"Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles

 

My main man, George Harrison (I always like the quiet ones??).  My dad is from Hong Kong, and didn't grow up with tons of American music, but The Beatles he always knew.  And loved.  So, hence, my sisters and I also love The Beatles.  He has an unexplained affection for Glen Campbell, John Denver, and The Monkees that I do not share.  Well John Denver is okay.  Anyway, this song is picked in hopes of spring weather coming and staying.  Dear winter, get the fuck out.  You have long overstayed your welcome.  Don't let the metaphorical door hit you on the ass on your way out!

Just finished week 2 of "Suns out, Guns out!:  This week, it got easier to find the motivation to get to the gym.  4x total.

Food for the week:

grain free pancakes with Hormel bacon for breakfast and real maple syrup

paleomg.com grainless chicken tenders, crockpot veggie soup, and orange for lunch

 

Dijon marinated dover sole and stuffed squash.  Recipes courtesy of a cooking lesson with Keri, a woman who goes to my gym and often does the food for the chiropractor's office who also owns this gym.

bacon and pancakes for breakfast, PIZZA AND CUPCAKES for a coworkers birthday (I brought the fruit and veggies!), and soup and chicken tenders for dinner

Smoothie King Berry Carrot Dream, pancakes, and bacon again.  soup and pineapple and a piece of leftover pizza again, and just coconut water for dinner that night

toasted up the rest of the pancakes and made an overflowing 2 egg omelet with bacon and raw cheddar.  Yay big breakfast Fridays!

ordered in Thai food at work.  I was a good girl.  Spicy cashew chicken, hold the rice.

Splurged on nachos and shrimp basil pasta at Cheesecake Factory.  GOOD food to splurge on.  Not fast food shit.

yogurt and apple for breakfast, salad for lunch, sweet potato noodles made with Dan Dan sauce at my dad's restaurant. 

more freaking soup!, stuffed zucchini, and then goodies at book club (guac and plantain chips, fruit kebabs with greek yogurt and honey, paleo chicken nuggets, clean chicken buffalo dip with celery, and organic trail mix)

 

 

Pretty happy with how I ate this week.  Aside from the pizza!  I always have one cheat day.  It keeps me in line.  My cousin had a bridal shower, and I gorged myself on flatbread pizza and broccoli cheese soup with ice cream and cake. :)

 

This week's workouts were intense, but not with anything that was for time or as many rounds as possible (AMRAP).  It was more about form and mobility.  Which is the part I really like.  I PRed my snatch by 5 lbs (**new PR 75 lbs), and as a coach told me, there are no little PRs.  PR is a PR.  The snatch is the hardest lift for me.  I feel like my chest gets in the way and I just am too timid about getting under the bar.  The thing about these snatches is that they required a full squat when you catch the bar, instead of a power snatch, that requires only a partial squat (above parallel).  Brandon had said that the more skilled you are, that there will be less discrepancy between the full movement and the power movement.  Right now, I can do way more with a power movement.  Part of that has to just do with fear, though.  Given more time, I probably would have gone up even higher.  The thing I am proud of is that I have not been the last in every single work out, and that I didn't fall on my butt once during snatches.  I missed a couple maybe, but I reattempted.  

Second part of that work out was 10:00 of Turkish Get Ups/Wind Mills/Arm Bars combo for shoulder mobility and flexibility.  Loved having 4 different coaches this week.  I like longer workouts that focus on strength and mobility. 

Also introduced myself to the 600am Bootcamp class that Crossfit Cornerstone is offering.  Few participants so far, but that makes it more like a personal training session!  The one and only that I have gone to so far was a 25:00 AMRAP of 3 inverted burpees (I cannot do a regular hand stand, so it was a head stand, and it definitely was two separate movements, not one fluid movement!), 6 grasshoppers, 9 ball slams (but Megan wasn't strict with us catching the ball on the first little "pop"), and ended with a  combination of medicine ball squat clean/thrusters and throw/jog.  Finished with an extended stretching that included use of bands to stretch the hamstrings and a few yoga moves (cat pose and cobra pose).   All in all, I was glad I got up at 500am that day.

Aside from my food/exercise, I have been focusing on security and confidence.  I didn't realize it but I had this instinct to be defensive or to imagine the worst, most ridiculous reactions from people.  And that is highly irrational and just not helpful at all.  So, I am focusing on being secure in my actions and decisions and not jumping to the unwarranted defense.  Because quite honestly, my life is full of cheerleaders.  I am being very vocal about this with my family and myself, in the hopes that it doesn't just fizzle out.  I already felt a weight lift away from me after consciously making this decision.  It was wonderful.

