Lindsay's Ramblings

We got back yesterday from our weekend trip to Gatlinburg and, well, it was an interesting trip to say the least...we definitely won't forget it, that's for sure! It ended up not really being the most relaxing trip ever...not so much what I had envisioned for our weekend getaway in the mountains! So it started out with us having car trouble with both of our vehicles. We had planned on taking my car on the trip, but it started having problems the day before we left and then the check engine light came on, so we ended up having to drive my husband's jeep. Well, then the jeep started acting funny on the way there, and the check engine light came on about an hour into the drive! So we ended up sitting at an auto shop for a couple of hours on the trip down to Gatlinburg. Not really a good start to the trip! But we finally made it to there, and our cabin was super cute and had a really great view. It was a little cold and rainy-so much for the sunshine I was hoping for. An...

Why do vegetables have to be so good for you??? I hate them! I love meat, I love fruits, I love nuts, and of course I LOVE carbs. But I really, really do not like vegetables. If I didn't care at all about my health, I'd never eat vegetables EVER . Tonight I gagged down a salad and some steamed cauliflower for dinner...and I'm just thinking, "why am I doing this to myself??" I shouldn't force myself to eat something that I hate, right? I don't think I'm ever going to eat another salad again. Of course, I always say that, and then I do! Maybe I just need some new ways to prepare my veggies...or disguise them somehow. All I know is that it's definitely time for a cheat meal when I just cannot choke down another vegetable! UGH. Sometimes I go through phases when I just want to go back to eating all the carbs I wanted and never any vegetables, like I used to! BUT that's always just a passing thought- I know I would never go back to eating li...

Today's workout was: 70 burpees 60 sit ups 50 kb swings with 35lbs 40 pullups 30 handstand pushups I saw the 70 burpees...and I knew that it was gonna be a hard one. I did it as rx'd....well, my handstand pushups were not completely full range of motion all the way down to the floor, but oh well! It took me about 23 minutes(a little under). Kristan Clever, one of the BEST CrossFitters out there, did this workout in 9:56. I can't even comprehend that. I was just finishing the 60 situps at that time-not even half way through! But I am getting so much better at a lot of the things I could hardly even do a couple of months ago. My double unders are getting easier, my kipping pullups are MUCH better, I'm stronger at handstand pushups, and my freestanding handstand holds are getting there! I stayed up for about 10 seconds one time! :) Still need to work on some of the lifts, especially the snatch. And I'm wanting to improve my squat and deadlift weight. I'm stuck...

SPRIIIING is in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally it is here. :) We had a beautiful weekend with nice, warm weather. Today and tomorrow it's going to be almost 80 degrees . I love it, love it, love it! So long, winter! I won't miss ya! We went to Derby Dinner Playhouse over the weekend with my mom and her husband to see Jesus Christ Superstar. The show was ok...a little weird... But I did enjoy the food! Now THAT is a cheat meal! Fried fish, potatoes, green beans, a roll, and there's some mac and cheese under there! It was a buffet, and yes, I had a second plate! Plus a slice of peanut butter pie that was WON.DER.FUL! And guess what? After that huge cheat meal, I didn't gain a pound, and I still can see my abs. ;) So there. Well, this weekend is our trip to Gatlinburg! I'm so happy it's here. :) I'm obsessing over the weather like I always do before a trip. I check it 10 times a day like a maniac; I can't help it! I don't know why , it's not lik...

5 years ago today, I was standing on the beach in Maui, saying "I do" to my best friend! :)

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary by going to dinner at Olive Garden. I hadn't been there in forever, and it was soo good! It was SUCH a beautiful day-clear blue skies, sunshine and almost 70 degrees! I had a really yummy, chocolately dessert that totally HIT the spot! I ♥ chocolate! It was delish. By this point, I was already stuffed after having 2 bowls of chicken and dumpling soup, breadsticks, and dinner(chicken and beef skewers,veggies, pototoes), but I ate every single bite! Well, only 2 more weeks until our trip to the Smoky Mountains(our real anniversary celebration). It'll be here before I know it! I just hope the weather is gonna be nice. :)

I really liked yesterday's workout, but my hands did NOT! The workout was only one exercise: pullups . You had to start the clock and do one pullup in the first minute, then 2 pullups on the 2nd minute, 3 pullups on the 3rd minute and so on...until you couldn't get the number of pullups you were on within that minute. I think I got t o minute 13 when one of my calluses ripped off, and I was left with a torn and bleeding hand! :( But I kept going and finished up the round I was on, plus 5 more the next minute. And then I was completely done-zo. Biceps screaming, forearms fatigued, lats burning, hand bleeding. I think I ended up doing somewhere around 96 pullups in 14 minutes! Anyway, it's a beautiful day here in Kentucky. It's been raining nonstop for the past few days, but the sun shining bright today. :) I'm looking forward to this weekend and my treat meal at Olive Garden for our 5 year wedding anniversary!

