will help.  Maybe I can keep in mind that I can't really splurge too much on the weekends because I don't know how the scale was affected during the week.  The hope is that I just follow healthy guidelines.  D-day is coming, so we shall see!

Hugs!

It's WEDNESDAY!!

I'm paired up with a girl a lot in my CF class, we will call her Legs.  I have noticed that Legs and Introvert talk to each other a lot, very closely in an intimate sort of way, but they drive separately and there really is no other indication that they even know each other.  She has been on vacation, but she came back to class last night.  I finally just came out and asked her if she knew him.  She said that they used to date and gave a little "awk-ward" face.  I asked if it was coincidence that they both joined at the same time and she said no, that they joined together because they were dating at the time.  They broke up right after they started!  Holy cow.  That IS awkward.  What is even crazier is that they dated for 2 1/2 years, so it wasn't like a quick thing.  I'm impressed that she stayed on even under the circumstances.  Go Legs!  Anyway, interesting drama!

Last night's class marks the beginning of the last week of Fundamentals.  We started with an 800m run (103 degrees...bleh!).  After a little more warm up, we practiced our Cleans with a barbell.  That was kind up cool.  And we learned how to do Snatches.  As an Olympic lover, I am familiar with the Olympic style lifts and it is SO COOL to be doing them.  We were just using the bars and PVC pipes...but still!

This time Bach had our class come up with the WOD.  She went through some decision making with us and we came up with this:

• 400m run
• 30-20-10 Wall Balls & Sit ups
• 400m run

So, we ran, did 30 wall balls, 30 sit ups, 20 wall balls, 20 sit ups, 10 wall balls, 10 sit ups, then finished with 400m run.  In case you have forgotten, wall balls consist of squatting while holding a medicine ball then thrusting up, pushing the medicine ball to a line 8' up the wall then catching the ball, squatting, repeat.  I used a 10# ball.  It was a really good workout and I finished in 12:13. 

Interestingly, I feel like I did REALLY well even though I was last, besides Lately (but she finished...go Lately!)  I was about 100m behind the last person when we were done with the first run.  BUT, by the middle of the set of 20, I had almost caught up to Pukey.  If he would have done all his reps, I totally would have caught him!  CF is totally scalable, so it is perfectly fine not to do all the reps if you feel it is appropriate.  I'm not judging...I'm just stoked that Jazzercise has trained me well in sit ups and squats so I was able to pick up time! 

On a sidenote: I noticed that Jackass seemed a little more laid back last night.  He even made a joke to me.  I'm still hesitant, but maybe I'm backing up a little on the HATE HIM feeling.  One thing's for sure, I don't tend to hold grudges.  If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you!!

I woke up this morning with a sinus infection.  Yuck!  But I went to the doc, got some antibiotics and I bet I feel great by tomorrow!  I love my allergist.  I called at 9:20, had an appointment at 10:00 and I was dosed up by noon.  While I was out picking up my prescription, I went through the Taco Bell drive through.  I read online somewhere that there Chicken Taco Salad Fresco Style is only 240 calories.  So I got that with a side of sour cream (the Taco Bell website says a side of sour cream is 30 calories which I'm skeptical of so I doubled it.)  A very filling and tasty lunch for 300 calories.  Sweet! 

I try to plan out my daily meals ahead of time and then just kind of check it off the list as I go.  Sometimes I get thrown a curve ball and have to change it, but I've found that for the most part, it helps keep me on track.  Whatever works, right??

I skipped walking at lunch today because I was out for my doctor's appointment.  BUT, we have a fire drill in 90 minutes which will require going down 17 flights of stairs.  That will be some good calf work!!  Plus, cross your fingers that I run into Gym Boyfriend!  Half the building did it this morning, but I can still hope he is in my half.  :)

Tonight it is Jazzercise!  (Subliminal message to sign up for Chi-Town Jazzercise!  Email me!!)  I'm really looking forward to the weekend too.  Lots of fun stuff coming up.  Plus next week starts No Scale August!  Have a Boom Badoom Boom week!

HUGS!

If you please the exercise gods, they give you gifts.

Yes, I know this is my 3rd post today.  You know you can't get enough!! 

So, I decided that I want to eat in for lunch as much as possible because I do so much better in my eating when I do.  But I also like to get away from my desk.  I decided that on days I wasn't busy, I would go downstairs and walk in the gym.  Not a crazy work out...I'm CrossFitting tonight, after all.  But just increase my steps/activity.

I started on the treadmill at a semi-leisurely pace.  Kind of power walking but nothing that would work up a big sweat.  After a few minutes, I look up and see...GYM BOYFRIEND!!  I swear he did a double take.  I haven't seen him in months and I was wondering if he left the building.  I immediately wanted to start running to show him what a badass worker outer I am.  Ha!  I didn't though because I knew I would regret it tonight.  :) 

He works out on the other side of the work out room and there is a wall between the two sides.  But he sure did seem to spend A LOT of time in my line of sight.  Maybe just wishful thinking on my part...

I know he saw me finish up and he chose that time to finish what he was doing so he could walk to other side of the room closer to the exit.  I looked right at him and smiled.  That is a big freaking deal for me, people! 

I have no idea if he was really looking at me or if I am just making this up in my head.  But it certainly makes the gym time fly by!!

Hugs!

Random Thoughts

I weigh 2.6 pounds less today than I did yesterday.  That is stupid.  I will be weighing on Sunday and then handing my scale over to Lizard for the month of August.  The thought kind of makes me want to puke but the first sentence makes me realized that it just doesn't matter and I have to get it out of my head. 

I have been very hungry in the afternoons lately.  I decided to start keeping a hunger journal to see what is going on.  I think I might be "saving" too many calories for the end of the day.  But after working out, I don't really need them.  The real problem is that I still use them.  I'm not sure and I thought if I start taking notes, I might be able to work it out.

I don't know what goji is (except it keeps making me thing of Big Love...) but it is tasty in my yogurt.

I'm ridiculously excited about Chi-Town Jazzercise!  We all know I'm a big nerd.  :)  But I just think Jazzercising with all of you fun peeps will be so great!!

Speaking of Jazzercise, last night's class was great!  We have some new routines which are the ones we did when I was at the taping in Vegas.  A lot of booty shakin!  Plus (also speaking of my nerdhood), our owner fixed the stereo cabinet that has been kind of broken lately and now it pushes like a dream.  It is the little things, people!  I thought I was going to crush myself with that thing last week.  Plus they painted it, so it is pretty too.  :)

If it is going to be 104 outside today, why am I sitting in my office in a fleece jacket and still freezing?  I do think that running outside at CrossFit has REALLY made me more tolerant of hotter temperatures, but in turn, less tolerant of cold ones. 

Speaking of CrossFit, our group will be making up our own Workout of the Day today.  Bach said that it is usually the hardest workout of the entire month long class because people want to include so much.  I will do whatever these folks throw at me!  Hopefully we can focus on 100m & 200m runs instead of 400m & 800m runs, but whatever. 

I'm going to do some walking at lunch.  Nothing strenuous, but I would like to get in some extra steps.  My weekend numbers were HIDEOUS!  And Friday I have lunch AND dinner plans, so I would like to offset that early. 