This last Sunday was the last segment of the "Fit for the Kingdom" bible study lead by a couple at my gym.  Jayce asked this big question, "How does Jesus' crucifixion affect your life, really?"  A huge freaking question, right?  I told the story of when I lead a Christian Awakening retreat as a college student (ca 2007) for the seniors at the high school I had gone to (I don't really know why I went, but I was asked to by a former teacher, and maybe I had that zeal that I would change some teenager's life, that didn't happen I'm pretty sure, but it is always a nice weekend).  One of the teachers gave this talk, and posed the question, "How many people do you actually know that would die for you?"  She was clearly alluding to how Jesus made this huge sacrifice, blah blah blah.  I think it's a really unfair question, but it did make me think that there are entities and people that do things for me and that have set me up to take advantage of the opportunities in my life without my ever having asked for it or even appreciating it.  If I were the kind of person that also believed that Jesus had done so (I'm not sure I am, so don't ask yet), I would feel this incredible and overwhelming feeling that I could never repay that and that I would spend a lifetime trying.  Realizing the motivation that people do find from this story of Jesus on the cross, and when that motivation is used for good in the world, I find really fascinating.  And I'll be excited to continue the Bible study and get to know my fellow members more closely.

More than that, it made me see that despite the life I was born into, and that overwhelming feeling that I could never repay to the earth, to my family and ancestors, to society, to history, to God what I have been given, it doesn't mean I should stop trying or that life here is hopeless.  There was also talk of an asymptotic relationship (where we all got a lesson from the engineers in the group about what an asymptote is) where as you continue, it gets more difficult, but that you do get closer.  It made me see how much growing I still have to do, and that I will never really feel fully grown.  There is always going to be something to learn or something to know that will enrich my life.

I feel like I am at the dawning of something big.  As much as I would like that to be adopting a dog, it's not.  But something cool is gonna happen here, soon.  Hopefully learning to trust my instincts is going to pay off!

SUNS OUT, GUNS OUT!

Next nutrition challenge at Crossfit Cornerstone is called, "Suns out, guns out!" (or "Sexy in 60" if you so wish).  It's a point system.  These are the rules:

‪It's a 60-day, points based challenge that begins April 1st and commences May 31st. Winner receives a pair of Reebok OLY shoes or Nanos of their choosing.
...

Here's how you get points:
1. Snap a before pic and post it to the Cornerstone Members page on Facebook (Not in the group? Let us know!) or privately email CrossFitCornerstone@gmail.com. 5 points.
2. Post a photo of every meal you eat to the Cornerstone Members Facebook page. 1 photo = 1 point.
3. Every hour you workout at CrossFit Cornerstone = 1 point. Hours calculated by the electronic check in system at the front door.
4. Last week of the challenge snap an After pic and post it to Cornerstone Members Facebook page or email privately to CrossFitCornerstone@gmail.com. 5 points.

Now you know the rules, we're going to help give you a boost during the Challenge! For 60 days we're offering a 6 AM Bootcamp class on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.

So, there's that.  I am slowly getting into the swing of things.  You can post pictures of whatever kind of meal you had, but it does keep me from posting pics of "bad food."  I still snack in between the three meals (sometimes on pizza or oreos!), but at least 3 substantial meals are good.  My week one looked like this:

 For the first week, eggs was breakfast a lot of the time.  Even smiley eggs!

 Kale salad for lunch got old.  But Tabbouleh from Trader Joe's didn't!

 

Convinced my dad to use sweet potato noodles in some recipes at his restaurant, so I could still enjoy some of my favorites.  They're not real noodles, but they get the fix in!

Some nights I got lazy and had veggie blend smoothies from Smoothie King, instead.  Especially after 730pm workouts!

This sad day was free meals at an all day scrapbook event.  Kind of a splurge day.

 

This was the first day's dinner on 4/1/14.  Organic steak, baby zucchini with butternut squash, mushrooms, and onions (that I overcooked) and Against the Grain bread with Kerrygold butter.

 

Chipotle, pot stickers, butternut squash with eggs, tabbouleh with gluten free crackers, kale salad. 

