Just for the record

I still cannot hardly walk. Omg!!

Intro Class DONE!

Showed up for my intro class this morning and was pleasantly surprised that the coach and other person taking the class with me were there early as well. Started with a tour of the box and general explanation of what we were going to be doing today.

The warmup/stretching time we did for about 20ish min, even after doing martial arts consistently for over a year now I found they had better techniques for getting my hips to open up and got a much better stretch. I can see already how this will help me in my martial arts classes with my kicks.

After that we took some time to learn how to use wall balls, kettle bells and do a proper pushup. Sure. I got this, not that difficult. Our coach took us to the board and showed us how the workouts are listed each week and what they mean. Then he wrote our workout on the board.

7-Wall Ball
14 - Kettle bell swings
7 - pushups
6 minutes

Initially I didn't think this would be too difficult to do either, average 2 min per thing...I can do anything for 6 min. Silly newbie. This is crossfit after all, not a lazy day! By my 3rd round I was really starting to get the idea on how this works. By my 5th rotation my arms had started shaking and the pushup started to feel impossible. Our coach yelled that we had 60 seconds left and I heaved that wall ball up as hard as I could, squatting as low as I could get, suddenly those 8lb balls felt like a ton of bricks!

Whew we made it! This is no joke. I love it. I love the intensity, the challenge, the fact that you can push your body to exhaustion that quickly. I love that today I find it difficult but next week I might be able to do it better, and the next week I will do even better than that.

I signed up right away for my On-Ramp session which starts in a week. It will be 2 weeks of classes to teach me what I need to know about the movements that we do in class.

6 min. Exhaustion. My arms are still shaking 3 hours later. Awesome.

I get it. I understand now. I am hooked!

Your going to do what??

A lot of people have been asking me why I want to try CrossFit. Wondering why I would want to “waste so much time” or get involved in something new again.

Here are a few of my thoughts on that.

1.       I used to be a very good athlete. College scholarship for track-3 years, played in softball world series- twice, played sports my whole life, hockey player, martial artist

2.       I am your average athletic build, which means I can put on muscle or fat pretty easy. And it doesn’t go far. So I retain my muscles years after doing anything with them but the fat doesn’t just “fall off” when I eat good or half ass a workout.

3.       Although I love to sweat and love to work hard, I absolutely suck at pushing myself. This is probably why I loved the Army so much, they would tell me what to do and I just did it.

4.       I need the community of support. I will not lie and try to say that I can do this alone, that I would rather be alone. But when I watch the videos and hear about what a great support they give each other. I want that. No. I need that!

5.       I want to look good. I want to feel good. I want to someday, be able to do my workout in a sports bra and shorts.  I know that sounds a little egotistical but I can’t help it, I have never been the super fit girl that was comfortable in her own skin. Ever.

6.       I want someone to look at me and say if she can do it so can I.

7.       I want to inspire myself to be better than I was yesterday.

8.       I want to prove that I can. Prove that I will not give up on myself this time.

9.       I want my partner to look at me and go “wow”

10.   I owe it to myself.

I want to be seen again. I know that sounds funny, but I want people to really SEE me. I want someone to look at me with that love in their eyes and a glimmer of more. I want to be looked at like I am something to look at. I want to be worthy of that type of look. 

Right now I blend into a crowd, I am not memorable  I am not pretty with beautiful features, I am nothing special. 

I want to be. 

New day, new adventure

Well I have decided that I am going to check out CrossFit. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what CrossFit is please watch:

So I made the call the other day and schedule my free intro session with a local 'box' near my house. I get little goosebumps when I watch the above video. I want to engage in activities that will change my life. This is a group activity but individual effort. I like the idea that I get to push myself to the limit every time I work out.

I have bad habits when it comes to working out. I will get into it for a bit, find my stride for a bit, and then get bored, and I am done. This is why I am not "allowed" to sign contracts for anything because I will stop well before then. So I am my own worst enemy.

Now it is time to take my inner fire, with their ability to coach, put on my big girl pants and sweat it out.

Check out CrossFit Women

I plan to use this blog as a journal on my journey. Pictures, video maybe, and thoughts on the process.
Buckle up!

