Day 33: Another Mile Stone

Sometimes I get down and don’t really feel like I have much to say. I end up not blogging and then I wish I would have once I’ve gone to bed. That’s how I can be with getting to the box in the morning. This morning I felt blah. Everyone woke up late. I wasn’t in the mood for whatever reason. Maybe it was the Monday blues. But on the way home from swimming this evening I looked at the clock on my dashboard and something clicked. I thought, “If I hurry I can make the 7:30 class at CrossFit.” I ran in, told Jim what to feed the kids, changed clothes and headed out.

So glad I went tonight. It was a very…uncomfortable sort of workout. Heavy weight but I liked it. I did it RX’d and complained all 21 of my 95 pound squat cleans. After the WOD my favorite person Tiffany showed up. I decided to hang around for a bit.

Last week Mando challenged all the woman in the gym. He said that anyone who could get a legit pull-up by January 2nd could program any workout they wanted for him to do. Since I already can do my pull-up he told  me if I could get up the rope I could program a workout for him as well. I have been trying to get up that rope for quite a few weeks. In fact, it’s my December goal. Well tonight I did it. Twice just to make sure it was legit. Have the picture to prove it.

I am really glad I didn’t skip out on my daily medication of CrossFit. I am glad I gathered the energy and made the decision to go cause if I didn’t I wouldn’t have this CF mile stone to cherish. I heart CrossFit Riverside. Thanks Mando.

Day 25: Pick myself up and get back on…again.

Somehow forgot to weigh in on Thanksgiving. So I decided to just wait another week. I hoped letting 2 weeks go by would show me some great numbers on the scale. However, I was wrong. This morning I weighed in 2 pounds heavier than my previous weigh in 2 weeks ago. Back to 190. Embarrassed a little to write this.  I know I didn’t blog everyday. But I stuck with Paleo pretty well with Thanksgiving and a taco night as an exception.

I was telling my friend Tammy a few nights ago, that I feel bitter or irritated at this whole weight loss thing. I went the last couple of weeks just living life. Eating clean, working out, having a beer or a taco. I never indulged in an entire pie or milkshake or anything crazy. I gain 2 pounds living life. I get so mad over that. I don’t want to live each day measuring food, eating 6 almonds and an apple, counting every carb and calorie. It’s exhausting. I think about every piece of food I put in my mouth. It’s a sick obsession. But once again, as I’ve done so many times before, I will start again.

I have a few fellow PCOS gals who follow me. And I think they will understand it best. I have always said we aren’t the same as others when it comes to weight loss. We have to be more patient and work harder. Our bodies metabolism is really different. I will try not to get frustrated at myself, I’m still better than I was at 272 pounds. Maybe that last 20 isn’t really the last 20. Maybe I’m done and I’m not meant to lose 100 pounds. I don’t know. For now I will go eat my paleo breakfast, pack my paleo lunch and plan my paleo dinner.

Day 23: Totally Rad Saturday

This was my kind of day! Jim took both kids with him to his dog training class. That freed me up to hop on my Cannondale. Oh how I missed her. I hadn’t ridden in almost 2 weeks. I packed workout clothes with me and took off to CrossFit for the Saturday class. I missed the Oly lifting class so I just warmed up and got ready for the WOD. It was some sort of PMS Fran. Run then 21 double unders, 21 thrusters @ 45lbs. and then 21 pull-ups…then run and 15 and run and 9. Killed me. I think the long uphill bike ride and the 6 straight days of CF made me all slow and weak. I only did the first 21 pull-up then after that I used the yellow band. I might still be there if I hadn’t used the band. Then I ate something and got back on my bike and rode home. Bike ride is 18.9 miles round trip. My triathlon is only a few short weeks away so it was a good ride. After I got home we (Jim and I) started cleaning and organizing the garage. After that is was time to get ready and go to an engagement dinner for some friends at Red Robin. I ate good…I promise. To me this is a pretty great day. Hard work out and ride, hanging at home cleaning and organizing then out to dinner. Not too shabby. tomorrow I am not doing any workout at all. I need some recovery time. I have been sore in so many places this week. Can’t wait to go to bed!

