So my weight was creeping up again. After the dogs passed away, and after our trip to Colorado for snowboarding, my god did I even talk about that here? It doesn’t matter. We went to Colorado basically on a week’s notice and took a week to go snowboarding and hang with family, it was much needed away time for both of us. Anyway, after that trip, I felt like I couldn’t control my weight again, even though I was still keto, still doing CrossFit. What the fuck. I felt like no matter what I did, or tried, or anything, it would work for awhile and the weight came back on. My lowest of 189 was short-lived, and I hung around in the mid to high 190s for months, and then the 200s came back. And I got back up to like, 210? 212? And I lost my shit. Why was I trying so hard, or so I thought, and not able to lose or even just maintain my weight?

Cue a talk with a friend. My friend Jared and I go back several years. We met at CrossFit Total Control back in 2012, he’s married, has two gorgeous kids, had a printing business that we ended up buying from him a couple of years ago, so we’re connected in a couple different levels. He had asked me a few times about keto, and I gave my uneducated response as to why it worked and how it worked, and probably sent him off to do his own research because really, wtf do I know?

Jared is also a big proponent of B12 shots for cold symptoms. I was like, yeah dude whatever, I’m not doing that. Fast Forward to two days before we’re supposed to leave for Detroit, and I was 3 days into some gnarly cold symptoms. It was inevitable, I’m doomed, I’m getting sick. This is it, my trip to Detroit with Dave is ruined, and it hasn’t even started yet. I was desperate for anything, even these ridiculous B12 shots he had always talked about. I sheepishly texted him, dude… tell me about this B12 nonsense. Do they really work?

So. He told me about Pure Hydration Spa. Right in Jax Beach. I hemmed and hawed a little, I’m just not into this. Whatever, I’m also not into being sick, especially while traveling. I don’t want to be that person on the plane. FINE. I called and talked to Hannah, she made some great recommendations for infusions, and I booked my appointment for later that day. I had decided on the Immunity Plus which contained B-Complex, B12, Vitamin C, and Zinc.

Fast forward to later that day, I walked in and it was incredible. Beautiful. Calm, clean, serene, and there was a dog. I’m totally in. They got me all hooked up in a nice, quiet, and private room, and puppers plopped on the couch next to me, and away we went. Can I just tell you? The combination of those infusions instantly made me feel better. I literally felt my sore throat going away. My headache, aches and pains, literally drifted away and were completely gone by the time I was done. My cold that was 3 days in the making had been wiped out. Science says it’s not possible? I don’t care. I definitely had a cold, sore throat and all. It was literally gone. Gone gone gone. I went from a total non-believer to sign me up, I feel so good I will be here every single day for this stuff.

That shit was so amazing, that I booked another appointment the next day, just to be safe before our trip. I felt even better, and I didn’t realize that was possible.We went on our trip, spent a few amazing days in Detroit, and when we came home, I went for a 3rd time, just to beat all the plane and travel germs at their game.

SO. The point of telling you all that was not to brag on Pure Hydration, but they’re awesome, so bonus for all of us. BUT to tell you about how Jared’s suggestions went from being interesting to I will now listen to everything you say and recommend. Please tell me more!

At this point, Jared and his wife had been doing keto for health reasons, but he had dove head in. I thought I was obsessed, he went above and beyond to steer their lives in a new direction by way of diet. All the stuff I ever did for Tex and Sammi, with food for their health, foos is medicine, food is fuel kind of stuff, he topped the charts on. Jared went into a full bio-hack mode, absorbing everything he could on the subject, consulting with doctors (Dr. Brian Anderson woop woop!) and so on.

He had previously asked me if I had tried Intermittent Fasting. No, not intentionally. I drink way too much coffee with cream to fit within a restricted window of calorie consumption. (btw, I’m back on dairy. I hang my head with guilt whenever I make my coffee, something I have decided to live with, in shame). But. Now that Jared apparently knows everything about life, I leaned in. Please tell me more!

With some info from Jared, and eager to learn more, and finally commit, maybe… I ventured off to consult the world’s best friend, Google, to tell me all about the wonders of Intermittent Fasting (IF). I determined my feeding window would start when I had my first coffee with cream, and end 8 hours from there. This meant I was about to embark on a 16:8 IF program. Fast for 16 hours, eat for 8. And when I say eat, I mean, consume calories, not just eat for 8 straight hours. It’s more like an OMAD lifestyle (OMAD = One Meal a Day) with the rest of my feeding hours filled with coffee with cream. This doesn’t sound so bad after all!

