Nancy, Nancy, Nancy....

Nancy

5 rounds for time of

400 meter run
10 Overhead Squats

Not my favorite workout because I'm not a great runner and OHS are one of my weaker lifts. In the past, we've done Nancy at least once a year and I've always had to walk on some of the runs and I've had to break up the OHS. I couldn't find my old PR on Nancy, but I'm pretty sure it was 22 minutes-ish.

We did it yesterday and  I'm super excited to say I did it Friday in......

15:45!!

Now, that's not super fast I know. Some of my girls at the box did it in 12 or 13 minutes, but I'm stoked because I ran all the 400s and I did all the OHS unbroken. Oh, and I've not squatted in three weeks (knee rehab), so I was pleasantly surprised that the squats felt good and nothing hurts today. WOOT WOOT!

If you are interested in keeping up with my CF progress, I put up a stats page. The reason I did this is two-fold. One, to motivate myself. If I know I'm going to post my score on a benchmark here, I will push harder. Two, to motivate others. Sometimes we all get in slumps and feel like we aren't progressing. I've been at the this CF game for about 8 years and PRs are still coming, but they come slower than when you are new. Case in point, I haven't PRd my clean and jerk since 2015. I think I hit my deadlift PR in 2014. But, I can still track growth and progress by keeping a record of my results.

Always moving forward.

Stay Strong Y'all!

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Gooood morning, good morning! Good morning routines!

Good morning! 

I enjoy reading and learning about other people’s lives. Especially really successful, driven people. I want to know what they eat, how they sleep, what they do for fun, how they schedule their day, how they handle email, how they prioritize stuff, how they avoid burn out…..how do they do it??

One thing I have found that successful people have in common is morning routines. They all start their day very intentionally with the idea of starting off calm, focused and centered. 

Most of them do some form of these things.

Meditation

Journaling

Exercise

Most of them do NOT do these things.

Check email

Open social media

Hit the snooze button

Do work/occupation stuff

Their intentions are to spend the first part of their day focusing on their needs and making themselves an overall better person. Most of them emphasize this is not a long, drawn out routine. 5-10 minutes of meditation along with 5 minutes of journaling while drinking their morning breakfast beverage (most drink tea). And then another 5-10 minutes of stretching, yoga or mild calisthenics. Some of them do their daily workout in the morning, so of course, that takes longer.

Basically, one half hour to start their day on the right foot.

By opening email and social media first thing in the morning, you are letting other people determine how your day starts off. And if it is work email, you are letting others dictate your priorities for the day. These successful people choose not to let other people’s requests/needs affect their schedule or feelings right off the bat. Think about it. If something has happened overnight that is a true emergency, you would already know because someone would have actually called you.

The world won’t end if you don’t connect with the world within 30  minutes of waking up. I promise.

Knowing all that, let me share my routine(s).

When I was teaching my morning routine was routine, but there was nothing calm, focused or centered about it. I got up, fixed coffee, took a shower, made myself presentable, fixed a quick bite and drove to school. And that was on a good morning. It didn’t happen often, but I occasionally overslept or I couldn’t find the skirt I wanted or my hair just would not dry or I left the house only to turn around after three miles because I left my bag at home. Ya know, the stuff that happens to all of us.

It worked, but it didn’t necessarily start my day off in a Zen like state. And since I was already getting up at 4:50, getting up even earlier to do all these hippy- trippy- namaste things was just. not. happening.

Then, once I was no longer teaching and no longer having to get up at the butt crack of dawn, I decided to do a focused morning routine. I would get up, fix my coffee and go sit on our front porch swing. I would bring out three books. The book I was currently reading, a copy of The Secret and my journal. I would spend a few minutes reading and writing positive affirmations in my journal. On a super good day I’d even do a few sun salutations!

And get this, I didn’t even bring my phone outside at all!

Then we sold our house and life got way more interesting. I realized last week that I no longer have that morning routine and I miss it. Currently my morning looks like this.

Get up and fix coffee. Open email and read TheSkimm and The Morning Brew while drinking coffee. Nibble on breakfast #1. Open FB and look at notifications. If I see something important, I’ll read that. Then I get dressed and ready for work.

While there’s nothing terrible about that routine (and I do learn a lot with those two emails!), it doesn’t exactly fit with what I’d like to accomplish for myself in the mornings. As the weather gets nicer, I want to get back into that routine of reading, being thankful and sending out positive juju into the universe. Of course, I could totally do these things inside, but something about being outside just makes it better!

Y’all know I’m big on goal setting, so here we go. I’m setting a goal to get this morning routine back on track at least twice per week. I’ve got to go dig my copy of The Secret out of storage and get my journaling pen ready, but that part is easy. It just the part of dragging my lazy-non-morning-person butt up and at ‘em that is hard!

What does your morning look like? 

What could you do to make it a more positive experience?

Stay Strong Y'all!


