Day 22 - Ouch

I'm already feeling today's workout, but it may be because I might have tweaked something in my shoulder blade. Regardless.

So apparently this week is 1 rep max week because we did more 1 rep maxes today.

Warm-Up:
1000 meter row - I did it in about 4:45

Strength/Skill
5-5-3-3-1-1-1 Overhead Squats
So an overhead squat is essentially a push press and a squat all in one. You pick up the bar as if you're going to do a push press, except your hands are placed a lot wider. You use your knees to get the bar above your head and then you hold it up there until you're done doing the number of squats you're going to do. This is where I have trouble. We've already established that I can squat until the cows come home, but my upper body strength isn't all there yet. It's also tough for me to get the bar above my head with my hands so spaced out. I don't know if it's just a center of gravity type thing or what but by the time I hit the first set of 1, I was really struggling. I got the one done, but had to drop the barbell because there was no way I was getting that bar back down the normal way. For the next two sets my coach had me kind of position my body right under the bar so all I had to do was use my legs to stand up and the bar would already be above my head. It was awkward as hell, but it worked. My final one rep max was 93 pounds, was hoping to get triple digits again but I'll take it.
This is a picture of an overhead squat. Her weight's not completely on her heels!

MetCon:
5 rounds of 10 sumo deadlifts and 10 max height jumps.
Sumo deadlifts are actually kind of easier on me than regular deadlifts. With a sumo deadlift, your feet are wider and your hands are inside your legs instead of outside. I did 93 pounds on that, could have gone higher but I know I start using my back when I start getting tired. The max height jumps were essentially picking something to jump up to and touch. I used the pull-up bar. Finished 5 rounds in 8:42.

Mobility:
We pretty much just did a bunch of stretches at our leisure for the rest of class. I did some hip flexor stretches and shoulder stretches.

My arms are definitely tired after today. Maybe not incredibly sore, but tired. Friday will be interesting.

Tomorrow is officially the end of my challenge. I'll be doing my final weigh-in. It's not really "ending" per se considering I plan on continuing with the lifestyle, but it'll officially be the first thing I started, finished AND plan on continuing for the first time. I wish I had a PR bell in my room that I could ring.

Food today was a salmon salad over lettuce and tomatoes for lunch. I got a couple cans of salmon at Wegmans yesterday so I mixed that up with a little mayo, dill seasoning, walnuts and celery and just put it on the lettuce. Dinner was the stuffed pork chop with balsamic seasoned grilled eggplant on the side. So delicious. I love veggies. So happy I can eat them all I want. I'm probably still not getting the amount of calories that I specifically need, but I don't feel hungry so I guess it can't be all that bad. I actually forced myself to have lunch mostly because I knew I needed to eat, not because I was hungry. Although dinner/afterwards is usually my hungriest time so maybe if I have a few more calories for my other meals I wouldn't have such horrible munchies at this time of night.

Today was a pretty simple day overall. I should be doing homework but I was getting the stink-eye from the dog because I was keeping him up with my desk lamp. So now I'm huddled in the darkness. That little demon is just spoiled rotten.

Day 21 - I Have Food!

Wow...I'm going to have to change the name of this thing. Must come up with something witty.

So last night was a crappy night in the EMS world. We didn't really run our asses off but it was one of those nights were you get an hour of sleep between calls, which just all kinds of makes you hate life. The real defining moment was when I was half an hour to my offgoing and I got dispatched to my apartment complex, literally two buildings away from my bed. That was some EMS god cruelty right there. Finally got home, fed the dog and crawled into bed. Woke up to a sick dog so my afternoon was spent cleaning the carpets *sigh*

I had to go out and get him some pumpkin so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and stock up for the week. Can I just say, I'm so excited for all the delicious things I now have in my fridge. I decided to go simple this week, no recipes or crazy food prepping day. Most of the food I bought can be defrosted the night before and then cooked up with some steamed vegetables on the side. I got a LOT of fish. So excited. For veggies I got cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes and I still have broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, and lettuce left over from last week. I got a big bag of navel oranges and a bunch of bananas for fruit. Big carton of eggs so I can boil half and then use the other half for breakfasts. For meat I got grassfed ground beef (figuring I could make a shepherd's pie out of it) and a grassfed sirloin steak. I was kind of hesitant with the organic stuff mostly because of the stigma that it's more expensive but it actually wasn't that bad! I also still have plenty of chicken left over since I got a big club pack last time. For fish I got tilapia and salmon filets. They're the already portioned out frozen kind so those will last me for a few meals. I've never had tilapia but people say it's pretty good and it also has a metric crap-ton of protein. I've also decided to give almond butter a try! While I was at it I also got some pork stuffed with apple raisin stuffing and a tilapia filet stuffed with crabmeat. Wegmans does this really cool thing where they portion an entree out and package them in an oven safe container so literally all you have to do is take it home, preheat the oven, cook them and you're done. It's also fairly inexpensive and doesn't leave you with a whole ton of leftovers. I'm going to miss Wegmans so much when I finally get to leave Rochester.

That's pretty much my day. Had one meal in the 12 hours I've been awake between cleaning up after the pup and trying to come up with a game plan. I was pretty proud of myself. Walked into Wegmans starving (and we all know what happens when you go grocery shopping when you're hungry) and the most "unhealthy" thing I came out with was some sushi for dinner. Walked right by the chips and the Valentine's Day chocolate. A few weeks ago that would not have been possible. I DID almost get a book called Paleo for Dummies haha. I think I'm going to wait until I get my kindle and download it off of Amazon.

I can honestly say that I don't miss the way things were. I don't miss the pasta or the sandwiches. It'll be tough to make that final push and really cut out all the cheats, but I'm looking forward to it. Next two weeks are just going to be gearing up for the challenge. I'm not going to be SUPER strict, considering this weekend consists of the superbowl and the henrietta banquet, but I'm definitely going to stay conscious of what I'm eating and try to stay as true to my plan as possible.

I get to go work out tomorrow! So psyched. I've really been considering making my membership unlimited because my recovery time is not that bad anymore, even when we have rough workouts. Sometimes I'm sore the next day but considering 2 months ago I used to feel like I got hit by a bus, I've definitely improved. I'd like to think some of it has to do with my diet from the past few weeks. One thing paleo is well known for is it's anti-inflammatory properties, which in turn leads to easier recoveries. I find myself craving workouts on my days off, mostly because I don't really know what else to do with myself. I'm still giving it some thought just because my schedule is still so crazy. I may wait until April when it's time for me to renew my membership because I'll at least no longer have school to worry about at that point.

Wishing 4 am would come faster so the WOD would be posted!

Day 20 - Reflections

So my challenge is about to end on Thursday :( but rest assured, I'm going to keep going and keep blogging about it too!

