Tomorrow I make the journey to Fort Worth, Texas with ten other CrossFit Jenks athletes to compete in the 2010 South Central Regional. I am beyond excited. I'm nervous. I'm anxious. I'm ready to go. Last July when I started on this "weird" diet, I knew it was going to not only improve the way I felt, but also improve the way I performed. Boy was I right. I've seen benchmark times drop (I have sub 3:30 Fran now!) and my max lifts go up (200 back squat and 140 clean and jerk). I have a long way to go on my lifts, but I'm getting there. Nutrition has played a huge part in what I can do in the gym. I recover better. I can push harder. I feel stronger.
My goal this weekend is to place in the top four to qualify for the CrossFit Games in July. I have set a pretty lofty goal for myself. It is going to be difficult. Not all the WODs play to my strengths, but my ability to hurt and push through pain for a long time will be my biggest ally. I'm just downright stubborn sometimes. I've been drinking lots of water and getting lots of rest. I've also been coaching our affiliate team which has been so much fun. They are going to do amazing.
No matter what happens I know I have worked hard. I could not be anymore prepared than I am. This could be my last time to compete as a CrossFit Jenk's athlete so I'm going to savor every moment and keep a stellar attitude.
On a side note, my paleolithic attitude is spreading out to those I work with. Today, a vendor I work with brought me a big basked from Whole Foods! It is filled with larabars, walnuts, cherries (my favorite!!!), oranges, apples and bananas. She got online and looked up "paleo foods" and brought me the send off basket. It was the sweetest thing in the world. Spread the word! Eat clean!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Whew!
Last week is a total blur. The Mr. graduated and now instead of just Mr. he can put Dr. in front of his name. Pretty exciting stuff! We have been trying to regain some normalcy in our lives this week, but it isn't happening. Eating clean while trying to sell your house is HARD. Yes, I am saying that....it is hard. We have to be ready at a moments notice to evacuate so strangers can come judge us. I'm not much of a housekeeper. I would rather be at the gym, walking my dog with the Mr. or watching Glee. Because of this, my George Foreman has been packed away into the deep trenches of our cabinets. I usually leave it out because it is huge and big pain to put away because of the size. Ours has a griddle attached to it. I bought that for pancakes...which I never make anymore.
Last night I made my first home cooked meal in over a week. I'm so embarrassed. We have been eating out a lot. I've been keeping it pretty clean for the most part, but I miss my home cooked protein. Last night I grilled up some pork chops in a skillet in some olive oil, garlic and rosemary. Oh my it was delicious! We have been having some terrible weather around here. With about three minutes to go on the pork chops our tornado sirens started going off. I made the decision that my pork chops were far more important than taking cover. Luckily, we didn't get anything bad, just a lot of heavy rain and small hail. My pork chops finished grilling and all was right with the world.
Regionals are eight days away. Next Friday we'll leave for Hell's Half Acre in Fort Worth, Texas. I'm so excited, so nervous and so ready all at the same time. This year feels very different from last year. I know what to expect and I know what I expect of myself. We have all been training so hard, individuals and our affiliate team. It is going to be a really exciting weekend for everyone!
Last night I made my first home cooked meal in over a week. I'm so embarrassed. We have been eating out a lot. I've been keeping it pretty clean for the most part, but I miss my home cooked protein. Last night I grilled up some pork chops in a skillet in some olive oil, garlic and rosemary. Oh my it was delicious! We have been having some terrible weather around here. With about three minutes to go on the pork chops our tornado sirens started going off. I made the decision that my pork chops were far more important than taking cover. Luckily, we didn't get anything bad, just a lot of heavy rain and small hail. My pork chops finished grilling and all was right with the world.
Regionals are eight days away. Next Friday we'll leave for Hell's Half Acre in Fort Worth, Texas. I'm so excited, so nervous and so ready all at the same time. This year feels very different from last year. I know what to expect and I know what I expect of myself. We have all been training so hard, individuals and our affiliate team. It is going to be a really exciting weekend for everyone!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Hard Work Pays Off!
This morning I hit a BIG milestone for me. I did "Annie" unbroken. For those of you not well versed with CrossFit lingo, Annie is a workout that has two elements, double unders with a jump rope (two rotations for every jump) and sit ups (unanchored). The rep scheme is 50-40-30-20-10. Double unders have never been a huge weakness. I could get 15 or 20, but when I got fatigued it would drop to 10 or less. They were also never a huge strength. I always admired those at our gym that could knock out 50+ every time like it was no big deal.
