End in Sight

So, I think I've mentioned already that I'm doing a nutrition challenge at my box. The challenge ends Tuesday, when we'll have pictures taken of our abdomens and judged based on visual improvements. Setting aside my feelings about this particular method of fitness evaluation *cough*, I've really enjoyed participating and noticing changes in myself over the course of 8 weeks.

The challenge began as strict Paleo/Zone for one week - no increases in fat blocks allowed. I was prescribed 10 blocks a day, and had to fill 40% of my calories with carbs without eating grains, sugar, or starch. This was, frankly, terrible. I suspect we only had to do this to make the rest of the challenge seem easy. I was starving, for one thing, in sugar withdrawal, and eating what seemed like tons of vegetables - my jaw was tired of chewing, but I was still hungry. I also dropped about 5 pounds in the first week, which was alarming as I wasn't shooting for weight loss. (In retrospect, I should have just skipped ahead to increasing my fat blocks, but I didn't think one week would be that big of a deal and I like playing by the rules!) I increased my blocks to 12 midway through the week but still felt hungry.

The second week, we added 2-3x fat in place of one block of carbs. This immediately made life much easier - less chewing, more sustenance. I was still measuring and recording everything I ate. My husband began to fall behind on washing the dishes as I was creating so many with my endless measuring cups and tupperware containers. I started feeling better and came out from the other side of the sugar withdrawal. (For me, this was a fuzzy-headed feeling that I knew from experience would go away if I had, say, a package of Starburst.)

The third week, we were supposed to aim for eating 50% of our daily carbs post-workout. I never got very good at doing this, because I work out in the evening and had a lot of trouble making it that far without hardly any carbs. My nod to this rule is eating a Larabar or a piece of fruit after most WODs. Halloween fell on this week, and there was a party coming up that I was really looking forward to. Originally, I was determined to see this thing through completely clean. But as the party approached, I realized I was going to feel like I was missing out, big time, by not being able to drink. I'd already been to a few events where everyone was drinking but me, and I found it to be a drag. I have no problem hanging out with friends while sober in general, but when everyone else is partaking, I just feel left out. I decided to bring a bottle of wine and just not worry about it for one night.

Well, the wine progressed to jello-shots and some beer, and then I was no longer capable of resisting the candy out in bowls everywhere. So I had kind of an epic cheat night. I got back on the wagon the next day, and realized that I hadn't screwed everything up by my cheat. I didn't feel great, but I also felt like I wasn't tempted by anything for awhile, having gotten it out of my system. Based on this, I started implementing a cheat day - Saturdays were fair game for anything. Eating about four times a day, I have 28 meals a week. If 25 of them are completely clean (I don't cheat at breakfast), that puts me at about 90% Paleo.

I could have kept going without cheating (or at least not more than a couple of cheat nights), but I was starting to see that I liked eating this way, and allowing cheats would allow me to turn a challenge with an end-point into a sustainable, long-term thing. I can be completely, totally strict 6 days a week without feeling deprived if I know I can do whatever I want on Saturday. And, as my cheat days have progressed, I find I don't really want to go completely crazy on Saturdays. The resulting sugar hangover is sufficiently unappealing to make me not stop at the nearest gas station and eat Hostess cupcakes (I did that very thing on my first official cheat day).

So, when the challenge ends next week, I might not look as cut or whatever as I might have if I'd stayed completely clean. But I'm in a good mental place. I have more energy, mental and physical, than I did before starting the challenge, and this more than anything is what I want to keep. If regular, controlled cheating lets me keep this up indefinitely, bring it on.

Holiday WODs

I'm back at home after five days of hanging out with my in-laws for Thanksgiving. My husband has gotten his entire family into CrossFit, so we went to their box a couple times (not work out for five days? unthinkable!) and worked up a sweat.

