No Weekend Whammies!

I did it! I made it through a full weekend without demolishing my previous week's hard work.

This past week I was a workout maniac!!!!
Monday: I did a lot of heavy olympic lifting (snatch complex: power snatch, hang squat snatch, OH squat).  I also ran through one WOD that would be in the upcoming competition...which included lots of thrusters, sprints, and pull ups.
Tuesday: I didn't go to the box, but I did run 4.5miles early in the morn, then ran another 2.5miles at the track (400s/600s intervals) while doing pushups, dips, and pistols in between each round.
Wednesday: I did a ton of gymnastics work (handstand pushups, handstand walks, and ring dips). Followed with a WOD of 10-8-6-4-2reps of Heavy Hang Snatch and 200m sprints.
Thursday: **I could tell I needed to rest as soon as the WOD started--super tired** WOD included Prowler Pushes, Reverse Burpees, KB Swings, GHD Situps (I am still feeling those today), and wall balls.
Friday: (Had every intention of taking it easy--but didn't).  I actually did two workouts; Crossfit's and OTB and back to back! LOL.  CF WOD included handstand pushups, pistols, pull-ups, deadlifts, hang cleans, and push jerks.  The OTB WOD was a partner WOD (which is why I ended up partnering with one of my clients).  We did 4x200s each, then 12 rounds of dumbbell squat cleans, push press, and renegade rows.

***Needless to say I took Saturday completely off.  And tonight I plan to jog a little at the track with my hubby and lift some light weights at the house.

As for the weekend---I fought off the whammies and WON!  I drank only water all weekend.  And I ate at my macro count all weekend too.  I did have 1/2 cup of ice cream today and 8 chips for salsa purposes yesterday but these all fit into my macro count.  I am still celebrating the fact that I stuck to the plan of water only and tracking my macros. So I call it a win, still!!

Some obstacles I overcame this weekend:
1) The hubby bought my favorite beer (Blue Moon) cos it was on sale.  I declined having even a sip. :-).
2) Friday Night Lights----and the smell of sausage on a stick, grilled burgers, or the sight of nachos and a Dr. Pepper were tempting!  But I declined and stuck with WATER!!!
3) Saturday--- Out to eat for lunch and I had fajitas with no tortillas or rice. I did allow myself 8 chips but that was my carb for the meal!
4) Saturday Night---The hubby had a glass of wine....while I had my water and pistachios!

It's not a perfect-clean weekend but considering what I usually do to sabotage my own work each weekend, I am super proud of myself.

This week I will be eating very clean and loading on some starchy carbs on Friday due to a competition on Saturday. But I will keep the macro counts the same (just a bit more starchy than I would allow normally).

It's amazing how getting through one weekend already makes you feel smaller! LOL

Self Sabotaging

I don't think there are too many middle age women that work harder than I do when it comes to working out.  I do it all! I run, I sprint, I lift, I lift heavy and alot, I go hard, I go super hard, and I have come along ways.

But what I haven't overcome YET, is the self sabotaging!  I do AMAZING when it comes to diet and exercise all week long....but then something crazy happens over the weekend.  I allow myself to cheat....and cheat way too much!

This past weekend was a long weekend.  And now that it is over, I am just mad at myself for not staying on track with the clean eating! It's a crazy cycle.  For 5-6days I do 100% great...then for 1-2days out of the week, I completely ruin it! THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!   I know exactly what to do to achieve the goals I have....but WHY do I allow myself to mess all the hard work up on the weekends.  I don't know, but it is stopping now!!!

I think it dawned on me when my husband asked me this weekend to help him get back on track.  Of course, I gave him a smart-alic (how do you spell that?) answer and said "Honey, I can't be the one responsible for your actions..... If you want it bad enough, you'll do what it takes"-------GULP! I think I said that out loud and I HEARD MYSELF!  WHAM!~!!!   That should have been directed straight to myself.  I have done the dirty work (training) for hours upon hours a week.  But I have not done the true training of will power in my diet in a long time--at least not on the weekends!  I keep thinking, "If I would have stuck to the plan two months ago....then I would have had better results now!"  UGH!

So---Todd and I are gonna try this thing together, again.  I am gonna support him as he gets back into his healthy habits (yap, he is gonna be doing my workouts too).  We are both gonna be eating right.....this will include weekends, too.  I know my progress will be noticeable if I just go hard at the diet part.  Time to get in the zone and stay in the zone!!! NO CHEATING!!!!