Day 2

Here we are at day 2 so far..last whole foods eaten on Friday night at 6pm. Doing good so far, not to say this has been a piece of cake..mmm cake. Saturday I had to make 2 trips to the grocery store because I need to grab a few more things. That was certainly a challenge for me, I forced myself to stay up front in the fruits and veggies only so I wouldn't be tempted by anything I saw. Last night we were out running errands (I had packed 2 of my juices so I had plenty of nutrients for myself) but the person with me wanted Culvers. Rather than let that into the vehicle I just sat outside while she went in to eat her meal.

There are times my mind does dwell on what I could be having and what I think I want. But this is a mental thing as much as a physical one. I won't say that I am not hungry because there is a level of hunger there but I am not sure if this is true hunger or just what my mind is telling me. It certianly does not help that I am smelling chicken and rice right now...and being reminded that THEY have to eat and I CHOOSE to do this....yeah not helping...

It is a challenge at home, being the only one doing this detox. The smells of food cooking and then being asked to cook something is difficult. Sometimes I wonder if this was a good idea.

But when I start to wonder that I just remind myself that this is only for 7 days - anyone can do anything for 7 days. I can reset my mind and body to make better choices. I CHOOSE to do this. I can do this!

Day 1 begins tomorrow

Tomorrow I begin my juice cleanse, or detox. I am so ready and excited...I also wonder if I will have the ability to stick on the course. I wonder if I will have the mental motivation to overcome my food and sugar addictions/urges.

Here are some of the documentaries that I have been watching:

• Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
• Hungry For Change
• Forks Over Knives

I also have a list of ones I want to watch yet:

• Tapped
• Killer at Large
• King Corn
• Frankensteer
• Fed Up
• Ingredients
• Food Matters

Just in the last week I have ready 3 books about juicing, diet and sugar addiction. It's eye opening what is in the products that people eat. It's almost scary what is in the food we consider healthy. How many things do we ingest because we have been told we need them when in reality it just lines the pockets of certain groups??

It's amazing when I started talking about what I am doing I found friends of mine that watched the same documentaries and were doing the same cleanse I am doing AT THE SAME TIME!!! It's amazing! 

Get educated!

What are the steps?

Eat eggs, eggs are bad. All protein & no carb. Balanced 40/30/30 plan. What is right? Every diet guru is selling you something, their interpretation of healthy, oh and they are trying to make a buck or two. I get so frustrated with being pulled in so many directions only to feel that I know less than before & I am stuck in the same miserable spot.

A few documentaries found their way to me while being snowed in for storm Draco. Ironically they both spoke of the health benefits of juicing. Now, before you scream in frustration let me share some thoughts. They spoke of always starting a "diet" on Monday & although you were unhealthy on Sunday suddenly Monday you feel deprived. This is me to a T. We start to focus on what we can't have. Rather than retraining our minds to think that we CAN have it, but we CHOOSE not to. Part of the problem is that we do not accept the fact that for days before we were accepting lots of junk into our system without thinking twice, and now we think that chocolate cravings will kill us.

I have come to understand that I am a sugar addict. I have zero actual sugar in my house, I gave up all soda a year ago, how can this be? We. I do eat bread, I have creamer in my coffee, I add flavoring to the 64oz of water I consume a day. I like things sweet. I will never turn down a good cookie, I enjoy frosting on cake, I will secretly pick up something sweet when I stop somewhere alone. That sounds like addict to me.

I never thought I could give up a soda, the chemically altered, drink I was fond of. After all I did like diet soda so that was okay right? Turns out that diet soda is designed to make you want more & actually increases weight!!

To start 2013 off on a good note I am going to embark on my quest to conquer sugar. To begin I am going to do a juicing cleanse. I am starting with 7 days but we will see if I end up doing 14 or even 21 days. This will also be a period of time away from my beloved coffee. I will be honest that scares me more than juicing for a week or more! I know this is part mental and part physical because I need to clean my body & mind of the toxins I have invested for 35 years.

After the cleanse is done I will be back to clean eating again because that makes me feel much better.

I am going around tomorrow to check price/quality/variety of the fruits & veggies. What a great way to kick off the week! I will share my experiences on here & I look forward to a great year ahead!