Naughty or Nice?

The Holidays are here, and that means it is a turbulent time of year with the constant struggle b/n Naughty & Nice. Work has been a year-end whirlwind, and next person that says, "this is our slow season" will get punched in the throat. There has been nothing slow about the efforts to wrap up such a historic year for our company. It's like we've hit the bonus lightening round right at the end of the game. With candy cane-induced sanity - I pushed through, but it wasn't without sacrifice. Getting to the gym was a daily challenge - and one I failed miserably. When I stopped giving myself an hour a day to get to the gym - that's when things got a bit Naughty for me.

For a person like me - that doesn't comprehend moderation - once exercise slips - so does nutrition. Lunches were being ordered in during the workday. Working late meant not making it to class and getting to the grocery store was less desirable than being dipped in hot oil. That meant dinners at night start getting ordered in too. The domino effect multiplies and spreads to all aspects of your life. You eat crap, so you feel like crap. You feel like crap so you have a drink (or 5) and then you feel crappier. You feel crappier and need "grease" so you hit McD's on the way to work. The only way to reverse the downspiral is to exercise. This naughty behavior is so easily curable, and I'm so grateful that I drug myself back into CrossFit this week. I needed the mental break. I really needed the physical excursion. C3 happily obliged on both counts. I didn't celebrate any PRs this week - other than reversing the downspiral. Staying off the Naughty list would make the Nice side of the Holiday's more enjoyable.

The Nice side is all the time with family to celebrate. Those of us blessed to have little ones in our lives - we get to believe in the Spirit of Christmas all over again.The Holidays are stressful and filled with logistic olympics. All of the money, the lists, the class parties, the scheduling, the shopping, the inability to avoid the general public - it turns most of us into cranky robots that would please only the Grinch. I hung out with a bunch of 6-7 year olds yesterday, and it was the absolute cure for my Grinch-itis. Seeing them so excited during their class party, and reading their letters to Santa just made my heart happy.

2014 is a year I'm looking forward to. I will turn 40 in just a few weeks. I'm not dreading this. I will greet my 40's way more healthy than I was when I met my 30's. I will introduce my 3 year old to snow skis next month. She's got the balance of her brother, the swagger of her late-grandfather and my stubbornness. This will be fun! I will once again raise money for Project Athena Foundation as I paddle, hike and run the from Key Largo to Key West. I will run a 10k this year! This is something I'm bummed I never accomplished in 2013. I will continue to hike as much as possible again, and my little ones are going to be with us for the adventure. I'm sure 2014 will present the same time constraint challenges, but I'm determined to keep my health a top priority. My house might get dirty and the laundry piles might reach the ceiling - but the White's won't be sitting still long enough to notice. My 2014 Nice List will be filled with accomplishments, and I will say good-bye to all the self-destructive habits that kept me on the Naughty list in 2013.

WOD “Real Life”

CrossFit seems like another world to people that have never been. We speak an odd language to outsiders. Some accuse us of being part of a trend or dismiss us as a fitness cult. But my experience is quite the opposite. While PRs on the board are exciting, what is exhilarating are the moments when all that hard work pays off during everyday life.  On Sunday the Midwest experienced an unseasonable tornado outbreak. A path of destruction was cut across several not-too-far away communities. After we emerged from our basement, the skies brightened and the winds kicked up. Windy days are nothing new to our area – but as my 3 year old said it was a, “windy wind.” Bless her heart, she talks just like her mama!

So what does Sunday’s weather have to do with my fitness journey? It didn’t occur to me until after it was over, but Sunday presented a real life WOD that my coaches would recreate if they could install a wind tunnel at C3. Our area experienced sustained winds of 35 mph for several hours – and during that time there were gusts recorded at 70+ mph. Even though we could hear the wind constantly howling outside and rattling the windows it was fairly peaceful until we started hearing a clanging sound. We inspected the front of the house and discovered the metal siding on our eaves was tearing from the house.