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Please Don't Join A Gym, Overhaul Your Diet, Quit Smoking And Drinking

I know you have your New Year's Resolution List ready to kick 2017's butt!, But wait... take a look at what I wrote over at our CrossFit Murray blog. 

Working At Home: Distractions, Focus and Getting Stuff Done

Working at home is so amazing! Sitting in your jammies, busting out work while sipping coffee and eating bon bons. Stopping to take a mid morning nap and do a little yoga. Fixing a lovely lunch and then powering through a To-Do list that would make Santa jealous.

Yeah right.

Working at home looks more like this.

Fire up laptop. Open needed documents. Work five minutes. Computer decides to update.  Restart computer. Open needed documents. Work three minutes. Remember you need to wash gym towels. Go start a load. Computer goes to sleep. Open needed documents. Computer battery low. Find charger. Work ten minutes. Spouse comes in and needs help with a project outside. Need food. Open needed documents. Husband leaves TV on. Get sucked into Netflix. Open needed documents. Work 7 minutes. Realize you need to brush teeth. Open needed documents. Wait, you have to pee! Work 5 minutes. Remember to move towels to dryer. Open needed documents. Start signing song that's playing on Pandora. Need calculator. Find calculator. Work 5 minutes. Phone goes off. Solve life crisis for somebody. Open needed documents. Remember you need to make a Facebook post about Paleo Challenge. Open needed documents. Realize it's time to get ready to go to your afternoon work.

Yep, that's typically how it goes for me if I don't really structure and discipline myself. 5 hours of "work" time results in only about 30 minutes of actual work. This is how I get things done now.


Step 1: Decide how long to work and what I'm working on.

I'm usually good for a thirty minute stretch and then my brain needs a break so that's what I usually shoot for. I decide exactly what I want to work on and what I want to accomplish in this work period.

Step 2: Gather everything

Do a brief run through in your head of what you will need to get this task done. Paper, pen, calculator, water, charger, documents open on your computer, files, receipts, reference books...whatever you need, gather it now.

Step 3: Turn off all distractions

For me, this means the TV has to be off. I cannot work if I am even remotely interested in what's on at the moment. Somewhere in my brain is always listening to what is being said and that keeps me from being as productive as possible. I do like to have music on, but it cannot have lyrics and it cannot be instrumental versions of songs with lyrics. This means that 'Classical Focus" on Pandora is great, because it has no words, but it has a soothing rhythm. And while I love the "Pop Goes Classical" channel, my brain will be signing, "Para...Para...Paradise...." from Coldplay even though it's all violins and cellos.

Turning off all distractions also means that nothing can be open on my computer except the files & tabs I need to accomplish the project. If I am working on registration forms and score cards for an event we are hosting, then no internet tabs, no temptations! If I am working on a nutrition plan for a client, I will have My Fitness Pal open, but that's it! No email, no Facebook...

Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and then turn it upside down. Nothing will probably happen in thirty minutes that can't wait.

Step 4: Pee

Your bladder has an innate timer set to go off exactly two minutes after you sit down to work. And it is really hard to work and focus for a full thirty minutes when your bladder is doing everything in it's power to get your attention. Prevent this by going before you start. Even if you don't think you need to go, as my Grandmother said, try!

Step 5: Set a timer and work

Now you are ready to go hard! Make sure your computer is awake and all files are ready. Grab that phone one last time and set a timer and turn your phone back over. Work hard and no peaking at the timer! Inevitably, during your work time you will think of 90 million things that are really important that you need to do RIGHT NOW that have nothing to do with the project you are working on. Have a notepad beside you and jot down those random thoughts when they pop into your head and keep working. When it goes off, proceed to Step 6! Or, if you find yourself in the Zone and working like the Little Engine That Could, then keep going!


Step 6: Play!
Yay you! You earned a little break! Grab a snack. Jump on the Book of Faces. Look at that postie note with all the things you need to and do those that are truly important.

Step 7: Repeat
To have a truly productive day, repeat this cycle.

I think that you'll find you can get more done in 3-4 mini hyper focused work session each day than if you just spend 5 hours of your day "working".

Stay Strong Y'all!

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Got 10 Minutes? Get Stuff Done!

Mondays are crazy busy days because I coach mornings and afternoons, I usually have a few private training appointments, I coach CF Kids, my personal training is usually long on Mondays and all of my nutrition coaching clients check-ins come in on Sunday night for review on Monday. I love my job and all that I get to do, but Mondays are a wee bit stressful!

Today is Tuesday, so it’s an “easy” day work wise. 

By design, Tuesday is the reward for Monday. There’s little I “have to” do. It’s really easy to be a bum. But I’m not a very good bum. If you have time, shouldn’t you be doing something productive? Today’s weird though in that I’m having trouble getting going….

 I feel like I need to write a blog post today, but I can’t decide what to write about.

 I feel like I should be working on a few projects of mine, but I’m not inspired.

