Hey, Mr. Grumpy Pants

Well, I guess that's MRS. Grumpy Pants to you!

I am now halfway done with our Paleo challenge (which ends the night of 9/2).

I've been very consistent - no cheats so far...and also very whiny.  Maybe it's because I don't have any dairy or gluten intolerances or maybe it's because I rarely eat sugar or processed foods anyhow...but I haven't had the life-altering "wow I have so much energy and my workouts are great" feeling. 

On the contrary, I have been getting 8 or more hours of sleep every night but one, but I still feel more tired than I usually did before the challenge.  I've been very emotional and hormonal and my workouts at least the second week were worse instead of better.

But...the winner gets a prize...plus I know it's easier for Jared if we're both eating Paleo, so I'm not giving up just yet.  Only two weeks left!!!

Here's a recap of some bad and good from last week:

Monday (The Bad):

I fell during box jumps and seriously bruised my leg.  Today (a week later) it is less red and more green and purple.

Monday (The Good):

My walk to the bus from the box was gorgeous!

My medicine ball arrived!  I was like a little kid at Christmas, running around the office to tell/show everyone.  I'm gonna take this guy camping this weekend and make up a WOD to do!  (If you've got ideas, let me know!  No jumprope stuff, though.  I have one but it's made of actual rope and basically sucks.)

Tuesday (The Bad):

I felt like puking after the evening WOD...sometimes it helps if I have something to eat after...so I guzzled my protein shake and felt worse.  Oops.

Tuesday (The Good):

I RX'ed Helen!  They let me do "real" Helen (running instead of rowing) since I knew I had it in me to do the pullups.  The last time I tried an RX, it took me 20 minutes to get through 2 rounds.  And when I scaled Helen about a month ago, it took me 14:47 - so I'm now faster RXing than scaling. WOOHOO!!!

Wednesday (The Bad):

Work kinda sucked.  I spent the majority of the day fixing mistakes (mine and others'), and the system would not process my jobs for me.  I was in a MAJOR hurry to leave because I had a date with a really cute boy!

Wednesday (The UBER AMAZING GOOD):

This boy, in fact!

My best friend gave birth to her first, an absolutely perfect little guy!!!!

His name is Charlie.  Well, Charles, but I'm a sucker for nicknames and I refuse to call this dude Chuck.

Charlie with my mom

Charlie with his mom

And yes, she wore pearls in labor.  So classy!  Oh, and did I mention she had pre-made birthday cupcakes in honor of Charlie's real birth day?

Seriously, that was the hardest Paleo moment so far...I may just have to celebrate Charlie with some killer doughnuts or something in two weeks.  And sing to him.  Boy, this kid is a cutie!

Thursday (The Bad):

My major meltdown.  I don't know why, but these so often happen on Thursdays.  Apparently Thursday is my Monday.  I went out to lunch with my momma and even got Paleo approved food! 

But I forgot that club soda counts as a carbonated beverage for the challenge.  I was miffed that what is to me an excellent healthy alternative to soda was not acceptable to the Paleo gods.  Poop.

I had another long day at work, and then I went to play racquetball which shoulda made me feel better, but I felt all out of sorts and wiped out.  My game was just not "on" at all, and while usually I can play at least an hour hard core, I made it through three games (about 30 minutes) and could barely do a fourth!

Thursday (The Good):

My sweet dad prayed for me when he dropped me off after our match, but I still felt defeated and sick of feeling like crap while I'm supposedly doing something healthy.

I went inside the apartment and sat against the wall and blubbered away while I texted a dear friend for wisdom and support.  She's a gem...as is my husband, who came home, made me some food, and suggested we spend the evening watching Batman and Wonder Woman cartoons.

What?  It's not like I'm a total sucker for superheroes.  At all.

Thursday was a great reminder of how blessed I am to have so many people in my life to encourage me and point me to Christ when I am feeling overwhelmed, stupid, and helpless.

Friday (The Bad):

I was feeling stressed (what's new) about "missing" a workout.  I'd planned to tackle "Karen" on Thursday but my schedule didn't work out...plus I was so tired just playing racquetball that I thought it wouldn't be wise to have 150 wall balls as dessert.

