the pants that USED to fit like a glove

WOD: "Falkel"
             25 min AMRAP
             8 HSPU
             8 Box Jump 24"
             1 rope climb

How ironic that I'm doing hand stand push ups the day after I am on here bragging about doing one! I'm happy to report that I did the hspu's, but I used 1 mat. I think on the 40th one, I figured that I needed to get my head through the window because I felt like my neck was no longer attached to my back. A little stiff this morning, no doubt.

I know I'm not the only one out there attached to a piece of clothing...am I? I once did a tribute on my blog about my running shoes. I wish I would have never donated them. Okay, that sounded selfish. I miss those shoes so much. I am a stress binge cleaner. I throw away just about everything if it is in my way or creates clutter in my house/life. I have managed to save this one pair of pants. Who knows why. I originally bought the black pants with a suit from The Limited in 2003. I remember the mall, who was with me, the smell, and even the weather. I bought the pants for my grad school interviews. These pants are magical. I wore them in college, I wore then 3 weeks post baby (tight), I wore them on my WW glory days and I'm still wearing them today. They are wide leg so they fit my thighs very comfortably. I put them on and I feel like a million bucks! Today is going to be a great day!

all in a day's work

I'm borrowing a stability ball today to see if I notice a difference. It might be more of a distraction but I that's okay, too. After all, it is Monday. Oh! And today is day 10 of my meal plan so I need to touch base with Josh to figure out what is going to happen next.

I'm looking forward to this week. I have time to put in some extra time at the gym. Yeah buddy!

I did my first unassisted hand stand push up this weekend! I was in my kitchen and the mood struck me. I quit what I was doing (which was probably just watching Orange is the New Black) and grabbed a hand towel (for a little cushion) and just tried it. I was so excited. So was Maggie. She was my only witness. Oh, and she's blind! Gesh! Progress. It's been about 2 months since my shoulder finally quit hurting! YEHAWW!

WOD: 20 min AMRAP
            P1: 100m overhead carry
            P2: wall sit/ ring hold
            P3: 5 box jumps, 5 medball burpees, 5 thursters

I hope you can see the video that is posted above. I stole it off Facebook. I first read the caption, "3 hundo failo. I'll get it next time." I scanned over it and the thought about it later. I went back to watch the video. After watching it three times, I kept thinking about it. Not too many people post videos of them failing at a lift or skill. In fact, this might be the first (except the funny ones on youtube) that has appeared on my wall. Most of what people post are status updates of how they conquered their goat or got a new PR. I read all of those updates, "like" the status, and type my congratulatory comments. Truly, I'm happy for people. I love reading about how individuals are improving.
But for some reason, I loved this video. Not because Rick failed. But because he said he'd get it next time.

Isn't that the motivation that drives an individual to succeed? Expectations drive us to get to the next level. Our failures are what motivate us to get up and try again. Our determination is what drives us to keep going. I can't even count how many times I fell on my ass Thursday attempting to get under the bar for a squat snatch. In that case, falling meant I was getting low enough for the catch. But because I didn't do it, made me want it that much more. I probably squat snatched 50 times that evening and I am ready for more.

Failures along the way make the victory that much greater in the end!

5 Tbs of Coconut Oil a day. Straight from the jar!

WOD: Partner WOD
            run-deadlift-strict pull ups


I want to give a shout out to some of the amazing women I have been working out with this week at Infinity. Denise, Sandy, Katie and Claire! I learned something from every single one of these ladies this week. THAT is what Crossfit is about. THAT is why I don't work out in my garage. THAT is why I keep going. Always room for improvement. If we aren't improving, we are getting worse! WORK!

I want it baaaaaaaad.

WOD:   EMOTM 20 min
              1 power clean + 1 squat clean
              then
              10 min AMRAP
              5  hang clean
              5 push press
              5 front squat
              100 m run

It is so tempting to go back to the old ways of eating. The only good thing about eating the "old way" was it was thoughtless. I had done it for so long I knew exactly what to eat.

Nick and I were talking about dinner plans the other night and someone overheard me say that the boys could eat the Sloppy Joe and I would have the beef. She said, "oh, you don't like Sloppy Joe" and I replied, "yes, I like them but I'd rather just have the beef." She said, "I don't know how you do it." My thought was, it's easy. I want this bad enough.

Then, a friend called me on my way home from work and asked if I wanted to go play Keno (?) at a restaurant/bar. I had free time but how was I going to respond tactfully that I didn't want to go?
1. What the hell is Keno?
2. I don't hang out in bars/restaurants on Wednesday evenings.
3. I'd rather be by myself than sit in public and watch people eat about bunch a crap food and then smell like grease the rest of the night.

This isn't really something new. I'm much more of a coffee shop, let's meet early in the morning type visitor. Instead of just saying, "no, thank you" because that would have lead to an awkward pause, bitchy, weird moment, I just said, "I'm not really up for that. I don't drink, I am really sticking to this plan and I wouldn't be much fun." That entire sentence just came out wrong. Why? Because then it lead to the next question: "What plan are you sticking to?" to which my response was, "I'm not making a big deal out of it, just would rather not go." Huge fail. I need to work on that. Part of me cares and the other part of me doesn't. Instead, I went to the gym and burned my quads practically off my bones. It felt good.

I'm trying hard to figure this out. I don't know about the body or performance results, but my willpower is there. My attitude is there. And my drive.....because I want it bad enough.

Have you had your second chance?

WOD: 50-40-30-20-10 DUs
           10-8-6-4-2 power snatch

I have the ugliest snatch in this history of snatches.  I'd rather do 5000 burpees than do one snatch. Well, that might be a little over kill...

Second chances. For those of you that don't know Nick, his father died from a massive heart attack at the young age of 48. Nick was 21 years old. His mother is an insulin dependent diabetic and has countless problems all related to health and obesity. When Nick turned 24, I mentioned to him that if he continued to live the life that either of his parents lived/was living, his life was already half over. He would die when his kids were 27, 24, 21. That became his motivation.

Both of his parents were given second chances at life and both decided to continue doing what were doing before. Nick decided to take his second chance and make it count.

The choices we all make in life don't only affect us. 

I am so proud of Nick and what he has done for himself. Because of his hard work, he is someone's motivation, someone's inspiration, someone's determination to beat, and three little someone's hero!

Day 18: meal update

Today marks the 18th day since I changed my eating routine and increased my daily caloric intake by over 1500 calories. The first 10 days were a little iffy but I was putting my trust in Josh and his expertise. After all, whatever I "thought" I was doing right, wasn't working.

In addition to cleaning up my already clean diet, I cut back on running, sleep at least 9 hours at night and concentrate at the gym.

The results? The first 10 days I gained 2 pounds. I am never really consistent on the scale to begin with so I'm not sure if +2 was an accurate reading. Today when I weighed myself I was a little under 1 pound from what I thought was probably my original start weight.

I mentally had to prepare myself for this insignificant weight recording today. I decided today would be a great day to hop on because yesterday I felt awesome. My muffin top wasn't hanging over my jeans, my stomach felt tight and solid, I had a good bench press weight last week and to top it off, I was in a great mood! A number on the scale this morning wouldn't hurt my mood.

I'm on my second 10-day meal plan. I'd still say I'm in test mode to see exactly where I want to be but we are making progress folks!

I'm learning a lot in this process. My biggest discovery has been the fact that you can't lose weight but eating less! (okay...maybe Nick has been right this entire time)