Paleo - 10 Pounds Down!

I recently found my goal sheet that I completed last month in boot camp. One of my goals was to loose 25-30 pounds. Kevin commented that diet is 80% of weight loss and the workouts are 20%. This wasn't anything new that I had heard but diets always seem so difficult. I always struggle giving something up or portioning my food gets overwhelming after awhile. But since I am committing to this 90 day challenge I need to commit to the diet as well if I am going to see any progress!

Well this week I have taken on the Paleo challenge. Protein is something I don’t eat enough of and struggle with coming up with new ideas of how to differentiate it! I especially struggle with this for breakfast!! I am an on the go type of person during the week so making eggs or paleo pancakes during the week wasn't anything I was looking forward to doing. Last Saturday I made a paleo pancake using a banana and an egg, it actually wasn’t that bad. I tried them again on tuesday morning . . . not as good, I think I burnt them and instantly gagged as I tried to take the first bite. So for breakfast I have been sticking to scrambled eggs or hard boiled.

As some may remember I was very sick this past week, Monday I finally went to the doctors and got placed and an antibiotic but I barely could get off the couch. Thankfully my husband was helping me with this challenge so I had given him the recipe for Paleo Burgers. Instead of a traditional bun we made them on portabella mushrooms. They were delicious! I think next time we make them I will make the burgers a little smaller but trial and error is how we learn right!!!

Tuesday I stayed home from work . . . still fighting this sinus infection! I had my leftover burger for lunch and then I made a stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon . . . yes it was a bacon themed week. The stuffing was walnuts, carrots and onions chopped in a food processer. It was actually pretty good but a little dry. My husband who can eat anything and never gain weight wished it had a cheese sauce . . . well that isn’t paleo (although I agreed!).

So now we roll into Thursday! I haven’t worked out in a week and I am going through carb withdraws! I was planning on hitting Kevin’s 4 O’Clock WOD so I emailed the recipe that I wanted to try to my husband: Bacon Beef Butternut Squash. Since my husband had a garden in the summer we had some butternut squash leftover to use. Well after a killer workout with Kevin and thankful that he pushed me to complete the workout I drove the 45 minutes home to a house that smelled strange – a little hint of cinnamon and burnt balsamic vinegar! I know weird combo! Well needless to say it wasn’t that great – they called for cinnamon in the beef mixture and it didn’t pair as well with the squash as I expected. I guess that is why they call it trial and error!

Friday morning started out amazing! I had finally lost my first 10 pounds. Now most of you don’t know my obsessions with the scale but now this blog is all about confessions right???? Well I pretty much have to admit I weight myself every morning, hoping the number continues to go down! Thankfully since starting crossfit it has been on a downward shift! So since starting bootcamp I am down 10.6 and 6 pounds for the 90 day challenge. I do have to say that most of them have come since I have made the change to my diet!

I decided to celebrate my loss, and my crappy day at work, with diner out with the hubby! We had a gift card to Red Lobster and I was pretty proud of myself (although the extra large daiquiri wasn’t on my paleo list)! I also refrained from eating multiple cheesy bread biscuits and had green veggies for my sides instead of a potato!

 It is amazing since my weight loss how everything I eat, everything I think of eating I remember that feeling of losing that first 10 pounds! I don’t want to put it back on, I never want to see those numbers again! I have worked hard to get here and I know that I will keep it going if I just stay focused a little longer. This is the first weight loss that I feel I have really worked for and earned and know it will keep coming!

Sunday at the grocery store my husband stopped at the poultry section and picked up a large chicken – he said this is how much weight you have lost!!! WOW – when you look at it that way it is a lot! I wanted to take a picture but my husband didn’t think it was funny!

Thank you Albany Crossfit – you really have changed my attitude about this weight loss!!! 

Joining the family!

This week my Blog is motivated by one that I read earlier this week from another CrossFit member. I was truly inspired when I read this and felt I should share more of my story (or my perspective!). Here is her post:

http://www.albanycrossfit.com/today-i-became-a-crossfitter/

Being part of the CrossFit community is really what makes me going every week to WOD’s. I moved to Albany 7 years ago, not knowing a single person in this area. I had always been pretty social when I was younger but I discovered it was hard to make new friends the older you got. The transition here was difficult but worth it in the end. I finished my masters, got a great job doing what I went to school for and was gaining some really great friends at work. I still would find myself struggling to meet people outside of our inner circle. This was until I started CrossFit – where were you 7-8 years ago??

