Friday, Mar. 30 - CrossFit and Thai Backlash



Mehdi's all "Where was everybody today?" I was there!

First, the Thai backlash explained: my scale was up 1.5 pounds today. Seriously? In the words of Gob (Arrested Development), Come on! 

I figured it had to be my Thai choices last night - though they were low-carb and low-sugar, I bet they had tons of sodium and that I'm carrying some extra water weight as a result. So I'm trying not to flip out and am just cutting back on the salt instead.  

CrossFit today was kind of fun. It was a "one-rep max" workout where you really concentrate on good form and lifting as heavy as you can. I can hear you snickering already at today's focus: the snatch. (Alright, Beavis and Butthead ... calm down now, m'kay?)

So yeah - the snatch. It's a lot like the Saturday Night Live skit with Phil Hartman as he lifts the heavy barbell up in one quick move from floor to overhead - except my arms did not fall off and leave me spewing blood everywhere. No, I just started with a 15# barbell and added weight incrementally, doing about 3 reps with each weight. By the time the workout was over, I got to a comfortably challenging weight of 45#. Next time I can go a little heavier or stay lighter and "catch" the bar in more of a squat, which is more difficult.    

Thurs., Mar. 29 - CrossFit Workout, Walk/Sprint, Acupuncture, and Thai Takeout Success

I'm in the last column on the right, 4th group down.

Here's the CrossFit board today. Today we were to do as many reps as possible ("AMRAP") in 10 minutes of:

• 4 HSPUs (handstand push-ups): I'm light years away from these, so instead I kneeled on a box about 2 feet high and did push-ups.
• 7 Deadlifts: I was able to do the "prescribed for newbies" weight of 65#. Could do more next time. 

I was able to bust out 11 rounds. I also did 25 back extensions for core work, so with that and the warm-up and the instruction/practice, my total workout was about 40 minutes.

My scale isn't going anywhere (went down .5, then up .5, then down again, then up again as of this morning) so far this week. The body fat reading is very slowly lowering, so I guess that means I'm replacing my fat with muscle, but geez, this is the best I've ever followed a diet and I expect at least a pound or two shed in return! So I added an extra 30 minutes of walking today, with twenty 20-second "sprints" (running at 6 mph) thrown in for oomph. Covered two miles.  

Went to acupuncture again today. I go about every 10-14 days. It's so hard for me to "prove" that it works, but between the treatments and what I learn from my practitioner, I feel I get a lot out of it. I know for sure I wouldn't have played with my diet and supplements back in October/November if it weren't for my treatments, and November is when I got pregnant, so there's gotta be something to it.  

In "takeout success," I had dinner with my sisters-in-law tonight and instead of indulging in all kinds of delicious Thai food, I did my homework beforehand and got a larb gai appetizer (shredded chicken with seasonings) and tom yum soup (lemongrass broth with mushrooms). Low-carb, low sugar, and very tasty and filling.

Off to add more stickers to the chart ...

Wednesday, Mar. 28 - Walk/Run

Just like Monday, but half a mile longer and running a little faster ...

Did 2.5 miles on the treadmill today in about 38 minutes.

Started with my usual 5 minutes of walking and also did about 5 minutes of a walking cool-down at the end. 

The rest was intervals of jogging two-tenths of a mile (@ 4.8 mph), then walking for a minute.

For the Whiny Brat In Me Who Doesn't Wanna Do This Stuff

I admit it: there's a whiny little brat inside of me who stomps off and does whatever the hell she wants whenever big projects and/or other "unfun" tasks are even merely suggested to her.

Enter the sticker chart! (Can you tell I used to be a first-grade teacher?)

This is my effort to enroll her - perhaps inspire her ... or at the very least make a deal with her. I need her on my side! And boy, does she love stickers.

The to-dos encompass all my health goals for this challenge. Down the right side (somewhat hidden against the blue background) are my goal targets for each item - 67 in all for the week.

I should put a reward next time, too ... for this week, if I get 67 stickers, I'm getting myself a new pair of sneakers ... my current ones are pretty worn and they're starting to hurt my left foot.

Now that I've done this, next I plan to break down my personal growth, career, money, and home/physical environment goals for the challenge and give them some sort of structure, too.  

I'm One of Those Weird Food People Now

Cauliflower crust pizza inspired by recipegirl.com

Last week, I made hummus out of zucchini instead of chickpeas. Now I’m making “pizza crust” out of cauliflower, cheese, egg, and spices. So it’s official: I’m now one of those people who gets so excited about a little variety that creating something that tastes NOTHING like the original is disturbingly satisfying.   

