Round 2: Week One, I'm BACK

Well hello my lovelies. Long time no chat. I know, I know, I should do better. Well, I am going to do better... at least for the next 12 weeks anyway. Why 12 weeks you wonder? Because the challenge is back and blogging is yet again the best way to keep myself accountable. This time however, I am going to be doing it a little bit differently and only blog once or twice a week. I am making a lot of life changes at this current juncture, committing to once or twice a week is doable, so we will start with that.

The challenge is also set up a little bit differently this go round. We were all put into teams and have accountability through our captains who will handle our nutrition and such. I am signed up for training again, but now we are focusing on strength training instead of cardio based weight loss since Q did such good job last time of teaching me how to do that on my own.  So now I have two people to keep me in line! My team is owned by my favorite Q of course, and my new trainer is Stephanie.  Meet Stephanie, she is kind of a Crossfit goddess:

 

I was a little bit nervous at first to switch to a new system, given I was used to Q being my rock and I didn't know how being trained by someone I'd never met would work out for me... As it turns out, it works really well. Stephanie is a total badass and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship (thanks for picking a good one Q). So far I have trained with her 3 times and she doesn't take it easy on me at all. She is kicking my ass in the nicest possible way. As you all know, I am a total goofball, and she puts up with me. I think she got jokes of her own though. The other day she told me to make sure when I got home not to just lay around OR I would be sore... well, I went home and stood up for a couple hours while I studied and still couldn't move over the next 3 days... What she should have said was "haha, just kidding, there is no hope for you. I just kicked your ass and your body is going to be jelly no matter what you do". But she didn't say that, she just smiled sweetly and I am still sore almost a week later. This is exactly what she inflicted on me to make me so sore:

 

I look amazing right? Ha, I'm just kidding, I look crazy... 55 pounds doesn't seem like a lot until you are made to pick it up 57 times. It was taking everything in me just to get the damn thing where it needed to go. I did it though. My burpee form severely suffered during the WOD, but I rallied and pushed through.

 

Since finishing the last challenge, the majority of my lifestyle changes and new habits have stuck around. I drink minimally, I try my best not to eat crap food and if I do, I eat in moderation. I split dishes with friends when we go out; and most importantly, I listen to my body. When it says it is full, I stop eating. That is something I was never able to do in the previous 28 years of living. When I weighed in last Thursday, I was lighter than I was when it ended. I have been sitting around 233 for months now.

 

I'm not going to lie though, the fact the scale is not moving is getting on my nerves... but it is my own fault. I did a lot of gallivanting this summer. I spent 2 weeks eating my way through Europe, 4 days in Canada shoveling Poutine in my face, and spent a lot of time down south where fried everything is life. The difference this time is I wasn't only sitting on my ass eating all the artery clogging deliciousness.  I was eating AND hiking, biking, climbing, running, and walking all over Gods creation. It still didn't help me loose any more weight, but it did prevent those Bojangles biscuits from sticking to my ass, so I will consider it a win. But play time is over and it is time to get back to business.

 

This time, the goal is to get below 200, drop my bodyfat by 5% and be able to do an unassisted pull-up. I think it is possible. Getting back on the healthy food only wagon is going to be the biggest hurdle, but with the help and support of my lovelies, I can do anything. Thanks in advance for being here for me ya'll, God knows I'll need it. Here is to a new leg of the journey. Talk to you soon.

 

Day 51: Crossfit for Dummies

I still want a cheeseburger. In fact, that is all I have been telling anyone who will listen to me. I want a cheeseburger and a glass of bourbon. Damn. It. I really want the bread more than anything. I think I would be happy with a salmon burger at this point.... with ketchup. I would very much like some ketchup.

So now that's out of the way, I had a pretty productive day. I woke up and went to Crossfit. I love/hate Crossfit, truly. This was the first time I did the "real" Crossfit class, the other times were just "elements", which is basically Crossfit for Dummies. The class was good, I was the only one in it. Marci instructed, I like her a lot. She is "nice"... as nice as someone can be who is forcing your body to do something that it reeeaalllyyy doesn't want to do at all. I cursed a lot. Shocker.

Deadlifting was the strength portion of class. I started with the 45 pound bar, then added 15 to each side, then 25's, then 40's, and tapped out at 125 pounds; which is what I stayed with. My first round was under 2 minutes. The rest, well, lets just say it wasn't under two minutes. It was super slow. I am not used to lifting heavier weight. This is the first time I have ever deadlifted anything over 80 pounds. The more I did, the dizzier I got. During round three, Marci asked if I wanted to stop, but I pressed to go one more. I was cool. I am not going to let myself pass out.

 

The WOD originally called for 5 rounds and instead of bench dips, it called for ring dips.... but Marci is amazing and modified it for my beginner self. She rocks! I felt like a badass at the end of class.