The first day we did...Fran, again! My head was still sore from my last Fran, but I got through my thrusters unbroken. My time was a lot slower because I couldn't get a toe on the ground for pull-ups. Really need to learn to kip. It's so much harder to do 21-15-9 strict pull-ups, even with bands!

The second day we did Elizabeth, which I scaled to 15-12-9 of 25 kg squat cleans and ring dips (with a red band). We rarely do squat cleans at our box, and I was feeling the burn big time by the last set.

We had planned to go again Thursday and Friday, but after Tuesday's WOD, my husband's sister developed this freaky lump on her abdomen and went to the doctor to get it checked out. They're pretty sure it's not a hernia, but think it's a severely strained muscle and told her not to work out at all for a week. She's bummed. She's lost about 20 pounds since this summer, doing CrossFit and eating paleo, and is super strong and good at everything to boot. She surpassed my performance within a couple of months of starting.

My husband and I have a new appreciation for our home box after realizing how attentive and focused on safety our trainers are as compared to some other gyms. I was a little shocked that the squat clean wasn't reviewed at all before the WOD, and there were some new members in there struggling with the movement and using too much weight. I'm not a trainer, but I had to bite my tongue to keep from correcting people's form.

It was also interesting to hear from my sister-in-law about the occasional spats between members - just macho head-butting, it sounded like ("who are you to say anything to me when your deadlift is only 350#?!"), but I can honestly say I've never witnessed anything like that at home. We do have some gym drama, but I think it's more behind the scenes kind of stuff that most members don't witness.

I managed to stay pretty darn close to paleo the whole time, even on Thanksgiving itself! I had a piece of pumpkin pie, and an almond butter cup. I absolutely gorged myself on veggies (they were delicious) and had an entire turkey leg, but hey, I'm trying to gain muscle :)

Cindy, meet Pukie

Saturday mornings at our box are used to make up WODs we've missed during the week. I almost always take Wednesdays off, so I was making up this lovely little workout:

5 rounds of Cindy (5 pullups/10 pushups/ 15 squats)
run 400m
4 rounds of Cindy
run 400m
3 rounds of Cindy
run 400m
2 rounds of Cindy
run 400m
1 round of Cindy
run 400m

I actually kind of like Cindy, mostly because I sub ring rows for the pullups as I don't kip and air squats are one of the very few things I can say I am good at (along with walking lunges and double unders - put those three things in a WOD and I will take on any challengers!). This version of Cindy, however, brought me the closest to meeting Pukie I have come yet.

My performance was pretty good (25:30), for me at least, leading me to ponder how getting better at CrossFit means it hurts EVEN MORE.

My Nemesis, the Deadlift

I guess I have several CrossFit nemesis..es. (Nemeses?) Wall-ball. Rowing. Shoulder press. But deadlifting is what we did yesterday, so deadlifting is foremost on my mind. My deadlift PR hasn't increased in over six months.

When I started CrossFit, I think I could deadlift about 67# (30kg). My current max is 155# (70kg). That's 1.37 x my body weight. Comparing the body weight percentage to the other girls at my gym, I guess it's not so terrible (pretty much everyone is bigger than me), but my squat is starting to catch up to my deadlift at 138#! It seems like most other people have an initial period where they're learning the deadlift, and suddenly something clicks and they can lift 200+ pounds. I've never had that moment. My back arches, badly, as I approach my max. The trainers cue me by saying, "keep your back tight!" but I can't feel myself letting it go, it just does it.

I'm sure part of the problem is that I pretty much hate deadlifting and usually err on the side of way too light when they show up in WODs. Since I know I have form problems, I don't want to end up tweaking my back after doing 20 ugly reps.

So, anyone know of any magic deadlifting powder I can sprinkle on myself to increase my strength without doing any extra work?? I mastered double-unders, a previous nemesis, through practice and effort, but that was hard :)

Water Bottles and Nutrition

New stuff today: Yay Burpees stainless steel water bottles! It seems like everyone at my box has the same water bottle; maybe these will help.

