Spring Goals

Hi Everyone!

How is your Spring going? At my home, we have had some changes… planning a move out of state (don’t worry guys, I’ll be here through the summer), deciding wether to sell or rent our home, and the normal upheaval that comes with the end of the school year and summer plans. Along with our home lives, we are getting new Max Effort Reps at CrossFit Confidence and starting a new lifting program. I sure love seeing and meeting the new people that have joined as well! Welcome new folks! I hope you feel included and encouraged along your journey with us; I also know you will enjoy many positive results!

With the stress of an impending move, I was feeling out of control of my life and couldn’t figure out why. Since my husband’s new job is what is propelling us, I felt like I was on someone else’s ride. I want to maintain my balance, but instead it was feeling like a whirlwind. At first I drug my feet and procrastinated because I really didn’t “want” to move. But now reality is knocking so I am starting to get a move on. I’ve learned so much discipline in my CrossFit community and am actively and consciously applying it to my every day readiness in life. Ready, Set, Go… Get it done with the best form, as fast and efficient as possible… right? Goodness that is hard to apply to house clutter and getting children, and husbands;) motivated!

Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that my lack of momentum was partly because I had reached a couple of my previously set health goals and it was time to re-evaluate and make some new ones! I’ve reached a healthy weight and maintained it over time, I now try to show my children how to eat healthy and live an active lifestyle, and my migraines are manageable and infrequent. My depression also went away as I became active again. As I continue to work on other spiritual and personal goals, I now need to re-set and make new physical/educational ones to upgrade the ones that are met. So what shall they be? Shall I add to my CrossFit certifications or keep studying and training to potentially open an affiliate in the future new homesite? Or should I go back to college for my masters and progress to becoming a counselor? Decisions, decisions… Somehow I want to fuse my love of nutrition and fitness with helping people.

My question for you is how often do you re-evaluate and decide on your future course? Is it when things go sour in life? Is it when you complete previous goals? Or when a new inspiration takes you off in a new direction? With the change of season? All of our personalities are different and that is what makes us unique. Some of us make a list of goals every year and check them off. Some of us add to our goals and never meet all of them, but they are ever evolving as well. Some people don’t plan at all and let the wind lead them. I believe action creates momentum and God has a plan for all of us. So, if I haven’t yet fulfilled my purpose for Him, then I am to keep moving forward, but also looking Up for guidance. What do you need to re-evaluate in your life? Do you need to set some new personal or spiritual goals?

Have a smoothie or some lemon water while you think on it…

Creamy Coconut Cinnamon Smoothie

Photo Courtesy of http://www.FreeCoconutRecipes.com

Spring Break Food and Suit Shopping…

I thought this week I’d give you some food ideas – click the links for the recipes. It is already hot outside and my palate is craving fresh fruit and summer (read easy) foods.

First: Paleo Pancakes…It’s what’s on the breakfast menu for Spring Break! My girls loved them! I used the recipe from The Urban Poser and added the optional blueberries. Yes, we made it nice with coconut butter as topping, warm maple syrup, bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs. A big hit with the family as we enjoyed it outside on the deck! They said the pancakes tasted like “normal.” Of course, my girls don’t get “normal” but once in a blue moon or on vacation, so don’t go expecting miracles from a newbie just off of “Hungry Jack” or something:-) I too thoroughly enjoyed them.

Snack: Needed something portable, but with the addition of too many blueberries they turned out a little “wet.” So, this week we are enjoying frozen home-made lara bars, with blueberries and coconut on top. Very refreshing and yummy.

Next: One of the dinners that the girls liked was: grass-fed ground beef turned into a natural version of sloppy joe’s wrapped in lettuce and served with salad and broccoli. I just made this one up with spices I had on hand and a splash of apricot/jalepeno sauce with no preservatives and seemingly natural ingredients. On our “grab and growl” meal, it was a fight for who got those leftovers!

