Seeking Advice from my CrossFit Friends – 7/30/14

Life, ,

Alright.. seeking advice from my Crossfitter friends! What do you all suggest for leaning out/losing fat while still maintaining your strength? I’ve just about had it with myself.

Some info:
I eat pretty well, mostly paleo. I am gluten free. I eat some fruit, some sweet potato, a little dairy/cheese (cream or kerrygold in coffee), a little bit of rice (a bite here and there IF I make it for Dave), beans RARELY, very little processed sugar.

I eat eggs, chicken, ground turkey, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, bacon, for the most part. I’ll splurge on a couple pieces of almost bitter dark chocolate here and there but I prefer to eat dried fruit (natural, no sugar added, organic in place of sweets if I’m craving something, or if a meal is a long ways off). I’ve tried snacking on the whole ‘handful of almonds’ thing to curb my appetite, (that’s a load of BS.)

I haven’t always eaten dried fruit, and incorporating it into my diet hasn’t changed or affected my weight. Meaning, when I didn’t eat it, I still had these issues. Same with the dairy, same with the rice, same with the dark chocolate. When I went strict paleo for 30 days, I lost a few pounds only, and felt AWFUL. When I added the sweet potato back in and laxed up a bit, I felt much better overall and my workouts and strength returned.

I’m always hungry. I drink a crap ton of water. Two cups of coffee a day, iced tea here and there (unsweet). I take all my supplements (glutamine, carnitine, fish oil, taurine, magnesium), I work out 3-4-5 times a week and I always give it everything I’ve got.

Aside from eating nothing but boiled chicken, plain lettuce and broccoli.. what are your recommendations? I have been willing these last 30lbs to drop, but the last time I lost 5lbs by cutting carbs out entirely and going strict paleo, I felt like I was going to pass out all the time. (lightheaded, dizzy, had a hard time lifting anything heavy…) Would love to hear some suggestions from people I haven’t necessarily asked. THANK YOU!

My Goals for the next 365 Days. 7/30/14

Life, ,

Lately after finishing certain benchmark and Hero WODs, I’ve found myself saying, “next year I’ll RX this one..” Which turned into me wanting to make a list of goals to work towards and then put it out here, so I can attempt to hold myself accountable.

Next Year I will RX the following WODs:

Murph (okay maybe without the weighted vest)
Kalsu
Holleyman

I also want to continue to work on the following movements, to the point of being able to RX them.

ring dips
HSPU
DUs (I can do them, but not when I’m tired. I’d like to be able to do them through an entire WOD)
C2B

I want to shoot for the following weights:

Bench (currently 145, I’d like 155 or higher)
Back Squat (currently 265, 300 would be stellar!)
Front Squat (haven’t PRed in awhile, last one was 215, would like 245)
OHS (last PR was 125, would like to go for 150)
Snatch (last PR was 125 or 130, would like 150)
Deadlift (currently 335, would like 350+)
Clean (currently 175, would like 200)
C&J (currently 155, but I know I have more! Would like 200)
Strict Press (currently 115, would like 130)

So we’ll see. These are some pretty lofty goals. And of course there’s my weight, which I’ve pretty much just given up on. It’s like, do I focus on getting healthier and stronger and just be happy with my weight? Or do I try to lean out and hope my strength stays? I don’t know how to do either of those things, honestly. (be happy with my weight, or lean out and keep my strength.)

The only method I know that works is to eat less, and the last time I did that, I suffered a great deal from the lack of energy and strength that resulted. It sounds like excuses, I know. But for me, to eat less to the point where it would make an impact would be to always be starving, and each chicken and vegetables. Plain lettuce, plain chicken, plain broccoli. Only. How badly do I want it? Not that badly.

I also always say that I really need to just do more cardio too. Get my heart pumping, racing. Getting my metabolism jump started has been so difficult. I’m a little faster, a little smaller, and a little stronger, but I’m still the same weight on the scales. I hate it. And for the most part, the same size. If you look at pics of me from last year to this year, they look the same. It’s monumentally frustrating to put this much work into something, only to have no physical, bodily changes. 🙁

So there are my goals. Now I’m frustrated.

Crossfit Day 407 – Slow Moving Agony – 7/29/14

WODs

So let’s talk about how July is almost over. Like this week and we’re done. Time just flies by now, and I think it’s because we’re old, but I don’t feel any different! Unless I worked out for the first time in a week and then go and sit still for an hour, and then try to get up out of the chair I was sitting in; then I feel old. REALLY old.

Anyway. Today is titled slow moving agony. I was deceived by our WOD today. Easy peasy, right? Riight.

First off, we worked on back squats, finding our 5 rep max, our 20 rep max and then apparently our 5 rep max in x number of weeks will become our new 20 rep max down the road. Supposedly I am aiming for 185 but that just seems ridiculous. I did 5 reps at 185 today, and then 20 reps at 105.

Regardless, my back felt great under those squats, and I was really happy about that! I was almost chipper about the WOD, but then I realized what the numbers were and I quickly straightened up.

40 – 30 – 20 – 10
back rack forward lunges (75lbs for girls)
KB swings (70/55)

Holy shit. I got through 10 or so lunges and thought to myself, I’m never going to finish this. I’m going to die here. This is it. This is the first WOD I’ll quit.

I agonized through 40 lunges then 40 55lb KB swings, and then 30, and then I got to my set of 20s, and I was like.. I can’t do it. I’m hurting. I’m in pain and this isn’t worth it. So I skipped the 20s and went right to the 10s. Awful awful awful.

I was stopped trying to catch my breath and trying to NOT feel lightheaded more than I was moving, it seemed. Rare for me, and I tried to rationalize that this is abnormal and maybe I shouldn’t have eaten Chipotle today.

