2012 Re-Vamp Wednesday, Feb 22 2012

Well I had written this lovely post about my 2012 Resolution’s then The Universe through me that lovely curve ball…a broken wrist. And not just any wrist, my left wrist, needless to say my plans for my 30th year on this planet have changed. After a bit of depression I came back to my list and decided not all was lost.

So here’s the before (in no particular order):

1. Machu Picchu for my 30th
2. Muay Thai 3x/ week
3. Get my Captain’s License
4. Learn French
5. Go back to dancing
6. Ride the motorcycle more
7. Get back on the horse, literally
8. Go out more
9. Put the sweats away on the weekend
10. Get more Rugby time in
11. Ditch the coffee
12. Keep Paleo at 90%
13. Get the body fat to 15%
14. Get MRI of my spine
15. Re-connect

Most of my goals have now either been pushed back or change. The only thing taken entirely off the list was Machu Picchu. That has turned into a 2 week vacation in Hawaii. And I’ve added a few more now:

Double high-fives
Thumbs up
Writing with my left hand again
Push-Ups
Pull-Ups
Kettlebell Swings
Olympic Lifting
Rugby!

Actually most of my new goals are fitness related…oh how I miss lifting! haha!

All of my other fitness goals are contingent on my doc clearing the wrist, which should be in April some time. But even when I return to all my extracurricular’s I’m sure I won’t be at the intensity I was before the break.

I’ve pushed my sailing license back to May/June (was signed up for February). The motorcycle is probably the most terrifying to me, I mean it’s my clutch hand…I can’t mess around with that, so I’m going to do that last probably.

Now that I’m off all required medication my nutrition goals are back on target. Will be able to cook in about a month or so.

After looking long and hard at the list I realize the wrist was just a hiccup, not a complete fail. And thanks to my wrist I never have to take off jewelry or empty my pockets for TSA ever again. Either way I’ll be setting off that metal detector.

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So Long Ago… Monday, Feb 14 2011

Gosh, it seems like so long ago that I was blogging every workout and writing down every meal.

To Update:
After those thirty days I thought I was invincible. I was on-again-off-again with the Paleo diet resulting in a complete reversal of all my hard work. Along that journey I had a few financial set backs (i.e. totaled my car in an accident that was deemed my fault, thus causing the purchase of a new car and hugely inflated insurance).

With life feeling a whole lot worse I went back to binge eating my favourite foods (all the while thinking Paleo). Then one not so extraordinary day I decided enough was enough. I was changing my life (again).

Since I was now unable to afford my Crossfit membership, diet became crucial. I looked at the gym my apartment had and started figuring out WODs I could do. Wall Ball’s and Rowing are still two things I can’t do. I got myself on a “personal” crossfit journey. I tried out different times and days and eventually got my self on a Crossfit Fitness plan designed for my life, budget, and goals.

After that I worked Paleo eating into to the whole thing. Starting with just one week of strict, then seeing how a “cheat” day effected me. After another couple months of tweaking I was able to incorporate a Paleo Plan that fit my fitness plan.

With my arsenal finally working for me instead of against me I am now looking for all the ammunition I can get. I’ve been reading book after book and search after search online to get my Paleo/Fitness plan to it’s highest level of efficiency.

It’s actually amazing how good I feel in contrast to how crappy I was feeling before. I sleep better, train better, and smile more.

At the moment the only thing I really need to get a handle on is my fish oil intake. But I am sure with the resources I have and the passionate nerdiness inside me, I will get the information I need and get’er done.

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12 3 10 – Paleo Christmas Saturday, Dec 4 2010

Stats:
Body Fat:  25.01%
BMI:  20.9
Neck:  12
Shoulders:  38.5
Bust:  34
Waist:  27.5
Hips:  37.5
Upper Arms:  10.5
Thighs:  20
Calves:  13.5
Navel:  30.5

I had cream and sugar twice today.  Ugh!  Gotta stop the coffee, it makes me feel like crap.  Had a headache at the end of the day, probably due to the lack of gluten.

