I'm still here

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I haven’t forgotten though; I know I have some faithful readers :). 

 

A week and a half ago, Jade and I dragged the boys out to the fitness competition that we were planning on doing way back in December/January. Obviously we didn’t compete but we still wanted to go and catch some of the action (seriously how much action can you get from girls prancing around). There were so many girls competing in the fitness model category. It still made me want to compete again. We did see some ‘most muscular’ poses so the trip was a success.

 

Things have been going well at Crossfit. Still getting stronger but it’s definitely slowed down a bit. I’m not PR’ing as often as I would like of course, but I always try and remember baby steps. Any little improvement is a step in the right direction. That includes improving on my form and stamina, on top of strength.  Recently I’ve PR’d both my back squat and front squat at 75kg and 70kgs. I still have a lot of weaknesses though; my core being the main thing (and those gd double unders!). I also have an issue with hyperextension in my back and it comes back (haha) and bites me during some of the moves that we do (handstand push-ups, kettle bells swings). I try to be conscious of it no matter what move I’m executing by pulling in my bellybutton and not letting my lower back sag. It’ll be a long road ahead but one that I’m willing to put the time into. I am not trying to fix it completely, it’s just the way I’m made, but I’ll focus on finding a way to make it work for me.

bro do you even deadlift?

Thanks for the video coach! Such a great way to see how my form is. This is 95kg/209lb and I went on to do 5 reps at 100kg/220lb.

no joke

Australian seasons as experienced by a Canadian in Queensland:

1. A bit of sweat (Sept-Oct)

2. Sweating buckets (Nov-Apr)

3. Light glow (May)

4. Canadian summer (Jun-Aug)

holiday fail

So I’m an idiot. Actually, my day planner is an idiot. I totally thought that today was a public holiday but turns out that it was moved for this year to October I think. Apparently the day planner people failed to reflect this in their 2013 diaries. Maybe that’s why they were on sale :S

Regardless, the weekend was great. We had a BBQ on Saturday night and had some friends over to dine on some meat. I think there were some potatoes and sides as well but they don’t matter. We met up again Sunday morning in Surfers Paradise at a place called Pancakes in Paradise (see what they did there) and whatever your little pancake fantasies were made of, they probably served it. I chose two buttermilk pancakes topped with cream (whipped cream for my canucks), ice cream, strawberries and powdered sugar (icing sugar). I probably could have licked my plate. I’m bulking.

and now for an important update

I hate hand stand push-ups.

hero week

It’s been a week since my last post and it was a crazy one. After doing four hero wods I was completely burnt out going into Friday’s session. It was a really tough week but everyone did an amazing job and pushed themselves beyond their limits. I managed to Rx my first wod with pull ups so I was pretty pumped that day but I also realized I really need to stop second guessing myself. On Tuesday we did ‘Randy’, 75 power snatch for time. The weight was fairly light (can’t exactly remember what it was) and I ended up getting the fastest time for females. I remember thinking to myself “did I count wrong” and went over it a few times in my head thinking there is no way that I could have done 75 power snatch in four and a half minutes. I eventually realized what I was doing and decided to give myself some credit for working so hard and being able to do it really fast. Coach picks up on my self-doubt too. He often says to me “you need to believe you can do it” and how right he is. Believing is half the battle.

Ryan and I had a great long weekend. We went golfing on Friday and shared the course with a few little kangaroos. Anything furry and cute is a huge distraction for me. Ryan had to really work hard to keep my focus on putting since there were people waiting on the tee box, oops!

short week

It’s a short work week here in Australia. Thursday is a public holiday (or stat holiday for my c’nadians) and I’m awaiting an email reply from my boss approving a Friday day of leave as well. Hello three day week! Still getting used to these mid-week days off but it’s a nice way to break up the week, or lengthen your weekend! Its Anzac day on Thursday, which is a day to honor the men and women who are serving/have served in the Australian forces. So in celebration of this, and the fact that our very own Coach Master Craig has served over in the Middle East, we’re doing Hero WODs all week at Crossfit. Fun right? WRONG!

This is what I see on my phone this morning:

Murph. For time:

Run 1600m
100 push ups
200 pull ups
300 squats
Run 1600m

Now that’s just not cool. My legs are still not functioning properly after those runs, lunges and squats last week.