I was hopeful that Friday evening's WOD would be a good one since I'd had two days off from CrossFit...but it was not to be.  I felt tired even during parts of the warmup (although Coach Jared had some good tips for me on my rope climbs - by which I mean rope-holds-for-dear-life-about-3-feet-off-the-ground).

I did pretty well on the strength - keeping my knees wide and really making sure to get low on the front squats.  But the WOD was something else.

From the first pull on the rower, I felt exhausted.  And of course, my mental trash talker leapt into action, telling me how much the five rounds would suck and how I'd probably have to give up.  I'd already scaled the power cleans to #75, and usually I'm pretty decent with power cleans.

But even in the first round, I could hardly link two or three at a time!!!

I even ended up using the purple band for pullups, which kinda crushed my spirit even more.  The high point of the WOD was the third round, when "Fake ID" came on and my mom and I started singing.  They never play my kind of music at the box (possibly because I'm into Sinatra, Elvis, and musical theatre?) so it was super energizing to have something I loved to workout to.  But after the song was over, I kinda plodded my way slowly to the end. 

Friday (The Good):

My drugstore.com order finally came!

I had ordered egg protein so we could be even more Paleo.

I was surprised at how little the container was...but apparently 1 scoop equals a serving, and our other protein powder needs 2 scoops to get the same amount of protein, so maybe it evens out.

I will warn you - we tried this stuff on Saturday and we both found it almost undrinkable (I mixed with water and Jared with almond milk).  I honestly almost gagged.  Sunday we put it into a smoothie with fruit and it was a lot more bearable.

And of course my favorite bars:

Weekend (one long piece of delightful):

I got a massage - the best I've had in my life.

I watched my dear friend Meghan (the blonde above) win trophies in her karate tournament (incidentally, she's the one who talked me off the ledge on Thursday).

I got to have some unexpected time in the gym with the hubby, who gave me pointers on my deadlift form.

We had date night and finally went to see The Dark Knight Rises.  I cried.

Jared did a buttload of chores and we got our fridge stocked and our apartment inhabitable.

We went to bed at 7pm last night.  Glory.


And now:

I am hanging in there with Paleo for yet another week...we will see how this goes. 

I am going to "deload" this week, which may help a lot.  For me, this means same number of workouts, but scaling everything.  The timing will be nice since the upcoming strenth session this Saturday is a deload as well.  It seems like that's what my body really needs right now - maybe it's not Paleo...maybe I'm just whupped and need to chill a little.


Well, thanks for hanging in there with me and all my happenings.  How was your week?

Question: How Much Should I Eat on the Paleo Diet?

Answer: More Than You Think.

The first four days of the Paleo challenge went fine for me...packing food was not too difficult, especially with a lot of help from the hubby (not sure how it would go with only one spouse doing this alone).

I didn't feel a big difference...my performance at the box didn't seem to have a big improvement, and while most people claim they have a lot more energy on Paleo...I have found that even though I'm getting MORE sleep then I usually do (eight hours a night so far!), I am actually tired a lot more than usual.

It wasn't until yesterday afternoon, however, that I started to feel really crappy.  I was really tired, my productivity at work was way down, and I was even getting that brain fog where you do something and then five seconds later can't remember what you just did.  Ugh.  I could tell I was hungry, but I had zero appetite.  If someone had walked up and offered me a Top Pot doughnut, I think I would have turned them down.

I felt really frustrated and discouraged - this was how I'd felt the last time I tried Paleo (although it only took about 8 hours to kick in rather than four days), plus the headache, which I got towards the evening as well.

I went home torn between wanting to quit because my normal diet seems to work so well for me and not wanting to quit because I'd be embarrassed.  After talking to my mom in the afternoon and Jared once I left work, I decided I'd stick it out at least until the end of day Saturday.  I feel like it's only fair to give it one week and not chalk up one rough day entirely to Paleo.

But I made sure to eat food I loved for dinner - I knew if I saw another piece of meat I might hurl it across the room.  And I made sure to eat a lot!