I really need to spend some time stretching, but it’s raining and I only have room to stretch outside (hobolife problems).

The bathroom needs cleaning, but darn, I’m out of cleaning wipes. (Excellent excuse, right?)

Do you ever feel that way? That there is stuff that needs to be done, but you just can’t get going?

Hey, there's nothing wrong with a good lazy day! However, I can’t really say that it’s ok to do nothing today because I spent all day Sunday reading a good book and laying in my snazzy pvc lawn chair (see my IG for my ridiculously happy recent purchase). 

So here’s the deal I’m making with myself. I will commit 10 minutes to each of the things I need to do. Just 10. I’ll set the timer on my phone and turn on a good podcast and work for ten minutes on each task. If that’s all I do, then at least I did something.

If the juices get flowing, then I can come back and work some more after I finish the other items.

That’s the deal I’m making with myself. Just 10 minutes, right? That’s no big deal!

I’ve had a lot of success with this method and have used it to get many goals accomplished and projects finished. Try it the next time you are struggling to get going on a project, housework or even exercise and let me know how it goes.

Stay Strong Y'all!

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Can An (Almost) Master's Athlete Survive A CrossFit Comp?

As I'm typing this, I am wondering...

1) If my fingers are strong enough to support my body weight and pull myself to bed.

2) If I do make it to bed, will I be able to sleep through the raging DOMS? Oh wait, it isn't DOMS because it started yesterday as I was hobbling off the comp floor. There was no "Delayed Onset". 

3) If I will be able to train at all tomorrow? Or Tuesday? OR EVER?? Melodramatic. I know.

Why am I sitting here pondering just laying on the couch for the foreseeable future? Because I am an 'almost' Master's athlete that ran with the young 'ens in a CrossFit Competition yesterday. And my body is HATING ME today. 

My quads are calling me names that would make a deaf rapper blush.

My calves are waging a full internal attack on me by using (what feels like) a dull butter knife to release themselves from me.

My inner thighs would feel better if they had done 1000 reps with a Thigh Master made of titanium.

My traps are permanently attached to my ears. I'm thinking of getting some body jewelry to dress them up and make the fusion look prettier. 

My body is basically just screaming,

DAMN IT WOMAN! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?

Don't get me wrong, it was AMAZINGLY fun! Our team got fourth and we killed some WODS. 

I personally did 70+ thrusters in an event and matched my clean PR of 175 pounds. We got to compete in the really fun final WOD that had us doing human wheelbarrows! I mean really, how cool is that?

My teammates were AMAZING as usual and really pulled out all the stops to get our team into the top 5. Those two girls hustled hard all day and gave everything they had. They picked up the slack when my double unders disappeared and did a million sit ups, push ups and dumbbell snatches! And one had been suffering from the stomach flu just 48 hours prior to the competition and still kicked butt!

I'm pretty sure they don't feel wrecked today.

I do. 

Why? Because I'm almost 38. 

I'm too young to compete in CrossFit Masters, but on the days after comps, I feel way too old to be running with 20 year olds!

Come on CrossFit HQ, let's pull the Masters division down to 35!

Until that happens, I'll keep acting like I'm a decade and a half younger I guess!

Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do  me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!

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Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Pie Donut Eater

A few of you had a pretty rough week last week with the snow and with sickness. Some of you ate off plan and then felt really guilty about it. It got me to thinking about "cheating" and how we should address it. My line of thinking is that 'accidental" cheating' leads to binging and guilt. 'Intentional cheating' allows you to actually enjoy what you are eating. One sucks, one is smart!

What is the difference?

Intentional cheating is when it is your kiddo's birthday and you plan to have a piece of cake and a slice of pizza. You think it through, decide to be off on your macros for the day and have a great time at the birthday party. 

Intentional cheating is going out with your girlfriends and having a couple of drinks and enjoying a fun filled night. You didn't meet your macros, but you are 100% the rest of the time so you don't feel bad. 

Accidental cheating is when you subconsciously decide that this diet sucks and you eat a cupcake really quickly and feel bad the moment it is swallowed. Then, because you have already blown your macros, you get a case of the eff-its and eat everything in sight. And then you feel guilty. You don't really enjoy it while you are doing it and you certainly don't enjoy it the day after.  That's no fun.

Many of you are on very strict programs right now where you are cutting for a specific event. You really don't get any cheats because you can easily erase any progress made. Many of you are in a maintenance phase where you have a little more leeway. In both cases, be mindful of your cheats. If you are going to do it, think it through. 

It's like getting a designated driver. Have a plan. 

CHOOSING to cheat versus crashing and burning. Big, big difference.

Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do  me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!

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Things That Annoy The Hell Out Of Me

I am normally a very positive person and this blog is my way of motivating myself and others to live our Dream Lives. However, I am human and this has been brewing for a bit. I present my list of

Things That Annoy The Hell Out Of Me.

