Lindsay's Ramblings

If you want to look average, then eat average. If you want to be average, then take the easy route like everyone else. Have your Special K cereal in the morning, get in your 30 minute elliptical session at the gym, do a few crunches and cable pressdowns, and you're set. Why do I train like a maniac and lift heavy weights? Why do I plan my meals, cook them ahead of time, and limit my carbs? Because I don't want to be average. To some, it may seem obsessive. But this is my life. I choose to be different. I choose to be better, stronger, faster. I choose to NOT be average. As Arnold said: “The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.”

After this weekend, I am going on a diet. Just kidding. But after what I ate yesterday, I really do feel like I need to go on a detox or something. Uggghhh. Food has not sounded appealling today whatsoever. So before we went to the state fair, we went to ww.Cousins for burgers and fries. The burger was oh so good! I think cheeseburgers are my favorite food. :) Well, then we headed to the fair. I like just walking around all the indoor exhibits and booths. One of my favorites has always been the photography and art exhibit. Well, then I decided that I just HAD to try some fried oreos. Yes, FRIED oreos. I had heard that they were good, so I figured why not try them? I mean, they sounded much more appealling to m e than fried twinkies or fried candy bars, ewww.... Well, they actually were really good! Sort of like fried dough with chocolate on the inside! BUT as always, I overdid it and ate way too many...on top of the cheeseburger I had earlier. Not my brightest idea e...

I was at the gym today doing heavy sets of power cleans, when I saw a girl doing tricep pushdowns on the cable machine. Not only did she look utterly bored, but she actually yawned during the set! And of course, she was lifting a weight that required no amount of effort whatsoever. So I go on to do my next set of cleans, only to glance over and see her yawning again during her next set! Really ? Now this is a girl who I've seen coming to the gym for years ...and yet I've seen no change in her body at all. The fact that she is not putting any effort or intensity into her weight training is part of the problem, I'm sure. The sad thing is, this is all too common with women. Most women don't know what it really means to lift with intensity . They don't really know what it should feel like to lift heavy and to put real effort into it. Therefore, they never get the results out of weight training that they truly could. Women need to learn how to train lik...

I'm so glad it's Friday! It's gonna be a fun weekend! More sunshine in the forecast=pool time! We're going to an MMA fight Saturday night and then to the state fair on Sunday! I love the fair. :) And ww.Cousins for our cheat meal. I can't wait to eat a big ol' burger and some fries! I just finished my WOD, and it was brutal. It was 10 rounds for time of: 100 meter sprint, 10 burpees, 100 meter sprint, 10 burpees, 30 seconds rest. It took me almost 30 minutes, and I only got to 7 rounds! Before the WOD, I did some dumbbell chest presses just for the heck of it, working up to 2 sets with the 45s. I miss doing those! After the WOD, I treated myself to a yummy banana pineapple protein smoothie AND a bowl of Kashi berry cereal. Which was SO good. So the other day I decided to do some heavy back squats. I worked up to 195lbs and was going for 1 rep.....and failed. Which really made me mad because when I started CrossFit I could squat 205. So why the heck did my...

It’s called the “sure enough” syndrome. If you expect to fail, sure enough, you will. If you expect to succeed, sure enough, you will. You will become on the outside what you believe on the inside.

This just might become a weekly thing. ;) Breakfast: Chocolate pb protein oats(3/4 cup oats, 1 scoop protein), Coffee(w/ 1 tsp half and half, 1 packet of Truvia) Post Workout: 1 small orange, all natural whey protein mixed with almond milk and a tsp of cocoa Lunch : 1 small sweet potato sliced into 'fries', drizzled with 1 tbsp olive oil and baked in oven, 2 eggs + 2 whites scrambled with 2 tbsp salsa and 1 turkey sausage patty(nitrate free) broken into little pieces, and 3/4 cup of cauliflower steamed in microwave. -Coffee- Dinner : Lean beef, cooked with no salt added diced tomatoes and diced onions, 1/2 cup natural, no sugar added pasta sauce, and about a cup and 1/2 of broccoli and squash sauteed in ~1 tbsp olive oil. (+ small piece of Hershey's dark chocolate w/almond) Pre-bedtime snack : 2 tbsp almond butter, 2 tbsp lowfat cottage cheese , 1/2 protein shake

All of my favorite exercises are the basic ones--the ones that work! Sorry, nothing fancy here. Simple and basic is the way to go. They are all compound, multi-joint exercises that work multiple muscles in one movement, and they are the ones that you can lift the most weight with(which is what I love most)! No tricep kickbacks or leg extensions for me. These exercises are all great, no matter what your goal is. They are good for fat loss because of their use of multiple muscles which means more calorie burn, they're great for building muscle and strength because you can lift some heavy weight with them, and they're good for toning(because toning = building muscle + losing fat). Look them up, learn how to do them correctly, and add them into your strength training program if they're not already. 5. Dumbbell chest press- I love doing these with heavy weights! The heaviest weight I've used is a 50lb dumbbell in each hand, and it felt pretty awesome to be using ...