However, we do have a shiny new box to workout in starting today so hopefully that’ll make us a little more excited about today’s shenanigans.

change of heart

I think my feelings for double unders has change from what I had previously expressed in one of my posts. I'm finally getting the hang of them. I never thought I'd see the day.

i'm so preppy

I know a lot of people say they don’t have time for food prep with all they have going on in their lives. Sure Ryan and I don’t have kids to chase around yet but the less time I’m in the kitchen, the happier I will be. I don’t particularly care to spend hours cooking meals for the week, but after doing it a few times I think I have it down to a science. It only takes me between an hour and 1 ½ hours to get it all ready. I don’t prep all my meals, just lunches and snacks for work. Ryan and I cook our suppers each night after we finish working out. Sometimes we eat the same thing, sometimes different (he loves his pasta and bread).

Here is a little run through of my method.

Sunday is our grocery day and my meal prep day. I buy cherry tomatoes and apples for snacks and keep a bag of almonds at my desk, so that doesn’t require any prep at all. I preheat the oven and put four chicken breasts in a baking dish with just a bit of olive oil and some spices. They take about a total of 45 mins. I use a meat thermometer so it makes it a cinch to know when they’re done. I usually take it out when it’s about 10 degrees under the recommended temp because it’s going to be heated up in the microwave at work and I don’t want it overcooked. I only use three of the breasts for four days at work. Friday is pub day!

While the chook is cooking, I hard-boil 5 eggs and chop up my sweet potato and my veggies. The sweet potato goes in the oven for 30 mins after the chicken is finished and I fry up my veggies on the stove at the same time. Everything gets put into containers and that’s it! Lean protein, veggies, nuts, fruit and complex carbs!

ahoy matey!!

a little curry-osity

Who doesn’t love Asian cuisine? I decided to search for a paleo curry sauce recipe and found one that was Jac-friendly (read: fairly simple to find the ingredients and follow) from Bi-Polar Paleo and made a few of my own little tweaks. Let me tell you...I wanted to either just drink this stuff or take a bath in it, it was that good! *Toot toot*...that’s me...tooting my own horn. Now I don’t even know if this tasted how it’s supposed to taste, but I really don’t care. Before I get to the recipe, I used Massaman curry paste bought from the grocery store. The brand I buy is paleo-friendly so make sure you read the ingredients. You can use any type of curry paste you desire with this recipe (http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/thai-curries-a-guide/c27601.aspx). Oh, and my measurements were give and take some so this is more just guidelines than actual rules (where are my movie buffs?!):

- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp curry paste of choice
- 1 can coconut milk (I used a small can)
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 3 tsp lime juice
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- Sprinkle of chilli flakes
- Sprinkle of mixed herbs seasoning (basil, oregano, parsley etc)

Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a wok or pan then add the curry paste and let it cook for a few mins. Add in 1/3 of the can of coconut milk and garlic, mix and let cook another 5-10 mins. Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and seasonings and cook another couple of mins. Do some taste testing and adjust to your liking, you may want to add more paste or seasoning or whatever, and then try not to drink it.

Enjoy!

just one

Please just let me get one chest to bar pull-up.

and to close the open

Last week of the open and I have a major challenge ahead of me. 13.5 4 min AMRAP of 15 thrusters and 15 chest to bar pull-ups. Seeing as though this one random time I managed to do one regular unassisted pull-up, my score for this workout will most likely be 15. I’m going to try my darndest to get one C2B unassisted though so stay tuned for results tomorrow!

My eating habits are slowly getting back to where I’d like them to be after our trip to Fiji. I got my meal prep in for the week but all this leftover Easter chocolate is hard to resist! Meh I try not to get bent outta shape over it though; one bad meal isn’t going to make you fat and one good meal isn’t going to make you skinny. I think one of the worst things you can do is get down on yourself if you make a bad nutritional choice here and there. This feeling of guilt will lead to another bad choice which is the start of an unwanted cycle. It’s important to acknowledge that, ok maybe that 12” deep dish pizza washed down with dairy queen probably wasn’t the best idea but it’s not going to change anything if you leave it and move on.

