Trying to Live More Like Ziggy

I have a dog. Yes this is one of the only times you'll catch me calling him a dog. He's more like my baby and I, very often, refer to him as a person (which Neal likes to point out to me) I absolutely am completely in love with this little guy! Today while I was walking him around the neighborhood it kind of dawned on me that Ziggy really does have it made in the shade. Don't get me wrong, I know he's spoiled but I'm not really talking about that. I'm talking about all the other things that he's got going on. There' a lot that we, as humans, can learn from Ziggy.

1) There's absolutely nothing better than a good nap!
I mean have you seriously ever watched a dog sleep. They don't have a care in the world. They're not tossing and turning while their minds are running over all the things they should be doing. They are right there in the moment....and forget about time. If Ziggy feels like it's time for a nap, then it's time for a nap! I know most of us, myself included, that happen to have one of those rare days when a nap is actually possible feel like it's the last thing we need to do...I mean come on..there's a laundry list of chores or things we could get done. Who has time for naps? But maybe, just maybe we should embrace those little moments and allow ourselves to indulge....take that nap...the dishes can wait!

2) Exercise is supposed to be fun!
Ziggy doesn't run around the backyard chasing a big rubber ball because it's good for his health. He does it cause it's a blast! To him nothing is more exciting then getting a chance to chase that ball....except for maybe swimming. :) This is probably the main reason why I CrossFit. Yesterday at Pin Up CrossFit, we did a WOD that involved 5 sets of 10 "wall walks" which requires you to lay on your stomach with your feet touching a wall and then walk your feet up the wall and your hands back until you are in a full handstand! Yeah it was tough...yeah I sweated my face off...but you know what..it was kind of fun! This past Saturday at CrossFit Katy, they had a medicine ball relay where members of each team took turns tossing the med ball as far as they could and then ran to get it to be the first team to cross the finish line! What other workout routine lets you have built in fun like that? It sure beats the hell out of blindly running on a treadmill.

3) Love should be unconditional
Every time I come home, even If I've just walked down the street to the mailbox, Ziggy greets me like he hasn't seen me in years! Even if I were to take away his favorite toy, make him sleep on the couch (gasp!) or never give him another scrap of table food....he would still love me like that. He doesn't care if I haven't slept, my clothes are a mess, I'm stressed to no end, I look like hell...doesn't matter, he will always love me like that and that is truly an incredible thing. If only we could all love as unconditionally as Ziggy.

So I guess this post is a little random but sometimes i think we could all stand to stop and put our lives in perspective a little and think about what kind of stuff in our lives is really important. It's easy for things to get overwhelming sometimes but thanks to a little black dog, I always come back to where I'm supposed to be!

Whole 9 Trainer's Workshops

Wow what a day! First off, yes I am aware that I am a complete nerd and that normal people don't get excited at the thought of spending an entire Sunday talking about strength programming, nutrition, food logs, and how to implement all of these in your life and gym! But what can I say...I am not a normal person! :) Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the Whole 9 Trainer's Workshop at CrossFit West Houston and it was fantastic!

We spent the morning with special guest Dutch Lowy discussing strength and conditioning with a focus on programming and how to program the most effectively to tackle whatever weakness you are trying to better. It was very eye-opening. If you are unaware, I actively participate in some of the programming for CrossFit Katy and am very excited to implement some of Dutch's suggestions in the gym. As far as my own training is concerned, I am most interested in testing out Dutch's theory on Strength vs. Strength Endurance. The idea is to obtain a 1 rep max (usually he uses the back squat or front squat) rest 5 minutes or more and then load the bar with 85% of your 1 rep max and see how many reps you can complete. The idea is to be around 5 reps. If you can't get to 5 reps then you need to work on your strength endurance, if you are way over 5 reps then you need to work on your pure strength. Dutch did say that there is a caveat in that if you are a woman, this equation might not work for you because women tend to be able to do more reps of 85% of their 1 rep max than men even if they need to work on their strength endurance....however, I still want to give this a try and see how I stack up.

During lunch, Dutch took us through a Snatch-focused Olympic Lifting class which was great. Though I have been lifting weights since high school and I have been exposed to the clean and snatch regularly, I do not put enough time into training these two lifts. Hopefully I can take the technique critique that I received and use it to better those lifts.