I'm going to the Maroon 5/Train concert in September.  YAY!!  Three of my most favorite people: Lizard, Debi, & BFF are going with me.  I'm not usually a super big concert girl, but I figure if I am going to marry Adam Levine, I should probably head out to the concert.  Right, Dawnya?  :)

Okay cheerleaders.  I need some encouragement on two things:

1. I realize it is only Tuesday, but I want to be better this weekend.  My proven record is to kick ass during the week and then mess it all up over the weekend.  This weekend will be different.  I'm thinking of a reward program for myself...such and such calorie activity over a certain number of weekends and I will get my reward.  The reward in my head is a biggee, so it will need to be a significant challenge.  While I noodle on that...the important thing is the one step of getting through this weekend.
2. Next week is my first official week of CrossFit.  I would like to start with the 6am class on Monday morning.  I'm not saying that I'm going to be a morning workout person.  I'm not committing to 6am classes at any other time.  I just want to try it this one time to see how it works out.  But it is REALLY freaking early.  I woke up this morning around the time I would have to get up on Monday and my first thought was, "oh, hell no." 
3. So first step - get through the weekend without sabotaging my weekday efforts.  Step two - go to Monday morning 6am CrossFit.  I will work beyond that when I get there.  :)

Commence good vibes!!

I realize this post was all over the place.  Hope I didn't make you too dizzy.  :) 

Hugs!

BOOBs - Jazzercise Chi-Town

Have you ever wanted to go to Jazzercise but haven't had the opportunity? Would you rather try it with some fellow BOOBs? Here is your chance!

Whether it is your first time or you just want to get your sweat on with some friends, you should join us on Saturday morning for a fun workout that can be scaled to any level of fitness. If we sign up more than 10 people, the instructor will give us a $3/person discount!

Jazzercise Class - $15
Seward Park-375 W. Elm St.
Saturday, October 1st
9:15 AM

We will meet in the hotel lobby at a time to be specified closer to the date. It is a short cab ride (less than 2 miles) and assuming 3-4 people per cab, the cost should be around $3 per person including tip.

What a great way to start the day!  I hope to see you there!!

Beth Ann
Please contact Beth Ann at neverendingquest@hotmail.com with any questions or to RSVP for this fun event!

Weekend Recap

Friday

I was proud of myself for staying in for lunch on Friday to work out so I could eat cake.  :)  And I did enjoy my cake, although I think I would have been just as happy with half.  Next time I will have to remember to take less and just enjoy each bite.

After work, Lizard & I went to dinner.  We went to Wild Salsas in downtown Dallas.  The decor was very Ed Hardy and it was a trendy place.  I like that the food were right priced and small servings.  You didn't feel compelled to overeat.  The tomatillo salsa was delicious!  The queso was okay, but not the best I've had.  My tamale, was okay, but nothing to write home about.  The cucumber margarita on the other hand?  It (or they...ahem) was fantastic!

After dinner we went to see Guys & Dolls.  It is a musical classic that has held up so well over the years.  The cast did an excellent job and I loved it!! 

Saturday

I was dragging when it was time to get up and go to 8am CrossFit.  I was so paranoid because Bach had mentioned that we would be running A LOT.  I had built that up in my head so much I was almost freaking out.  I saw the WOD posted when I got there and the running was 4 sets of 400m.  A mile in the WOD.  It is a lot, but I had actually prepared myself for worse, so I relaxed.

The warm up was a 400m run and I stayed with the pack for the most part.  We did a lot of squatting during the warm up exercises.  My legs were burning!  Then we learned back squats which is where you put a barbell on your shoulders behind your head and squat and come back up.  I was with the girls so we only did 35# including the bar.  I know I could have done quite a bit more that that.  We had to do 3 sets of 5 back squats and 7-10 pull ups.  Bach said that we could do ring rows instead of pull ups, but I really wanted to try those band pull ups again.  Those are the ones where you loop a giant rubber band around the bar and put your foot in it to give you a little spring action.  The first time I tried it last week, I couldn't get my head above the bar even with the help of the band.  The second time I tried it last week, I was able to string 1-2 together before I had to stop.  Saturday, I could do 5-7 at time!!  I'm continually amazed at the quick progress.

After all that, it was time for the workout of the day (WOD) which was 4 sets: 400m run, 15 burpees or squat thrusts.  I can barely do a burpees, so I did all squat thrusts which still took everything in me.  My "typical" mile run is between 12-13 minutes.  I did this workout in 16:39.  Considering the running it outside and I had to do additional cardio in between the running intervals, I'm satisfied!  I was last of those who finished  but Lately hurt her knee and rowed three of the sets instead of running.  I was doing my last set of squat thrusts as Army Girl & Pukey finished, so I was feeling good about that too.  Only one more week and I will be an official CrossFitter!

Right after class, I went a got a pedi and immediately after that went to get a facial.  My life just sucks, doesn't it?  As soon as the facial was done, I picked up my friend's 15 year old daughter Kit Kat and met some friends to see Harry Potter.  It was a great movie!  I'm a little sad to see it end.  By the time the movie was over and I picked up something to eat, I was done.  I was in bed by 8:30pm and asleep by 10pm!!

Sunday

After church and some grocery shopping (all these errands are exhausting!), it was time to meet Ronnie, Debi, Andrea, & Dawnya for our DFW Blogger Lunch. 

Andrea, Ronnie, Beth Ann, Debi, Dawnya

Andrea is about as precious as they get.  She barely got 5 words in with all of us yakkaty yakkers, but I can tell she is as sweet as pie.  I can't wait to get to know her more.  Andrea, I will see you at the next support group meeting!!

I envy Ronnie's head.  She must have tried on 30 hats yesterday and looked fabulous in almost every single one.  There was one though...I wish I had a picture of the face she made when she tried it on.  Just thinking about it makes me giggle. 

If you read my previous post, you know how I feel about Debi.  :)  She is now officially in charge of the Texas Posse T-shirt project.  (Not it!  Ha!)

Dawnya is cool as hell!!  In addition to being the life of the party, she is a good and kind person.  I love who she is and her candor is refreshing.  That she drove up from Austin to be with us is AWESOME!!  We have already talked about meeting her in the middle next time.

I was in Southlake for 5 HOURS yesterday hanging out with these fine ladies.  One of the stores we visited was called Charming Charlie and it was FANTASTIC!  I'm obviously the shopper of the group.  I had bags all over the place but I think I'm the only one that bought anything.  I am my mother's daughter!!  I bought this cute little jacket at CC.

Andrea won't be able to make it to Chicago which is a big bummer, but I look forward to spending time with everyone else at BOOBs 2.0 (if not before!!)

After my afternoon of superfunness, I went home, did laundry and fixed dinner. This week's grill special is lemon garlic pork loin and kick'n chick'n thighs.  I think I prefer liquid marinade on chicken rather than the dry rub because it gives it more moisture.  I'm sure part of it is the grill master though.  Heh.

It was another busy weekend "at home".  Next weekend is BFF's birthday weekend so I'm sure there will be lots of fun in store for us!  Hope your weekend was safe, happy & fun!!

HUGS!!

Thank you, BBF!

