A Different Kind of Whole 30

A while ago, the folks over at Whole 9 Life challenged their readers to do a totally different kind of Whole 30. They wanted everyone to try and go 30 days without watching TV! While this may have nothing to do with nutrition, it most definitely has everything to do with health as a whole. Whole 9 Life isn't just about nutrition, they're about balancing life, taking the correct steps to becoming the best version of yourself. I didn't participate in the 30 Day No-TV Challenge because I don't really feel like TV is a major part of my life anyway. I enjoy at times but don't really feel like I "need" it. The thought of turning off my TV for 30 days didn't make me nervous, but I have thought of a little challenge that does!

As my friends, family, and even members of my gym will tell you, I have a little problem that involves shoes and nice athletic-wear! It seems like every time I turn around there's a new product that I have to have or a shiny new pair of kicks. Back in September when I was asked to write out my goals for lululemon athletica, I put down that I wanted to save 50% of all my paychecks. I am currently living rent-free and have minor bills to pay so this is the perfect time to sock away as much cash as possible until the not so distance future when Neal and I hope to get into a house. I did an excellent job up until December when it was time to buy presents for Hanukkah/X-Mas. I have managed to spend most of that extra savings that I worked so hard for on gifts...and not all of them were for other people! (oops!)

For the past few years, I have definitely been living in the mind-set that I don't need to worry about saving tons of money because what I make is not that significant and when I finally get that "big girl job" I will have more than enough time to make up for it so why not enjoy myself now right? News flash, I have my dream job....but it's not making me the kind of bucks that my original career had the potential to offer. So, its high time to really get a handle on my finances. Now, I haven't been completely irresponsible up until now, but I definitely have huge room for improvement. So here goes...for the entire month of January, I will be completing not only a Nutritional Whole 30 but I will also be abstaining from making any unnecessary purchases. No new apparel, no new footwear, no dining out for lunch while at work, no daily Starbucks purchases. Reading this, it seems like such a simple task, but I know it will be a challenge for me and it's something I need to do to put my life back in balance.

Now that I've got my two major tasks for the month of January planned out, its time to re-evaluate and post the rest of my yearly goals! Stay tuned!

I'm Back!

Well it's almost January and that means it's time for new goals/resolutions. One of my personal goals this year is to blog more. So here I am. My hope is to update this blog at least once a week.

The focus of this post though, is to talk about another goal on my list this year and that's my nutrition. Contrary to popular belief, I am not the nutritional perfectionist that many seem to think that I am. I did extremely well with my nutrition during the first half of 2011. I completed two Whole 30's and was feeling pretty good about everything. My body composition was where I wanted it and my workouts were getting better. How then did I let myself slip back into the habits of not making the best choices for my body and my fitness? Honestly, I don't know. I think a little of it was because I was doing so well, I thought, ehh couldn't hurt to loosen up a bit. Part of it was the advent of the holidays, and part of it was just plain laziness. The reasons really aren't that important at this point. What's important is that I am motivated to make a change. So, I am embarking on yet another Whole 30. This one will run from Monday, January 2nd to Tuesday, January 31st. My hope is that it will set me straight and put me in the right place as CrossFit Sectionals 2012 nears. Right now, I better go get that grocery shopping list ready cause it's about to begin!...

Competition Season Begins

The title in this post might be a little deceiving. For the elite among us, it seems these days the competition season is never-ending. Less than a month ago, the CrossFit Games took place in California playing host to the World's Fittest. Since I obviously didn't make it to the Crossfit Games, the last time I competed was at Regionals on June 17th, 18th and 19th. But looking ahead, I have 6 competitions and multiple other Crossfit Events written into my calendar within the next 4 1/2 months! Now, I am most likely not going to participate in every one of these events and competitions but the fact that the opportunity is there, is significant. I have been having a hard time lately with motivation. This is something that I feel resonates with many other CrossFit Athletes that I've talked to recently. I think the important thing for all of us to remember is to pick and choose our competitions wisely so that we can keep a healthy level of motivation and fun without getting burned out.

This past weekend I chose to compete at the Life As Rx Tour in Dallas, Texas along with a group of my CrossFit Katy family. For me, this marks the beginning of my Games 2012 Season. I chose Life As Rx for a few reasons. First of all, it was a chance to get out of town and focus on nothing but the competition and having a good time with my friends. When you work full-time as a trainer coaching classes 6 days a week, it is essential sometimes to take a long weekend to forget it all and focus on yourself as an Athlete and not a coach, business owner, etc. Two this was billed as one of the largest competitions at a huge venue (the 2011 Europa) with a unique opportunity to showcase CrossFit to a large group of people that were possibly unfamiliar with it. Also, I didn't go last year and regretted it.

Competing turned out to be a great decision. I had a lot of fun and got in some solid workouts. As an advanced CrossFitter, I think sometimes I get caught up in the idea that I need to always be doing complicated WOD's and movements. This weekend was a good reminder that the simple stuff is just as ass-kicking! Finished up with a 10th place finish so I was happy. In case I forgot to mention it here, my goal for this season is a Top 10 Finish in all of the events I choose to compete in. So that's one down. The next one on the list is the BCS Games in College Station on August, 27th.

CrossFit Katy's Bring the Heat 2!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! That is pretty much the first thing that I think about when I think about Saturday's Bring the Heat 2 Competition. Thank You to all of the Amazing CrossFit Katy members who sacrificed their Saturday to help us put on a great competition! I know I've said this before but we really do have the most amazing community. There's no way we could put on these kinds of events without the love and support from our CrossFit Katy Family!

The name did not disappoint as mother nature most definitely "Brought the Heat" but so did the athletes that took on the WOD's. For this competition we had 3 WOD's for Scaled and 4 WOD's for the Standard division.

The first WOD was a 4 rep max deadlift followed by an 800 meter trail run. I saw some amazing feats of strength as the top two males in the RX division wrestled for first place lifting close to 500lbs each! I am most impressed though with CrossFit Katy's own Steve Gonzalez who competed in his first competition last weekend and lifted 30lbs over his previous ONE rep max for a set of Four! Awesome!!!

The second WOD was a short, fast burner. 25-20-15-10-5 Box Jumps coupled with 5-4-3-2-1 Clean and Jerks. Huge shout out to Ashley Buttirini from Bayou City CrossFit! This was also her first competition AND she went RX! The 105# on the clean and jerk was no walk in the park for her, but she gritted her teeth and rocked it!

The third WOD consisted of 21 power snatches followed by a 30 meter shuttle run, 21 push presses, another 30 meter shuttle run, 21 hang cleans, 30 meter shuttle run and then 120 meters of overhead walking with the barbell! The overhead walk proved to be tough with plenty of athletes struggling through that last 60 meters but the grit and determination was unmatched. That's the thing I love about CrossFit, so many times even the athletes competing wonder at the beginning of the WOD whether or not they can complete it, but inevitably, something inside them tells them they can, no matter how hard it seems, how heavy the bar, how much it hurts, we all believe and that makes all the difference.