This weekend was pretty low key. Worked (as usual). Sunday was an exciting day though. I put on my jeans for the first time since starting this challenge and they actually fit me which means that I'm now a true size 14. I guess it really solidified in my mind that the weight is really just a number. I've definitely slimmed down a bit and it's awesome. Still not taking measurements though and I'll explain that in a bit.

Got my butt out of bed and went to the gym today. My favorite coach wasn't there but one of the owners was teaching the class. He was the one I talked to about the paleo diet, so I'm starting to like him a little better than I did before. So today's workout was:

Warm-Up:
12 rounds tabata (goddamnit!) rowing or jump roping. I went with the jump rope.

Strength/Skill:
5-5-3-3-1-1-1 Push Press working up to a 1 rep max. Push press is one of those exercises that I've done well at even though it's an upper body exercise, I think it's because it's mostly based on shoulders while you're using some momentum from bending your knees to help get the weight up. My 1 rep max is 103 pounds! Holy cow! So below is what a push press looks like. It's just like a military press except it's heavier weight and you use your legs a little.

AMRAP (10 minutes):
25 front squats (with a 30 lb. slam ball)
10 slams
25 burpees
So a slam ball is essentially a medicine ball, but smaller and filled with sand. It sounds harmless...it's not. The slams were actually kinda cool because you literally lift the ball above your hand and then slam it back down to the ground. If you imagine someone's face printed on the ball, it's very cathartic. And of course burpees...gah. I finished 2 full rounds and then got through 11 more front squats before the 10 minutes was up. Whoever said 10 minutes isn't a long time clearly has never done crossfit.

Midline:
Side planks (1 min. x4 each side) - By the time we got to this part, my shoulders were so dead that I could barely hold myself up for 30 seconds, so I did what I could.

So food today was steak strips with broccoli on the side for both meals. Since I had to be at work tonight I kind of had to come up with something on the fly. I think it turned out pretty decent. Definitely not my best work and I STILL have to go food shopping!

Because my "challenge" is ending on Thursday, I took some time today to look back on how far I've come, even in just 3 weeks and the week leading up to me starting this plan. I wouldn't say I'm a completely different person, but I'm a fairly different person. Every day I get a little more of my self-confidence back and don't spend so much time wallowing and griping about how my body never does what I want it to do and looking back at pictures from high school wishing I could look like that again. Because the thing is, my body is changing in ways that I clearly couldn't see before. I'm no longer plagued by joint pain and I get up everyday feeling strong. Apparently I fit into my jeans again! Not to mention, I feel healthier. It's no longer a huge battle to convince myself to get to the gym and I've actually started making a conscious effort to stick to my diet plan. Did I cheat? Of course I did. I was a bad little girl at times, but the point is that I didn't give up. I just clearly need to stop hanging out at the ambulance base.

So on February 16th, the Crossfit Boomtown Paleo Challenge will officially commence. They sent us an email today with all the info and I have to say that I am incredibly excited. The challenge will go from February 16th to March 30th (6 weeks) and we will be competing with a crossfit gym from California. The challenge is essentially what it's called - 6 weeks of strict paleo. Mixed in with that will also be "challenge WODs" which are spread throughout the 6 weeks and we will put our scores against the other gym's. The reason I'm not taking measurements at the end of my challenge is because I will be doing measurements on the 16th. I'm going to continue tracking my progress and being as strict paleo as possible, mostly to get myself ready for the challenge. I'm basically using the challenge as a way to give myself a little extra motivation. Not only will I be accountable to myself, but I'll also be accountable to my coaches and the rest of the gym. Each week I'll be required to submit reports of what I ate and my exercise and will get points based off of that. At the beginning and end of the challenge we're going to do measurements and pictures. Whoever loses the most weight/inches and has the most amount of points wins. I'm not going to set the bar that high for myself, but I still plan on working my butt off. I'm mostly scared of the challenge WODs. I'm definitely better than I used to be, but that doesn't mean I'll be getting any points based off of how much I can sweat. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. I've noticed a big difference just during these 3 weeks, even with my cheating, but it'll be awesome to see what happens if I don't cheat. I know, I know, maybe I should have thought of that 3 weeks ago.

You can't even imagine how excited I am for this winter to be over. The biggest thing my gym stresses with this challenge is getting enough sleep. Well...we all know that's a laughable cause with my life. My February schedule has already been set in stone so come March I'll be looking at ways to make things a little easier on myself. It may piss off my boss but after these past few weeks of pretty much killing myself on the weekends, my sleep schedule is definitely one of those things holding me back. With that said, things would definitely be better if it wasn't an arctic tundra out there. Generally in the spring and summer and most of the fall, I'll be up with the sun and ready to go all day. It's just winter...it's blah and I never want to leave my bed.

I'm definitely looking forward at all the things I can look forward to for the summer. I'll have this challenge keeping me busy for 6 weeks. School is over for me in 4 weeks and will leave just a little more me time. I'll be starting grad school apps in the spring. I just get the feeling that this will be an awesome summer.

Day 17

Last night was so blissfully silent in the EMS world. I cannot say how grateful I was for that one. Woke up around 10-ish and hung around base for a bit before I came home to get ready to work out. I don't generally eat before I go to the gym unless it's at least 2 hours before, mostly because previous experience has taught me not to.

The workout today was:

Warm-Up:
8 rounds tabata rowing (freaking tabata!)

Skill:
5-5-3-3-1-1-1 (2 minutes rest between each set) Back Squats with the goal of the last set being a 1 rep max

MetCon:
4 rounds: (3) power clean, (15) box jumps, (15) sit-ups

I KILLED the workout today. Killed it badly enough that I should get my EMT card taken away from me. My PR for squats is now up to 135 pounds...scary thing is I could have gone higher! I started at 75 as a warm-up and just kept going up from there. My legs are literally superhuman. I even got to ring the PR bell! I still don't know what my one rep max is but if I had to guess, I would put it around 150 since 135 was starting to get to that "I don't know if I can pick myself off the floor" point. The MetCon was rough but I got through it. I actually PR'd my power clean too. I usually do 53 pounds but did 73 today. I wasn't exactly throwing a celebration party since it was only 3 reps at a time but that's still pretty sweet. I suck at box jumps though. I can only get up to a 12" box right now. But at least it's starting to feel like I'm not so glued to the ground, so I guess I can't complain. I finished everything in 8:35, which ended up being dead last. I'm not worried about this since I really worked myself with this one. I'm really sore now though and looking forward to 2 days off. Going two days in a row wasn't that bad at all, I could keep doing it!