Additionally, I missed the beach so much last year that I decided we must go for Spring Break. A few days of fun in the sun! So onto bathing suit shopping… torture? kill me now? My oldest daughter is only 11 1/2 and body image is already affecting her. No fun! Then it was my turn to shop for a new suit. At least my old ones are too big, right? I was determined and started out right, like Missus Smarty Pants would advise: alone, no children, not hungry etc… Still I had to fight the body image demons as I wanted to pick myself apart. However, since CrossFit and Paleo, I must say, “it was less painful than I can remember!” 🙂 I worked on replacing any negative thought of age or cellulite with positive thoughts like, “I am the most fit I have ever been in my entire life” and “I look athletic and toned, not flabby.” Thinking to myself: “I am a healthy mom trying to teach my children a healthy way of life, I sleep good through the night, don’t have the headaches I used to have, am stronger and have more energy now!” How is that for positive self-talk? Although I’m constantly trying to improve, I’m also trying to have balance; to find peace of mind and do the best I can. So, hopefully, you will conquer the demons like I did and bathing suit shopping won’t get you down. If it does, come WOD with me or let me Overhall your pantry!

Check out Stacy’s journey (from PaleoParents) for more inspiration on a healthy image. Actually, several of our favorite experts in the field of Paleo have been blogging on this subject lately, for instance: Diane Sanfilippo from BalancedBites.com. Check them out.

Also, thinking I need to take a hint from Amanda and WOD on the beach, Kettle-bell too? Sounds like fun!

What’s Keeping You Up?

Hi guys, are you the type that shows up to the gym and brags that you haven’t slept enough… Or if not brag, then at least mention it to use as a reason if the WOD doesn’t go so great?  Well I know I tell myself these things sometimes.  So, my mission is to get more sleep!  I am hoping that I’ll be better able to control food cravings and be less irritable with my family.  I don’t know about you all, but when I’m tired I overeat, get irritable, and “snap” at my family.  Not to mention, get less done during the day.  So, how much are you sleeping?  Is it affecting you, your metabolism, or your productivity?

This is how WebMD puts it: “It’s not so much that if you sleep, you will lose weight, but if you are sleep-deprived, meaning that you are not getting enough minutes of sleep or good quality sleep, your metabolism will not function properly,” explains Michael Breus, PhD, author of Beauty Sleepand the clinical director of the sleep division for Arrowhead Health in Glendale, Ariz.

On average, we need about 7.5 hours of quality sleep per night, he says. “If you are getting this already, another half hour will not help you lose 10 pounds, but if you are a five-hour sleeper and start to sleep for seven hours a night, you will start dropping weight.”  Exactly how lack of sleep affects our ability to lose weight has a lot to do with our nightly hormones, explains Breus.  The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. “Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin,” Breus says. “Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating, and when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin.”  More ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain.  “You are eating more, plus your metabolism is slower when you are sleep-deprived,” Breus says.

Moreover,  “The less you sleep, the sooner you die,” Dr. Boero from the Marshfield clinic said.  He goes on to say, “When you don’t get enough sleep you are more easily distracted, and it’s harder to concentrate on a task,  You’re more irritable and less flexible.”  I find this part most interesting and hopeful for me, “Most of the health problems caused by limited sleep can be improved simply by getting enough sleep, he said.  Dr. Boero goes on to explain that lack of sleep contributes to all kind of seemingly unrelated health problems.  We must know that  “Sleep is a fascinating field. Every single organ in the body is affected by sleep and can be improved by sleep.”

This is one area in my life that I am not disciplined.  So, I plan on getting more sleep!  By upping my Leptin levels, I think I’ll be healthier, less grumpy with my family, and more energetic/productive.  Does anyone else want to be my accountability partner?

Additionally, I just learned this week from The Paleo Mom, that my daughter’s growing pains in her legs may be caused by a Magnesium deficiency.  So I cannot wait to try yet another brownie recipe.  This one with Spinach in it to help my little girl!

Photo Courtesy of ThePaleoMom.com

Sharpen Your Mental Focus

Hi Guys, a word on Mental Focus:

You don’t have to be participating the The CrossFit Games to benefit from making sure your mental game is on target.  This article from the Games site is spot on in it’s emphasis:

Check it out!  Your Mental Game vs. The CrossFit Games…  To start with, Dawn Fletcher tells us to “Start conditioning your mind. Train it and continue to condition your mental game.”

