It’s Now or Never

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About a month ago, a few people from my box decided to do a team CrossFit competition. As they were putting the team together I toyed with the idea of doing it but I didn’t feel like I was “ready” to compete. So I declined.

I want to compete…eventually. When everything is just right. You know, like when I’ve reached my 100 pound goal, then made it to 160, then when my knees are better, when I can do a handstand push-up, and when I find just the right competition for me.  In reality all those things are never going to line up just right and it was an excuse for me to keep putting it off. I have a competitive streak that runs pretty deep in me. (I’m pretty sure that’s where Lauren gets her “Eye of the Tiger.”) I walk up to the whiteboard everyday and look at the numbers and time my fellow CrossFitter’s put up and see who I can beat. I also keep track of my own personal WOD’s and try to beat my own times. I’ve never felt like I was ready to compete outside the safety of my own box.

Today one of the competitors had to drop out of the CF competition on Saturday. There was no one else to do it on such short notice. I guess fate stepped in to tell me I’m ready to compete whether I think I am or not.

http://californiaaffiliateleague.com/

It’s just another WOD. (Well 3…all in one day actually but you get it.) It’s now or never.

The Final Countdown

When my “Testimonial” was published in the CrossFit Journal I felt really proud of myself. I’ve come a long way. I’ve learned a lot about health and fitness. I have 5-6 pounds left to hit my 100 pound weight loss goal. The one problem is…I have been at that 5-6 pound mark for quite some time.

I went to dinner and the Colbie Caillat concert with 2 amazing beautiful CrossFit woman on Friday night. We talked a lot about CF of course. My friend Sarah asked me a really raw and important question. “What are you going to do to lose the last 5-6 pounds?” It struck me at that moment that I needed a plan. I can’t keep doing what I’m doing because it’s not producing much (if any) weight loss at all.

It’s time to change-up the plan. Nothing like a quiet Sunday night to get me motivated to plan the start of a new week. I’ve figured out the key! The magic is in the journal. Yes, the journal. I used one faithfully for almost a year when I first started. I counted every calorie and knew exactly where I was and how hard I needed to work out. But lately, I’ve just been winging it. Guessing. When I’m hungry I eat. I don’t eat very much junk but I have noticed that I am eating a greater quantity than I used to of regular food. I allow myself to eat a lot of the good stuff because I work out so hard. Some days I am as hungry as T-Rex. But when all is said and done…I have learned that I have to create a deficit of calories in order to lose weight. Even if I eat the most perfect Paleo diet, if I eat too many calories I will be putting weight on. So I dusted off my old journal and sharpened my pencil. I’m headed into the kitchen now to hard boils some eggs, portion out some almonds and prepare for the week ahead. With any luck, I’ll hit my 100 pound weight loss at the weigh in on Friday.

Sarah, Myself and Tiffany at the Fox Theater.

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My CrossFit Testimonial

To say that CrossFit has changed my life is an understatement. It might even sound a little overdramatic to some people. But to those of us who love CrossFit, it’s completely understandable.

I was a moderately fit and athletic young person, but because of health problems and life in general, I spent the better part of my 30’s 100+ pounds overweight. I was married, had 2 children and was just getting by on a daily basis. I finally hit “rock bottom” one hot summer day at Sea World. I was so heavy my knees were hurting and I was a sweaty mess.  I went to the rental counter to rent an electric scooter. All of a sudden, I realized that I was so fat and miserable I was actually going to rent a scooter. I was beyond disgusted with myself.  The next day, embarrassed and unsure, my friend Jena (AKA G.I. Jena) and I walked into a Globo gym and signed up for a membership and personal training. I didn’t know it then, but my life was about to change.  I was so lucky to be paired with Mando. At first I was sure he was too quiet and that I’d be able to get away with being a slacker. I thought I’d be doing leg lifts on the machine or walking on a treadmill. But he had me doing crazy things. “You want me to carry this medicine ball up and down the stairs how many times?”  I had never once in my life even touched a loaded barbell and there I was lifting it over my head. One day I asked him why all the other trainers put their clients on machines and I had to lunge around the gym with dumb bells above my head. He just said, “CrossFit.” I went home and Googled it and thought there was no way I could be doing what these people were doing. Certainly I was too old and overweight.