After working out I had a few errands to run so I stopped at Wegmans for some food. I've been craving a bag of chips so badly for the past few days. I don't know if it's from lack of carbs or the fact that I'm PMSing, but I walked into that place ready to kill someone for a bag of chips. So I got shrimp sushi instead. Wish they had it in brown rice or even one of those sushi bowls so I didn't need to eat the rice at all, but it is what it is. I also made myself a salad with some mixed greens and grilled chicken salad on top with some tomatoes. I was REALLY full after that one. For dinner I just had another salad with leftover chicken and a cut up tomato. I have to go food shopping again...bah. Still resisting a lot of the bad temptations though!

Overall, today was a good day. Honestly I wish my body could perform like this every time I go to the gym. I know I'm still getting used to the change in fuel form and I really need to get the sleeping thing down better, but I think I'm getting there. I just feel a lot stronger and someone told me last night that he can tell I've been working hard! Could be because he wanted to flatter me, but regardless of the motive, it made me feel good. I think my mind is starting to convert itself from not worrying so much about the numbers and just thinking of the final end product. I am a lot stronger now, both mentally and physically. My back is starting to get better and so are my knees! I'm really starting to look forward to this paleo challenge as well because it means I'll get to do something with a group of people.

So, because I'm a weird college student, I've already set rewards for myself when I finally do lose the weight that I want to lose. I'll finally get that belly piercing that I've always wanted and maybe even another tattoo. And naturally a celebratory shopping spree with a cleaning out of the closets, but that one was a given.

Day 16

I was super proud of myself today. I actually got up at 8 to go to the gym. I know this seems like a small success, but this is me we're talking about. I don't simply get up that early on my day off. The workout today was very based upon body weight exercises, not a single barbell was lifted in the making of these sore muscles.

Warm-Up:
50 air squats
40 sit-ups
30 wall balls (15# med ball)
20 supermans (back extensions)
10 push-ups (on my knees -- I really just need to take the plunge and do them unassisted, they're getting too easy)
10 Scorpion stretches (felt amaaazing!)
10 Iron cross stretches

MetCon:
16 rounds tabata burpees (I HATE tabata! It's 20 seconds of activity followed by 10 seconds of rest) My record was 5 burpees in one set of 20, my lowest was 2.

Skill:
Pistol Squats -- don't underestimate them, they are hard! We were supposed to do 40 reps total. I ended up doing a lot more but it was because I was trying different modifications. I'm decent at getting them if I have a box to sit down on, but man are they killer.

Midline:
4 sets of 15 toes to bar...I modified them by doing knees to chest. My abs are not going to feel good tomorrow.

So after our workout today, I had a long talk with the trainer. I've been having some reservations about things for the past few days as far as how sustainable my diet is. I'm totally ok with the paleo, giving up carbs hasn't actually been that awful of an experience. It's the shakes. I'm worried that I'm first of all not getting enough calories for my activity level, and secondly I've been thinking about what happens after I'm done with the 30 day supply I have. I don't expect to keep myself on the 2 shake/day plan, because I would probably just lose my mind. So I wanted to get some advice from a real person, instead of getting the differing opinions from people on Google.

We talked for a wicked long time and I gained some new insight. The gym will be having a paleo challenge with another gym from California starting on February 16th. It'll be strict paleo for a month. Thank God it'll be going on during the time period that no good "adult beverage" events will be going on. I more wanted to talk to him to get advice on what kind of results I could actually see from going strictly paleo. I know the whole "no food a caveman" didn't have access to rules, but I wanted real advice on how paleo and weight loss go together. He told me a lot about how paleo affects people differently and how people get used to it differently. Like he had the "no carb hangover" for a good 3 weeks while everyone else didn't, but since then has felt great. He told me it may take awhile before my body truly converts from using carbs for energy to using fats and proteins, which is why I'm not feeling so amazing even after a week. He also mentioned that I may not be ingesting enough calories for someone who's going to the gym more and spending time running around the world. He didn't tell me to absolutely come off the shakes, but just recommended that I add back a little more real food to truly maximize the energy I'm getting for my workouts, which I agree with. I'm definitely feeling some good effects from getting away from the carbs, but I still have what people call the hangover. I'm still kind of in that lethargic phase, not horribly, but a little bit.

I guess the biggest thing I took away from it is that I need more than 3 weeks to truly see what my body does with a diet like paleo, which I should have realized. I'm basically telling it that it needs to learn how to get my energy from a completely different source. I know it'll take awhile before I'm strictly paleo. I still have my slips, and maybe that's what keeping me sane through this whole thing. The biggest thing he stressed is that all the ripped athletes I see at the gym still have their cheat days. One guy even goes so far as to spend one night of his weekend eating an entire pizza! As long I don't let it get the best of me and I only keep to that one cheat, I'll keep my sanity and my body won't reconvert itself.

While I don't plan on making any drastic changes in the next week, I'm definitely taking what he said to heart. I'm even thinking of increasing my membership so I can go more days a week, because I really want to become part of the family. I'm starting to get to know people by going 2-3 times per week, but I want more out of it and I can feel my body wanting more. My recovery period is definitely not nearly as bad as it used to be, and it's not for lack of trying, so I think I'm ready to take that next step. I'm going to finish this challenge off strong and even if I don't get the measurements I want or the weight I want, I'm still feeling great about myself and I know that things are changing even if I can't see them. Feels amazing to have finally found my place!

I listened to this song yesterday and now I'm obsessed. I know rap may not be at the top of everyone's list, but this one is truly inspirational. Once I get all my stuff converted on my new computer, I'll definitely need to work on a "pump it up" playlist.

Day 15 - A Day in the Life of J. Lo's Booty

Today I woke up around 11, bummed around in bed until noon. Did the normal routine of taking the puppy out and feeding him. I honestly was not in the mood for a shake, like at all. Thinking of one made me want to vomit. So I made scrambled eggs with a couple pieces of bacon and a banana. I don't know if it was the banana but I was stuffed after that.

I can't believe this but for once, I had a real day off! No homework imminently due, and no work. So we stayed in and relaxed all day until it was time for me to head to the gym. I was so excited about Strongman! While I was waiting for 5:30 to come around I watched Biggest Loser and some Deadliest Catch.

I swear I'm truly not destined to get to this class. Class was scheduled to start at 6. I left the house at 5:30 on the dot. Due to a couple snowflakes on the ground and rush hour, needless to say I didn't make it. I am so mad. So I called the gym and told them I wouldn't be there and would register for a class tomorrow. Came right home and registered for the 9:15 class tomorrow, the earliest I've worked out in I can't even remember how long. So it's going to be an early night for me.

After coming home, I realized I was A) hungry and B) searching for something to do. I solved the hunger by making sauteed shrimp, steamed broccoli and a small salad (which was essentially just lettuce and a cut up tomato). Seems like a lot but I only had a couple small broccoli florets, so the salad wasn't like a game changer. Also had a small glass of wine with dinner.

