Getting in the Groove!

Ok, first of all I have to vent. I cannot find my favorite Larabar, Cocoa Mole, anywhere!!! It is also no longer listed on the Larabar website with the rest of their flavors. I'm very very sad about this. However, I did have the pleasure of trying a new flavor....Blueberry Muffin. It was delicious. I love blueberries. There is also a Carrot Cake larabar, but I have not tried it yet. If anyone happened to stock up on Cocoa Mole and wants to send me cases of it I would apprecaite it.

On to the better news....

I starting to feel like me again. My life, as you have read, has been in chaos the last year. Moving, moving again, new gyms, new jobs, new friends, old friends, etc. This past weekend I competed in a fun CrossFit event in Oklahoma called Cupid's Revenge. It was put on by CrossFit OKC in Edmond. I competed with my friend Denver from CrossFit Jenks, my old box home which I miss with all of my heart. We competed in 4 wods in one day. Absolutely brutal! It was so much fun being on a team. It pushes you even more because you don't want to let your teammate down. It has a very cool vibe. It has me going back and forth debating on whether I want to try to compete on a team or as an individual this year because I had SO much fun. We will see how it all goes!

We ended up winning the event, which was awesome. The day ended with a back to back FRAN. Yes, after three wods we did FRAN. If you aren't familiar with Fran, she is a good ole CrossFit WOD of 21-15-9 Thrusters (95/65) and pull ups. We finished with a combined time of 6:31....both of us set individual PR's which is kind of insane considering what we had already done that day.

I have done so many new things the past two months since I have been at new CrossFit gyms. I'm learning a lot more about mobility which is helping my shoulders out a lot. I'm also focusing more on core strength and skill work. I finally mastered pistols and did 37 in a WOD about a week ago. YAY! I'm stringing together four muscle ups, ten handstand push ups and now I'm working on getting my L-sits better. Core, core, core! I can tell it is paying off in other movements too. In the last two weeks I have PR'd my Overhead squat by 15 pounds, my back squat by 20 pounds, my front squat by 15 pounds, my clean and jerk by 15 pounds, squat snatch by 10 pounds (hate this one), deadlift by 20 pounds and my bench by 5 pounds!

I'm setting small, obtainable goals. I mark them off and set new ones. It lets me feel accomplishment, but also pushes me. Accomplishing these things has helped me to feel like me again. I'm in the groove. I'm getting stronger. I'm becoming much better at skilled movements.

So far I'm also sticking to my resolution of eating a clean, healthy breakfast! It changes my entire outlook on the day. I've been on a blueberry kick the last week (hence my excitement about the blueberry muffin larabar). I'm also back making my homemade turkey sausage. I'm going to try making some egg casserole or egg muffins next week. It will be a good change from the hard boiled eggs. Anyone have any suggestions?

Shrimp and Salsa

We have been a one car family for the last five days. It was fine at first, but now it is just flat out annoying. I haven't been able to go to the store and my fresh food supplies are on the decline. I had to be a little inventive today.

Thankfully I had some hard boiled eggs on hand. I love to have those in my fridge ready to go when I need some quick protein. Plus, my dog loves the hard boiled yolk so I always give her a piece if I'm not eating all of it. I had one egg left today which I saved for lunch.

I have some ground turkey which I haven't got around to cooking yet. I was feeling lazy and not in the mood to drag out The George even though it is super easy. Then I remembered the other day I bought some shrimp! It was previously frozen, but had defrosted in my fridge over the last few days. I decided to fill a bowl with the cute pre cooked baby shrimp and I topped it with some fresh salsa!

It wasn't the fanciest of lunches, but it did the trick. It was fast, easy and full of protein. If you make sure to have good food on hand you can always turn it into something yummy!

Snowed In

We have been snowed in for a few days. Today is the first day the Mr. was able to make it work....thanks to an all wheel drive car. Luckily I work from home. The biggest challenge when you can't get out of the house and you want to keep a clean diet is exactly that....keeping a clean diet.

If you keep junk in your house, you are basically done for. I challenge anyone to stay inside for three days and resist the temptation. I don't care how strong willed you are, it just won't happen. Boredom sets in. You get fidgety. You make excuses and go for it. In order to try to avoid disaster or starvation I hit the store Monday afternoon with all the other crazies. I'm so glad I did. In Oklahoma we have a tendency to "overreact" about winter storms. This was no overreaction. We had over a foot of ice and snow where I am and nearby parts of the state had almost 20 inches! Schools and businesses have been shut down since Tuesday.

So what did I stock up on Monday?
*Bacon wrapped fillets (3 oz each...perfect size!)
*Asparagus
*Spinach
*Grapefruit
*Eggs
*Turkey chili stuff
*Celery
*Archer Farms Almond, Peanut and Cashew butter (it is a combo butter and so delicious!)
*Mini larabars

I made the bacon wrapped fillets the first snowed in night and we had enough left over for lunch the next day. They were delicious! Tonight I'm making chili which makes me really happy. There is nothing better than some paleo friendly chili on a cold night.

Having some nice healthy snacks and our super awesome garage gym has kept us sane the last few days. I did enjoy some natural salt and lime popcorn...it was my treat and I enjoyed every bite.

Today I'm going to tackle some snowed in yoga. Flexibility and balance are not my strengths so what better time to focus on some weaknesses than when I have no where else to go?

What do you eat and how do you spend your time when you can't get out of the house?