Author: christietracy

I’m in Love

I’M IN LOVE!!!

With Olympic Lifting that is. . . .
So tonight was my first backyard session in a loooong time with my trusty ‘ol barbell and bumper plates. I started back with the programming from Coach Wilkes I was using before my hiatus.

Tonight’s Workout (Day 1):

  • 20 sets of 1 rep Snatches at 70% of my max
  • 15 set of 1 rep C&J’s at 70% of my max
  • Full recovery (i.e. – sit my ass down!) between each rep

I was really tired when I got off of work, but knew I would feel better once I got outside, so I sucked it up, changed into my w/o clothes, and headed out into the 95 degree sun on my back porch. I put on some Breaking Benjamins and Puddle of Mud, and started warming up w/ some double unders, some PVC work, and the Burgenger Warmup.
I wish I could put into words the feeling of euphoria that came over me as I picked up the barbell for my first lift. I honestly can’t even explained it. It was as though all the world was right, and this is exactly where I was supposed to be, and the bar felt great in my hands, and the ground solid under my feet.
As I went into my first lift, the bar literally jumped up over my head, I hit full squat depth, and stood up with a solid core – and thought to myself “Oh hell yeah. . . . this feels good!!” The thud of the bar hitting the ground as I dropped it brought back feelings & memories of PR’s and progress. . . such a great feeling.
As I continued my snatches, I concentrated on proper form, a good pull, full depth, and a tight core. It just felt SO GOOD to lift like this again. I got an adrenaline high that I’m still coming down from, and I just wanted to lift and lift and lift forever. . . .
But all good things must come to an end . . . My Clean & Jerks felt just as wonderful, and as I finished the last one, I smiled. The smile grew to a Cheshire Cat Grin, which is still plastered to my face an hour later.
I can’t believe I ever let myself get pulled away from this routine – it feels so good, and there is absolutely no turning back, and no more excuses from here on out.
While I’m on the topic of workouts, I’ll mention the results of this morning’s WOD as well. It incorporated plenty of my weaknesses!
Today’s WOD: “Mary Poppins”
As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 minutes of:

  • 10 Ring Dips
  • 10 Pistols
  • 200 meter run

I scaled this WOD, as my ring dips are still very, very weak, and I can’t do more than one or two pistols at a time RX. I used 1/2 of the red (smallest) resistance band for the Ring Dips, and held onto a ring (as little as possible) as I did my Pistols.
Total Rounds Completed: 6
Hope everyone reading this has a great weekend! I’m planning an early morning visit to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow to stock up on goodies 🙂

Feeling (Suprisingly!) GREAT

Yesterday began my Whole30 journey, and I am honestly suprised to say that I made it through Day 1 without any trouble whatsoever!

I was expecting at least a mild headache, some fatigue, and maddening hunger/cravings, but I really didn’t experience any of this. I think that having all of my food prepped and ready made a huge difference, because there was absolutely no stressing over “what am I going to eat next”.

Breakfast was a huge omlet w/ tons of veggies & avocado, and also my own personal version of “fruit salad” with a few strawberries, blueberries, 1/4 peach, some Organic Unsweetened coconut flakes, a few walnuts, and a little bit of coconut milk. YUM!! This breakfast filled me up, but I didn’t feel that icky bloated/stuffed/cranky/guilty feeling that I have been experiencing all to often lately after breakfasts of donut holes or some other sugary nightmare.

I was absolutely shocked to look up at the clock at 1:00 and realize that I hadn’t had any mid-morning crashes or sugar cravings! I fixed a huge salad w/ baby spinach, avocado, HB Egg, Jicama, red beets, carrots, onions, cucumbers and Wild Planet Albacore for lunch. I didn’t even need any dressing b/c the brand of tuna that I use is cooked in it’s own juices in the can, and was moist enough that I didn’t even miss a salad dressing!

Mid-Afternoon (around 4pm), I snacked on a handful of almonds, a few slices of Jicama, and 1/2 of a clementine – and then headed off to help out w/ CF classes from 4:30 – 7:30pm.

At this point in the day, I hadn’t had a single craving, no hunger pangs, and had plenty of enerygy to spare!

I did have a slight “zone-out” session/drop in energy around 6pm while at the gym, but it passed fairly quickly and wasn’t bad at all – I may not have even noticed it except that a member started pointing at me from across the gym, waved at me, and said “you okay over there Christie”? – which made me realized that I had kinda zoned out and was just staring into space a little .. . oops!