Also invented a great meal. Or at least I think it is. It is my power food. All organic…zuchinni, carrots, white onion all chopped up. Sweat them in a bit of olive oil in a sauce pan. Add 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups chicken broth. Cook down and right before it’s done add shrimp or cooked chicken. I make this about twice a week and pack it in storage containers. Then I always have good food no matter what. I am not sure where quinoa falls in the Paleo diet plan. But it is an ancient grain and it full of protein. Today I added avocado and ate it cold. MMMMMM!

Breakfast: Coffee, hard-boiled egg and banana

Snack: quinoa with shrimp, almonds and apricots

Lunch: Quinoa with shrimp and half an avocado

Snack: 4 tangerines

Dinner: Apple Walnut Chicken salad from Red Robin. No cheese and dressing on the side. It was a vinaigrette sort of dressing.

Random thought running through my brain right now:

Have you ever felt tired where you feel heavy and slow? That’s exactly how I felt. I was doing my double unders and I just couldn’t get more than 3 in a row because I was having trouble getting my toes off the ground. And I love thrusters and can do them at a  much higher weight than 45 lbs. But today it felt like it was 145 lbs. I just think it’s weird. A couple of days ago I had wings on my feet and I was rockin the WOD’s and today I crashed and burned. Was it my Turkey day feast of bad food, long bike ride, too many days of CF? Or maybe a little of all of the above?

Day 22: Turkey and 6 straight days of CrossFit

Keeping up with the blog is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Some days are so busy I just don’t have time. But overall this week has been great. I have managed to get to the box 5 days in a row and I will be there in the morning as well. That means 6 straight days of CF and I am so freaking sore I can hardly get out of bed. I know I need to give my body time off to heal. However, going this many days in a row doesn’t happen very often. I wish I could always make it on Tuesday and Thursday evenings but it is impossible with swim team.

I really pigged out on Thanksgiving and it made me feel sick most of the day. Good lesson. Today I ate normal except for the piece of pumpkin pie and 1 slice of homemade bread I cooked for the kids today. Tomorrow back on track with  my Paleo plan. I already cooked up some chicken and veggies and put them in containers so I have a meal on the go. Also, I have been downing the water all day trying to flush the bad food out of my system.

I forgot to weigh in on Thursday and then I forgot today too. I think I will just wait till next Thursday to do it. Going to bed early tonight because I am so wrecked and sore I need to sleep. Night!

Day 17:Living Life as RX’d

I’ve seen the shirts. “Live Life as Prescribed.” But I only recently got it. For so long I have been doing CrossFit with modifications to the WOD. Meaning I couldn’t do a movement as prescribed so it was modified for me. I never really knew if I could even do any of the crazy things that were sometimes written on the white board. Most of the time I was really happy just to finish a workout still alive even if I was th e last to finish. But there has been a sort of renaissance in me where I am starting to think that maybe I can actually do some of these WOD’s prescribed. I remember over a year ago I barely had the strength in my hands to hold on to the bar. Mando would have me practice just hanging and holding on. I went from jumping pull ups, to using 2 thick bands, 1 thick band, 1 skinny yellow and then today….I did a whole WOD without the bands. 25 pull ups in 5 sets of 5 with out the use of a band. I am legit. I can do pull ups. (Look out Fran!) So maybe life at 40 years old won’t be so bad after all…especially if I am living life as RX’d.

Breakfast: Coffee, hard-boiled egg

Snack: Apricot and Almond bar, quinoa with shrimp.

Lunch: a whole pineapple. (Why do I have such a crazy craving for it?)

Dinner: quinoa with veggies and shrimp, glass of wine and about 5  samll pieces of dark chocolate.

This week I will end up doing CrossFit every day this week except Tuesday. I plan on going in early on Thursday to get my Turkey Day WOD in then Friday to make up for all I eat on Thanksgiving. A lot to be thankful for.

Day 15: Unfinished Business- Me VS. The Rope

I walked out of the box today with some unfinished business. For those of you who do not understand some of my CrossFit lingo. There are these big thick ropes handing from the ceiling at CrossFit Riverside. They are about 20 feet long, maybe more. A lot of the workouts we do incorporate rope climbing into them. I have never been able to do it at all. But I have watched some technique videos on-line and really tried to pay attention to the coaches and how they explain it. First attempt two weeks ago was an embarrassment. But today, I was really close to getting all the way up the rope. Now as I sit here and think about it I think it was all in my head. How can I get so far up, well over half way, and not get to the top? It must me in my head. I had excuses like my hands hurt, I already worked out so I was tired, blah blah blah. It only takes like 5 pulls up since I am so tall. I am disappointed in myself for stopping. But there is always another day. On the bright side…I felt like a rock star doing the WOD today. I felt fast. Which is weird for me because I am not at all fast. Strong yes, but not fast.