The plan is super simple: Meats (mainly lean meats), lots of veggies, some fruit, some nuts, little dairy, little starches, no sweets, no fried food, and no sugary drinks or alcohol.

A Balancing Act

Where have I been???? EVERYWHERE!  Church Camps, CrossFit Conference/Course, Norway, Galveston, etc.  Its been busy, crazy, and a little haywire.  But I haven't lost focus!  

On the outside, you wouldn't notice too much of a change with me.  But in the last six weeks I feel like I have made more progress than I have on this whole journey.  It's simply learning to BALANCE my new healthy lifestyle with LIFE!  I have not stayed 100% true to my healthy eating....but I can honestly say I have stayed at least 80% true to the healthy lifestyle.  I have treated myself with vacation/summer eating (meaning I have had what I wanted but without going overboard)and I have not felt guilty or upset about this at all.  I have continued my exercising no matter where I was at in the world.  I have had a blast, too.  All my hard work has paid off where I can now find freedom in treats (on vacations and such), still workout as I always do (like running in new places or hand standing at random sites) and come home and pick up where I have left off without it being a complete hassle or struggle.  THIS IS MY BALANCING ACT!!! And it's so free!!

Handstands EVERYWHERE!! LOL

Now, I haven't "lost" any weight.... in matter of fact, I have probably gained a few pounds (3# as of this morning).  But I have gotten a lot stronger, a lot quicker, a lot more powerful, and feeling good about this kind of progress.  Nope, I don't have my six pack abs---YET!  But they are coming.  Slowly and surely someday I will have them! LOL!  No, I don't have a bikini body, but I do wear my two piece proudly without hestitation.  I am realizing more and more that I am not going to have this amazing body that we all see on Instagram.  But I have an amazing body that can do amazing things.  It's thicker than I want to be...but I also know that it's very little fat and more muscle.  I prefer that trade off rather than being "skinny fat".  

SSSLLLLOOOWW Ab progress is better than no progress!

FLEX!!! WOW! Manly Mandy here! HAHA!

I am excited about the upcoming new school season.....transitioning into a new routine and a new additional (very part-time) job of training.  I have NO IDEA where this will lead.  Yes, I do have all kinds of ideas and hopes....but again, I am in transition and waiting to see where this will take me next.  I am also excited about my own training and personal focuses!! :-).

Updates on the Revised Nutrition Plan and the Recent Competition

This post is gonna be all over the place....more so than my other post! LOL!

I am about 10 days in on my new macro plan.  Less protein and more carbs....not too far off of my calorie intake I had before but definitely different that what I have been doing.  It seems to be working so far.  I am down about 3.5lbs and I can see my body starting to change again! So nice to make progress once again.  However, I have had a very TIRED week of working out.  Not sure if I am just in recovery mode after two back to back competitions...or if it's the new diet or BOTH!?!?

The nutrition coach wants me to add some grains back into my diet (oats, whole grain tortillas, brown rice, and potatoes).  I am not really liking that part.  I just don't feel that good eating these foods...so I am still keeping them to a minimal but I am adding them back in SOME.  We will continue to tweak the program until we find where my body best performs and best reacts to positive changes.

Speaking of performing.....this would be a good time to tell y'all about my most recent competition.  A lot of you are aware that I filled in for an injured girl from another box in a team competition last weekend.  I was nervous about it, as I didn't want to let some complete strangers down (which I did).

Now, before I tell y'all how bad this went....let me also start by saying that when they called, they had originally thought I would be doing all the "barbell lifting" while the other girl did all the "gymnastics" stuff.  The team members didn't realize that we ALL had to do the movements of the WOD.  So this threw our game plan from the beginning.

The competition was one of the slowest ran competitions ever! And it was full of lots of young people.  I felt very OLD here! LOL!!! My new team members were super supportive and super nice.  And the rest of the crossfit Sanctum family was great!! They were a great group and I hope to meet up with them again soon.. I may even do some Saturday workouts with them sometime since my gym doesn't offer Saturday WODing.

SO----WOD #1-  EVERY TEAM MEMBER was to do 10-8-6-4-2 pull-ups and power snatches.  These are probably the two hardest skills in crossfit (except muscle ups).  The snatch is the most complex olympic lift, too!