In an effort to embrace the "unknown and unknowable" aspect of CrossFit, the 4th WOD for RX was something that I've never seen in a CrossFit competition. It was a "floater" WOD which consisted of Max Double Unders. Athletes could perform the WOD as many times as they wanted during the day to get their top score. It was a great twist to an already great competition.

Overall, I am extremely proud of the kind of event that CrossFit Katy was able to host. I fall more in love with this sport and the people that do it every time I go to an event and our event was no different. Again, thank you so much to all the amazing boxes that sent their athletes out to brave our WOD's and the Texas heat! And of course, to my amazing CrossFit Katy Family, I love you and we couldn't do this without you. Can't wait till next year!!

Half-Full?

I read a tweet today from Compete Every Day that said "2011 is exactly half way over. You have six months to do what you set out to do this year..." Not gonna lie, it caught me a little off-guard! Can you believe that this year is half-way over?!?!

So I went back and looked at my goals that I wrote for myself back in January. Yes I know, I should have re-evaluated my goals at the beginning of April, but things got a little crazy with the gym move to the new space, new programming, etc. Not an excuse but oh well. (Maybe one of my goals should be, keep up with goals!) :) I have so far met none of my strength goals! Boo. On the bright side, I have gotten 4 consecutive muscle-ups which is 2 more than I was shooting for in my first 6 months of the year and only one shy of the 5 that I want to get my the end of the year......Bottom line, I have a long way to go if I am going to accomplish what I want to accomplish by the end of the year.

Thank you Compete Every Day for B*%& # Slapping me into reality! Goals will never be accomplished without a road-map and without diligently working on them every day!

Living the Dream

It's finally happened! I didn't think I would be writing this post today. I didn't think I'd be writing this post this month. I didn't think I'd be writing this post this year even.....but I am! When I first moved to Katy, it was so that I could go to nursing school. I had dabbled in CrossFit on and off for about a year before I moved here, but it was nothing serious. When I finally really got into it and got my Level 1 Cert, it was more because I wanted the knowledge. I wanted to know more about this sport that I was growing to really love, and maybe, just maybe it would allow me to coach a little bit with CrossFit Katy. You know, be a back up in case of emergencies or something. But then things started to take off a little. Classes got bigger and more consistent, we moved into a box and added barbell work and other things that needed technical training. We needed more coaches and I was there to help and it was great!

Then nursing school started. I had to balance a huge class-load and lots of clinicals. I had to bury my nose in books and study for tests. I enjoyed it, but it pulled me away from the gym, away from the people that I worked so hard to better. It pulled me away from this CrossFit "Family" that I'd grown to love. After nursing school, I jumped back into the gym like never before coaching or co-coaching 15-18 classes a week, helping with programming, taking on personal training clients.....all while looking for a job in nursing. I remember thinking to myself over and over "If only....if only I could just train, I would be happy." Going to the Form3 Event in Austin, TX really solidified things for me.

"If you could do anything in the world, regardless of finances, what would you do?" I remember hearing Carey Kepler speak those words while we all closed our eyes and dreamed. I wrote down that I wanted to work at the gym and be in charge of our nutritional program that at the moment is in its infancy and I wanted to create and be in charge of a women's program. Then we were asked to write down what was stopping us, what we were afraid of and this is what I put....

As you can see, we had to write down what we were afraid of and then we were told we had a choice. We could choose to continue to be afraid, or we could choose to move forward.

I came back from that event motivated. I knew what I wanted, I wanted to work at the gym and I figured the only way to get there was to get a nursing job, work my butt off for a few years while still training a few classes a week and then maybe, the gym would be in position for me to leave my nursing job, or to go part-time, and coach more. It wasn't ideal but it was better than nothing. And then.....the amazing happened. I didn't get any job offers. Not one! I spent all my time at the gym, all the while applying to position after position and getting no responses. For a while I was devastated. Every month that passed without a nursing job pushed my dreams further away, but at the same time, every month that passed without a job allowed me another month in the gym coaching. Many people in my life have said that everything happens for a reason. I never really liked this idea because it made me feel like I wasn't in charge of my own destiny, but the more I think about it, the more I think maybe it's a little true. Maybe opportunities happen for a reason and then it's up to us to take them. The last few months at the gym have been great, so great that CrossFit Katy has decided to hire me as a full-time trainer!!!! I can't believe I get to type that today! Now instead of dreaming of the day when I get to step away from nursing and be a full-time trainer, I get to live it! I can't express how much this means to me. I can't thank CrossFit Katy enough for allowing me the opportunity to live my dream! Time to get started....

Regionals Wrap Up

Well I figured I'd better get this blog done since it's been a whole week since Regionals! I guess it's just taken me a while to digest everything. First thing I have to say is WOW I am so proud of my teammates at CrossFit Katy. We went into Regionals with high hopes and little else. All of the guys on our team have been consistently doing CrossFit for barely over a year and our ladies (myself included) while strong, still have so much to work on but we put it all together and managed a 12th place finish! 12th Place! Out of the 30 teams that qualified, and the over 200 Affiliates from our Region, we finished 12th! It was a great feeling.

Now I gotta be honest, I didn't feel this way on Sunday. In the weeks leading up to Regionals, my coach decided that I was going to do the Thruster Ladder, the 250's WOD and Amanda. Amanda! All I could think about was that WOD. I remember seeing that WOD on the live stream from the Games last year and thinking that I wanted to be able to do that. I wanted to be able to string muscle ups together and effortlessly throw 95lb squat snatches around. A week and a half before Regionals, my teammate Adam and I did Amanda....and we crushed it. 16 and change was the final time and I strung 4 muscle ups together in my set of 9. I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get to Sunday! Unfortunately that didn't happen. We faltered on our 250's WOD and we never got the chance for a come-back with Amanda. In hindsight, I should have spent more time working my chest-to-bar pull ups than my muscle ups but you live and learn.

Now that the excitement has waned a little, I can look back and say that despite not getting to Sunday, we really did an amazing job. My whole team and many other athletes from my gym have found a new sense of motivation with respect to their training and I can't wait to see how far everyone goes!

On a different note, I have to take a moment to congratulate and thank all the amazing athletes, teams, volunteers spectators and judges that helped make last weekend great. Big thanks to Matt and Pam Munson for putting on a great event. Huge shout outs to my local CF'ers Leah Shullenberger, Aja Barto, Team CF West Houston, Bayou City, Atomic and of course shout outs to new friends and old friends, Azadeh Boroumand, CF Dallas Strong, CF Waco, Candice Ruiz, Lindsey Smith, Carey Kepler, Emily Baker, Alex Janss, Miguel Garza, Team Central, Team Red Black, Jonathan Haynes, Diego Centeno And finally....THANK YOU CROSSFIT KATY FANS! We had such an amazing turnout and we appreciate everything that ya'll do. We would be nothing without our community!

Regionals is Almost Here!