Last Week of Sugar Detox…

Hey Everyone!  How are you doing?  We are in the last week of our 21 Day Sugar Detox, so don’t quit now!

I’m taking the suggestion from Diane of The 21 Day Sugar Detox, and having a cup of Peppermint Tea.  It’s delicious!

I wanted to side track so badly this week;  and so let Terra Veggie chips enter the house.  Big mistake!  I should know better than to allow something in that I really like.  So yep, indulged – fully knowing that the oils they are cooked in aren’t the best.  And guess what?  I could taste it on some of the chips, mainly on the beets.  Amazing what cleaning up the oil and sugar from my palate allowed me to taste. I did successfully refuse the offer of popcorn at the school though;  it smelled great and is one of my weaknesses.

Onto the good stuff:  I won’t bore you with my usual rotisserie over salad plus veggies I eat, but tell you instead of a couple of recipes I made that are easy and adaptable.  First up is No Chopping Dinner: basically use up whatever ground meat you have, mix in frozen veggies, flavor it up and all done. Easy one skillet meal.

image courtesy of http://www.PaleoOnABudget.com

Next, you guys really ought to try the Paleo Comfort Foods Cookbook. It’s stellar and many of the recipes can be modified for what you have on hand or your personal tastes.  They have suggestions in that vain as well.   I chose to make the Pot Roast but had to do it in my crock pot and substitute out some of the vegetables.  Turned out delicious anyway!

image courtesy of amazon.com and paleo comfort foods

So, making sure I fixed tasty food this week is what got me over the temptation to give up and quit early.  Just push through next Wednesday:-)  Unless of course you will be doing an extra week for good measure.  That’s what Robb Wolfe suggests – 30 days.  What do you say?

Day 11 and 12 of 21 – Sugar Detox

So, I’m struggling. Depressed that I’m fluctuating these 2.5 pounds for almost the entire 2 weeks now. I confess I’ve been having a bowl of  coconut nearly every day, like with almond butter or whatever in it.  Boring I know, but a treat for me none-the-less.  It’s allowed I think, but I cut that out today and do feel a bit leaner and not so thick in the waist.  My challenge, I believe, is that I’m fighting age and am at the last 10-15 pounds to my ideal weight.  Also, I’ve yo-yo dieted and lo-carb dieted most of my adult life.  I think over all it has slowed my metabolism.  Listen up youngsters, take care of yourself and don’t let yourself and your health get out of control.  The road back is a long one.  I have to remember to appreciate and celebrate my achievements…  So I tell myself, “be happy that over the last couple of years you’ve dropped 5 dress sizes and over 70 pounds.  Yes, this last bit is slow, so what?  My positive self talk continues: “I’m a healthy normal size now and look good in my clothes.  I’ll live and fight this battle.”

How are you all doing?  Do you need to add some positive self talk to your regimen.  Do NOT beat yourself up, you are improving your health with every good choice you make, just by joining us on this 21 Day Sugar Detox challenge. Only a little over a week left until you can loosen the reigns a bit.  Be strong!

Do you need to set some new goals or intermediate goals to get you through?  If so, join us in “The Crossfit Open.”  We’ll be starting the first WOD this week.  Ready, Set, Go!

Day 9 and 10 of 21 Sugar Detox

Last night I made Salmon with Coconut Cream Sauce with Wild Caught from Ragin’ Cagun and it was delicious. Baked apples with cinnamon for dessert.  Sorry guys, no pictures, it’s all gone.  Tonight will be broiled herbed pork chops using pastured pork from Carlton Farms with baked sweet potatoes and salad.

I’m convinced I need to do more portion control to reach my goals.  My cravings got out of hand yesterday again, causing me to eat too many nuts – I am addicted.  Not sure why I’m craving. “Need more water;  fill up on water; stay busy and out of the refrigerator,” or so I tell myself.

I hope each of you enjoy your family this weekend and get outside before the rain moves in!

Yum

This is not Terre.  This is Amanda, and I would like a milkshake.  But I am not going to do it.  Have a great day.  That is all.