We originally thought I would do all the girl snatches while the other girl did all the pull ups.  But, like I said before, that was not the case.  We ALL had to do these movements.  And you couldn't move on to the next sequence until everyone completed a sequence as a team.  I knew I would need to break the pull-ups up most likely.  I have been doing about 5 at a time since post surgery.

We started and we came out super strong! Like totally strong!  We were flying thru the pull-ups and snatches like maniacs.  We were the team to beat those first sets.....until I hit a big fat wall!!!!  My first set of 10 pull-ups were totally chest over the bar pull-ups (all 10 in a row-unbroken)...same thing with my 8.  At that point I knew we were golden cos if I could do 10 and 8 unbroken- with chest OVER the bar, we were all good.!!!

****That was far from the case here.  I did 6 (broke them up cos I could tell I was wearing down a little---so three at a time).  Then when we got to four, I did ONE and then I couldn't do anymore!  I did about 15 no rep pull-ups and I couldn't get my chin over the bar...I could only get my chin AT the bar...which wasn't enough.  It was the strangest thing that I have ever encountered.  I have never done to FAILURE on an exercise before, but I believe that is what happened here.  I think I went out too fast, too hard, and too strong there at the beginning and then my body just crapped out.  I did manage to get the 4 and 2 pull-ups done, but it slowed us down BIG TIME!!!  I am pretty sure we would have been a top team in the competition if we would have been able to keep our pace up. DANG IT ME!!!

WOD #1 in action!  That second pull up rig is where I went to failure!! :-(

The second WOD (10-20-30-40-50 of double unders and KBell Swings)we were allowed to break up into partners. The other girl would do all the double unders because she said she was super good at those.  I can do them too, but knowing she was not as "strong" as me and more of the "gymnast" type, this would be a better strategy for us. (And honestly, I had been the reason we messed up on the first WOD--so I was going to do whatever they wanted to make up for it). And let me tell you, I was determined to do ALL I could to swing those KBells as fast as I could and to not STOP at all!!!

We got started on WOD 2...and guess what??  She couldn't even string more than one or two double unders at a time!!! Bless her heart! (I now know what it feels like to suddenly not be able to do something you KNOW you can do!! ) Not knowing her well enough, I didn't know if I should step in and save her.  So I waited thinking she would eventually get into her routine.  She struggled with the 10rep, 20 rep, and 30rep.  I, however, was back in beastmode (THANK GOD).  I swung that KBell awesomely and unbroken until we got to the 40 set.  She stepped in and did 10rep in the middle to give me a quick break (which we planned).  In the seven minutes we got through all 10-20-30-40-and almost through 50.  But this WOD actually put us even further behind :-(.

I will admit...there was a small part of me that was a little bit happy that I wasn't the only one that messed up!!!  UGH!  It's a terrible feeling! I really wanted to cry when it happened to me! Just terrible!!

At the time, I was so disappointed in myself for letting this team down.  But then again, I am so proud of how well I did at the beginning of the WOD.  I don't know why I crapped out when I did...maybe not enough pre-fuel, maybe two competitions back to back isn't wise, maybe I went out too hard and too strong!?!?!  I don't know if I will ever know. But I am proud that I never did give up on my pull-ups even when it took me about 20-25 no reps to get those last 3 and 2 reps.

Do I have some regrets looking back:  YES!!!  I wish I would have just reversed my grip and done strict pull-ups those last few sets.  I had a mental block and didn't remember that that would have counted, as well!!  And I wish I would have eaten more carbs the day/night before.

Was it fun? Yes!! I enjoyed being a part of a whole new gym family that day! Everyone was super nice and cool!! :-).  And I did learn from the experience!!

Will I compete again! ABSOLUTELY!!! Even more of a reason to compete now!!! But gonna rest a few weeks first! LOL!

Blind Competition Date (and feeling a little nervous)

Second Thoughts Now!!  Yes. Perhaps. Maybe?  Nervous---YES!!!

This past week I got a call from another local crossfit gym to see if I would be interested in subbing in for an injured girl for this weekend's North Texas ThrowDown Team CrossFit Competition.  The owner of this gym was actually looking for an RX competitor and a strong scaled girl competitor.  I agreed to "consider" doing the scaled....but that was because I wanted to get the facts about who I was competing with and what the competition required movements were.