Dear Debi,

I can't tell you what being BBFs means to me.  I know I tell you often how much you, your support, your friendship and your time mean to me, but I don't think it can ever be said enough.  Plus, I have something very specific to thank you for.

Yesterday, you called me out for not wearing my Body Bugg at the DFW Blogger Lunch.  At the time, although I appreciated the calling out, I chalked it up to vanity.  And even though that is stupid, I thought that it was no big deal and I would just put it back on today and move right along.  But here I sit at work this morning, sans Bob.  Why, you say?  Well, it seems that if you don't do something everyday, if you don't get used to wearing something or putting it on regularly...it is easy to forget. 

I think if YOU wouldn't have called me out yesterday, I would have blown this off.  But because you did, I now realize that this commitment can't be sometimes.  Not because of those moments that I may not need it, but because of the times those moments bleed into moments I do. 

It's like Pres's philosophy on food, if you eat something, you will have a fleeting moment of pleasure; but a healthy & fit body will bring you consistent and unending pleasure.  The same thing could be said here.  Any discomfort or unhappiness I might feel from wearing my Bugg in public with squished up fat hanging out for all to see, would have faded by now.  But the consequences of my actions linger and today I'm annoyed with myself.

Today, I will log my info just like any other day.  Today, I will go to Jazzercise just like any other Monday.  And tomorrow, Bob will be back.  No harm, no foul. 

But I wanted YOU to know that yet again, you have made a difference for me.  I honestly cannot imagine doing this without you. 

Super big hugs, my dear friend!

Beth Ann

BYOC

It’s BYOC day! Bring Your Own Crazy! We answer a few questions to get to know each other better and to give our blog brains a break! Copy and paste to your own blog and enjoy!!

1. Alright – forgive me – we’re gonna get a little personal here. I (Drazil) was flipping through my organizer and saw in big bright letters “ANNUAL PHYSICAL DUE” coming up soon. Then I remembered that last year my lady bits doc said that since I haven’t had a bad pap in so many years – that I don’t have to come back for another 3 years if I don’t want to. What the what? Did you guys know that?

No speculum in the vaginulum?

Anywhoozle – it sounds all good but really – do any of you follow this medical rule? Do you go every three years if you’ve never had a bad pap?

I go every year like clockwork.  See the doc for the big day and leave with my scrip. 
2. If you read, what are you reading right now? Or how about what is your fave music right now?

I go through reading phases.  I will read 4 or 5 books in one month then take six months to read the next one.  Weird.  I just finished Water for Elephants.  I'm not sure what I'm going to start next, but I suspect that I will read the Paleo book (thanks to Pres's peer pressure!) first.

I am absolutely obsessed with Maroon 5 right now.  In fact, does anyone want to go to the Maroon 5 concert in Dallas with me in September?  I think it was Amanda that said she would, but it is sort of long commute for a concert.  Ha!  I also love the Nicki Minaj song Super Bass.  Okay...I am the whitest girl who ever whited.  So seeing me try to rap out to Super Bass?  Well, that has to be amazing.  "Someone please tell him who the F I is!" 

*ahem*

3. Name some of your favorite smells.

I love the smell of rain and that smell that is in the air when it is Fall.  You know what I mean?  Ft. Worth doesn't really have it as much as Indiana does, but I catch it every once in a while...in December.

The smell of cinnamon rolls or bread baking make me weak in the knees.

4. Showers or baths? Shampoo only or shampoo & conditioner? Shave daily or just when you start feeling and looking like an ape?

I shower every day, unless I have no plans on Saturday, which is never.  Since my hair is so short, I have to wash it every day as well.  I use shampoo and conditioner because my hair will dry out if I don't use the conditioner. 

I used to shave about once a month.  Seriously.  I didn't have a boyfriend and espeicially in the winter...who cares?  Plus when I was bigger it was a real effort to get it done.  Now I shave underarms and legs every time I shower which we have established is every day.  I also use lotion all over my body every day now which I never used to do.  So I'm soft, smooth and cuddleable at any given moment!  You never know...

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in real life and in blogland.

Blogland is fabulous!  All of my interweb besties are getting me through my July fitness routine.  Only one more week (and one more day) to go!  Thanks guys!

Blogland will crossover into the Real World this weekend as Debi, Dawnya, Ronnie, Andrea and I (and maybe others??) will meet for lunch on Sunday.  Now we all know that Debi is my BBF, but I feel like Dawnya, Ronnie & Andrea are my friends so it will be super fabulous to hang out.  We can plan our TX Posse matching T-shirts for Chicago.  HAHA!

Real World is great.  Scale is stagnant but I feel like a badass.  Going out with Lizard tonight which is super awesome!  Other than a visit from my mom, August is another slow and steady month which will be good because September and October are going to be nutso!!

TGIF!  Hugs!

It's Friday! Yippee!

Last night was another CrossFit workout.  It is kind of hard to believe that in less than two weeks, I will be in the regular class.  I always get to class early and the earlier class is still working out.  Can I just tell you what a pleasure it is to sit there and watch?  There is one guy, the Hotness, that can make a pull up look like art.  I might have had to wipe the drool a little but I don't think anyone noticed.  There is another guy, we'll call him Hotish, that has an amazing body, but there is something off about his face for me.  I'm a face girl and while you might think this guy is utterly gorgeous (and I can totally see why you would think this), I think he is okay.  He doesn't have sideburns...or some other nutcase thing.  Anyhoo...I prefer to look at the Hotness, but Hotish will do in a pinch.  They are definitely the alpha males of the class and are trying to outdo either other.  Works for me!! 

So I have decided that I like Pukey and notPukey.  They are nice guys.  I still think Pukey is interested, but maybe he is just a nice guy.  Either way, I wouldn't change my level of niceness to him.  That being said...what is up with some guys??  And maybe it is girls too, I don't know.  We have 5 guys in our class, Introvert, Jackass, Lanky, Pukey and notPukey.  I didn't really have an opinion of Jackass until last week.  When we go to get PVC pipes, ab mats, or whatever, a lot of times one person will get several and hand them out.  That day, I did that and Jackass looks at me and says he will get his own?  Ugh...okay.  Whatever.  Yesterday, I got to class early and he was sitting in one of the two chairs.  He literally got up an walked across the room as I moved for the other chair.  What the hell?  He talks to Bach, so it isn't like he has a thing with women.  Plus, he is married.  Again, whatever. 

So, yesterday we started with a 400m run.  I can do that.  Then we practiced our Push Presses which is where you take a barbell off the rack to your shoulders.  Then you press up over your head.  I did 5 sets of 5 of these, 35#, 45#, 50#, 50#, 50#.  Then we learned how the proper form of all types of sit ups.  Jazzercise has given me decent core strength, so I had these!

Then we leaned Dumbbell Cleans.  Have you ever watched Olympic weightlifting?  There are two different types of events: the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk.  The Snatch is when they take the weight from the floor over their head in one movement.  The Clean and Jerk are actually two different movements combined into one event.  In the Clean, you take the barbell from the floor to your shoulders and in the Jerk, you take it from your shoulders over your head.  There are some nuances I'm skipping, but that was the general idea.

