Happy Thanksgiving Paleo Style


 



Here is a plate of our first ever
Paleo style Turkey dinner

 

Not a concern this year

Turkey, brussel sprouts, yams, veggies, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and yes, even stuffing.  Our fall holiday had all the makings of a mainstream Thanksgiving dinner, minus a few things like the nap, the bloat and the general guilty feeling that you just ate way too much!  It was fun to "forge" ahead and make our own tradition this year and it was alot easier to cook a meal that didn't have to emulate either one of our mother's. After such a wonderful meal, when all the plates were cleared, the dishes washed, the leftovers tucked safely away for breakfast ;), it was easy to see that I have so much to be thankful for and hard not to feel so good about our very special day. 

182 down, 183 to go

Do you remember when summer holidays seemed to last forever? or when waiting until the morning to get up to see what Santa had left seemed like a lifetime?  Now the days are not long enough and there are not enough hours in the night to rest your weary head.  Time flies! and its hard to believe that its already been the better part of a year and that we are already halfway to the end, halfway to me meeting and completing FRAN.  

In just a short six month period Miss M has developed a textbook case of the terrible two's soon to become the  frightful three's,  J Dawg has grown out of the larvae stage and is on the cusp of becoming a mobile monster and I, well I  have totally transformed my life.  OK that is a little melodramatic but considering where I was at when J Dawg was just a hatch ling its hard to believe where I have gotten.  There have been the measurable, noticeable, external changes like my body, my strength, my ability to do the workouts quicker some even closer to prescribed but the dramatic changes are  the internal ones, the part of my brain where there was once apathy and doubt about being active and eating well has been replaced by a deep desire to live and be the healthiest me I can be.   Fancy Nancy had put it best one day when she reminded me what I was really doing wasn't about FRAN, it was more about the commitment I was making to change the way I lived my life and that I was changing my path and by starting to take better care of myself, what I was doing really wasn't just for me but for my husband, my kids, and our future.

Don't get me wrong the journey so far hasn't been all free flow lanes and green lights, there has been the fair share of potholes, speed bumps and detours.  True to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, the ones who don't adapt won't survive and there were times when my survival seemed ill fated.  The challenges seem to come no matter how prepared or organized I seemed to be.  Sometimes I lost the ability to see the big picture in the last six month and there were times where I got caught up in a failure and focused on what wasn't working, what was too hard or how much trouble it was instead of slowing down, celebrating my progress and then adapting. There are things I wish I had done differently like take a before picture and write down more about my workouts at the beginning.  But there is lots I am proud of too and wouldn't change, like the decision to start working out at home more so that J could have a better morning nap or starting this blog :)   

I am looking forward to what the next six months bring....hopefully an unassisted pull up!!!! YIKES

  

   

Number of Members - 4

Crossfit.com does what they call an Affiliate Snapshot where they profile affiliates from all over giving them a chance to shine and explain what makes them so special.  So even though our Garage box isn't an affiliate I have been spending alot of time out there lately and think its worth a shout out. 

Box Name: "The Grotto" (pre-syphilis)...W wishes...its more like "The Sweatshop"

Owner: Depends who you ask....but all the women reading this know who is really in charge ;)

Open Since: March 2010

Location: Red Deer, AB.

Square Footage: 208 sf.

Number of Members? 4

Number of Trainers? 1 handsome male

Describe your gym culture in one word: Chaos

Most used piece of gear in your gym? T.V. (Toopy & Binoo is on at 830am every weekday morning...perfect time to sweat it up...the kids are too busy in the boob tube zone to be in the way)

Advice you wish you had been given: Working out with your spouse has it pros and cons....be careful of the cons
What question you would love to ask other garage gym owners: How the hell do you keep the garage out of the gym?
Workout or movement that elicits the most groans in your gym: Sex, of course....but we mean the working out.... right...pretty much everything, particularly wall balls
Coolest WOD: I guess by default I have to say FRAN
Favorite CrossFit saying: Don't be a p#&*y and just lift it - Mark Rippetoe (you knew I would pick him even though he is not really associated with CF anymore)
Complete the sentence: CrossFit should . . . .be part of every ones family time. 

W hates that I put a pic up because "it isn't done" but I love it just the way it is!

Welcome to Hell

So I thought?