Once that was done, I made the decision that my "workout" for the night was going to be cleaning my room and bathroom. Needless to say, both are spic and span and I can now make another dog from the amount of fur that was vacuumed. I think I'm just going to continue the trend and clean the rest of the apartment tomorrow after the gym.

So today I decided to take some measurements, for S's & G's. Before I left for the gym I shaved my legs and as I was standing up I looked in the mirror and I don't know if it was the pants I was wearing or what but I was just like Holy God J. Lo booty! I haven't decided if I'm going to embrace it yet or not.  So I took some measurements because I actually am curious about where the weight is coming off of. I realize that 26 pounds later is kind of inaccurate, but hey better late than never.

I'm not incredibly proud of any of this but at least I'm doing it while I know I'm improving:
Right calf - 18"
Right thigh - 27"
Hips - 47.5" (damn you J. Lo)
Waist - 38"
Bust - 37"
Right arm - 16"

I'm kind of on the fence about these numbers. The ones like my bust, calf and hips, I really couldn't care less about what they are as long as they're toned. I know squats are only going to accentuate my bubble butt so I'm not worried about its size as much as I'm worried about getting it toned up. Same goes for my calves. My biggest points of contention are my thighs, waist, and arms. If there have ever been body parts that make me hate myself, it's those 3, and I know it's the 3 that the fat is going to come off of the slowest. So incredibly aggravating. I won't be taking measurements again until the final day. I feel like if I take them more often than that I'll just end up driving myself nuts. I got my days mixed up and tomorrow is really weigh-in day. It's looking like I'm going to be the same exact weight as last week, and that's ok, it was just a bad week, but I definitely will be pushing it right up until the end.

Hope everyone had a good hump day!

Day 14

Today was much better - I'm not as sick and I think I've finally caught up on sleep.

Kept it pretty low key. Just hung around the house and did homework. Breakfast/lunch was a shake, cleanse, green tea and some water. Mid-afternoon snack was a Zone bar. For dinner, a few friends wanted to go out so I ended up getting a chicken BLT panini, which was just plain chicken and the BLT parts. Now here's the bad part...I was a very bad girl....I had a cupcake for dessert. It wasn't just any cupcake, it was a Cannoli Cupcake. There's this place near me called Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe. My friends have been begging and begging to go and of course they do it right in the middle of me being good. Figures. So I had the cupcake. Let me tell you, so worth the diabetes. Alright, I'll stop being bad!

Today was a day off from the gym so I've just been nursing some sore muscles. It's not too terrible. I can feel those push presses and push-ups pretty much from my triceps, all the way down to my shoulder blades. Yikes! Abs hurt a little bit too. I'm going to try out Strongman tomorrow versus my regular Crossfit workout just to see how I like it. I guess it just fascinates me because it has such a focus on lifting strange objects like atlas stones and weighted bags and just overall basic body movements but adding the twist of coordination required to do the movements while lifting something that's not a barbell. After reading the blog from the gym that I go to, they said that the strength components they work on focus a lot on back/leg strength. I don't really need the leg strength but I need the back strength. I've had weak lower back muscles since I was in high school. One day I was running sprints in track and all of a sudden I felt this awful spasm in my lower back, which essentially left me unable to walk for a few days. Ever since then, I have yet to fully recover. EMS doesn't exactly help either. It seems like no matter how much I strengthen my legs, I will always feel a lift in my lower back because I don't have the core strength to keep it tight. So I'm looking forward to this class and seeing if it could be the thing that helps me. Crossfit itself has already helped me slightly in that body area but I'd like to kind of jumpstart it a little bit now that I'm stronger.

I just want to post this link because this is the first video I ever watched about crossfit and it's the one that got me started. Half of those movements scared the shit out of me, and I told myself that I wouldn't be doing any of them on my first day. I was right, I did them on the second day instead. But that's the awesomeness of it all. There's no build-up or suspense. There's "here's what you're doing" and you do it.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day again! I can't believe that a week has already gone by. Well, I guess I can just because I spent a good 4 days of it working my butt off. Time flies! I don't expect huge results this week since I was so bad over the weekend but I at least hope I stayed steady.

Have a happy Wednesday!

Day 13 - Why we don't go to the gym when we're sick

So today was kind of a chill day. Worked last night and didn't get a single call so I got a good 4 hours of sleep. Came home and slept for a couple more hours before heading off to the gym.

The workout today was a warm-up of bear crawls, inchworm, frog jumps and crab walks. Strength was 5 sets of 3 push presses. I can definitely tell that my shoulder strength is improving because my final weight was 83 pounds. My shoulders and upper body have always been a huge point of contention with me because my lower body is so much stronger than my upper, so it's good to see my upper body is improving little by little. The AMRAP today was 7 minutes: 10 dumbbell squat cleans (20 pounds) and 5 renegade rows (20 pounds). I put pictures of them below if some of you don't know what those are. I personally hate squat cleans. I'm good with power cleans because it doesn't involve using your momentum only to end up back where you started, but squat cleans you get a lot of momentum upwards but you end up practically on the floor. Not to mention it was entirely bizarre doing it with dumbbells, although it was kinda nice to not have a barbell threatening to tip you onto your face. Renegade rows are just...awful. I think I've finally built up my strength enough that I can do push-ups without being on my knees but add a row to it and I stayed on my knees. After that we did 4 rounds of 25 of these strange lower ab exercises. It's basically a leg lift but when you put your legs down, you're supposed to crunch up slightly with your arms so in the end you create this back and forth motion. I couldn't do all of them because I kept tweaking my back but man do they hurt!

Working out was tough today because I definitely have a cold. Yesterday I started with a little bit of tingly throat and now it's just full blown. I got the sniffles and it feels like someone stabbed a knife into the back of my throat. Me working out with a cold is like watching a 25 year smoker trying to run 10 miles. It was just not pretty. Good news is my sore throat went away a little (yay?).

Food intake today wasn't very significant. I slept most of the day away and only got up long enough to go to the gym. After getting back from the gym I had a boiled egg and a banana and went right back to bed. Dinner was Old Bay seasoned chicken with zucchini. My late night homework snack was a Zone bar. So I'm finally back to being good again. I need to get my water intake back up though because I really don't feel like dealing with that bloating again.

Feels good to finally be back on track. I guess it's supposed to snow for the next 2 days so I'll definitely be getting my leg workouts trekking through that crap. I have a LOT to do tomorrow so I'm planning on getting up early, which will force me into eating a little more.