Two weeks ago the Mr. had me start doing 200 double unders a day. Of course I wasn't getting better at them if I only did them when they were in workouts! Well, I have been doing 200 a day for the past two weeks. Earlier this week I hit 40 double unders unbroken which was a PR. Today I did Annie and I got every single double under unbroken! It felt effortless and wonderful. Hard work pays off. Set a goal and work towards it. It doesn't always happen fast (like my muscle up!), but if you put in the time it will happen...eventually. I got nine consecutive handstand push ups on Wednesday! I couldn't get one two months ago. My goal is to turn my weaknesses into strengths and that is exactly what is happening.
Tonight is making me a little bit nervous. The Mr. is graduating from medical school and I'm throwing him an after party. I'm having it at a really fabulous pizza joint here in the area called Savastano's. They have amazing deep dish pizza. I know, I can't believe I'm doing this either! Hopefully I'll stay strong, but I do plan on having a little sliver and a tiny piece of graduation cake. How many times will my husband graduate from medical school? Just once! Tomorrow it is back on the straight and narrow just like I have been all week. Like I always say, a small indulgence is fine, just don't let it become common practice!
I also just can't seem to drink enough water lately. It has been tasting sooooooooo good. So clean and refreshing! I must appreciate it more as the weather gets warmer.
Two weeks ago the Mr. had me start doing 200 double unders a day. Of course I wasn't getting better at them if I only did them when they were in workouts! Well, I have been doing 200 a day for the past two weeks. Earlier this week I hit 40 double unders unbroken which was a PR. Today I did Annie and I got every single double under unbroken! It felt effortless and wonderful. Hard work pays off. Set a goal and work towards it. It doesn't always happen fast (like my muscle up!), but if you put in the time it will happen...eventually. I got nine consecutive handstand push ups on Wednesday! I couldn't get one two months ago. My goal is to turn my weaknesses into strengths and that is exactly what is happening.
Tonight is making me a little bit nervous. The Mr. is graduating from medical school and I'm throwing him an after party. I'm having it at a really fabulous pizza joint here in the area called Savastano's. They have amazing deep dish pizza. I know, I can't believe I'm doing this either! Hopefully I'll stay strong, but I do plan on having a little sliver and a tiny piece of graduation cake. How many times will my husband graduate from medical school? Just once! Tomorrow it is back on the straight and narrow just like I have been all week. Like I always say, a small indulgence is fine, just don't let it become common practice!
I also just can't seem to drink enough water lately. It has been tasting sooooooooo good. So clean and refreshing! I must appreciate it more as the weather gets warmer.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
And the Winner is...
Lisa! Congratulations to Lisa who won my 100th Post Giveaway! She will be receiving a copy of The Primal Blueprint Cookbook. Pretty exciting stuff. Thanks to everyone that entered and thanks for reading! It is nice to know I'm not just writing to myself everyday. A little information about our winner....
Lisa's favorite paleo snack is a "jar of almond butter and a large spoon". A girl after my own heart! I happen to have both of those sitting on my desk at all hours of the day. There is never a wrong time for almond butter! Lisa was also the very first person to enter, however, the drawing was completely random!
In other news, I have a funny/sad story to tell. A few girls from my gym all went in with me to purchase some Paleo Brand meals. They were running a free shipping special when you bought a full order which is fourteen meals. This saved us about $45! Great deal! We were all excited and looking forward to our meals.
I ordered the meals on a Wednesday evening and received nothing telling me my order had been shipped. I happened to go out of town that weekend, but figured it would be until at least Monday before the package would arrive. In my confirmation of purchase it never said "Order should arrive in X amount of days". Nothing. If it had, I would have arranged for someone to check my porch! Over the weekend we were out of town we had two open houses. Our realtor was at our house all afternoon both days. We arrived back Sunday evening and there was not box on our porch or waiting in our home. By Wednesday I started to wonder where my package was. I had finally received a tracking number, but still not package. I looked up my tracking number to see it had been delivered on FRIDAY. Yes, the Friday we went out of town. Where was the box though? It was not on my porch, not in my garage, not on the side of the house and not in my kitchen.
