Day 18: The First Syllable of Diet is DIE!

Since today is my rest day, I thought I'd blog about something that is equally as challenging as the WODS.  Dieting.  Mehhhh!

All my life, I've tried to "diet" and the only time it really worked for me was when I was combining dieting with exercising.  I learned you can't just do one to lose weight. 

My freshman year of college, I found this random work out dvd called Emergency Workout by Minna Lessig:

Megan and Abby, you remember this!

and quickly, I was obsessed.  I found another workout DVD by Minna, and I again....obsessed.  This opened a whole new world to me.  I joined dance team, started taking mountain biking classes, snowboarding, swimming, but I was missing one thing DIET. 

Freshman year I believe I weighted a whopping 165 and got down to 155 by just exercising, but I couldn't get below that, and I couldn't figure out why.  I thought my diet was ok, but it was all guess work. 

So I started calorie counting. 

I used my palm pilot and a program called "Calorie King" to figure out how many calories I was allowed per day to lose about 1 lb a week.  Everything I ate was measured, counted, and recorded.  My college friends thought I was completely insane BUT I went from 155 to 140 (My lowest weight ever) by running an hour a day and restricting my calories.  The nice thing about calorie counting is that you can eat anything you want, as long as you have the calorie allowance to afford it. 

This lasted for about a year, until I went on a cruise (all you can eat and major boozing) gained 10lbs back in a week and felt hopeless since I basically ruined a years worth of work. 

Since then I've tried to get away with exercising without dieting, and always the same disappointing results. 

So now I have 100% committed to Crossfit (exercising) and Zone/Paleo (Dieting). 

I'm just one of those people that has to watch what they eat.  It's truley a sad story because I love all the wrong foods.  Pizza, Bagels, Pizza Bagels LOL, Chinese Food, Cheese, Nachos, everything bad!  But on the flip side, I can avoid sweets like no other which is helpful. 

The Paleo part of the diet just means that I have to follow these rules for each meal:

Lean Meat
As Much Greens
Nuts
Berries
No Starch
No Sugar
No Alcohol

The Zone part of the diet is that I have to block my meals into:

Protien
Carbs
Fat

It takes a lot of prep time and planning, but who am I kidding, I love Prepping and Planning! 

If I cant Zone, (like tonight when I go out for dinner) I try to keep my meal as Paleo as possible and I have to keep in mind that I can't have good/great results if I don't comitt to both diet and exercise. 

And I have to remember I'm giving up these unhealthy foods for a reason.  So I mentally celebrate when, people say I look like I've lost weight, it only takes me one outfit try to get dressed in the morning, the scale shows a number that I like, I can buy cute clothes and wear them confidently, and when I feel fit and healthy and ready for anything!

Day 17: Women's Only Class

Let me just say how much fun the Wednesday 7pm Women's Only Class was last night!  My two awesome friends Jackie & Leigh Anne came with me to the class and I think they enjoyed it.

Highlights:

Neither Jackie or Leigh Anne correctly putting and/or spelling my last name on the wavier.  Good work!

Jackie jumping rope like she was in a school playground.  LOL (she just had foot surgery). 

Leigh Anne sizing up the other woman in the class that looked like she was in Runners World Magazine. 

Everybody finishing the "Helen" workout!


God I Love Kettlebells!


Skill:
Team Row of 3,000M  15:40

WOD:
"Helen"
3 Rounds
400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings
12 Pull Ups

12:35

Women's Class Scores in Blue

I am taking tomorrow as my rest day, I've gone 3 in a row and need a rest.  I am back at 153 lbs and I hope to weigh in tomorrow at 152. 

I am also excited that I don't have any major traveling plans this weekend so I can keep my diet and working out in check.  Again, I usually lose about a pound a day but then on the weekends gain 2-4 back.

3 LBS are between me and my goal of 140s by September!  GO ME!!!!

Day 16: Ode to the Kettlebells

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to check the WOD and see a Kettlebell workout.  Kettlebell's are my absolute favorite! So if I am on the fence about workingout, and Kettlebells are included in the WOD I don't skip.   