Weekend of Day 11

So this weekend was a total bust. Complete 180 from last weekend. To say that I got slammed at work all weekend long would be a severe understatement, so literally my chain of survival became work, sleep, take care of the dog, shower, repeat. I think I had an average of about one meal per day this entire weekend, starting on Friday. I tried to stay faithful as far as the meals go - not eating too much and not straying from the no carbs. That part went ok, not perfect, but it wasn't awful. But when it came to snack time I was a bad bad little girl. The chips and Smartfood at base finally got to me. I know, there's no excuse. Ever since I had that sick day on Wednesday night/Thursday I've just been struggling with getting back on track. Well, as of tomorrow morning, I will be. I'll have 3 days off from work to recuperate and reset myself and I'm going to do it like a champ. I finally got the cold that I've been fighting off so there will be plenty of orange juice in this house but otherwise I'm staying away from the "I feel sorry for myself" soup and garbage. My digestive system really took a beating - and I mean a beating. I was kind of struggling this past week with getting to the bathroom regularly, which I chalked up to the doubling of my normal amount of protein. But let me tell you, putting junk back in my system really turned that one around quickly. It was an unfortunate beneficial side effect.

I have about 10 days left to really turn this around. I don't expect to see like HUGE results with the small amount of time but it would be nice to be that much closer to my goal. That's really all I'm asking for here. I truly need to get back on track, sickness be damned.

I know I promised to stop being cliche and start things on Mondays, but I'm not waiting another day!

Day 10

Today was kind of another weird day. We got slammed at work last night so I got up early and had breakfast at our diner (2 eggs over easy and steak again with no hashbrowns or toast). Went home and slept until 6 pm! That's craziness to me. When you go to bed in the daylight and wake up when it's dark, it's definitely a trippy experience.

Got my butt out of bed and relaxed for a few hours. Ate the rest of the clam chowder for dinner and here I am at work again. I have a lot of homework to do tomorrow so it'll be good to just stay up all day and get back on my normal schedule. I tried not to be too horrendous about it these past 2 days but I definitely got a little off track. There is no longer anymore non-paleo food in the house so I either have to go back to my normal program or just not eat.

Short post since I only saw a few hours of daylight today. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Day 9 - Cheat Day

So I'll post about yesterday and then later on I'll actually do today's.

Yesterday was...for lack of better terms...awful. Instead of sleeping off whatever I had, it seemed I was destined to stay awake all night. I was hot and then super cold and I had this awful like restless pain in my legs that just wouldn't go away. I literally felt menopausal. Got out of bed early because I just couldn't stand it anymore. Took the puppy out and then we both piled into the car for a trip to Wegmans. I literally looked like your stereotypical flu patient - huge bottle of OJ, bottle of Advil, a container of clam chowder, and a dark chocolate candy bar. Yeah, I was milking this one for all it was worth. Brought my bounty home, made myself 2 scrambled eggs with a side of Advil and NyQuil and a lot of OJ to wash it all down. Went back to bed for a few hours and called it good.

Woke up feeling a lot better, not 100%, but a good solid 80%. Took it easy around the house and pretended to get some schoolwork done. Had a small bowl of clam chowder with another big glass of OJ for lunch. Got someone to cover my evening shift so I could recover a little longer, and I didn't even have to tell my professor I wouldn't be in class because he cancelled it anyway!

Dinner was my super cheat meal for the week, and I swear I'll never do it again, because I'm super paying for it today. A friend and I went out for Chinese food - it's kind of our thing to do when we haven't seen each other in awhile and we want to get a chance to talk away from the rest of the world. I got shrimp with cashew nuts, had about half of it and tossed the rest away so it wouldn't be in the house. The rice was what really killed me. After a week of no carbs, it literally felt like a brick in my stomach. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home and my mother tries feeding me spaghetti. Regardless, my cheating is over. I'm ready to go back into focus mode.

The good thing to come out of yesterday was that it was my official one week anniversary of me starting this new lifestyle. It has been the craziest week ever, between tacking on 5 pounds solely because of water, getting daily headaches, and then finally just getting sick because my body decided that I wasn't listening hard enough. I weighed myself yesterday morning and I was officially 7 pounds down from what I weighed last week. I honestly can't believe it. I haven't been able to work out because of all the silliness yet somehow I got rid of that much weight. I wish I had taken measurements last week so I can see where it's coming off of but I decided I'd rather be surprised when I can fit into my high school jeans. I'm actually kind of curious to see what happens when I add the workouts back in.

1 week down, 2 more weeks to go! I'm actually really pumped about all this. Right now I'm being really strict on myself, but even after these 3 weeks are over I can definitely see myself continuing on with this. So psyched!

Day 8

Woke up this morning feeling great! Had "lunch" which was a shake, a cleanse, and a mug of green tea. Hung out in the house until it would have been time to head to the gym. I'd signed up to try something new called Strongman. It's still CrossFit but with a lot more heavy lifting with awkward things like atlas stones. I was so excited. Then 4 pm rolled around and everything went downhill. After a snack of half a banana and a boiled egg, I all of a sudden just felt sick. I was cold, weak, my head felt stuffy. It just knocked me on my ass. So I bundled up in a hoodie, sweatpants and socks and went back to bed under my comforter. Even then I couldn't shake the cold. Eventually I fell asleep for about an hour. I now feel like I'm at a normal temperature but I still have this headache and I still feel a bit weak. I ended up calling out of work because I knew I looked worse than any of my patients. I made sure to get up for about an hour because the puppy wasn't going to walk himself and I knew part of recovering was to make sure I had some good food in my belly. So we did all that, and I had a chicken breast seasoned with cinnamon & curry and the zucchini saute. Grabbed an orange for dessert for some extra Vitamin C. I'll have to go to the store tomorrow and get myself an emergency bottle of OJ.

Here's to a night recovering in bed!

I started watching The Biggest Loser last night. Oh my God it makes me cry harder than Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The pain that these people put themselves through is just incredible. Not to mention Jillian scares the crap out of me. I think it's great that they've brought kids on the show too. I can definitely feel for one of the kids because she has a really busy life in high school with her schoolwork and just found herself neglecting her health for the sake of getting good grades. I neglected my health for more reasons than one but I can definitely feel for her. Sometimes we just simply lose track of what's important. I hate watching people get eliminated though. I'm really happy that they're moving on after the show and still losing the weight but you just don't want to see people getting eliminated just because they didn't lose a large enough percentage of weight. I think at some points it's just sending the wrong message to people. The people on the show understand that they should continue being healthy afterwards, but how about the people at home who are trying to dedicate themselves and see what happens when you don't measure up to others. Maybe it's my emotions coming out, but you shouldn't be eliminated just because your body adjusts to exercise in a different way.

Ok, rant off, I'm heading to bed. Hopefully I get better soon!

Day 7

Finally...a night off....well spent doing homework.

