Accomplishment!

Yay! Today was a success! I was the only one to show up for class, and I killed it! Meg, my trainer, was extremely attentive and helpful....probably because I was the only one. When I showed up and looked at the WOD, I thought there is no way in hell. I was wrong! I did the last round unbroken (with bands)! I felt like a boss.
The workout:
Warm up: one minute each station...
1. Wall swats
2. Walking lunges
3. Kipping on the bar
4. Back extensions
5. Box jumps (my least favorite)
6. Push ups
Tabata (cardio):
Box jumps-eight rounds with ten second rest (this was a bitch!)
Strength:
Dead lifts:
5 rounds of 3 sets increasing weight. (loved it)
WOD:
11 pull-ups
22 weighted bar front squats
FIVE ROUNDS!!
It was a hard workout, but nothing like last Wednesday's filthy thirty...
The last round of pull-ups I actually did UNBROKEN! Yay me!
Either I'm getting stronger and getting the hang of it, or the workouts are getting easier! I promise the workouts are not getting easier!
Booya!
Until next time...

Three Times a Charm

After last Wednesday, I was so scared to walk into the gym. I got over it real quick.
Today's workout was hard, but doable. One thing I noticed, I need some serious ring-dip practice. Shew, I was awful, but that is to be expected the first time. The workout:
Warm up 1 minute each:
1. Jump rope
2. Walking lunges
3. Wall walk-ups
4. Kettle ball swings
5. Groin walk -ups( these were more of a stretch, and they felt amazing).
6. Mental block always!! I don't remember the 6th station...
Tabata: (Cardio)
Eight rounds of push-ups- as many as you can muster in 20 sec with 10 sec rest! This one killed my arms!! Ouchies!
Strength:
Squatting push press 4 rounds increasing weight.
WOD:
3 pull-ups
15 ring dips
15 kettle ball swings
200 jump rope or 50 double-unders
THREE ROUNDS for time!!
I am hurting tonight, but not nearly as bad as last Wednesday's filthy thirty. During the ring dips, I gave myself a Charlie horse and I'm still limping.
Good lord, I sound like a 65 year woman trying to work out with all my aches and pains. Haha.
Until next time...
PS. I'm posting this picture for self-motivation and inspiration. She is perfect, from @girlswithmuscle Instagram.
STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY!

Crossroads with Crossfit.

Ugh. Post surgery, feeling great, and starting Crossfit, what could go wrong? (This might be too much information, but I said I was documenting my Crossfit experience...and I meant it!)

After my first class I left and got in the car only to feel bleeding...8 days early. This scared me, but I didn't want to admit it. The surgery and all the hell I went through was supposed to have fixed any problems. At the advice of a good friend, I emailed the doctor asking for advice. She told me to stop Crossfit if I wanted to get pregnant. She said the strenuous exercise is too taxing on my body right now. Ugh!
I finally found something I'm excited to do, take my mind off conceiving, and set a goal for myself only for the doctor to shut me down.
Now it's decision time: stop Crossfit and hope to get pregnant, or continue Crossfit and put the whole thing in Gods' hands.
After, long consideration...Nick and I are letting go and putting it all in God's hands.
Good news: I will be still continuing on my Crossfit journey to become one buff babe.
Until next time...

The Magical Foam-Roller

After yesterday's workout, I came home and was paralyzed...and what hurt the most was my lower back. I immediately thought I had hurt myself, or herniated a disc because the pain was so unbearable. I ended up taking two pain killers left over from my surgery and going to bed.
This morning was a joke...on me. I literally sat on the side of the bed trying to figure out how I was going to try and put my socks on. Once I got to school, everyone noticed right away that I was gimp and limping. I was in pain! And not the kind of pain that feels so good.
Talking with a co-worker who has also started a new mountain athlete program in Jackson, she suggested I find a foam roller.
I had never heard of such a device, but I was now determined to find one.
Luckily for me, my girlfriend owns her own dance/Pilates studio. After work I stopped by my sweet friend's Kari studio and she took me inside to work it out on the Pilate machines and she introduced me to the magical foam roller. I walked in hunched-over and waddling, spent thirty minutes stretching and rolling to physical bliss. I was standing up straight, my lower back was still twinging, but half of what it was when I walked in. Thank goodness!
Kari taught me one very important detail I had been missing: STRETCH! So, from now on...I will be stretching before and after each workout. And the foam roller is magical. Note to self.
As I was walking out the door she tossed me a bottle of BioFreeze. Another magical new piece of heaven. It's a liquid you run on sore muscles similar to Icy-hot, but 1000 times better. Check it out! And if you are reading this...check out Balance Studios for an amazing Pilates reformer class! Ask for Kari.
Until next time...

Filthy ass-kicker!

I am not sure if anyone is reading these blog posts, but I really want to keep a record of my progress and where I started from...to where I end up, so I can look back and smile. Today was ridiculous...the filthy 30...sometimes known as the filthy fifty, KICKED MY ASS!! I am pretty sure my body went into shock halfway through the workout of the day (WOD), because I started balling. Never in my life have I started a workout and started crying halfway through it. Again, I'm pretty sure my body was in shock, and I didn't know how to handle the mixed signals. My heart was telling me to keep going, my body and brain were telling me to QUIT! And run away ASAP! Meg, my coach, was my saving grace. She didn't give up on me, and in turn...I couldn't give up on myself. Attached is the WOD, which was the last half of class. We had ALREADY done a warm up if 6 stations at one minute each:
1. Kettle ball swings
2. Wall balls with squat
3. Jump rope
4. Box jumps!
5. Burpees
6. Something else I don't remember! Lol
Then comes Tabata (cardio):
20 seconds on, 10 second rest:
8 rounds of:
Hurdle jumps side to side
Push-up full ( no girlie)
The strength (weight lifting portion):
Hang clean-and-jerks five rounds.