Now I have to forget about those 6 mini chocolate eggs I ate after lunch....

pure shores

Back from paradise. Fiji was absolutely stunning. The weather was perfect, food was delicious, drinks were abundant and the wedding was beautiful. For five days we were off the grid. We didn’t want to leave but we also missed Lily a while big bunch. I took a boat load (pun totally intended) of pics so I’ll add a few when I get them on the computer at home.

Back to reality.

And back to Crossfit last night. I don’t know if it was the sun coming out of my skin or what but I was so incredibly hot last night during the WOD I had to take my shoes off and finish in my bare feet. After finishing, I proceed to stick my head in the freezer and rub a cold pack on my skin to cool me down. Tonight’s 5RM back squat is much more along the lines of vacation recovery than last night’s 7 rounds for time, 7 push jerk, 7 CTB and 7 burpees. Barf.

this is how I math

13.2 is in the books. I had a math fail at the end of my workout. My goal was 180 (6 rounds). Here it is:

10 min AMRAP
5 shoulder to overhead 34kgs
10 dead lifts 34kgs
15 box jumps

So silly me, I got my 6 rounds in with about 1 min left and thought to myself ‘ok, I’ll squeeze in the shoulder to overheads and dead lift and that’ll give me a nice 200 to finish on’. Boy I suck. I ended up with a final score of 199. I’m happy though. I still met my goal. Let’s hope I can bring a calculator to 13.4.

Yes, I’m going to miss 13.3. I’ll be away in Fiji doing as many reps as possible of drink to mouth.

decked out

My first piece of Crossfit clothing! It’s nice and simple, comfy and fits great. Let’s face it, I don’t have the issue of boobs hitting me in the chin when I workout so support isn’t really on the radar when I pick out a sports bra. Time to christen this baby with a little sweat I say! Maybe I’ll save it for 13.2 on Friday. I have another shirt coming in the mail from WOD Addiction too!

One more week till Fiji!

Last night we did 1RM clean and jerk. I managed to get 55kgs cleaned but not jerked...next time for sure. I’m amazed at how quickly I’m increasing the weight. When I first started Crossfit I thought ‘there is no way I’m going to be able to lift that much ever’. When I started to see the light a little, my thoughts changed to ‘ok I might be able to do that but it’ll probably take me a year’. Now my thoughts are ‘holy crap I can do that already?!?’. It’s almost as if I had it in me all along but just needed the right medium to bring it out. Crossfit is proving to be that medium.

me·di·um (md-m)
n. pl. me·di·a (-d-) or me·di·ums
1. An intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
2. An agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or transferred.
3. pl. media
a. A surrounding environment in which something functions and thrives.

one down, four to go

I did the Open 13.1 WOD on Friday. It was intense but I thought I did pretty well. I had a goal of 130 reps and I managed to squeeze out 125. I’m happy with that for my first time and only being with Crossfit for about 3 months. I hit a new snatch PR on Thursday night of 40kgs so I was a little more confident going in to the workout. It was such a great experience and I’m looking forward to 13.2 already. There was so much energy at the box and everyone cheering each other on...pretty awesome! Here’s what went down in 17 mins:

40 burpees
30 snatch 20kgs
30 burpees
30 snatch 35kgs
20 burpees
30 snatch 45kgs
10 burpees
Snatch at 55kgs, as many as possible

We won’t find out what 13.2 is until Thursday morning. As long as it’s nothing to do with rope climbs, double-unders or hand stand push-ups, I’ll be happy.

I put another recipe to the test last night. I wanted something different in the morning and something that would save a bit of time since we all know it’s a hard choice between a few extra minutes of sleeping or straightening our hair. Sleeping in usually wins the toss for me since I’m usually seen with my hair in a bun at work. I found a recipe for vegetable and tuna quiche from My Clean Plate on Instagram and tweaked it a bit since I’m picky when it comes to veggies.

· 2 full eggs plus at least 2-3 egg whites, beaten
· ¼ cup grated zucchini with water squeezed out
· ¼ cup grated carrots
· ¼ cup chopped baby spinach
· ¼ cup chopped mushrooms
· 1 small tin of tuna in spring water, drained
· 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Mix all the veggies and tuna in a bowl and then add the beaten eggs and egg whites. You may need to add more egg whites depending on the amount of veggies you have. Grease a small casserole dish with coconut oil or olive oil and pour the mixture in. I sprinkled a small amount of cheese on top. Bake for about 20-25 mins at 180C and set your alarm five mins later for the next morning. You’re welcome.