Got home from work today, exhausted again. Went to bed and woke up at 2, so I missed breakfast AND lunch...again. Had a snack of a Zone bar and a boiled egg to get me through class. Made sure I packed plenty of water since I could feel the headache coming on. I got out of class and went to base to hang out for a little while and do homework. I'm so stressed about all the assignments I have coming up and are all due in the next 48 hours. You never realize how much your life gets put on hold when you work too many overnights in a row. I think my friend noticed how out of whack I was and gave me a couple pieces of his Hershey bar. As much of a cheat it was, it was still a good pick-me-up. So I stayed at base to work on a project before I came home for dinner.

Dinner was the other piece of salmon and a salad with a cut up tomato and balsamic. I also caved and had a glass of white wine. Let's just say that alcohol doesn't really like my body right now. After being really good and having only healthy food for so long, I have the biggest headache ever. So to replace some electrolytes and have a healthy dessert at the same time, I munched on a banana and now I'm in bed. I think I'm just going to do a little more homework and save the rest for tomorrow, because what self-respecting professor is going to grade what I have to say at this time of night?

I feel so out of sorts today. I know I'm physically drained, both from working too much, stressing over homework and from my sorry excuse for a caloric intake. To compensate for it, I've just been chugging water, which probably isn't helping me either, but it's being a good placebo. I really miss my routine. I have tonight off and then I'm working Wednesday through Sunday again. I don't know what I can change from my experiences of this past weekend to make sure I don't feel like this again but all I can think of is to just tough it out and drink plenty of green tea if I feel like I need caffeine. I really need to stop skipping lunch. It's bad enough that I work all night, get hungry, but would rather go to bed than sleep on a full stomach. I shouldn't be skipping lunch on top of it all, because essentially I'm currently getting one meal a day with like 2 or 3 snacks and then I'm just battling cravings for food in general.

Hoping that I can reset myself tomorrow and get through enough homework that I can go to work and just curl up on the couch until I have to get up for a call. I know that's a tall order with it being Week 6, but I can dream.

Day 6

Well, today was not good at all - I didn't stray from my eating plan but it was more personal/professional stuff that kept me from fully doing what I wanted to do today. Last night was yet another rough night, except this time it ended in me getting out of work late on top of everything else. I came home so emotionally drained that I took the dog out, crawled into bed and didn't bother setting an alarm. I was supposed to go to the gym at 12:30 because my favorite instructor was teaching and that didn't happen. I woke up around 2, effectively missing breakfast and lunch, so by the time I got up and got going, I figured I was just better off having a small snack of an orange and a boiled egg to hold me over until dinner.

As promised, I did have my meal prep day though (mostly because I needed dinner). I ended up making two pieces of salmon, one was with rosemary and walnuts, and the other I put on my favorite seasoning (Old Bay). I had the Old Bay salmon with a bunch of roasted asparagus for dinner. After that I boiled a bunch of eggs for snacks. I made the chicken with tomato and olives, which smells DELICIOUS. I made a zucchini saute with onions, sundried tomatoes, and tomato sauce (would be absolutely delicious with cheese but alas, can't have it). I also baked two more chicken breasts - one was seasoned with cinnamon and curry powder and the other has Old Bay. I portioned them out into Tupperware and split up the zucchini saute so those will be two good meals. Lastly I made this butternut squash with cranberries and coconut milk saute. Literally, I would die for it. I've never really tried coconut milk so I was a little hesitant, but with the cranberries, a little cinnamon and pepper, it's amazing!

Just now I had a Zone bar before I go to work. I'm so exhausted I will probably end up going to bed as soon as the clock strikes midnight. I love and I hate working nights all at the same time. I like it because  it means Mack isn't in his kennel wasting the day away and I can come home and take him right out in the morning. But then it means that if we have a busy night, the next day is destroyed for me. It's also rough when I'm on night 5 of 5. Working overnights at RIT isn't as bad because I get work done there or I can just go right to sleep. I don't know what it is about Henrietta, but I'm just drained after these 3 or 4 nights-in-a-row marathons. I don't know if it's the higher call volume or if I just feel as if my life gets put on hold until I can get a day off. Not to mention the equipment weighs a good 20-30 pounds more so my body takes a pretty good beating in the process. I'd like to go back to working days once school is over, but we'll see.

Here's to hoping tomorrow is a better day!

Day 5

Sunday and I'm still going strong!

This morning was rough though. Had to be up by 6:30 to wash the truck and clean the inside and be out of here by 7. Got home with the intention of only sleeping for 3 hours and ended up waking up at noon. My body literally felt like it had been struck by an 18 wheeler. I was so sore and so stiff that I had to convince myself not to go back to bed after taking the dog out. Luckily opening my door to a gorgeous day was the game changer! Had my normal breakfast of a shake, a cleanse, green tea and some water.

My friend had asked me yesterday if we could have a puppy playdate so she came over soon after breakfast and we let the pups play for a couple hours. The constant getting up and sitting down on the floor and chasing the dogs around definitely helped loosen up whatever residual soreness I had. It also meant that I got a little behind on my water intake because I was so focused on them but I got back on track quickly after they left! I had an afternoon snack of a boiled egg and let Mack relax for a little bit before I needed to go food shopping.

So, as much as I love paleo and this new diet, it's freaking expensive! I'm so thankful that two meals per day are shakes because to have any variety other than chicken, paleo tends to get a little expensive. It's essentially a meat/fish and vegetable diet so even with getting things that are in season, it all adds up when you're shopping for the next two weeks. Luckily it's not TOO exorbitant so I think it's sustainable.

Now that I have the groceries, I can finally do food prep! I'm going to kickstart it tomorrow and make enough meals to last until the next time I have a day off. I bought different kinds of protein such as chicken, steak strips, salmon and shrimp, as well as plenty of vegetables for sides and snacks. Lastly, I got plenty of eggs and fruit so I can have quick nutrients on the go.

The entrees I'll be making are:
Sweet Potato, Bacon & Egg Salad (which can be had both for breakfast or a snack)
Baked Salmon with Rosemary & Walnuts
Chicken with Olives and Tomatoes

Sides/Snacks are:
Butternut Squash with Cranberries
Zucchini and Squash Saute

All the entrees and sides provide several servings each so that'll at least get me through a week. There's also plenty of romaine lettuce in the house now so I could decide to make a salad out of the chicken or the salmon. Everything seems relatively easy to make - just mixing things together and cooking them together. Tomorrow's supposed to be a busy day since I'll be coming off the overnight shift and will be heading back to the gym so if I run out of time I'll transfer some of the cooking tasks to Tuesday.

As far as the rest of my meals for today go, I had some leftover beef stew for dinner, a banana for a snack around midnight and I just had a Zone protein bar since I'm STILL awake! I've more than caught up on my water intake so I know I'm all set with that. Still feeling a little bloated but not nearly as bad and I still got a short headache today.