I went with scrambled eggs with sausage, a clementine, and almond milk to start:

I had a square of 88% dark chocolate...

...and two little artichokes (my favorite veggie since I was a peewee).

Dip them in olive oil and lemon juice.  Mmmm.

I woke up feeling much better and more awake and energized than I felt Wednesday or Thursday.  I packed some extra food with me and really tried to make sure it was stuff I like.  I feel it may have been my steak and arugula salad on Thursday that did me in...I'm so not a big fan of steak and sometimes it kills my appetite and I don't eat enough as a result.

I will keep you posted...I did notice this morning that my jeans fit looser and my arms look a little more toned...which would be a definite win.

Tonight  - CrossFit with my momma and Coach Jared 

Since my workouts are a little off this week from Monday's power clean debaucle, Jared advised me to skip my "Girl" WOD this week.  Just as well, since I was hoping to do Karen (150 wall balls for time) and my 14lb wall ball won't arrive until next week.  Plus it's a team WOD tonight!  I love those, and I haven't gotten to do one in a while.

I did one of my PT exercises this morning while brushing my teeth (multi-task your health whenever possible!) and will finish that up later.  I also intend to do my shoulder stability work since I keep my pilates bands with me at the office!

Tomorrow - Deadlift Week 2

I'll get in at least five minutes of core work, followed by a good warmup, and then focus the majority of my time on my deadlift!  I'm looking forward to having some time to myself at the gym...it's nice to move at your own pace.  I'll also be doing a lot of mobility work and yoga - my left hip and IT band feel tight this week, so I'm sure I could use it.

Well, have a great weekend!  We expect to get some gorgeous weather around here, and I intend to sit at the pool and finish my latest Agatha Christie novel.  And make the Morning Glory Muffins from the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook.  I think those will save my butt...getting sick of salad and eggs for breakfast.


You tell me: What are your plans for the weekend?  Have you tried anything out of the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook?  It's amazing, right?

Girls Can Drink Protein, Too!

My first protein shake from my new blender bottle!

Wow - what a week!

I had been feeling a little overwhelmed, so I took Tuesday off work as a total Self Day.  It was so relaxing and restoring that I already picked Self Days for September and October and put them on the calendar at work.  This has been such a good habit for me...a big thank you to Self Magazine for suggesting it!  (My very first Self Day started with my very first CrossFit WOD - pretty sweet.)

Monday - CrossFit Class (Official Start of Paleo)

Jared and I actually started Paleo on Sunday, and I'd been sorta doing Paleo for a few weeks now.  But our box provided these spreadsheets to track what we're eating, along with our sleep, water intake, and whether we worked out.  I'm a spreadsheet nerd so I was stoked!  Although the perfectionist in me thinks some of the formulas are not what they could be...

I started my day at Mercer Island CrossFit, and intended to do the Paleo Baseline Workout.  We'll be doing this twice, once at the beginning of the challenge, and again at the end.  In addition to weighing or testing body fat, our performance in the WOD can give another metric of improvement on Paleo.

We started out with strength:

Strength

3 Power cleans on the minute every minute for 10 minutes
start at ~75% of your 1 RM and increase every 2 rounds

I don't have any fancy photos...because things kinda went south for me on Monday.

My previous one rep max was #80, so I started with #60.  By the 8th round, I had done 2 sets of 3 reps with #80 and felt great!  I went up to #85, but on the 9th round I only did 2 reps and wimped out of trying a third.  I realized that we were almost done and I had only one round left to try and get 3 with the #85.  I did two reps and felt good...and somehow on the third ended up arched over backwards with the bar slamming into my right clavicle and shoulder as I yelled like a banshee from the effort (not from pain).

My back did not feel good and I sat down against the wall, more than a little freaked.  Coach Corey told me he recommended I take the rest of the day off and do the baseline WOD another day.  This seemed wise, since I didn't want to get hurt, and I also didn't want a slow time just cause I was babying my back.

I took it easy for the rest of the day and only did a little walking and a little shoulder stability work.