WOD:  10! (the exclamation point, just like in math, means factor...so we did 10, then 9, then 8...to the last set of 1) - dumbbell hang cleans and sit ups.  We paired up and since I was the strongest girl, I paired up with Lanky who typically lifts less than the other guys.  The "hang" in hang clean just means that instead of picking the weight up off the floor, you start with the weight around your knees hanging from straight arms.  We used 15# dumbbells, so I was cleaning 30#.  Not bad!  I kept up pretty well with the guy, so that is good.  :)

After the workout, which wasn't TOO taxing for me today, Bach mentioned that Saturday was going to be a tough workout.  She looked right into my eyes and said that there will be a lot of running.  Heh.  Super.  She knows that this is going to be super tough for me.  But I will do it!  I don't care if it takes me twice as long as everybody else, I'm going to do it!

Bob Stats
Calories Burned:  2296  (354 less than target)
Calories Consumed:  1521 (379 less than target)
Calorie deficit:  775

Steps:  6423 (3577 less than target.  This is going to be tough to reach on CF days with low cardio)
Physical Activity:  46 minutes (14 minutes less than target...I had 2 hours of sitting though a CPE class and one hour massage.  Lots of down time yesterday.)

I have decided that next month will be No Scale August.  My hope is that I will get myself prepared mentally to lose the scale forever.  Not focusing on that though...just focusing on one step at a time.  No Scale August!

Today I made the good choice to stay in for lunch.  All my besties are headed out to eat today but since I'm having cake this afternoon (it is from Nothing Bundt Cakes which is my ABSOLUTE favorite) AND I'm going out to dinner, I decided that I should be good.  I'm going to work out, although it will probably be a short one.  And I will eat in which always seems to help in the calorie department.  So, not a super crazy healthy day, but I'm making a good choice that I would have never made before.  Baby steps.

So, dinner & Guys & Dolls tonight.  Tomorrow, I have CrossFit in the morning, a facial at 11am, then Harry Potter in the afternoon.  I also might try to get a pedi in there somewhere.  Sunday I have church, then it is time for the DFW Blogger lunch.  WOOHOO!  What a fun packed weekend!  Hope you have a good one!

HUGS!

How do you break free?

I can't straighten my arms today.  As I did an arm routine at Jazzercise last night, I thought to myself that it was SO much harder than when I did it on Monday.  I really think that hanging from the bar at CrossFit worked the heck out of my arms.  I'm getting a massage today and I'm hoping she can help me work some of the soreness out of my arms and lower back.  And then I'm going to go to CrossFit again.  Ha!

Bob the Bugg Stats
Calories Burned:  2897  (247 above target)
Calories Consumed:  1559 (341 below target)
Calorie Deficit:  1338  (Woohoo!)

Steps:  14,247 (4,247 over target)
Physical Activity:  2 hours, 3 minutes (1 hour, 3 minutes over target.)

It was a good day as you can see!  And to show for it, I gained a pound.  Lovely.  So that cemented my decision for next month.  It will be No Scale August!  I think I will even give my scale to a friend for the month so I can't cheat.  :)  I will weigh on the morning of 7/31 and then I will weigh again on 8/31.  I will also take measurements at those times.  Not making any grand statements of what I plan to lose or accomplish, the goal itself is to continue to make good choices and not to weigh.  Now, of course, my hope is that this goes well and I will be another step closer to breaking the chains to the scale! 

The President of my Company (aka Pres) is an amazing guy.  He is probably the healthiest person I know.  From what i understand, that wasn't always the case but he seems to have conquered his issues with food.  He says that it still takes effort, like when the bread comes before dinner and his kids are digging in.  But he says that he reminds himself that eating it would just be for pleasure, that it isn't about the FOOD.  And he derives more pleasure from being healthy and fit.  I see his point...it is mind over matter.  The frustration from not eating the deliciousness will fade, but what you get from being healthy and fit sticks with you always.

He follows the Paleo diet for the most part.  Meat & veggies, low sugar, no grains, no processed food...  I have been very resistant to just jumping in to the Paleo lifestyle because I've tried to give up carbs before.  In the past when I have done that, I ended up going off the rails with them and doing more damage.  This all came up when I was talking about limiting my calories and Pres insisted that I needed to stop counting calories.  If you eat for fuel and focus on protein and veggies, you don't need to count calories.  And he is right.  My issue is that I don't do that, so I need to count calories to make sure I stay under some sort of threshold. 

I can feel myself bending though.  I bought a book today about the Paleo philosophy and I will at least read more about it.  I know that I WANT my life to be less focused on food.  And counting every calorie in and every calorie out is not at all taking me in that direction.  I'm torn between what has worked for me in the past and how I want to live in the future.  Old me vs. new me? 

I'm so good at mind over matter with so many aspects of my life.  What is stopping me here?  I've come a LONG way toward healthy choices over the last couple of years.  But there are still a few barriers I need to break through.  I feel like I'm getting closer!  I will continue to mull on that, but for now:

One day at a time.  One meal at a time.  One work out at a time.  One good decision at a time.

Hugs!

Keeping the focus.

BodyBugg Stats
Calories Burned:  2393  (257 less than planned)
Calories Consumed:  1523  (377 less than planned)
Calorie Deficit:  870

Steps:  7888  (2112 less than planned)
Physical Activity:  1 hour 1 minute  (1 minute over target...whew!)

The biggest surprise of the day yesterday was that I burn more calories during Jazzercise than I do at CrossFit.  I love that!!  Getting the extra calorie burn at Jazzercise while building my strength at CrossFit makes me feel like I have found a great fitness balance!! 

Before last night's class started, I was talking with Pukey and NotPukey.  NotPukey said that they were talking about me on Saturday that I had a really good pace on my warm up run.  YAY!  You know you have really improved when people actually notice it.  That made me feel good.

We started out with a 400m warm up run.  I didn't do as well as Saturday, I don't think, but I do feel like I'm getting a little stronger with the running. 

Sidenote:  every year at Christmas SIL gives me a calender with all sorts of family pictures.  It is my favorite gift every year and I LOVE that she does it.  This month, July, has pictures from the 5K we did last year.  There is a cute picture of Nephtwo (my second nephew, hence the two...) running.  Another picture is Nephtwo, SIL, & me pre-race.  The last and biggest pic is of me running to the finish line with SIL behind me with her hands in the air doing a victory cheer.  It makes me smile every single day.  In fact, now almost a year later, I'm MORE impressed with what I accomplished that day.  I'm stronger, in better shape and smaller than I was on that day, but still...the thought of running a consistent 3.1 miles sounds hard.  That I did it then is amazing to me.  I want to do the 5K again when I go visit the family in September.  Part of me is scared to death that I won't push myself in the same way, but I'm going for it.

Back to CrossFit...after the warm up, we practiced deadlifts with 65 pounds.  I have a little bit of soreness in my lower back today, so I think I need to work on my form a little.  It isn't a bad pain, but enough to keep it in my mind.  We also practiced our pull ups.  Last time, even with the ginormous rubber band, I wasn't able to get over the bar.  This time, with the band, I was able to string two or three together about 4 times.  It was a great feeling, but I still have A LOT of work to do.

WOD:  400m run, 15 walking lunges, 15 Thrusters (weight above the head 35#), 15 ring rows, 15 KTE (this is a move where you hang from the bar and try to pull up your knees to your elbows.  Knee To Elbow.  I find it extremely hard and barely got in 10 super sad ones.), 400m run.  It was an exhausting workout!  I'm getting stronger though!!

