Progress

It’s all progress… second full day at home and I’m starting to feel like me at times 👍 After the anesthetic and so many antibiotics my healthy gut is not so healthy 😕 grumbling loudly pretty much all the time and grumpy with anything I consume. Pacing myself with Ketones, bone broth and collagen to try and do some damage control. And sleeping LOTS. I did get out of the house yesterday for an exciting small lap around Walmart and today to go and hang out at the gym with a good book while my girl did the WOD. Both of which required a nap afterwards, but it felt good to get a change of scenery and some fresh (snowy 😖) Ontario air. For the most part, I’ve claimed my corner of the couch and am just spending time relaxing and recovering with the best “nurse” I could ask for ❤️ I added some Amped Ketones back into the mix this morning again after favouring the one with the probiotics and prebiotics for the last few days to help my gut.  The Amped helps my brain work better though, so I’ll be back to sharing helping people find their version of BETTER very soon too 😊

 

Recalculating route…

So, I’ve spent the last week trying to draft in my mind the post I was going to write about why I was NOT doing the Open this year. There were, and still are, a few BIG factors that led me to that decision, although even to myself they just felt like excuses. Trying to reduce the amount of stress in my life is a big one, which I know a lot of people can relate to. Here’s the new part – this is the first time I would compete without the symptoms I’ve carried around for years. Without the foggy brain. Without the nerve pain in my legs. Without numbness or coordination issues. Without incredible fatigue! From the outside that probably sounds AMAZING, but for me it felt like I was about to sign up for my first Open all over again and with less understanding of how my body was going to react. With everyone watching. Don’t get me wrong, I’m over the moon excited with the transformation I’ve experienced in my brain and body since I started drinking ketones nearly a year ago, but it’s still a process and always will be. The fears and challenges I had in other years (like 17.1 with all those burpee box jump overs when I had no feeling in my legs) are GONE, but I’m still working to learn how the new and improved version of myself works 🙂 I learned the hard way last weekend that dehydrated and mineral depleted was bad news for me going into a sweat fest of a workout. Noted, and I won’t make that mistake again 😉 Anyways, as I’m sure you could guess from the picture, yesterday I stepped out of my comfort zone and joined the party. 18.2 was challenging, but without the added stress of my old systems. I’m getting used to the feeling of being a better version of me. I feel almost “normal” 😁 (keep your comments to yourself on that one 🤪) and I look forward to continuing the process and helping others do the same. #bestself #bebetter #pruviteveryday #dontgiveuponyou #intheopen #ketones #ketoOS #doublevisionphotography82 #multiplesclerosis #autoimmune

cloud nine, in 14.1

 

After the longest 10 minutes of my life, countless times catching the rope in my feet, a decent number of lasting whip lashes on my legs and forearms, I finished this bitch of a WOD.  6 double unders 😀  Many of my fellow CF Division athletes posted 5, 6, even 7 rounds yet I’m still walking around on cloud nine 😀  Last night when I read the WOD, I wanted to cry.  I’ve been working on double unders for months without success.  But in my darkest hour I realized something.  I didn’t need to stress over 30 reps unbroken.  So I decided to just do the best I could and refuse to give up until the clock ran out.  I went to the box this morning for Friday coffee day, but I didn’t do the WOD.  Instead I spent an hour alone with the rope and practiced.  Coach Sharon eased my nerves when she told me “you only need 1 rep” to make it to next week!  YES!  So that became my goal.  I would not give up till I got my one legit rep!  Determination paid off 🙂  I got 6.  It was a brutal 10 minutes I will admit.  My lungs were on fire and my head was pounding, but I didn’t stop.

 

In classic CF Division style, the community was right there with me every step of the way 🙂 As was I with every other athlete who worked out today.  It’s such an amazing feeling to be a part of something so awesome 🙂

and post WOD, while everyone was helping clean up the bars and plates… I got in 15 power snatches, just for good measure.  I just wanted the chance to pick up the bar 😉

mars or bust

Whether or not you’ve noticed, lately the food element of my blog has been MIA.  I think I have a decent explanation…