The rest of the day was wildly productive. I got home and organized my garage (I can finally park back in my spot, YES!), cooked lunch, ran to see a home I will be staging, stopped by the warehouse, headed to Fairfax for a design consult, drove home, cooked dinner, watched an episode of House of Cards, and now I am blogging.... I do this all while struggling to choke down a gallon of water. At 10:56pm, I finished the gallon.

Drinking this much water is the biggest struggle I have. Q is convinced the reason I have been sitting at the same weight for the last 4 days is because I am retaining water.... 'cause I'm not drinking enough. Well, today I drank enough, so I guess tomorrow morning I will see if there is any movement. I will let you know, talk to you then.

Day 50: All I Want in Life is a Cheesburger

Seriously, what I would give for a freaking cheeseburger right now. Joey and I just did Yoga then stopped  by the mall and there were Red Robin signs EVERYWHERE. I was about to trade my entire life for a 1500 calorie cheeseburger. Thank God for Joey, I was like "Seriously, lets go to Red Robin". He says "Okay, we are going to go right by it."... we literally drove right by it and I did not get my amazing cheeseburger.

This whole eating the same thing every day SUCKS ASS today. I mean, I am getting creative as all hell, but you can only season Cod and Salmon so many ways before it all starts to taste the same. It has only been 5 days, but it feels like 50. Only 25 more days of this to go. My God, Why?!

The other day, I actually had a dream about bread. One of my favorite local chains, Great American Restaurants, has this little roll that is like heaven in your mouth. It is this round, donut like, little piece of magic in your mouth. They also give you this honey spread to make it that much more delicious. Needless to say, I actually had a dream about this roll. All the dream was, was me looking at my hands that contained a roll, I cut it in 2 and spread the honey butter on it and just stared at it. I never actually ate it, not even in my dream. Bastard. I cant even enjoy it in my dream!

I mean, I am clearly doing this for a reason. I wore a shirt today that I haven't worn in a while and I had Q Take a picture. I am pretty happy, the back fat is starting to go away and I am starting to get a butt. All these squats are paying off. Love it!

 

The rest of the workout we did Tabata training. 5 rounds, 1 minute intervals, 2 minutes rest period between rounds. I did air squats, box step-ups, 300 meter row, crossfit style sit-ups, walkout push-ups, and wall balls. It was a good session.

 

 

I am back to two-a-days when possible. Now that it has gotten to be the busy season with Staging and Design, I am going to be less likely to get back in the evenings, but I am definitely going to make myself go when I can. Tonight, we went back for Yoga and it was fabulous.

 

On that note, I am going to take my fabulous self to the couch and watch my DVR'd Once Upon a Time. I am so happy it's back! I'll talk to you tomorrow.



 

Day 24: Tawhata Training?

I think one of the reasons I fell in love with Crossfit so easily is because as I turns out, Q takes some pages from the Crossfit playbook and adds them into her workouts. This morning we did Tabata training.

This version of Tabata training we did 4 rounds of 30 second intervals instead of the standard 20. The workout included lunges, air squats, battle ropes, leg press, shoulder press, jump rope, kettle bell swings, leg/arm lifts with medicine ball, and some other things that I know I'm forgetting. It was exhausting to say the least, but one thing is for certain... I loved it. At times I felt like I wanted to pass out and die. Thankfully I did not die.

The endorphins I get from pushing my body to the next level is addicting! I would think that it would never be as good the second time (like that first Percocet, the second one is never as good), but it gets increasingly better each time. I totally get the addiction. Unfortunately, I may have pushed myself a little too hard because I feel myself getting sick. God help me, I hope not. I really don't have time to be sick.  I am going to go to sleep and try to get a head of this. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 18: BEST. DAY. EVER.

Okay, so first thing before I get into my SUPER exciting news… YAY, I did Crossfit again and it was awesome. Josh instructed, and he is dope. We learned how to do Clean and Jerks and I had way too much fun dropping the weights on the floor. I was like a really awesome bull in a china shop. I’m glad we had a good time because it was the last time I will get to morning WOD with Lena; she is leaving me to go influence young minds and going back to teaching. I will miss her at the gym VERY much…. But I will still get to see her because she loves me, so Yay.

Now on to the most exciting news in my world. Wednesday I got a sweet message from a friend of mine, Julie, who has been reading the blog and wanted to introduce me to her friend Andrea who is kicking ass on this same journey. What I didn’t know at the time is what a badass this woman was. I did a little bit of internet stalking and quickly realized that I had just met someone who is a constant inspiration to THOUSANDS of women who are all on this journey with us. So OF COURSE what else was I to do but message her and spark up a conversation. I couldn’t have made a better decision.