I proceed to email the Paleo Brands people through the only method of contact they have...an online contact form. I told them UPS said the box had been delivered, but that I never received the box. I then called my realtor to see if she ever saw anything. Here is where the story becomes very sad and funny. It turns out they did see a box and put it in my hall closet. However, after the Sunday open house her associate never put it out where we would see it. I had unfrozen frozen food in my hall closet for five days.
My husband was home and went looking for it and found it right away. We never use our hall closet so we never would have seen it. The dry ice was completely gone and the food was room temperature. It immediately went into the trash. I went back to the Paleo Brands website and submitted another contact form telling them my situation to see if we could do anything. I have not heard back from them on either contact request and it has been over a week. I'm very disappointed in the customer service I have NOT received from them. Even a simple email saying, "I'm sorry we can not do anything" would have been enough. At least I would know they were paying attention to their customers. There is no phone number and no direct email address. I am VERY annoyed. As much as I want to try their product, I'm so unsatisfied with their unresponsiveness that I don't think I will ever try them again. We spent a lot of money on a product we could not use. It wasn't their fault, but it was a crummy situation. It would have been nice to at least speak with SOMEONE. ANYONE!
I'm devastated. I ruined my friend's food and my own. I guess it could happen to anyone. If anyone from Paleo Brands is reading this (which I know they are not) I'm very disappointed in your service! I was planning on trying each of your meals and writing about them on my blog and telling all my fellow CrossFitters how great your product was...if it was great. Now I don't get to do that. I suggest changing the way customers can contact you. What you have no is simply not good enough!
Paleo Food News:
On Sunday I found some GREAT 1oz lean turkey patties at Target. They are Archer Farms brand. They are raw and there are ten patties in each package. Each has 60 calories, 1 g fat and 13 grams of protein! I cooked them on a skillet and they came out great. I have been eating them for lunch and as a little protein snack during the day. Try them out! I hate making my own patties from raw turkey meat, but I do it because I love the end product. This just makes it super easy! You can find them with other raw turkey products at Target.
Lisa's favorite paleo snack is a "jar of almond butter and a large spoon". A girl after my own heart! I happen to have both of those sitting on my desk at all hours of the day. There is never a wrong time for almond butter! Lisa was also the very first person to enter, however, the drawing was completely random!
In other news, I have a funny/sad story to tell. A few girls from my gym all went in with me to purchase some Paleo Brand meals. They were running a free shipping special when you bought a full order which is fourteen meals. This saved us about $45! Great deal! We were all excited and looking forward to our meals.
I ordered the meals on a Wednesday evening and received nothing telling me my order had been shipped. I happened to go out of town that weekend, but figured it would be until at least Monday before the package would arrive. In my confirmation of purchase it never said "Order should arrive in X amount of days". Nothing. If it had, I would have arranged for someone to check my porch! Over the weekend we were out of town we had two open houses. Our realtor was at our house all afternoon both days. We arrived back Sunday evening and there was not box on our porch or waiting in our home. By Wednesday I started to wonder where my package was. I had finally received a tracking number, but still not package. I looked up my tracking number to see it had been delivered on FRIDAY. Yes, the Friday we went out of town. Where was the box though? It was not on my porch, not in my garage, not on the side of the house and not in my kitchen.
I proceed to email the Paleo Brands people through the only method of contact they have...an online contact form. I told them UPS said the box had been delivered, but that I never received the box. I then called my realtor to see if she ever saw anything. Here is where the story becomes very sad and funny. It turns out they did see a box and put it in my hall closet. However, after the Sunday open house her associate never put it out where we would see it. I had unfrozen frozen food in my hall closet for five days.
My husband was home and went looking for it and found it right away. We never use our hall closet so we never would have seen it. The dry ice was completely gone and the food was room temperature. It immediately went into the trash. I went back to the Paleo Brands website and submitted another contact form telling them my situation to see if we could do anything. I have not heard back from them on either contact request and it has been over a week. I'm very disappointed in the customer service I have NOT received from them. Even a simple email saying, "I'm sorry we can not do anything" would have been enough. At least I would know they were paying attention to their customers. There is no phone number and no direct email address. I am VERY annoyed. As much as I want to try their product, I'm so unsatisfied with their unresponsiveness that I don't think I will ever try them again. We spent a lot of money on a product we could not use. It wasn't their fault, but it was a crummy situation. It would have been nice to at least speak with SOMEONE. ANYONE!
