Hobo Life Week 1

We’ve officially been homeless for one week now and it is proving, so far, to be an awesome choice.

             First breakfast as a hobo. 

Since I haven’t posted about our plans and the recent changes in our lives, I guess I should get you all up to speed. We had our home on the market for much of 2015, but got tired of keeping it show ready all the time. We wanted to move closer to our business and cut the 35 minute commute down some, but we pulled it from the market in the Fall of 2015 and just decided to stay put awhile longer.

About that same time we purchased an older motor home with the intention of taking a weekend trip somewhere every month. It seemed like a great way to be adventurous and would allow us to be always looking forward to something. We took our first trip to Florida in December and loved it!

Flash forward to January 2016 when someone who had expressed interest in our home previously came back and gave us a solid offer. We accepted and then quickly realized this was an opportunity to do something crazy!

Once we signed the paperwork on the house sale, we had 30 days to move out.  You wouldn’t believe how much stuff you can cram in a home if you live in it for 12 years! Holy crap! We probably took 20% of our stuff straight to the dump and 40% to the local thrift store. The other 40% went in storage and we are living in our motorhome!

We have a lot of plans to see the US eventually, but right now we are focusing on simplifying our lives. It’s amazing how much stuff we don’t miss! And it’s weird how much free time we have when we have no tv and no housekeeping to do.

I was setting outside last night panicking because I felt like I should be doing something. Normally when we get home from the gym I spend an hour or so doing dishes, washing laundry, sorting the mail and then plopping in front of the tv for an hour or so. When your home is less than 200 square feet, cleaning takes no time. And when you don't have cable or dish, you can't mindlessly watch for hours on end. 

And since we are using just our cellular data to do the internet thing, we aren’t quite sure yet how that is going to work. We aren’t scrolling through the Book of Faces or the IG all the time since we are trying to conserve data and that has opened up a lot of time as well.

There are a few things we haven’t quite figured out yet, but so far, the pros outweight the cons. And because the cons are kind of funny, I’ll be sure to fill y’all in on them soon.

Until then, I’ll be living the hobo life.

What would you do if you suddenly had 3-4 more free hours each day? Where should be go for first official hobo trip? 

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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H-10 hours

Today is the end of one phase of our life and tonight starts a new phase. 

Our hobo phase. 

Yes, we will be homeless hobos in ten hours. 

Our goals are small. Simplify and find freedom. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Lazy Chicken Chili

Lazy chicken chili for supper #2 last night. I had FitMeals Murray for supper #1 and it was delicious, but I needed a few more nomnoms before bed. 3 oz shredded chicken, 1/2 c black beans, 1/2 c Rotel, and 14 grams Velveeta Shreds.

5 Pounds Is 5 Pounds Any Way You Can Get It. NO!!

Yesterday I was sitting in Dr. E's waiting room and couldn't help but to hear a conversation a lady was having on her phone. She was probably in her late 40's or early 50's and wasn't obese or large by any extent, however, I can see where she might want to lose 10 pounds or so. Some things she said...

"I know. I try and I try and nothing happens."

"The scale just won't move."

"Well, 5 pounds is 5 pounds however you can get it, right?"

"I barely eat anything and am not losing weight!"

It took all the restraint I had in my body to not knock the phone out of her hand and shake her! But I realized it isn't her fault that she is uninformed about how to go about losing weight and considered handing her my business card.

Let's look at the statements she made and my responses.

"I know. I try and I try and nothing happens." What exactly do you try? How long do you stick with a plan before you call it quits? Do you weigh yourself every day and panic? Do you go by how your clothes fit?


"The scale just won't move." Again, how long are you giving to the process? And what are you doing for exercise? How are your clothes fitting? What are your measurements doing? The scale is not the be all and end all!

"Well, 5 pounds is 5 pounds however you can get it, right?" Hell NO! I know in the Devil wears Prada we all learned we are just one stomach flu away from our goal weight, but really! If I lose 5 pounds, I want it to be squishy fat going away, not tight muscle! Sick people are skinny skinny and look like shit because they have lost all their muscle. Skinny fat people look good in clothes, but terrible naked because they have no muscle to hold the skin taut. I'm not saying we all need to beef up like bodybuilders, but 5 pounds IS NOT 5 pounds.

"I barely eat anything and am not losing weight!" Oh my gawd this is when I really wanted to shake her! What does this mean anyway?? Seriously, if you are on Survivor or Naked and Afraid, then yeah, you are barely eating anything and you will lose serious pounds. However, in cushy USA, our Western Diet means there is NO WAY you are "barely eating anything" for any significant stretch of time. Yes, you may eat 700-1000 calories for 3-4 days, but then you go out to eat and have a glass of wine and easily consume 3000 calories in one day. And those salads that people order that think are low-cal can have more more calories and fat than a burger! Don't believe me? Go to Zaxby's nutrition page and look at the salads. And those numbers are without dressing!

You know what happens in your body when you eat like that? It becomes very conditioned to feast or famine and becomes a storage machine. It realizes that there may be days you don't feed it, so it's going to store every single excess calorie it gets. A ballpark basal metabolic rate estimator is to say you need 10 calories for every pound you weigh to keep you exactly as you are while lying in bed resting. So if you weigh 150 and eat 1500 calories a day and do nothing but lay in bed,  your body needs that 1500 to keep it running. Add in daily activity and that number can jump up a lot.

Of course, if you want to lose weight you think, "OH! I'll just eat 1000 and then my body will go down to 100 pounds! Bingo!" But it doesn't work that way. Your body wants to stay exactly where it is and will fight you every step of the way. If you eat significantly under your BMR (adjusted for daily activity) YOU WILL NOT SEE A CHANGE IN YOUR BODY!

I'm sorry if this is ranting and rambly, but every single person that I have worked with has been significantly under eating for their body and thus was seeing no results from their diet or gym time. The trick to success is to spend some time fueling your body 100%, then gently back down. Your body wants to fight you, so you have to work with it.

So to the lady at Dr. E's, I'm sorry I didn't offer to help you. You just don't know.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!