It's Fridayyyyy! I started the day off right with a WOD and BEAT my previous score! The workout was just 12 minutes to get as many rounds and reps as possible of a 400m run and 5 deadlifts (I used 165lbs). I did this workout last November and was only able to get 3rounds-this time I got 4! The runs felt much better-I was able to run faster and not rest as long between the run and the deadlifts. And the deadlifts felt lighter, too. Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting any better or making much progress, but when I beat a previous best on a workout, even just by a few seconds, or if I am able to get a 5lb PR on a lift, it shows me that little by little, I AM getting better. I just have to be patient and enjoy the process, and have fun with the WODs. Because really it comes down to doing something that you love and having FUN, not stressing about whether or not you're getting stronger, or faster, or whatever. Because I know that am, slowly but surely. "Prog...

http://www.lifeasaplate.com/2011/06/24/a-crossfitters-hands/ They belong to doctors, lawyers, Students, mothers. They are black, white, brown, and every color in between. Some have wedding bands. Some have marks where one once was. Some have bitten down nails. Others have perfectly manicured cuticles. For every difference they have, they are, among all else, equal. Because they push when they want to give up. They grab the bar and pull when they feel like there’s nothing left. They hold the barbell and lift when the skin is rubbed raw. They fist pump each other After a workout so hard, they almost cry. They hug people who have become family When they get their first pull-up. They high-five the girl who took 20 minutes Longer than everyone else. Because she finished. They clap and cheer as they wait for the guy running his first mile. They clink a beer at a bar on the weekend, brethren in some secret club. They callous, they tear, they bleed. They are n...

I love to read. Ever since I can remember, since I was just a little girl, before I even knew HOW to read, I have loved books. I still have many of my favorite childhood books, and just looking at them now I can still remember how much I loved them and how I would read them over and over and over again! Throughout my childhood, my nose was always stuck in a book. I think I read every single book from the Babysitter's Club series and the Sweet Valley High series, along with Goosebumps, Nancy Drew, R.L. Stine, and I'm sure many more that I can't remember! As a kid, going to the library was one of my favorite things, and now is no different. Books still excite me, and I just love leaving the library with a new stack of books to read, like I did today! I can't wait to start reading them. Right now I mostly read mystery novels, but it's not all I read. My favorite mystery authors are James Patterson, Harlen Coben, Michael Connelly and Jonathan Kellerm...

Yes, I'm being a copycat! So here's what I've eaten so far and will eat later, for all who may be interested(yes, I always know what I'm going to eat ahead of time!): Breakfast -Chocolate peanut butter oats: 3/4 cup Old fashioned oats mixed with 1 scoop of chocolate peanut butter flavored Syntha-6 protein powder and 1 tbsp natural peanut butter.(This yummy creation is what pops in my head first thing in the morning and gets me out of bed!) 1 cup coffee with organic half & half and Truvia sweetener. Lunch -2 fried eggs, 2 slices Ezekiel toast, one with just butter and one with butter and all natural fruit preserves, and a peach. Pre-workout snack -cup of coffee, 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese, an apple, and 6 almonds. Post workout -Optimum Nutrition's natural whey chocolate protein mixed w/ almond milk . Dinner -Chicken breast cooked in the crockpot with a natural, low sugar barbecue sauce and a little chicken broth and seasonings, 6-7 asparagus s...

Besides the weekends of course, Tuesdays are my favorite days. :) I only train a few clients in the morning, and then I have the whole rest of the day to enjoy and to get things done. Usually I use this day to go grocery shopping, the library, clean the house, do laundry, or... just float in the pool! Today is a gorgeous day-80 degrees with low humidity. Perfection. I love it...but it's also kind of sad because it tells me that summer is almost over.... Nooo!!! It just can't be. But I am determined to enjoy what's left of the summer to the fullest! Today I floated in the pool a little, even though the water was freezing !! I WILL get in more pool days before summer ends! Soooo my plans for the rest of the day are to throw in some laundry, then lay in the hammock with a book and enjoy this wonderful weather! After that, I'll have some dinner and maybe walk Asher, then wait for my husband to come home so we can snuggle on the couch and watch some TV. I know, ...