WOD “Real Life” phase 1 – while exposed to the full brunt of the wind, hold ladder while The Hubs (200ish lbs) stands past the rung clearly labeled "Do not pass" to drill the siding back in place. Adding to the challenge, the location the ladder had to be placed on top loose gravel. Good times! But we weren’t finished. It turns out that was just the warm up. While inspecting the rest of the house – we realize the 10 foot swing gate of our privacy fence was breaking. WOD “Real Life” phase 2: push the gate back together and hold forever while The Hubs gathers tools. During the worst of the wind gusts, it took feet planted – full body lean and all upper body strength to keep the gate from collapsing. Initial attempts to reinforce the gate failed. We needed something more substantial. Thanks to an unrelated deck project we happen to have a pile of reclaimed lumber at the back of our property. WOD “Real Life” phase 3 kicks in. I trade off the “hold this and don’t let go” assignment to The Hubs. My newest assignment “wind sprints”. I sprinted to the lumber pile to bring back 2x4s. This was repeated four times. It turns out I can haulass with a gusting tailwind – not so much when that tailwind turns into a headwind while carrying lumber. Luckily we had enough pieces to successfully brace the gate. Then it was time for the mobility portion of WOD “Real Life”. Our pool cover was going to blow off. Challenge – wrap the sides of the pool with pallet wrap all the way to the ground. We literally duck walked around our pool with a spool of pallet wrap too many times to count. I think I would have happily held the gate longer to avoid duck walking one more lap around the pool.

With all the destruction of that day’s weather – I realize I’m so blessed that my biggest worries were a bit of siding, a fence gate and pool cover. The damage isn’t the point of all of this. Being strong enough to be useful during all of those efforts is my real point. And that is exactly the real point of CrossFit. Functional strength isn’t just something achieved inside the box. Where it is incredibly valuable is outside of the box. A personal note to my coaches, please don’t install a wind machine at C3. 

What’s your number?

Your age, your weight, your pant size, your finances all swirl around you and right or wrong – are part of the equation of how we are defined most of the time. Young or old, fit or fat, rich or poor – these numbers follow us around in our everyday lives and are pretty impossible to escape. Unlike any place or activity I’ve ever experienced, somehow most of these numbers strip away once you walk into CrossFit. People with 30+ year age differences are high-fiving each other. Police officers, doctors and teachers mingle and meld with college students, corporate professionals and housewives. You don’t escape numbers in CrossFit – but the numbers are completely different.

The only numbers that matter are the numbers you set for yourself and are trying to beat. Regardless of if you do scaled WODs or Rx’d – each person has their own approach to get to the end of the WOD. During class you aren’t trying to beat your neighbor – your only competition is yourself. And I think that is the coolest aspect of the personal scaling approach to CrossFit. It is the magic of how a 63 year old can stand next to a 23 year old college athlete and each get a workout that challenges them. 

How do the numbers get set? As you build up to 1 Rep Max of different moves – you start a gradual progression of pushing yourself to grow stronger, row faster and jump further. So what is my number? Recently I’ve enjoyed a few new PRs. Dead Lift went from 123 to 133. Strict Press went from 83 to 88. Push Press went from 98 to 108, and Power Clean went from 103 to 113. 

While I’m pretty excited to be able to chart the progress, what has been more fun for me is seeing the strength outside of the box. I recently helped my husband disassemble our upper deck and reclaimed the lumber for another project – it was fun to be able to surprise him by carrying heavier-than-expected loads of lumber. And ladies, I’ve found the secret of empowerment. Want to know what it is? Sling a sledge hammer! I actually want to find more things to demo because it is just an awesome feeling!

More than a Mantra

The idea of Harder2Kill was born from encounters with three specific people. Losing my father in ’11 was the start of the realization that if he had been healthier prior to cancer he might have been able to fight it. Fast forward a few months and in ’12 I meet two spectacular women whose life journeys taught me much more. These two women unknowingly laid the rest of the foundation for my approach to living - which is oddly about striving to be “harder to kill”.