Step D: arms continue up straight so you can see your ears from the side

10 weeks ago I started with a Kettlebell weighing 16lbs.  Now I am using a 30lbs weight and I am almost at 36lbs, which is 1 Pood.  The RX weight is 54lbs or 1.5 Pood. 

I first thought that the Kettlebell was good for arm strength, but it is actually targeting the core.  Today when I was swinging the Kettlebell, I was tightening my core and boy did I feel strong.  I truly believe my abb muscles are forming, it is just going to take some strict dieting to remove the few inches of fat that are hiding them. 

Besides today being an enjoyable workout, a fellow Crossfitter made it a point to approach me to tell me that I look like I've been losing weight!  How awesome is that?!?  IF I get brave enough, I may post before and after pictures, we shall see. 

I am VERY excited for tomorrow's WOD.  Crossfit610 offers a free woman's only class for non-memebers and my friends Jackie and Leigh-Ann are coming with me to try it out!  If any of you readers (Female) would like to come to a trial class, please just let me know. 

I am an ordinary person doing extraordinary things at Crossfit610...why not you too!


SKILL:
Row under 1:55 for as long as possible
1:19

WOD:
15 Minute AMRAP
21-15-9
Box Jumps 
Kettlebell   (30 lbs)
Sit Up to Get Up (no hands)

182 Reps

Day 15: Back to It

After a busy weekend (Days 13 & 14) Dennis and I jumped right back into the grind.  I find it that going to a WOD after not going for 2 days is MUCH harder than continuously going. 

He's Got the Whole World in his Hands

 Skill:

2,000 Meter Row for Time

8:40

WOD:

25 Squats

500m Run

50 Squats

500m Run

75 Squats

500m Run

***All While Carrying Medicine Ball***  (10lbs)

18:16

Day 13 & 14: Weekends are Hard!

Being Week 10 of Crossfit, I pretty much have the dieting and exercising part down pat.  I know what I need to do, it is just a matter of doing it.  Personally I do so well Monday - Friday...losing almost a pound a day (yes a day) until I hit the weekend. 

This weekend was spent in Philly watching Dennis do a Triathlon, going out to Dinner, and seeing a Phillies game.  Not exactly the most conducive schedule for diet and exercise. 

First things first: Exercise. 

I knew I wanted to get 5 WODS in this week.  That meant I would have to work out Monday - Friday with no rest day, OR take a rest day and find a Philly Crossfit and miss watching the Triathlon.  Neither of those options were appealing so I compromised and did 4 WODS during the week and took the entire weekend off.  Not super happy about that, but I did my best. 

Second hurdle: Diet.

I knew we were going to be eating out at least 3 meals of the weekend.  Friday night dinner, Saturday lunch, Saturday night dinner, and Sunday lunch at the Phillies game.  For the rest of the meals and snacks, I mentally went through the weekend and packed any needed eggs, portioned out fruit, Fish Oil Pills, and anything else to get me my 3 point meals.  As for eating out, I did my best, but most of the meals out were negative points. 

As of right now I have 218 points and I have 6 more weeks to earn 751(minimum). 

Looking at my Gmail Calendar (aka my life) my weekends are pretty manageable from here on out. 

Day 12: Tired...No Literally, Tired

One really great thing about Crossfit work outs is the variety.  I have gone to about 45 WODS and not once have we repeated a workout.  How cool is that?

I think back to the LA Fitness days where I would spent 45 minutes on the Elliptical or 30 minutes on a treadmill and being bored. And not getting a workout CLOSE to a WOD.

Today was no different.  After 45 WODS I did a completely new thing:  Flipping Gianormous Tires:

Yeah, I did this at like 6:30am today!

Skill:
Row 750
Rest 2 Minutes
2 Rounds

WOD:
AMRAP
Flipping Tires 2 Minutes  - 22
Rest 2 Minutes
AMRAP
Push Ups 3 Minutes  - 41
Rest 2 Minutes
AMRAP
5 OHS (Over Head Squats 35lbs)  -80
15 Double Unders


I hope everybody has a great weekend and please wish Dennis GOOD LUCK on his 3rd Sprint Triathlon tomorrow. 

