The Food Makes the Girl

(shout out to Mel and anyone else on vacation- Hope you're having fun!)

Warning: This week will be heavy on nutrition. There are so many things I want to talk about so I am going to dedicate this week to Food...

Last week I fell off the wagon. A lot. I looked very similar to the picture above. And I began to wonder just how "dirty eating" affects us both mentally and physically and for how long.

It's like Melissa Byers was reading my mind. She wrote a great 2- part piece about "eating dirty." So be sure to check it out.  

It is so easy to beat yourself up for having a cheat meal here or there. Food discipline is hard! But I've noticed the last few days how much my performance has suffered due to my indulgences. I feel sluggish, bloated, and just slow. 

BUT...Tomorrow is a new day, right?! Time to reel it in and break out the ol' food log.

Next up: How to fuel up pre- and post-workout.  

What's Your Story?

Recently there was a post on the CrossFit Central site asking people to submit their success stories. I think every single one of you out there should do it.  I think we all have a story- maybe you haven't lost a huge amount of weight or whatever, but I guarantee your life has changed in some way.

And I also guarantee that your story will speak to someone. I wrote a little about myself the other day and my struggle with post-baby weight. If just one new mom reads that and thinks, "If she can do it, maybe I can too" then I will be elated.

Here are the questions to answer:

1. Why did you join Crossfit Central?
2. When did you join CrossFit Central?
3. What was your life like prior to CFCentral (emotional, physical, & mental)
4. What results have you seen since joining the CFCentral community?
5. Has CrossFit Central helped you break through any mental barriers?
Additional Comments:

*Photography - There is no need for professional photography, just grab you camera and have someone take a full length photo of you! Photos should be large files.

So sit down, grab a pen, and really think and reflect on your journey. 

Don't forget about the UTB tomorrow at 8:30!!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Traveling and CrossFitting

I've been hearing many of you talk about your upcoming vacations (jealous!) I know you don't want to just sit around sipping margaritas and lying on the beach, so I found a huge list of workouts to do while on vacation, courtesy of CrossFit Del Ray Beach. Even if you aren't on vacation, these are some excellent workouts to do on your own. This is only half the list (!) Go to the Del Ray site for more fun... and send me a postcard.

Run 1/2 mile 50 air squats - 3 rounds.

10 push-ups 10 sit ups 10 squats - 10 rounds. 200 air squats for time.

"Susan" Run 200m 10 squats 10 push ups 5 rounds.

Sprint 200m and do 25 push ups, 3 rounds.

10 Handstand push ups and a 200m run 3 rounds.

Tabata squats and tabata pushups.

5 push ups 5 squats 5 sit ups, 20 rounds.

Walk 100 meters on your hands, even if it is 2 meters at a time.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 sets of sit-ups and a 100 meter sprint between each set.

Invisible Fran...21-15-9 of air squats and push ups for time.

Spend a total of 5 minutes in a handstand, or headstand. If you are using the headstand do not stay over a minute at a time.

Run 1 mile for time.

10 push ups 10 air squats and 10 sit ups, 6 rounds for time.

Do one air squat and take one breath, ( you can breath all you want while you do the squat or squats) do 2 and take 2 breaths etc...up to 10, and then come back down to one.

3 vertical jumps 3 squats 3 long jumps - 5 rounds.

Handstand 30 seconds and 10 squats, 8 rounds.

10 push-ups 100M dash 10x.

Tabata squats.

5x 400M sprints.

10 X 100 m dash.

25 pressing snatch balances each arm. No weight.

Run 1 mile, lunging 30 steps every 1 minute.

handstand 30 seconds and 20 air squats, 5 rounds.

10 handstand jackknife to vertical jump, 10 handstand jackknife to tuck jump, 10 handstand jackknife to straddle jump.

100 air squats. For time.

4x 25 jumping squats

10 vertical jumps, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 4 rounds...for time.

10 air squats every 1 minute of your 1 mile run.

100 burpies for time.

Run 1 mile for time.

10 push-ups 10 squats 10 sit ups 10 rounds.

10 vertical jumps, run 400 meters, 5 rounds.

Are you Desperate?

When I came across the quote from Friday's post, it struck something in me.  For the past few days I've been thinking about that quote, and as I looked at it again this morning I realized why it struck me.