Breakfast: Coffee, OJ, Protein Shake.

Snack: hard-boiled egg and a peach ice tea

Lunch: Chicken Breast from Goodwin’s with a bunch of steamed veggies. I think this was the 3rd time this week.

Snack: a Bolthouse Farms Strawberry Banana fruit smoothie. No dairy in this one.

Dinner: I roasted a beautiful organic chicken. Served it with some zucchini cooked in a little bit of olive oil and a salad. Lauren made smoothies for dessert. I drank almost all of mine and then she said she put yogurt in it. Oh well, a little yogurt won’t kill me.

Went to my friend Tiffany’s art debut at the Art museum. Passed up going out for dinner and drinks because I knew I wouldn’t be able to control my food intake and I always have too many drinks. Plus, I already ate dinner. So it’s very unlike me to pass up an evening out. But it was a good exercise in self-control and discipline. Can’t wait for my Oly class and Saturday Wod in the morning! Night.

Day 14: Weigh in Day

I was really looking forward to weigh in day today. Not many people can say that. I just feel so good after only 3 days of doing 100% Paleo. I wondered if the camping trip might have messed me up since I was eating more and having a beer or two.

So I stepped on the scale and it read 188. That is 3 pounds down from last week. A total of 4 pounds in 2 weeks. I think that is pretty darn good. It’s not Biggest Loser huge numbers. But for an average person doing in on my own…not bad. So 16 pounds to go. If I can lose 2 pounds a week I can be done in only 8 weeks. But I know I will have a set back or two along the way. Heck, I am taking on this big weight lose challenge during the worst time of the year. From Thanksgiving  till after New Years all people do is eat.

Had good food intake today, with only a slight hitch at dinner.

Breakfast: Coffee, Protein Shake, OJ

Snack: Apricots and Almonds

Lunch: Peach Tea, Tuna with a tiny bit of mayo on romaine lettuce leaves and cut up fresh pineapple.

Snack: Hard boiled egg

Dinner: Had about 5 bites of angel hair pasta with red sauce off the kids’ plate. Then brought some cashews and an apple with me to eat at swim team.

Another thing I have been really working on is water intake. I read an article about water and it motivated me to drink a lot more. Many trips to the bathroom but since I am feeling so good it’s worth it.

Day 11- Glad to be home & Going Paleo

Start by saying sorry. I didn’t blog the last 2 days of my trip. Not because I ate bad or anything, just because I was tired of trying to keep up with it while on the trip. Can’t remember my food intake but I will just say it was about the same as the the other.

Sooooo glad to be home. I couldn’t wait to get to CrossFit this morning. I worked out hard and it felt good. I also ran a lot faster then normal. I think a 4 day break was good for my body. We did a back squat…20 reps at 85%. Each week we will increase the weight until we do 20 reps of our max. Then we did a WOD that was 400M run and 5 back squats at 135lbs for 4 rounds. I also have been practicing my pull ups and can now do 2 at a time. Trying for 3. I figured if I can do at least 5 at a time then the next time I do Fran I can do it prescribed.

Made the declaration to go Paleo. Today has been a good day and I have been very succesful. Tomorrow should be good too because I can pack my lunch. It will be a busy day tomorrow and I will leave the house at 7:30 and not return until about 8. Looooong day. Whew.

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg, oj and coffee

Lunch: 1 large chicken breast and about 1 cup of steamed veggies.

Snack: 2 apples and 6 tangerines

Dinner: 2 apples, handful of almonds and a ton of water. Not hungry.

Proud of myself…a whole day with out dairy or bread. Wasn’t that hard. Bring on tomorrow!

Day 9: Mission to see the Mission & Tourist Trap

Have you ever tried to workout when it’s 38 degrees outside? Well I have. It was miserable! my hands were frozen, feet were soaked and legs so cold I think I lost feeling in them for a while. But I powered through and managed to sort of work out. I tried to get a work out in before everyone woke up. I think tomorrow I will wait till later in the day when it warms up.