I dove in, and declared that on July 2nd, I would no longer be participating in dinner. The first few days were weird. What am I supposed to do with my time? Do I just watch him eat? WTF do I do now? Not cook? Have tea? This is so weird. I quickly got used to making sure I made the most out of my midday meal, as it was literally my one chance at eating what I really wanted that day. No do-overs, no take backsies, no 2nd chances later in the evening. I have my coffee at 8a with another coffee around 10a, followed by lunch somewhere, then another coffee around 3p ish and by the time I finish that, we’re at about 4p which closes off my eating window.  After 4p, I can focus on water, tea, going to the gym, and not worrying about eating. Not eating in the evening has become really liberating. Only one time was I noticeably hungry and it was because I didn’t have enough calories earlier that day (I think). The rest of my ‘hunger pains’ have really just been wanting to eat something but not actually being hungry.

So what did the scales do? At first, they plummeted. From 207 to 197, which is where I currently sit. I am now trying to figure out why the stall again, but in my mind, I know the answer is, too much fat. I need to cut back on some of the fat from somewhere, and I say that like I don’t know, but it’s really a matter of putting less cream in my coffee, and sucking it up. I like the idea of using less cream, because that means buying milk less frequently and not supporting a factory farming industry as much.

I need this to be a to be continued… This is far too long, at this point!

So, one of the disadvantages I’ve had with keto, or not so much keto, but losing weight, is the loss of my strength at the gym. We had some really crazy unbroken hang clean sets recently that totally broke me down. It was supposed to be 80% or something of our body weight, and for the first time, I should’ve been able to do those at my new weight BUT… I was basing that off of my previous strengths! Not my current..

I was able to get like, one hang clean at the correct weight, but not 3 unbroken. (It was something like, it should’ve been 155lb hang cleans, x3, unbroken).

I barely held on at 115. I was so disappointed in myself and felt like a total failure. But I had to keep reminding myself that the 15 minutes of the workout did NOT trump the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of my day, and that my strength in the WOD was not more important than how I felt the rest of the time. That has been what I’ve been telling myself, and it’s been helping.

Of course, it also helps that I crushed one of the workouts last week, which was a 3 rep max touch and go power clean complex. I was able to get 160lbs x 3, and it was quite glorifying! My old 1RM was 185, so to be only 25lbs off, at a 3 rep max, felt really amazing.

For me, it’s a very fine line between eating to sustain strength, and eating to lose weight. I have been eating a mostly paleo diet to sustain and grow my strength for the last 5 years. It wasn’t until I went strict Keto in January that I actually found longer term weight loss successes, as I fueled my body in a way that allowed for me to be satisfied/not hungry and lose weight. One of the biggest challenges I’ve dealt with my whole life with weight loss was that I was constantly hungry. Being hungry sucks. At some point, any normal person will be like, fuck this. This is stupid. I’m tired of being hungry. And well, that’s what happened to me time and time again.

With Keto, I eat enough fat to keep me satiated. Not hungry. Not craving shit. I actually don’t crave the things I can’t have, for a few reasons.

• I know how sick they’ll make me if I eat them, and that by itself is enough to keep me away. I don’t want them. My body literally is turned off at the thought of eating those things.
• I know how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. Eating cake or ice cream full of sugar and bread and gluten and whatever is just not enticing.
• It’s not good for me. I embarked on this diet for a reason, and putting processed sugars and starches in my body goes against all of that.

I have turned into a carb and sugar snob, too. I see people’s carts at the grocery store loaded with low fat nonsense and processed snacks, and I can’t help but be disgusted. We as a society have become complacent with eating garbage, and it’s maddening. McDonald’s is not food. It’s not nutritious. It’s not nourishing. Boxes of food product aren’t good for you. I’m sure I make faces without realizing it. I don’t care. Look at me (and check out my giant, muscular legs too while you’re at it), judge me all you want. Because I’m likely doing the same right back (I’m judgy, I can’t help it..) I’m also the healthiest I’ve been in years. The numbers don’t lie, kids.

Alright, back on track here. So, Keto and CrossFit. There is a book I have, but have yet to dive into, called The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, that discusses the keto diet in conjunction with being an athlete. It is my latest book to ‘carry around until I actually read it’. Which is usually effective to a point. I’m finally at a point where I feel like I can start building my strength back up by lifting heavier again, or at least going for it.