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Entering the Paleo-Zone SWITCH Sunday, Oct 3 2010

With PCF doing this Zone SWITCH I have been getting my nerd on and finding / creating spreadsheets to help with calculating blocks and macro nutrient levels. Here are my stats as of October 2nd:

Weight: 126 lbs.
Body Fat %: 23.7%

The challenge lasts for 6 weeks at which time I hope to be at:

Weight: 118 lbs.
Body Fat %: 18%

I have calculated that I will be on 10 blocks. I would like to do at least 4 WODs a week.

On days that I do WODs in the AM I plan on experimenting with how I perform eating nothing before hand vs. eating half first and half after. On days I don’t do WODs or simply have Shorin-Ryu it will be a 2-2-2-2-2.

The only real trouble I see is in the sailing trip. It’s two weeks on the ocean with a sometimes limited supply of neccessary food. I will do my best during that time to keep to my blocks and macro nutrients but it all depends on what I can find on the islands. Since the people I am going with are notorious for eating cheeses and pastas in abundance I may introduce those things into my zone the two weeks before the trip as a form of hormeses. I would rather have a bad reaction here on the main land than out in the middle of the ocean.

Now I’m off to make my grocery list…I need some fish oil.

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Do you have “enough”? Sunday, Aug 22 2010

While writing about “learned helplessness” my brain went off on a tangent when I asked myself “what makes people so unhappy?” All of a sudden I had an entirely new direction and I had to flip a page to bullet point the thoughts firing in my brain.

As I started writing out this list, I realized I wasn’t writing down why people were unhappy, I was writing a list of things that made me unhappy. Well that didn’t end up being productive. So I switched gears and decided to write down everything I could think of that would make me happy, no matter how ridiculous it was. The result was an extravagant list of wants and desires that would be wonderful to have, but most of the things on that list I could do without; a mansion in the hills, a summer home in New Zealand, a Dyson vacuum, a Vita-Mix. Silly things.

The next night I went back through the list and started crossing things off that weren’t requirements to my happiness. Things that were greedy and materialistic. After all how many people really need 50 pairs of shoes or three cars or an iPad? What I was left with were “bigger” things, things that required a more internal conscious effort to obtain, things I could not obtain on my own.

The night after that I took a look at the remaining items on my list and started noticing how one entailed the other, so I grouped them and put them under categories. After my final dissection what I was left was a very simple list, a list of three things that would make me happy in life, (in no particular order):

Job

House

Family

Job: A job I like going to everyday. I have had the oddest jobs, some bad some good. I’ve worked on a ranch, I’ve worked at a desk, heck I’ve even bagged groceries, decorated cakes, and sheared sheep. What I’ve learned is that I can get a job anywhere, anytime, what’s important is not the job itself but the feeling I get waking up every morning to go to it. So for me, a job I enjoy going to everyday would be enough.

Home: I don’t mean a condo on the beach (although that would be nice) I mean the feeling of home. I’ve lived on different hemispheres, in different countries and can tell you, home is what you make it. I have never felt like any place was not my home. Some people need a specific city or geographic location. Not me. My home travels with me. Where ever I go, no matter where I end up, my home will be a happy comforting place to be. My home is me and that would be enough.

Family: I will always have the family I was born into. Thankfully, I can never get rid of them. A few years ago that was enough for me. Now my “enough” has changed, now I want my own. I want to take that scary, unpredictable adventure and travel along a path I can’t even begin to imagine. A family would be enough.

When you look at my list it seems so simple. A job, a home, and a family. A simple list, an unpredictable journey to get it. Each one affecting the other in some way, interwoven with friends and lovers who’s journey with you is just as unpredictable as the journey itself.

Each list ending with “that would be enough.” Life provides you with enough to make you happy, if that “enough” is what you want.

What is your “enough”?