Paleo went pretty well - lots of prep, but honestly that's not much different from our normal life.

Tuesday - CrossFit Class

Tuesday was my glorious Self Day, and so I got to come in and workout with the hubby while he did his Invictus WOD!  Seriously, not many things in life are more fun than hitting on your husband while doing CrossFit. 

I did a thorough warm-up, spending a little extra time on double-unders.  I think I'm getting close to having them "click"!

Then I did power snatch work (based on the power cleans from the day before) but stopped after 6 rounds to make sure I didn't push it too far.  My back honestly felt good but I didn't think it was worth the risk.

Then I was ready for the Paleo Baseline WOD!

I was stoked because I knew I could RX this one.  My goal was to finish under 10 minutes.

The row went pretty well, as did the squats.  I broke the pushups in half, and then I was facing down my nemesis: wall balls.

I don't know why I struggle so much with these - maybe because I'm short and the target is farther away from me?  Anyhow, I feel like I spent half my time on these!  I kept having to no-rep my self and do them over and over.  Argh.

Next it was on to pullups which are quickly becoming a strong point for me!  I made it through 6 linked, a PR, and it didn't take me too long to finish out.  Hang power cleans and burpees I love...but even speeding through them both unbroken, I still finished at 10:26, almost 30 seconds short of my goal.

I was really excited to use my blender bottle that came on Monday afternoon!  I pre-prepped it by putting two scoops in before I left the house and just added water at the gym.  (Yes, I realize whey protein is not Paleo.  I ordered some egg protein that should arrive soon.)

I did my PT work, five minutes of core, and some mobility.  I got to take a little break before playing racquetball with my dad!

 Wednesday - Rest Day

Thank God.  Slept in and got about 20 minutes of mobility work and yoga in, along with my shoulder stability exercises.  Oh yeah, and good food on this Paleo thing:

Thursday - CrossFit Class

I got up a little earlier than usual and was able to get my PT and core work in before we left for the gym.  Good thing, because our skill work was all core!

My mom was doing her back extensions, and Coach Allison says to me, "Meghan, your mom's such a badass!"  Yup, she is!

Next we were on to the WOD.  I was really intimidated by the power snatches, but decided I would give it a shot anyway. 

It was harder mentally than physically, I think.  My first round was actually the worst - after that, Coach Allison encouraged me to do 5 reps at once for the power snatch, and I did!

I just found Tina's breakup letter with fear - it's a great read if you're like me and struggle with the "I can't do this" mind game.

This is the fifth official day of Paleo...and I'm starting to get kinda tired of it.  I am so not a big meat eater and I'm getting a little meat-ed out.  I do have a fun snack packed for this afternoon...hopefully that'll help...

You tell me: Have you tried Paleo?  Any good tips?  (Or did you hate it?)  Do you have mind games where you talk trash to yourself?  How do you switch to cheering yourself on?

30-Day Paleo Challenge

Hello and happy Monday!  I hope you had a lovely weekend.  We finally got a taste of summer...reached about 91 degrees yesterday, and I felt like a total wimp.  I whine about our dreary weather all year and then when it gets sunny and warm, I whine some more.  (Maybe it's not the weather...maybe it's me!)

Since I did my "Girl" day on Thursday, Friday was a regular CrossFit class for me.  I was excited because we were doing the 2 minute challenge for August - wall balls! 

If you've been following along with me for more than about a paragraph, you know that I hate wall balls.  I'm short, which makes it tougher to reach the target tape, and I just can't ever seem to get a good rhythm.  I've finally switched over from cherry-picking my WODs to trying to improve my weaknesses, so I knew that having this movement as our August 2 minute challenge would be a HUGE help to me.

For the challenge, we grabbed two medicine balls each...one to use for the movement, and one as a "butt target."  Basically, if your butt doesn't touch the second medicine ball at the bottom of your squat, the rep doesn't count.  I tried to be really strict and had to no-rep myself a lot.  However, I didn't hit myself in the face (#win) and beat my goal of 30 by getting 31 reps in the two minutes!  I want to hit 45 by the end of the month.

