Thud! (the sound of me falling off the wagon)

What a weekend! Let's just say I fell off the Paleo wagon and got run over by it BIG time this weekend. Friday night had a non-paleo dinner followed by a weekend full of drinking and more non-paleo food. I will say I stuck to vodka tonics and tequila as my choices of drink. Still, it probably doesn't matter when consuming large quantities. Time to pull myself off the ground and hop back on the wagon 'cause I feel like crap physically and mentally! No workouts this weekend or today, but getting back with it tomorrow. Try, try again! I'll get it right sooner or later!

Rest Required

I hit the box for the 6am classes Monday and Tuesday and then at night for the endurance workout. I had made the goal to hit the box for the 6am class M,T,W,F and T,Th for endurance wkts. Didn't happen this morning. My alarm went off at 4:40am and I was pretty exhausted despite getting to bed early last night. I did get up but then realized my arms and back were fried from all the pull-ups and rowing over the last couple of days. I debated muscling up and still going in, but in the end decided I had better swallow my pride and get the rest my body was telling me it needed. I plan to go tonight to LPAC and get the WOD in. I have to get over the mentality if I miss a workout I have completely failed. Have to remember the body doesn't recover as quickly as it did when I was in my 20s! Which brings me to my next thoughts....

I noticed yesterday when trying to find my max for the clean and jerk that I was exhausted. I felt weak and had no gas. Frustrating. I know it's to be expected since starting Paleo, but it was still frustrating. The bigger thing I was thinking about and always thinking about when doing heavy lifting during warm-ups or WODs with lifting was the risk of injury. I think my profession has made me extremely cautious of pushing too much and getting injured. Treating people who have back, shoulder, knee and wrist injuries and seeing how long it takes and how much therapy is involved to hopefully get back to normal definitely puts the fear of injury in me. There also seem to be quite a few people at the box with injuries. Having been injured myself multiple times in the past, I also know that I don't practice what I preach and continue to push and not rest even when injured, which ultimately results in more injury and/or chronic pain. The mere thought of not being able to work out is horrific. Still, I worry my fear of injury might prevent me from pushing myself to the next weight in wkts. I have been going with lighter weights at times because I feel like I have to have my form down to a T before advancing. I try to check my ego at the door, but it does start to get a bit embarrassing when I have the lightest weight. But, I guess working out with a lighter weight and better form is better than not being able to workout at all. Still searching for that balance of pushing but not too much at once.

As for nutrition, it has been going fairly well. I wish they had a food equivalent for sugar addiction like they have methadone for heroin b/c my sugar cravings are incredibly intense and as hard as I've tried I am still giving in almost daily to small fixes. It's totally mental and is definitely the worst when I am at the hospital where sugar is always around. Anyway, I keep trying to eat less and less of it daily, which thus far has worked. I know the cravings continue b/c I keep taking hits of it! I think I need to lock myself in a room for a week to detox.....

Don't have my log book for WODs or food handy but will start posting them again in the next blog.

Back At It!

My posting has not been as consistent as I planned! I think this is due to my ridiculously long days. Still trying to find the balance of working long days, fitting in workouts, getting personal/house things done, preparing for meals for the week and getting sleep. Oh, and somewhere in there, trying to have a social life, which has been the first thing to suffer. Still working on balancing them all-hopefully soon! Nutrition hasn't been too bad this week--a few breakdowns in the sugar and alcohol department, but other than that not so bad. My goal this week is no more sugar fixes, no alcohol and consistently hitting the box. Last week was not good for working out. There's no need for me to stick to the diet and getting enough sleep if I don't do the workout part too. No more excuses! I spent five hours today prepping and cooking meals for the week, so I shouldn't have any excuses there. Now I just need to get my butt out of bed every morning to make the 6am class. I've decided to actually think more about making concrete goals and actually writing them down and posting them on my walls. Been thinking of them, but haven't had time to solidify.
Did have a confidence booster this week when I found out my body fat percentage went down 14% from my fatty days about a year ago. Can't wait to see it drop more!

Back in the Groove

I've been crazy busy since my last blog so haven't had time to update. Anyway, after all the fear and worry over the urbanathlon last Saturday, I'm happy to say I completed it intact. Other than the ten miles I wasn't really in shape to run, it was alot of fun--especially the obstacles. I definitely took my time since I didn't want to go too hard because I didn't want to run out of gas before the finish--oh, and I run as slow as a turtle. In all, it was a great experience.

Week 2 of the paleo challenge. Had a few mishaps during the first week--snack size candy bar, 2 cookies, multiple Larabars at once, 1 piece of chocolate pound cake and 1 piece of banana bread. Other than the banana bread which was eaten due to being unprepared and having no other option, the rest of the slip-ups were pure lack of willpower. It's hard to beat the intense sugar cravings!

Workouts--or lack thereof, have sucked the past two weeks. I tapered the week before the urbanathlon and was just plain lazy the week before that. Today was my first day back at the box--have to set a strict schedule and stick to it from now on.