Holy Cow! The Regional CrossFit Games is THIS WEEKEND! I can't believe it's finally here and I am just now starting to freak out a little bit. In case you don't know, I decided to go Team this year instead of Individual. I still have so much to work on individually, that I thought I'd have a much better chance of finishing well on a team. Plus I LOVE LOVE LOVE my amazing CrossFit Katy Teammates and I can't imaging going into this crazy regional without their support! I think we've got a pretty stellar team lined up this year and one hell of a coach. We've also got the best group of CF Katy fans ever and I think we're going to have a great cheering section!

This year, the Regionals is going to encompass three whole days with two workouts happening each day. I am competing in the Thruster Ladder on day one, the 250's WOD on day two, and the dreaded "Amanda" WOD if we make it to Sunday. I've heard the first step to accomplishing your dreams is to believe you can.....so I should say WHEN we make it to Sunday! For more details on the Regional CrossFit Games and the workouts, go here and check it out. And for anybody in the Houston area.....heck for anyone in the South Central US, you do not want to miss this weekend! It's going to be amazing.

Murph Day Wrap-Up

Wow! Ok So I know this post is about a week late but I think my lats are just now forgiving me! :) Though many of our fellow CrossFit boxes went after the beast WOD known as Murph today, the CrossFit Katy Crew tackled this one last Saturday.

We had an incredible turnout at the gym with over 25 people taking on Murph individually and we also had 12 people pair up and do a Team Murph. That's what I love about CrossFit, you really can take any WOD and adjust it to make it work for everyone.

Since this was my first true full Murph (I've done half multiple times) I decided to go big and wear a weight vest that I borrowed from CrossFit West Houston. Thanks Rob! When I got it from them though, it weighed about 30 lbs so I had to take out a few bricks! I eventually got it down to about 12 or 13lbs which was perfect for me.

I originally went into it with a plan of doing 20 rds of Cindy in between my miles but since we had such a huge turnout (YEAH!!!) I had to scrap that because we can only fit about 20 people on the pull up bar at a time. Everybody played nice though and we didn't run into any problems sharing the pull up bar. Surprisingly, the thing that killed me the most was the push ups. Push ups have never been my strong suit and 200 of them was ridiculously hard for me, especially with that damn vest! I also ended up walking quite a bit of my last mile....not acceptable! I absolutely have to work on my gas-tank!

I ended up finishing the WOD, my first true, weight-vested, ass-kickin' Murph at a time of 72:26 .....damn that was a long one! I have a feeling I could really bring that number down if I did it again.....but that won't happen for a while! I definitely think I'm going to be investing in a HyperWear Vest to start doing my bodyweight WOD's in. They are super sleek and fit close to the body and I think they'll really give me an edge with my pull ups, push ups, and running if I start training with it.

Anyway, it was a great experience and just another example of why I love CrossFit and all my CrossFit Katy Family! Huge shout-out to David F. also who completed his first Murph wearing his boots, pants, loaded police belt and bulletproof vest! It was something to see!

Murph Day at CrossFit Katy!

So this year to celebrate Memorial Day, CrossFit Katy is doing Murph tomorrow at 9AM! The gym is going to be closed on Memorial Day but we didn't want to miss out on the fun when so many boxes are going to be doing Murph on Monday. So we decided to turn our usual Saturday Team WOD day into Murph Day. We are having the option of letting people do the workout individually or as a team since the idea of tackling a full Murph alone is a bit daunting for some of our newbies. I for one have never done a full Murph but tomorrow I will be going for it AND I borrowed a weight-vest so I can truly do the RX version of Murph. Yes, I am a little freaked out but I am also excited to tackle this beast! Tune in tomorrow to see if I survive!

CrossFit Katy Success Story!

Well first off, to say that I have been delinquent with my posting is the understatement of the year. I will try very hard to be better about that especially with all the excitement of Regionals training and preparation. But this post is not about me. This post is about a good friend and client of ours at CrossFit Katy, Kerrie Steger.

Kerrie started out in one of my neighborhood bootcamps with a few other moms but transitioned to the box in October 2010. Those of you who have been following my blog are familiar with Whole 9 Life's Whole 30. (For those of you that aren't, I highly suggest you take a look.) Kerrie just recently finished her first Whole 30 and I asked her to write about her experience and I wanted to share it with all of my followers. The combination of Crossfit and Paleo Nutrition has really helped Kerrie accomplish some amazing stuff but she tells it best so without further ado:

Kerrie's Whole 30 Experience

My journey with CrossFit started last May when I began working out with Leah in a community boot camp. Too put it bluntly, she kicked my butt! I was super down on myself because I had been an athlete my entire life, but had let myself go after the birth of my 2 kids (who are now 7 and 5). I was determined to get back in shape and had seen amazing results on my husband who had started a year prior. It did not take me long to buy into the CrossFit mentality of working out, but the paleo mentality did not come as easily. When Leah first told me about it I thought she was crazy! Then when she told me about THE WHOLE 30, I thought she had completely lost her mind! I knew there was no way in this world I would ever live without dairy, diet coke, or wine! To even suggest I try such a thing was insane!

I continued to work out with the boot camp through the next October, and I actually progressed very quickly. However, in late October Leah decided to stop the boot camp, since attendance had dwindled, and informed me I would have to start working out at THE BOX. I was extremely nervous and intimidated by the thought of actually GOING to CrossFit. I had become comfortable (mistake number 1) in my workout routine. However, once I had completed my first workout at CROSSFIT KATY, I was hooked and drawn in by one of the most positive groups of people I had ever met! Everyone was so nice and supportive of one another, no matter what level (and I was once again at the bottom). It was when I finally made it to the box that I realized how far behind I actually was. It was not my workouts holding me back, it was my diet! So, in November, I gave in and began experimenting with the paleo lifestyle. It took a few months for me to figure out, but by January, I was seeing a difference in my body and my workouts. Then a few months later, I again felt like I hit a wall. I wanted to be stronger, faster, better! I knew I had to tighten up my eating. At this point I was 90% Paleo. I would cheat, mostly on Sat., but also a little here and there during the week (a bite of cake here, a soda there). So by late April I was ready to give this WHOLE 30 thing a try. I had seen several others at the gym do it, and the results were remarkable!

I began my Whole 30 on April 25^th, the Monday after Easter. The first few days were not all that tough, but the first weekend was HARD! I was used to cheating on Saturday and for the first time I had to be accountable 7 days a week……and for 30 days! I would say day 5, 6, and 7 were the worst. I felt like I had so far to go and I did get discouraged. And then, I started to see a difference in my workouts. I was lifting a lot more weight! Not just 5 pounds more, but 10, 15, even 20 pounds more on some lifts! How in the word did I get stronger this fast?? It was amazing how much energy I had and how good I felt at the gym. No longer did I look at a workout and groan “You want me to do what?” I started looking at other people’s times on the board and setting a goal for myself. 99% of the time, I achieved my goal. I am still amazed at how quickly I saw a difference in my workouts. I was all of a sudden able to compete with people who usually beat me by MINUTES!!!