 

cooking with Sweet Brown

I whipped up something new last night. I’ve seen a few recipes for Sweet Potato Latkes floating around the realms of facebook and instagram lately to which my mouth would water at the sight, I could probably give Lily a run for her money....nah I retract that...she’s a drool machine. Anytime Ryan and I try to eat, you can feel her eyes burning a hole in you, so you look over at her to find two long fang-like strings of drool hanging out of her jowls. She’s so lady like.

Ok, back on topic. The chosen recipe for my experiment was from fastpaleo.com:

- 2 cups of grated, peeled sweet potato (about one small potato)
- 1 cup of grated zucchini, skin on
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- 1 egg, beaten (add at the end)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Any other spices you wanna add (I used Moroccan spice)

First, grate the sweet potato and zucchini and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. The recipe suggests setting it in the fridge for 15-20 mins but....AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR DAT! I just used good old elbow grease to get out all the juice. Mix in the green onion and spices and finally the beaten egg. Heat up a frying pan to medium heat with 1-2 tbsps coconut oil (or other healthy oil). Form a small amount of the mixture into a ball and place in the pan. Press with the spatula to make them nice and pancakey-shaped. Flip after about 10 mins or when they are golden brown (or closer to black when I cook). They should hold together nicely at this point. Finally, try not to eat them all....I skipped this step. You should get around 6 latkes.

I hate double unders

That is all.

ok Canada, I guess you can have her back

The house is a little emptier now; Jen has arrived safe and sound back in Canada. Ryan caught Lily sleeping on Jen’s bed yesterday evening...she misses her too. Jen was my little piece of home for three and a half weeks and I loved every minute of it, and not just because we ate a butt load of ice cream (at least it wasn’t beaver tails and ice cream this time).

My eating habits were definitely slack over the past three weeks so it’s time to pull up my socks again. I’m almost 12 weeks out from the competition and honestly the competition has been the last thing on my mind. Crossfit has taken over that space in my head (hey I didn’t say empty space). I’m currently signed up for three sessions per week but I’m going to change my membership so I can train five days per week starting next week. The strength I now have from just doing three days is something I never thought I’d achieve and I’m excited to see what five days will do. I also signed up for the Crossfit Open which begins on March 5th and goes for 5 weeks. I know I’m not going to be able to Rx every workout but I’m going to give it my best and I’ll for sure learn a thing or two. A whole group of us newbs at my box have signed up so the support is going to be phenomenal.

Snatch and double unders tonight. Bring on the giggles as CMCraig critiques our snatches.

she's famous...island famous

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my grandma doing yoga at 94. My mom got a call from CBC in Charlottetown saying that they wanted to interview my grandma and record her doing a class at Health Within. Instead of telling you how it went, check her out! Fast forward to about 20:50 der eh!

Harvey Spectacular

I know...I’ve been slack. Coach Master Craig has been on my case to post something. I don’t really have an excuse other than I got pretty busy at work in the last week and haven’t had time to write anything during the day. Jen also brought me a nice souvenir from Canada....a cold. I don’t even remember the last time I had a cold...I’d say about a year and a half to two years. So after work I’ve just been relaxing with my feet up and catching a few hours of the oh-so-handsome Harvey Spector (if you don’t watch Suits you need to NOW!) before crawling into the bedroom for a 7 hour cough-induced coma.

Ok let me go back for a minute. I don’t follow too many TV series’ (aside from HIMYM, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones), but about a week and a half ago we started watching Suits and...oh...my...gah! I was hooked from episode one and not just because of his amazing haircut and rugged handsomeness (it’s a big part though, he’s dreamy). I challenge you...watch one episode...you’ll be hooked! I’m pretty sure Jen is going to go back to Canada and sign up for cable TV just to get her Harvey fix.