As always I was nervous my first day of boot-camp but I went with a positive attitude and did what I was told. Those that know me would have been surprised to see how quite I was during boot-camp. I was in a class with people of all different ages and abilities but they were always so positive and encouraging. Throughout boot-camp I was beginning to feel comfortable, I knew who was going to be there and the nervousness went away, well that was until they cut us loose into the real CrossFit world.

We graduated from boot camp on January 3^rd, 2013. Our group became a little bit smaller but we all improved our times from our first workout and we did two workouts that day. We were then encouraged to start attending WOD’s and I signed up for the 90 day challenge. James (one of the coaches) had recommended that I come to class on Friday to hit two of the workouts. I was too sore so I decided to come early on Saturday and hope that I could get something done before the WOD at 11. Now this was my first time coming to CrossFit, not knowing who was going to be there, who the coaches were or what to expect. I wandered around a bit, peaking into the rooms, trying to do some pre-workout stretches. Finally I got the courage to ask of the members if they knew who was a coach and if they could help me.

This is where I met Dean. I told him that I just finished boot camp and needed to do one of the 90 day’s benchmark workouts. He said that the burpee’s were simple enough to do so that is what I was going to start. As I was having him help me get started another member approached me to see if I was going to do my burpee’s and offered to do them with me.  Now when I thought about 7 minutes of burpee’s I though well maybe I will hit about 4-5 a minute ending around 25-30. Thankfully I had another member there who offered to partner up with me and count while I did my burpee’s. As I was doing them she was encouraging telling me to keep going, you can do this, give me 10 more . . . on and on. Then as I hit 30 she said we were only 3 minutes in . . . uggggg but she kept pushing me and got me to finish with 55 burpees.

The reason I am telling this story is because she just recently talked about that day as well in the blog above. Stating how she remembered that feeling the first time she came to CrossFit. Since that day I have done burpee’s in some of my workouts and when I think I cannot do anymore I can hear her voice in my head and recall that I did 55 in 7 minutes, I can do 15!

I am thankful for Carmen, Mary and Lynn that day. They all welcomed me into the community without any hesitation. Now being part of CrossFit I have made new friends and that eagerness every time I walk into a WOD is slowly going away. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and started to build new relationships. I am also thankful for my boot camp buddies: Renee, Danielle, Gannon and Kyle. We keep in touch with each other going to WOD’s together and even getting together to celebrate our graduation. I love the new family I have developed and know the more I stick with CrossFit the more members I will add to it!!

Carmen said in her blog “I have zero idea if I helped NC. I hope I did. I hope she realized, as I have realized, that she is now part of a community of athletes dedicated to fitness, yes, but also dedicated to each other.” (I am NC) – YOU DID HELP ME! I am thankful to be part of this community who is dedicated to each other!!!

Here are the WOD’s I completed this week and next week I am going to be taking on the Paleo challenge. I started this morning with making a paleo pancake. 

               

Admitting My Addiction (Diet Fad's/As Seen on TV)

I think the first step in any addiction is admitting you have a problem . . . well I know I have a problem and I guess it is time to admit it!! My addiction is Diet Fad’s and As Seen on TV exercise video’s. For as long as I can remember I always wanted that quick fix to losing weight and I would try almost anything.

Below are some of the As seen on TV purchases I have made, some I still have and others I have retired. The ab roller was my first purchase that I had made. I don’t know if I ever really used it but I can recall trying it and never got those rock hard abs they promised me I would get! The next was the abs shocker – I bought it when it first came out (this was the only picture I could find). That thing was miserable, but I thought hey, I can wear it while watching TV or doing homework . . . you would place this gel on your stomach and turn it on. I think I tried it once or twice and then retired it by selling it at a garage sale!!

  

I went through an ab workout fad for awhile next buying the ab chair. Yes I wanted to be lazy, lay in a chair and do “sit-ups” to gain amazing abs again! But the catch was I am only 5’ tall and couldn’t reach the bar with my feet!  So I sold it to a family friend. I think my next couple purchases are all a blur, I bought the Windsor Pilates Video that came with a circle thing that was suppose to help tone your arms and have you focus on your abs while you worked out. I don’t think I even have to say anything about the shake weight. . . I never took it out of the box or used it. I knew when I bought it that I was making a mistake but addictions take over right???