Day 11: Stop Mocking Me Bruno Mars!

Does anybody else get done with a really hard WOD, get into their car, turn on the raidio and hear this:








It has happened to me at least 10 times, thanks to B104.  Stop Mocking Me Bruno Mars!

So today, I will be taking a Rest Day, in your honor Bruno. 

Day 10: Mental Strength

It has become quite clear to me that physically I am getting stronger.  When I first started Crossfit, I was using the 6 lb medicine ball, now I use the 10.  I used to use the smalled kettle bell, now I use a 25 lb weight, and sometimes instead of just lifting the bar, I actually add some weight onto it.  That is really awesome and I get a great sense of accomplishment when I move up, but there is one piece to Crossfit that I want to talk about.

The Mental Aspect of Crossfit

I knew coming into Crossfit I would hate the workouts.  My exercise history consists of Workout DVD's, Elliptical, Swimming, and Dance Central...all Aerobic. 

I remember Day 1 of Elements doing the work out and wanting to do the most logical thing after the class, kill my husband.  In his defense he didn't MAKE me join Crossfit, but it still felt like his fault.  After my anger was gone, I would cry.  Yes.  That is correct.  I would cry.  I didn't want to quit, but I new this was going to be insanely hard for me to get through.

Like all things, I had good days, where I rocked the work out and felt like a freaking superstar, and then there were days when I was ready to walk out and quit. 

I quickly learned that when Dennis was done with a work out and I still have reps to do, if he came over to me and "cheered me on" it would infuriate me.  I felt as if he was patronizing me, or some how mocking the fact that he was done and I was not.  So he quickly learned, to just let me be. 

Today I had a "bad" day where I got through the work out, got into my car, called Dennis and just started balling.  This week has been especially tough.  I had zero time to recover for Laurie's wedding, I had to prepare all my meals for the week, we have a big Philly weekend this weekend, and on top of all that I'm trying to be social.  Combined with the pressure of losing weight. 

I'm not trying to gain any body's sympathy here, but THIS IS THE HARDEST thing I've done, ever.  It's out of my comfort zone, and the trainers are constantly pushing me to be better.

I know for a fact that part of me is afraid of succeeding, I've gone through this before in the past, and I don't know how to fix it.

I found a really awesome quote that really hit me hard:

"To get what you've never had, you have to do what you've never done."

Skill:

4 Rounds

1 Min Row

1 Min Run

1 Min Jump Rope

WOD:

"FRAN"

21-15-9

THRUSTERS 35 lbs

PULLUPS

11:49

Day 9: Temptation in the Office

My Blog Title cracked me up today because I meant it in terms of food, but could be read otherwise since the office is where I met my now husband...haha ok so anyways....

Our company (Weather Trends International) has many remote employees.  They work from home 4 out of 5 days of the week and when they do come into the office, they usually bring this:

Tony, You're Killing Me!

At first, it was awesome and I would always look forward to seeing the donuts..ahem..I mean Tony  on a weekly basis.  Since Crossfit, things have changed. 

I am now proud to say that I can go about my work day with ZERO temptation to eat any of the donuts.  I may be guilty of opening the box and smelling them (is that weird?), but I no longer indulge. 

I have to ask myself....WHY?

1. Donuts (depending on type) can have as much as 300 calories!  That equals about 30 minutes on the rower....just to break even...NO THANKS!

I'd rather NOT eat the donut, do 10 minutes on the rower and be down 100 calories for the day. 

2. They aren't filling.  When I used to eat the donut, I always remembered not feeling satisfied afterwards.  Which would lead to me either eating another donut or something else.  Which is BAD!

Now that I've been on the Paleo/Zone Diet for a week, I'm ALWAYS eating and never "starving." Feeding times are:  8:00am, 10:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00, and finally 7:00pm.  I am eating good/healthy foods that keep me full and are actually contributing to the well being of my health and body.

My will power is out of this word (which was proven this past weekend at Laurie's Wedding).  Rehearsal dinner, cake and cookies "no thanks", Wedding cake, "no thanks", weekly donuts "no thanks".  Clearly I've committed and I truly hope to be successful with my strict dieting.  