My Whole 30 ended on May 24^th. I was so excited to weigh myself, because I knew there had to be a change. I was wearing pants I had not put on since before my first child!!! So, that morning I got on the scale and I had lost 5 pounds. 5 pounds does not seem like much, but I went down 2 pants sizes!! 2 whole sizes!!! I would have thought I had to lose 20-30 pounds to do that!!! I went back and looked at my workout journal, and in the last 30 days I PR’d every single lift! Wow, now I was seeing what this program had done for me! I am not worried about what I weigh, because I no longer look like I weigh anything close to it! Most people have guessed I have lost 10-15 pounds at least!!

I thank Neal and Leah for introducing me to this lifestyle, and for helping me find the athlete that was buried underneath! The Whole 30 allowed me to break through so many barriers, mentally and physically! Most importantly, I will never say I can’t do something ever again………………because I know I CAN!!!

Here's a pic of Kerrie, mid Whole 30, when she won the scaled division at the 2nd Annual CrossFit Houston Girls-Only Challenge. Awesome job Kerrie! I am so proud of you!

Bayou City Crawfish WOD

Dang, two weeks have flown by since my last post and I really don't have any good excuses for that. I honestly just haven't felt much like writing lately. Sometimes I think I get caught up in the need to be profound or noteworthy when really I just started this blog to kind of "think outloud". So now that that's out there, time to get down to the point of this post.

Last Saturday, CrossFit Katy took SIX teams to the Third Annual Bayou City Crawfish Team WOD! I don't think I've been more proud of our gym. This is the biggest showing at a competition that we've EVER had! All in all we had over THIRTY people competing or cheering us on from our "gym family"! For many of our athletes, this was their first competition and everybody did a fantastic job! We rocked out two tough WOD's and then settled under our massive team tent (yes our tent was better than your tent!) to chow down on some delicious

Crawfish and throw back a few cold one's

.

The first WOD:

1000m Row (1 person only)

100 Pull Ups or Jumping Pull Ups

100 Box Jumps or Step Ups

100 DB Snatches

30 Thrusters (15 for guys and 15 for the girls)

You could break up everything but the row between whoever on the team. Each team used a different strategy but everybody did great. Special shout-out to Susan and Brooke for those 95lb thrusters! Made me super proud to see those ladies step up and take on the Standard division even though it was tough!

The next workout was a station workout

3 min at each station:

Max OHS

Sit Ups

Burpees

Kettlebell Swings

Ok obviously I was not thrilled with this one because I suck at overhead squat but it turned out to be a good WOD. I maxed out at 125lbs. The standard division had to swing HUGE kettlebells! I never swing a 53lb KB but we had to do it on Saturday! Thanks Vic! ;-)

Bayou City, as always, did a great job organizing and putting on the competition. Everything ran smoothly, the judging was fair and accurate, and it was just a fast and fun day all around. The Crawfish were hot out of the pot by 11am and by 11:30 it was time for the real competition for the day...the Crawfish WOD! :)

CrossFit Katy had one brave soul compete, Mike Scott took on the infamous Crawfish WOD:

4 Rounds of:

1 Beer

5 Crawfish

10 Burpees

It was a close one but Mike managed to push through and get second! Haha! It was definitely fun to watch but I don't think I ever want to test my stomach with 4 beers and burpees!

All in all, it was a great day and I had such a good time competing and hanging out with the CrossFit Katy family! We've got the best people around and I can't wait for the next event!

CrossFit Katy Grand Re-Opening!

Well we finally made it! CrossFit Katy is set up in it's new location and is having a Grand Re-Opening on Saturday, April 16th! We are hosting a FREE community workout at 9AM and then at 10:15AM we are throwing down on the CrossFit Open WOD 11.4!


As the longest running CrossFit in Katy, we are constantly striving to have a positive impact on the people of Katy and to make fitness an integral part of their lives! CrossFit has definitely changed my life. It has shown me that I am stronger than I could ever imagine and that even the most seemingly insurmountable challenges can be conquered with hard work and dedication. I want to share this with as many people as I can because I know there are still so many lives to change!

So if you're in the area next weekend or know anybody who is, join us at the CrossFit Katy Grand Re-Opening on Sat. April, 16th at 9AM!

New Space!

WOW! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks! I know it's been forever since I last blogged BUT it's been for good reason....CrossFit Katy has finally settled into its new home! Let me tell you, I thought moving into the first space was difficult work, but this move has been sooo much harder! Obviously when CrossFit Katy first moved it was from the park (I don't miss those days!) to an actual building. We didn't have barbells, weight plates, a pull ups system or pretty much anything other than kettlebells and dumbbells. This time we had to move ALL the equipment into the new space and to top it off, the space wasn't even completely finished when we had to move so most of the equipment had to be piled into the middle of the space until it was completely done. I think over a three day period I spent close to twenty hours in the gym (not training either)...and Neal was there even more! But it was so worth it. The new space is great! 4000 sq. feet (almost twice as big as our old space) and two bathrooms with get this....SIX showers! So far, we've run four days worth of classes and they have been great. I am so grateful for all our our amazing athletes. Not only are they kicking butt and taking names in the WOD, they have also been instrumental in getting the new space set up. Without their help and dedication to CrossFit Katy, the move would have been so much harder so thank you everybody! I wish I could individually thank everybody but that list would be huge! :) I look forward to being able to relax a little more and get back into the swing of things. The gym space has a little bit further to go but I see a finish line on the horizon. I have been a bit inconsistent lately as far as my fitness is concerned and can't wait to get back into a routine. I'm looking forward to crushing the Open WOD 11.3. (Finally something heavy that I might have an advantage on!) After that it's back to my normal workout routines. I am so excited for the future of CrossFit Katy and can't wait to help it grow!

Keeping the Conversation Going

Yesterday I found myself in the middle of a pretty interesting discussion regarding CrossFit HQ and the purpose or intent of the CrossFit Games 2011. If you're not in the know...check out the letter that prompted it all and the response by My Ignition.

I guess the big question that's being tackled is "Is CrossFit for everyone?"