I made some good food choices yesterday.  I avoided the chocolate at work that I wanted.  I had my leftovers again and I'm still not tired of the meat that I grilled on Sunday.  That's good!

The scale is being nice to me.  I am down almost 3 pounds since Monday.  According to my stats, I should be down 1/2 pound, so either I'm losing some water weight that I gained when I started CrossFit or I'm dehydrated.  Who knows.  Anyway, I'm going to walk with Godmother at lunch today and I'm going to Jazzercise tonight. 

One day at a time.  One meal at a time.  One workout at a time.  One good decision at a time.

Hugs!

Continuing to focus on the basics.

Yesterday was full of good choices.  It was the first day for my new Body Bugg (I like all of the name ideas you guys gave me, but Bob seems to be the one that is sticking with me.  I will keep you updated.) and it was nice to have that kind of feedback again. 

Calories Burned:  2464 (I believe this is slightly low because of a first day glitch with the bugg, but not much.  186 less than planned.)
Calories Consumed:  1518  (382 less than planned.)
Calorie Deficit:  946 
Steps:  9717 (This is low for a Jazzercise day.  Interesting...  283 less than planned.)
Physical Activity:  1:08  (8 minutes more than planned.)

So, some things better than planned and other things not as good.  But all in all, it was a good day.  I had the Uptown Salad with non-fat vinaigrette dressing from Potbelly's for lunch and it was wonderful!  Dinner was leftover grilled turkey breast, pork chops, mashed potatoes, & veggies.  SO GOOD!

I will be interested to see how many calories I burn tonight in CrossFit vs. what I burned in Jazzercise last night.  CrossFit overall is an hour, but it is more circuit training, so shorter bursts of high intensity activity.  Jazzercise is more of a curve where you warm up, have high intensity then cool down, ending with strength training.  Two COMPLETELY different approaches to fitness.  And I think it provides a great balance for my exercise routine.

I continue to notice the increase in my strength at Jazzercise.  And I have good form at CrossFit because of my Jazzercise training.  I love that!

My new motto:  One day at a time!  I'm not worrying about the rest of the month or even the rest of the week.  I'm taking each day on its own.  Today, I will make good food choices.  Today, I will CrossFit.  Today, I will be strong!

Hugs!

DFW Bloggers

I just wanted to put a reminder out there for the DFW Area Blogger Lunch we are having on Sunday.  We are meeting at the Southlake Town Center Starbucks at 1pm. 

Let me know if you are coming!  Hope to see you there.  :) 

Weekend Recap

Friday evening was not very exciting to kick off a not exciting weekend that I was so happy to have!!  My life has been exhausting lately and I have been looking forward to a break.  I ran a few errands and ended up with a few more dresses from Ross.  I really love that place for inexpensive, super cute dresses!  The Skittle registered 115 degrees during my Friday afternoon excursion.  How insane is that? 

Saturday morning, it was time for CrossFit.  I purchased some gloves to see if it would help my hands since they are getting all torn up, but they didn't really work for me.  I couldn't get a good grip on the bar.  We started out with a 400m run warm up.  I have to say that since we did 800m on Tuesday and Thursday AND it is cooler on Saturday morning, the 400m did not seem nearly as bad as it had in the past.  I was the 3rd one out the door and the 4th one back in the door.  AWESOME!  Two caveats:  1. There was quite a bit of space between me and the pack from the beginning AND 2. They were warm up jogging and I was running as fast as I could sustain.  BUT in the past, they almost always pass me up completely...I will take it!!

After some other warm up, we started the instructional part of the class.  We learned Wall Balls which is where you hold a weighted medicine ball at your chest, squat and thrust up pushing/throwing the medicine ball up to an 8' line on the wall.  These are hard, but I like them because I was able to do it as instructed from the beginning.  At one point, the ball did come down and land on my face, so that was awesome, but I seem to have avoided a resulting black eye.

We also learned banded pull ups.  You put a huge rubber band around the bar and put your foot in it so you are balanced and can get some bouncy momentum.  It is fantastic in theory, but I still can't pull up over the bar.  The other girls can do a few, but they still can't do many and I have to remind myself that I have a good 50-60 pounds on these girls so I need to be patient.  Also, I'm still working on my flexibility and ended up smacking myself in the face with the band.  I was concerned I was starting to see a pattern.  Ha! 

We also learned foot pins for rope climbing (how to hold our feet as we would climb the rope.)  We didn't actually climb the rope, but we would lay on the ground and use our arms to pull ourselves up.  Good upper body exercise!

The Workout of the Day (WOD) was 5 sets: 7 wall balls (10#), 7 push ups, 7 ring rows (this is where you hold onto a ring hanging from above, lower your body horizontally, and pull yourself up with your arms.  It is a good exercise that will help me with pull ups.)  Again, this is one that looked easy on paper, but turned out to be a killer.  Additionally, I had initially thought there were 3 sets so when I was "done", I still had two more sets.  Yikes! 

My biggest moment of pride for the day:  as I was doing the first set of push ups on my knees, I felt strong and it was WAY easier than when we did them last week.  I'm sure that you all memorize my progress and know that when I tried to do regular push ups (on my toes) last week, I could only do one or two at a time.  I decided to try again and did all 7 in the 2nd set!!  That was amazing for me!!  Then I went on to finish out the remaining 3 sets with regular push ups.  I was so stinking excited!!!  I will admit that in the last two sets, I was popping my hips up more than I was actually pushing up, but in the end it was better than knee push ups for sure.  I can't believe that with less than 2 weeks of work outs, I'm doing push ups.  4 sets of 7 push ups.  WOOHOO!!  The WOD was just for completion.  I continue to be one of the last ones to finish, but I also continue to not cut corners and work on my form as much as possible. 

I'm almost slightly disappointed that I don't have CrossFit today.  It is like a new toy that I want to play with.  :)  But luckily, I do have Jazzercise so that will get my shoulders loose and give me a good work out. 

Saturday afternoon, the girls and I drove out to BFE, TX to Cowgirl's house/ranch for a day of fun.  We spent 4 hours out in the pool in the above 100 degree weather.  How I survived that, I do not know.  We pitched in and got BFF a KitchenAid mixer for her birthday which was cool and she seemed excited.  I also found a new yummy drink...Fresca, Malibu and a splash of Cranberry.  Delicious!!  We had dinner and sat outside around the table chit-chatting and enjoying ourselves.  What a fun girls' day!

Yesterday, I had the most wonderful lazy ass day!  Other than going to church, the grocery store and laundry, I did nothing.  I watched about 5 hours of Friday Night Lights and I'm almost caught up.  I should be able to get to the series finale this week!  I love that show and it is one of favorites of all time. 

I ended the weekend with my new grill.  I grilled applewood smoked turkey breast, soy and ginger marinaded pork chops and garlic & lemon pepper vegetables (red & green peppers, squash, portobellos, & zuccini.)  I fixed a lot for two reasons:  1.  hoped that out of all of that, there would be salvagable dinner for BFF and me.  2.  If there were leftovers, I had built in dinners for the week.