Desperation

Have you ever been desperate? I mean really, really desperate?

I have.

In fact, desperation is what brought me to CrossFit Central.  I had two small children with no time to myself, residual baby weight that made people ask me if I was pregnant- all the time (my son was over a year old- ouch), a terrible outlook on life, and no idea what to do to feel better.

I had tried everything I could think of to get back in shape. Nothing seemed to work.  

One day I ran into my friend, Maggie, who looked amazing after just a few short months of bootcamp, so I decided to try it out as a last ditch effort. 

Desperation brought me to CrossFit on Jan. 1 at 6 am. 

Desperation led me through Angie on my first day. 

Desperation kept me coming back.

As women, we just want to find something that works. Many of us have been through the yo-yo dieting, the "quick fix" pills, the Kickboxing, pilates, and step classes.  I want to go out on a limb and say that, like me, many of you have probably seen CrossFit as a desperate last attempt. 

And I say that's a good thing.

Jeremy said last week, "You have to be hungry. You have to be willing to step out of your complacency." 

And I say you have to be Desperate. 

Go Get Em!

"Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration."
-Evan Esar

Good luck to all you Spartans tomorrow!

Food Inc.

As you may have noticed, I'm just slightly obsessed with food. Good food. Pure food. Non-chemically-laden-government-sponsored-gonna-kill-you food.  I think we, as consumers, have been duped for way too long. It's time to get our food back!!

Have you heard about Food Inc.? Luckily it's not another Michael Moore film, but it is a documentary featuring some pretty smart people.  Here is a snippet from the website.  Be sure to check out the trailer below. 

 

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Food Inc will be playing at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown next Friday, June 26

Change

"Every positive change-- every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness--involves a rite of passage. Each time, to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation."

- Dan Millman                                    

Your Challenge

Ok people.  It's one week until the Spartan Finale. Are you losing steam? Can't eat one more cup of spaghetti squash? Even if you aren't doing the Spartan, let's ramp it up and get back on track. I looked at my food log for this past week and, well, it was pretty pathetic.

It is so easy to get in a food rut.  And, as the saying goes, "Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail."  It is imperative to have a menu planned out so you are all set for the week. 

So....

I challenge you to spend some time this weekend preparing for the coming week.

1. Make a menu
2. Go to the grocery store
3. Visit one of the Austin Farmer's Markets on Saturday
4. Chop veggies and fruit (you can even measure them out into bags or containers for easy snacking)
5. Grill meat (if you don't have a grill, go get a George Forman Grill. They are great)

Today Mel posted some great food resources- some go-to websites and recipes. I've gotten some super yummy recipes off of her blog.  

Here are a few sites I visit regularly:

www.ZoneDiet.com 
www.integrativenutrition.com

www.PerformanceMenu.com
Robb Wolf- nutrition guru  
Paleo Diet.com

There's a lot going on this weekend.  Saturday is Carey's Women's Olympic Lifting Workshop from 8-10am.

Sunday is the Lululemon Sizzlin' Summer Sampler from 10-11am. See you there!  

 

Carrots Are Not Evil

I know many of you are familiar with Melissa Byers of Byers Gets Diesel fame, so all I'm gonna say is go right now to her blog and read today's post.  It not only made me laugh out loud, but it really is right on the money.

Speaking of nutrition, tonight is the Zone/Paleo Meeting at CrossFit Central at 7pm. Bring your logs!

Here are some more pics from Murph Day

I Didn't Die

That is what I was thinking this morning as I was finishing up that last 400m run- "I think I might barf, but at least I didn't die..." 

CFW WOD 

5 rounds:

15 overhead squats

400m run

It was one of those tricky ones that doesn't look that bad on the ol' whiteboard, but by the end of the 3rd run you feel like your lungs might explode.  As I gave props to one of the other girls who I tried to keep up with, she said "Yeah, but I used a lighter bar."  None of that matters!  (I thought she did an amazing job :) )

Don't discount your accomplishments. As long as you are giving it your all, you need to be proud of that.  There were a few new faces this morning, and I commend you for getting out there and pushing yourself.  Remember, you showed up... 

Be sure to check out the June calendar on the sidebar for upcoming events! 