Now before you get all up in arms about this, let me clarify. Everybody who's been around CrossFit knows that anybody can do it. As Glassman puts it, CrossFit is scalable to all levels of fitness and that's what makes it a great program for everyone. So I am not asking if using CrossFit as a training method is for everybody.....we all agree that it is. I'm asking if CrossFit competitions, the Open Sectionals, Regionals, the CrossFit Games is for everyone. So in that respect I have to disagree with My Ignition and say that YES the CrossFit Open, in fact all CrossFit competitions are for everyone (even your grandma!) who has that fire in their belly and wants to push themselves to new levels. I think many of the CrossFit Community members who fancy themselves as Firebreathers forget that most of us have no real aspirations of winning! But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be allowed to play the game. One example I have is from my own gym CrossFit Katy. One of our team members is doing the Open for two reasons....She wants to support her daughter (who is also doing the Open) and she loves CrossFit and pushing herself. She wants to see how she measures up AND have fun doing it. She's 53 years old and has absolutely no aspirations of making it to Regionals, even in the Masters division. She is just using this opportunity to challenge herself and, as The False Start puts it, shatter those false limitations that we all put on ourselves. When the first WOD was announced, she had never completed a double under in a workout in her life, but you know what...on competition day, she completed 47 double unders!!! That's what it's all about. Did she give a crap that she still had the lowest score in the gym...HELL NO! She was damn proud of herself as she should be. That's what it's all about. Why should breakthrough moments like that be limited to daily WOD's at your local affiliate? Most people need that little something extra, like the Open, to push themselves to shatter those obstacles.
Now, this doesn't mean that I think it's HQ's job to make sure that everyone, even your grandma, competes in the Open. As My Ignition puts it, it's not HQ's job to market the Games to make it seem like a picnic, because he's right, it's no picnic! And I really don't think that HQ shouldn't have the spotlight on the Elite Athletes. It is the purpose of the Games to find the fittest man and fittest woman on Earth. I think that's where we come in as trainers, affiliates and a community. It's OUR job to encourage our athletes to compete. To push themselves to new levels. The online format of the Open this year means that the Games is more accessible then it's ever been before and we should be taking advantage of it by promoting it within our own gyms and communities. We have to let people know that there is more to the Games then simply winning and losing. The spirit of CrossFit runs much deeper than that. I know I will continue to encourage and push all of my clients, Firebreather or not, to compete whether it be in the Open or in the next local competition. CrossFit is a sport and we should all be allowed to play!

The Open Sectionals.....Now It Begins!

Well it's finally here! The Open Sectionals is upon us. Now, I'm not going to lie. I'm still not as excited about these online sectionals as I was for the Sectionals Weekend last year in Austin. There's just nothing that can compare to the atmosphere at a big CrossFit Competition. I can't explain it if you've never been to one, but let's just say the energy is palpable and the camaraderie can't be beat. People accomplish things that they never thought possible and old and new CrossFit friends unite. It's part of what makes this sport so much fun. But enough about that. I think it's safe to say that the initial phases of this Open Sectionals have been disappointing from a technical standpoint. The first WOD was posted about 7 hours late making it impossible for anybody to complete the WOD on Tuesday night as had been previously planned. The Website has had problems ranging from people not being able to register to people not being able to submit scores and the leaderboards are frequently all screwed up. Does this frustrate me? A little bit. I mean, I haven't had any problems BUT it's irritating that HQ has known that they were going to try and pull this off for a LONG time and yet, they still underestimated how much work it was going to be. But I think the thing that really bugs me about this whole thing is that HQ claims to be going big-time. Reebok is sponsoring. Glassman and Crew can't stop talking about how Elite the CrossFit Athletes and the CrossFit Program is, that it's just as legit as any other professional sport BUT when things get rough...like they are with the Open Website....they hide behind the fact that they're just a small group of people trying to do big things! Be straight with us HQ. Either you're Pro sport status or you're not. You can't be both and when you screw something up....just apologize! I think that's what we're all looking for. Just say "hey look we screwed up. It's much bigger than we thought and we didn't plan enough ahead for it, but we're working our asses off to make it right." That's all I want, an acknowledgement that they still have things to learn and ways to improve. We're not all sheep.

Sorry, I am done with my rant. Back to the Workouts themselves. The first Sectionals WOD this year was:

AMRAP in 10 minutes of

30 Double Unders

15 Power Snatches @55lbs

I admit when this WOD was announced, I was not that psyched about it. It's light....meaning it's gonna be all cardio! Anything that is high rep/light weight means cardio and that is exactly what I SUCK at! So far, I have surprised myself. The first time I tried this WOD was Wednesday afternoon with Neal, Brittani, Kim and Adriana. I told myself before it started that the key to this WOD was going to be my double unders. I can rock out some double unders but I have to be relaxed when I do them or I screw up...big time! I didn't go into the WOD with any expectations of doing that well because, like I said, cardio is my weakness. I started out steady and got a great rhythm with my double unders that carried through for most of the WOD. I didn't even keep track of my rounds because all I could think about was "stay relaxed and get those double unders". When the clock hit 10 minutes, I'd gotten 6 rounds, 30 double unders and 1 snatch! That was the best time in the gym and you know what, I was pretty stoked about it! I rocked a cardio WOD! How did that happen?? When I uploaded my score, it put me in first place in the Region....which was VERY short lived! :) I ended up getting knocked down to 11th and decided to hit the WOD again today to try and get back in the top ten. My goal was 7 rounds. This time, the WOD did NOT feel as good as it did on Wednesday, but I did get an extra 6 reps bringing my new total to 6 rounds plus 37. It was enough to put me back into the top ten at #7....BUT I have once again, dropped to 11th. HQ has given us an extension of one week to get this WOD done...I just might have to try again. Maybe this time I'll get my 7 rounds!

Big Things Coming!

Hello Hello Blogger friends. There's so many exciting things happening on the horizon! First of all of course is the online Sectional Workouts start on Tuesday! I'm still not completely sold on this format. I happen to have love love loved Sectionals last year and this year the atmosphere is obviously not the same. That being said, I'm still excited because I think CrossFit Katy has enough talent to

A) Make every workout competitive

B) Qualify for Regionals!

Ok so maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I think we've got a legitimate shot to make it. We've developed some really awesome athletes in the last year and I'm excited to see how far we can go. One thing's for sure. We're gonna work our asses off trying!

In other news, CrossFit Katy is moving! YEAH! We've signed the lease and started building out at the new space. We're going to have almost twice as much room, 6 showers, and A/C! Ok so maybe that makes us a little less garage, but who cares! We still kick ass and take names! I can't wait to see how much we grow. We've got an awesome community, new nutrition programs in the works, and a handful of upcoming new coaches! The future is bright!

That's all I've got for now. Check back this week for info and updates on Sectionals! Ready to Rock it!

Airrosti Day with Dr. Matt!

Ahhh! It hurts so good! Ok so here's the deal. We all need to do more mobility work! In fact, I'd venture to say that 90% of us don't do as much mobility work as we should and I am definitely one of those people. I've been inflexible for as long as I can remember. I remember in 5th and 6th grade when we had to do those Presidential physical fitness tests. One of those tests was the sit and reach where we were supposed to sit with our legs in a V and reach forward as far as we could. We weren't supposed to lunge our upper bodies forward to reach. It was supposed to be a slow and easy reach forward......I was the kid that lunged forward. I couldn't get as far as I was supposed to unless I did it that way. Needless to say, I didn't stretch then and it never really bothered me. I could still play all the sports and I still excelled, so no harm no foul right? Wrong! Enter CrossFit.