This isn't some high and mighty list of sins and trespasses such as liars and drama queens. These are just little things that piss me off. In no particular order....



1. People that don't know how to use a multi-exit. For example, most fast food places have a really wide exit only area. If you are turning left, you go to the far left. If you are turning right, you go to the far right. Two cars should fit easily. Don't be the person who attempts to turn left from the far right. I will go to your left and turn right in front of you.

2. The word "Firstly". Is that even really a word??

3. The Oxford Comma. I am sorry Brooke and Samantha, I hate it. It's clutter. It's redundant in 90% of its uses. If Brooke, Sam and I are going to the grammar store, we don't need to buy an Oxford Comma for this sentence. I know, I know. We will have to agree to disagree.

4. Reality shows like "Alaskan Bush People" and "Moonshiners". Dear God, where do they find these people? My IQ drops 3 points every time I see these shows.

5. Enhanced Eyebrows. Girl, you are pretty! But why do you have those big black things on your head? If your eyebrows are drawn on with a sharpie marker and take up a large percentage of your face, just don't.

6. Protein bags that won't stay shut. We are paying good money for the protein. Can't they take some of that money and make a bag that will actually close? Ever heard of Ziploc? Thank goodness I sell Tupperware, I just dump it out.

7. Having to turn the drier on. I frequently put wet items in the drier. I frequently forget to turn it on. In 2015, shouldn't it just know there are wet clothes in there on turn itself on?

8. People that call multiple times, but never leave a message. I know we all hate voicemail, but if I don't know you, I'm not picking up. If I don't know you, I'm not calling you back unless you tell me why you are calling. 

9. Ladybugs in the house. I swear to all things holy, I will set my whole damn house on fire if another lady bug gets in my water jug.

10. FB messenger harassing me to turn on notifications. I hate notifications period. Every third time I open up FB messenger it asks me to turn on notifications. NO! Mark Zuckerberg, if I have not said yes in the 1000 times your app has asked, I ain't going to change my mind! STOP IT! And make that annoying little red 1 go away!

There you have it. 10 things that currently drive me berserk. #firstworldproblems #effittuesday.

What things would be on your list?

Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do  me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!

And if you are hip on the social media, 

Follow me me on Periscope, I'm crossfitang.  I broadcast about fitness, nutrition, life improvement, planning and organizing and lots of random stuff.

Follow me out on Instagram, I'm doodleturtle. I'm even more fun over at IG!

I Hate Winter!

57 Days Until Spring!

I saw this somewhere on the internetz today and smiled big! I hate winter & I hate being cold. However, I don't mind snow. I mean, if it's going to be so freaking cold I can't feel my extremities, at least I'll have something pretty to look at. 

With the oncoming snowpacalypse, I'm reminded of when I was a teenager and learning to drive. One day my stepdad took me out in the snow so that I could learn how to drive in it. I had an five speed manual 87 Fiero and I LOVED THAT CAR! (I swear, if you have a Fiero for sale, I'll buy it!). He stressed to me to go slow and steady and to not aggressively accelerate or brake. 

I was doing great on the snow covered back roads and was feeling pretty confident. I mean, it wasn't that hard.... I guess my confidence/cockiness was showing because he reached over and pressed on my right thigh causing me to press the gas hard. You can imagine what happened! The car started to slide and spin and I, the oh so smart teenager, stood on the brakes! We did a nice little 180 and then wound up nose first into a ditch.

Remember I said it was a Fiero, right? (If you don't know what those cars looked like, google it.). My step dad laughed really hard and said,
"I told you not to hit the brakes."
"I didn't!" I exclaimed.
He pointed at my right foot.
It was still pinned to the brake and the brake was pinned to the floor.

Ending up in the ditch that day was definitely a failure. However, I learned a lot from it. Thankfully, someone encouraged me to get back on the road that day and to keep driving.  I'm now a pretty decent driver in the snow and ice. I drove a Camaro through many snow storms and have plowed many a backroads with my Prius. 

Why am I telling you this story? Well, how are you doing on your New Year's Resolutions? Have you driven them off in the ditch? Did you give up and quit trying to drive? Did you decide it was too hard?

If you did, let me be the person that encourages you to get back behind the wheel. So you had an accident. No biggie. Get back in the drivers seat and take charge of your goals! You can do it!


Things I'm Loving This Week:

                                                  


I just found these bars and OMG they are amazing! They taste like iced sugar cookies! And they have 22 grams of protein!











This app is awesome! Strides lets you track your goals easily and sends you reminders when you are slacking! You'll love it!










What has you excited this week? I'd love to hear! 

Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do  me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!

And if you are hip on the social media, 

Follow me me on Periscope, I'm crossfitang.  I broadcast about fitness, nutrition, life improvement, planning and organizing and lots of random stuff.

Follow me out on Instagram, I'm doodleturtle. I'm even more fun over at IG!

