1 week till Paleo Challenge kick off

I'm super excited for this coming Paleo challenge at our Crossfit.  It starts Jan. 6th and runs for 6 weeks.  This time it costs $40.  There will be two winners, 1 male, and 1 female.  They will split the moola.  The smount of money you can win, will completely depend upon how many people sign up.  I gave my $40 to Meagan this morning and officially signed up.  I was also the very first one to sign up....that's a good sign, right?  I fully plan on winning this thing!  I have the most fat to lose (female wise) in the gym, so I think that gives me a bit of an advantage.  I hope! 

I made it to the gym today and got my behind handed to me on a silver platter....or should I say, my arms?!  My arms felt like jelly afterwards and still feel quite weak and sore.  I didn't realize that I PR'd my back squat today.  115 lbs.  Still not a great number, but I was happy with it. 

Not much else to report.  I'm glad Christmas is over.  It was stressful and frustrating.  I'm just ready to get 2014 started. 

Where has the energy gone?

I haven't felt much "pep" lately.  Where'd it go?!  I'm not sure if it's the crummy sleep I'm getting, the dark winter days, the single digit temps or what.  I miss the full of life feeling I had during the summer. 

My mom called me today to let me know they had to put their dog down.  Jamaica was almost 14 years old.  I clearly remember the first day they brought her home.  She was an 8 week old black lab and my mom brought her down into my room and let her wake me up by licking me.  I feel bad for my parents, they are taking her death very hard.  =( 

I did make it to crossfit.  I really wanted to skip it today though.....it was mostly cardio.  I'd much rather lift weights that do cardio.  Cardio is great for skinny mini's....not for chunky monkey's like myself.  I suppose I need it the most though...since it's a great fat burner.  WHATEVER........I still freaking hate it. 

We rowed 1000 meters, did 40 jumping pull ups, and then had to burn 65 calories on the airdyne bike.  BARF BARF BARF! 

I finished in 15 min 7 seconds.  Definitely one of the slowest times of the day.  Drat! 

I'm going to brew myself up a cup of coffee and then maybe soak in a hot bubble bath.  My let muscles are screaming at me. 

Pain in the neck!

This is my neck after doing 125# back squats today.  I sent this picture to my coaches and they said I'm holding the bar too high and that I need to keep the bar lower.....basically on top of my traps.  Whatever traps are.  Derek said he'd show me tomorrow how to fix my form.  In the mean time I am freaking SORE!  Not only from all the back squats, which by the way was a 40 lb PR for me!  Woot woot!  I did 5 sets of 5 at 125 lbs.  That's a huge increase from what I have been doing. 

We also did FRAN yesterday.  I used 20 lbs more on my bar and boy oh boy did I feel it!  I woke up several times last night because every time I moved my muscles I would be in quite a bit of pain.  I'm taking today off completely to rest and recover.  Maybe I'll get a jump start on Thanksgiving preparations. 

Do you feel like because your body doesn't look the way you want that it holds you back from life?  I let how I feel about myself dictate just about every facet of my life.  I hate that!  I really wanted to wear a dress for the holidays but I feel like I'll look like a whale so I won't. In fact, because I still hate how my body looks I won't even go buy a new outfit.  I can't stand the thought of spending money on clothes that are huge.  I don't know how to love myself where I currently am and that really bothers me.  How does a person change that? 

What a way to end the week!

I feel like whenever I blog I tend to say the same things.....I woke up and didn't want to go to crossfit.  haha  But it's always the truth.  It was a cold and dark morning and staying in my warm bed and catching some extra Zzzz's seemed much more appealing than putting on workout clothes and going to the gym. 

I guess the good news is that I DID go and got my butt handed to me on a silver platter. 

We started off with ladder drills.  This was my 1st time doing them.  They were actually kind of fun.  They put a rope ladder on the ground and we had to do various things like jump squatting on each rung, or hopping in and out of the squares etc etc. 

For the skill set we did 4 sets of 5 Turkish get-ups on each arm.  After the 1st two rounds we did four 20 second plank holds, then more Turkish get-ups, followed by 4 more plank holds.  My core, my legs, and my arms were shaking.  My muscles were TIRED!

Our WOD was awful.  I felt nauseous half way through.  Thankfully I didn't get sick.  In groups of two we did (all with weighted bar bells)

50 squat thrusters
20 walking lunges
50 overhead squats
20 walking lunges
50 back squats
20 walking lunges

My partner and I finished in 9:54

I just wanted to lie on the ground in my puddle of sweat and not move.  I'm so so so tired!!  That WOD was a fine line from my breaking point.  I could feel myself get a little teary eyed towards the end, which always tells me that I hit my limit. 