I did my fair share of Oly lifting in high school, but we were never really pushed to do overhead movements like jerks or snatches. Now all of a sudden I had to figure out how to put a heavy barbell over my head and keep it there, not an easy task when you can't even put your arms by your ears when you reach up overhead! So for the last 2 years, I have been compensating. I compensate by sticking my head through a kettlebell swing like a turtle instead of bringing the bell all the way over my head. I compensate by severely hyper-extending my back anytime I need to push a weight overhead, I compensate, compensate, compensate and it's finally getting to me. It kind of came to a head last month at the Fittest Games. We had to do fifteen 95lb snatches in the middle of a WOD. They took me forever!! I know, I know.....they were 95lb snatches...that's heavy! But it wasn't the weight. I'm a strong girl. I can clean 175lbs, I can back squat 225lbs, I can front squat 190lbs......95lb snatches shouldn't be that hard for me but my shoulder mobility makes them impossible. I can't drop under the bar quick enough while keeping the bar over my head....my lack of mobility always makes the bar drift out in front of me and when the weight is heavy, I fail. After that competition, I decided enough was enough and it was time to really get this mobility thing worked out....literally.

I'd heard of Airrosti before, I'd even had my psoas released at a Team Competition held by Bayou City CrossFit, but I'd never actually been to a treatment session. I told Dr. Matt Arnold about my shoulder woes and he convinced me to come in for a real session and let me tell you it was amazing. Don't get me wrong, it was painful! I'm sure Dr. Matt was incredibly entertained by all my laughing, moaning, and groaning. And more than once I almost wiggled right off the table....especially when he dug into my biceps tendon! Ouch! But in just one session, I think I gained a good 3-4 inches in flexion in both arms! I could also raise my arms all the way up by my ears while staying in the frontal plane. Crazy!! I can't believe I hadn't gotten this done sooner. Dr. Matt explained that every muscle is covered by a layer of fascia and the more work we do on our muscles, the more we lift, the more shortened our muscles become. Now we can prevent this shortening by diligent stretching and mobility work after and between workouts but, like I said, we all need to do more mobility work! So as our muscles shorten and contract, the fascia that surrounds our muscles contracts and kinks too (like a sausage casing) And once they get to that point, it's almost impossible to get that mobility and stretch back in our muscles without getting the fascia released. Or in other words, I was never going to fix my mobility without Dr. Matt bringing the pain! He also explained that I was going to be able to increase my work capacity just from increasing my mobility. In other words, I'm going to be a better CrossFitter, without actually doing any more CrossFit! So after my session, Dr. Matt showed me a thing or two on the foam roller and I promised to keep at it. As proof, I got Neal to take a few pics of my morning foam rolling session today. Check out the pain face in the second pic! Ok so foam rolling isn't that fun and it hurts but it's going to make me better. And Dr. Matt promised that it gets easier! I have two more appointments with Dr. Matt and I can't wait to see how far we get! This is probably going to benefit me more than anything I have been doing in the gym as far as my training goes. If you're serious about becoming the best athlete that you can be, I'd definitely give Airrosti a chance. You can make an appointment by calling their number 800-404-6050. Call up Dr. Matt and tell him to bring the pain for you!

Hearts of Lions

Hearts of Lions - CrossFit Women from SICFIT on Vimeo.

Progress

After attending the Form3 Women's World Tour, I got to work on my new goals. This really isn't anything new. I've set goals for myself twice before and guess what....I didn't accomplish any of them and after the Form3 Event I finally knew why. I never developed a plan on how to achieve my goals. I had them written out in 3, 6 and 12 month increments but I never broke down my 3 month goals into anything beyond that, 3 month goals, which means I had no road-map, no plan, no checklist with which to accomplish them. All that has changed! I now have a weekly checklist on my refrigerator which tells me exactly what I need to do each week to accomplish my 3 month goals.

Last week was the first week that I implemented this new plan and I found out some interesting things. One, having the list is FANTASTIC. The other night I was looking at my list before bed and realized that I had forgotten to do something, so I hopped on the internet and did it and checked it off my list! Two, even with a list, I was unable to accomplish everything that I had set my mind to last week. I did not complete my mandatory 3 mobility WOD's or work on Handstand Push Ups enough among other things. I don't consider this a failure though. Having the list makes me realize which items I tend to put off...hello mobility!....and makes me even more focused this week to check everything off! I've got my to-do list...where's yours? What are you going to accomplish this week?

The Fittest Games

Wow, what a weekend! I actually don't think I've had that much fun at a competition in a long time. Not that there was anything wrong with any of the other big competitions I've gone to recently. I just think that before this weekend, I was in a different place. I've been taking care of my body, getting in proper nutrition and training, and I've had a few big physical accomplishments in the gym recently. That all adds up to a weekend of excitement and anticipation instead of regret and anxiety. I've got to say, I think attending the Form3 program a week ago had a lot to do with my attitude going into this weekend. Ever since I've taken the time to actually write down my goals and evolve a plan to accomplish them, I've felt a renewed sense of control over my life....so thank you Form3!

Now back to the competition! When the workouts first came out on Thursday, all I could think of was "Damn! Look at all that running.......AND there's muscle ups! I am screwed!" But the more I thought about it, the more excited I actually became. I mean, the running workouts were tamed by a bit of weightlifting, they had one Max Lift event which I am usually great at and I had been practicing muscle ups for months....not all of those practice sessions had been successful but I had a feeling the atmosphere was going to give me just the boost that I would need. The other great thing about this event was that it was going down in the ATX and I was going to get to compete with (thanks Lisa) some of the best athletes in the state.

Anyway, Saturday was beautiful and Neal, Ziggy and I packed up the Tahoe after the morning class at CrossFit Katy. The drive was smooth and we cruised right into Austin over to CrossFit Central to pick up our packets and say hey to some of the crew over there. The rest of the day was filled with lunch at Whole Foods with my mom and step-dad and relaxing at the hotel. For dinner we met up with the rest of the crew from CrossFit Katy at a funky mexican joint where the manager was giving out free tequila shots after the meal! No, No I didn't have one....but it was tempting! :)

Sunday morning was freezing! Haha! I definitely was under-dressed for the first workout. I wore my speed shorts thinking it was going to be warmer....which it was later in the day. But I definitely couldn't feel my legs during that first workout. The first workout did not play to my strengths! First of all it had a 30 lateral burpee "buy-in".....30 burpees! Put a fork in me, cause I'm done! I believe that I was on burpee number 23 when the rest of my heat took off for the sprint across the football field.....Note to self, work on burpees! Needless to say, I did not fair very well and ended up 17th in that workout. Boooooo! Just a little side note, for this competition I was put into a heat with Lisa Thiel, Carey Kepler, Crystal Nelson, Emily Baker, Chardonnay Poole, Ingrid Kantola, Whitney Welsche-Reese.....You get the picture. It was an intimidating group. I may have let my brain internally shout out "You don't belong in this heat" a few times after that first WOD. But I quickly pushed it aside because the 3 Rep Max Bear Complex was up next and I was determined to make up for my poor performance in WOD #1 with a killer weight on that one!