Next, we were on to the WOD.  Adding to the fun, this one contained thrusters...my other nemesis!  I decided to try to RX, even if it meant I'd be slow.  Now that I can do pullups, I want to tackle Fran!  And getting better at thrusters is a must.

This one was pretty killer, but I made it through each round of thrusters unbroken and felt super proud!

It was awesome to get to work my two worst movements on the same day.  Every time we do them, I gain a little confidence and a little strength.  Hopefully a day will come when I see wall balls or thrusters in a WOD and think "I can totally crush that!"

Saturday was my Deadlift Week 1 day.  (Week 0 was finding my one-rep max last week.)

I was SO tired from work and my previous four workouts.  It's a good thing Jared was there to help me get motivated.  He wrote up a warmup for me and an outline of reps to go through before my Wendler's program.

I do a two-minute forearm plank, followed by one minute single-arm-forearm planks on each side, followed by 10 supermans and L-Sit work.  I made it through 15 seconds in a true L-Sit but had to bend my knees on the second rep.

Then I did some exercises for my IT band and hip integrity, and moved into my warmup.  I did the box jumps on a bench in the gym.

It took me about 15 minutes to do my core, PT, and warm-up work.  By the end, I was feeling WAY more motivated and ready to start lifting!

If you want to give this workout a shot yourself, I've put together a Google spreadsheet for you.  All you need to do is plug in your one-rep max in the highlighted box, and the rest of the numbers will fill for you! 

Please use common sense...I'm not certified or qualified in any way and am not responsible if you hurt yourself lifting. 

It was the perfect workout!  I felt like it was heavy and really challenging - I had to switch to a mixed grip for the final 5 reps at #130, but I did it!  The lifting only took about 25 minutes including rest time.

Afterwards, I spent about twenty minutes on stretching and mobility.

That afternoon, we had a kick-off meeting for the Mercer Island CrossFit 30-Day Paleo Challenge!

I admit, I had mixed feelings about Paleo.  I tried it in January and lasted about 9 hours.  But I tried going mostly Paleo for the last two weeks and have seen great results already, so I am excited to give this a shot with Jared!

I've been getting hard-boiled eggs at the grocery store if I'm out and about and didn't pack enough food - it's surprisingly easy to find stuff that's Paleo if you can be a little creative!

Yesterday we did our shopping at Trader Joe's, and Jared baked up several sweet potatoes and a bunch of sausage and bacon.

We had "hot dogs" for lunch, and burgers for dinner!

 We also took our "before" photos - obviously we aren't smiling because before people are always miserable, right?

We're armed with lots of produce and protein and added fish oil to our vitamin regimen.  I'll keep you posted on our first week!!!

If you have any tips...please share!  I'd love some input from those who have gone before.

Have a great day!

My First RX Girl: Jackie

Well, folks, after almost nine months, I finally did it.

I RX'ed a benchmark WOD.

Look, Ma!  No bands!

I started training in earnest for the 2013 Regionals at the beginning of last week.  My new regimen includes one day a week devoted to a "Girl" WOD.  My first girl attempt was Helen last Friday.

I managed 24 pullups and then I was toast, so I didn't actually finish the workout.  (But after 24 "real" pullups, I felt pretty darn proud!)

I was trying to decide what Girl WOD to try this week (I'm trying to start with the ones I think I have a shot at RXing), and with a little help from my favorite coach (my husband is an L1 CrossFit trainer), I picked Jackie:

For time:

Row 1000m

50 thrusters #45/#35

30 pullups

I felt pretty confident about a decent row, and the thrusters seemed light.  Generally I row about a 2:25 500m, so I hoped for a sub-5:00 row, and planned to break up the thrusters into 20, 15, and 10.  I had high hopes of linking my first 10 pullups, too.

I got to the box and warmed up thoroughly.  I subbed in wall balls for the box jumps in our warmup of the week, and threw in a few pullups with the purple band to refresh my kipping form.  Then I was ready to work!

