Where Are You, Christmas?

So every year around this time I wish I had a kid!!



I love Christmas, but I just miss the magic and the excitement that it brings when you're a kid. It never feels the same when you're all grown up. :( I want to experience Christmas through a child's eyes again!



I miss the excitement of going to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree and then decorating it with the whole family. I miss watching the movie "Prancer", and "A Christmas Carol", and "Rudolph" every year, and really being excited to watch them!



I miss that feeling on Christmas Eve; not being able to fall asleep because I was just soo excited knowing that the tree would be filled with presents in the morning! And setting out the cookies and milk for Santa! It was just such a magical feeling that you never quite experience ever again.



I try to make the best of it, but it's just not the same!



Soooo...enough about that! The other night I experiment with a way to make healthy hot chocolate. I love hot chocolate when it's cold out, but I didn't think there was a way to make it besides buying the packets at the store that are loaded with sugar. But then I realized I could use the unsweetened cocoa I had in the cabinet. I thought it would be gross, but I just followed the directions on the back of the container, substitued Truvia for sugar, and it was a success!! Yummy! :)

Real Food

"If everyone ate nothing but what they could buy at a farmers market, a lot of doctors and hospitals would go out of business and six-pack abs would be as common a sight as leaves on a tree." -Jason Ferruggia

That is SO true.

We need to get back to eating REAL FOOD. Take out all the processed junk-the frozen dinners, the granola bars, the boxed meals, etc. As Jack Lalanne said, "If man made it, don't eat it!"

Make the majority of what you eat be fruits and veggies, then add in some nuts and seeds, fish, lean meat, maybe some oats or brown rice(although some argue that we don't need grains in our diet at all), and that's all you need for a healthy diet!

Try it-you'll be healthier, leaner, and feel much better eating the foods that God intended for us to eat!

Thanksgiving and Random Thoughts

A few pics from Thanksgiving at my "mamaw and papaw's" house:

My cousin and grandpa

My yummy Thanksgiving dinner(just the first serving!)

With my brother, Jesse

I had fun with the family, and think I ate enough to last me a week! I am all carbed out, that's for sure! Today I don't even want to look at carbs. Ugh. Just veggies and protein today.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's, but I'm going to try not to eat as much as I did yesterday!! We'll see how that goes.

So I woke up this morning to a dusting of SNOW on the ground!! What? Snow in November? It is way too early for that!! I was quite surprised. I mean, yesterday it was 65 degrees! Craziness.


I love Christmas music, but today it is just making me sad! I'm missing my dad. Holidays just aren't the same anymore. But I am thankful for the family that I do have here. :)

Anyway...today's workout is called "Diane": 21-15-9 reps for time of 185lb deadlift(I will have to scale that because my deadlift is WEAK!) and handstand pushups. Should be interesting!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I'm off to the gym for a quick workout. Today's workout is called "Helen". 3 rounds for time of: 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pullups.

Anyway, I cannot WAIT for my Thanksgiving feast today at my grandma's and, of course, to see all my family!

Tommorrow I might be in a carb coma, but that's okay. :)

Thankful

One thing I am thankful for this Thanksgiving and every day is my husband being alive and healthy!

He had a brain tumor removed in 2007, went through radiation and chemotherapy, and is now doing great! I am sooo thankful for that.

This pic is kind of gross, but it was taken I think the day of his surgery. They basically removed 1/4 of his brain!

Click here to hear his story:

http://notafan.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=1&Itemid=6

CrossFit Woman

http://crossfitseriousfitness.blog.com/2010/07/30/5214297/


I am a CrossFit Woman.
I do not wear makeup to the gym. I wear chalk.
I do not get manicures. I scrub the calluses off my hands.
I do not glisten or smile while I’m working out. I sweat, grunt, and curse. I am a CrossFit Woman.
I am as proud of my muscles as I am my scars.
They are evidence of my hard work and dedication.
I am a CrossFit Woman.
Student. Trainer. Coach.
Increased work capacity is my mission.
Elite fitness is my goal.
I am a CrossFit Woman.
I may scale a WOD, but I will never quit or give up.
I do what others won’t and excel where others can’t.
I am stronger mentally and physically because of it.
I am a CrossFit Woman.
I am invincible.
And you could be too.