A couple new PR’s for me this week! 92.5kg deadlift for 3 reps and 37.5kg 1RM snatch! I also managed to get my first unassisted pull-up so I’m pretty happy about that. I still get impatient with myself and I feel I have to really be aware of the fact that these things take time and I will get there eventually. Baby steps are still a step in the right direction. Tonight we’re doing 75 handstand push-ups for time. Here’s to another baby step.

a little love <3

Happy Love Day!!

It’s been a week since I posted last. Jen and I have been having a great time despite me having to work. It’s so great to have her around; she’s my sista from another mista for sure. I took her to a koala sanctuary on the weekend and saw lots of cool critters, she cuddled a koala and patted some roos. I have tomorrow off from work so we’re gonna exercise our shopping muscles. Still counts as exercise in my books. On the weekend we plan to head to Noosa and laze on the beach, explore the shops and maybe rent a stand up paddle board, of which I’m sure my weak-ass core will thank me.

I’ve still been making a few Crossfit visits during the week. Made two reps of 50kg power clean the other night! However my quads are still complaining from 150 wall balls that is Karen. My eating has been a little slack since Jen arrived but I’m not too worried about it, it’s only a couple of extra cheats and I’m still doing my meal prep and making good choices (most of the time). There’s a little thing called ‘trip to Fiji in a month’ that I need to remember.

Tonight Jen is cooking Ryan and I a lovely supper and instead of Valentines gifts, Ryan and I have decided to make a cake together. I’m not a big celebrator of Valentines anyway and just wanted something fun and out of the ordinary to do together. Ryan shows me how much he loves me every day J ....ok how many of you are choking on your supper right now :P I know laaaaaaaaame haha

Don’t forget to show yourself some love!

it's never too late

Last night I was chatting with my mom on Skype and she told me my grandma just started Yoga....she's 94. What's your excuse again? My mom is a Yoga Instructor (and Certified Shiatsu Therapist, Reiki Master etc) at Health Within Holistic Centre in Charlottetown. She has been teaching my grandma Yoga in a chair and it has really helped her walking and her balance. I'm proud of my grandma.

Now get your butt down to Health Within and get an awesome Shiatsu treatment or check out the store!

after these messages, we'll be riiiiiiiight back!

My bestie Jen arrives in Australia tomorrow. As I write this, she’s probably on her way to earning the gold medal of Olympic sleeping on the flight from YYZ to SYD. I think she would also claim silver and bronze. As long as she doesn’t have some anxious little kid behind her, mashing their feet into her back or someone rather large beside her, spilling over the arm rest and concealing her in-seat entertainment buttons in flab, I think she’ll do just fine. I can’t wait to see her. It’s been almost a year since we last caused trouble together....Vegas of course.

Jen is here for 20 days and I’m going to take a semi-break from training (and probably blogging). I’m not going to stop all together, just cut back a little so we can catch up and take our little bums exploring (and by little I speak for Jen only). Jen always says, with her top and my bottom, we’d make the perfect woman :P

I’ve been in Australia for almost 8 months and honestly we’ve been in contact almost every one of those days, even if it’s just texting a dirty pic of some bum cleavage. Now for 20 days I can just moon her in person!

stand by

As you'll notice the blog looks a little different. Please bare with me as I make some changes and find something I'm happy with...which will probably be never :P

undress for progress

I shared one of these pics with my Crossfit fam last week and thought I may as well throw it up on le blog as well along with a second pic. The top pictures are from 6 weeks ago and this is from doing Crossfit only. When I check myself out (c’mon who doesn’t do ‘most muscular’ in the mirror), the change is harder to notice day by day. Having a progress pic like this is such a great form of motivation. I feel stronger, but I don’t necessarily see a change until I look at the side by side comparison. I encourage everyone to do it. I know it feels weird flexing and trying to snap half naked pics of yourself in the bathroom whilst doing your best to keep your phone out of the sink and not letting any underboob hang out. I assure you it’ll be worth it. And if your bf/gf/husband/wife/dog is watching, they’ll get some quality entertainment in the process.

It has evolved into regular pose downs between Ryan and I during teeth-brushing time.

the downside of working out

I wrote this two days ago but for some reason didn't post so here we go:

You’re probably thinking ‘don’t be silly there is no downside’; well I suppose these are more like the first-world problems of working out:

1. Trying to go to the bathroom after what now feels like 1400 squats and ending up looking like a 95 year old in a nursing home trying to make it there yourself because your nurse is busy. At least wiping is still under your own pain-free power.