First, I went through a period of indecision in terms of whether or not I would like to continue with the Zone approach.  Pre-vacation, I bought in 110% but struggled with it.  I’m the kind of person that when I get it in my mind that I want to do something, I’m all in.  I give my best effort and don’t give up until I succeed.  Great quality to have, but it’s bit me in the ass more than once.  How do you reason with yourself that sometimes, even though you put everything you’ve got into something, it may not work out.  A fellow foodie who I work with joined me on a little “life’s not fair” rant today.  We are both into the “just eat real food” mentality.  We make all our own meals, bring our lunches to work daily, take the time to consider proper portion sizes and a good balance of carbs/proteins/fats, but both have gone through periods of struggling with our weight.  There have been so many times I’ve stood in line at the grocery store with my basket of fresh veggies and meats and wondered how the cart load in front of me of cookies, chips, pop and freezer dinners can be possible.  Life’s not fair.  People fill their bodies with garbage and neglect them of any physical activity, yet they still fit in to skinny jeans.  Dave and I concluded that we needed to find a different angle to look at things before we both went postal.  We need to stop hating our bodies for not being the pictures you see in the media.  We need to appreciate all the things they allow us to DO.  We need to recognize that the healthy foods we choose to involve in our lives will allow us to live longer and healthier lives.  We need to make a CHOICE.  Back to the important lessons I’ve learned from Crossfit – I will stop comparing myself to others.  Cause life is never going to be “fair”, but it is worth living.

AND… tonight I’m making chili 🙂  My creativity is coming back.  My food lately has been less than exciting even to me, and incredibly un-photogenic.  While I chowed this morning’s chopped sweet potato, scrambled egg whites and crumbled sausage I realized that it somewhat resembles the dog’s breakfast…  smells amazing, but I haven’t figured out how to represent that in a photo.

Crossfit rest day, can you tell??  :p  First Crossfit Games Open WOD will be announced tomorrow night!

Confession time

Can’t believe I’m even admitting this, but I had a moment of weakness the other day 😦 I was craving chocolate something fierce, which is totally out of character, so I decided to make a recipe for chocolate cashew butter that I saw forever ago.  SO GOOD!  Problem was, it was too good!  To the point I had to throw it out to stop myself from eating it.  Like, all of it.  😦  Ever bought cashews?  That was like a $10 batch of pure heavenly bliss, in the trash.  Ah well.  Better there than squeezed in a bikini.

Can anyone explain this one to me?  Are the gluten-free being mocked here?  I guess I never would have considered heading to East Side Mario’s and expecting to find anything moderately Paleo-friendly on the menu anyway…

picking up the slack

Lately I’ve been slacking!  Here’s a quick little “catch-up” session.

Tuesday January 28 was a double WOD day.  Went to try out a different box in the morning with a friend, then made it to my own for an evening class.  It felt great, but after all was said and done, I was SPENT!  :p  Thanks to the last pre-finale episode of The Biggest Loser being on, I managed to stay awake till 9:00 pm, but barely.

Checking out a different box was cool 🙂  The WOD was:

4 minute AMRAP:

– 15 hand-release push-ups

– 15 SDHP #65

rest 2 minutes, repeat.  First round, I got through 2 full rounds + 15 push-ups, 13 SDHP.  Round two, I completed 3 full rounds.  🙂  Rx weight kids!  Ok, so it wasn’t crazy, but I’ll take it.  Where things were a little different from what I’m used to here was the sumo deadlift high pull (SDHP) were done with a bar instead of a kettle bell.  More of a challenge to keep the bar steady!  I liked it.

Then the evening at CF Division was full of Coach Dave and his little “treats”.

100 Burpees for time –
Every minute on the minute complete 8- Toes to Bar
Start with burpees.

Time: 8:59

Part 2 – back squats,  spend 10-15 minutes to work up to a HEAVY 1 rep.  #155

Part 3 – 60 second AMRAP: back squats  #95   result – 17

This one went on forever it seemed :p  Part 1 I had interpreted as complete the 100 burpees, then the OTM begins.  WRONG.  The first 60 seconds was like a burpee head start to get in as many as possible before your first toes to bar.  Then it was all about racking up the burpee count as quickly as possible to avoid doing endless rounds.  I cranked out 28 in the first minute, then worked to find a pace that I could maintain to get it done.  Made it through 6 rounds on the bar before scaling the toes to bar (which had turned to knees to elbows) to sit-ups when I was only able to get about 5 burpees in per round.  My lungs were on fire!  But I loved it :p