Exhibit A: See picture above: cauliflower crust pizza topped with pizza sauce, parmesan cheese, and turkey pepperoni. I ate half of it, and it was only 21g of carbs and 1g of sugar. It was odd: the combination tasted nothing like the sum of its parts. I can’t even describe the taste, but it was savory … and tasty!

I tried the crust before I topped it, and it was a lot like a potato pancake … very good, especially the crispier parts. I may make it as a side dish at some point as some sort of hash brown substitute. The entire crust (which fills a regular pizza pan, as you can see) is only 28g of carbs and has no sugar.  

So with the potato-y flavor, I’m thinking that topping it with pesto sauce, chicken, cheese, and red onion will be even better next time.

Oh yes - there will be a next time.  

Tuesday, Mar. 27 – CrossFit Workout and Walk

Mehdi is blocking the workout with his "Blue Steele" impression, LOL: 15 SDHPs, 400m run, 15 thrusters, 400m run, and 15 push presses, 400m run. All the "15" things involved squatting with and/or lifting 35# somehow.

This workout we did for time, and mine was 12:21. With a 10-minute warm-up and 25 hip extensions for core work, it was about a 25-minute workout in all.

At home, I walked on my treadmill at about 3.5 mph for 31 minutes - another 1.75 miles.

Week Two: Progress Report

After last week, this week felt incredibly frustrating. Instead of seeing results on the scale every 1-2 days, all I lost was one lousy pound. Ugh. But that's still 7 in two weeks, so I'll keep on doing what I've been doing for now.

Here's a report similar to last week's:

• Keep a food diary and maintain a low-carb, low-sugar, no-sweetener, low-caffeine, no-alcohol diet: I made up some worksheets so that I could, indeed, write down every morsel I ate, and I recorded most of the carb, caffeine, and sugar content for each food (see pic below). Again, I'd say I earned at least an 8 on a scale of 1-10. I went over on caffeine two days, and could easily remedy this by asking for decaf all the time - just twelve ounces of regular coffee is about 260 mg of caffeine. Reviewing my food diary, again I’m pretty sure I kept my daily carbs to about the 50-100 I was shooting for. I had no artificial sweeteners, no granulated sugar, and no alcohol ... although maybe it counts as a cheat that I had one non-alcoholic beer at an Irish pub (17g carbs and a trace amount of alcohol). I feel I did well, but if the scale continues to stall I'll want to cut out the 2-3 pieces of toast I had and/or any other choices over 10 or so carbs per serving. 

Be able to jog ¼ mile at a time without a walk break: Practiced doing .15-mile intervals this week at 4.5 mph (2 miles total), 4.8 mph (2.5 miles total), and 5 mph (3 miles total).

Get to a healthier BMI – between 26 and 27: Down from 30.2 to 30. (Starting BMI 31.2)  Some progress is better than none, right?   

Increase my physical strength: Went to CrossFit three times this week.

Get up between 6:30 and 7:30 every weekday: Did this 4 out of the 5 weekdays (up from 2 times last week). Progress!

Get to bed by 11:00 every weeknight: Only managed this 1 night this week (Same as last week).

Get an average of 7 hours of sleep every night: I got 6.5, 8.5, 6, 5, 7, 10, and 10. If I could "shut down" earlier and get into bed by 11 more often, that would help.

Monday, Mar. 26 - Walk/Run

Did 2 miles on the treadmill today in about 32 minutes.

I started with my usual 5 minutes of walking and also did about 3 minutes of a walking cool-down at the end. 

The rest was intervals of jogging two-tenths of a mile (@ 4.5 mph), then walking for a minute.

Back to CrossFit tomorrow!

Sunday, Mar. 25 - Easy Walk

Easy walk on the WOD trail today with Otto - 2.5 miles in 45 minutes.

Saturday, Mar. 24 - Walk/Run

Ran/walked 3 miles on my treadmill. As usual, walked to warm up and cool down for a total of about 8 minutes, but the rest was jogging .15 of a mile (at 5 mph), then walking at 3 mph for a minute. Total time to do three miles was 43 minutes.

Thursday, Mar. 22 – CrossFit Workout and Easy Walk

CrossFit didn't post a picture of the board today, either. I went, so I hit my weekly goal of at least three classes per week. Today’s workout was for time, and it was adapted for me, as usual (that’s why I keep going back!):

·      800m run (1/2 mile): My trainer let me do just half a mile instead of the prescribed mile. I think I did this part in about 5.5 minutes.