I love love LOVED today's CrossFit workout! You had to do as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 3 bench presses(125lb for women) 5 squats(155lb for women) What I did NOT love, however, was that yesterday's workout was full out sprints, so I am super sore in my quads and hamstrings today, and I have some knee thing going on.... One of the only things I don't like about Crossfit is that sometimes I don't get their programming. Doing sprints and then squats the next day doesn't make sense to me...but oh well, I'm just goin with it anyway! So I did the squats with 135lbs, which is usually not hard for me at all...Well, today it felt like 500 lbs with how sore my quads were! I used 115 on the bench press, which was pretty tough. But fun! I love to bench press. :)

I'm not perfect. I'm insecure. I'm not always confident. I have days when I feel fat, I have days when I feel puny, I have days when I feel ugly. I have to accept that I will never be perfect. I will never have the perfect body, no matter how hard I try. God gave me this body...so I have to live with it and make the most of it! I might not have a 6 pack...but I do think I have pretty nice arms! I'm proud of my guns!(And yeah, I take a lot of flexing pics, so what?) I may hate my skinny legs, but you know what? They are fast and pretty strong , too. I may not be so good at met-con workouts, but at least I can do it! My body can move, it can jump, it can run and it can lift some pretty heavy weight! And I'm thankful for that. "Strive for progress, not perfection."

I like structure . I always have. If I go on a trip or vacation, I plan out every little thing that we are going to be doing, and I make a timeline. I plan out meals and snacks, I plan out what my workouts are going to be, what outfits I'm going to wear, and I make my list of things to pack about a month ahead of time! I have found that I like that same structure with my eating plan. So as far as cheat meals go, what I've found that works best for me is having one planned cheat meal a week(I actually have always called it a treat meal, not a cheat !). I have tried some different things recently with my treat meals. I've tried being a little more relaxed about it and just having a treat whenever I feel the urge, instead of having it planned . I've tried having a few small treats throughout the week instead of one huge meal. And I have even tried having a whole day where I pretty much just let myself eat whatever I feel like. But what I've learned is this: havin...

I just finished today's WOD: 5 rounds of: 20 squats (I used 85lbs) and 20 yard handstand walk (I did 30 seconds handstand holds against the wall). Yeah, I know I've mentioned that I love squats...well, not today. Like I said, I like heavy squats for low reps--20 reps with 85lbs was hard, even though that's a very light weight! Muscle endurance is definitely what I'm lacking! Someone at the gym today told me that I look like I've gained muscle and am more defined! Yes, I love to hear that! It's hard to see the changes in your body yourself sometimes. I sure hope I'm getting bigger! So... no big plans for the weekend, except for baking some healthy treats! I love love love to bake, and I have like a thousand recipes that I've found on the internet to try! :)

How do you get toned arms? That's what every woman wants, right? Well, you forget about "toning", that's how. You train for strength, you lift heavy , you TRY to build muscle. Toning=building muscle, losing fat . That's it. You don't worry about getting "big" arms-FAT makes your arms "big", not muscle! Building muscle is actually a lot harder than most women think; it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of effort, and doing 5lb dumbbell curls is NOT gonna get you toned, that's for sure. It took me years of heavy pushing and pulling to get the muscle that I have in my arms today. It took a lot of hard work and and a lot of eating(healthy, of course)! It took constantly pushing myself to go harder and heavier-to squeeze out an extra rep or two than the last time, and to change up my workouts, exercises and rep ranges to keep my muscles challenged. Another thing- DON'T just do exercises that only work your biceps and...

The sun is shining!! :) It's so nice to see the sun after having clouds and rainy weather for the past week. Today's workout was a hero WOD. It was a pretty crazy one, so I scaled it to this: 3 rounds for time: 3 muscle ups 9 burpee pullups(these are hard, but I really like them!) 15 pullups 400-600m run (not sure how far I actually ran, but something like that) So the last time I tried to do a muscle up, I couldn't even get ONE, but today they felt pretty easy! I was really happy about that. Oh-and yesterday, I got 30 double unders in a row, my new record! I am getting so much better at them. And another thing-I stepped onto the scale yesterday....and I weighed almost 125 lbs!!!! Now, you've got to understand-it's very hard for me to gain weight. I have hovered around 118-120lbs for about the last 5 years, probably even longer than that. My body composition has changed in those 5 years(gained muscle, lost fat), but my weight has pretty much stayed the same. The...