About 6 months after starting with Mando at the gym, he had the opportunity to be part of his own CrossFit gym. Without hesitation I cancelled my gym membership and went with him. Over the last 2 years, CrossFit (and Mando) have  transformed my mind and body from an unhappy, frumpy, overweight, stay at home mom to some sort of super hero who can do just about anything. (At least that’s how I feel.) With over 90 pounds gone and the strength of an Amazon woman, I feel like a whole new person and I love it. I never knew I could love Olympic lifting so much. And each time I PR on something I think about the old me and how far I have come. An important moment came about 3 weeks ago when we were trying for our 1 rep max deadlift. I PR’d at 272 pounds. The number 272 made me emotional because 272 pounds was how much I weighed when I started this journey. To lift that heavy weight up and feel the burden it put on my whole body as I lifted it, just resonated through my mind about how far I’ve come.

Sometimes I wish I hadn’t wasted so much of my 30’s being fat and unhappy. But regret won’t get me anywhere. Instead, I am focusing on my 40’s and hoping to be able to compete in CrossFit Masters competitions some day. I still have a lot of CF skills to master and I look forward to reaching all my goals. “Thank You” to CrossFit, Mando, Ivan and all my amazing friends at RC CrossFit.  www.rccrossfit.com A special note to all women who think they are too fat, too old, too weak, too out of shape to walk through the doors and try CrossFit…There’s a super hero inside you trying to get out.

Has it really been 5 months since my last post?

Wow…sorry it’s been so long. To say I’m busy is an understatement. Here’s the run down. I put on a few pounds. I wasn’t being careful with my calories. As of now I have 10 pounds to lose until I reach that 100 pound mark. (Geez just get it over with will ya?!)

Lauren, my wonderful, amazing and talented daughter is a little girl with big dreams. She is really gifted in the sport of swimming and I do all I can to help her reach those goals. In between being a wife and mother, teaching part-time, home schooling, and of course CrossFit, I manage to get her to and from private coaching, team training and swim meets. Whew. I need to go to bed.

Getting Fat is Easy, Getting Fit is Not.

CrossFit workouts are not all the same. Some days I’m on top of my game and feel amazing. Other days it’s all I can do just to get there. Some WOD’s push me emotionally, especially a Hero WOD. I always feel sad and emotional over the fact that the WOD I’m doing is named after someone who died protecting my freedom. I never complain during a Hero WOD and usually end up in tears at some point because it’s always really hard. Today we did Josh as our Hero WOD. 21 Overhead squats at 65 lbs, then 42 pull ups….then 15 OHS and 30 pull ups….then 9 OHS and 18 pull ups. I am starting to like a good overhead squat and I am getting better at my pull ups. So doing this WOD as prescribed was exciting to me. I started out strong. Then at pull up 40 on my first round my hands tore. I finished the last 2 and went on to OHS. When I came back to the bar for round two (30 pull ups) I started with the negative mental talk. The first question in my head was…”Why do I do this to myself?”  “Really? Do I really need to tear up my hands to get in a calorie burn and workout? No. So why do I do that?”

I grabbed the bar and kept going. Most normal people stop when something hurts. Most people stop when the callous on their hand rips open and bleeds. But I couldn’t stop. 18 months ago…the 96lbs. heavier Lisa would have stopped. Given up for sure. I had a great pattern of starting and quitting things. One of the reasons I spent the better part of 10 years 100+ pounds over weight. It would have been easy just to walk away from the pull up bar and say “I’m done, this hurts, I quit.”

