September 16, 2012

{Fitness Corner} Day 1 of WLC

The Whole Life Challenge began yesterday. I did the prelim WOD, it wasn't too bad. The WOD was 7 kettleball swings, 7 burpees, and a 50 meter run AMPRAP in 9 minutes. The burpees were hard, as usual. I got a score of 108, just short of completing 8 sets. I got through the day and earned all my points for the day.

The nutrition past was tough. On more than one occasion, I was tempted and felt hungry. I really wanted some cheese. It was especially hard when Baby Bear wanted cheese and crackers for her snack. I realize that I often finish her left overs even when I'm not really hungry. I made her some brown rice with dinner and though we all ate the same thing, I could not have the rice. I really love my rice. It is tough.

Today, I was hungry. I ate well but was hungry. Although, I am not sure that I am hungry or just craving something I know I can't have. I want my carbs. I want crackers and chips. Oh bread sounds so good too. I can do this. I know I can...

September 6, 2012

{Fitness Corner} Whole Life Challenge

I know that nutrition is the only way I am going to lose that extra 5 lbs. of baby weight. I've always known that it is about nutrition. Even my CrossFit trainers tell me that I can do all the WODs, but without the nutrition I won't see the best results. I'll get results but nutrition will get me much farther along.

Our crossfit gym is participating in the Whole Life Challenge. It is an 8 week online challenge beginning on September 15, that focuses not only on nutrition, but the a life style change including working out and mobility. I've decided that this is the challenge I need to make the changes I want in nutrition. This challenge will keep me accountable. The diet part will be the hardest part of the challenge and constitutes the majority of the challenge. There are points that can be earned each day and the most points are for the nutrition portion. The diet that the challenge follows is a Paleo-like diet, which means no grains, no corn or soy, no dairy, no alcohol, soda, or juice, and no artificial or processed foods. For me the hardest things will be the grains and dairy. I have been trying to limit my bread intake, but with this challenge I will have to totally eliminate it. That also means no rice for this Asian girl. I have stopped drinking milk, so that is fine, but greek yogurt and cottage cheese have been a big part of my diet. I guess eliminating cheese is a good thing since I love cheese so much and it can be a weakness. It is not a strict Paleo diet, but it is Paleo-like.



I am doing this to become more fit. I made the decision to make fitness a priority again and this will help me get back on track. Diet and nutrition have always been my largest struggle. I love to workout and be active but I also love to eat. So I have never been one to diet or stay on one. So I am hoping that I cam make a habit of eating right and making healthy choices. I think the whole life challenge will be the push I need to stick to it and improve my nutrition.

I hope to get stronger, I hope to lose some weight, I hope to feel better about myself and my body, and I hope to improve my nutrition and diet overall.


We'll see how it goes...

September 2, 2012

{Fitness Corner} Back on Track (again) and doing Crossfit

I am back... It has been some time since I have actually really posted on this blog. Life has been quite busy. Health and fitness has always been important to me and since having Baby Bear 3 years ago, I have been doing my best to get back to my pre-pregnancy body. Well, I tried to do it on my own, there have been many attempts but I have not been successful. I workout on a regular basis and eat decently, but I have not been seeing any results or changes. I do fit into most of my pre-pregnancy clothing but I am not comfortable wearing the form fitting clothing that I used to wear since I am still trying to get rid of those last 5 lbs of baby weight that won't seem to budge.

I decided that I needed to do something, Baby Bear is now 3 years old and I don't have any really excuses except for trying to find time. Life is busy as a working mother with a toddler. Well, I decided it was time to force myself to find the time and really focus on getting back on track. Doing things on my own was not enough and not making an impact. I worked out on a regular schedule but I wasn't seeing any results. I had done bootcamp to get in shape for my wedding and I know that working out with others and having that regular push really helped me and pushed me to keep going. Plus knowing that I shelled out money for it kept me on it.

So in late June (just after Baby Bear's 3rd birthday), I decided to join a crossfit gym close to home. I though about doing bootcamp again like I had before, but I also heard a bit about crossfit, so I decided to do a little research (can't help it, after all I am a psychologist who does research for a living). As I did my research, I liked what crossfit had to offer me and opted to give it a shot.

What is crossfit?


From Wikipedia: CrossFit describes its strength and conditioning program as “constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement," with the stated goal of improving fitness (and therefore general physical preparedness), which it defines as "work capacity across broad time and modal domains." Workouts are typically short—20 minutes or less—and intense, demanding all-out physical exertion. They combine movements such as sprinting, rowing, jumping rope, climbing rope, weightlifting, and carrying odd objects; they use barbells, dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars, kettlebells, medicine balls, and many bodyweight exercises. These elements are mixed in numerous combinations to form prescribed "Workouts of the Day" or "WODs."

Compared to bootcamp, crossfit offered smaller classes and more of a community of people to workout with. Also, tracking and logging your progress is strongly encouraged. Being the data driven person that I am that really appealed to me so that I can see evidence of my progress.

So I am in month 2 of crossfit and loving it. I love that the workouts or WODs can be modified or scale to my personal level, the classes are small and the trainers at my crossfit gym are awesome and really work with you to ensure you have the right form and basics.  I am constantly challenged. I haven't done the same workout twice quite yet. I feel stronger and I love the intensity of the workout and just feel great at the end of WOD. Beat and tired, but great and kind of proud that I made it through the workout.

I have seen progress from just the regular warm-up routine which consists of 3 rounds of 30 seconds of reps of pull ups, push ups, sit ups, and air squats. I've done push ups, sit ups, and squats with no problem. But pull ups, those are tough. So I started with the bands to assist me. I started with really thick green bands and after a few weeks, the trainers moved me to the next level (bands with less resistance). And just last week, the trainers moved me to the next level. I feel stronger with my pull ups. It will be a while before I can do a pull up without the assistance of the bands, but I am working towards it. Crossfit has been great for me in this short time. So far I love it.