I'm going to take a long, warm, bubble bath and possibly a nap before the kids get home from school.  I think I deserve it. 

Weak Sauce

Went to crossfit this morning and it was awful.  I think having the flu last week really took it's toll.  I had no energy to get through my workout.  Even during the warm up I could feel my leg muscles just stop.  They literally gave out on me.  FUDGE!  The skill set was overhead, back and front squats.  I was using less weight than I did two weeks ago.  Again, it wasn't just hard because it was heavy, it was hard because my body just couldn't seem to get it's crap together and work properly. 

The WOD was

15 overhead squats
100 double unders or if you can't do DU then 30 down and ups

10 OH squats
75 DU/20 down and ups

5 OH squats
50 DU/10 down and ups

I used a super light 20 lb weighted pvc pipe for my overhead squats.  I would've used a 25 lb bar, but they were all taken.  (big class today)

The down and ups killed me.  I actually can't do them properly because of the fat on my stomach getting in the way.  I ended up just doing my modified version of the burpee. 

As I was doing my 1st set of 30 burpees, I started feeling uber nauseous. I took a 15 second breather and got right back down to business.  I lost count somewhere around 20 burpees.  So I did another 5 just to be safe. 

I felt slow, tired, and insanely weak today.  I wanted to stomp my feet on the ground just like a toddler throwing a fit.  It's not fair!!

Anyhoo afterwards I drank my protein shake and came home. 

For lunch I remembered I had some leftover crustless bacon and spinach quiche.  I went to the fridge only to discover that my husband took it to work for his lunch.  Grrrr.....since when does he like paleo food?  Hmmph!

Instead I created a new recipe that rocked my socks off.  It was so insanely yummy!  I wish I hadn't horked it down as soon as it was finished cooking because it was quite pretty with all the colors. 

Sweet and Spicy Paleo Hash

4 strips of bacon cut up in tiny strips
1/2 jalapeno pepper minced
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup minced cremini  mushrooms  (baby Portobello's)
1/2 cup shredded sweet potato
2 Tbs chopped green onion
2 eggs
1 tsp coconut oil
salt/pepper to taste

I cooked the bacon in a nonstick skillet until crispy.  Next I added the jalapeno, onion, mushrooms and sweet potato and cooked until heated through.  I added a little salt and pepper to the hash and then cooked the eggs.  In a separate nonstick pan I heated the coconut oil and then cooked my eggs over medium.  Once the eggs were cooked, I added them to the top of the hash, sprinkled on the green onions and dug in. 
It was sweet, it was spicy, it was delicious!

This is something I will defninitely make again, but hopefully next time I take a moment to snap a picture before I inhale it.  =)

Balls

I had quite the battle in my head today and didn't want to go to class.  I did and I didn't.  I kept hearing voices saying that I wasn't good enough, it was going to be too hard, I was going to fail.  On the same note, I'd also hear that I could do it, it would be worth the hard work, I'm getting stronger.  Back and forth all morning.  I felt like I was going crazy!  I ended up going and I'm glad I did.

We started off doing a 400 meter run.  I was able to run with the group the entire time!!!!!! ME!  The fat girl!!  A few people passed me but for the most part I was right in the middle of the group the entire way.  YAY!!  Coach D (Derek) told me he could tell I was getting stronger and I can't even tell you how much I needed to hear that today. 

After running we got a partner and tossed heavy medicine balls back and forth to each other.  Next we got on the floor and locked feed together and one person would grab the ball lift it over their head while their back was on the floor then sit up and hand the ball to their partner.....it sorta resembled a teeter totter when we got the hang of it. 

Next we did back squats and hollow rocks.  This was my 1st time doing back squats.  We used a barbell and added weights to both sides.  Then we put the bar on the back of our necks and did deep squats.  I had a bit of trouble with the form, but in the end I felt like I got the hang of it. 

  This 8 second video gives you an idea of what hollow rocks are.  http://gymnasticswod.com/content/hollow-rock

Our WOD was 150 wall balls with a partner.  One person held a chin up position while the other person did as many wall balls as they could.  Then we'd switch.  They were so tough!!!  By the end I could feel my heart was racing and catching my breath seemed difficult. 

We had a long cool down and stretch session which felt horrible and amazing all at the same time.  It's painful and yet it feels great.....CrossFit is full of contradictions it seems. 

Hubby and I will be working on building our back patio this weekend, I'll be shocked if we complete it.  At least I know I'll be getting a great workout both days.

I need to eat some lunch before I go grocery shopping or I'll end up buying something I'll deeply regret.  Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.