I managed the row in 4:57 and was able to keep the thrusters to three sets.  I got to the pullups and only linked the first 5.  I knew it would be tough, but I wanted to cap the total WOD at 20 minutes and felt pretty sure I could still do it.  I told myself I would get at least two pullups every time I went up on the bar (what's the point of kipping if you can't use the momentum?) and that I would take it slow and steady.

I was down to two reps at a time pretty fast, and had to no-rep myself a few times.  I had to do the 29th and 30th pullups on their own...but I finished in 18:57: a minute faster than my goal for the WOD!

I'm so stoked!  It's really fun to see all the effort I've put into my pullups pay off like this.  I'm pumped to keep working through my list of the Girls and someday RX them all!  I'm tempted to buy myself a 14lb medicine ball and give Karen a shot next week.

You tell me: What's your first RX benchmark WOD?  Do you have a favorite of "The Girls?"  A least favorite?  How are you "better than yesterday?"

Death by Kettlebells - AGAIN

Our box is going through a "re-testing week" where we redo WODs from earlier this year to measure our improvement.  CrossFit generally focuses on something different everyday and you do see a lot of general and specific improvement (in body fat %/weight loss, being able to lift heavier weights, going faster, etc.), but sometimes it's fun to do the exact same workout and see how much better you've gotten!

What's extra awesome for me is that even though I started CrossFit back in November, I started using WODHub at the beginning of the year, so I know my times and numbers from all my CrossFit workouts this year!

Monday - CrossFit Class

Monday we tested 400m sprint as the skill.  We did these back in January.  My time was slower but honestly Coach said that the previous test was not accurate on distance...all the same it's hard to see whether I've improved on this or not.  My time previously was 1:20 and my new time was 1:34.  Hmmm.

Next, we were on to the WOD!

Curtis Ps are pretty dang hard.  I hadn't done this WOD when we first did it, so I didn't have anything to compare to...but I decided I was gonna RX.  And I did! 

I was extra proud of myself for not taking a "water break" during this WOD.  I realized that, as I'm trying to get faster in my workouts...I've been self-defeating a little.  I tend to take a lot of water breaks that I don't really need...I just use them as an excuse to take a rest cause I feel tired or frustrated during the WOD.  Obviously if I do need water and do need a break, that's fine...but I can cut a good 30 seconds or more off my times if I don't take them unnecessarily!

Tuesday - CrossFit Class with my momma!

As you know, I love love love kettlebell workouts.  Me and my ego were all pumped up for this one, and I had high hopes of swinging then #44 today.  Thank God I am married to a CrossFit coach who gave me some wise advice.  Previously when we did Death by Kettlebells, I used the #26.  He encouraged me to use the #35 so I could more clearly see how much I'd improved (i.e. with the #44 I probably wouldn't last many rounds and it would be tough to compare).

Death by Kettlebells in January

We did the warm-up, and while the class was chatting a little, I sneaked in two non-banded pullups and then linked 5 with our lowest band.  I really want to improve my pullups and for me, that means I need to work them even on days when they aren't included in the warm-up or workout.

As the skill, we retested pushups from the beginning of July. 

I'm a "real" pushup kinda gal: feet, not knees, chest all the way to the ground, full extension at the top.  At the beginning of the month I logged 40 pushups in 2 minutes.  This time, I nailed 49! 

Then we set up for the WOD.

The "Death by" means in the first minute, you do one rep, then rest the remainder of the minute.  On the second minute, you do two reps and then rest.  Third minute = three reps and then rest.  You keep going until "death," meaning you can't complete the number of reps for the minute you're on.

My mom on the left and me on the right - apparently
I can't do this WOD without a lululemon running skirt!

Last time I hit 20 rounds with the #26.  This time, I got 20 rounds with the #35!

I was so glad that Jared talked me out of the #44 - I would have been dying.  Plus, it was cool to see that I could last as long...with a heavier weight!

Wednesday - Rest/Mobility

So far I did my shoulder stability exercises (which only take about five minutes) and worked a little on my L-Sit when no one was looking at the office.

Tonight I've got dinner and non-Paleo dessert with Jared and one of our good friends, and we might try to sneak in some yoga and mobility work before bed.

Hope you're having a great week!