After spending an evening "investigating" the individuals whom I may be teaming with (wanted to make sure I wasn't working with creepers) I was feeling a bit more comfortable with agreeing to compete.  It ends up that these teammates are friends with lots of my friends (aka mutual friends).   Four of us (two girls, two guys) will compete against other team this Saturday. **This will be my first "team competition".

WHY am I nervous!?!  Two good reasons:
1) Apparently this team is pretty good.  The males on the team seem very alpha type males (and made the finals in the Europa competition) and the other girl is supposed to be pretty good on the gymnastics type exercises (pull-ups, toes to bars and such). This is her first competition though..... I am apparently the strong girl?!?!  I just pray I am strong enough. * I pray I am not the weak link on this team! * I pray I am actually a good addition to the team.
2) It's a BLIND DATE (sort of).  I have never met these people....nor worked out with them.  They are trusting that I am good enough.  What if I am NOT!?!?

PRESSURE!!! HA!!

The first WOD is gonna be a booger. 10-8-6-4-2 or EVERY TEAM MEMBER doing 10 Power Snatches and then 10 pull-ups, then move on to 8 Power Snatches, 8 pull-ups...and so on!!!  The Power Snatches are done with 75# for the girls.  I am really wanting to go unbroken, but just not sure I can with 75#.  I can with 65# all day long....so we will see?

The second WOD isn't that bad.  Double Unders and KBell Swings. 10-20-30, etc until 7mins is up.  I think I will be the KB Swinger while she does double unders.  Either way, I will be fine on those.

ONLY IF YOU ADVANCE will you get to do the third WOD---which is 21-15-9 of 24in box jumps, toes to bar and deadliest at 155#.  I only worry about the toes to bar here. I can do them but my kipping or my cycling in between each rep is slower than I would like it to be.

So I am a bit nervous!! I may be in over my head!  I find it an honor to be called to compete for another box but I also hope I don't disappoint them.  Of course, I will fill y'all in next week on how it went!!

Say a little prayer for me!!! :-).

CrossFit Solus Competition

This past weekend was one of the funnest weekends I have had as an adult athlete!  I didn't break any crossfit records.  I didn't win any awards.  And I sure didn't look pretty doing 4 WODs:-). However, this past weekend I felt like part of the Solus Family....meeting other members, getting to know other coaches that I don't usually intern with, and just being ourselves with one another!!! GOOD STUFF!!

This past weekend my crossfit box, CrossFit Solus, put on their very first competition.  It was a partner competition and we had a very good turnout (especially considering it was our first one).  We had over 300 competitors!! The atmosphere was great! And Solus did an amazing job prepping and running the schedule.

For me, I simply enjoyed getting to know all the members and coaches much better.  Not only did we compete together (which is always fun) but we spent much time prepping and setting up together, judging other awesome athletes together, and cleaning up together.  **There is something about that "togetherness" that brings people closer!!! :-).

It was an amazing event! And a huge success all the way around!

As for my competition experience....like I said, my partner and I didn't win any top awards or break any earth shattering records, but we had fun competing and we complimented each other very well. The only thing I can complain about is our first WOD's judge.  Our judge was not counting our double unders correctly AT ALL.  And this truly started us out behind.  What was frustrating was I was on a double under row!!! I never once got tangled in my jumprope.  I was able to do 30-40 at a time before needing a quick rest....but I think my judge's counter/clicker wasn't keeping up with me.  Cos when I would count in my head...he would always come up with a completely different number (and several off).  So that was extremely frustrating to say the least. At first I thought it was just my adrenaline making MY count off but then my partner and her husband started counting too and said the judge was WAY OFF.  UGH!

The hardest part of competition was getting in 4 WODS in less than 2.5hours.  In matter of fact....our last 3 WODs were done within ONE HOUR!  Talk about having some very tired arms! WOWZERS.  Push Pressing, Pullups, and Clean and Jerks!!!

Donna and I (pull-ups, KB run, clean&jerks)

My favorite part was the clean and jerk ladder.  The ladder started at 55#s and worked up to 125# by increments of 10# (ex: 55#, 65#, 75# etc..).  You had 50 seconds at each barbell station and you had to do as many reps as possible **with only 10sec transition between each station. You could not advance to the next heavier weight IF you or your partner couldn't complete the lift within the 50sec. 