After a delicious lunch of tilapia, chicken, and veggies provided by Perfect Fit Meals, we got down to the nitty gritty! First of all, I definitely regret not going to the Whole 9 Foundations Lecture on Saturday. Yes, I have been to the Foundation Lecture before (last May) but it would have been nice to get that refresher. Oh well...next time for sure! For anybody that is unaware (or hasn't read my previous blog posts) Whole 9 is a nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle consulting company founded by Melissa Urban and Dallas Hartwig. Though they have a home-base in Salt Lake City, they spend much of their time traveling around the country conducting workshops that are mostly nutritionally focused (lucky for us)! The Trainer's Workshop is for people interesting in taking their nutritional knowledge base to the next level especially when it comes to sharing that knowledge base with clients, friends, and family. I feel like I have learned so much in such a short time. One of the most important things that we focused on was how to make nutrition an integral, if not mandatory, part of our gym and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that CrossFit Katy is doing so many things right! We have a nutrition blog, we do a few nutritional challenges a year, we talk to our clients. But there is so much more that we can do and that is exciting! But before I can implement things at the gym, I want to implement them in my own life. Like Melissa and Dallas said, you gotta "walk the walk". If I can't follow my own advice, how can I expect anybody else to?

The first thing on my step to success was measurements and signing up for a free Fit Day account. Look, I HATE weighing and measuring my food! HATE HATE HATE....but it really is the only way to analyze a diet. Where I've gone wrong before I think is that I have known in my mind what I'm "supposed" to eat, weighed it out, and then eaten it. But that doesn't really tell me anything because as soon as I lose the food scale...my portions go way up. So this time around, I am going to instead weigh and measure the food that I normally eat in sizes that I normally eat and see what that looks like. This way I can really get a clear picture of how much I am eating and can hopefully make some changes. I also am making a new pledge to consistently get my fish oil (the best fish oil comes from here!) and to eat my pre and post workout meals. I have said it before but I am saying it again...I, Leah Goldstein, will remember to eat my pre and post workout meals!

So, that's what's on the agenda for the next few weeks. I am 10 days into my Whole 30 and am refocused. Time to hit the grocery store, prep some veggies, and keep it up! On a side note, my dad's fiance, Christie, has been taking on the Whole 30 challenge with me and has so far lost over 10lbs in 10 days! Pretty spectacular stuff! :)

4 Days In

Well it's been four days of Whole 30-ing for me and I definitely think this go-round is much much easier than the last time I did this which was back in June. One of the biggest obstacles to successfully completing a Whole 30 is that you need to be prepared...always! Meatloaf is something that is easily assembled the night before and can be kept in the fridge until dinner time. The problem with conventional meatloaf recipes is that they take forever to cook! I don't know about you but I don't have an hour and a half to cook my dinner when I get home after 7pm. By cooking the meatloaf in muffin tins, you can cut your cooking time down considerably. This recipe is one that I put together on Monday night for dinner for Tuesday. All I had to do on Tuesday night after CrossFit was pop this in the oven and it was ready in 25 minutes! I paired this with some steamed veggies and I was set!

Mini Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 lbs of ground meat (I used organic ground veal and bison)

1/2 cup each of diced onions, bell peppers, and celery

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Saute the veggies in the olive oil for about 10 minutes to soften them up (otherwise you'll get hard veggies in your meat!) and let cool for a few minutes before mixing.

In a large bowl mix the meat and veggie mixture and season with a little salt and pepper

Separate the meat mixture evenly into the 12 spots in the muffin/cupcake tin

Bake for 25-35 minutes

Paleo Poor

I came across this article from the Whole 9 Website on how to eat "Paleo/Primal" on a budget and I think it's a fantastic post. There are many, many people whose biggest argument against being able to eat Paleo is that it costs too much. While costs is a legitimate concern, there are plenty of tips and tricks on how to stretch your budget to fit this lifestyle.....and ultimately, taking care of yourself will end up saving you thousands in medical costs in the long run! Trust me, if there's anything I've learned from nursing school, it's that most of the hospitalizations that I've seen could have been avoided with a healthy diet and exercise. Happy reading!

Paleo Poor by Whole Life

New Year's 2011

Happy Happy New Year!