·      40 reverse curls: I did this instead of “toes to bar.” You lie on the floor and extend your arms (keeping them on the floor, too) above your head to grip a vertical pole behind you. You raise your toes up and to the bar, then lower them without touching the floor before going into the next rep. These hurt after just 10! Yow!

·      60 push-ups: Instead of regular push-ups, I did mine on my knees. Got tired after 10 of these, too … did the rest in increments of 5 with short breaks between.

Total time: 15:26 (plus 10 minutes warming up)

At home, I did an easy walk on my treadmill – 30 minutes at 3 mph, or 1.5 miles.  

All-day workshop tomorrow = no workout/rest day. Will be back Saturday!

Wed., March 21 - CrossFit Workout and Walk/Run

CrossFit didn't post a picture of the board today, but I went! My (adapted) workout was as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

• 4 ring rows: this is the adapted version of pull-ups; you lean back holding gymnastic rings and pull your chest back up to them. The further you lean back/under the rings, the harder you make it.

• 6 overhead squats holding a 15# bar: newbies are supposed to have 33#, but I'm not there yet.

• 10 jump rope "double under" attempts: like jumping rope, but you whip the rope fast so the rope passes under your feet two times instead of once each time you jump. It's tricky. I think I only managed to do about 6 actual double-unders for all my attempts.

I did 6 rounds and the ring rows/squats of the 7th round, then 50 ABMAT sit-ups after for core: sit-ups where a pad is placed at the small of your back and you sit with your feet butterfly-style, feet touching. You lean all the way back and sit up without using your arms for leverage.

At home, I ran/walked 2.5 miles on my treadmill. I walk to warm up and cool down for a few minutes each, but in between I ran .15-mile jog (4.8 mph) / 1-min. walk intervals.

Tuesday, March 20 - Acupuncture and Yoga

Had a bit of a "chill" day today - an acupuncture treatment, then a friend let me use one of her guest passes to take a 90-minute yoga class with her.

The class was nice - very relaxing and slow. It incorporated a lot of the poses I did when I was a part of Down Dog's 40-day "Commit to It" hot yoga program, so I found it very doable. I know the slow-it-down vibe of today's class was good for me, but it seemed almost painfully slow to me - I'm used to getting a lot of "bang for my buck" (bucks being units of time here).   

I don't know if the treatment released toxins, or if I overstretched during yoga or what, but I was SO sore from what I thought would be a very easy day.

Monday, March 19 - CrossFit Workout and Walk/Run



My CrossFit box usually posts their workout results picture at the end of each day. Thought it would be a good reminder for me to post my workouts on the days I go.  

I go to the 7:30 a.m. group, which is in the last column on the board, 4th group down. And that is not my leg.

A good workout, for me - We were supposed to run 800m (1/2 mile) three times. I did the first one in 5:15, and I did give myself a little walk break in there. For the next two rounds, my trainer wanted me to go all-out, NO walk breaks, so he said I could just do 400m the next two times. 2:06 and 2:09 for those. Ideally, I want to be doing 400m at a time during my Warrior Dash (my goal is running a quarter-mile before taking a walk break), so this was good practice.

Since that was only a mile of running, I did another mile later in the day, doing 1-minute walking intervals between .15-mile (@ 4.5 mph) intervals.    

Week One: Progress Report

I think I did pretty well for my first week. I had a lot to keep track of, so I kept notes each night about what I was eating and how I was exercising. I want to be a bit more detailed in terms of focusing on and tracking my goals, but for now, what I’m doing is fine. My body reacted nicely to the shock, and I lost 6 pounds! Yay.   