2. Trying to take off your sweat-soaked sports bra after doing so many pull ups you lost count rendering your arms useless. You start to wonder if it shrunk 3 sizes after working out because it feels like you’re trying to remove your skin but you’re really hoping that your muscles are just that much bigger.

3. Walking down a staircase after any lower body workout. It now seems as though your knees no longer bend and that you have a uni-bumcheek because your glutes are so tight. You may as well be in a pair of ski boots.

4. Washing/conditioning/blow drying your hair after a killer shoulder workout. You convince yourself that tomorrow is a hair-in-a-bun day and dry your hair just enough so that you don’t soak your pillow and freeze overnight.

Feel free to share your own first-world working out problems!

dream on

Yesterday at Crossfit, Coach-master Craig asked me where a new blog post was. I said I was brainstorming, trying to think of something interesting to write. He said ‘how about how work gets in the way’. He might have meant it jokingly (or maybe not :P), but it’s actually a valid point he brought up. It seems I never stop thinking about nutrition and fitness. I work 8am to 4:30pm and our drive takes just under an hour each way (worth it!). If I could, I would do Crossfit six days a week but WOD times and my work day doesn’t really line up right now. So yes, work does get in the way. I’m pretty sure that 99% of my work day I spend in la la land thinking about working out and day dreaming of being involved in nutrition and fitness all day every day. Again, work getting in the way.

There’s nothing wrong with my job, it pays well, has great benefits, great opportunities (like moving halfway around the world to skip -40 temperatures) and lots of great people. But it’s not where my heart is. So right now I’m trying to figure out a way to follow my passion and end up doing what I love everyday and helping people achieve their fitness goals. Being on a sponsored work visa while here in Aussieland means my options are fairly limited, so right now I’m just working out a plan for the future :)

I digress.

Last night I learned how to do the hanging power snatch. Love these big moves. I also graduated from a blue bank to a pink band for my pull-ups...yay!

And one last thing before signing off (almost time to head home and catch the Friday WOD, see I’m even blogging at work!!). I tried a very simple and clean protein pancake recipe the other day courtesy of Cassey Ho of POP Pilates/Blogilates (I follow her on Instagram). Turned out pretty good I must say, even the dog wanted in on the action, not sure that’s saying much though. They have a little bit of a different taste to them but still yummy....oh and be sure to use a little olive oil or coconut oil in the pan, live and learn ;)

2 eggs
1 banana
2 tbsp milk
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

I recommend mashing the banana in a bowl and then adding the rest of the ingredients and whisking until combined. Then just pour into a pan and cook like panclocks! Did you get that movie reference? >D

Thanks for the pic Coach!

it's raining supermen...?

I just polished off a Starbucks hot chocolate....I had to give in to my craving....hey it happens. But c’mon, I had it made with skim milk so it’s still counts as healthy right!?? Pffffff. I kid.

I decided to change my plans last night. I skipped the gym and went for a run instead. It was cool and rainy which is pretty much the only weather I can stand to run in here in Australia. I was a bit miffed at some work stuff going on and I was bummed out and didn’t really feel like going to the gym. I don’t particularly enjoy the gym I go to right now...it’s a far cry from Goodlife that I’m used to. It’s small, no air conditioning, and jammed with a bunch of jacked kiwi’s covered in tats. Not that I mind, I’m a fan of the tatted up look. My options for a gym are fairly limited in our little community so I’ll suck it up. Even the big chains of gyms here don’t come close to those in Canada. So count yourself lucky my Canadian readers!