Now I haven't done the Bear Complex ever I don't think. But I knew my max power clean and I figured I could get about 20lbs less than that. I was a little worried about the push jerk out of the back squat position because my shoulder mobility is so limited but I was determined to put up a good number. I warmed up with #115 and decided my first attempt would be #125. Easy peasy! I hit that one, took a couple minutes break and put #135 on the bar. That one was tougher but I got it and was pretty confident that I could do more. The clock was against me though because I needed at least another 2 1/2 minute break to be ready for another set and I didn't have that much time. I took a minute and put #140 on the bar but going up to it, I knew I wasn't recovered enough. I got the first rep but failed in the push jerk out of the back squat on the second. My #135 Bear Complex was enough to tie for second place though! Definitely made up for WOD#1 with that one!

WOD #3 was the dreaded muscle-up WOD! Like I said in a previous post, before Sunday I had only gotten 3 muscle ups ever and I was expected to do 8 in a single WOD! Needless to say, I was nervous, but I was also excited. I mean I was in a heat with some of the best athletes in the state, it was the kind of atmosphere that you dream about. If there was ever a time to amaze myself, this was it! 3..2..1...GO and I was up on the rings. I got that first muscle up immediately! What what?!!?!?! Unfortunately when I was up there, my arm hit the latch on the rings and dropped one of them about 5 inches meaning I had to come off the rings and get my judge to help me get them even again. Talk about a time killer. Oh well, I struggled through another muscle up and made my way over for toe-2-bar and double unders. Back to the rings and I was tired already! After failing for what seemed like an hour, I struggled back up onto those rings! Ha! 3 muscle ups...the most I'd ever gotten before...all in one WOD! The clock was ticking away and I knew at that point that I was not going to be able to finish this WOD, so my next goal was to just get through another round. That was it...one more muscle up, 15 toe-2-bar, and 30 double unders and I'd be happy! It didn't seem like it was going to happen for a while, but miraculously I fought through another muscle-up! That was it! 4 muscle ups! I finished the round and took my DNF. I don't think I've ever been happier about a DNF. All I could think about was..... I just got FOUR muscle-ups! Hell yeah!!!! Who cares about anything else??!!

There was a looooong wait between WOD 3 and WOD 4 and at that point I didn't think that I had any chance of placing top ten (which was my goal going into this competition) But when they wrote out the top ten on the whiteboard at the track, there I was sitting in 8th place! So the only thing I had to do was not completely blow the last workout and I had my top ten finish......easier said then done!

I was tired! The sheer volume of workouts had gotten to me and I didn't know how the last workout was going to go. In the middle of WOD #4 stood 15 #95 snatches. Yes, my max snatch is #115 so I knew I was capable of doing the 95 pounders but 15 was a lot of them and my form is pretty abysmal. My shoulder mobility means I have a hard time squat snatching heavy weight. When I drop under the bar quickly I can't keep the weight far enough back above my head and therefore my choices are either power snatch, get set, and then squat.....or fail at the weight. It takes a lot longer to power snatch and overhead squat 15 times but that's what I had to do. The rest of that workout was a blur...all I could think about was how bad I wanted it to be over! That last 200 meter run was brutal...and SicFit got the pics to prove it. Luckily I had my biggest fan and best friend, Neal Kay running beside me pushing me to the finish. Without his support and encouragement, I might have just walked to the finish....ok probably not but you have no idea how much it helps to have support like that! I was pretty confident that I had just knocked myself out of the top ten....the winner of WOD#4, Karen Pierce, beat me by a full 4 minutes! That's like a lifetime in a CrossFit competition. Amazingly enough though, my finish in WOD #2 and the fact that I got half-way through the muscle-up WOD was enough to keep me in eighth place! YES! Top ten finish for me! The icing on the cake for the weekend was the fact that one of our CrossFit Katy athletes Mike Scott, a relative newbie to the CrossFit world won the intermediate men's division! It's so awesome to watch one of your own athletes do so well! I expect big things from him in the future.

So there it is. Amazing weekend with amazing people. I can't stress enough how incredible the entire CrossFit community is and I had as much fun competing as I did visiting with all my CrossFit friends. Big thanks to Karen, Lisa, Carey, Crystal, Adrian, Laura, Ingrid, Chardonnay, Adrien, Meg and all the other CrossFit ladies! Can't wait to do it again!

Push Your Limits!

Yesterday The Fittest Games WOD's were posted.....Yikes! Looks like WOD #3 is going to have muscle ups in it! For the record I have gotten a total of 3...count 'em 3 muscle ups EVER! The first muscle up I ever got was at CrossFit Beaumont after their competition. It was kind of a joke. I had been playing on the rings at CrossFit Katy for weeks but had never gotten an actual muscle-up. I think one of the reasons I got that first muscle up at Beaumont was that I approached it with no pressure, just got on the rings and did it! I definitely surprised myself. Since then I have gotten two more on different days, weeks apart. I have yet to be able to get one on my first attempt and I have never gotten more than one at any single practice session. So what does that mean for me this weekend?? I don't really know. I guess you could say the odds are stacked against me, BUT I can't help but remember a little conversation I had with Lisa Thiel before the final WOD at Regionals last year. That WOD had a 10 Muscle Up buy in. At that point, Lisa had only ever gotten one muscle up, but when we talked about it before the WOD she said, "Well, if I can do ONE then I can do TEN!" And that's the attitude that I am going to try and embody this weekend. I know that I am not going to win this competition but this competition is an opportunity to get better. I am going to end this post with a little quote I stole from my good friend and fellow CrossFitter Katie Russell....ok so she stole it from a movie...but you get the point! :)

"If you are trying to be better than someone else....you are doing it wrong! Being the best is not about beating everyone else. It is about beating who you were yesterday."--The Rookie

Form 3--Renewed Passion and Drive

Saturday I had the privilege of attending the Form3 Women's World Tour at CrossFit Central and I can't remember the last time I have felt this excited about my future. The program was led by Carey Kepler, Jessica Sharratt, and Crystal Nelson...all amazing ladies!

To be perfectly honest, I didn't really know what to expect from the program when I first got into my car to make the 2 hr drive from Katy to Austin. I anticipated a lot of discussion on nutrition and fitness and how to reach out to the needs and wants of the women of my community. I did not expect to take such an in-depth look into my needs, my wants, my purpose.

As a whole I think many women find themselves constantly saying to themselves, "When I have more time I will ___.", "When I have more money I will____." I know because that is something that I am always saying, but I learned this weekend that that kind of thinking is poisoning our potential. How are we ever going to accomplish anything if we keep putting ourselves in that box?? This weekend was all about "Now, Now, Now" We even went so far as to write down everything that we could think of that was holding us back....and we burned it! It was liberating!

The rest of the day was filled with goal setting, vision boards/books, and an intimate look at what we can do today to get where we want to be tomorrow. There is so much more that I wish I could say about this program but words fail me. It is just a feeling. A feeling of limitlessness, a feeling of hope and determination, a feeling that nothing can hold me back if I make a plan to get there! I love quotes and one of the quotes that resonated most with me is from Og Mandino

"I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person."

This weekend has given me a new purpose, a new drive, a new passion.....

Today Is My Someday!

Whole 30 Round Two Results!

