Friday 30 November 2012

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Today's workout made me face fears.  I'm comfortable lifting things up and putting them down.

I'm not comfortable with anything that involves my body weight.

I suck at boy push ups.  I can't do a pull up/chin up to save my life.  And the idea of lifting my body weight up to get up onto something freaks me the eff out.  I blame being the kid who could never actually get up on the stage at school by jumping up and turning around. 

Today's workout had rope climbs, moves with the rings, and l-sits which were supposed to be skin the cats which looks like this:
 Actually, it was even worse because there was supposed to be a pike thing at the top too.  Ughhhhh.

Stuff was going okay.  Kinda.  Okay, I had a million variations until I got to the last two moves.


About that.  I almost landed on my face a few times with the front leaning and only managed to squeak out 5-10 seconds at a time.

The support hold?  I stared at it for 5 minutes before I even tried.   I ended up needing support of a resistance band and at best I could hold for about 20seconds.  It was a mess.

BUT I did things I never in the world thought I would even try to do.

I may have sucked but it was a still a step forward. 

I leave you with this goodie.  It cracks me up every time I see it!


Wednesday 28 November 2012

The Truth

There are many reason why I haven't blogged in almost a month, and there are just as many for why my blog posts when down exponentially over the last couple months.

I wasn't feeling it partly because the 'Operation Get Fit' wasn't showing any progress.  I was stalled and very much reverting back to some old habits.  Think wine, nachos just because I went to the gym, and too much of healthy 'treats'.

I definitely wasn't getting bigger, but I wasn't getting stronger or smaller either.

Then there was that disastrous doctor's appointment where I got to hear about my weight again.

With all that weighing on me, yes weighing on me, I finally kicked myself in the ass and joined a Crossfit Box.  Part of the reason I dipped out of posting was because I didn't want to become a crazy obsessive Crossfit blogger.  But realistically, it was the right choice for me:  a girl who liked weights but had a hard time pushing myself.

Up at 6:30am to workout???
 I'm almost a month into it, and loving it.   The workouts are hard and intense and I'm loving it.  Working my way up to less resistance pull-ups, deadlifting #115, benching #55, while not sounding like crazy accomplishments, they are for me.

I also am working with their awesome nutrition expert Summer, and working my way through a strict paleo-esque diet up until the holidays.   It's been a little bit of a battle but I'd say 1 week in, I'm averaging 95% and finally reading labels.  I've got another 3 weeks to go, so we'll see what happens.  She even did the whole skip caliper body fat % thing.  The good news is, it's not as bad as I thought.  The bad, it's definitely in the obese range.  Yup, Kelly, the exercise junkie is still considered obese.

With that, I'll try to be back.  I'll post some awesome things I've been making lately in my kitchen.  I'll remember that this blog is for me.


Random pictures of stuff I should have blogged about but didn't:

27th birthday dinner with one of the best Food Network chefs!
Typical few days of strength at Crossfit
Finally got my shipment of Vermont PB (in limited quantities until challenge is over)

Yum yum Paleo dinner!
Amazing paleo pumpkin french toast!

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Public Service Announcement

I can barely walk today.

Or get out of a chair.

Or up the stairs.


I love this feeling.

Monday 5 November 2012

Drinking Kool-Aid

I am about to join a cult. 

A cult that makes me roll my eyes a little, but it took some time to come to this decision, and I took a long time to think about if this cult was the right one for me.

Yes, I'm joining a Crossfit gym.

The horror.

My reasoning?   Gym classes don't motivate me any more.  Pump doesn't work for me.  I love spin but I'll find a way to bring it back (or I may get a trainer for my bike).   I love lifting weights but I feel like I'm kind of stuck and I know I can't go farther without someone pushing me and watching my form.  And I miss having a gym partner to push me.

I did two things in the last couple days, I tried kickboxing, which I loved, and this morning I went for my consult/trial for the Crossfit gym by my apartment.

I adored boxing and would have gone back, if it wasn't for the fact that Crossfit is a better fit.

I didn't realize that I would be doing a workout this morning, but luckily I was dressed properly.

Today, we spent a little bit of time doing movement assessments and then worked on my squat.  I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to do 1x5 full squats beyond parallel with 45lbs.  It's not a ton of weight but I've always been scared to go beyond 90 without anyone around.

Todays WOD was longggggg.  At 18 minutes, it's on the longer side of WODs (or as this gym calls them, Metcons.

3 sets of 4 minutes as many rounds as possible of 15 kettlebells and 10 ball slams with 3 minutes rests.

I managed to get through all 3 sets but there was a lot of sweating going on and the last set was pathetic.

I'm going back Thursday for my personal training/total assessment so we'll see how this goes.

I'm really excited! 

Don't worry, I won't make you drink the kool-aid!

Friday 2 November 2012

When even the ones who know better don't

I know better.  I really really know better.

Last week I did a particularly rough lower body workout and felt on top of the world.

The next day I did my favourite spin class.

Unfortunately, 5 minutes in I could barely move the pedals.   My legs were on fire, but I figured that it would pass as soon as I warmed up.  But it didn't.

I'm now regulated to sitting on my ass for the last week waiting for my back to heal.  I'm stretching as much as I can and getting acupuncture, but it's taking it's sweet time.

I wish I could say I was eating clean and it would all be okay, but I kinda fell off the wagon with a few too many hallowe'en treats and eating out a bit too much.

Tomorrow is another day though.  Hoping to try out kickboxing tomorrow and then I have something big (possibly) on the horizon. 

Thursday 1 November 2012

November is Here!

Eeeek!  November has finally arrived!   I'm excited because it means two things:   Snow should be arriving soon (hopefully) and in 16 days it will be my birthday!

With the arrival of November, I'm starting to form some new goals.   Basically, I'm a bit stuck and frustrated with my 'progress' but I'm also debating whether I really want to give up even more just to be smaller. 

This week, I went to my doctor's for my physical, and while it wasn't my worst doctor experience, it was still frustrating as hell.  She told me my weight (which was just such a bad thing, the last few days has been a bit of a rollercoaster) and gave me the spiel about my BMI being high and how I should count calories and blah blah blah.  Apparently, I'm the exact same weight as I was 6-8 months ago.  I really could go on and on about how doctor's take that number, and BMI (WHICH WE ALL KNOW ISN'T  a good measure) and don't focus on my perfect blood pressure or blood work.  I am healthy when you look at that.  Good blood sugars, good cholesterol, good thyroid, etc.  Sigh.  My other favourite comment had to be "Oh, beautiful tattoos, do you want to be checked for HIV?".

Now that the rant is over.  What are my goals?

1.  Blog 3-5 times per week.  Half the time I don't think I have anything interesting to say, but I have to remember this blog is for me, not everyone else in the world.

2. Naked run 3 times per week.  No, I don't mean run naked.  I mean outside, without gadgets, and just going for as long as I think I can.  No more numbers.*

3. Stretching!  Remember to stretch.  I love stretching, but I felt like I didn't have time for it over the last month or so.  That way of thinking lead to a very angry back.

4.  Monitor my water intake.  Try for at least 4 water bottles at work, and another 4 glasses while at home.

5.  Decrease the wine.   One glass, 3 times per week. 

*I know if you read this blog, you probably think I should give up on running already, but I really want to fall back in love with it, and I fully intend to do another duathlon

Okay guys, I think that's all.  Hopefully I can make November and December my best months!