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I am LOVING this book! Thursday, Aug 19 2010

Here we go again with this book, “Primal Health.” This time I made it 20 pages before grabbing my journal and scribbling away.

“It is the primal brain which gives us a sense of belonging to the universe, a religious sense, a spiritual dimension.”

Does this mean spending time in our primal brain (meditation of some kind) makes us feel more balanced internally? If we are balanced in our own primal brain do our external experiences reflect that? I think that could be the case. I always feel more at ease with myself and everyday life when I take time to meditate and focus on my internal self as opposed my perceived external self.

“The neocortex may be considered to be the seat of the rational; the primal brain the seat of the irrational. The struggle for life itself is irrational. Thus the neocortex can be seen as a tool to be used in every aspect of the struggle for life, and in the survival of the individual.

“Life is an irrational struggle.” I couldn’t agree more. Even I am guilty of doing irrational things with the claim of being “unbound” and “impulsive.” Those decisions were usually “gut” decisions or in the case of this book, primal decisions. I can’t say every gut decision resulted in a great experience, but from my experiences resulted a great clarity and understanding and, eventually, a conclusive outcome that made me feel balanced in my “universal belonging.”

So by going with my gut reaction I thrust myself into a very real, often times irrational experience, resulting in a moment of rational clarity. By allowing my primal brain to control the “flow” of my life the neocortex is better able to produce a calculated assessment that compliments the primal conclusion.

In theory this should result in an internal stability, an internal stability being healthier than an external stability, yes?

Geez, I really need someone to read this book so I can have a discussion with someone other than myself.

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Birthday Post Monday, Aug 16 2010

What a wonderful day this was for me. The cake was great, the gifts from Steve and Carey were beautiful, and the sunset could not have been more peaceful.

After a quick nap with the cat I picked up a book, “Primal Health.” By the tenth page I had come across something so thought provoking that I began to scribble furiously in my little black notebook. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote:

In the 1960′s Martin Seligman conducted a series of experiments to test learning theory. They divided some dogs into two groups. The first group was given electric shocks from which they could do nothing to escape; the second was given no shocks at all. The two groups were then tested in a special box which had two compartments divided by a barrier. In one compartment the dogs received a shock, but by jumping over the barrier to the other compartment they could escape the shock. The second group of dogs quickly learned by jumping over the barrier they could avoid the shock. The first group of dogs made no attempt to escape, even after being shown that over the barrier was the way to freedom. The first group had learned from the first experience that nothing they did made any difference, and they were unable to control events.

The behavior was named “learned helplessness.”

I truly believe that people have developed a learned helplessness to life. I don’t quite understand it since I was brought up that everything is within my power. My emotions and my actions come from me. If I’m unhappy, it’s because I’ve gotten myself there, maybe not entirely on my own, but I must take responsibility for the portion of the journey I chose to participate in.

There’s always something driving my emotions, my thoughts, my feelings. Whether they are good or bad, I am the one choosing to continue to feel them and contribute to them. All it takes is a simple choice to change and I can. It’s by no means easy and I still don’t get it right, but I recognize when I am the one making myself miserable and do what I have to to get out of the slump…including calling upon valuable friends for support and help.

I look around and see people who don’t share the same philosophy. Instead they point to someone or something and say ‘that’s why I’m unhappy.’ With no regard for the decisions they made to get to that point, it’s someone else’s fault. I look at those people and think: they have ‘learned helplessness.’ They have learned to be a victim to their life instead of an active participant.

As much as I yearn to help these people, I can’t. I am grateful they are there though. Cause I can look at them and remind myself: you are not a victim to your life, you are a traveler with in it, explore away…”

Strangely profound for a birthday journal entry. Strangely comforting. It sparked another topic, one that I will be taking more time and depth on. I’m saving it for another time…

Goodnight, Neverland, Goodnight…

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German Chocolate Cake – Chef’s Notes Monday, Aug 16 2010

Since I have a new found love of Paleo (and Primal) cooking I figured I would post on the German Cake Adventure.