Well, it's over! My second round of the Whole 30 is finally over and the results are in! As I was saying in a previous post, I really don't think my first go-round with the Whole 30 did much for me. Instead of really focusing on changing my relationship with food, I concentrated on just cutting out all the technically inappropriate foods. This resulted in a severe over-consumption of fruit, almond butter, and other paleo treats. I never kicked my late-night snack habit and, as a result, did not conquer my sugar demons meaning when my first Whole 30 was over, I was right back on the sugar train. Paleo sugars of course (that's what I told myself).....but really there is no difference.

About half-way through this Whole 30, I read a great post on the Whole 9 Blog about conquering your sugar demons and it finally clicked. I think I made more progress in the last 2 1/2 weeks on then I did during my entire previous Whole 30. So without further ado.....

My Results:

Weight Before: 158.2

Weight After: 152.8

I have lost a total of 4.75 inches from my waist, hips, thighs, and arms.

I was pretty excited about the results especially the inches. Weight is a very deceptive beast and it really doesn't mean that much to me, but inches really say something.

Ok So I know you are all dying to know if I went completely nuts today on junk food and the answer is....sort of. :) I had a normal breakfast, got in a great 5:30AM WOD at CrossFit Katy and then went to lunch at Ruggles Green. I got the Blackened Shrimp Salad and a side of Butternut Squash. It was delicious but MAN there was a lot of sugar in that lunch. The salad had about 5 different kinds of fruit/dried fruit on it and was tossed in a poppyseed dressing and the butternut squash was full of brown sugar. It was good but it is not something I think I will order again because it's just too dang sweet....not really worth the cheat! And even though I was already in a sugar coma, I followed up the lunch by sharing a piece of Ruggles Green warm carrot cake with Christie.....now THAT was sweet but definitely worth the cheat! They have the most amazing carrot cake. As was expected, after lunch I felt like a zombie and was in a full-on sugar coma within an hour. I took about an hour and half long nap to sleep it off! I have never had that kind of reaction to food before. You'd think I would have learned my lesson after lunch but this was cheat day...I had to keep going! Dinner was salmon and homemade macaroni and cheese. The mac and cheese was tasty and I didn't feel quite as lethargic....just very puffy and bloated and to finish it all off I tried to eat a brownie for dessert but I couldn't finish it.

Looking back at the day, I'm not all that thrilled with my cheats. Some were good, some were ok, and some were just not worth it....and I have felt pretty terrible all day. I really think I have finally changed the way that I feel about food. My tastes have truly changed this time and I hope to never go back to eating grains, extra sugars, and processed foods on a regular basis again. I will still enjoy the occasional non-paleo treat and I definitely plan on adding certain non-Whole 30 foods back into my diet...like pastured butter (YUM!)....but as a whole, I really don't plan on deviating much. I have felt great, I am setting new PR's in the gym, and I am just a much happier more energized person when I eat this way.

There's some really exciting things happening this month. February 5th I will be attending the Form3 Women's World Tour and February 13th I am competing in the Fittest Games at CrossFit Central. Hopefully all my hard work, clean eating, and training will pay off. I feel much more prepared for this competition than I was for the All-Cities Open in Dallas. This should be a great indicator for the upcoming Open Sectionals Competitions. CrossFit Katy has some great athletes going to compete and I am looking forward to having a great weekend with some great people!

*Just for clarification, the first pic is from July after my first Whole 30 and the second pic is me now after my second Whole 30*

Are Princesses the Enemy?

I read an article today discussing the rapidly changing, often warped culture that we have created with regards to beauty and what it means to be a girl. It seems like everywhere you turn these days, women are bombarded with images of not only what is considered beautiful, but what they can buy to make themselves beautiful whether that be blue jeans or botox. Sex and the sexualization of women is used to sell everything these days! And the unfortunate thing is that this image is trickling down in watered down versions (and sometimes blatantly NOT watered down i.e. Bratz dolls) to our teen and pre-teen girls. But from where did this culture evolve? According to this article, or rather according to author Peggy Orenstein, it all begins with Princesses.

Orenstein is the author of the new book, Cinderella Ate My Daugher: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. In Orenstein's opinion it is societies obsession with this "every girl is a Princess" attitude that is setting up our young women to view themselves as worthy only as long as "they are the fairest of them all". According to Orenstein, the more a girl is exposed to this ridiculous ideal, the more apt she is to develop eating disorders, low self-esteem, distorted body image, and depression.

Another article I read on ABC News.com said that Walmart is introducing a new line of cosmetics......for 8-12 year old girls! While I personally don't see anything wrong with little girls having fun dressing up and putting on play make-up or collecting fruity-flavored chap stix alla Bonne Belle or even getting their toes done, it's something quite different for a company to market make-up to tweens for day to day wear. What kind of message are we sending these girls? That they already aren't good enough without enhancements? What if we could give our girls a different kind of beautiful?

Every day, whether I like it or not, I am a role model. I have an 8 year old step-sister. I am a part-time coach at CrossFit Katy, a gym where half of all our clients are women. I live in a neighborhood with over 10 school-age girls on my block alone, and just this year, I became an aunt to a beautiful little girl. And I take this job very seriously. Because it's my desire to change the image of beauty for all of these women and I am not alone.

I CrossFit. I run laps, lift weights, jump boxes, flip tires, do pull ups, push ups, squats, drag sleds. I use my body in all its capacity to accomplish amazing athletic feats and because of this I have thighs that don't fit into skinny jeans and shoulders that can't be contained in cute little blouses but I am beautiful. I am beautiful in a way that doesn't require Prince Charming to come and rescue me and this is the kind of beauty that I want to share with the other women in my life. Does that mean that I intend to de-sexualize the culture that envelopes us or our girls? Well, not really. Anybody who has seen me workout or compete or even sees me in day- to-day life can't miss the fact that I don't mind showing off my body. I am an avid Lululemon Addict and love nothing more than rocking out a workout in a brand-new pair of Speed Shorts or Wunder Under tights and a matching sports bra. I am proud of the muscles that cut across my back and the definition that I have in my stomach. I think it's sexy. I think muscles are sexy. I think women that lift weights are sexy. I think prescribed pull ups are sexy and handstands and muscle-ups. CrossFit has not and does not intend to eliminate the sexualization of women. I believe CrossFit aims to change the very definition of sexy into something positive and empowering and that is something that I am proud to represent. I want the women in the gym to be proud of their hard-earned muscles and feel sexy when they lift a barbell above their heads. I want my little step-sister to think that being beautiful is directly correlated to what your body can accomplish. I want women to feel empowered as I feel empowered.

I recently got a very much appreciated invitation to attend the Form3 Women's World Tour in Austin, Texas on February 5th. As taken from their website, the purpose of the Women's World Tour is to bring women of the community together, provide them with space to become inspired, motivate women to dream big, to become their most powerful dynamic selves, explore, create, and take on new territories of their life, and re excite life where staleness has moved in. It's a full day of motivation and inspiration and I hope to learn even more ways to inspire the women of my community by attending this event.