This year went out with a bang at the Bayou City CrossFit New Year's Eve Party at the Omni Hotel! It was a great evening with fun, friends and plenty of dancing.....and maybe one too many vodka sodas! ;-)

I've spent this first day of 2011 thinking about all of the things I'd like to accomplish this year. I don't really like the idea of Resolutions. Resolutions have a tendency to be too broad, unmeasurable, and not specific enough...you know where that's headed don't you? This year, instead of making a list of random resolutions, I'm making goals....specific goals. I've done a post in the past that talks about goals and how to set them...and yes I even made some goals, accomplished some, but let far too many slip away. For 2011, I've decided to start from scratch. So here it is folks.

Remember from my previous goals post....goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. That is goals need to be:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-Bound

I'm not going to post and discuss all my goals. There are many and I've divided them into 3, 6, and 12 month goals. I have them typed up and posted in my apartment where I can look at them every day. One goal though that I will share with everyone is that I am taking on another Whole 30 this month. The over-indulgence of the holidays is officially over and I think the best way to kick start my healthy year and detox from all the crap I have eaten over the past two months is by going headfirst into a Whole 30. I am also very excited to be able to attend the new Whole 9 Life Nutrition Seminar this month at CrossFit West Houston. Since I've already completed one Whole 30, I think this go-round will be a lot easier and I have a few tweaks this time that I will be playing with that I did not play with last time which included limiting my fruit intake and nut/nut butter intake.

Today was an excellent start to my Whole 30, I slept in until noon....(damn vodka!) so lunch for me today was two pieces of natural bacon and two eggs. I had raisins for a snack and dinner tonight is going to be stuffed butternut squash.....this recipe is Fantastic!

I encourage each and every one of you to make your own 2011 goals. It's never too late to get in shape, eat healthy, save more money, show more love....set those goals and go get them!

Double Unders Suck!

I've always thought that I was pretty good at Double Unders.....I have recently been proven wrong! The third workout at ACO last weekend was a 10 minute AMRAP. Every minute on the minute you did 3 squat cleans and as many double unders as you could with the rest of the minute. Now I just got a brand new rope from RX Jump Rope and it is awesome. I'd practiced with it very briefly before ACO and thought it was all squared away....WRONG! As soon as I got to about round 3, I was clipping my left foot regularly....SO FRUSTRATING! I just attributed it to a small gas-tank...I mean, cardio is my nemesis whereas strength is my power...and double unders are straight cardio right?! Well, today the Advanced Class over at CrossFit Katy tackled the next Again Faster WOD.

WOD #11 is

200 double unders

7000lbs total deadlift

75 thrusters with a 45lb bar

Partition as needed.

I decided to do:

4 Rounds

50 Double Unders

10, 10, 9, 9 Deadlifts @185#

19,19,19,18 Thrusters

Let me tell you....those damn double unders kicked my butt again! The first two rounds went ok but as soon as the I got to that third set of DU's I could not for the life of me get it together! I haven't been that frustrated in a WOD in a long time! I hate making excuses but I think I'm going to order another rope that is one inch longer than my current rope. Maybe then I'll conquer those suckers! So I guess I'm using this post to vent a little. Contrary to what people may think......every CrossFitter gets crushed by a WOD sometimes and today, I was crushed! The important thing to remember is that there is always another WOD.....and next time double unders come up...they will not defeat me!

The 2010 All-Cities Open

It came, it went and I survived! Actually I did more than just survive. I managed to get 11th place overall this weekend and I've got to say, I'm pretty happy about it.

Usually after a tough CrossFit competition, I spend the rest of the weekend ruminating over what I could have done better.....should have done better, how I could have shaved a second here or added a rep there, but all the woulds and shoulds don't change anything and I'm learning to accept my weaknesses and revel in my strengths as far as this year's ACO is concerned. I am definitely looking forward to turning those weaknesses into strengths in the next few months.

The one thing I still can't get over is how connected I feel now to this whole community. It's an incredible feeling knowing that no matter which competition you attend, you will always have someone there cheering you on and many times it's fellow CrossFitters who you've never even met before or only briefly!

This past weekend during the horribly cold and windy run on WOD#4, I got passed up by another girl in my heat. (For anybody that doesn't know, running is my nemesis and I am HORRIBLE at it!) But as she ran past me she slowed just a sec to turn and say "come on Leah". That's what really sets us all apart you know......we elevate each other to perform at our best. Do I go into every competition with the desire to win?? Of course I do, but I will always celebrate my competitors successes. I want to be elevated to do my best because they are doing their best and hopefully my best will be good enough some day.