Wednesday was a rest day.  Also another of the hungry, hungry hippo days.  BUT, I have to give a big 2 thumbs up to the Zone!  Two weeks ago I was kinda dreading slipping into my bikini, but my hard work is paying off 🙂

Thursday January 30 I crammed 1,000 things into my day off from Henry’s including the 6am WOD:

AMRAP 3 Minutes:
10- Thrusters, #95/#65   #55
10- Pullups  black band 🙂
Rest :30
AMRAP 3 Mintues:
10- Power Cleans, #95/#65   #55
10- Burpees
Rest :30
AMRAP 3 MInutes:
10- Jerks, #95/#65   #55
10- Box Jumps

Rounds+reps = 2+10, 2+10, 2+5

Box jumps were great.  Even did a few 24″ ones after the WOD just to prove to myself that I can. WITHOUT #boxeatsshinsforbreakfast 😀

 

Friday January 31, back to my normal 7:30am WOD:

Part 1. 100- Wallballs in the least amount of sets and for time.. as per requested by C.F.!

Result: 4:50 (I think!) w/4 sets of 25 reps

Part 2. OTM x 12 Minutes

Odd Minutes: 1- Power Snatch + 1- Squat Snatch    #55

Even Minutes: 4- Back Squats   #105

Accomplished another of one of the goals on my list today 🙂  Snatch a whole WOD with weight on the bar — CHECK!  Only landed on my BUTT 3 times during the warm-up trying to get the squat snatch to happen, but BOO-YA!!  There was some serious progress today!  Nailed the power snatch too with only a slight “pulling early” comment from Coach Sharon 🙂

Off topic, but always on my mind… I’ve been craving steak lately.  Without reprieve.  Even my fav. chicken dishes haven’t made the craving subside at ALL.  Weird.  The only thoughts that are keeping me from a trip to The Keg for a nice Sirloin are a: I’d look a bit odd out for dinner with just myself, and b: a good steak is BIG $$$.  My plan was to get like a 10oz and cut it in 4 so I’d at least get a bunch of meals out of it.  Still might happen.  Or I might sucker one of my staff into firing up the bbq 🙂

100% mental

Saturday Jan. 25

Today is a rest day.  Like, a real one.  No sneaking in a little run at Goodlife this time.  Yesterday’s WOD kicked my butt so hard I struggled to just function for the 2-3 hours following it.  When thoughts of “why does the safe have to be way down on the floor?  My legs don’t want any more squats.” and “maybe I could just keep my lunch in the office today instead of walking up the stairs to the lunchroom” cross my mind, I realize it’s due time for a legit rest.

Sunday Jan. 26

Today was another crossfit rest day thanks to my ball hockey schedule making it impossible to do both :p  On the bright side, we crushed ’em 8-4.  Or possibly 9… I got a sweet goal to tie things up early in the game and we just gained momentum from there.  When I signed up to play co-ed, I was super pumped for the learning experience.  Guys are just faster and rougher than an all women’s league.  I’m learning to play smarter, but I’m also learning to get out of the way when a shot barrels at you.  I’ve never been one to hide when it comes to blocking shots, but catching one in the ribs was a whole new experience.  Lesson learned.  Still tender.

 Monday Jan. 27

After a mental throwndown, I did it:

I’m both terrified and incredibly excited to put myself to the test.  I’ve spent a decent amount of time watching open WODs from previous years and have realized I have some serious work to do over the next five weeks.  I’ve also seen a few that have been encouraging though too.  This morning Coach Dave made a comment that I totally believe is the deciding factor for me in terms of how successful I will be at any given task.  It’s all in your head.  If I can get my mind to commit to something, there’s nothing I cannot do.  Some days, that IF is bigger than others, but I’m getting better at my own acts of mental buy in.  This morning, as we were all warming up with a light 5 minute row, my mind was already throwing in the “but your body is tired…”  After two days off, I decided I had no excuse.  Scaled the WOD, but kept moving and finished first 🙂  Tried 85lbs for the bear complex after getting through a few with that load in the warm-up but failed round 1 and stripped down to 75lbs.  Success.  Even busted through the warm-up pull-up portions as strict without the use of a band.