 

Hard to see, but ice cream from Aglamesis Brothers, noodles and wontons, Hong Kong style from my dad's restaurant, and remnants of scrambled eggs.

 

First day's breakfast of organic eggs (still not sure which ones are the best to buy.  I should just go to the farm, really!), avocado, and Wholly salsa.

 

 

I only got two points for going to the gym, but so be it.  I did submit a before picture, which I will post at the end of the challenge, regardless of how close I still look to it.  It's like a Biggest Loser picture. :o)

 

Aside from this challenge, I have also started going to a Bible study at Crossfit Cornerstone (a lot of the members also go to the same church) that focuses on the life of Jesus Christ and was precedented by a viewing of "Son of God".  It was a pretty cheesy movie to say the least.  But I liked the stories within it.  I have some religious study background, having gone to Catholic school for 13 years, but I am not myself, Catholic, or associated with any church, for that matter.  I felt like I needed that background to understand the movie, mostly.  I am really enjoying getting to look at the human side of Jesus and the struggle that the disciples went through to be faithful to Him and to completely change their lives.

 

It gives me good motivation and inspiration to examine my own life and how I choose to conduct and regard myself and others.  It has really opened my eyes to how judgment influences opinion, empathy, choosing to do what's difficult, taking risks, and so on.  I really miss this type of examination of religious texts.  Perhaps when I feel up to it, I will explore options for Torah and Quran study in the area.

 

Life is good.  Life is busy.  Strength is growing.

 

Another update next week.

 

Oh yeah, food!!!

Oh, and as for that nutrition challenge back in January 2014.  I did okay.  I only lost 5 lbs, but I did lose my craving for sugar (or at least learned to manage it).  I don't have any bread, candy, pasta, canned soup, frozen meals, anything really that comes from a box, deli meat, "fake meat," canned vegetables, rice, or conventionally processed dairy in my pantry or fridge.  With the occasional exception, of course.  I eat out, and I have cheat meals, but they don't send me spiraling. 

I'm completely over diet soda (I used to be on the bandwagon, thinking it was okay, because it was calorie free) and fake sugars.  If I am going to drink poison, it might as well taste good, right?  Yay for the occasional (and I mean, one every few months) coke!  I try to avoid all sugar.  I don't eat many bananas.  I try to eat lower sugar fruits (berries, granny smith apples), or just one or two fruits a day at most.  It was amazing to me  how sweet granny smith apples tasted once I gave up all the sugary crap.

I added a bunch of recipes to my collection, too.  And I continue to.  Some are:

paleo chicken tenders
guacamole
brussel sprouts and bacon
sticky coconut chicken
paleo Cincinnati chili
spaghetti squash pizza pie
buffalo chicken dip (my friend made this one: shredded organic chicken breasts, Frank's red hot sauce, organic cream cheese, clean ranch dressing, raw cheddar--thrown into the crockpot and served with celery)
grainless granola (gotta play around with this one)
grainless pancakes
beef sweet potato stew

Also learned that I love some products that are staples of my diet, now!

Raw, organic or grass fed cheddar (Organic Valley or whatever they have at Trader Joe's)
plantain chips
Salsa (all kinds!)
unsalted and unroasted nuts (pistachios, cashews, almonds)
bacon! (Hormel or Applegate Farms to avoid nitrates and added preservatives)
cage free eggs (still not sure which ones I should be buying.  Any insight would be helpful!)
clean meat (Kroger's Simple Truth has coupons and sometimes their chicken thighs, steaks, or pork products are on sale/clearance, and of course there is always the local farms!)
Grain Free pizza (Against All Grains, topped with Olli pepperoni and veggies from the salad bar at Whole Foods)

I'm learning to be obnoxious about what I put into my body, but also not beating myself up for the occasional slip up.  I did find it was easier to have a cheat meal at the end of the week vs. the beginning because by that point, I already had a good week of eating behind me.  Otherwise, I would have had to challenge myself to have a week of good eating ahead of me.  Oh, and despite recommendation from the head coach, I'm not into protein powder.  Plant based and organic or not, I just don't like it.  I'll have some plain greek yogurt in my smoothie (no more than a couple a week) instead, please. 

Definitely more expensive, and definitely worth the investment.  I want to do another cycle.  It will take more than a few weeks to rid myself of a lifetime of bad habits and regular sugar consumption.  So glad to be on this road to health that is ever changing and turning.  No quick fixes here, but lifestyle changes.