Andrea is the owner, operator, blogger extraordinaire from Thick to Thin, a clothing company that started as a blog in 2011. Her “rants” chronicle her struggle from size 18 to size 6. The blog morphed into a clothing company shortly after when she realized that all workout clothing is made to be geared towards your typically sized athlete. With how much I have read about this company and this woman, I could tell you, but I will let her do it instead:

Thick2Thin // About Us from Altamira Film Co. on Vimeo.

 
My initial message informed Andrea that she was awesome and I am awesome, so naturally we should get awesome coffee sometime soon.  What came next took me by complete surprise and I have been on cloud 9 ever since. Andrea tells me that she has read my blog and thinks I am hilarious and would love it if I could guest blog for them sometime. This in itself almost put me in tears because I could not believe that she, of all people, took the time to read my little ole blog…. But that wasn’t it. She then asked me if I would consider being in their video shoot this weekend for their new Kickstarter campaign to gather funding and awareness to bring affordable and fashionable athletic gear to every woman, no matter her shape and size because #weareallathletes

I may still be in shock that I get to be a part of something this monumental. This particular subject is incredibly close to my heart; not only am I a size 18, but I am also 6 ft tall. I can’t find a decent pair of workout clothes to save my life. So off I will go Saturday morning to meet 7 other beautiful women to tell our stories and hopefully begin to change the world of fitness clothing as we know it. I am so blessed and completely overjoyed.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 16: It's Official, I've Drank the Koolaid

I never saw this coming.... Today I woke up in full on beast mode, ready to take over the world. Apparently I have drank the Crossfit Kool-Aid and didn't even know it happened.

Last night around midnight I decided to wake up early and head to my once dreaded, now excited for, 9am Crossfit session. Maybe it is the fact this is the last week I get to workout with Lena and I am trying to marinate in her presence... or maybe it's the fact that I feel like a total badass throwing weight around the gym like a dude. Either way, I'll take it. Crossfit, two thumbs up.

This morning we worked with Josh. He also happens to be Joeys new trainer for this challenge. Joey always comes home looking like he has punched in the stomach and now I know why. Dude has no sympathy and I love it. This morning our skill was dead lifts and cleans. Then followed by the 10 minute AMRAP with 10 deadlifts, 10 cleans, and 5 burpees. Check us out:

 

 

 

Look, I am slow, but I own it. I only got through three rounds, but man, I wanted to die after the first four minutes. Weight lifting is hard! 

To put the cherry on top, once we were done with AMRAP, Josh sees we technically have 15 minutes of class left and sends us over to the turf for abs. I don't know if you have ever heard of a Turkish getup, but seriously, fuck that. They suck. I hate it less than burpees, but it is a very close second. Anyway, we ended after those and we went over to the treadmill where I found Q looking at me as if I were crazy...And I actually might be.
 

The fact I did Crossfit in itself wasn't the crazy part. What made it nuts is the fact I had a training session with Q two hours later. I am used to this two a day situation, but it is usually one weight session and one strait cardio session. A good 6 hours apart... Not two hardcore training sessions back to back. 

I brought this on myself, as such, don't think for one second that the fact I did Crossfit in the morning made Q go any easier on me than she normally would. She didn't. We went hard with high reps. I did single leg presses 25 reps each, medicine ball throws, patty cake planks, bicycle crunches, 60 sumo squats with escalating weight, and some kind of torture where I sit down and hop up like a bunny 25 times. She made me do three rounds of these and I loved every second of it. 

I am either turning into a meat head or have completely lost my marbles. Either way I'm cool. The endorphins that I get when training are like nothing I have ever experienced. My favorite part of the day is working my ass off in this gym. 

Wait, who the hell is this and what has she done with Nicole?! I think the other Nicole is back in the basement painting, channeling all this new found energy with a glass of wine... Simultaneously talking to her best friend about the awesome afternoon she had creating art with her friend. So, I don't know who your going to talk to, but one of us will talk to you tomorrow. 

Day 11: Those Burpees are Fun… Said No One Ever.

Well, today started out great. I was all excited for my workout... I just knew it was going to be awesome, just like yesterday, right? But the dream died as soon as I walked through the door and saw Q standing in the Crossfit pit. Next words out of her mouth were “I got bad news, today you’re doing Crossfit again”. I, for the LIFE of me cannot figure out why this has caught on the way it has. I get going hard, but this is just ridiculous. Regular burpees suck, but Crossfit burpees are just plain hell. Why would anyone want to throw themselves on the floor and jump up and clap repeatedly? Ugh. I HATE Crossfit.

I may hate Crossfit, but there are certainly some aspects of it that I enjoy. Like doing front squats with the barbell. I had a 25 pound bar with a total of 55 pounds. I know that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but when doing 50 of these bitches during the skills lab, that little bit of weight starts to feel like 500 pounds. I felt like a beast. 