As soon as you start to think you are really making progress, I mean real leaps and bounds, dominating WODs as they come at you kind of progress, you are quickly humbled and the CrossFit gods bring you down to earth.  Its been a while since I have wanted to vomit, reach for a paper bag to help the breathing and lay down and die, all at the same time post workout.  And then today it happened, Coach IA₂ posted what can only be called Tabata Hell; 20 seconds to go as hard as you can on the selected exercise then a rest for 10 seconds, repeated eight times.  First it was squats, then pull ups, right to the push ups and finishing strong with the sit ups.  Of course he was kind enough to have us rest for a minute between each of the four minutes.  It was 20 minutes of crazy, intense, fire breathing working out that made me realize there is always room to keep getting stronger, fitter and tougher. 

It wasn't all bad, it inspired me to ignore my kidlets this afternoon and blog! We have all been there laying on the floor of the gym, gasping for air, thinking about how that was some wild shiznat and god help the crazy bastard that made that torture up.  You instantly know when you have become a victim of the workout that day there are sure signs shortly after you finish that let you know you didn't "win" today and that you should come tomorrow and try again!  

Here are the top ten ways you know you just got your butt kicked by a WOD:

10.  First thing you do is thank the CrossFit gods for helping you make it through
9. You can't remember hearing any of the 20 minute play list that is now booming so loudly you can't hear yourself think
8. Your breathing is so heavy and your heart is pounding so hard you forget that you even brought your kids even though they are screaming right beside you
7. The thought of having to carry your 7 month old into the house or out to the car to leave is unthinkable
6. The idea of 100 Core sends you into hysterics. Core? You have got to be f'ing kidding me didn't we just do a million sit ups?
5. That mornings Paleo pancakes are threatening to make a return appearance
4. You don't even say DONE, you just raise your hand as collapse onto the ground
3. You start to expel air from your lungs with a harsh noise accompanied by an inappropriate amount of phlegm, often involuntarily, yes my friend you got CrossFitters cough
2. You think about getting air, finding your water and figuring out how to stand up before you even think about your time
1. You drag yourself up from the floor where you have laid your sweat body print, slap a few high fives and say "We did it, we survived but I really wish I had....What time tomorrow?"

CrossFit Trainer's Seminar, Golden Colorado

---

From May 26th 2009 CrossFit.com

Inspiration

from
 http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_Rippetoe

Its been a while since I talked about the Big Guy....here are some of my favourite 'RIP'isms.  I took the liberty of editing for family friendly language. 

"Never ask a question that you may not be prepared to have answered"

"It is important to always stay within your comfort zone. This prevents having to subject oneself to the inconvenience of learning something new and potentially useful."

"Now I also know that you're supposed to 'listen to your body', but my brain says 'don't be a p%*#y, and just lift the f#@$ing weights', and that's just what I do."

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general"

"On response to a guy who had some life problems lately and afraid of sounding like a "p%*#y": You don't sound like a p%*#y at all. You sound like a normal human being, just like me, who thankfully has a barbell to keep him sane when things get "crappy"...and realize that one workout out of thousands does not affect your overall progress. Training is a process, not the events of one day "

"Absolutely not. Never -- and I mean NEVER -- try anything that someone in authority, like Me, has not specifically approved in advance. This is not allowed, and is specifically prohibited, because if you do this irresponsible thing -- this Trying Things For Yourself -- you might learn on your own, and again, this is PROHIBITED.
Let me ask you a question: Are you from North Korea?"

Inspiration

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cheater, Cheater...SUGAR eater

It was inevitable,  the "war on sugar" was eventually going to suffer a setback.  Temporary, but still a step in the wrong direction.  An epic battle was fought in the kitchen tonight.  Good, kind, sweet, innocent sugar free Dana fought the good fight but could not out wit, out last or out play that damn sugar lovin' , chocolate eating, evil Dana.  It had been a long day and "Cindy" had kicked my butt out in the garage so I caved, devoured a peanut butter cookie and now feel super guilty about it, guilty enough to own up to it and even put it out into cyber space for all to read.  Its hard not to be mad at myself considering how much will power I have exhibited up until this point, how much time I have spent searching for alternatives to substitute into my diet, agonizing over labels and avoiding all the regular temptation spots despite Miss M begging to go to "Hortons" in the afternoons.   I kept telling myself if I am going to break I was going to do it for somethingI thought was irresistible, not a frickin' dried out, stale peanut butter cookie.  Yesh! Argh! Phooey! After denying myself a cold beer on a number of occasions during this past long weekend a damn peanut butter cookie did me in! Man!!!!!

W is rolling his eyes at me, he knew he married a Drama Queen when is he going to get used to it?