Bring on The Pie

120lb hang power clean today, 3 reps. Cleans are fun. :-)

Soooo next week is Thanksgiving, really????!!!! Aaaaahhhh, I can't believe it's already here! Why does time fly by so fast? I want it to sloooooow dooooowwwn!!!!


But I am telling you, I have been craving pumpkin pie for weeks. Oh, how I love pumpkin pie!! It's one of my favorite desserts ever. And I can't wait to make my pumpkin cookies to take to my grandma's! YUMMY...

The few days before Thanksgiving for me will be LOW /NO carb...in preparation for my feast!;-)

And I will most definitely get a workout in that day!


Anyway, I have already started to put up my Christmas decorations!! I always wait to do that until the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I was just too excited, I couldn't wait!

I love the way my house looks all decorated for Christmas, and a month is just not long enough. I'll probably put the tree up this weekend. :)

I'm not gonna lie-I like CrossFit, but I'm not completely sold on it yet.

At least not for me and my goals...I just want to gain muscle and look good; I don't really care if I'm the fittest person in the world.

I miss my bodybuilding workouts! I've contemplated going back to them a couple of times...

But I'm gonna stick with it for now.

Who You Callin Skinny??

I hate being called skinny! Or "little"-that one really drives me crazy.

Okay, so maybe I am little, but I don't have to be told that, I already know! I wouldn't go up to an overweight person and say, "You're so big!" I mean, I'm sure people mean it as a compliment...but it's not a compliment to me.

Call me lean, that's fine. Call me athletic or muscular or toned or fit, but just don't call me skinny or little!!

On another note, maybe I'm just in a bad mood today or something, but I am so freakin' tired of hearing about Paleo! I don't want to feel guilty for having a piece of cheese or toast. I'm tired of thinking about what I eat so much. So what if I have a Carbmaster yogurt everyday, or, oh my goodness,a protein shake with artificial sweetener! Oh NO!

I've made a lot of positive changes in the last few months, and I'm at a point with my diet where I am happy with the way I eat. I'm eating way more vegetables, less grains, and *mostly* natural foods. I feel good about that. I have gotten leaner, but I actually think I look a little better with more bodyfat. I don't want to look scrawny, that's my biggest fear!

However there is one thing that I am going to work, and that is not going overboard with my cheat meals anymore(see previous post!). I will eat until I am completely full, stuffed maybe(probably), but no more continuing the the cheat meal into the rest of the weekend! That means I'm not going to bake as often because there's always way too much left over. I'll probably just cut the recipes in half from now on.

I Did it Again

The weekend is almost over! Boo hoo. :(

So I think I overdid it on my cheat meal ONCE again...geez. I really cannot bake things anymore because I end up having a numerous cheats throughout the weekend instead of just one, and I don't like doing that!! I feel gross, and I just want to get that crap out of my system! Ugh. Give me some veggies! I need to detox or something.

My husband's birthday was Friday, so I made him some turkey breast cutlets with gravy, couscous and corn for dinner. I also baked some chocolate peanut butter cookies for dessert...and that was my downfall.

Then Saturday we went out for pizza, and I had 3 pretty BIG slices. Also had more cookies that day...and even more today...

I just don't have self control knowing that there are cookies or muffins or whatever in the house! The main reason I am successful at eating healthy is by NOT having bad food in the house whatsoever-NONE. If it's not there, I can't eat it.

So next weekend I'm not going to have a cheat meal. I'm going to eat super clean, especially since Thanksgiving is coming up!!! And you better believe I will be having pumpkin pie and my grandma's mac and cheese!