At home after classes, I had some grilled chicken and roasted brussel sprouts sprinkled w/ olive oil, black pepper, sea salt, and a little cayanne pepper. I had cooked the frozen Tyson chicken breasts with no added seasoning, and while it tasted great, I was suprised to find that it was really, really salty! I guess a day without added salt had already woken my taste buds up a little bit. I am going to try to go for the “all natural” chicken in the future and avoid the pre-frozen stuff that has a sodium solution – it was just too much salt. I think I used a touch too much sea salt on my brussel sprouts too – they tasted great, but my fingers were a little swollen when I woke up this morning.

Yesterday was a “rest day” at the gym, so no pre or post workout nutrition.

My legs were REALLY sore yesterday from the previous day’s workout, so I was thankfull for the rest day!

I turned in about 9:30 last night, and slept like a baby until my alarm went off this morning at 4:45.

I’ll summarize Day 2 (today’s) WOD and such in a post tomorrow morning.

Right now (7:30am, morning of day 2), I’m feeling absolutely awesome! Although I’m a little full from my post-workout sweet potatoes/turkey (think I’ll cut down the portion tomorrow). I’m really looking forward to my first Oly Lifting session in ages tonight when I get off of work!!

Yay Snatches!

Whole30 – Here I Come!

Yes, I’m back after a long hiatus from blogging. . .

Long story short: I fell off the Paleo Wagon big time, and my Oly Lifting has suffered as well over the last 3 months because of a lot of unexpected business travel, making it difficult to find locations that would let me do my “own thing” during an Open Gym time.

No Excuses, and I’m right back up on the wagon. . . I just hope Coach Wilkes will take me back. . I’ve literally fallen off the face of the planet . . .

So I have a two-part game plan to address both nutrition and training.

Part One: Nutrition

I’m jumping back in head-first, no excuses, and balls-to-the-wall Nazi-style hard core Paleo! I saw such great results when following a Paleo nutrition plan previously, that it blows my mind that I ever stopped. . .but the past is the past!

I started the Whole30 Plan today, as detailed by Melissa Urban and Dallas Hartwig on their website: http://www.whole9life.com/

Basically, this means 30 days of Paleo, but stricter than I’ve ever gone before. I’ll also be cutting out all artificial sweetners and Protein Powders. Nothing but whole, natural food for the next 30 days. . . and then some.

While this is a 30 day program, I fully plan to continue past the 30 days. I know that I’ve done a ton of damage to myself over the last 4-5 months by pigging out on Junk Food, Fast Food, and Sugar. . . I am using this 30 day program to spring-board me back into the “routine” of eating right, and plan to continue the lifestyle at the end of the 30 days. I’ll be posting regular updates here througout the month.

I have learned my lesson in the past about just “jumping into something” w/o preparing first, so I made sure to fully stock my fridge and prep most of my food last night, so that there will be no moments of “Crap – there’s nothing to eat”!

I’ve chopped up and bagged Fresh: Broccoli, Kale, Collard Greens, Brussel Sprouts, Zucchini & Squash, Scallions, Jicama, Artichokes, and Spinach

I’ve cooked & portioned: Sweet Potatoes (for post-workout), Lean Ground Turkey (to mix in w/ my SP Post Workout – YUM!!), HB Eggs & Red Beets (for salads)

I’ve stocked up on Avocadoes, Olive Oil, Olives, Unsweetened Organic Coconut Flakes, Coconut Milk, Almonds, Walnuts, Strawberries, Blueberries, FISH OIL, Omega-3 Eggs, Bagged Spinach, Baby Carrots, Mushrooms, and Wild Planet Canned Tuna

My Freezer is now full of: GrassFed Steaks, GF Stew Meat, and GF Ground Meat, Wild Fish, and “Natural” Chicken

And Lastly, I have THROWN OUT all: Salad Dressings, Splenda, Stevia, Coffee Syrups, and Junk Food

My husband isn’t doing this with me (I tried. . . . trust me!!), but he’s agreed to let me put all of his bread products, cereals, ect on a single shelf in the pantry so that I don’t have to rifle through it when reaching in for almonds or olive oil . . . he also has a dedicated shelf in teh fridge for his milk, soft drinks, ect.

I’d say that I’m about as prepared as I’m gonna be!!!

Part Two: Training

The first thing that I need to do is get in touch w/ Coach Wilkes and see if he would be willing to continue to provide my Oly Lifting Programing and Coaching. . . I kindof fell off the face of the earth on him with no notice (and feel horrible about it), so I’m hoping he’ll take me back.

