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 22: Ain't No Half-Steppin'

When I walked into the gym this morning, Q tells me we are going to be straight cardio training today. My first thought was "Shit, she is going to put me back on my arch enemy, the stair climber. I am going to have to make a run for it".... thankfully, she did not. She stuck me on the treadmill for an hour and jacked up the incline to one billion. My head was basically touching the ceiling. It didn't suck like I thought it would though. She does a really good job of keeping my mind off of what I am actually doing.  I ended up burning over 750 calories, I tried to take a picture of the incline, but it turned out all wonky and you can't read it. So Q took this one:

 

 

I am a bit surprised with this picture. Wendy mentioned the other day that she could tell a difference in the side pictures. I could not.... but when I look at this photo, I can. Maybe it is because my arms are up. I don't know. I mean, the numbers don't lie... I know there are major changes going down. I checked my weight again this morning... Since first seeing Q for nutrition in September last year, I have lost 17.1 pounds. 10 of those pounds were lost in the last 21 days. The weight is melting off with this whole insane training schedule I have going.

 

Speaking of melting. Q has me in the sauna for 20 minutes after our workouts now. Apparently its good for your muscles. I had never been in a sauna before. They honestly just looked like a really hot box and not very much fun.... but I was wrong. Saunas are awesome. It reminded me of my once beloved tanning bed. (I used to be an obsessive tanner, but stopped a few years ago because I became absurdly paranoid about skin cancer.) I went to sleep and ended up in there for longer than I meant to be, but not before taking a selfie... 

 

 

After I left the gym I went on about my business. I ran up to Alexandria and had lunch with my friend Desi. I love her. She is the best. She is kind of a social media genius, so she gave me a crash course on all things social. I have my work cut out for me. I left around 5:30 and headed back to the gym for round two.

 

I told you once before I am a bit of a voyeur when it comes to the trainers. I love watching other peoples sessions. When I went back to the gym, I was 20 minutes early for my Kettlebell class with Steven; so, I posted up on one of the stationary bikes. I am fairly convinced those things don't do a damn thing for you body, but I can easily sit in the corner, play on my phone and take unsuspecting pictures of Joey with no one any the wiser. I sat there with my hood up for about 15 minutes before my peoples noticed I was there. See:

 

Hi Joey. I miss your hair (Seahawks lost so he had to shave it all off this morning. Boys an their bets, I will never understand it.) The dude in the yellow is that Josh guy I talk about sometimes. He is one of the Crossfit coaches and personal trainers. He is cool.... kind of... ;)

 

After I got my kicks from watching Joey, I waddled over to the KB class. Sabrina had just finished up with Q so she made her go to the class with me. Poor Sabrina. This is why you have to run out the gym as soon as your time is up, otherwise you end up getting thrown into something else. KB was "fun". I used the 17 pound weight again and realized that I really was tossing that thing around like it ain't nothing. So, Wednesday I really am going use the 26 pounder (I know I said I was last Wednesday, but I was scared). After all, ain't no half-steppin' when it comes to fighting this battle.

 

On that note, I am out. I will talk to you tomorrow.

 

 

Day 21: It Takes 21 Days to Make a Habit

Well, there is no scientific evidence that is actually the case, but whatever... I was still VERY much so looking forward to hitting the 21 day mark.... and TOOOODDDAAYYYYY is the DAY! I have officially been eating right and exercising for 21 days straight. That is pretty damn awesome to me.

If you would have asked me 20 days ago if this would actually be the case, I don't think I would have said yes. I don't think I would have said anything. I was in it, but I wasn't really IN it; but for some reason, this time something clicked. At this point it feels like second nature to sit down at a restaurant and the first thing out of my mouth is asking for the calorie menu. It is also getting easier to turn my nose up to pizza when Ryan brings it home or saying no to booze when everyone around me is drinking. These are all HUGE for me. I honestly never thought it was possible.

Now to be clear, don't think for one second I don't struggle. I absolutely do. This last week Ryan got a damn pizza... it was sitting on the counter in my kitchen.  I walked over to it, opened the box and literally stared at it for 5 solid minutes while having a serious conversation with myself about wanting... longing really...  to completely destroy the entire delicious buttery box. (GOD help me I love pizza so much). I finally made a compromise and allowed myself to pick off one peperoni. Let me tell you I savored the SHIT out of that thing. Oh my God it was so good. I really love pizza ya'll, you don't even know. If I could eat it every single day I would. After my delicious treat, I put the lid back down, walked away, and never looked at it again. I broke through a major psychological barrier that day.

When it comes to booze, I most certainly still drink. I just don't drink like I used to. Instead of sitting down and having a sugary signature drink or full flavored beer, I have vodka and club soda or one glass of red wine. I am still just as happy as I was before. Well, even happier really... my bill isn't as high and it takes me a LOT less time to get a buzz.

On a YAY ME note.... I have officially made it through the super bowl without shoving my face full of shit and drowning in a bottle. I ate edamame, a ham sandwich with mustard, and drank unsweetened peach tea. Success!  I will go on to day 22 feeling awesome. Cheers to 21 days of success and 21 more. I'll talk to you tomorrow.