Because I can lift more than Donna, our strategy was to have her start at 55# and to crank as many reps as possible at the lower weights---to help save my energy for the heavier weights.  This seemed to workout great.  She cranked out 14reps in 50secs at 55#, I cranked out 14 reps at 65#, then as we climbed the ladder she would do as many as should could and I would jump in a finish the round when she got tired.  At 95#, she was only able to do one or two reps, so this is where I picked up the slack. **And this is where it got to be so fun for me!  You see, as you progress up the ladder, the weight gets heavier but you'r ealso getting more tired from the previous reps.  And seldom do many actually complete the ladder.  So as your advance towards the end, the crowd gets louder and each rep gets harder and more tasking.  I am happy to report I was able to crank out several reps at 95, 105, and 115.  And yes, I complete the last ladder at 125#--three times!!! BOOM!!!  This made my day!!! 

**My max clean and jerk is 135.  My max jerk (from the rack) is 155.  But to still do 125 a few times after several previous reps at lower weights is still an accomplishment!!

Ignore the strong woman face! YIKES! LOL

There is nothing like having a crowd of people (strangers, fellow competitors, or friends) cheering you on.  This is what makes crossfit so fun!  Everyone is so supportive of each other!  :-).  It's a different competitive experience than any other!!

Now for a some BLOOPERS!!!  Of course, I had to be the one involved in it and my husband just happen to snap this picture to capture the moment! LOL.

This pic below is the WOD in which partner one (me) ran a 300 with a 26#KB while partner 2 (Donna) did 30pushups.  Once we got done, we had to crank out as many pull-ups as we could.  This pic is of an accident with me and another girl.  As we took off from our marked boxes inside, she decided to cut right in front of me---and right when we were both exiting the building.  As you can see, I have no where to go because I am right by the doorway.  Her foot gets tangled with mine and she went down HARD!!!  It was scary at first, cos I was so afraid that I was either 1)gonna step on her  OR 2)fall with my KB on her.  Luckily, she jumped up quickly and finished the WOD.  Funny thing is.....even though we started out in the back of the pack due to the collision, we finished first and second in the run!!! LOL!  

Zoom in on my facial expression!! HA

My facial expression in the pic is priceless...and now looking back, we can't help but to laugh about it!!!  FYI---the girl was bruised up but she was fine!!!  THANK GOODNESS!!

It was a great day!!! Great weekend! And my body is super sore even two days later!!!  But I am happy to be back at it and look forward to many more competitions ahead!!! ***Next competition I am going RX!!! YIKES!!!

The Hungry Girl In Me

Two weeks of successfulling (is that a word?) waking at 4:15am.  Co-coaching at 5, 6, and 7am and WODing and lifting afterwards.  I have also been counting my macros again to get back on track.  I have been doing GREAT!!!  But I am HUNGRY! 

With the new schedule I am waking at 4:15am and having a shakeology with added protein and spinach.

Before my own workout class I have a half of an energy bar.

After workout class, I drink my protein drink on the way home (around 9am).

Then I come home and have my real meal (breakfast or brunch).

Just this part of my day I am eating a great deal of my calories---leaving me little for the rest of my day.   And I need these calories though....  Usually by 5pm, I am topped off calorie wise!

So now I have a dilemma!?!?  Do I up my calories on coaching days!?!?  Or do I just suffer well through it!?!?  

I don't have an answer just yet. Still trying to figure it out.

I just know I am HUNGRY! LOL

On the days that I do not coach and just WOD at my normal 7 or 8am time, I do fine.  It's just those extra early hours on the days I coach that seem to get to me!!!

Obviously, I have some tweaking to do with my diet on these longer days.  *Just part of the process:-)

***Now totally off topic!  This weekend I am excited to be back in competition mode!  I didn't know 9 weeks ago if I would be able to compete this soon after surgery, but I am happy to report, I am good to go!!!! This past week I have been back to my normal self...lifting heavy, maxing out, and going at 100% intensity.   I feel great.  I even had the doctor give me one more look over to ok me for competition.

This weekend I will be competing again.  I did register for the "scaled" version since I was unsure of how quickly I would rebound....(kind of wished I would have RXed it) but scaled or not, I am excited to be back at it!!! 

I will be reporting later this weekend or early next week on how the competition went!!!

PEACE OUT!