I haven’t been consistantly Oly Lifting for the last 2-3 months b/c of all of that travel, so I know that I will have to back-track a little bit to get back to the level that I was at before my hiatus.

I plan to spend the next month getting back “up to speed” using the programming that was working for me just before I disappeared. Then I will re-evaluate w/ Coach, and go from there.

I plan to WOD at CrossFit XLR8 M, W, F, and Sat mornings. REVISED 8/3 – Will only do MetCon on M, W, & F. Cutting Saturday out so that I can spend more time on Saturdays doing skillwork.

I’ll be Olylifting/Squating and doing Skill Work in my Backyard Gym in the evenings M – F.

I plan to run 1 day a week, either on Tuesdays or Thursdays in the morning. I am going to limit my running b/c I don’t want it to hold back my stregnth gains, but I need to start running a little bit because I’m slower than a tortoise, and have got to improve my speed a bit. I’m not talking long runs here – just 2-3 miles, with some sprints thrown in the mix occasionally. REVISED 8/3 – I will only run 1 -2 times per month, rather than once per week. I want to focus on stregnth gains right now, and I’m worried that too much running may slow that down.
Well, that’s the plan! Now I just need to put it into action. I’m not making any promises about how often I’ll update here, because training and nutrition have to take priority over blogging. . but I’ll do my best to update regularly. . if nothing else, it helps to keep me accountable!

New Snatch PR – 100 lbs!

I was VERY excited to get back to some Oly lifting yesterday afternoon . . .

Since ramming my foot into the couch, I had been unable to perform the Oly lifts for about a week and a half and I was going stir crazy!

I’d been gradually increasing my use of the foot, and while I still wasn’t able to get a shoe on it, I felt comfortable going through the motions with a few light barefoot snatches, being careful to keep my weight on my heels for the most part.

The funny thing was that they snatches felt soooo good that I just kept taking the weight up. Before I knew it, I was at 95 lbs (my previous PR), and it flew up like it was weightless – what a great feeling 🙂

So I said “what the hell?” and went for a PR of 100 lbs. A little background on this – I’ve been chasing a “Triple Digit Snatch” for what felt like FOREVER!!! I know that 100 lbs isn’t that heavy in the big scheme of things but this stupid weight had formed a huge mental block in my mind and seemed insurmountable to me for the longest time. . . for some reason that third digit just scared the hell out of me and made my form and technique go out the window on every previous attempt. It still amazes me how much my state of mind can affect my lifting!

So I tried not to get my hopes up – I loaded on the extra measly 5 pounds and failed on my first attempt – I didn’t even come close to completing my pull before I started dropping under the bar. I feel sure that Coach would have slapped me silly for that half-ass pull!

I dropped the weight back down to 95 lbs and again pulled it easily. . . so back up to 100 lbs I went – and snatched it on the 2nd attempt 🙂

To say that I was ecstatic to finally have reached this goal would be an understatement. I hopped around like a little kid on Christmas morning with a big ‘ol grin on my face!

After a few minutes, I attempted 105 a few times and missed it each time – again, I wasn’t completing my pull before begining to drop under the bar. At this point, my foot was starting to really throb, so I called it a night – but I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ll hit 105 on the next attempt. I’ll be even better off when I can get back into my “magic shoes” (my VS Weightlifing shoes)!

Momma Always Said . . . .

“Don’t Run in the House”!!!!

Coach Wilkes was kind enough to remind me of this after hearing about the great “Toe Incident of 2010” in which I managed to ram my foot into the couch leg at “mach 5” when running to let the dogs in. . . . resulting in a broken 5th digit . . pretty, right??? lol

So my training plans have been sidetracked slightly, but I’m trying to make the best out of the situation by using the next several weeks to work my upper body and core, both of which are in desperate need of improvement!

I was supposed to max all of my lifts next week after a light week this week, but that just isn’t going to happen . . . will post-pone my max efforts until my foot is healed up – hopefully by the 3rd week in February.

Today, I decided to work on some L-sits, Handstand holds, and Ring Dips – what a humbling and horrifying experience! I was mortified to realize how much I have been neglecting my core work. . . my L-sits were embarassing at best. Handstand holds were okay. . . and Ring Dips were non-existant w/o the help of a band.