Another issue I am dealing with is being lightheaded. When I’m squatting down and stand back up, I am almost always light headed during the process. This comes and goes, but I think part of it can be attributed to getting back into ketosis. I think my constant state of ketosis isn’t actually happening, and when I’m re-entering ketosis, I feel like this is when this lightheadedness is more likely to occur. I have been more carb conscious* this last week and have noticed that it’s more significant the last couple days, but I will report back on this.

*When I say carb conscious, I mean watching out for hidden carbs in things like sweetener in my coffee, ketchup on my burgers, eating too many cashews, etc.

Our very own Dan Nevins approached me a couple months ago, and asked me to help him organize another yoga day. Our last one was such a huge success, that he wanted to try doing it again. I jumped at the chance and have been trying to get it going and make it big.

We decided it’ll be New Year’s Eve, which is a Saturday, during the day at CrossFit Total Control. We’re featuring lots of local businesses who will be offering their goods and services, and basically showing the community how easy and accessible a healthy lifestyle is. I’m organizing a silent auction, and the prizes are pretty amazing so far. I need to keep working on our donations, but right now, my fear is, as always, will anyone show up?

I had the same fears last year, and people just started pouring in. The whole gym was full, my heart was full, and they were all there to have this amazing time! This year is a little different though, as it’s more of an all day event, with two yoga classes, a CrossFit class, a personal growth workshop, and a few different speakers discussing some health topics in between.

If you would like to attend, or if you’re just curious about the event, please feel free to check out my Facebook event page here.

You can also go online and purchase tickets for the event, as well! Tomorrow is our last day for our VIP Tickets, complete with swag bags and t-shirts.

I am in the middle of designing the flyers, so as soon as those are finalized, I’ll be sharing them everywhere.

I had my 3 week follow up on my broke ass foot this past Friday, and I was actually nervous that there wouldn’t be any progress or healing. I was scooted off to the x-ray room, and I couldn’t even wait for the doctor to come in. I asked the x-ray tech if I could look, and there it was; my fracture, loud and clear right in my face. It wasn’t healing, at least it didn’t look like it was. I started mildly panicking, maybe this is what it’s supposed to look like… I wonder what he’ll say, I need to think of all my questions now instead of later on when it’s too late to ask them..  Ugh.. this shit’s never going to heal.

I sat on the table in my little exam room and waited patiently. Dr. Von Thron came in and was like, yep! It’s healing! How’s it feeling? How’s the pain, how’s the pressure, blah blah.. and was totally okay with my progress. I was stunned.. I was like wait, what? It’s healing??? Are you sure?? Yep. See here? That’s where the bone is fusing back together.. I about lost it, because.. I’ve seriously pushed my limits on this one.

My questions were: if it hurts at the fracture site occasionally, does that mean it basically re-breaks every time I feel that pain? (Not necessarily) What about pain elsewhere? (could be injured ligaments, etc) When will my toes not be bruised anymore? (no telling on that one) You do realize I’m still working out right? (yup..) And not wearing that ridiculous shoe, right? Like I’m literally wearing crocs and minimus shoes and whatnot… cool? (yup..) And I’m not taking Aleve, not elevating it, not icing it.. basically, I’m doing everything you’re supposedly not supposed to do…. (unfazed)

I was ecstatic. I took another picture, of course. And when I did a side by side comparison, I was less than impressed with the progress, but whatever. He says it’s healing, so I’m okay with that.

The lady at the checkout counter was surprised by my bouncing (not literally) enthusiasm. I totally want to go in every week and get x-rays, just so I can see what’s happening!!

In another post, I’ll outline what I’m doing to promote and support bone health, growth and healing. It’s kinda wonky, but I’m down for unconventional healing methods. And as an added benefit, the rest of me feels really good too. Imagine that?

This event, my yoga, health, & wellness day, was entirely a dream idea for several months. That is, until I met Audra who did a drop in a couple months ago, and talked about hosting a yoga class at our gym. This is something I had been wanting to do for a LONG time, and with her enthusiasm and connections, and my persistence with Russ to make it happen, he finally agreed to let me put something together.