Well I have had my fair share of videos as well . . .

It started with the misc videos above, walk away the pounds, power yoga, Pilates for dummies (bought it my sophomore year of college and my roommate Carrie and I would try to work out in our dorm room). The addiction continued when Wii came out with the balance board, I just had to get it. I then got the eactive video game and biggest loser a couple Christmases ago. I would try them for a few weeks, get bored and then move onto something else.

P90X was also a Christmas present I had convinced my brother in law to purchase. The infomercials would suck me in thinking, wow I want to look like that! Then as you start the videos or read the pamphlets, you really should be in shape BEFORE you do P90X! Well I did ok for maybe 45 days and then didn’t like working out for an hour and a half, so I moved onto Tony’s 10 minute trainer. WHAT – I have to do three 10 minute videos – that was a scam!

My most recent purchase was the KettleWorX videos, it was a groupon special and my itch to buy it kicked in. I tried it for three weeks, took a break, tried it again, took another break and then finally gave it up. It now is being used by my husband and since my kettlebell was only 10 pounds I bought him a 20 pound bell for Christmas.

Now it is not like I don’t have the space or some equipment to workout I just don’t have the motivation to do it at home:

Our workout bench is so dusty you can obviously tell that it doesn’t get used! Our treadmill has seen better days. We used it when we lived in our apartment in Binghamton 8 years ago and gave it back to my parents when we moved to Albany. We just didn’t have the space in our apartment. 3 years ago when I tried to start running we brought it back up here and pieces were missing. We managed to get it to work but it is so loud you can’t hear yourself think. Right now our stationary bike is being used to hold up empty boxes and I can’t even remember the last time I actually used it . . . I think it might have been when I was starting to watch Dexter on Netflix 4 years ago!

Now we all know that exercising is only a part of the weight loss process . . . Diet is very important!

O yes, I have plenty of magazines and books that have only fueled my addiction. Women’s Worlds are the worst for me  . . . every week there is some new miracle diet that I just have to try. Recently I threw a bunch of them out as I am trying to Detox my life from this addiction! I have tried them all: weight watchers, acia berry supplements, atkins, flat belly diet, south beach, some blueberry drink diet . . . none of them satisfied me and I never see the results that I thought I would! The cookbooks never had recipes that I would want to try or have ingredients I had never heard of them.

I have had my fair share of gym memberships too . . . I have been back and forth to Gold’s, tried the YMCA, Sport-time and even the Duanesburg Area Community Center. None of them were structured enough for me and when I didn’t go no one seemed to care. This is very different than my experience at Albany CrossFit. During bootcamp I was eager to learn new things and I always knew who was going to be there. It was like this family that I didn’t know existed! Now that I am a member (and doing the 90 day challenge) I still have my bootcamp buddies that keep me going. I also feel that I want to make progress during the 90 days so I need to stay motivated to see the results at the end of 90 days (and possibly win something)!

So I am packing away all of these unneeded items, focusing on going to 4 WOD’s a week and trying to do a combo of the Zone/Paleo diet. No more Hot Pants, Flat Belly Diet or pretending to workout in the basement! Now I am replacing my addiction to diet fad's to becoming addicted to CrossFit! 

90 Day Challenge Ready, Set, Go!

 So after completing the boot camp program at Albany CrossFit I was looking for someone to continue to hold me accountable and motivated. I had heard about the 90 day challenge and decided that this was the best way for me to keep the motivation going. I signed up and don’t know if I even realized what I was getting myself into!!!

There was a 50 dollar buy in and there will be 5 winners:

1^st – 1 year membership

2^nd – 6 months

3^rd – 3 months

4^th – 1 month

5^th – $50 Gift Certificate

The requirements for the Challenge are as follows: (Due by January 10^th)  

·         Before/After Pictures

·         Measurements of Neck, Waist and Hip

·         Weight and Height

Five Required workouts to be completed before January 10^th

1.       10K Row

2.       FRAN – 21-15-9 Thrusters and Pull ups

3.       1 Rep Max Back Squat

4.       1 Rep Max Snatch

5.       7 Minutes of Burpee’s

Well it is now the 10^th, I have submitted my picture and measurements and completed the 5 benchmark workouts. I was a little lazy in getting started, should have gone to the classes to complete my workouts but I completed them. I started Saturday arriving there awkwardly not knowing anyone or who was a coach and who was a member. The great thing about CrossFit is that people were more than welcoming and helped me decide to start with the 7 minutes of burpee’s (mainly because other members were about to work on them).  I was very thankful for the other crossfit members that were there counting and cheering me on as I completed them. I even stayed after to do my first “official” WOD as a crossfit member and not a boot camper! At the end of the 7 minutes I had completed 55 Burpee’s.