Can't wait to go back to the gym tomorrow! Could definitely use some stress relief right about now! It'll be good to go back to a relatively normal schedule with less temptations and actually sleeping in my bed at night (well, I have to wait until Tuesday for that).

Day 4

Woohoo!! Day 4 and still going strong!

Woke up today (before 8!) and went out to breakfast with the guys. We went to our favorite family diner and I got a small steak with 2 eggs over easy. Usually their plates also come with toast and hash-browns, but I passed those off to my friend and let him have them. While it was great to have breakfast for once, it SUPER messed up my schedule. I don't know if I ate too much or if I'm just not used to a real breakfast, but I wasn't hungry at all when it came time to have lunch or my mid-afternoon snack. So I had a really early dinner of a shake and some tea and an apple a few hours later for a snack. I may start setting an alarm for myself in the morning so I can get myself on a schedule that won't get messed up on the few days a week that I actually wake up at a normal hour. I haven't decided yet though because I feel like I'll have those days where I just go right back to bed and I can't imagine that being all good either.

Since today was a day off from working out and it was gorgeous outside, the puppy and I went for a really long walk. I am so sore but moving helped it go away. I don't know what it is about this week but I'm not getting that excruciating "I hate my life" kind of soreness, it's just "yep, I used that" soreness. I don't know if I'm not working hard enough or if my body is figuring things out. Either way I hope it keeps up because it's definitely helping me stay on this diet plan.

Speaking of the diet, holy water baby batman! I feel so incredibly bloated from all the water and the protein. Maybe the reason I'm not hungry is because I've just been replacing my food with water - who knows! Regardless, I'm looking forward to the day where I get used to the extra water intake. I knew there would be some adjustment period because I went from 30-40 oz. of water per day to like 80+ all at once, but wow.

As far as how I'm feeling goes, aside from the bloating, energy is still up. After the first day, I just get little mini headaches sometime around late afternoon/dinnertime that quickly go away after I eat a real meal. Today was obviously different with the schedule but I still got the headache around the same time of day so it could just be that I need to give myself a little extra boost of nutrients/energy to get me through the last few hours of the day.

I'll finally be going food shopping sometime tomorrow. Having a long night at work so far (hence why I'm posting this at 3:45 AM) so I'll go home and grab a couple hours of sleep before I force myself into productivity. I really want to keep the flu away from me as much as possible so I need to get my butt to the store to pick up plenty of delicious food to keep my energy up. Monday will be the primary meal prep day so stay tuned for recipes! I have to say, meal prepping is probably the best thing ever. I pick out one day to go grocery shopping and prepare a bunch of meals in large quantities. I set aside whatever will be eaten in the upcoming days and freeze the rest. Usually I go about every 2 weeks so I really don't have to worry about much especially on the busy days. So relieving!

Looking forward to going back to the gym on Monday. It's a rough weekend working 5 nights in a row. I may not be going to the gym on the weekend but the constant lifting and moving makes you feel like you're at the gym all over again. Definitely not helping with my recovery period, but it's not necessarily hurting since it's keeping me in motion. I'm almost scared to take a day off now since I'm just used to this rapid fire kind of life. I still won't complain if a night off just happened to occur.

I can't wait to get through this weekend because it means for once I'll have actually not fallen into the temptations that the weekend usually brings, generally having to do with bad food choices simply because my weekends are my busiest work times. Every little step counts!

Days 2 and 3 - You want me to do what?

So I was going to wait until later tonight so I could make a full posting about today but I got too excited.

Yesterday was rough. I had a day off from CrossFit so I focused on creating a food regimen. Apparently my body is in full winter mode and refuses to get up before 11 or 12, so I'll just adjust for that depending on whether I need to work an overnight or if I'll just start my day at lunch and end with a dinner around 8 pm. Regardless, started the day with a protein shake, water, a cleanse drink and some tea along with the metabolism accelerator capsule. Sounds like a lot but that's just generally the "starter" meal for the day. The other meal is just a shake and then one real meal that I usually save for dinner. Been trying to keep my water intake up, both because I know I don't drink enough and because my workouts are very dynamic and have me going from the floor to standing in short periods of time and really don't feel good if I'm dehydrated. Meant I also spent yesterday peeing my brains out. Had a mid-afternoon snack of a salad with a boiled egg and a couple slices of tomato with balsamic and went off to class. Was feeling pretty good until the headache started. I tried ignoring it by just drinking more water but it became persistent. Couple hours later, I went to dinner on campus since I was on-duty all night and had another salad with chicken, tomatoes, boiled eggs and edamame, thinking the extra dose of protein may help, and I also got a cup of sliced pineapple. That didn't work. So I finally cracked a little while later after spending an entire EMS call looking for a chair to sit down on and cheated with some fries. I know, I felt awful about it, but I had to get through the shift somehow.

So I moved on and today was a new day. Woke up at base entirely unmotivated (I blame the couches). I spent a good hour trying to find excuses not to go to the gym. I realized that I was stooping to a new low when I got off the couch just to show myself how sore I must be. After proving myself horribly wrong, I told the devil on my shoulder to go take a hike. Came home, had a boiled egg and the cleanse to hold myself over, grabbed a water bottle and got in my car (score 1 for me!). I will admit I took a quick detour to the scale and found out that I was 3 pounds up from yesterday (how does that even happen??), so that was my downer point for the day. I'm thinking it's from all the protein and water all at once but I can't really afford to dwell currently. I will no longer check the scale more than once a week!

Got to the box and stretched out a little bit. I'm usually ok when I just do the warm-ups but my legs have been really sore from Monday and Wednesday so I took a little extra time. The warm-up was 3 rounds of 10 pull-ups, 10 burpees and 10 lunges (each leg). The rule with the pull-ups today was that if we can't do an unassisted pull-up, we were supposed to work on kipping pull-ups. Kipping pull-ups are essentially your standard pull-up, except you're using a little extra momentum to help you. So our task was to do 10 reps of the first portion of a kipping pull-up, which is hanging from the bar and getting used to swinging your upper body and shoulders, with no help from your legs. Bizarre, but we got through it. Next was 5 sets of 5 back squats. I have to say I was apprehensive about squats. My legs were already shot from 2 days of squats this week and I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to do. Well, I broke my PR! 95 pounds! Probably could have gone higher, but to put things in perspective, my former PR was 73. Holy crap! After that we did 2 rope climbs, 15 ring push-ups and 10 pistol squats. Those damn ropes! I could not climb that damn thing to save my life so I just ended up hanging on for dear life. There was definitely some amusement to be had in that one ("just hang on with your arms, jump and pull your legs up to the next knot!" "oh sure, let me get right on that!"). The push-ups and squats weren't too bad after that. Finally we got to the AMRAP (eesh) - 5 minutes to complete as many rounds of 15 power cleans and 10 burpees, but these weren't just any burpees, these were "do a burpee, jump over the barbell, do a burpee on the other side and then jump back over." I got through 1 round, finished the power cleans of the next round and got through 3 burpees, so not too bad. Then we finally got to leave!