To be honest, I didn’t think it would be successful, and I’d hear the usual “I told you so! People don’t want that stuff!” sort of response, but this time around, he let me run with it, and with Audra’s help, we secured an amazing instructor named Dan Nevins, who’s also a Wounded Warrior and a double amputee as a result of injuries sustained during the war.

To build on top of this, I said hey, let’s have some of our local businesses come in and showcase what they do. These can be members of our own CrossFit community, members of our surrounding Jax Beach community, etc. I started making phone calls and sending messages on facebook. I got suggestions from friends at the gym as to who would be a good addition to our wellness day, and blindly reached out to them to see if they’d be interested in coming.

To my surprise, people started responding. And they wanted to do this!! They were agreeing and they were loving the idea! I was feeling the excitement of getting a bunch of good people together to hang out and share what they do. But what if people don’t show? Oh God, what if it’s just the vendors?

Dave suggests hosting a raffle too. So again with my emails and messages, hey… can you donate? Will you donate? We’re selling raffle tickets now! Wait.. who does the raffle benefit?! Wounded Warrior, yes!! That would be good!! Wounded Warrior was already being represented at the event with Dan teaching Baptiste Power Yoga, so why not?? Let’s invite more warriors!!! So.. Casey and Isla, two adorable people who also work with WWP, arranged to have a table as well as a few Warriors come out to share their stories and to be a part of the event. WHOA.

The donations start piling up. From my post on Facebook:

Crossfit Total Control is donating a free month of Fundamentals classes to any new sign up!
Mór Culture is donating a 4 week supply of flavored kefir water (16 bottles! A $60 value!)
Cognito Farm is donating a $50 gift certificate!
Popwell & Stalnaker Chiropractic Center is donating a new patient consultation, exam and x-rays, a $170 value!
Dali Wall Decals is donating a $100 gift certificate!
lululemon athletica Jacksonville is donating a yoga mat and strap, an $86 value!
Lianne is donating a bag of P96 vanilla shakes and Ease cream, a $77 value!
Soapforathletes by Trails Natural is donating a gift basket of soaps and bath bombs, a $50 value!!
Audra Robinson is donating a doTERRA athlete’s kit, a $100 value, and 2 doTERRA wholesale memberships (each a $35 value!)
Andrea V. Danti is donating a new acupuncture patient consultation and follow up, a $150 value!
Robeks Fresh Juices & Smoothies is donating five $15 gift cards!

Brian Anderson from The Anderson Performance and Longevity Clinic donated a full patient evaluation. Mike from Jax Sports donated a bunch of goodies! Tyler Brunner donated 2 photo shoots with edited photos too! It was just amazing to see all these good people donating their services and products to help raise money and bring people in.

Then the day before the event comes along and I start to panic again. OMG what if people don’t show up? What if it rains? I’ll post! It can be all inside! We’ll be fine. HOLY SHIT what if DAN doesn’t show up??! Will I have to teach a yoga class?? Oh god no, I’m definitely not ready for that! The voices in my head just spewed negativity and what if’s, and… there was nothing I could do about it except hope that all went well.

Let’s not forget the small detail that Audra had some crazy reaction and had to go to the hospital. I literally never saw this poor girl the entire time EXCEPT for when I drove to the ER to sit with her and take her snacks, late Friday night before the event. She ended up being diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. She never left the place she was staying, from Tues-Fri, except to go the ER and to go back. She couldn’t even make the event. I felt so bad!! We kept each other updated on the events and happenings, and thank God I drove downtown to see her, or I wouldn’t have had a chance to visit with her at all before she flew home. Crazy girl. (and yes, she’s okay!!)

The morning of, Dave and I came in early and got our tent set up for the raffle tickets. He and I had also come in the night before to set up the speakers and whatnot (THANK YOU DAVE!) and to make sure the sound was all good to go. Vendors started pouring in to set up their stuff, and wow, they knew what they were doing! They didn’t need help or direction or to be told what to do, it was amazing. The floor plan I sent out worked, the leadership I maintained was respected and admired, and people actually treated me like I knew what I was talking about. What?! I was running around freaking out, hanging up banners, planting yard signs, and just generally panicking about the day. And 9am rolled around. And people started to show. And they wanted to buy raffle tickets! And we accepted credit cards! And cash! And they wrote their info down like they were supposed to! WHAT. I can’t believe this is all HAPPENING. And music was playing, and people were talking, and things were moving. I had actually pulled this off!!

to be continued….