There was  a quiet moment when I didn’t even hear the music or the people cheering me on. And I thought to myself… if I quit now then I might as well go back to being the old me. Getting fat is easy, getting fit is not. I am a new person now. I finish what I start no matter how uncomfortable it might be. So with torn up bloody hands I just did them. One pull up at a time. I didn’t even have a tear to shed this time as I usually do when a WOD gets tough and painful.

After Josh, I answered my own question. Why do I do that?

1. I do it because I am finally able to.

2. I do it because I am not a quitter.

3. I do it because I feel like a bad ass when I am done.

4. I do it because I don’t want a DNF by my name.

5. I do it because Mando has this “way” of making my know I can.

6. I do it because I finish what I start.

7. I do it because I have lost 96 pounds and I’m not going to stop now.

The list could go on and on….

P.S. Looking for volunteers to help me wash my hair for the next few days.

In Case Anyone is Counting

Forgive me WordPress, but it’s been 2 months since my last blog. (I’m not even catholic) 

I’m in the middle of swim season with my kids and we are crazy busy right now. I just wanted to update you and let everyone know that I have 4 pounds left to lose to get to my 100 pounds weight loss goal. Almost there!!!! Seems like the end is taking longer. I am hoping at the end of July to be there. Wish me luck!

The Home Stretch

Today I stepped on the scale. I hadn’t gotten on in about 4 days. I was down another pound! I am officially in the home stretch. I have 9 pounds left to lose to get to the 100 pound goal. It feels so great to know I am that close. However, I also know this means there will be a fight. These last pounds are not coming off easily. I can tell that my body is “OK” where it’s at. I don’t look fat and I am able to do so many things I never thought I could. My clothes fit good. A size 10/12 is the average American woman size, right? But I am not listening to my body this time because I know I am right. It’s time for these 9 pounds to come off and not come back.

I wanted to share this picture. I love my CrossFit family. It will really bonds people together when you go through a tough workout together and survive. This work out was 21-15-9 of pull ups and squat snatches at 65 pounds. Mando our coach took this picture. Me in the middle of pull ups and Jena and Amber at different stages of the squat snatch. 

My Drug of Choice

I have read many articles about comparing carbohydrates to drugs. I am now convinced I need to check myself into the Betty Crocker Clinic. Hi my name is Lisa and I’m a carb junky.

I spent this whole last week trying to stick to Paleo. And I did…for the most part. There has to be something wrong in my head because carbs really have a hold on me. I don’t mean carbs from vegetables and fruit. I mean carbs like bread, pasta, rice…oh and Easter candy.  I did really well on Paleo this week. I had a 5 pound weight loss, which is 2.5% of my body weight. (Jim showed me how to calculate my % of weight loss.) I am really happy with those results. It puts me 12 pounds away from my 100 pound goal. Here is my question: How can I feel this good and be so happy about losing this much weight and still have the overpowering urge to eat something I know is bad for me?

Well, week 2 of Paleo might be a little tougher. We are camping for a week. Although I still buy healthy food, there are some things that are a camping must in  my family. For example, smores, hot chocolate, chips and dips, and extra kid snacks. I loaded up the trailer with my good stuff but after a couple of cocktails the ability to resist is harder and harder. I plan on doing a lot of bike riding and I might even visit a local CrossFit gym while there. Now if I could only motivate my camping friends to join me I would be more motivated! (Wendy are you reading this???)

Here is an article that talks about carbs and how they are addictive and bad for us. It’s not too long and really worth reading. http://www.theironyou.com/2011/03/carbs-ultimate-enemy.html

Do you know how to calculate your percent of weight loss? Here you go…

lbs. lost divided by your starting weight=(That Number) times 100

Paleo Re-Start

Hi. It’s been a while. My life was temporarily taken over by Girl Scouts. Lauren reached her goal of 2,000 boxes of cookies. As of Monday I was freed of that extra responsibility. Then we got rid of the “extra” dog we had. I spent the week cleaning, organizing and getting life back in order.