The other thing I enjoyed was how hard Q pushed me. If she wouldn’t have been screaming at me to give her at least three rounds, I wouldn’t have. I would have quit. No doubt about it. But I didn’t and as such, I can feel my arms gaining strength, I notice it with every movement and every shirt I put on. This feeling is addicting... So does that mean I just contradicted my declaration of deep hatred for Crossfit? I think it does.

Apparently I didn't hate my life too bad because I did go right back there tonight for Krank and Moi Class. I think Krank may be creeping up to be my favorite class. The craziest part is that it is HARD. You sweat like a pig and the music kind of sucks, but the high you get when you are Kranking is immense. I somehow transport myself into another dimension and just role with it. It was over and I didn’t even know it. I just kept going until I realized I was the only one moving. If I was to sit back and diagnose why I love this class, I think it is because it reminds me a lot of basic training with Steven instructing. This dude missed his calling as a drill instructor, no joke. At some point during the first leg of the class, someone said they were bored. This was the WRONG thing to say. Next thing you know everyone is out of their saddle doing lunges and squats. I was like damn, yo, this kind of behavior could cause a mutiny, girlfriend need to stay quiet... BUT AGAIN, that is still part of its sick and twisted charm. I still love it. Can’t you tell by the smile on our faces?

On that note, I must be on my way. I have to get my beauty rest for the best day of the week, Pilate’s Rehabilitation Friday! So cheers to pushing boundaries friends, I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

Day 9: Everything is Awesome

Everything is cool when you're part of a team
Everything is awesome
When we're living our dream

Today is one of those days I am totally humming “Everything is Awesome”…. Because everything is AWESOME. Crossfit sucks, but Crossfit is even awesome when your class consists of 1 instructor and 1 of your friends. Now I do have to say, this particular Crossfit is like Crossfit for beginners. It is called Crossfit Element’s. This teaches you how to do the move correctly in order to get you ready for “mother crossfit”. This is everything we did today:

It was a 9am class and my first time ever doing Crossfit. The very first sentence out of my mouth to the instructor, Marci was: “Hi, I’m Nicole, and I am terrified of Crossfit”. She smiled and assured me it was not scary. I still had my doubts... but now that I have Q as my trainer, I can assure you Crossfit is not so scary.  However, I repeat, It does suck. Thankfully it was just me, Lena and Marci who as people do not suck.

I love working out with Lena because she makes me laugh. I really love people who make me laugh, it is my most favorite thing to do. So when Marci says “make sure your chest hits the floor before your stomach” during the WOD pushups, and Lena shoots a look to Marci with her big doe eyes and says “But I can’t, my stomach is bigger than my chest!” (Which it is really, really not) I started laughing because she didn’t miss a beat. In addition to Lena’s quick sense of humor, she has been doing Crossfit for a little bit now and it made me push myself further than I probably would have otherwise. I tried my best to keep up with her, but that last set of wall balls did me in.  I really want to be friends with that damn medicine ball, but he sure is making it hard! Enjoy this picture of our relationship struggle:

After we finished up Lena and I walked over to the smoothie bar to refuel and started chatting with my favorite bartender Shep.  This guy has honestly become one of my favorite people in the entire world. He is an incredibly talented artist and one of the nicest and most humble people you will ever meet. He brings a smile to my face every time I talk to him. Today was no exception. He, along with other talented local artists are working on massive installations for the new Clearbrook Center for the Arts in Tackett’s Mill.  As we were talking, he started drawing and behold with only a marker I watched him bring form and motion to life with his hands. I was completely hypnotized. Next thing you know, he hands me the marker and tells me to “add a line”. I was so nervous, I felt like I was just given a piece of gold from King Midas and I was a lonely popper who didn’t know what to do with it. He gave me a lesson on how to Zentangle and I ended up sitting there for the next 2 and a half hours drawing and painting with an incredible artist who I am proud to call my friend. This is the master in action:

That’s right, at our gym we foster healthy bodies and healthy minds. I did Crossfit and then got an art lesson from one of the most talented people I have ever met. What do you do at your gym?  

After I got out of my art bubble and realized what time it was, I left and ran over to Ikea to buy more stuff for a client. The rest of the day flew. I went to Arlington to drop off my clients items, came home, cooked dinner, started writing tonight’s entry, and then headed back to the Gym for Zumba. Lena even decided to stick around for class tonight too! So together we danced our butts off with Frank. It was a wonderful day. EVERYTHING was AWESOME!

To end, I shall leave you with some of Shep’s pieces I hijacked off his Instagram. If you love art and want to be inspired, follow him. His name is Shepherd Norman and handle is “___evol_” (that is three underscores, evol, one underscore). He has so many mediums, it is incredible. Enjoy!