In other store news, my own pair of SQUATS undies arrived yesterday. I am so tempted to post a picture of me modeling them, but I don't think the world is quite ready for that. They are just as cute as I'd hoped. I would recommend going one size up if you're not sure which size to get.

Yesterday was my rest day, so no fun CrossFit stories today. It was also my husband's birthday, so we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant. I'm mid-nutrition challenge (Paleo/Zone) at our box, and therefore was extremely restricted as to what I could eat. The server even commented that she noticed I didn't eat any bread and that I was "so good". Then she watched me not eat any cake. She probably thinks I have some kind of eating disorder. Ditto the lady I bought birthday chocolates from today after I turned down (!) free samples.

These are the issues I find most difficult to deal with while eating this way - other people's scrutiny. I am completely used to the actual food, and could probably keep this up indefinitely. But as soon as I have to leave the house for a meal, everything gets exponentially harder, and not just because it's hard to find Paleo options (we're being very strict - no dairy, no sugar of any kind, no grains, no gluten). I don't really mind explaining to my friends that I'm doing a nutrition challenge, even though they think I'm nuts, but I can't really launch into my spiel to every server. It irks me to know that they are thinking I'm watching my weight, when in reality it's not about that at all - I want to feel good! I should carry around notecards and hand them out.

New Stuff and Filthy Fifty

Good morning! Today I've added a new design to the CafePress store. Right now you can get it on a t shirt or a tank top.


I know I, as an unassuming looking young woman, enjoy surprising people with my capacity to deadlift and squat. Defying expectations is fun! Also, surprise! Lift heavy! Not She-Hulk!

My head is recovering from the other day's mishap with the thruster bar. I did the Filthy Fifty last night and sustained no injuries. Here's the list to refresh your memory:

50 box jumps (24"/18")
50 jumping pull-ups
50 kettlebell swings (35#/25#)
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press (45#/35#)
50 back extensions (our box did good mornings instead)
50 wall ball shots (20#/14#)
50 burpees
50 double unders
collapse

I kind of like chippers, even ones that take forever. There's just something nice about burning through sets knowing you don't have to do any more box jumps after these are done. The burpees set, well, you'll never hear me say a word against that most wonderful of exercises. Fifty burpees at the end of a hard WOD? Yes please!

What's your favorite benchmark WOD?

First Post!

Let's start this off with a fun little CrossFit story.

Yesterday, my box did Fran - 21-15-9 pull-ups and thrusters. I haven't done Fran since March, when I did it in 5:33 using a 35# bar for thrusters and pull-ups with a blue band for assistance. I decided to up the weight by 10# and stick with the blue band. I can do real pull-ups, but I can't kip at all, so I never quite know how to handle high-rep pull-ups in a WOD. Anyway, my first set of thrusters was AWESOME! 45# was really too light - I didn't have to break the first set. Happily, I brought the bar down from overhead.

I heard a really loud noise and was momentarily dazed. Yes, friends, I'd dropped the bar on my head. My teeth hurt, and I was on the ground without really knowing how I'd gotten there. (Picture, if you will, a skinny white girl blinking in confusion on the mat.) I looked around for sympathy, preparing to be made much of and possibly cry.

Yeah, well, no one had noticed. In my not-exactly-clear-headed state, I decided it wasn't worth quitting the WOD over and got back to work. Once I finished (again in 5:33), I headed for an ice pack. The adrenaline was wearing off, my head was starting to really hurt, and my teeth were still sore from slamming together. As no one had witnessed my misfortune, I had to explain what had happened (which is much less fun, for some reason). I went home hoping I wasn't going to die of one of those slow brain bleeds. (I can be a little over-dramatic when it comes to injury.)

Later, I discovered I'd actually chipped a tooth. This morning, I'm debating visiting the dentist. Tonight, I am going to do the Filthy 50.

CrossFit can be so mean to me, but I love it so much. I swear it's a mostly healthy relationship.