It turned out that it was ALL good.  YAY!!  I'm getting better.  :)  And a working meat thermometer REALLY helped.  I don't usually like white meat, but I thought that the turkey breast was even better than the pork.  I look forward to seeing how it all tastes leftover.

Finally, the weekend is over and it is back to the routine.  I have 3 CrossFit classes and 2 Jazzercise classes this week.  It is a nice normal week where I can focus on work and working out.  Next weekend is PACKED, so I should enjoy the routine while I have it. 

Last note:  my new BodyBugg came this weekend and I'm wearing it today.  I will be interested to see what kind of calories I'm buring these days.  It has been a while since I've worn it regularly, so this should be interesting!  Anybody have any suggestions on what I should name it?  First, I had Jax and he tragically died.  Then I had Jillian and she ran away.  Hope this one sticks with me for a while!

HUGS!!

BYOC

It’s Friday so that means it’s BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy! We answer questions today in an effort to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break. Copy and paste to your own blog if you so desire…and ENJOY!!

1. Let’s do something crazy….I’m going to list the rainbow colors and you type the first FOOD item that pops into your head that symbolizes that color for you…..here’s mine:

Red – raspberry (is that even really red?)
Orange – velveeta cheese (the devil's work and oh, so delicious)
Yellow – pineapple (yum!)
Green – Skittle  (in all fairness, my first thought was my car the Skittle, but technically it works.)
Blue – blueberries
Purple – grapes (I'm naming a lot of fruit for a girl that doesn't eat a ton of fruit...)
Brown – Obviously chocolate, but specifically Ghirardelli Dark (with peanut butter and graham crackers ALL of which are brown.)
Black – Hmmm...blackened fish?

2. What is on your kitchen table right now?

Some mail and a few things that need to be put away.  I eat on a tv tray.  Classy!

3. What movie do you watch again and again and again? Not like what movie have you seen 5 times…but like what movie have you seen 30 times or more?

I've seen Hoosiers countless times.  And Mommie Dearest.  I used to know that one by heart.  It kind of disturbed my mom since I was only like 7 when it came out.  ::insert evil laugh::

4. If Satan had a last name – what would it be?

Honestly, there is no one I hate enough to saddle this one with.  But I bet Satan's nickname is "Li'l P", meaning Little Peepee.  Because you know it all had to start somewhere.

5. Repeat question: Summarize your week in blogland and in real life.
Blogland is lovely.  I love my blogger friends and look forward to catching up on everyones goings on.  Each day I get more excited about Chicago and meeting so many of you. 

Real life is great!  CrossFit is kicking my booty.  I miss Jazzercise, but I will be back more in August.  Lots of fun stuff coming my way including the DFW Blogger Lunch.  I know that a few people are going to make it and I think it will be super fun! 

Hugs!

Still Focusing on the Basics.

It might be a new tradition that I start with a random sidenote at the beginning of my post.  :)  One of the girls from Vegas gave us her pictures and I saw them this morning.  I had to share this one because I look like Dorothy with my munchkins.  I swear I'm not a giantess, but my friends are all 5'3" or shorter.  I'm 5'5" and I had on ginormous platforms.

Jazzercise Girls at MGM/Vegas

The best part is that three of these girls are instructors and they are all very petite yet I still don't feel like I'm a big sow.  That is truly an NSV for me!!

Food (and water)

I did okay with food yesterday, continuing my theme of not making any dramatic dietary changes, but just making better choices as I go.  My calorie count was solidly where I want to be with little effort, but I still choose too many carbs.  We went to Boston's for lunch and I had Cajun grilled chicken with broccoli and a side of penne with pomodoro sauce.  All in less than 500 calories.  I did end up having two granola bars throughout the afternoon and while that fits into my calorie counts for the day, my goal next week is to come up with better snack choices.  I just love them so much!!  :) 

For dinner, I was running later than normal and I had popcorn again.  I won't say it is a bad choice, because I have made much worse recently, but it still isn't a GOOD choice.  Baby step.  Now, for dessert, I totally had a "time of the month" craving and at the time I thought blowing all the good I did away.  But now in the light of day and counting the actual calories, it wasn't all that bad.  I had 2T of peanut butter with about an ounce of dark chocolate chips.  Again, not a GOOD choice for a snack/dessert, but I'm chalking that one up to hormones.

I'm getting in under my target calories and feel sure that with my rigorous workouts, that I have calorie deficits for the day.  All of that is positive.  But the choices I'm making as I get there are about 50/50.  I would like to be more 80/20.

Exercise

It was CrossFit Day #5 and it was 105 degrees.  Warm up was 800m.  I was still turtle pace, but I felt a little stronger in this one than I did on Tuesday.  We continued to warm up with some stretching and light calisthenics.  We spent longer today on learning Element form, but it was intense at times.  We have air conditioning most days, but when there is a lot of running (for the regular class), they shut it off and open the doors which was what happened yesterday.  Hot!!

At one point, I was learning to do a weight lifting move (still working on the terminology) and I was squatting for a long period of time.  When I got up, everything went white and I heard the guy next to me say that he was getting light headed.  I'm not sure if I said I was too or if I just thought it.  I totally went into mind over matter mode to bring myself back to the situation.  I did, then I drank about 1/2 bottle of water!  Yay for not passing out!!

WOD (workout of the day) - 3 set: 300m rows, 5 KTE (Knee to Elbows - where you hang on the bar and try to touch your knees to your elbows...mostly I just raised my knees as high as I could), 10 dumbbell (handweight) push presses (basically pushing the weights from shoulder height to above your head) with 15 pound handweights (total 30#).  We didn't time it so it was just for completion.

It was one of the toughest workouts so far.  But I will take it.  I was watching the chaos of the regular class going on at the same time as my Fundamental class and it was nuts.  They were lifting barbells and running around the building...you could barely figure out where to walk without tripping someone or getting nailed with weights.  And to think that in a few weeks, I will be in that class!!  I'm terrified, but I'm also excited!! 

Since getting back from vacation, I have been averaging 45 minutes of exercise per day and I feel really good.  I'm sleeping better and I notice that I'm not as lethargic in the afternoons.  Now, I can just get the eating from Okay to Good.  :)

Weekend

Tonight I'm just running some errands.  Tomorrow I have CF in the morning (hope I remember to set the alarm right this time!)  Then we are going to Cowgirl's ranch out in BFE Texas to have some girl's weekend fun.  I can't wait!!  Sunday is a free day that I'm going to enjoy so much.  Maybe grill some meat for next week, do laundry, watch TV.  Mmmmm...relax!

Have a super fun weekend everyone!!

HUGS!

Breaking down the basics...

Sidenote

I had my blog all written out for this morning, but I had to add this...  I was at the allergist this morning to get a shot.  Once you get a shot, it is protocol to sit in the lobby for 20-30 minutes prior to leaving (just to make sure you don't go into shock from the allergens that were just pumped into your body.)  Anyway, I was there sitting as far from the door as possible in the small lobby near the front desk.  Two men were in the lobby, one within 2 seats of the door and the other within 3 seats of the door. 