Monday Jan. 27

5 Rounds for time:
15- Pullups
20- Kettlebell Swings 32kg/24kg  16kg
3- Bear Complex #225/#155  75lbs

Time – forgot to record it 😦  16 something I think?

Last bit for today…. FOOD.  Zone Diet, week two starts tomorrow.  It’s going well, but one thing I’ve noticed is my coffee intake has increased :s  Not sure if this is a good thing, but a good cup of coffee keeps my mind away from thinking about food.  The challenge has been I used to “graze” fairly steady throughout my day rather than set meal times.  That foodless span between noon and 4pm can be a tough one.  Lame, I know.  Have made some amazing meals though 🙂

My CrockPot is my best friend.  Threw in 3 chicken breasts, some chopped up baby carrots, a diced onion, some chopped celery, a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 tbsp sea salt, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp curry and out came a kick-a** chicken curry dish!  🙂  Super-easy, super-tasty.  Served with some cauliflower rice.

Ok, I can’t really take full credit for this one.  One of my staff made the tomato sauce for me 🙂  I just cooked it with some minced turkey and served it with a spiralized zucchini.  So good.

BUTT? Of course.

I had all kinds of randomness I wanted to ramble about yesterday, but the nerve pain has escalated in my leg again and it’s making me bitchy and all brain scattered  :p  Not that that’s a reason not to write anything really…

The only reason I find myself still happy that I have a gym membership since also joining CF Division, is for the crossfit rest days when mother nature is being a complete b*tch.  With the temps hovering around -20 yesterday, I was actually happy to jump on the treadmill.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d way rather run outside, but not on a day where your nose hairs turn to icicles just walking to the car!  So I started my Wednesday with a nice little 5km run followed by 100 walking lunges.  With the addition of the 100 lunges after Sunday’s WOD and how my BUTT felt for the next two days, I was pumped to do it again :p  Sicko?  Yes.  But when I read today’s WOD online last night, I realized Karma might be biting me in the butt for not resting on my rest day :s

warm-up included a twisted 60 seconds with the bar in the back squat rack position, completing as many squat jumps as possible.  I got out 32 but my quads were screaming bloody murder after maybe 5.  The “21X1” refers to the amount of time to complete each part of the squat.  2 seconds to get down to the bottom, 1 second hold at the bottom, X-plode back up to standing, then 1 second to rest for next rep.  Sounds simple enough, but gets challenging quickly!  🙂

Part 1. Front Squats: 5-5-5-5@ 21X1    #85

Part 2. Row 1000 Meters
20- Overhead Walking Lunge #45/#25 plates
30- Burpees
20- Overhead Walking Lunge #45/#25 plates
Run 800 Meters

Run.  Yes outside, in the bitter cold.  However after making it through the rest of the workout, no one was complaining.  There was a 15 minute sort of target for this one and I ran through the door to complete in 14:56.  To the wire, but made it 🙂  2nd out of 5 too.  My row and run must have been my saving grace today, cause the lunges and burpees were pitiful.  Haha

One note to self… Zone + 15 minute metcon = 1 tired kitten!  I was completely spent after this one.  Like, I might need a nap before work tonight.  Had my now typical breakfast, which I split into pre-WOD and post-WOD segments.  Pre-WOD is 2 cups kale, 2 cups spinach, 1 frozen strawberry and water blended into drinkable form.  Post-WOD is 1/2 cup scrambled egg whites, 1/4 cup sweet potato and 1 homemade breakfast sausage.  Even after my post-WOD chow down, still bagged today.  However I will give the Zone diet some credit here as I once again feel justified in using the “weight loss” tag on my posts.  First week following the program, down 2.5lbs.  As long as it’s body fat, we’re cool.  Two more weeks till vacay, so I’ll be sticking with the program till then for sure.

For lunch I used some Romaine lettuce leaves as “shells” for my spicy turkey sauce and a few slices of avocado.  I called them tacos… ish, although a friend didn’t agree.  :p  Perception is reality my friends 😉

 

 

^of course there would be a few Brussels sprouts on my plate too.  I don’t know how I got through the first 29 years of my life without them.  Plus, they held up my “tacos” during assembly :p

deep freeze

Decided today to give the immediately-post-WOD post a shot.  When I leave the box, I’m all pumped up and have lots to ramble about so this could be a crazy one.