Okay, so I came SO close to going back to my old weight training routine...I pretty much had my mind made up that I was going to cut back on CrossFit WODs and add in some bodybuilding stuff. I was actually going to start today. But then I woke up today and came to my senses! I mean, yes, bodybuilding workouts built me the muscle and gave me the strength that I had when I started CrossFit. But it took like 10 years to get there! When I started CrossFit, I weighed 118lbs...and now, 9 months later, I weigh 123-124lbs! And I know I have not gained 5lbs of fat. So CrossFit has basically helped me to gain 5 pounds of mostly muscle in only 9 months. Who knows what it could do for me in a year or two?? If my weight drops and I really feel like I'm losing muscle, then I'll stop or at least adjust my program. Anyways....yesterday my husband and I had a great time at King's Island! It was perfect weather-sunny but not too humid. It was fun, but after all the walking we did...

So Saturday I went to my first bodybuilding show to watch a friend of my husband's compete. I really enjoyed it! I've never seen so many fit people in one room before! BUT seeing all those figure competitors walking around made me feel SO puny. I want to look like them! I have some serious muscle to build. It got me thinking about going back to my bodybuilding style workouts....because I just don't know if CrossFit is going to give me the look that I want. I know that bodybuilding and figure is pretty much all about vanity, but doesn't everyone want to look good? Is that so bad? I love love love CrossFit and would never give it up completely, but bodybuilding may be better for giving me the body that I want?? I just don't know! I'm going to keep going with CrossFit for a year, which will be in October, and see where I'm at physically. I mean, I know that's totally not what CrossFit is about...but bodybuilding is in my blood! Yes, I want to be...

*Who drinks coffee when it's 90 degrees outside? Me! I've gotten into this habit of having an afternoon coffee every day while I read all of the blogs I follow. Yes, even if it's 110 degrees outside. I love my coffee. :) *Yesterday's WOD was brutal. 30 wall balls(have I ever mentioned how much I hate those things??) and 30 squat snatches, 3 rounds for time. TEN times harder than I thought it was going to be. I had to drop the squat snatches down to 20 reps on the last 2 rounds. *I'm going back and forth between should I try to lean out a little, or should I just focus on eating a lot to build muscle? I don't want to be scrawny and puny, but I don't want to have a fat stomach either. Should I cut back on carbs or add more carbs in? Should I eat every 3 hours or should I eat just 3 big meals a day? I don't know what to doooooo!!!!! *I just want to be muscular and have a nice set of abs, is that too much to ask for??? *My biceps have been SO sore since doin...

"What’s uncomfortable is good. It only feels wrong at the start because yo u have an automatic bias toward the easy. Fight that tendency. Swim upstream. Take the path of most resistance." -Darren Hardy

I'm back! :) We just arrived home Sunday from visiting my husband's family in New York. People always think it's so cool when I tell them I'm going to NY, because they automatically think of the city. But the town where my husband is from in upstate New York is the basically the opposite of the big city. Not usually what comes to mind when most people think of New York! We had a really good time spending time with his family, seeing our little nephew, Noah, for the first since he was born a year ago, and enjoying the wonderful not so humid weather. Isn't Noah the cutest thing ever? With my husband's grandma, his brother and wife, and baby Noah Enjoying a beautiful day at Lake Ontario Beach Park Another beautiful day at the art festival at Canandaigua Lake O f course, I ate a TON while I was there. I'm talking pizza, pasta, ice cream, cookies, brownies, mac and cheese...you name it, I probably had it. This was me, haha! But at least I was able to workout ...

I just have to rant about the fact that I think it is ridiculous when people get to the point when they are scared to eat a freakin' carrot because it's not a "favorable carb" or it's too high on the glycemic index. NO ONE ever got fat from eating carrots!! People get fat for a lot of reasons, but I'm pretty sure eating too many carrots is NOT one of them. Baby carrots are a perfect snack-they're easy, portable and full of nutrients. Yes, you don't want carrots to be the only vegetable you eat, and yes, they do have more sugar than other veggies. But in addition to a healthy diet that includes lots of greens and cruciferous veggies as well, having a few baby carrots with a meal or for a snack will not make you fat OR negatively affect your health. Don't be a crazy person. Go eat a carrot.