I won’t quit but I’ll cuss the whole time

On Wednesday, I got off work a bit early and was able to come to an earlier gym class. As it ended up, I had a private session with Coach Mike.
This was not a good idea.

Today we worked on the snatch, a weight lifting move that is quite challenging for me. 

Ok, it’s fucking hard.

It involves moving arms, legs, elbows, knees, toes, and shoulders all at the same time.

And doing it fast.

Thankfully, Coach Mike explained it to me as he would a an idiot who have never done a snatch in their entire lives. 

Because, essentially, that is what I am.

Thankfully, Coach Mike has the patience of a saint.

We did many, many, many, reps of this move from slightly different positions. 

Who knew there is the high snatch, the hanging snatch, and the full snatch?

I learned.

And when Coach Mike was telling me to do more reps, I just said OK. 

What I really meant was, “Ouch.”

Fine. What I really, really meant was, “Holy shitballs that fucking hurts.”

But I’ve learned it’s much easier to say, “OK” and, “Yes Coach.”

I did many, many, many reps of each.

My shoulders were screaming and yet I did more reps.

That was just the strength training part.

The metcon (metabolic conditioning, aka Hell) was yet to come.

I did it.

And I didn’t quit.

And Coach Mike was cheering me on the whole time.

In fact, it wasn’t such a bad idea to have a private training session.

He’s a damn good a coach to put up with my bullshit.

And to let me use his name in my blog.

Tags: coach, crossfit, private session

I wrote this after I hit my six month anniversary of doing Crossfit on January 20, 2017. This was huge for John and I as we had tried many fitness programs and diets, but we never stuck with anything. Ever. But we stuck with this one. Enjoy.

Now is the time when people are starting, continuing, or most often, quitting, their New Years Resolutions. Many of those resolutions involved going to a gym. A lot of people start, then stop, and then forget about it until the monthly payment comes out of the account and they resolve to stop paying it, then forget until the next month, and so on. It’s a vicious cycle to be on- I know, I’ve been there.

I am happy to say I started my resolutions six months ago, as today marks the six month anniversary of the John and I going to CrossFit.

Six months ago, July 20 to be exact, he and I were reeling from some family issues. John’s dad had passed away from complications of a stroke, and my dad was recovering from a heart attack resulting in a triple bypass.

Those two weeks sucked, lemme tell ya. Lots of stress.

We both were not in the best of shape, and we were heading rapidly down the road to ill health ourselves- obesity, hypertension, and a sedentary lifestyle.

So we took action and went to the local CrossFit gym. At 5:30 in the morning.

I was wondering what the hell John was thinking, but he was grieving, and me being a supportive wife, I went with him on this.

And I hated it. But yet I felt better. Serious internal conflict here.

We kept going back, again and again.

It became habit. We got to know the coaches and other members. We saw gains and success, both in how we felt and how much we could lift.

As it turns out, we inspire other people. They have told us. And these people are the ones who are in incredible shape who we look to for inspiration. And yet, they look to us for dedication, consistency, and positive attitude. Still having a hard time wrapping my brain around that one.

After these six months, I can honestly say I have never felt healthier or stronger in my life. My entire mental attitude towards exercise has changed- it is no longer punishment for what I ate, but a celebration of what my body can do. And the gym is one of the most positive and supportive places I know because of the people there. The craziest thing of all, though? Is that I actually look forward to going to the box and pushing my body and mind to the upper limit.

And just six days ago, John and I completed our first 10k race. We didn’t run, but also didn’t quit. We finished on our own power. It was awesome.

So yeah, I got an early start on my resolutions for 2017. And I look forward to what the rest of the year will bring.

I will be doing weekly weigh ins on Saturday morning and I will post them here.

This week’s update is surprising to me.

Suprising is not a strong enough word.

Shocking, astounding, amazing.

Those work.

It was a week of challenges. Yes, they may have been self inflicted by the choices I made, but so be it.

There was the Valentine’s Day smorgasbord of sweets from hell at work on Tuesday, the leftover sweets on Wednesday, getting carb drunk on Thursday, and going out to dinner on Friday. To be fair to myself, I did make better choices on Friday- had a salad and ONE roll instead of 2. Or 6.

I got rid of 1.2 pounds!!!

Astounding.

Stats:

Week 5: -1.2 pounds, 15.8 total

Tags: carbohydrates, carbs, crossfit, low carb, weight loss

I need to lose weight. I am, by medical definition, morbidly obese. By my definition, I am fat.

Being fat is hard. It causes a shit ton of health problems. It impacts my asthma, causes high blood pressure, and makes my joints ache sometimes. Also, I am limited on wardrobe selection to only the big girls’ stores and departments. That is an issue for me.