Game plan to improve? I brought home some parallettes. I’ll be working on L-sit progressions nightly – about 15 minutes per night. Starting with legs bent in, then one leg out at a time, and finally a full L-sit (Thanks Greg for this progression suggestion!!). I hope to be able hold a full L-sit on parallettes for 20 seconds by the end of February.

As for ring dips, the problem is clearly in the strength of my triceps (or lack thereof). I’m going to take Lance’s suggestion and do 50 triangle pushups nightly in order to abuse the hell out of my triceps and hopefully increase my strength. I’ll continue to work on Ring Dips once a week and monitor my improvement. I hope to be able to do RX ring dips by the end of February as well.

Getting Stronger :)

I know I’ve been MIA from the blog since vacation . . . but I’m going to try to be more faithful w/ posting going forward.

Lot’s of exciting things going on, but I’m crunched on time, so here’s the Cliffnotes:

  • Started back on Wilkes programming a few weeks after returning from vacation. Been back in the “routine” for 2 full weeks.
  • Maxed my FS and BS today, and both have increased 15 lbs since mid-October . . .Coach Wilkes’ programming is working it’s magic! What a great way to finish out 2009 🙂
  • I’m helping to organize the Paleo Challenge sponsored by Portland’s CrossFit XLR8. The challenge will run from Jan 4th – Feb 21st, and I’m SUPER excited about it! My diet has definitely been far from ideal since Nov 15th when I left for vacation, and this is going to help me get back on track, and hopefully take my performance and strength gains to the next level as well!
  • I registered last week as a competitor for the Southern Region CF Sectionals to take place March 13th – 14th in Austin, TX. I have lots of prep to do to get ready, but I’m excited about the opportunity to compete! If I place in the top 30 women at sectionals, I’ll go on to compete in Regionals in Dallas in May.

That’s it for now. . Happy New Year everyone!

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken & Butternut Squash

Crock Pot Chicken & Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, gizzards etc. removed
1/2 butternut squash, cubed (about 3 cups)
carrots, sliced thick (about 1 cup)
celery, sliced with some of the greens included (about 1 1/2 cups)
5-6 garlic cloves, left whole
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced thick
dried thyme leaves
ground pepper
paprika
Sea Salt
1 bay leaf

Instructions:

  1. Clean Chicken, pat dry, and place in crockpot
  2. Place Bay Leaf in bottom of Crockpot next to chicken
  3. Add veggies around the chicken so that it ends up “nestled” in veggies
  4. Sprinkle the thyme leaves, ground pepper, and paprika over the top of the chicken & rub into skin

  5. Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt over chicken and veggies

  6. Cook on High for 2-3 hours, then turn to low for another 2-3 hours

This dish makes it’s own (delicious!) juice so there is absolutely no need to add liquid.

When you’re ready to eat, remove the chicken from the pot. It will be tender and may fall apart, so be careful! Serve with the veggies, and top with some juice from the pot.

I’ve found that this is a particularly good post-workout meal because of the butternut squash. I usually lift in the evening in my backyard, so if I have this cooking, all I have to do when I’m done liftin is come in and fix a plate – this eliminates the need for me to fix a post workout snack, wait an hour, and then eat dinner 🙂

Recipe: Mini Meatloaf “Muffins”

Mini Meatloaf “Muffins”

I’m always looking for ideas for portable “snacks” that are high in protein. . . One popular favorite is the “mini-meatloaf”. These are super easy to make, and ultra portable! You can play around with the veggies and swap out different kinds (mushrooms, squash, cabbage, ect) to tailor these to your personal tastes.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
½ can tomato paste (No Salt Added if available)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ of a green bell pepper finely diced

Loafs:
1 lb ground meat (turkey, beef, buffalo, lamb, pork, or a combination!)
½ of a green bell pepper finely diced
½ of a red bell pepper finely diced
½ of a white (or yellow, or red) onion finely diced
½ shredded carrot
1 egg (Omega-3 if available)
½ can of tomato paste (No Salt Added if available)
1 tsp garlic powder (Minced garlic works great too)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt


OPTIONAL: 4 slices of nitrate-free, no sugar added bacon chopped (If you want to increase your fat intake)


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees


Sauce:
This part is easy. Add water to tomato paste until you get a nice consistency and mix all ingredients together. A nice consistency would be one similar to ketchup.


Loafs:
1. Mix all ingredients together in a big mixing bowl.
2. Fill Muffin Tins about ¾ full with meat mixture
3. Paint some of your sauce on top of your mini-loaves.
4. Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
5. After cooked, paint some more sauce on top of your loaves and serve.