The thought of going through the 20s and then the 10s after was sheer hell. It sounds so dramatic but I was on the verge of tears, and well, that’s NOT worth it! So.. I went straight to the 10s and immediately went to the floor. What the hell.

Was it the heat? My new shoes? Lack of water? Chipotle fuel? Sheer tiredness and exhaustion? My body trying to send me a message? I don’t know, but I listened to it. I’d rather finish my own scaled version than just quit, or be injured as a result.

I should’ve scaled those lunges, but pride got the better of me. 🙁

Crossfit Day 406 – Holleyman PR – 7/27/14

WODs

I hadn’t done Hero Holleyman since last year, and the last time I did it, I finished in 34:54.

I did all the same weights, movements as last year, but THIS year.. I finished in 25:26. Over 9 minutes faster than last year, which was an incredibly awesome feeling!

Holleyman is:

30 RFT
5 wall balls (20/16)
3 HSPUs (this year and last year I used a 45lb plate and an ab mat)
1 power clean (last year RX was 135 according to Russ, this year it was 155 according to the real WOD weights.. I used 135 this year and last year.)

And I finished more than 9 minutes faster than last year. WTF.

By round 3 I was questioning calling this WOD one of my favorites.. I was spent, exhausted, lightheaded from holding my breath on the cleans, my back was bugging me during the wall balls, I was stressing out that I’d make my back condition worse instead of better.

and I still finished faster.

Oh. I feel amazing, btw. My back feels great, still a little tight if I move it in certain ways, but NOTHING like what it was after it happened. I’ve been stretching it out on the foam roller and hanging upside down on the GHD machine, which totally decompresses my spine and feels incredible.

WOOOO Holleyman!

L5 S1 – Compressing my Spine – 7/23/14

Life, ,

I tweaked my lower back and the pain is coming from to the left of my spine, right above my tailbone. It’s not muscular, it’s more like nerve-ish pain. Just got back from the chiropractor who confirmed my suspicions. He said it was my L5 S1. Took some x-rays, gave me some good stretches, did a great adjustment, and decompressed my spine a bit. I need to work on it myself from home.

It gets better as the day goes on, as I get warmed up, but he said it was inflamed and the compression of the weightlifting just isn’t helping it right now.

Which SUCKS because today (7/23) is Holleyman.. hands down, one of my favorite WODs of all time. Bummed that I have to miss it, but I will try and make it up on Sunday. I need to take it easy.

I suppose I could go to yoga, but.. meh.. I need to work on some stretches at home. See if I can get this improved. 🙂

Crossfit Day 405 – Grace PR; again! – 7/17/14

WODs

Friday was Grace. And if you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I just hit a Grace PR recently. And I was super excited about THAT!

Well, here we are again.. Grace. 30 Clean and Jerks for time at 95lbs. I was nervous about just going 5 seconds faster, in all honesty! I really wanted to hit the 3:30 or less mark. I WAS SO NERVOUS.

So… here we go.

I PRed again. At 2:45. I DID GRACE IN 2:45! A whole 50 seconds faster than what I did just one month earlier. Granted, I wasn’t really trying to beat anything last time except for my PREVIOUS time of 5+ minutes, so.. Wow. I was beaming. BEAMING. Good enough for 3rd place on the board.

The top two times above me were 2:16 (Lauren) and 2:29 (Anne). Next time!

Crossfit Day 404 – 7/16/14

WODs

First time working out back at home! Woooo.

WOD:

13 Minute AMRAP

5 – T-2000â€ēs
10 – Plyo Pushups (45â€ēs/25â€ēs)

T-2000s suck. It’s a Chest to Bar pull up, followed by a Toes to Bar unbroken. They suck. I don’t ever want to do them again. 🙂

Crossfit Day 403 – Last WOD in Madison – 7/14/14

WODs

My last workout in Madison happened at 6a on Monday. It just seemed to be the only time that consistently worked for me when I was there, because I never knew what our days would have in store!  We went to go see The House on the Rock later that day, and I can guarantee that if I had waited to work out, it wouldn’t have happened after the House on the Rock tour.. holy crap.

Anyway, my last WOD with Connex was:

3 rounds
20 Burpee Pull Ups
20 Squat Snatch
20 Box Jumps

I started out doing burpee pull ups, but they hurt my hands significantly. I didn’t want to go the rest of my trip and then traveling home with ripped hands, so I finished my rounds just doing burpees.

Snatch weight was 75lbs, easy peasy.

Thank you Connex, for the great hospitality!!! If you are ever in Madison and want to work out, I highly suggest dropping in to see Kief and Em. They are amazing people with a great box. 🙂 

Crossfit Day 402 – 7/11/14

WODs

Still out of town, but that’s okay! I hit up Connex again for another great WOD. Em agreed to come workout with me if I showed up for the 6a class. OMG.. that meant waking up around 4:45a. Okay.

Workout was great! I apparently impressed people with my weight skills. People at my gym are used to my strength, so I’m not used to the attention. In any case, here was the WOD:

Clock 0:00-10:00
3 rounds
9 ring dips
12 pull ups (I did my first 10 pull ups RX, and then got up on the band because of the time)
50 Air Squats

(So this one was weird.. I didn’t finish my last set of 50 squats, because I wanted to give myself a break for the clean and jerks. I ended up doing this above part 2nd, and the 2nd part first, because of equipment availability. FWIW, I ended up going back and doing my last 50 squats AFTER I did my C&J)

Clock 10:00-20:00
5 Rounds
10 Box Jumps
10 KBS
10 Ball Slams

All RX.

Clock 20:00-30:00
15 Clean and Jerks at (205/135)

Rough workout, glad I went though!