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!!