I‘ve been going to the gym for a year and half and the scale really didn’t move much. I put on my big girl panties and went to the nutritionist and asked about weight loss. This happened after an especially confusing week when my doctor told me that in order to lower my blood pressure, I needed to reduce my sodium and gave me a bunch of booklets on meal planning and shopping. These booklets were published by a pharmaceutical company. Those booklets went into the recycle bin.

Jakki, the awesome superwoman of nutrition (as she is known in my house), actually looked at what I was eating and called bullshit on the doctor. (Yes, she cusses. Yet another reason why I love her.) She said the sodium was not my problem, it was my carbs. I was carb loading like I had a race every day.

Therefore, she reduced the number of carbs I should intake every day. And not just reduced, oh no, she sliced, diced, and whack-a-moled them.

So from eating eleventy hundred gazillion carbs a day (only a slight exaggeration) I was down to 100. A day.

Let’s get this in perspective- an average slice of bread has about 25 carbs in it. An apple has about 20.

My goal is stay under 100 carbs a day.

Oh shit.

This took some getting used to, lemme tell ya.

Jakki insisted, demanded, and commanded that I get on (ok, reactivate the inactive account I had not used in 2 years) on My Fitness Pal.

I love the app. It makes keeping track of shit easy.

I added Jakki as a friend on MFP.

She can read my food diary and see what I eat.

I am still not sure if this is a good thing.

I started this whole low carb thing on January 12, 2018. It has been 5 weeks.

I have lost weight. Not just that, though. I lost weight every single week I weighed myself.

Every. Single. Week.

That is huge for me. It has never happened before on any sort of thing I’ve ever done.

Mind blowing?

Nope.

Mind changing!

Ugh.

That was my first thought this morning.

Recap: had too many carbs last night.

And oh man am I feeling it today.

I thought I was going to puke last night, which would have probably made me feel better. But I didn’t, which I am okay with as I hate to puke.

It took me a while to go to fall asleep, as my stomach was seriously upset. Took some meds and it calmed down a bit.

This morning I feel like I’m hung over.

I am too old for this shit.

Thankfully, it’s an easy-ish day at work. But I still feel like death warmed over.

Have I learned my lesson? Yes.

Am I likely to forget it and overdose on carbs again starting this whole damn vicious cycle again? Most likely.

But there is one positive thing from all of this. I’m not beating myself up over what I did. That’s a huge step for me.

I did what I did. Now move on.

And for the love of God, don’t do it again.

Tonight, the hubby and I went out to dinner. I was craving a burger. We had a gift card for a place called Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers. Off we went.

There, it was pretty easy to make low carb choices. You could order a buger without a bun, get a salad instead of chips as your side, drink water instead of beer.

I did not make those choices.

After all, when in Rome…

I had a steakhouse truffle burger with bacon and Gruyere cheese on a pretzel bun, potato chips on the side, a passion fruit beer, and table-side smores for dessert.

It was all amazing and delicious. Great quality ingredients, comfort food done well done and all that.

On the way put of the restaurant is when the carb overload hit. I honestly staggered back to the car in the parking lot. I feel like I’m seriously drunk.

Nope.

One beer.

It’s the damn carbs.

Well hell.

And there is still adulting to do at home, including putting a large chunk of my wardrobe back in the closet since we had the air conditioning system serviced today (the access to the attic is in the closet- major design flaw).

So I’m going to be slamming the water and praying for mercy tonight.

Lesson learned, carbs.

Lesson learned.

I talk about going to gym. A lot. Because it has had a huge positive impact on my life, I feel better and stronger than I ever have before, and I want to share this experience with others.

However, when I talk about going to gym, people ask what kind of exercise I do.

Of course, I reply CrossFit.

And the response, 9 times out of 10, is, and I quote, “YOU do CrossFit?!” Note the incredulous emphasis on “YOU”.

Yes. Yes I do.

What irks me is why people seem so surprised that I do something with such a “badass” reputation as CrossFit.

Yes, I know I am overweight. Yes, I also know that I am not in top shape and have medical issues (asthma).

But you know what?

I still do CrossFit. And I may not do the full prescribed workout, such as the weight limits, but I do bust my ass. And I try. And I keep going. And I never, never, NEVER give up.

What people do not get is that CrossFit is not just exclusively for the top, rock-star type athletes. It is for everyone, and every body. It is for the people who want to be healthier and to be stronger. It is for those people who hate going to a gym where they are afraid people are going to judge them by their looks and/or ability. Because that judging? Does NOT happen in the box. If anything, it is one of the most positive experiences I have ever had with exercise, because everyone there- coaches as well as other members, are amazingly encouraging.

Ultimately, CrossFit is for those who are striving to live a healthier life and will not give up no matter what obstacles come your way (or what the W.O.D. is).

So yes, I do CrossFit, and I am proud of it.

If that makes me a little more badass, then I’ll take anything I can get.