I'm devastated. I ruined my friend's food and my own. I guess it could happen to anyone. If anyone from Paleo Brands is reading this (which I know they are not) I'm very disappointed in your service! I was planning on trying each of your meals and writing about them on my blog and telling all my fellow CrossFitters how great your product was...if it was great. Now I don't get to do that. I suggest changing the way customers can contact you. What you have no is simply not good enough!
Paleo Food News:
On Sunday I found some GREAT 1oz lean turkey patties at Target. They are Archer Farms brand. They are raw and there are ten patties in each package. Each has 60 calories, 1 g fat and 13 grams of protein! I cooked them on a skillet and they came out great. I have been eating them for lunch and as a little protein snack during the day. Try them out! I hate making my own patties from raw turkey meat, but I do it because I love the end product. This just makes it super easy! You can find them with other raw turkey products at Target.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Go Gators!
Yes, I was raised in Oklahoma, but I am really a Florida born, Gator girl. In honor of my southeastern heritage, last night The Mr. made us gator tail for dinner! It was a fun treat that we had something new and he did all the cooking!
I know, kind of crazy. I have had gator before, but it has always be fried. We all know fried anything is delicious. Don't deny it, you know you love the taste of little fried goodies. We just know better now than to eat them very often. Last night at Reasor's we stopped by the seafood section. He noticed a huge Alligator head and then fresh gator tail. I was kind of in shock when he asked for half a pound of it, but he was in an adventurous mood.
The cooking of the gator was left up to him. I have never even thought about cooking gator in my life so I had no idea how to approach it. The Mr. isn't scared in the kitchen. He went right to work. A little white wine, a little garlic and sea salt, some hazel nut butter in the bottom of the pan...(I know, he is way more creative than I am).
We had a bunch of grilled asparagus and green beans as sides. Yes, I eat green beans. Green = good. I honestly don't care if they are not "technically" paleo. They are healthy. End of story.
A few things that surprised me about gator:
1. It actually tasted really good. Whatever other stuff he used to cook it with was wonderful.
2. Gator is a bit tougher than I remember. Being a game meat I guess that makes sense. I really didn't know what to expect.
3. It was pretty fatty. I do not at all like the texture of fat. It is jelly. I don't mind it when it is marbled in with my meat, but if I can cut it off I always do. I had to remove quite a bit from my gator! He must have been in a well stocked swamp...
4. I would definitely eat it again! This is the great thing about finding a wonderful butcher...there will always be a good variety of meats. Mix it up!
I found this grilled Cajun gator recipe today. It sounds pretty good and insanely easy.
Don't forget you can still enter my 100th Post Giveaway!!! You have until Friday night.
On another note...I am seriously addicted to dried fruit. I might need an intervention.
I know, kind of crazy. I have had gator before, but it has always be fried. We all know fried anything is delicious. Don't deny it, you know you love the taste of little fried goodies. We just know better now than to eat them very often. Last night at Reasor's we stopped by the seafood section. He noticed a huge Alligator head and then fresh gator tail. I was kind of in shock when he asked for half a pound of it, but he was in an adventurous mood.
The cooking of the gator was left up to him. I have never even thought about cooking gator in my life so I had no idea how to approach it. The Mr. isn't scared in the kitchen. He went right to work. A little white wine, a little garlic and sea salt, some hazel nut butter in the bottom of the pan...(I know, he is way more creative than I am).
We had a bunch of grilled asparagus and green beans as sides. Yes, I eat green beans. Green = good. I honestly don't care if they are not "technically" paleo. They are healthy. End of story.
A few things that surprised me about gator:
1. It actually tasted really good. Whatever other stuff he used to cook it with was wonderful.
2. Gator is a bit tougher than I remember. Being a game meat I guess that makes sense. I really didn't know what to expect.
3. It was pretty fatty. I do not at all like the texture of fat. It is jelly. I don't mind it when it is marbled in with my meat, but if I can cut it off I always do. I had to remove quite a bit from my gator! He must have been in a well stocked swamp...
4. I would definitely eat it again! This is the great thing about finding a wonderful butcher...there will always be a good variety of meats. Mix it up!
I found this grilled Cajun gator recipe today. It sounds pretty good and insanely easy.
Don't forget you can still enter my 100th Post Giveaway!!! You have until Friday night.
On another note...I am seriously addicted to dried fruit. I might need an intervention.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Extending the Contest!
I'm extending my 100th Post Giveaway until Friday, May 7th at 11:59PM. Good luck! Go here for all the details!
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