Skill:

WOD:

For Time

10 Deadlifts (Bar 35 + Weights 40 = 75 Total)
50 Abmat Situps

8 Deadlifts

40 Abmat Situps

6 Deadlifts

30 Abmat Situps

4 Deadlifts

20 Abmat Situps

2 Deadlifts

9:54

Day 8: First RX WOD

Week 1 is in the books of "The Best Shape of My Life" Challenge and I think I did pretty well. 

As of now I have scored 114 pts.  My Goal is score at least 751 points at the end of 8 weeks so I am headed in the right direction. 


Today's WOD was incredibly challenging, but I hit a huge milestone today, I completed the work out with the Prescribed Weight (Rx).  This means, I did the work out without using a modification. 

I'm Kinda a Big Deal

Skill:
2,000m Row for Time 8:40

WOD:
100 Air Squats
50 Double Unders
10 Burpees
40 Double Unders
10 Burpees
30 Double Unders
10 Burpees
20 Double Unders
10 Burpees
10 Double Unders
10 Burpees
100 Air Squats

32:32

I usually do single jump ropes, but Mike insisted that I try double unders. (Double Under – Jump rope does 2 complete motions in one jump) I was the last person to finish the WOD but who cares!?!

Day 7: Crossfit Norwalk

Even though the night before I was in a wedding, I knew I needed to get in one more WOD to maximize my points for the week. 

So on Sunday morning, I woke up, and headed to Crossfit Norwalk. 

Warm Up:

Partners Jump Over Eachother

14 Push Ups

Skill:

Find Your Max Back Squat Weight

WOD:

10 Minutes on The Clock

1 Minute Back Squat

1 Minute Box Jump (18 inch)

Rotate Until Time is Up. 

Today Reps: 103

Day 6: Rest Day

Today is Tom & Lauriann's Wedding!

As one of the bridesmaids, I had to undergo many hours of prepping and pampering to prepare for the day.  I tried to eat as best as I could and obviously there was no time for a WOD. 

Finished Product:



We Clean up Nice huh?



Day 5: Good Day for Numbers

Every morning I get up run to the bathroom and weigh myself, its now becoming a fun game.  My ultimate goal is to be in the 140s by September 22nd for my Vegas Trip. 

Today I jumped on the scale at 5:00am and Boo Ya....153.4 lbs.  I am so close to being out of the 150's.  I have been there since Junior year in College. 

In order to get my 5 workouts in this week, I had to attend two morning classes, which, by the way, are hell. 

A. Its hard to go to bed early enough to get enough sleep to wake up at 5am.
B. Its hard to wake up at 5am.
C. Its hard to convince yourself to wake up at 5am to go do a WOD.
D. Its hard for my body to understand wtf I'm doing to it at 6am. 

Notice the Time Stamp


After my WOD my attitude quick changes:

A. I'm so glad I got this done with BEFORE work.
B. Now I dont have to have anxiety about the WOD all day long.
C. Free time after work, YIPPEE!
D. That wasn't sooo bad, ok yes it was, but I'm still glad its over!


Very excited for Laurie's Wedding this weekend and Dennis and I are going to try to visit Crossfit Norwalk to get our 5th WOD in this week to maximize our bonus points. 

Today's Workout:

Skill:
2k Row for Time   8:40

WOD:
5 Rounds
5 Shoulder to Overhead  (used the 35lb bar)
10 Burpees

Time: 9:40

Day 4: AM Workout

I took yesterday (6/15) completely off from Crossfit, as my legs and thighs were killing me, and instead went to a Martini and Manicure at Bear Creek Mountain with some friends.  It was worth the negative point!

 This morning I went to the 6:00am Crossfit class:

Skill:

400m Run Backwards   2:49 Seconds

3 Minutes of Sinlge Jump Ropes    94 Jumps

WOD:

8 Rounds of TABATA (20 Seconds on 10 Seconds off at Each Station)

Pullups

Row for Calories

KettleBall Swings

10 M Run

Hand Release Pushups

MY SCORES:

4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4  (I Graduated to the Black Band!)