One of those ladies is Louise Cooper. I’ve described her before as an elegant badass, and I’ve yet to figure out a better description. I’ve referenced her before because let’s face it, a lot of times WODs suck! And during the suckiest of them, I almost always hear Louise in my head in the moments that I really want to just stop.

Louise is just simply one of the most awesome human beings that I’ve had the privilege to meet, and she’s a person that even brief encounters are profound. Louise is considered a pioneer for women adventure racers. Long before Mark Burnett was producing adventure/survivor shows for TV. Louise was rappelling down cliffs, crossing deserts, trekking glaciers and tackling jungles as an elite adventure racer. Louise humbly dismisses any fuss made about her accomplishments – and perhaps why I’m gushing here about her is that her perspective on life and approach to living life profoundly affected mine. I can only hope to have a sliver of the grace, strength, courage, determination and humility this woman possess.

Louise is the epitome of Harder to Kill. She’s proof that no one is above cancer, but she is also proof that if you are physically strong – then you are able to be as aggressive as necessary to fight it. Louise has been on my mind for a few weeks. Learning through friends her cancer had returned – I was pissed off and worried for her. Angry about how cancer could have the audacity to rear itself again. I learned last night that Louise is attacking this head-on as she does any other endurance challenge and knowing she’s once again in the fight to win makes my heart happy.

Wheezy you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope for the opportunity to once again be on another adventure with you! Countless of us have benefited from your tow line. May all the prayers, “good juju” and medical advancements be the tow line that aids you in kicking cancers ass once again! You told me once, “The only way out it - is through it.” I know you will make it through. Last time, you ran Badwater five months after completing chemo! I am eagerly awaiting what goal you put in your sights for round 2. 

Until it wasn't...

I’m 17 days into my 30-day Nutritional Reset. Week 1 – flawlessly executed. Yay Me! Survived Carb Flu. Survived a birthday party (it did help that it was at Chunky Cheese). Week 2 – I was rocking by this week. I felt better. I felt strong. I felt like this was going to be pretty easy. Until it wasn’t.

Still unsure how it all unraveled so quickly, but in a blur of carbohydrates and sugar I downed a piece of my daughter’s birthday cake. What ensued over the next few hours was a crazy woman with an “F-it” attitude (note to mom: Let’s just agree the “F” stands for Forget – so don’t ground me. I’m almost 40.) Within hours I had agreed to pizza, and the unopened wine I was so proud off was completely drained. Then neighbors arrived with more wine! Woohoo! Life was good. Until it wasn’t.

The next-day remorse was ridiculous. I was so guilt-ridden about it all – that I moped, whined and berated myself all day. Not to mention felt like crap, and with my rosacea turned up to 11 - I looked completely sunburned. Nice. It’s an odd feeling to direct your anger and disappointment inward. I didn’t let anyone else down. I only let myself down. So I can’t report Week 2 as flawless. Made it right to the finish line of the week and tripped head over heels with bad decisions. Sunday was a bad day for me. Until it wasn’t. 

I was tired of being mad at myself. I built the food plan for the week, refreshed the groceries. And yes, I threw away the remaining birthday cake. Week 3 – not over yet, but in an odd way I’m more steeled for success after flubbing up last week. Somehow through failure, I’m more determined to see this through now then I was in Week 1 and Week 2 (minus the 5 hours of carb/sugar debauchery). This Nutritional Reset has been an interesting experiment about my relationship with food. I’m not a foodie by nature. I like quick, cheap and apparently dirty food. I like things that come in boxes, brown bags and from drive-up windows. I like not thinking about food every minute of the day. But that lazy approach to eating is what resulted in being overweight. That approach is also why I stalled out on my fitness goals. The Lazy Gal’s diet was acceptable for me. Until it wasn’t. 

This experience has forced me to plan, think, read, prepare and most of all cook. I know pretty much what I’m eating and when and what has to occur to get it prepared. I read recipes now, save tips on extracting natural sugar from stevia leaves, and feel I’m “one good idea” away from starting a Pintrest page (something I wholeheartedly have resisted for a long time). The Nutritional Reset has turned me into a reluctant foodie, but each meal, snack and drink is thought out, planned, researched, shopped for and prepared. I have always been an anti-foodie because it all seemed like it was too much work. Until it wasn’t. 