An elderly lady with a walker started coming through the door and was visibly having trouble trying to get the door open and her walker through it.  I hesitated because SURELY one of the men by the door would help.  But no.  They just sat there watching her.  So I got up, but by the time I got through the room, she was mostly finished.  To me, it doesn't have anything to do with being a man or a woman...if someone is having trouble, get up and help them.  For Pete's sake!  Now back to the regularly scheduled post...

I'm not sure if you can break down basics, since they are well...basic.  But if I'm going to go back to them, leave it to me (the Accountant) to break them down.  So far, so good as the scale is creeping down.  But I'm at the point now where throughout the past few months, I have started to sabotage my success.  I don't think I do it consciously, but now that I'm focusing, I think that as I start going down, I start making more bad choices.  It is my goal to break that cycle.

Food

Yesterday, I feel like I made decent choices.  For lunch, I had my leftover salmon from the prior day.  It was DELICIOUS and I'm so going back to that place.  About 2 hours after lunch, I had some leftover watermelon salad.  About 2 hours after that, I had a granola bar.  Oh wait, I had 2 granola bars...that wasn't a good choice.  Oops. 

For dinner, I attempted to grill cod.  I massively overcooked it.  I'm going to have to work on that a bit more.  For those of you that recommended the foil cooking...about how long do you keep it on the grill and do you have the grill set on high?  I think I need specific tips.  Ha!

So, I only ended up eating a few bites...I think if it would have been cooked correctly, it would have been great.  And I ate a cucumber.  But I was still hungry, so I had popcorn.  Not the best choice, but really, not horrible.  For dessert, I had a sugar free pudding snack.

All in all, I would say it was okay.  I feel sure I would have had a calorie deficit for the day, but I still have work to do.

Exercise

One thing I have found interesting is the changing limitations I find with my body.  At the beginning of my fitness focus, I was at least 50 pounds heavier than I am now.  As long as I moved, I would burn a crapload of calories.  I was mostly doing Jazzercise at first and I would burn at least 600 calories in an hour.  Well, you do that 3-4 times a week and the weight really goes off.  Of course, I wasn't doing most of the moves correctly, but I was still burning calories at the highest rate, so it didn't matter.

Then I started running and again, I wasn't able to run fast, but I would burn TONS of calories.  As I started to lose weight, I noticed that it would take more to keep my heart rate up.  But I could do more things.  For instance, I could do more high impact aerobics, so I could get my heart rate going.

But as I got more in shape cardio-vascularly (is that a word?), my body just didn't keep up.  Running would make my knees hurt.  High impact aerobics would make my feet hurt.  I would get frustrated because I just couldn't make my body do what my heart wanted.

Enter CrossFit, I think that if I make myself stronger, I will be able to do more.  Plus, CrossFit targets things differently than Jazzercise, so I'm not beating down the same body parts.  Last night, I felt great at Jazzercise and I think CF is helping me do it BETTER.  I was able to lunge lower last night than I think I ever have.  It didn't hurt my knees at all.  I think that since I can execute more proper form, I can do the moves more effectively. 

I'm not sure if this all makes sense, but my point is that there are always limitations.  Either your cardio limits what your body can do...i.e. for me that is running OR your body limits what kind of cardio you get....i.e. right now that includes Jazzercise moves that hurt my feet.  Regardless of where you are in your fitness life, there are limitations, there are obstacles and there are millions of excuses.  You just have to figure out your motivation to break through the limitations, overcome the obstacles and drop the excuses. 

Even though I LOVE Jazzercise and I would not give it up, I needed something to help me from another direction.  I think I have found that, at least for now.  I am extremely fortunate that I'm in a position where I CAN do both. 

I was going to post a picture of the gigantic bruise on my knee.  It is a doozy!  But the picture didn't turn out, so you will just have to imagine it.  Gotta get better at that lunge walking!!  :)

HUGS!!

Happy Hump Day!

CrossFit

Last night was CF Fundamental Class #4.  I have to say that I was ready for class.  I think I'm in the honeymoon phase where I still look forward to going to class, but I expect a time will come when I "don't wanna".  I'm trying to take full advantage of this time. 

So, a new girl started in my Fundamental class the other day (I will call her Lately).  Her mom is in cf and loves it, so she started.  Her mom came in and we all bonded about what slow runners we are. 

It is time to warm up.  Everybody...800m run.  Ugh.  It is 102 degrees outside and I'm going to run a 1/2 mile.  Okay.  Lately & I start running together but I realized that I was actually quicker than her.  In all fairness, I don't think she has worked out much at all prior to this, but I'm not going to lie, it was nice to come in ahead of SOMEBODY. 

After some more warm up, we started our Fundamental training.  We started with reviewing dead lifts which is basically just squatting and picking up a barbell up to your thighs arms extended.  One of the other girls (not Army or Lately....we'll call her Legs because she has ones to DIE for) and I partnered up last time, so we were together this time.  We added another 10 pounds to what we did Saturday.  Not bad, I don't think.  We are at 65 pounds now and I think our goal is 90 pounds.

After that, we learned lunge walking.  You take a big step and bring the opposite knee to the floor, come up and take another big step doing it the opposite way.  You do that across the floor.  I need to learn the art of getting your knee close to the floor without actually touching the floor because I knocked my knee pretty good a couple of times and I have a bruise today.  Love it!

Then we went to the pull up bar.  Saturday I learned that I have a lot of upper body strength, but I also still weigh in spitting distance of 2 bills.  A pull up might be in my future, but I know that I have A LOT of work to do.  I will have to approach it from both ends...losing weight and developing strength.  It is my new goal though.  1 dead hang pull up.  I couldn't even possibly predict how long that will take.

We practiced shoulder swings.  You hang from the bar and swing back and forth with your legs and arms swinging opposite of your head.  I had the rhythm pretty good, but I couldn't get in more than five swings before my arms had enough.  Then we did jumping pull ups, which is really more about your legs.  You stand on a box at the pull up bar with your arms able to reach about 8 inches above the bar.  You squat holding onto the bar with your arms extended and jump in a pull up position, then land back in the squat. 

Bach (the trainer) did some examples for us and I'm telling you, that girl has a body to die for.  She is my new hero.  Dang!  Her husband, the other trainer, also a body to die for.  They are muscular without looking it, if you know what I mean.  They are quite inspiring. 

Time for WOD (workout of the day):  3 sets of 200m run, 30m lunging walk, & 10-15 jumping pull ups.  I'm proud to say that even though I finished last (except for Lately who pulled something running) I did 15 jumping pull ups each set.  Pukey said that he only did 5 jumping pull ups at least one set.  So, even though he keeps beating me, I feel like I push myself more.  I finished my WOD in 8:14.

Healthier Eating

You all know I got a grill on the weekend.  This is one part of my commitment to healthier eating.  Debi has inspired me once again to try harder.  Why I can push myself physically in a work out, but I cannot stand strong in front of chocolate, continues to baffle me.  Anyway, after going to Group Monday night, I challenged myself to do better.  No big promises, no crazy limits...just do better.  Last week, my step toward a better me was joining CrossFit, this week, it is eating better dinners.  I seriously have chips & queso for dinner about 3 weeks in a row.  That must come to an end!