I knew they were calling for a 4-5 day run of COLD days in Southern Ontario… this morning lives up to that.  By the time I had my car scraped off to head to the box, my pre-WOD greens drink had frozen itself into a popsicle.  Had to use a fork to break it up!   Thankfully Coach Dave’s threats yesterday that we would be outside today were reconsidered with the lung shatteringly low temps.  Want a sure sign that today I will be showering at HOME after the WOD, not at the box?

Gym towel, frozen solid.  That would do it.

Still fighting to shake this cold or whatever and my lung capacity is that of a pack a day smoker.  Part 1 of today’s WOD was killer!  My rowing felt great, kept my split under 2:00 for the first 2 rounds and under 2:05 for round 3.  But the wallballs were brutal.  I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs at times, but I didn’t quit.  Our team of 3 finished in 10:32 🙂  Part 2 was wicked.  Like, in a good way.  Although, I went way too light on the loading.  Decided to keep things light, keep moving fast and make it through a respectable number of rounds.  Granted, accomplished that, but had Coach Dave not put a time cap, I might have been there for an hour.

As for the Zone diet, I’ve officially made it through my first week 🙂  and with 2 weeks until vacation, I have no intention of stopping.  I’m getting a better system for food prep in relation to the blocks.  Last night I made a batch of turkey spaghetti sauce with zucchini “noodles” that was incredibly awesome.  It hurt my heart a little to have to weigh out my sauce portion, but it’s worth it.  This morning I tried on my board shorts and they almost fit again.

weekend re-cap

I’m finding stride with the Paleo/Zone idea thankfully 🙂  This being said, I woke up with a cold last Thursday and left work early Friday to sleep it off for a few hours.  Thankfully Saturday my appetite returned after two days of very minimal nutritional consumption.

I ducked into the Box a bit early Friday to bounce a few questions of Coach Dave and Sharon and I think I managed to simplify the process a bit.  “Don’t geek out too much” Coach Sharon mentioned at one point when I was stressing over the protein I discovered existing in my Brussels sprouts that was throwing off my blocks and counts and all that.  :p  If you think I’m likely to not geek out completely if left to my own defences, you don’t know me too well. haha  Coach Dave suggested adding some sweet potato or other starchy veggies back into my world.  mmm 🙂  Should help me get closer to the carb blocks.  Random useless fact – 3 blocks of Romaine lettuce is 18 cups.  Say what?  Not only would lunch take me 3 hours to eat, I’d need to find a bowl the size of a kiddie pool.  I’m still holding on to the game plan of having definition in my abdominal area in time for my trip.  I know it’s approaching quickly, but I’m not giving up on this.

Enough food ramblings.  Yesterday’s WOD was wicked fun 🙂  And I had a great partner who gave me a little push to leave behind my urge to grab a lighter med ball and just give ‘er.

warm-up:

a whole heap of rounds of deadlifts (3 reps) with increased weight each round and 5 wallballs.  Got up to #165 on the deads.  I love deadlifts.  Today… my glutes are sore.  Love that too.  🙂

AMRAP in 15 Minutes: Teams of 2, Alternating
3- Deadlifts #225/#155   #105
7-Wallballs     #14
One Athlete working at a time

Result – 17 rounds each 🙂  woot!  Take THAT cold!  Or so I thought at the time.  Felt fantastic walking out of the box, then kinda like garbage again a few hours later.  Good thing it was Sunday and all I had lined up for the rest of the day was laundry and a little food prep marathon.

This morning’s WOD was a fun little step out of the ordinary.

3 sets of: Bench Press x 3-4 reps  #85

Rest 2 minutes

Weighted Pull-Up x 2-3 reps  weighted?  How about un-banded?  🙂

Rest 2 minutes

“Lynne”-ish 3 sets for max reps of:

Bodyweight Bench Press (ladies, shoot for 3/4 bodyweight)   or… #85

Pull-Ups   round 1 – blue band, round 2 & 3 – 2 x blue band

Rest 4 minutes between sets

Result – bench press/pull-up – 15/6, 12/11, 9/11

You read that right.  Un-banded 🙂  Oh ya!  We’re not talking 100s of reps, but I actually managed some pretty legit strict pull-ups without the use of a band.  At the end, I actually cranked out a few pretty decent kipping ones too.  🙂  There.  My day is a success.