So I'm just super excited today because I actually feel great! Today was the first time that I've actually gotten to the gym more than twice in one week. Usually after the second time my body is screaming at me, but I think it's actually starting to get through the recovery phase a little easier. I found out my shakes aren't exactly paleo since there are plenty of carbs to be had but since those are currently my only source of carbs, I think it'll be ok. Biggest thing is that I feel like I have energy, and no headache! Dinner is going to be grilled chicken in a salad. I need to go to the store since that'll be the last bit of "paleo friendly" food I got in here. Otherwise, I think I've finally got this in the bag, and I'm just so excited I can't hold it in. I'll be relearning how to walk tomorrow and making the trainees carry everything tonight, but I've never felt so strong before. I didn't do things perfectly but I could feel my body getting into a groove and finding that extra energy wherever it stored it. Pretty empowering.

Thanks for following!

Introduction and Day 1

Well I can honestly say that none of what I will be doing for the next 3 weeks is new, this is just my way of being accountable to myself. I decided sometime yesterday that I would no longer tell myself "Oh I'll start Monday," so instead I started today (Wednesday!). I have an awful habit of getting a good 24-48 hours of motivation and never getting myself past that difficult hump where your body and your mind just don't agree with each other. I am incredibly good at making excuses - it's almost become an art form ("I'm too sore" "I have too much homework to do" "The dog's being a pain in the ass" "My eating schedule is messed up and I just ate"). After these past two workouts, I'm sick of the excuses. My body can do this, I know it can. It survived cross country running and 6 seasons of indoor/outdoor track, not to mention the utter beating it gets doing EMS for the past 3 years. I am completely out of shape. I came to college and told myself that one crappy meal wasn't going to kill me. Well, a lot of crappy meals later and I finally opened my eyes. I told myself that my schoolwork should come before my health; been there, done that! And finally, I convinced myself that working for hours at a time, lifting patients in ways that would make a chiropractor cringe, was truly some form of masochistic exercise and that I was supposed to be having muscle spasms in my back after a long shift. What can I say, I'm a very persuasive person.

So I started this "new" journey back in September.  By then I'd been working out at the gym regularly. Through various Facebook fitness groups, I found Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer, a 12 Week program. I got through the first few weeks and just got bored with it. My strength was definitely improving, just not in ways that I had hoped. I felt like I was getting stronger at the gym but only in the motions that I was actually training. I didn't feel like my ability to perform activities of daily living was actually improving, regardless of how much better my squats and push-ups were getting. So, for the month of September, I focused on my eating instead. I started this program called Isagenix. It's a program where 2 of your 3 meals per day are protein shakes, along with a "cleanse" drink once a day. Your 3rd meal is a real meal and you could choose which meal became your "real" meal. The program went really well...until I got off track 2 weeks later. By then I was 20 pounds down and convinced that I could take it from there.

October 8th was the first time I waltzed my sorry butt into a CrossFit gym. I would be lying if I didn't say I was completely terrified. I'd been looking up YouTube videos and talking to friends for awhile and I finally decided to just do it. Well let me tell you, I walked out of that place dripping sweat and never feeling more alive. We started with a warm-up and stretching...easy. Next were the box squats...I made them my bitch. Then there's this terrifying part called Metabolic Conditioning (MetCon, for short). This is where they really get you. On that particular day, the task was to run 400 meters outside then come back inside and do 20 push-up releases. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we had to do that 5 times. After the 2nd round, I was cursing every deity in the book. By the 5th, I was (briskly) walking the 400 meters. I think the big defining moment during that workout was the camaraderie that I found. I had just walked into the box 30 minutes earlier and I already had people coming up behind me, telling me that I could do it, that it was just a little further. In the midst of wanting to cry from pain, I wanted to cry from finally finding a place where I knew nobody would let me give up. 10 minutes later I was signed up for a membership.

For the next 3 months, I went back to the box off and on. It wasn't consistent by any means but I gave it about 70% of my all and I kept telling myself that it was better than 0%. The thing that I like about CrossFit is that you never have the same workout twice yet somehow you always end up working the same muscles. Not to mention, even though it's primarily lifting, you still get a cardio workout! A basic CrossFit workout consists of some kind of warm-up (I say warm-up like it's some nice stretching...nope!), and then you go on to work on some kind of skill, generally a lifting skill that you will need for the rest of the workout. The real killer is when you get something called an AMRAP. An AMRAP is essentially a circuit workout for a certain amount of time. So you may get anywhere from 3-5 exercises with a certain amount of reps and you just go for whatever the set time is and see how many circuits you can get through. I can't even begin to describe how an AMRAP makes your body feel. At some point in time, you will use every trick in the book to get yourself through another circuit - you'll try thinking of all the horrible people in your life, you'll try thinking of the one person that is motivating you, you'll think of every skinny bitch you've ever seen that can go through a carton of ice cream and go right to bed like it's nothing, and lastly you will think of that day where you will finally be able to outrun your dog. I think that's what I love the most about CrossFit - you put yourself through so much pain, but you really feel alive at the end of it knowing that for an hour you told your mind to take its doubts and shove them where the sun don't shine.

So, what now?

Well, as of January 8th, I made a pact with myself - 3 weeks. I have 3 weeks to make the most out of myself. It's long enough that I need to get over the hump to finish it and hopefully by that time 3 weeks will turn into 6 weeks and 6 weeks will turn into 52 weeks, and 52 weeks will turn into a lifetime. This blog will be my way of holding myself accountable. I got the idea of blogging and accountability from several people, but I didn't realize the benefits of it until I was in the box today. Even though my dedication to CrossFit hasn't exactly been stellar these past few months, I have still seen some serious improvements! I can now do a couple full-body push-ups (one of my goals), and just today I realized I don't need as much assistance to do pull-ups (I still need a fair amount, but every little bit counts). So, everyday for the next 3 weeks, I will be recording workout results and how my diet is doing. I'm going back on the Isagenix plan as well as going paleo (no carbs, no dairy, and nothing that a caveman wouldn't eat). I will be taking pictures of myself tomorrow, just haven't decided if I'll be putting them up here or not. I want to give myself a way to look back on a workout and find a new goal or reread what it felt like to be able to do something new. Hopefully being able to look back will give me new ideas on how to look forward.

I'm really looking forward to this and I hope whoever decides to read this can share in my failures and successes, as well as maybe finding some motivation of their own!