The idea to make my own birthday cake came when I went Paleo.  I needed to be able to enjoy my day with out having to spend the next three days no further than 20 feet from a bathroom.

The recipe is taken off of Elana’s Pantry.

Cake Batter:   Only baking it for 35 minutes would have been better than the 40, but you can’t taste the difference.  Greasing the pans is very important during the extraction process.  And hey, while it’s baking, do a WOD. I did…the smell was motivating.

The Pecan Filling: The tricky part.  Mixing and heating the agave was fine. I recommend a large saucepan so there is more heated surface area.  The arrowroot mixture is the tricky part.  As soon as you’ve combined the arrowroot and water immediately turn up the temp on the burner and mix (vigorously) into the agave mixture.  If you don’t you’ll get theses globules that won’t do for frosting.  Once you’ve gotten it mixed in, briefly boil it then throw that sucker in the freezer.  Don’t pull it out and re-mix it till the entire pan is white, otherwise you get a partial filling partial agave goop.

Chocolate Frosting:  Can be done last minute and dead last.  Heat it all up and throw it in the freezer for ten minutes pull it out and mix it up.  If it thickens (which it should) re-heat it a bit and keep in the fridge till you’re ready for assembly.

Assembly: This needs to be done when EVERYTHING is at room temp or cooler.  Don’t get a head of yourself.  Otherwise the cake will look like the leaning tower of Piza.

The filling tasted better to me the next day, so I may make that the day before and do the cakes and icing day of.  Assembly was messy, hopefully next time my frosting skills improve.

I paired this with a Gluten-Free Strawberry ice cream I found at Ralph’s. Went well.  It tasted great without giving me a huge insulin spike or a sugar crash later.  Can’t wait to make it again with a few secret mod’s…  ;-)

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On-Ramp – 12 of 12 (FIN) Friday, Jul 2 2010

10 Rounds for Time:

10 Pull-Ups - 10 Ring Dips - 10 Sit-Ups - 10 Squats

On-Ramp Version:

5 Rounds Fo Time:

10 Jumping Pull-Ups – 10 Ring Dips (band) – 10 Sit-Ups – 10 Squats

10:45

Meals:

B: Egg+White – 2 Sausage – Green Tea

S: Banana – Cashews

L: Chicken – Pork

S: Apple

D: Smoothie

Total Cals: 1192 – F: 37 – P: 102  – C: 103

I’m still going strong on the Primal eating.  Goal for this month is to eat my veggies.  Will help with the weight loss and leaning.  Also want to incorporate fish into my diet.  Will make sauces that use the gluten-free sugars, but will hold off on making any true desserts till August.  For my B-Day I’m making a Gluten-Free German Chocolate Cake.

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On-Ramp – 11 of 12 Thursday, Jul 1 2010

Clean 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Reps.

On-Ramp Version:

AMRAP in 10 Min.:

5 Cleans

10 Push-Ups

7 Rounds + 3

Meals:

B: Egg+White – 3 Sausage

S: Banana – Cashews

L: Teryiaki Bowl

S: Apple

D: Burgers – Smoothie

Total Cals: 1665 – F: 65 – P:103  – C: 120

I eat more than I burn now.  Have to reduce the caloric intake, increase veggies, and protein.  That will help get my new numbers down.

Measurements:

Height: 5’6′

Weight: 120 lbs

Body Fat: 22.36%

Blood Pressure: n/a

Heart Rate: n/a

Neck: 12

Shoulders: 38

Bust: 32

Waist: 26

Hips: 37

Upper Arms: 10.5

Thighs: 19

Calf’s: 13.5

Navel: 29

BMI: 19.4

Numbers are coming down.  After tomorrow it will be time to kick this into high gear.  And I am definitely going to stay Paleo Challenge till NOLA.  I want those numbers even lower.  I also have my B-day and Antigua to be ready for, so fitness is priority!

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