Ate as good as I could considering. For breakfast I made traditional French Toast. I always make it when we are camping. Only ate 1 with almost no syrup and some OJ. 400 calories.

We went to Ostrich land first, then the Mission Santa Ines and last Solvang. Solvang is cute but really a tourist trap. We ate at a Danish Pancake house. I ate an ortega turkey sandwich. Not really sure the calorie count but I used the internet to help me figure it out and I think it was 650 calories with the small side of potato salad and iced tea.

The kids and I shared a caramel apple so I got about 2 pieces. 60 calories. Yummmm. After Solvang we decided to visit another mission in Lompoc. Not quite a beautiful as Santa Ines but a lot of fun. Hit a Wal-Mart to grab a couple of things we needed. Back at the campsite I drank a Peach Iced tea(80 calories) while reading my new book that I bought at a used book store in Solvang. It’s called “Health Secrets of the Stone Age.” Trying to learn all I can about the caveman ways

Dinner was Bar-B-Q hamburgers. I don’t know if it was all in my head, but the meat was not organic.(Sprout’s has been out of my favorite organic ground beef forever now.) I just thought it tasted funny so I couldn’t finish it. Ate less than half of the burger (250?) and drank a Rolling Rock beer 210 calories. Had 4 marshmallows by the fire 100 cals. 1,750 calories for the day still too high. 

 Man it is so cold up here at night!!! Tomorrow we plan on letting the kids swim in the heated pool, going to the pick-your-own-blueberry farm and mostly just hang out at the campground and let the kids play. I miss home already. I miss my workouts at CFR and I just miss the routine of being home. Sunday we will be heading out.

Day 7- Weigh In Day, Santa Barbara & Paleo or not to Paleo

Camping Day!!! Everyone in the Erickson house gets excited over that. Well, maybe everyone except Jim. I had most everything done last night. This morning I just fed kids and got ready. Jim had a few things to get together and we were off by 9:30. I will admit I had a terrible breakfast. But I didn’t let a bad breakfast ruin the rest of the day.

Oh…I forgot to mention the weigh in. I got on the scale and I lost 1.2 pounds this week. Not shabby. Now let’s hope I don’t put it back on while we are here. I really need to lose more like 2 a week in order to make it by my birthday. After looking back at my week I could have done way better. I will have to eat less than 1400 calories each day and workout daily in order to make the goal.

 I think I can up my game. Still thinking I should try to go Paleo all the way. Wondering if I could last or not. Can I go partial Paleo? I bought a book about it but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Can I eat Paleo and still feed my family normal? If I make regular food will I have the willpower to not eat that piece of bread or spaghetti noodles. I just have too many questions and I am afraid I won’t be able to do it all the way.  I love dairy soooooo much I would really be sacrificing a lot in my mind. But this weight loss journey has come with a lot of sacrifices.

Breakfast: Coffee, banana 70 cals, a bag of Sun Chips 210 calories. I swear I threw out the rest of the box before we left.

Lunch: We stopped at an Albertson’s on the way to Santa Barbara and I got everyone sandwiches from the deli. I bought a pre-packaged spinach salad with eggs and feta cheese 310 calories. Jim and I shared a humus and pretzel pack from the deli as well so half of that was about 150 calories. I also drank an Organic Peach Iced tea 80 calories. For a snack later I had an apple 70 calories.

All settled in at Flying Flags RV resort. Really nice place. Our campsite is right by the new playground. Where ever I plant myself I can see the kids playing. Right next to the park is a doggie playground so Buddy is having fun too. Wishing I would have brought my Cannondale to go for a long ride in the morning but I guess I can run and use the monkey bars on the playground for a pull up bar instead.

Dinner I had 1 Rolling Rock beer 120 calories (I’m camping for goodness sakes) 1 Hawaiian roll 100 cals, about 10 oz of tri tip 400 cals, and some bar-b- beans about 140 calories. 2 roasted marshmallows for 50 calories.

Ouch that’s 1,720!  It didn’t feel like that much but numbers don’t lie. No Rolling Rock or marshmallows tomorrow…I promise. Speaking of tomorrow…We will be on a mission to see a mission!