We decided to do another Paleo challenge at CFR. I made a menu of sorts. I will try to link it to my blog. Let me know if you want to try it with me. I am starting it tomorrow. Even though I sort do Paleo about 75% of the time. I will restart with a new challenge. It’s always motivating.

 

CFR 30 Day Paleo Challenge Week 1

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks	Shopping List: (always organic when possible) Bacon                                             EggsCan of tuna in water                    Salad greensFish                                                 Fresh fruit Jerky                                               Fresh veggies Ground beef                                  Avocado Chicken sausage                           Romaine Lettuce Frozen cooked and peeled shrimp Chicken breast                              Baby carrots Turkey meat                                  Onion Beef roast                                      Mushrooms Steak                                              Butternut Squash Rotisserie chicken                        Banana Walnuts                                         Celery Almonds Jerky Almond butter Dairy Free salad dressing
Monday	Bacon, eggs and a piece of fruit	Mixed Greens Salad with Tuna	Grilled fish and steamed veggies	JerkyWalnutsSliced oranges
Tuesday	Left over fish and walnuts	Protein Style Hamburger	Bar-B-Q Kabobs(grilled meat and veggies on a stick)	Hard Boiled eggalmonds
Wednesday	Leftover chicken and avocado	Shrimp Salad	Grilled Chicken with steamed Veggies	Sliced avocadofruit
Thursday	Chicken sausage and egg scramble	Lettuce wraps with turkey and avocado	Paleo Pot Roast in the Crockpot	Apple and almond butterSliced Oranges
Friday	2-3 Hard Boiled Eggs with almonds	Leftover Pot Roast	Bar-B-Q  Hamburgers protein style with butternut squash French fries	Jerky AlmondsCelery w/ Almond butter
Saturday	Scrambled eggs with salsa	Shrimp and avocado salad	Steak and steamed Veggies	WalnutsFruit
Sunday	Paleo Pancakes and Bacon	Lettuce Wraps with turkey and avocado	Rotisserie chicken and salad	Apples and almond butter

NO – Dairy, bread, pasta, rice, gluten, processed food or sugars

Recommended Reading- The Paleo solution by Robb Wolf and The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain

http://robbwolf.com/

http://everydaypaleo.com/

Emotional Muscle

When ever I have a rough week emotionally, it shows in my workout. This week I had to make some tough decision about my job and life was just really busy in general. Monday morning I almost skipped out of going to CrossFit. But something told me I’d better go. About half way through the workout I started to cry. I kept on going and after the WOD was over I walked out and just let it all out. It felt good. Then Wednesday’s WOD was perfect for me. All heavy lifting and rowing so I sailed through it and felt like a million bucks. Then once again, life got really busy on Friday and I missed the a.m. WOD. Jim decided he would take the kids to swimming for me. I almost didn’t go to the 7:30 class but I finished a bunch of work stuff so I headed over.  It was the worst WOD I have done in a really long time. It was a variation of “The Filthy Fifty” with 4 burpees on the top of every minute for the entire time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvOLGsMumO0 I was the only one in the 7:30 class. (Juan came in about half way through and did it with me. Thanks Juan!) I really thought that this was going to be the first WOD that I would fail to complete. I had so many dumb things going through my head. “Why the hell would I do this to myself?- I’m too old- I look stupid doing these burpees” and various other self-doubt mantra.  I felt like throwing up and crying at the same time. Then on the last set (50 double unders) I realized I was almost done. It clicked that even though this took me almost 1 hour to finish (53:35 I think.) I had finished. How many once obese, 40 year olds can do what I just did? So then all the self-doubt turned in to pride. People wonder why the hell I would do this kind of work out. Why I would voluntarily put myself through all this agony. I don’t know if I can put it in words to make a person understand. There is something to be said about being able to lift 125 lbs. over my head repeatedly. Completing the most daunting work out gives me a sense of accomplishment. I like to be broke down and built back up. CrossFit keeps me humble and focused.

This week not only did I build muscle, but I built emotional muscle as well.