WOD:
Ring push-ups AMRAP: 10-10-11 (on knees)
Kipping pull-ups AMRAP: 10-8-8 (dead hang pull-ups with green band)

5 Rounds for time of:
5 Front squats
5 Jerks
5 Back squats
14:44@53#

Not stellar, but I'm still learning form. And I got a little tripped up in the 4th round on the jerks and almost bonked myself in the head with the bar. I was a little hesitant after that.

My first F grade

Day three of the challenge and I already had a mishap! I was doing okay all day, and then when I got to the hospital I made the mistake. The lack of sugar over the last couple of days has had me drooling over mere thoughts of candy, cookies and other forbidden foods that were recently a part of my weekly diet. The worst place to encounter these temptations is the hospital, where there is always an abundance of sweets laying around. Today, a Butterfinger snack size bar hypnotized me and forced me to eat it. Seriously. I don't discriminate much when it comes to candy, and I can tell you that Butterfingers are probably my last choice in the candy bar family. But today, I grabbed it and literally inhaled it. I didn't even slow down and take my time to truly enjoy the sin I was committing. Alas, I knew it was bound to happen at some point--I guess it's good to get it out of the way and not let it happen again. The resulting guilt and disappointment was a good enough lesson in and of itself. But why a Butterfinger? A Snickers would have been so much more worth it!

Tapering for the Urbanathlon, so no WOD today.

Wednesday, 10/13/10
7:30a
-1.5 c. coffee
-1/3 c. almond milk
-1 packet Splenda
10:15a
-1 can low salt tuna
-1 roma tomato
-1/2 avocado
-2 TBS salsa
12:30p
-1 oz. turkey jerky
-4 walnuts
2:15
-1 oz. turkey jerky
-4 almonds
4:15
-THE BUTTERFINGER!!!!!!!!!
5:00p
-paleo chili
8:00
-steak salad (mixed greens, tomato, avocado, steak, egg)--first meal dining out!
-Larabar
-hard boiled egg
-fish oil
Water intake: 60 oz.
Still too high in the carbs and too low in the water intake. Also found out the turkey jerky is not so good for me. Will probably invest in a dehydrator to make my own paleo-friendly jerky.

What was I thinking????

Back in June, in an obvious emotionally unstable state, I decided to sign up for the Men's Health Urbanathlon. Not only did I sign up, but I decided to do it solo. I had several offers to join a relay team, but decided to go balls out and do it by myself. Idiot! Four months later, D-Day is near and I am petrified. I've been training, but not as hard as I should have. I'm worried not only about running nine miles, but getting through the obstacles in between. In addition, I can't stop thinking I'm going to embarrass myself. One of my biggest problems and something I need to work on is my embarrassment of being slow. As much as I love to have support, I hate when people have to stick around WAY after others have finished, waiting for me to cross the finish. I really need to stop feeling that way. Anyway, Saturday is the day. Yikes. I've been reassured by others who have done it in the past that I will have no problem doing it, but then I think "just how DO I get over hurdles and a wall taller than I am when I can't even do one pull-up?" Guess I'll find out in a few days!

Started the Paleo challenge yesterday. It's going okay so far, although I may need to enter rehab for my sugar addiction. The cravings are intense. It's definitely taken some planning on my part for meals, especially since I have no free time to cook and don't really like cooking. I'm feeling hungry often, but I'm not sure if I'm actually hungry, or I just think I am because I'm thinking about food so much. Hmmm...I am tapering this week for the urbanathlon, so I don't want to go overboard with the calories since I'm not burning much.

Here's my food log for the last two days:
Monday 10/11/10
7:30a
-2 eggs with 1 roma tomato, 1/2 c. salad greens
-handful of almonds
-1 tsp fish oil
11:30
-6 oz. cod with red pepper and onion
-small handful of walnuts
12:30p
-1 oz. turkey jerky
-1/4 Larabar (banana bread flavor)
-small handful walnuts
3:40p
-1 cup paleo chili
-2 TBS 2% Greek yogurt (I know--just can't give it up yet!)
-small handful almond slices
7:00p
-6 oz. baked wild salmon
-1/2 cup butternut squash
-2 TBS 2% Greek yogurt
Water intake: 42 oz--not enough!

Tuesday 10/12/10
7:30a
-2 egg whites with 1/2 c. spinach, 1 TBS EVOO, 1 TBS salsa
-2 slices uncured turkey bacon
-1 cup coffee with 2 TBS almond milk and 1/2 packet Splenda (I know, the devil)
10:00a
-1 oz. turkey jerky
-4 walnuts
1:00p
-Paleo chili
3:30p
-1 oz. turkey jerky
-4 almonds
6:30p
-Paleo chili
-1 Banana Bread Larabar
8:00
-1 hard boiled egg
-1 tsp fish oil
Water intake: 64 oz--close!

Here goes......

I decided to start a blog to keep me focused and accountable in "the remake" of my life. After a string of some unfortunate experiences over the past year, I decided to use the lessons from those experiences to start over and create an all-around better me--mind, body and soul. I read a quote once that states, "Sometimes it takes a good kick in the teeth to get your head on straight." Ain't that the truth. In my search to improve myself, I decided to join Crossfit Chicago, ultimately the catalyst for the blog. I hope this blog keeps me focused and accountable to the changes I continually strive to make.