Sacrifices

If you are serious about losing weight, then you are going to have to make sacrifices. If you aren't willing to give up some things, you will NOT be successful.

I have clients who tell me they just can't give up certain things, a big one being alcohol. To me, that just shows that they are not serious about losing weight and that they don't really want it bad enough. To get results you WILL have to make some changes and do things that you may not like or want to do!

Trust me, if it were up to me, I would eat bread and cereal and sweets all day long! I'd eat McDonald's french fries and eat skittles every day(in fact, I used to do just that)! I've had to change a LOT of things in the past few years and give up some of my favorite things in order to be healthy and stay lean. But it is worth it. As I love to say, "Nothing tastes better than being fit feels!!"

So... maybe you'll have to give up a 1/2 hour of sleep in the morning to get up and eat breakfast. Breakfast is soo important, but many people complain that they don't have time to eat breakfast. Make time!

You might have to give up your morning Starbuck's cappucino or frappucino (or whatever those drinks are) or the Mt. Dew you drink with lunch every day. You will probably have to give up going out and drinking every weekend. You will have to spend some extra time preparing foods for the week, chopping up veggies and making your lunch and snacks for the next day.

It's not always enough to just say, "I want to lose weight", or even just exercise. It takes a lot of work and *planning * to get the results you want. If you aren't willing to put in the work, you aren't going to be successful. It's just the way it is. How bad do you want it????

Holiday Tips

I can't believe it, but it's that time of the year again! The holiday season is right around the corner! This is my favorite time of the year; I just love it!

But it's also the time of year when you are bombarded with bad foods, much more so than usual. If you are not careful, you can easily gain 5-10lbs just between November and December! I think it's okay to have a few treats during the holidays, but too many treats will add up.

My last issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers listed 37 ways to stay in shape over the holidays, so I thought I would share a few of my favorite ones:

*Don't skip meals. Before a holiday party or get-together, make sure to eat all your usual meals for the day. If you skip meals or starve yourself beforehand, you will most likely overeat at the event.

*Don't arrive to parties hungry. Blunt your appetite by having a healthy snack right before the party. Pair a protein such as eggs, yogurt, or cottage cheese with a complex carb like fruit or vegetables to keep you full longer.

*Eat super clean around parties. If you know that you are going to indulge, adjust your cheat meals around the event. Try to eat even more clean than usual the days before and after, and maybe even add in an extra cardio session.

*Work out the day of the holiday party. Try to get in an intense workout on the day of the event. This will speed up your metabolism for the day, and it may also help you mentally to avoid eating bad foods. You won't want to ruin your all your hard work by putting horrible stuff into your body!

*Avoid the snowball effect. If you mess up one day, get right back on track the next. Don't let one slip-up lead to continual overeating. Then you'll be sure to pack on the pounds.

*Bring healthy food with you to work. If you have healthy food on hand such as almonds, fruits, or veggies, this will help you to avoid temptations when employees bring in pies or cookies.

*Be careful about the alcoholic beverages you consume. Stay away from the drinks that contain tons of calories. For example, drink light beer or red wine instead of butter rum or spiked egg nog.

Random Thoughts

75 and sunny for the next 3 days!! Now that makes me happy. :) Can't beat that in the middle of November!

And the week is half way over! Woo hoo!!

Oh-and guess what? We got our condo sold! It's not completely official yet; we close next week. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers! It's a big relief to finally only own one home.

Can't wait for the weekend. It's my husband's birthday, and we're going out for pizza at Spinelli's. My Italian boy loves his pizza! I'm going to cook and bake him something for his actual birthday (on Friday), and then we're going to have pizza the next day.

Today's workout is only 8 minutes. 4 handstand pushups(yay! I like those!), 8 KB swings, and 12 GHD situps. As many rounds as possible.

Mind Over Matter

‎"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand almost anything. It's your mind you have to convince." -Vince Lombardi

I love Squats!