After writing my post yesterday and reminiscing of my teaching days, I chose a nice little compilation called Body Attack 57 as my running tunes last night. I threw in a few run and reach arms, knee-kick arms and forward punches as I ran, all of which received some strange looks from Ryan as he ran next to me, probably enjoying his playlist of Godsmack and Silversun Pickups (my usual running tunage as well). I was so happy and it just made me want to teach even more....maybe I’ll just have to try and make something happen here :)

Tired and soaking wet....

we are one team

I was browsing on the interwebs the other day looking at some Crossfit tank tops to see if there was anything worth paying the ridiculous cost of shipping to Australia for. I came across one which had a silhouette of a girl on a treadmill with the words ‘FAIL’ written next to it. This kinda cheesed me off a little, ok maybe more than a little. Now this is just my opinion, but to me the message here is, if you’re not doing Crossfit then don’t bother doing anything else. Listen, if you’re just starting out on your fitness journey and all you can manage to do is walk on the treadmill right now, then you’re miles and miles ahead of so many people and should not be judged for this. I’ve run on a treadmill, I’m sure the majority of people involved in fitness have run on a treadmill. As long as you’re moving and being active then you’re heading in the right direction and doing something positive for your body and your life. We should embrace all kinds of fitness lifestyles, right? And support each other, right? Sure, I do Crossfit, but my heart still belongs to Les Mills. I love it! I will always love it! I dream about the day I go back to Canada and resume teaching Body Attack, RPM and Body Pump. I also see myself continuing with Crossfit for a long time because I love it as well. I’ve done a few 5ks, 10ks and half marathons in the last few years and may do some in the future. Sometimes, you need that treadmill to train for a race. Now if you want to judge me for this then by all means, judge away. Maybe I just took the shirt way to seriously and I need to lighten up..... :P

Ok, need to change topics, the hulk is starting to come out....

“I think the word you’re looking for is.....’Anywayssss’....oh Chandler, you crack me up!

The weekend here was really nice and relaxing, did some housework, hung out with some friends and went to the beach with the pup. I’ve seen some posts on facebook displaying some very cold temps (-41 wind-chill in Saskatoon!). I hope you guys are all snuggling up and keeping warm!!

Tonight, I’ll be up in the gym just working on my fitness....legs!

who's hungry, who's hungry

Alright, so rope climbs will take a while to get the hang of. Craig sat us down and showed us how to position our feet to get up and down, so now it’ll just be a matter of practice, practice, practice!! Of course there was a scale for the WOD...how silly of me to think otherwise. Instead of rope climbs I did ring rows. This consists of laying flat on your back with a set of rings, already covered in chalk by someone who actually uses them for cooler stuff like muscle ups, directly above you within arm’s reach, lock your core and pull yourself up, chest to rings, heels on the ground. Sounds easy....not so easy. Throw in my suck of a core and I had to go one more step down and bend my knees, it was still tough but at least now I was able to actually accomplish the move. So here’s what went down:

50 med-ball cleans (6kg)
5 ring rows
40 med-ball cleans
4 ring rows
30 med-ball cleans
3 ring rows
20 med-ball cleans
2 ring rows
10 med-ball cleans
1 ring row

Things got pretty intense with my medicine ball and I’m not sure who was covered in more of my sweat. I finished in just over 10 mins and had another date with the floor. How you doin’?

Last night Ryan and I met up with Leon and Jade, or Jeon and Lade as Ryan likes to call them (which is fine since Leon has coined the term Racqueline), for a Moonlight Cinema double date. We laid our picnic blankets out on the grass and propped up our pillows to enjoy a movie under the stars, and for an hour and a half, we forgot about our healthy eating and snacked on M&M’s, fries, burgers and chips! I’m pretty sure it was well deserved so I didn’t feel one bit guilty. My stomach had other ideas though and felt like I’d eaten a bag of chocolate covered razor blades instead.

I did bring along a container full of grapes to snack on during the flick but they took a backseat to the delicious simple carbs that were under my nose. I fully intended on sharing the container with everyone. I did, however, bring the container of grapes to work today and ended up inhaling almost the whole she-bang....I think I’ve just signed myself up for another sore tummy....

Thumbs down...

playing catch-up...or is it ketchup?

So I was really pleased with my results for last Thursday’s WOD. I did a 75kg dead lift, so new PR there! Weee! I also learned that I really need to work on my core. Craig gave me a few little pointers to help out with my wall holds, which is the scale for handstand walks. I tell ya, it’s the little things that make the difference! I only did a wall hold for 14 seconds, but that’s 14 seconds longer than before so I’m satisfied. I know my weakness and I can focus on it to improve. Box jump was 32” and row was 1:30.4 so another yay!!

Friday I struggled. It was Helen this time who gave me a run for my money. Three rounds for time of 400m run, 21 kettle bell swings, 12 pull ups. It was so stinkin’ hot and my feet burned while I ran. I used a 12kg KB and a band for my pull ups, which I also suck at. But hey, how do you get stronger at pull ups?? DO MORE PULL UPS! My time was 14:55 and at 14:56 I was enjoying some nice one on one time with the floor.

Saturday I headed to the open gym at the box to work on some benchmarks. Here are my results:

OH Squat: 25kg
Clean: 45kg (my traps protested this the following day)
Bench Press: 40kg

I was very happy when Sunday came around, my body really needed the rest. Another trip to the dog beach was planned and it was wonderful! I need to remember to wear sunscreen in this country. Even though I have a nice tan going, my Canadian skin is still weak under the powerful Aussie sun!

Yesterday, back to the box. Here we go:

5 rounds for time
7 Dead Lifts
30 Squats
7 Handstand Pushups

I used 45kg for my deadlift, which proved to be a little on the light side, I could have taken a bit more. Squats were killer, but my speed is improving. I did a scaled version of handstand pushups called pike press. My feet were on a box and my legs were in a pike position and you do pushups on that angle, still tough though! My time was 6:44.

Tonight is the one thing I’ve been dreading...rope climbs. I’m really hoping there’s a scale for this one...

And just because she is so friggen cute!!

you don't know squat

Oh boy am I sore. The WOD on Tuesday night was a deceiving little treat.

‘Cindy’....20mins AMRAP:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

Now silly me, I figured they’d be weighted squats. But after doing 20 mins and pushing out 11+18, I suuuuure was glad I didn’t have any weight on my shoulders for those squats! Yesterday was supposed to be chest, shoulders and traps but since I couldn't even manage to wash my hair properly I decided to give my body a healing day. Clearly that’s what it was telling me I needed!

Tonight is Crossfit again. I’m still sore, but going to suck it up.

For Load:
5-5-5 Dead Lift

For Distance:
1-1-1 Handstand Walk

For Height:
1-1-1 Box Jump

For Time:
400m Row

My PR for dead lift right now is 65kgs and row 400m is 1:36.2 so I’m hoping to set new PR’s on those two. I have yet to experience box jumps and last time I tried a handstand walk, I fell over. I’ll be happy with any result for that. At least when you start at the bottom the only way is up!

Pretty sure I could eat smoked salmon for every meal. Moar!

round 2...ding ding ding!!

I’ve decided to compete again! May 26th is just under 20 weeks away so I’m giving myself a LOT more time than I did last year. For the most part I’ve kept to eating clean during the week at work and then having a few cheats on the weekend. The holidays were a different story though :S Ryan and I took a trip to the Whitsundays (amazing BTW!) and pretty much ate crap the whole trip....it was glorious :D but definitely had some Christmas fluff afterwards! So for eats, I’m making a few tweaks to really clean it up, like limit to one cheat a week (most likely this will be sushi, is that even a cheat meal!?) and switch to green tea during the week. I can’t give up our ritual Saturday morning tea and coffee on the patio just yet :). Here is what this week consists of:

Breakfast: one egg, ¼ cup egg whites, 1/3 cup whole grain oats with dried fruit, cinnamon and water.
Mid morning snack: raw cucumber and carrots, almonds, green tea.
Lunch: ½ a baked chicken breast, ¼ baked sweet potato, ½ cup steamed carrots and green beans.
Afternoon snack: one hardboiled egg, 10-12 cherry tomatoes, one apple
Pre-workout: Banana
Post-workout: 1 scoop of protein powder with water
Supper: stir-fry – fresh spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, cabbage, chicken breast, red curry paste.

And lots of water!!!

For the fun part, working out of course, I’m doing it a little different this time. I started Crossfit at the beginning of December so I’ll be incorporating three days a week into my plan. Here’s what it will look like:

Monday: legs (quads, hams, calves, glutes)
Tuesday: Crossfit
Wednesday: chest, shoulders and traps
Thursday: Crossfit
Friday: back, lats, bis and tris
Saturday: Crossfit/Run
Sunday: Rest

Let the fun begin!!