These make perfectly portable snack-sized protein/veggie portions! They can be frozen and thawed at a later time as well!

IT’S OFFICIAL – I’VE FINISHED MY B.B.A. COURSEWORK!!!!

This is going to be a short and sweet post b/c I am EXHAUSTED and have to work tomorrow. . . but I just officially completed the final assignment of my B.B.A. with a concentration in Accounting!!!!

As soon as my teachers are done with the grading, I will (FINALLY) be an official college graduate!
Okay . . off to bed . . . CAN’T WAIT TO OLY LIFT AND CROSSFIT TOMORROW!!!!!!

Coach – if your reading this – ready for the squat program now 🙂

A weekend full of Schoolwork . . Again

Okay, I am soooo close to finishing my degree, but am so far past the point of burnt out, it’s not even funny. I know that I can probably wrap up all of my remaining assignments this weekend if I just buckle down and DO them, but every time I start to do research or write a paper, my mind wanders off to Weightlifting stuff, or CrossFit stuff, or I start thinking about creative paleo recipes that I could try, or I start daydreaming about my upcoming vacation. . . It’s like my brain is hell bent against my finishing.

I am so tired though, and the classwork is just hanging over my head like a cloud and making everything else less enjoyable. I know that if I just knock it out, I’ll be able to get on with enjoying all the other stuff in my life. . . so why won’t my brain cooperate???

So I have made myself (and my husband) this promise – I will not log into facebook, blogspot, yahoo or ebay. . and will not do one single CrossFit workout or Oly Lifting session until I have completed the rest of my coursework. If you know me personally, then you know that I will go absolutely mental if I am forced to go more than 2-3 days w/o my workout “fix”. . . so I absolutely MUST just suck it up and finish the course work.

Wish me luck (Lord know’s I’ll need it!!!). . and hopefully I’ll be back posting an update that I’m finished by Monday!

A Fridge stocked with Paleo food is a Beautiful thing!!

I went grocery yesterday morning on my way home from CrossFit, and stocked up on all of my grub for the week, but I decided yesterday afternoon that I would go ahead and prep most of it all at once.

Usually, I cook meals each night, and throw together a salad from scratch every day at lunch, but it’s interfering w/ my schoolwork in the evenings b/c by the time I cook and clean up from dinner, I feel like half the night is gone!

So I transformed into Chef-Boy-R-Paleo last night and cooked up a storm 🙂

My fridge is now stocked with:

Cooked Ground Bison, already portioned into 3-4 oz servings

Cooked Egg Whites already portioned
Cooked Breakfast Turkey Sausage Links
Baked Chicken Tenders (enough for 3-4 days)
Paleo Turkey Meatballs (a John Berardi Recipe that I LOVE! I’ll share it below!)
Collard Greens/Onions/Garlic Sauteed in Olive Oil
Green/Red/Yellow/Orange Peppers/Onions/Garlic sauteed in Olive Oil

Roasted Beets (YUMMY!!)

Broiled Brussel Sprouts
Carrots already diced up for salads
Scallions already diced up for salads
Pre-cut broccoli & Cauliflower
SOG Paleo Hummus (another YUMMY recipe find!)
SOG Paleo BBQ (yep, yet another great home-made paleo condiment)
Hard Boiled Eggland’s Best Eggs (for salads)
Watermelon (cut up and portioned)
AIN’T IT PURTY?!?! 🙂

I also have some meat that I didn’t cook yet, b/c it will be easy to just throw it on the grill or in the oven for a quick dinner:

  • Wild Salmon
  • Wild Snapper

  • Bison Steaks

And of course, I have the essentials that don’t require prep:

  • Fresh-Ground Almond butter

  • Pastuerized Egg Whites

  • Baby Spinach (for salads)

  • Avocados / Tomatoes / Onions

  • Coconut Water (for PWO)

I feel SO great having 95% of my cooking done for the week, and the combinations are endless w/ the stuff above!

One of my favorites: Throw some of the sauteed peppers/onions in a bowl w/ ground bison, a diced tomato, and half an avocado – YUM

Now, I’ll have my evenings free for the rest of the week to concentrate on nothing but schoolwork – Yay!

Here’s the link to the Turkey Meatballs reference above: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi85.htm#14 – I make it exactly as directed, except I only make the turkey “meatballs”, and not the green beans b/c the green beans aren’t 100% paleo.

A fully stocked fridge, and a backyard full of fitness “toys” . .it doesn’t take much to make me happy 😉