So after 3 weeks of doing CrossFit, today we finally had a strength workout. The workout was 5 single rep sets each of overhead squats, then front squats, then back squats. You were supposed to try to increase the weight each set.

Now that is my kind of workout! I was so excited to do some heavy squats again! :)

First was overhead squats(see picture above). I have just started doing these so it's still a really awkward movement for me, and I'm kind of scared to go too heavy with them right now. So I started with the bar and worked up to 85lbs on the last set. I'm getting better at them, and they don't hurt my shoulders as much anymore. Next up was front squats, and I ended up with 145lbs on the fifth set.

Then it was on to back squats, my favorite, and I worked up to 205lbs on my last set. After so many years of squatting, that was the first time I ever tried to max out. It was a little different doing the squats below parallel, but that's the way CrossFit wants you to squat.

That was a fun workout! Wish we could have more like that!

So anyway...after a chilly weekend, the weather has been so nice the past couple days! It's warm and sunny, and feels more like spring than fall! I love it. :) I don't want the cold weather to come, but it's getting closer....

Shopping Anxiety

I. hate. shopping.

I'm not one of those girls who goes to the mall every weekend, or has to have a pair of shoes or a different handbag for every outfit...that's just not me. Yeah, I like to look cute, but I don't care about being the trendiest or the best dressed when I go someplace.

Going to the mall is one of my least favorite things to do. But I need clothes, so I do have to go every now and then. But I get major anxiety when I shop because I HATE spending money! It's really hard for me to buy things because it's such a major decision! So I usually end up leaving the mall with nothing because I just couldn't spend money!

What usually ends up happening is I go to the mall the first time, look around, and leave with nothing. Then I worry because I don't have clothes to wear that I like, so my husband tells me, "Just go BUY some clothes!!"

So I go back to the mall a 2nd time and I do end up buying things, but then I feel horrible afterward because I spent so much money on myself!! I feel bad spending money on clothes when there are kids who are starving out there....I feel so guilty....

Does anyone else feel like this about shopping??

CrossFit Thoughts and Fears!

I'm still doing CrossFit, and the workouts are crazy hard, every time. Most of them I have had to scale back, either doing less weight than prescribed, less reps, or less rounds. Even doing that, they're still super tough. Every single workout I'm saying, "this sucks!" in my head the whole time! And you always end up like this afterward:

Today's workout was 5 rounds of: 20 pullups, 30 pushups, 40 situps, 50 squats, with a 3 minute rest between rounds. What I did instead was: 10 pullups, 20 pullups, 30 situps, 40 squats and it was still really HARD.

BUT I am starting to get a little paranoid...I'm afraid that I'm going to lose muscle because we really haven't done any heavy lifting for legs. I miss my heavy squats! All we've done the past two weeks for legs are a bunch of wall balls(squatting and throwing a ball against the wall) and air squats, with some Olympic lifts mixed in that work the legs a little. I really don't want to lose any of the muscle I have worked SO hard for, and right now I feel like I am on a fat loss program...which is NOT my goal whatsoever.

But I'm going to stick with it. The guy I work for keeps assuring me that I won't lose muscle. And the girls that I've seen who have been doing CrossFit for a long time have the exact look that I'm going for, so I guess that shows that it doesn't make you smaller(unless you have a lot of fat to lose, of course). It's just soooo different from how I have trained for the past 12 years!

But maybe it'll get me to look like her:

Or her:

Or maybe I just need to stop focusing on my LOOKS, and just focus on how much stronger I'm getting, what my body is capable of doing, challenging myself and pushing my body to the limit.

But anyway, some of the goals that I'm working towards for CrossFit: to be able to do a muscle up, to hold an unassisted handstand, and to be able to do a handstand pushup against the wall, head all the way to the ground. The dang muscle up is what's killing me! I tried over and over again yesterday, and could only get one muscle up, and that was from a box. It makes me so mad that I can't do it!

Here's a muscle up, in case you're wondering: