Shopping

Rest Day

Thus more time for reflections on the blog. I will warn you now that this post has great potential to veer into the sappy and far too introspective realm, so read at your own risk...

As you may remember, I have some very kind and helpful friends, always ready to tell me what I need to hear. Recently one thoughtful friend took a picture of me and sent it over with a note that this was proof that I needed new pants. She was right, but I really, really didn't want to go shopping. I used to like to shop for clothes. Long ago. Not so much anymore.

But I knew I needed to bite the bullet and go shopping for pants, the very worst. As comfortable as they are, there is no way that I could just live in my workout clothes. Things were getting a bit desperate since I have been committed to getting rid of clothes as they get too big (I guess I have been keeping them until "fall right off" big) so that I have no "fat clothes" to fall back on. Part of my commitment to my new healthy life this means that if I put weight back on I will have nothing to wear.

So it was time to go shopping yesterday. At the first store, I just pick up some jeans, figuring it was time to just try almost anything on (still passing over all of the skinny jeans since they will never fit and I will never wear them anyway.) Something amazing happened! They fit! After several stores and lots of options, my mind just wouldn't stop spinning.

I was a full size smaller than I had planned on. You know, not the ooh, I found one skirt in a size smaller experience, but the yep, everything I try on in that smaller size fits experience. That means I am down 6 sizes, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am more than half way through my size losing. Admittedly, I never, ever would have dreamed weighing this much at this size, but I will chalk that up to the muscle that allows me to back squat 218. You got to do what you got to do.

In all of this, my mind raced to two different places. One, the mall is a dangerous place. Goodbye days of shopping at just a handful of stores that carry the big sizes, hello to shopping everywhere. See, that is dangerous! I could have shopped and shopped and shopped yesterday, but I told my sister-in-law that I would babysit, and I have limited funds for clothes that I don't plan on wearing for too terribly long.

Secondly, I realized that the mind is a very funny thing. I know that I have lost weight. I know that I am smaller. I know that I have changed. I am happy about a lot of things from the past year, and there are lots of important numbers: my deadlift, my back squat, my first rx'd wod, my changing measurements, my lower weight, and more. But I am really happy about being the size I am now. Definitely not so happy I want to stay here, but happy that I really seem to have accomplished something.

Why is this such a big deal? I am really kind of puzzled by it. I know I have accomplished things before this. I know this size is not the most important accomplishment. But I know that it means a lot. I think it means so much because it is such a tangible sign that I have entered into something new. I can't shop in the Women's department anymore because everything there really, truly is too big. I can shop in any other store and not buy the largest size on the rack. I can go shopping all.day.long and not run out of options.

I will have to be careful to not spend too much money on clothes...

Overhead

Skills
Push Press
88x5x3
with box jumps 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

I started with the 16 and worked up to 21.5.


WOD
4 rounds
12 Overhead Lunges 53#
2 rope climbs-sub with 14 ring rows
200 m run
Time: 15:05


Holding anything heavy over my head for any significant time, let alone moving my legs at the same time is not one of my strong points, so I am very happy with the 53# and how much more stable I felt with it today. I realized that this was day 6 this week, so tomorrow is definitely a rest day.

I was ready for a non-lifting wod

Skill
Snatch High Pull
15x5, 35x5, 55x5

Working on that pull! Hips, arms, feet, elbows...I am really glad I don't have to do anything special with my nose for this lift.

WOD
AMRAP in 8 minutes
5 push ups
7 C2B pull ups
10 jumping squats
Me: 7 rounds + 4 pull ups

Rx'd for the push ups was clapping, but yeah, I am super stoked to be doing "real" push ups now, so I'll just dream about the day I add the clap. I had to do jumping pull ups for the C2Bs, so I couldn't practice my mean banded pull up skillz. Oh well, that would have given me a lot of rest since I would have been doing them one.at.a.time after the first couple of rounds. Jumping squats are surprisingly much worse than air squats, and I was very tempted to just leave off the jump since I was kind of behind the post and Sam probably wouldn't have been able to see me. But I didn't.

Because the trainers always see. As evidenced by the events this week:
Sam just had to look out the door to see me walking back from the 200 m run. I know, that's bad, but I did run all the way to the parking lot...

Kyle just had to notice that I had skipped the inchworm during his warm up. And yes, after I got caught, I did it, even though I really think he just puts it in there because he knows how much I hate it. I noticed that there was a key change in the warm ups after they all went to the CFFB certification. All this love for high knee kicks, butt kicks, ninja rolls, inchworms...all came after this event. Was this cert about football or stuff designed to make you clients look awkward? :)

But really, I couldn't leave off the jump because I know, even as much as I hate it at that moment, that it would be cheating myself. I know that I can squat and jump, so I know I have to do it.

Cleans, again, and again, and again...

Skill
Clean
63x5
83x5
103x5

Ha, I will get better at this lift some time! I obviously need to practice these a lot.

WOD
max box jumps for 1 minute-24
This number then indicates the number for each part of the wod, but of course we didn't know this little fact when we did the box jumps!

Then for time-
400 m run
24 deadlifts 153#
24 push ups
24 wall balls 12#
400 m run
Time: 11:49

Not What I Wanted

Skill
Jerk
63x3
83x3
93x3
103, 108, 118 (PR)

WOD
Row 1500m
Time: 6:59

I wanted to get a higher number on the jerk than I did. I wanted to not have a pounding headache and a bad neck. I wanted to do the regular wod. (Well, honestly, I didn't really want to do the wod. It would have been a fun one-the other 3 in class completing each of the 5 minute rounds with plenty of rest, and me having to turn around with like 10 seconds of rest-fun! But part of what drives me at CF is at least sort of wanting to do the wod.)

But now I know that I can row more than 500 m! :) How about that?!?

The headache has made me remember that I used to feel like this most of the time. I would go through months of daily headaches and/or shoulder and neck pain. Now, it has been months since I have had one day with a headache, so this is definitely a good, good change.

I'm planning on no pain tomorrow. :)

Paleo Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie)

Rest Day! I am tired, and sore, and I think I slacked off the protein again...so I came home and ate chicken. I can't go to bed early tonight though...

Are you cooking ahead for your week? Making extra here and there to save for another meal? Food prep really is key to making paleo work since processed foods are a no-no. There is no quick bowl of cereal, bagel and cream cheese, frozen dinner, or quick pasta.

Paleo Cottage Pie

(It's not paleo Shepherd's pie because it doesn't have lamb.)

1 lb. ground beef

2 links hot Italian sausage

1 onion, chopped

4-6 carrots, sliced

4 celery stalks, sliced

3 zucchini, sliced

mushrooms, sliced

3/4 c. beef broth

garlic, minced

thyme, dried or fresh

s&p

2 heads cauliflower, roughly chopped

Brown the meats. Remove from the pan and set aside. Saute the onions, carrots and celery in the same pan, using the drippings and adding more olive oil if needed. Add the garlic, zucchini and mushrooms and thyme and saute quickly. You do not want anything to cook too long, so make sure nothing is getting mushy. Add the beef broth and the meat, then allow this to cook for a about 5-10 minutes. The stock should reduce some, but you still don't want mushy vegetables. Put this pie filling into a 9x13 casserole dish.

Steam the cauliflower until very soft. Drain and return to the heat for a couple of minutes to cook of any extra water. Smash the cauliflower, like mashed potatoes, adding s&p to taste. You can also add a tablespoon or two of butter and/or a little cream. Spread the mashed cauliflower over the filling. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

An Obvious Weakness

Skills
Strict Press x2 80% 1RM
on the minute for 10 minutes

I started out with 73# for the first 4, and then due to heckling from the peanut gallery, moved to 83# for the remainder. They were right, I was still able to do it...

WOD
AMRAP in 4 Minutes

1 Clean 103#

1 Burpee

2 Clean

2 Burpees

3 Cleans

3 Burpees

and so on.

Rest 2 Minutes and then repeat for time, starting with your highest round. For example, if you scored 5 rounds in the 4 minute AMRAP, start at 5 rounds, then do 4, then 3, and so on for time.
Me: 4 rounds, time 3:00

I subbed the cleans for the snatch on this one since I am still way to unskilled to get any reasonable workout with the weight I can handle for the snatch. Without lots of time warming up and stretching, I was sure that I would be stuck at 15-20# and that would just be a super lame. Plus my should is still a little sore from the little, tiny bit of work I did on the snatch yesterday.

Now I have to pick a weakness for the month of February. There are so, so many to choose from, and when I first read the post, I thought I'd never be able to choose one. But then I started writing this, and maybe I need to work on the snatch and my shoulder flexibility...It is probably the thing that frustrates me the most right now.