Watching Athletes Grow

       The last two nights at work have made my heart swell with pride as I have been reminded of how awesome my job is. Of course, it is super fun to hit your own PRs (Personal Records), but it is just as much fun to watch an athlete that you coach hit their own PRs or do something they were physically unable to do before.

       When "Betty" started with us she could barely squat and she definitely couldn't lunge. She would step forward, lower down and either completely fall or get down and be stuck. I can't tell you how many times she fell on her butt squatting or fell over lunging.

        One of the first times she attempted a 12 inch box jump, I held her hand and told her she wouldn't fall and that if she did, I would catch her. Well, that was a coaching-fail for me as not only did I let her fall, I went down with her and landed on top of her. Oops.

       Betty's jump rope ability wasn't that great either.

        The last two nights I got to watch Betty PR her squat snatch, her ten rep back squat, do double-unders and lunge 200 meters! We laughed about how we wished we had videos of her first few weeks of CrossFit so that everyone could see her huge improvements! Her husband bragged on her as well when he told me about them moving a basketball goal and how it was super heavy, but she was able to easily help him load it in the truck.

       We have a new CrossFitter, "Suzie" that came on a Bring A Friend Saturday a few weeks ago. The WOD had jumping pull ups and Suzie did them, but awkward doesn't begin to describe how they looked and must have felt. Suzie would donkey kick her legs, lay back a bit and never really get her chin over the bar. Then she came back the next Saturday and has since joined in on 5 more classes.

       Tonight she did jumping pull ups again. Wow, what a difference! Her chin went over the bar each time because now her movement and energy were all generating and driving up! I know to her, that little bit of progress may not seem like much, but it made me grin ear-to-ear! I love watching people learn to use their bodies!

     In CrossFit Kids Monday, I told the kids we would do a pistol challenge on the following Monday. We spent a few minutes practicing and if you can imagine what 8 to 10 year-olds look like trying to do one legged squats, add even more giggling, wiggling, falling and rolling and you have an accurate picture.

   Today we practiced again for a few minutes and the improvement was huge! I could tell they were trying their hardest and that some of them had been practicing at home. I can't wait to see what a weekend of practice will bring.

    We all love to watch people lift big weights and do crazy stunts on the rings, but sometimes it is the small victories that mean the most. And those small victories snowball into huge victories. I am happy I get to be a part of them.

    Stay Strong Y'all!

Find Your Candlepower

"I hope my story inspires people to find their own "candlepower", that ability to keep the candle burning bright no matter how hard the wind blows. Whether they're having a tough day, trying to build something, start a company, move up in their own business, or just do something cool for their family, I want people to realize that they are capable of more than they could ever imagine." - Kat Cole President of Focus Brands (Cinnabon, McCallister's Deli, Auntie Ann's, etc)

I wish I had said those words, instead, I'll just have to co-op them from Kat. That's the way I feel about everyone I work with and that's how big I want my life to be. 

Happy Sunday! 

Stay Strong Y'all!

The Power of the P's recap!

Trying something new (cheating) .....

Stay Strong Y'all!

Rest Day = Eat Everything Day? 7 Ways To Beat The Binge

#feedmeseymore

According to all the research on physique development, rest days should be lower in calories and lower in carbohydrates than training days, especially if one is losing or maintaining their weight.

Logically I know this, but my body disagrees. 

It seems that every rest day my body screams at me, "You beat me up all week! Feeeeeed meeeeeee!"

Combine that with the fact that I'm mostly off work on rest days and you get a lot of laziness combined with massive inhalation of food. And I'm not talking steamed broccoli and chicken breast.

My brain on rest days:

PB&J? Yum! 

Cliff bars are sorta healthy, right?

Banana and peanut butter!

What is that in the back of the freezer? Cinnamon Toaster Strudel? Cinnamon Toaster Strudel!

Oh, I've eaten a lot of carb. I should balance that with some protein....

I know, I'll mix protein powder and PBFit and spread it on raisin bread!

CANDY CORN! CANDY CORN! CANDY CORN!

I know there is a chocolate bar around here somewhere!!

Nothing listed above is forbidden or "bad". In fact, a lot of it is a pretty decent choice for healthy eating. The problem is I'll eat all that stuff and have 70% carb, 28% fat, and 2% protein at the end of the day. Not exactly a recipe for good body composition and performance.

(Sidenote: Sitting down with a BOWL of peanut butter, banana(s), candy corn, marshmallows and chocolate chips is rarely a good idea)

Some days lately I win the rest day battle. Other days I don't. If I overeat on sugary, carb-y stuff like the stuff above, I feel really bloated and sluggish the next day and my workouts are torturous.

The days I win I use the tips below.

1. Plan your meals the day before.
2. When you get the urge to eat something off plan, do something else. Do a load of laundry. Go for a walk. Play a game.
3. Time your meals. If your brain tells you to raid the pantry, ask yourself how long it's been since you had a meal. If it's been 3 hours or so, you might actually need real food. If it was 30 minutes ago, you are bored, not hungry.
4. Honestly, I'm more likely to overdo it when I have just been to the grocery store, so try not to grocery shop the day before rest day. 
5. Text an accountability buddy and tell them you are about to eat a 1 pound bag of M&M's all by yourself.
6. Better yet, take a picture of it and post it on social media. Tell the world you are about to eat the whole thing. Would that make you stop and reconsider?
7. Ask yourself two questions. One, will eating this help me reach my goals? Two, how will I feel 30 minutes after eating it? If the answers are NO and CRAPPY, don't do it. 

If nothing helps and you have an 'OH MY GOD I ATE EVERYTHING DAY', so be it. Move on and accept that it will hinder your goals a bit, but it doesn't have to stop all progress. No guilt and no beating yourself up. Draw a line in the sand and step over. 

Just because you got a flat tire, there's no need to slash the other three.

Come see me tonight at 7 PM at Flex Fitness! I'll be talking nutrition and doing a little Q & A!

Stay Strong Y'all!

Speaking at MSU yesterday was great!

My November goal is to blog everyday and I intend to reach it. So is it cheating if today's blogpost is actually a CrossFit Murray post?

Because I did blog over there! I wrote about how important it is to know your lifting maxes.

Lol, I'm calling it cheating.

Yesterday I was honored to be asked to speak at MSU to a group of Physical Education majors about owning your own fitness business. We discussed the pros and cons of owning your business versus working for someone else. They asked excellent questions about how to improve their skills once they enter "the real world" and how to value their time and knowledge level when deciding to market themselves.

My favorite part is always when I'm asked to tell about how we started CrossFit Murray. There is a lot of backstory, but the gist is this. We sold nearly everything we owned to get cash, including my car! Jeremy drove a Toyota truck from the mid 80s that we bought at a yard sale and I drove our mid nineties Chevy truck.

The reason we found the truck at a yard sale was because we were getting up on Friday mornings and going to yard sales and buying everything that we thought we could make a buck on. We were never rude or insulting and paid a fair price for a yard sale. Then we got up early on Saturday and set up at flea markets to sell the stuff. We also had a booth at Peddler's Mall where we put the nicer items. Many locations have flea markets on Monday mornings, so it was common for Jeremy to leave the house at 3:30 AM on those days to set up in a prime spot. This hustle allowed us to open CFM with no debt and confident that we could make it on just my salary as a teacher. And if it didn't go well, we could walk away and be no worse off.

I know a lot of people get aggravated when they have a yard sale and people show up early and buy "all the good stuff." I know some people get aggravated that those same people turn around and sell it for more at a flea market. And that is exactly what we did. Rather than using my words to possibly persuade those folks to change their mind, I like the explanation given here by Dana White at A Slob Comes Clean about why you shouldn't worry about who buys your stuff and what they are going to do with it.

You never know, you could be fueling a young couple's dream or putting food on a widowers table.

Thank you so much Tawnya for inviting me to speak! I love to encourage people to achieve their dreams!

I'm also speaking at Flex Fitness in Paris tomorrow night. Come see me! It's a St. Jude fundraiser and a $10 donation is suggested.

Oh and I PR'd my clean yesterday! WOOP WOOP!

Stay Strong Y'all.

Manic Monday/Speeding Eclipse

This morning when my alarm went off, I didn't want to get out of bed. Surprise surprise, right? Who wants to get out of their warm comfy bed at 5:26 AM? I hit snooze a couple of times.

When I got up, it was closer to 5:45, but that still gave me plenty of time to get ready and get to the gym. I like to leave myself a lot of cushion and I was reminded of why I do that this morning. 

Coming out of Hazel, a little town I drive through, the speed limit goes 35 to 45 and then 55. As I drove into the 45, I got passed by a little Eclipse. My immediate thought was to look at the clock, see that it said 6:54 and assume that he must have to be at work at 7.

As fate would have it, Mr. Eclipse and I caught up with each other again in just a mile or so because we were behind a school bus that was going at that lovely school bus pace. Then,  Mr. Eclipse surprised me by whipping out and passing the car in front of him as we are all breaking for the school bus to pick up a kid.

Poor Mr. Eclipse. What must you be feeling? Frustration at the situation? Indignation that you were going to be late because of a school bus? Panic that you weren't going to make it to work on time? Rage? Fear?

Whatever he was feeling, Mr. Eclipse whipped out again and proceeded to pass a car and a semi-truck AS THE SCHOOL BUS RED LIGHTS WERE FLASHING! The children were standing on the side of the road. All the cars and the bus were stopped, and Mr. Eclipse is picking up speed in the oncoming late.

What the hell is this idiot doing? Kids, you better be paying attention! Bus driver, be checking your mirrors! This could end badly.