So in reference to my bulleted health goals for this challenge …

• Maintain a low-carb, no-sugar, no-sweetener, low-caffeine, no-alcohol diet: On a scale of 1-10, I’d say I earned an 8 or a 9 this week. I chose mostly foods and drinks that fit those parameters, and I’m pretty sure I kept my daily carbs to about the 50-100 I was shooting for. I know one day I went over the 200 mg of caffeine I’m trying to stay under – it was more like 350 that day. No artificial sweeteners, no granulated sugar, no alcohol. The only other cheats I can think of was about half a cup of mashed potatoes at a St. Patrick’s Day party Saturday, 2 bites of an amazing Bailey’s cheesecake at the same party, 5 small tater tots at a restaurant Sunday, and 3 bites of carrot cake with thick icing at the same restaurant. So, not perfect, but not bad at all.       
• Keep a food diary: I just wrote down everything I ate in a notebook. Didn’t tally carbs, caffeine, sugar, etc. I’ll add in more detailed elements as I get more focused each week.  
• Be able to jog ¼ mile at a time without a walk break: Practiced doing 1/10-mile intervals this week at 4.5 mph (2 miles total), 4.8 mph (2.5 miles total), and 5 mph (3 miles total).
• Get to a healthier BMI – between 26 and 27: Down from 31.2 to 30.2! Great start!  
• Increase my physical strength: Went to CrossFit twice this week and also did a half-hour heavy-lifting workout DVD.
• Get up between 6:30 and 7:30 every weekday: Only managed this 2 days this week; on Tuesday, allergies had their way with me, which continued for most of the week. I had a hard time falling and staying asleep, so I let myself sleep in to catch up.
• Get to bed by 11:00 every weeknight: Only managed this 1 night this week.  
• Get an average of 7 hours of sleep every night: I got 9, 6, 8, 4, 8, 8, and 8.5. Not bad, but need to improve those crappy two nights. My allergies are much better, so that should help.

Ugh. Typing this all out was tedious. Hopefully I'll come up with a better system of posting my progress by my next update.  

Welcome to WARRIOR MOMMA (long version)

Once again, the time’s come in my life for a challenge. Something’s got to be shaken up if I want to get to where I want to go.

This time, it’s not just about weight. I’ve been trying to have a baby for 2 years now, and I’ve also been getting up the courage to birth my business for the past 9 months. As a result of completing this 10-week challenge, I’ll have the health, strength, discipline, good habits, energy, and confidence to be 100% ready for both ventures.

Please allow me to elaborate: November/December 2011 was like a sign from God. We had gone through 6 fertility treatments with no result, and it was time to leave the practice. I did, however, start acupuncture treatments 6 months before, and had switched to a low-carb diet (which is good for women with PCOS) in the previous month. My very next cycle – out of nowhere – we got pregnant! Though sadly I miscarried 2 months later, the experience left me much more hopeful that I can take charge of my body and get pregnant naturally again. I believe that the better I treat my body, the higher chance I’ll have of having a healthy, full-term pregnancy – and a healthy baby!

Becoming this “WARRIOR MOMMA” (in ALL CAPS because WMs are ferocious like that!) will be all about working toward some “big picture” outcomes and feelings: to have a great quality of life, to have a body that will support a strong and healthy baby, to have a successful business, to fizz up the energy and creativity and spark that makes me so “Diana,” and to make more of my time about doing meaningful things with purpose. 

More specifically, I have tons of related goals for this endeavor:

Health:

• Complete my Warrior Dash on May 20, 2012
• Maintain a low-carb, low-sugar, low-caffeine, no-artificial-sweetener, no-alcohol diet
• Keep a food diary
• Be able to jog ¼ mile at a time without a walk break
• Get to a healthier BMI – between 26 and 27. (24.9 would be officially “healthy” instead of “overweight,” but I think I’ll need more time to get there)
• Increase my physical strength
• Get up between 6:30 and 7:30 every weekday
• Get to bed by 11:00 every weeknight
• Get an average of 7 hours of sleep every night

Personal Growth:

• Keep track of the above goals and progress through this blog
• Develop a personal/professional schedule that’s disciplined enough to get what I need to done, but still allows some flexibility for spontaneity
• Succumb to TV and Internet distraction less

Career:

• Tune out any new business info/classes offered and only work with the wealth of info I already have   
• Get business cards made
• Until my “real” website is live, set up a temporary website with just enough starter info for potential clients
• Develop all material for my “real” website
• Schedule one event to occur in late May or June 2012 to promote my coaching business

Money:

• Start and complete a book editing project due in May

Home/Physical Environment:

• Clear physical crap, especially stuff that annoys me or gets in the way of the successful businesswoman/organized mom I want to be. In particular, I want to address my basement, computer, closets, clothes drawers, bathroom cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and home office.

I intend to post whenever I feel like it throughout the week, maybe to highlight my efforts or pimp what I’m proud of, but will definitely do a weekly check-in every Friday and Monday morning to assess my weekday and weekend efforts and plan for the next few days. 

I started this past Monday, so the time frame is 70 days: March 12 to May 20, 2012.

I’ll post my first week’s efforts and results Monday morning. So far, so good – wish me luck! 

Welcome to WARRIOR MOMMA! (short version)

Welcome to my WARRIOR MOMMA challenge! For 10 weeks, I’m focusing in on health- and discipline-related good habits to prep for this Warrior Dash on May 20. Also by May 20, I want to be fortified and ready to get pregnant and officially launch my coaching business! Long version, next post.