4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4

9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9  (25lb)

5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5

6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6



Stupid Jump Rope (that is my left arm 3 hours after the workout)



I'm glad I got the workout in this morning, but they are so much harder!

Day 3: How it All Started

Dennis and I joined Crossfit pretty much on a whim after having our first weigh in for The ROC Social Club's Biggest Loser: Lehigh Valley Competition.  Crossfit was a sponsoring gym and was the location of the first weigh in.

I had no intention of joining since I already belonged to LA Fitness and planned on working out the only way I knew, aerobically.  

Through out the weigh in Dennis got more and more excited about Crossfit and before I knew it I was signing up for an 8 week membership with Dennis.  So it started from there. 

The next 8 weeks of my life were HELL (which I will get into later on in my blogging) but the results were worth it:

From This

To This in 8 Weeks

Dennis and I did not win the actual competition, we came in 2nd place, 1st places winners are shown in the above picture, but Dennis was "The Biggest Loser" individually losing 21lbs.  I lost 13lbs, which was an awesome feeling.  

After the 8 week trial we decided to commit to a full year with Crossfit and lucky for us they were just starting their Best Shape of My Life Challenge, which of course Dennis and I signed up for.  



Today I am continuing my diet as planned, but will not be going to a WOD.  My legs and thighs are very sore and decided I needed a rest day. 

Day 2: So Much Water

One important rule of the challenge is drinking half your weight in water.  I now weigh myself every morning to figure out how much I have to drink.  This morning I weighed in at 156, requiring me to drink 78oz of water.  Say hello to my new best friend:

It's ok, I heart Nalgene Bottles

Skill:
800m Run
Rest for 3 Minutes
400m Run for Time

WOD:
As Many Reps as Possible (AMRP) in 15 Minutes:
5 Push Press (35 lbs)
7 Box Jumps (Medium Height)
200m Run


I scored another 19 out of 20 points today, hope I can keep it up!

Day 1: So Much Food

Today started our (my husband is doing this also) first day with our portioned out food. 

Starting my day out with 3 eggs (3 Blocks of Protein) 1 Cup of Blueberries (2 Blocks of Carbs), 1 Cups of Strawberries (1 Block of Carbs) and 9 Cashews (3 Blocks of Fat) is insane.  I think it took me an hour to polish off that meal alone. 

Lunch was even harder with 6 Cups of Lettuce, 3 oz of Tuna, and entire Tomato, 2/3 Cups of Red Onion and 1/4 of an Avacado.  I thought I was going to be starving on this diet, and it is the complete oppisite. 

Seriously?

After work I went to the 5pm Crossfit class.

Work out of the Day (WOD): 

500 Meter Row x 3 w/ 2 Minute Rest

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 - OverHead Squat (25 lb Bar)

3-6-9-12-15-18-21 - RING DIPS

 

 

I earned 19 out of 20 points today!  Good Start. 

Best Shape of My Life Challenge

I can't wait to see myself in 8 weeks, I have taken Crossfit's "Best Shape of My Life Challenge" and I couldn't be more excited. 


Prep:  Sunday night (6/12) my husband and I spent about an hour planning out a week's worth of meals and snacks and then off to the grocery store we went:

Can you tell I lined them up by color?

followed by an hours worth of chopping, measuring, and bagging.  Finally we are good to start. 


I decided that I am going to use the Paleo/zone meals (which will earn me the most points per meal).  Paleo meals are meals that basically a caveman would eat.  Lean meats, nuts, and berries.  Easy enough?  Zone meals are meals portioned out in blocks.  I deemed myself a "Medium Female" for the Zone.  I am required to have Breakfast, Lunch, 2 Snacks, and a Dinner per day.  Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner have 3 blocks of Protein, Carbs, and Fat and each snack has 1 block of Protein, Carbs, and Fat. 

Being the dork that I am, I created an excel spread sheet to keep track of my points.  The guidelines are pretty simple:

Wish me luck!!

Starting Weight: 159.4
Measurements: 37C 37W 39H