Mr. Eclipse whips into the line behind the bus and everyone's breathing returns to normal. As soon as he can, Mr. Eclipse whips off onto a side road with intentions (I suppose) of driving 80 down back roads to Murray.

I get it, don't you? We've all been there! Overslept. Can't find keys! Going to be late! Oh shit, a school bus!

But that should be the extreme anomaly. Not an everyday occurrence. And judging by Mr. Eclipse's stunts today, I would wager this wasn't his first crappy morning commute.

Now think about how his day is going to go. Rushing out the door, getting stuck behind traffic, passing cars, coming close to causing injury to children, rage, adrenaline, aggression and frustration all built up. He's probably still going to be late. His boss will be pissed. It's Monday morning and his day is going to suck. And honestly, tomorrow and the rest of the week will probably go the same way.

Would could he do different? Well, one simple solution is to get up earlier. I know it sucks. I hate mornings also. But if getting up 15-20 minutes earlier gives me time to just slowly go about my morning routine and leave 5-10 minutes early, I call it a win.

Yeah, I would have preferred to not get stuck behind a school bus. But I had plenty of time and was listening to a great podcast. I was heading to a place I love to work at. My Monday started off stress free, thanks to just dragging my arse out of bed a bit earlier than I wanted to.

Mr. Eclipse can blame whoever he wants for his shitty Monday, but I'd wager it started when he didn't get his butt out of bed.

Because I wasn't in a rush, I fixed my oatmeal this morning and enjoyed it while sitting behind the school bus. Lol, I know I look like crap. It's Monday morning, what do you expect?

Stay Strong Y'all!

Fearing Grace

I'm crying and having a mild anxiety attack. I'm begging to not do this.  I'm delaying and stalling as much as possible. I.do.not.want.to.do.this.

What is "this"?

It's Grace.

A CrossFit workout that puts fear in my heart.

No, that's not hyperbole above. I'm not exaggerating for theatrical effect. That is truly how I react when I am supposed to complete the wod Grace.

Grace:
Get a 95# bar loaded up.
Pick it up.
Put it overhead.
Put it down.
Repeat 29 more times.

No big deal, right? I can clean and jerk a lot more than that. I've been CrossFitting for 7-8 years now. I own a box for goodness sake! J can do men's RX in 2:01. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, 2014 CrossFit Games champ, can do it in 1:40.

Me, I don't wanna do it.

Everybody knows I hate wall balls and hate Karen (150 wall balls for time). I bitch about Karen every time I have to do that wod. I generally cry a lot during Karen (I'm a crier, it's a fault).

But Grace is different. I don't hate Grace, I fear Grace.

I've acknowledged this fear for a long time and even made a plan to conquer it once before. When I was setting my 2014 goals, "Grace sub-3" was one of them, meaning I would complete all 30 clean and jerks in under three minutes. And you know how many times I completed Grace in 2014? Maybe twice. Maybe.

I know I did it at the Super City CrossFit Competition in September of that year as part of a team wod. And I'm pretty sure my time was sub-4. But no one really looked at the clock so I'm not 100% sure. All I remember was crying and cursing as it happened.

Then in or around November, J suggested I should try it again since it was a 2014 goal....and 2014 was almost over. I whined. I cried. I stalled. I finally started it.

I did 3 reps and had a melt down. I quit.

Why?! Why?! Why is that wod so hard for me?

I can power clean 95# easy.

I can jerk 95# easy.

And 30 really isn't that many if you break it into sets.

But for whatever reason, that wod is my Achilles Heel. Want me to freak out? Program Grace. Want to watch me cry and hyperventilate? Program Grace.

Do you want to know how many times I've completed Grace since September of 2014? Zero.

Flash forward to last week. I sat down on Sunday and wrote out my weekly goals. Accumulate 50 minutes of stretching. Drink a gallon of water every day. Etc.

Then (for some dumb reason) I decided it was time to get over this ridiculous fear. One of my goals for last week was to do Grace. No pressure for time, just do it. And maybe, just maybe, finish off that 2014 goal by the end of 2015.

And guess what?!

.....

......

......


I didn't do it.

Yup. I wimped out.

I am a HUGE believer in weekly goals and meet 90-95% of my weekly goals. If it goes on the goal sheet, it happens.

Except Grace.

But karma has a way of biting you on the ass and Grace showed up in today's programming. I really thought about not doing it and of coming up with an excuse that would keep me from having to face my fear. I am an excellent cherry picker when it comes to Grace.

When it came time to wod, I loaded up my barbell. And then I pouted. I played with the radio. I got my gum. I teared up. I went to the bathroom. I put on my lifting belt. I tied my shoe. I changed the song on the radio. And then I finally turned on the clock. And I completed Grace.

I finished and looked at the clock and I HAD COMPLETED A SUB-3 GRACE!!!

Bwahahahahah! Yeah, right! This is my real life, not Miracle on Ice!