The Sweet Life

My October nutritional reset started a week ago today. I plunged myself into a month long effort to rid processed foods from my life. I’ll confess that I backed off the kiddos transition. I’m going more stealth sneak attack approach with them. I thought I’d have more luck if they were unaware that they are on a gradual path to unprocessed foods. Some will say I wussed out. Perhaps.

With Week #1 down - how am I doing? Pretty good. Picked back up my lunchtime runs – and that helps me not fall to cravings in restaurants. Some people run for health. For now – I run to avoid sitting in a restaurant staring at a menu full of things I can’t eat. I did have a dull headache for a few days last week, but that subsided by Thursday. I think that was just my body adjusting to the lack of processed sugars and other junk it was used to having. 

What am I eating? I get this question a lot. Eggs, bacon, sweet potatoes, tuna, salmon, tomatoes, spinach leaves, apples and avocados. Pretty much combos of all of those things serve me well for bfast and lunch since both meals are typically eaten at my desk in my office. Dinner has been looking like chicken/pork/steak on the grill, more avocados along with grilled peppers, onions and squashes. I can get the kiddos to eat most things (including veggies) if they have been grilled – so we do that a lot! The wine bottle has remained unopened in my house for a week+ now (Yay me!), and I even survived cupcakes and pizza during a birthday party over the weekend.

I did fumble over chicken wings – but was tired of turning everything down during a social situation that drew way too much attention to my (empty) plate. I need to get better about having my own foods so that I can discreetly eat during social situations and not really bring attention to the fact that I’m somewhere that doesn’t have an option for me. It just gets awkward with the hostess, and then people I don’t know want to debate paleo vs what they think paleo is and end-up telling me about the success someone they know had on Adkins and South Beach. All well-intended, but… I’ve always lived, and survived, by social rules to not debate politics, religion or grammar – and now I’m adding dietary preference to that list of topics to socially avoid. Next time – just going to eat before going, keep a fake drink in hand and have a snack in my purse and/or claim a food allergy. People totally back away judgment-free from allergy claims.

For week one I kept the foods basic and within a known comfort zone My bravery in the kitchen is increasing, and I have a few recipes I’m looking forward to trying out on the crew this week. I'm past the hardest part of the nutritional reset. There is a pretty sweet life - without refined sugar - and I'm really eager to explore it. 

Such a Nice Girl

Monday was a great day for me. For one – I was finally mobile again after rigor mortis settled in from Saturday’s WOD. Seriously couldn’t walk down stairs on Sunday without pain being involuntarily verbalized. Props to my partner Michelle – not sure what the split was on the 250 walking lunges – but I know she carried the load more than I did. On Monday I was so happy to be able to walk without the need to stifle profanities, and I was even happier to find out the WOD would be Helen.

Here’s why like Helen. She’s a nice girl b/c Helen doesn’t do squats or burpees or pushups. Helen is a lovely name for a lovely workout. But Helen wasn’t my fav part of Monday. During the strength segment we did 5 rounds of 5 Push Presses – building in weight. I started at 63 lbs – and each round increased by 10 lbs. At 93 lbs. and with encouragement of a classmate I did a few extra sets increasing in smaller increments making it to 108 lbs for 2 Push Presses. It was a fun moment of nudging past a comfort zone and self-imposed limitation. Thanks Jackie! J 

When I was going for my second Push Press – another classmate Terri took a pic. Now here’s the thing about this pic. I was such a badass in my own mind at that moment, but the pic proves that I am indeed still a dork. But the reason I love this pic, and why I’m sharing it here, is because it really captures the moment of achievement. I’ll always remember the classmates that were encouraging me and rooting for me. Helen wasn’t the only nice gal at C3 that night!

108# Push Press 09302013

Helen:
3 rounds for time:

·        400m Run
21 KB Swings (53#/35#)
12 Pull-ups