Then Monday I was freaking out about doing the 10K – that’s six miles of rowing – most were completing it in 45-50 minutes! I haven’t worked out doing one thing for that long in awhile and I was nervous about puking, passing out or not being able to finish. I think this had affected my results a bit but I finished would dying or throwing up! I completed it in 68 minutes; I really slowed down for the second half as my psyche was playing tricks on me!

Tuesday I went and knew I only had three left, I asked one of the coaches which one I should do and he recommended the FRAN. I wasn't confident on how to do a Thruster so he showed me how to do it and got me set up with weight. As I started the timer and working on the 21 Thrusters I was starting to realize quickly this was going to take awhile, not even sure if I completed them I moved onto my ring rows for pull-ups. The ring rows were a bit easier but my arms were like Jello. Fast-forward to the end and now I am at 12:30 and I don’t think I even know if I did all the thrusters but I was beat!

Wednesday I set up a meeting with James to finish the snatch and the back squat – two workouts I was not comfortable doing it all on my own. We started practicing the Snatch with PVC pipe and then moved to the 15 pound barbell. I got up to 55 pounds but struggled to complete the snatch so my max weight was 45 pounds. While doing the snatch I asked James about my FRAN – when I told him that I was cleaning them every time he instantly looked puzzled! I had done them all wrong and had to re-do them!!! Moving on to the back squat I was a little stronger with this one. We practiced with the 35 pound barbell and added weight as we went. I got up to 95 pounds and lost it at the bottom of the squat – my max rep was 75 pounds! I was pretty impressed I could squat with 75 pounds of weight! J

Well I thought I was done but nope had to go back Thursday to re-do my FRAN, this time the correct way! When I showed up my friend that showed me how to do it wrong on Tuesday was there! He happened to overhear me say that I did it wrong and was re-doing it so he felt bad and helped me through the workout. He kept encouraging pushing me to get through it. I actually did 21-15-9 with 35 pounds on a barbell and ring rows! Guess what my time was . . . . . . . 7:47 I was impressed and truly pushed myself.

So there you go – this is meant more as a diary for me and if you want to continue reading about my progress then stay tuned . . . 

Starting my Journey

Where to start . . . I could go back 10-15 years and say that I should have started and committed to my health back then but it isn't worth it to reflect on the past! I have tried everything - P90X, Kettleworxs, 10 minute workouts, ect . . . I never fully committed and no one held me accountable, when it would get to hard, when i would get bored or when I didn't see results fast enough I would give up. 

I have known now for awhile that I was in the worst shape of my life and needed to make a change. It was actually over dinner at the Raindancer (in Amsterdam, NY) while eating some prime rib and fries that my friend Keith introduced me to Crossfit. Now I had heard of it before but was intimidated by the style and not sure if it was really for me. Keith stressed that crossfit is for anyone and that I should give it a shot.

I finally gave in, emailed Albany Crossfit and then got a call from one of the Coaches who had me come in to meet with them in person. I met with Jason Murphy who sold me hook, line and sinker and I was sold! I signed up for bootcamp and I again was anxious about starting. I went to my first class and we were thrown right in, learning the moves, correcting them when needed and then learning more. I did my first workout in 9:45. It was a 400m row, 15-12-9 Squats, Push Ups, Hollow Raises. I was beat – almost felt like throwing up and had to talk myself off the ledge! I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to walk the next day or how I was going to work out again the next day.  

Bootcamp went on for 5 weeks – Christmas and New Year caused it to go on an extra week. It was an amazing experience and changed my view on what I was capable of doing. I couldn’t hold a tripod the first week and was able to do one the second week, I shaved 3:15 off of the first week workout and was able to do things I never thought I could do.

This led me to sign up for the 90 day challenge through Albany CrossFit – this I will go into more details in the next post. I was so inspired by the stories and the connections I had made while there. We had a great group of people who were always so encouraging and motivating you to push harder. I am thankful for them because they kept me showing up every week and have helped to keep me motivated now! 

Crossfit truly is designed for anyone who has the drive to change their life.