Have a wonderful Monday 

(isn't Bonita awesome?!)

Yoga for athletes

"I don't need a class to teach me how to stretch..."

Famous words from my basketball-playing brother after I watched him try to touch his toes.

Yoga actually has some amazing benefits for athletes.  Not only can it help with muscular fitness and flexibility, but there is a huge mental component there as well.

In a yoga class, you must remain in the moment, focusing on your breath, focusing on your alignment in each posture while, at the same time, relaxing into it, not overdoing it, and just keeping your mind in the present.   Sound familiar?

One reason I love yoga is because I feel like I have had a massage on the inside of my body afterwards.  One yoga teacher described twists as "wringing out stagnation like a wet sponge so that you can allow fresh oxygenated blood to flow through your body." 

The other draw for me is the meditative feeling I get when I'm in class.  For one whole hour I am focused on the present. I'm not thinking about last night or my to-do list for later in the day.  I am in the "now."  And it is pretty remarkable how calm and at peace your brain feels when it can slow down.

Here is an article on how yoga can benefit athletes.

There are so many great yoga studios in this town.  Black Swan Yoga just opened its doors this week, so I went to check it out and loved it! (and I'm really picky about my yoga)

It is located on 5th street on the left as you approach Lamar from Mopac.  This is a donation- based studio.  Yes, you heard right.  And what a great idea!  They suggest $10 per class or pay what you can.  I really enjoyed my class with a guy named Jerry who was truly insane but in a very very good way.

So this weekend, try a yoga class.  Don't go in with expectations, just go with an open mind.

Integrative Nutrition

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for new food sites- especially if they have good recipes!  I found this one recently and wanted to share it. 

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition

I friended (is that a word?) them on Facebook and they post recipes and other nutritious nuggets of information.

Make sure to check out their blogs section also.  They have a graduate blog that I especially like:

Breakfast Lab

If you have a site or 2 that you regularly go to, let me know (marykatfish@gmail.com) so I can get a list going on the sidebar.

Have a great day!

It's All in Your Head

This is one of my very best friends, Cindy.  Quite obviously, Cindy was very pregnant.  See, Cindy was due to have her baby in two days on June 3.  Lee, Cindy's husband was still wrapping things up in Tokyo and wasn't due to fly back to Canada until today, June 1.  Hmmm..... that's cutting it a wee bit close.

Last week when I talked to Cindy, she said her body was beginning to show signs of labor, but she was confident her body would wait until Lee got home.

Here's a little background on Cindy:

She is the most positive person I have ever met.  She used to come into my classroom every morning to say hello and always put me in a great mood.  I think she can do just about anything she sets her mind to- because she believes she can.

Well, Cindy had her baby already and the story goes something like this:

Cindy's water broke on the way to the airport.

Lee got off the plane.

Cindy's contractions began.

8 hours later they were holding their new baby boy.

Bam.

The power of the mind is completely and utterly amazing.  One of the Laws of the Mind is the Law of Harmonious Attraction. It is simply 

Thinking about a desired result

Seeing yourself taking the steps to acheive the desired result

and ACTUALLY ACHIEVING THE GOAL!

Here is an example of how I use this little gem. Every night as I'm laying in bed, I imagine myself doing kipping pullups. I feel my body swinging. I see my chin going over the bar. I imagine doing 10 of those bad boys all perfectly. All effortlessly.

(Disclaimer: I haven't mastered even one unassisted pullup yet. But I know it's only a matter of time!)

This may sound weird or hokey.  I swear it works. They've done studies on athletes who just visualized themselves lifting weights without actually lifting any real weight.  Guess what? They actually gained strength.

So how are you approaching your life?  Is there something you want? Are you visualizing yourself doing it? Being it?  When you look at the white board, do you think, "I can't do that" or "this is gonna suck"?  Next time you're up on that pullup bar, tell yourself you can do it- and go for it!

One more thing I want to mention is Self Talk.   

"What our minds can imagine, our bodies can produce, both positive AND negative. Take time to examine your self-talk, is it filled with negative words such as "try", "should" "can't"? If so, consider changes in your language patterns to develop a positive outlook, imagine the results and watch yourself take the steps to achieve them."

To read more about the Laws of the Mind, go here.