Yesterday, I went to lunch with our insurance broker.  We went to the Ranch which has DELICIOUS bad-for-you choices.  I was STARVING.  I wanted to get fried catfish or meatloaf SO BAD.  But I chose to get a cup of tortilla soup and the salmon.  Now, I will say that the salmon was so freaking tasty that it had to have been cooked in butter, but I ate less than half of the serving, so I still feel pretty good about the choice. 

I had Greek yogurt for my snack and it didn't feel like enough, so I had a granola bar.  After CF, I went home and heated up an extra chicken cutlet I had grilled on Sunday.  I ate that with my leftover watermelon salad and vinegar cucumbers.  And here is the best part...for dessert, I had sugar free vanilla pudding with no sugar added peaches.  YUM!  Today I will have my leftover salmon for lunch.  Dinner will be the key though because I'm supposed to grill a cod fillet that I have waiting for me in the fridge.  I am usually to lazy to cook dinner after I get home from working out (tonight is Jazzercise!) so I'm going to have to focus myself.  :)

Perspective

Today, I am wearing a dress that I wore in a photo a long time ago.  I was the smallest I had ever been as an adult in that photo.  I always felt confident about how I looked in that photo and was eager to fit back into that "cutest dress ever!"  Now that I'm below that weight, the dress fits perfectly and I decided to wear it today.  I realized when I put it on, that while it is an adorable dress, it certainly isn't the cutest one ever.  It isn't even the cutest one in my closet.  I realize that it wasn't the dress that made me more confident at that time, it was the smaller me. 

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you know that I'm all about setting goals.  Sometimes I meet them, sometimes I don't, but it was my way of motivating myself.  Lately, I have been lacking so much of that motivation.  I feel like CrossFit has lifted that a little and I want to take advantage.  This time no goals, except for two:

1. Work hard during workouts.
2. Eat better. 

Today, I had lost the water weight (?) I had gained after starting at CrossFit and am at the 90 pound lost mark again.  Time to march toward that century mark!!

HUGS!!

California Summary...yes, it is forever long, but it is still a summary!

It seems like weeks since I went to California, but it really has only been about a week since I got back.  Where did the time go?  I apologize up front for all the pictures, but it is funny how I wanted to post so many.  This time last year, I don't think I was quite so eager.  :)

Thursday

We left first thing in the morning and landed at LAX at 10am.  We went and got our convertible and I will tell you that renting that was my favorite thing on the trip.  The weather was perfect and I don't think we rode around with the top up but maybe once the WHOLE weekend!!

We went to Burbank to the Warner Brothers Studio.  I had heard that their studio tour is good, so we bought tickets and had a quick lunch while we were waiting for it to start. 

Me with Daffy.

BFF with Bugs.

On the tour we got to visit Ellen's studio set which was fun and we saw a lot of Hollywood type stuff.  It was definitely interesting.  They were getting ready to shoot some scenes from Pretty Little Liars and we saw Lucy Hale on a golf cart.  It is a silly little show, but I actually watch it.  Celebrity!

Lucy Hale

 My other favorite part of the tour was the hall of famous cars.  There was the Mystery Machine, the contraption from Yogi Bear, some Batmobiles, etc.

Me and the General Lee.  YEEEEEEEEHAW!

BFF with the Nerd Herd car from Chuck.

I would recommend the tour.  It was $45 but it lasted over 2 hours and it was interesting.  From there we went to Hollywood & Highland and took a Beverly Hills tour.  It was slightly interesting because we got to see some of Beverly Hills, but the houses are fenced in and so far back that there isn't much to see.  Between the convertible and the open air bus, we both got sunburns.  Whoops!! 

After the tour, we had dinner in Hollywood and then headed for Long Beach to the hotel.  It was midnight by the time we got to bed.  We had originally planned to drive 2 hours to a Jazzercise class taught by the President of Jazzercise Inc, but since it was so late we decided not to.  We didn't set the alarm and just decided we would leave when we got up. 

Friday

Some time the next morning, we woke to an alarm and someone telling us not to panic.  Well...if you don't want me to panic, you probably shouldn't wake me up with an alarm!!  Turns out there was a blackout at the hotel (and part of Long Beach.)  After trying to wait it out, we realized that we just needed to go.  We got ready the best we could and followed hotel staff down the pitch black stairwell with a couple of flashlights.  Crazy!

After a quick sunscreen purchase, we took off for Carlsbad and the weather and drive was FABULOUS!  We agreed that we were glad we didn't try to wake up early.  We went to the Jazzercise home office and it just so happened that the founder and CEO of Jazzercise was there and took a picture with us after we got a tour from the super sweet receptionist.

BFF, Judi, me

On our way back to Long Beach, we stopped and hung out a little at the beach.  The water is freaking COLD!!  I'm not sure what this new thing is where I hike my leg up when I get my picture taken.  I could swear that I never used to do that.

Me at the Beach

Then it was time for that which we had come!  VOLLEYBALL!!  It was super exciting and the match went to the 5th set tiebreaker.  But Puerto Rico isn't very good and the USA came through.  YAY!!


My vball boyfriend is the one on the left.  Dreamy!



Go Boyfriend!

 Saturday

We woke up and met my cousins for lunch at the famous Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles.  YUM!

Me with my cool California cousins.

After breakfast, we went to visit the Queen Mary which is a pretty cool thing. 

After visiting the Queen Mary, we went to lunch at a Lebanese restaurant.  I LOVED IT!!  I'm looking forward to trying it again soon.  It is very much like Greek and Turkish food and the flavors were delicious.

Next thing we know it is time for more volleyball.  This time the US team took the PR team in three straight sets!  This put them into the World League finals.  Sidenote:  that tournament was last weekend and the US team (ranked 5th in the world) were put in a pool with the 1st, 2nd & 4th ranked teams while the 3rd, 6th, 7th, & 8th (or something like that) were in the other pool.  What is up with that??  Unfortunately, they lost.  Boooo! 

Too cute.

Look at that badass action shot!

My volleyball boyfriend made a hasty getaway after the game, but I did get my picture with one of my other favorite players.  This is Reid Priddy and one of the greatest volleyball players on the planet.

We went to dinner at a place called King's after and I don't know why, but this picture cracks me up.

Sunday

Sunday was a super fun day!  We started by driving to the Getty Villa which is SOOOO beautiful.  Me and BFF?  We are classy gals.

Hee!!  This one is better...

Then we had lunch in Malibu.  I love Malibu.  I want to be rich and live in Malibu.  Sigh.  Malibu.  After lunch, we drove about 6 miles up the mountain which was over 20 degrees hotter.  No joke.  It was 68 degrees at the beach...at the wine tasting, it was 91 degrees.  SO HOT!  The drive up was a little winding and steep and I thought BFF was going to pass out.  :)

I was slightly freaked out all weekend because most days I went without sleeves, but I made it though.  I really hope CrossFit helps with my arms some.  After the wine tasting we drove to Venice Beach.  But we were tired, hungry and had to pee, so Venice Beach was blessed with us for about 30 minutes.  We decided to go back to Long Beach and just unwind. 

It was a super fun trip!!  I have got to stop pretending I'm rich now though, because I'm not and my credit card bill makes me want to throw up a little. 

Next on the agenda is my Olympic trip planning.  Too bad I'm not buddies with the owner of a nice London hotel!!  :) 

Hugs!!