I actually teared up (again) when I looked at the clock, because I was much slower than I should have been. I pouted and felt sorry for myself for a long time this afternoon. A few hours removed though, I'm gaining some perspective and am happy I did it. I now have a recent baseline score and I didn't die. So some fear conquered there. No promises on if I'll do it again in 2015 though.

Every time you or I face a fear in CrossFit or life, we can hide or we can stand up to the challenge. Sometimes our fears are irrational (A silly workout) and sometimes they are founded in a very real and logical place (a cancer diagnosis in a family member). It takes courage to acknowledge our fear and walk toward it and through it. That's the beauty of CrossFit. Every thing in the gym translates to real life. Not just the movements like the squat and deadlift, but the mental part of the workouts as well.

When you are in the middle of a brutal workout and want to quit, but don't, that mental toughness will translate to any number of situations at work and home. When you finish a workout that you honestly didn't think you could, you will look back on it in tough times and think, "If I can make it through that wod, I can make it through this."

 As for me, I'm going to take some artistic license and change the capitalization in the Hemingway quote to

Courage is Grace under pressure.

What workout or movement do you fear and avoid?

Stay strong y'all!

Proudly linked up at

IIFYM Part 2: What Are Your Caloric Needs? My amazing daughter and some wise words on competing.

8/21/15

Life

This was a wonderful week! My daughter started her third year of college and got offered the position of director of the local theater's production of "Yes, Virginia". She is really talented in all things theatrical and has acted and sang since she was in fourth grade. She started directing as a sophomore in high school and has professionally directed for the last three years (if she gets paid, it's professional right?).

She is majoring in theater now after trying to find a more "stable" career path the first two years of college. Moving to New York and getting into theater is what she really wanted to do after high school, but mean old mom and dad suggested college first. She loves bringing awareness to mental health issues so she started with psychology. She also loves the SVU and Criminal Minds applications of psychology so she was actually a double major with criminal justice. While she enjoys them, she knew that it wasn't truly her passion and has absolutely found her niche in the Murray State Theater Department. She now plans to get her MFA and maybe teach college....or head to New York!

Watching her in that environment makes my heart sing. I know that is where she is truly happy. That is where her heart is. I hope she always is able to stay true to her passions and be blessed by always being able to do what she loves.

And I hope she is able to support herself since she isn't going the "stable" route. :)

Learning

Let's talk IIFYM, Part 2. Last week we talked about what macros are and this week we will figure out what you caloric needs are. If you missed last week, check it out here.

First, let's define a calorie. 

According to Merriam Webster a calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree Celsius. 1000 of these calories is called a 'large calorie' and large calories are what we commonly think of as food calories. 

How do we know how many calories are in foods? Well, this is one of my favorite things ever. It's the ....

BOMB CALORIMETER 

Well, it's not really one of my favorite things ever, but I love the name. It's almost like a super hero's name!

Back on track. The bomb calorimeter is a device that they place food in. In there it is surrounded by water and they magically set the food on fire. As the food burns, it lets off heat and the heat raises the temperature of the water. BOOM, see calorie definition above! Yeah, that's the bomb calorimeter in action!

Our bodies need calories for fuel. Generally, the younger folks need more calories than older folks. Active people need more calories than inactive people. Bigger people need more calories than smaller people. 

Most Americans have a very messed up view of calories, but that is a post for another day. 

How many calories do you need? Well, there is no way to know exactly, but a good start is to first determine your approximate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is how many calories it takes to keep you alive, while doing nothing but laying in bed. Just breathing and....breathing.

If you enjoy math, here is the formula.

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

If you would prefer to not do any ciphering, here's an online calculator. 


Now we move on to the Harris-Benedict Equation. This takes your BMR and adjusts it based on you activity level. Be honest with yourself here and think about your entire day, not just the hour you are at the gym.


Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2

1. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375

1. If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation =      BMR x 1.55
2. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
3. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Now, if you are very muscular and lean, it will slightly under-estimate your calories and if you are extremely obese, it will over estimate your caloric needs. If either of those apply to you keep that in your back pocket for later.

Yay! You now know your approximate daily calorie needs to maintain your weight!

Click here to read IIFYM Part 3!

Training

I'm not dead. That's about it. 

Best Thing I Came Across Lately

A friend from another box has started chronicling her CrossFit journey and I really enjoy her posts. This one, on competition, is spot on.

Competition.
There are 570 million results when you Google this word. It can mean fighting for awards, recognition, a mate or status. In CrossFit it is about bettering yourself...ultimately. But there is competition between athletes...oh yes.

Read all her thoughts at Only Five More Pounds.

What topics related to nutrition and/or IIFYM would you like me to address? I'm not a registered, licensed dietitian, but I do have my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certificate. And I read a lot about sports performance nutrition. And I scored a perfect 36 on the reading portion of the ACT. So, that's about the same, right? Lol, sorry, I couldn't resist. 

Stay strong y'all!

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