Then...and only then, did we begin the filthy 30 WOD!!!
I cried. Tears were streaming down my face as I hung from the pull-up bar trying to reach my toes to the bar 30 times.
Meg didn't acknowledge my tears, which in turn made me ignore them as well.
The hardest hour workout of my life.
The best part was at the end...and I was on my second to the last skill...and the task was 30 Burpees. I'm not sure if you know what Burpees are, but they are hard as all get out after an entire workout. I started to shake my head because I was overwhelmed and didn't think I could do it. I could hardly stand! Meg saw the look of defeat in my eye and took a step back to unzip her hoodie. As she walked over to me...all I could muster was a glance at her figure. Holy shit was she buff and with the perfect sculpted figure. She was the reason I was here...to look like her. I told myself, " this us why your here...now lets do this!" Granted those dang Burpees were still so hard, but at least I didn't give up. I didn't quit. I finished the entire workout. I made it under the time cap of 30 minutes, by two minutes.
I still don't know how it happened.
Hours later...I can still hardly move.
WEEK 1 COMPLETE!!

Rest day? More like day of pain!

Holy moley, am I sore. I woke up feeling great, but by afternoon could barely sit down or stand. My quads are on fire.Those squat thrusters kicked my behind! I am afraid of what I will feel like tomorrow. Plus, day 2 Crossfit after work feeling this sore? Yikes!
No pain, no gain is my new motto, and not by choice!
Breakfast: Greek cherry yogurt with chia seeds. Coffee and fat free creamer
Snack: Handful of trail mix
Lunch: Wild caught salmon, small cup of chicken and green chili soup, and a boiled egg. Water
Dinner: Three pieces of baked chicken and a tossed house salad with vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Glass of 1% milk
Snack: carrots and spinach dip
Tomorrow is going to be tough...

Crossfit: 1 Me:1

Today was the hardest workout of my life, and I loved every second of it!
Warm up: (each station 1 minute)
1. Walk-up wall
2. Jump rope
3. Rope climb (I did rope walk-outs)
4. Kettle ball swings
5. Wall squats
6. ??? I can't remember right now
And that was just a warm-up!!
Next up Tabata (cardio)
20 second maxed out row
Ten second rest...for 8 rounds!!
Next was Strength
Thrusters (I loved these, squats while thrusting weighted bar bell over head).
Five reps for five rounds increasing weight!
Finally the Workout of the Day (WOD)
Rowing Helen
500 meter row
21 kettle ball swings
12 pull-ups (I had a band assist)
THREE ROUNDS FOR TIME!
Literally the hardest workout of my life, I can't lift my arms three hours later!
Until next time.

Food prepping: PROTEIN!!!

The best way to be successful is to prep meals ahead of time. The less time to stress over what I'm eating the better. I tend to get hungry in the middle of the day around noon, and have found that protein staves off hunger.
Wild-caught Salmon with cage free boiled eggs. I'll take to work and dump over a huge salad. Nom nom!
Ahi tuna filets as well.
Dinner tonight:
Grass-fed filet, steamed broccoli and mashed cauliflower.

Crossfit Beastmode

I am putting it all out there...no holds bard...I am doing this for me...

OMG, TALK ABOUT MOTIVATION. I look at these before and  think I look old and out of shape. I look like someone who has just had surgery and sat on their butt for 6 weeks. I look flabby and not athletic. I don't look like me. I definitely look like I need a change. These pictures are not of a body ready for the beach. I am sick of all the excuses, and starting tomorrow I will be taking Crossfit classes.  Crossfit scares and excites me all at the same time. Olympic weight-lifting? Gymnastics? Rope climbs, muscle-ups, 24" inch box jumps, dead-lifts, clean and jerk, pull-ups? Holy cow what am I getting myself into? Well, at the start of 2013 my goal was to be able to do some pull-ups by June. That gives me 6 months to kick it into high gear and gain some core and upper body strength. Nick and I are going to the Bahamas the last week of March and I want to look amazing. So, this gives me 12 weeks to tone-up, trim down, and gain so serious muscle. I look at these "before" pictures and cringe. Vomit.

Day one starts tomorrow...I am planning to keep this blog updated as often as humanly possible with my work-outs, my cardio work-outs, and of course what I eat. I am doing this for me. I want to track my progress to remain motivated and I want to see the before and after. I went to Crossfit to sign-up and had to do a physical assessment for time. 500 meter row, 40 air-squats, 30 sit-ups, 20 push-ups and ten pull-ups. I wasn't able to do an actual pull-up, so instead I had a box under me and i jumped-up and held. Two days later, I could barely walk...my quads were destroyed from the air squats. Apparently, I need to be doing more squats...and I have a feeling I will be doing many, many, many squats in my future. Follow my journey to a stronger, fitter, happier, healthier and BETTER me.

My current measurements:

Weight: 160 lbs (double vomit)

Bust: 38 1/2

Waist: 33

Hips: 35 1/2

Thigh:22 1/2

Arm: 12"