Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Dang Curtis Ps


Ok, you can barely see me in this shot - I'm in the WAY back behind the girl in the black. I'm making great progress, right?! LOL! I never make the blog. I don't know if my pictures always come out horribly, Jason doesn't want to demoralize me, or he's trying to show fit people getting fitter...rather than fat people getting fit!
Regardless, there I am doing 100 Curtis Ps with a 35 pound barbell. I originally had 45 on there but knew that was not going to work for 100. So, 20 at 45 and 80 at 35 pounds...and let's not forget the other 60 pounds I'm carrying on my body. As I finished, I was suspicious it meant the end of walking as I knew it. I was right.
HOLY COW Curtis P. What is your problem?! Twice yesterday my quads seized up on me. I am walking like a 97 year old. I want the use of my legs back people. Please!
If you don't know what a Curtis P is...it's a hanging power clean, keep the bar at your shoulders and do a right lunge, then a left lunge, then push press it overhead. Repeat 100 times. Oh please legs, come back to me. I'll try not to be so stupid in the future.

The Scale

I honestly want to throw my scale in the ocean. It goes down four pounds, up three. I have HAD it. I know my body is changing - just not as quickly as I would like. Why, exactly, do I have a timeline? If this is truly a lifestyle change, why is there a timeline in mind? I didn't gain weight on a timeline. I just ate horribly and was inactive day in and day out. The weight followed. I am hoping the inverse is true.

I called a friend this morning to vent. She said, "Girl, you need to focus on the doing, not the results. Continue to make healthy choices and challenge your body physically and you will see results. It may not be something you see today or even next week - but you will in the long term."

It's true. I guess I have just heard so many horror stories of people doing the right things and gaining weight that I am paranoid to go one day without checking the scale. I was out of this mindset before I started Crossfit but victory on the scale brought me back under its spell.

I am not going to throw the scale out but I am going to limit myself to weighing once every couple of weeks. I know when I'm doing the right things and when I'm not. I just need to focus on the process and I need to enjoy it. Stressing out about it is raising my cortisol levels and making me feel insecure. So what if it takes me 3-4 years to take all the weight off. This isn't a diet, it's my life - and this is the way I choose to live long term. Thankfully, many of my friends live and eat the same way. Woo hoo!

So, no more hyper focus on the scale. Here we go.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Going Public

Ok, I am at a place where I think I am ready to go public with this blog. I finally feel like I'm on this and I am seeing results and I am ready to have other people join along. Nothing irritates me more than someone who writes a review for a diet book or exercise program on Amazon who hasn't actually done the diet. Knowledge is one thing - application is a totally different animal.

I humbly say that I am walking this out. As strong as I feel today, I could feel like a pea tomorrow. It's the ebb and flow of our physical life. Shoot, Crossfit shows me that daily. Some days you are firing on all cylinders and some days you can barely get out of the gate. Nurtition is a big piece of that. Why, if we know that is the key to looking and feeling good, is it so hard to stay on track with good nutrition? Why do I want ice cream and cake and candy so much when I know where that moment of enjoyment leads?

Yes, I know blowing this blog up will require pictures, meal plans, commenting and feedback...but I think I'm ready. The worst part is going to be having my weight out there. I'm pretty sure this will kill my chances of getting a date anytime soon! "Hi..this is my girlfriend...she weighs as much as a Steelers wide receiver." C'est la vie.

Here we go folks. Let's get this out there!

CrossFit Total

Today was Crossfit Total. Here are the results:

Backsquat: 135
Press: 85
Deadlift: 175
Total 395

I am happy with this because I had a virus earlier in the week that resulted in horrible body aches and then complete exhaustion and weakness. So, to come back and be above where I was last week - I'll take it!

My trainer sent around a chart from Crossfit. It was organized by bodyweight. If I went by what I weigh now - I still fall in the 'untrained' category. Jason said I should look at ideal bodyweight. Well, alrighty - I am intermediate. WOO HOO!

I am happy with this for right now. I expect it to get exponentially better. My diet is tight and when my diet is tight and I am there 4-5 times a week, I get crazy big strength gains.

Yeah Me!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Goals

I always hesitate when I consider setting physical goals. It seems that as soon as I set them, I end up going the opposite direction. There's a spiritual dynamic there. However, I am 3.5 months away from hitting one year at Crossfit. Ideally, I wanted to be down 50 pounds by my first anniversary. Right now, I'm at 27 pounds down. Can I lose 23 pounds by May 20th? That would require about 7 pounds a month - or 2 pounds a week. For those of you who have lost weight, who loses 2 pounds a week after 9 months on a program? No one.



It's a lunatic idea but I think I'm going to keep my eyes fixed on 50 pounds by May 20th. I honestly think I can do it. Logic tells me no. History tells me no. But something inside of me is telling me, "YES!" I will do it. I kind of want to set the bar even higher and go for the 100s before my 1st anniversary. Man, once I'm back in the 100s, I ain't never leavin'. Not for pregnancy. Not for ice cream. Not for love or money. Being a woman and weighing over 200 pounds is demoralizing.



I think I have found the right nutrition for my body. I have been off training this week because I got a semi-flu..aches, pains, snuffly, etc...but never the full blown mama jamma. I kept eating right and taking my supplements and now I'm better. During this time, I have tweaked my nutrition to remove all the hidden sugars I was consuming. Well, some were not so hidden - like the couple of pieces from the office candy dish or the party food at various shin digs or the honey in my coffee. Others were hidden. The extra sugar in some fruit. The swaps on the limited processed foods I do eat.



Since making the tweaks, I have dropped 5 pounds. (I had gone up to 231 again). Granted, I haven't been training so I haven't had the water retention from muscle recovery. That helps. Still, the scale would not budge before. Now it's moving - IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!



So, you with me. 199 by May 20th? I say, "Why not?!" Shoot for the moon - if you miss it, you might reach the stars!