Baseline Revisited

I think now would be as good as time as any to revisit my initial baseline post and determine how much (or if) I've improved:

These numbers were recorded on May 5th, anything without an update means we haven't maxed in that particular exercise since then.

Weight: 178lbs

Update: 171 lbs nighttime weighing, but I've seen as low as 168 on the scale

Kb Swing - 53lb

Update: 53lb but I can now rep it 15x in a row

Pullups - 8 in a row. Pullups will always be my big test, because i've always struggled with them especially pull up endurance. On long pullup workouts, I still scale with a band.

Update: 15 in a row, and I'm not even sure how accurate that initial 8 was, I think I was being generous to myself

Overhead Squats - 25 lb bar. This is the most humbling exercise, but its good to be humbled.

Update: 65lbs

Power Cleans - 85lbs, not a max but my 10 rep weight.

Update: 135 lb max, 105lb rep weight

"Helen" - 10:07. This is a benchmark exercise of 3 rounds: 4oom run, 21 Kb swings , 12 pullups. The pullups were very assisted (see jumping from a box).

Thrusters - 65 lbs rep weight

Update: 95lb rep weight

Front Squat - 65 lbs rep weight

Push Press - 125lb

Deadlift - 135lb rep, this was performed in basic and we haven't done it since. The rep weight will probably go higher next WOD that has deadlift.

Update: 245lb max, 185lb rep weight (probably will go up next time)

Wall Balls - 16lb medicine ball

Update: 20lb ball

the magic formula

Walked into the gym friday to the words "I found your blog" by Andrew (my coach / life mentor / whatever). I wasn't sure what to think when he said that, but knowing that I've never bad mouthed him or the gym on here, I knew I had nothing to be afraid of. So Andrew, if you're reading this, I will see you monday at 5pm ready to rock.

Also I had a few out of town friends come into town and mention this blog to me, which I'm grateful that people read this, but I'm sometimes confused as to how this has any appeal to the 24-27 year old female demographic. I'm assuming it's my dashing good looks and unmatched charm, because I can't imagine anyone honestly being intrigued by tales of overhead squats and burpees.

(random fact: my roommate is watching Independence Day in the next room, so if I slip some quotes into this post that's why)

(follow up random fact: Independence Day is a fantastic movie and should be watched every July 4th, if only because how many 4th of July movies are there??)

At the gym on friday a group of us were discussing diets (because that's what crossfit people discuss before class, that or extremely hard previous wods) and I casually mentioned how much weight I had lost in the last 2 months, to which (all girls at this point) started complaining how unfair it is that guys can "magically" lose weight. This of course makes me laugh, because I can assure you there is no magic involved in what I'm doing at all, but I refrained from taking a pompous attitude (for the first time in my life), luckily Andrew chimed in and we started shooting out dietary facts and how we eat. What I discovered is that many of the people (girls and guys) that are doing crossfit purely to lose weight, are still refusing to change their diet. When we explained that a good paleo eater doesn't eat any grains, they refused to hear it. It dawned on me that they (and most people in general) were looking for the magic answer, rather than "eat meat and veggies, some fruits, some nuts, and some seeds", they wanted to hear "just add grapefruit every morning and you are guaranteed to lose 20 lbs this month" (thats not true).

I think this is the same reason people are always looking for the next workout fad (yes I know, crossfit is a fad (one thats not going away I hope)) and why infomercials continue to make money selling the promise of "lose 10 inches in a week and look like this model in just 20 minutes a day 3x a week".

There's no such thing as a magic solution. Trust me, I've been looking for it. There's no one device or magical food that will allow you to transform yourself. Actually I'm lying, there is a magic formula:

exercise + healthy diet = voila. Amazing how that works right?

Finally, it's amazing to me how my goals have transformed (I've used that word a lot in this post) since starting crossfit. Originally my motives were complete vanity, I wanted to change the way I look. However, my goals have shifted from "looking good" to "being healthy". There's a big difference, just because someone is skinny doesn't mean they're healthy, it just means they had a bit of luck in the genetic pool. I know how I feel when I cheat my diet, not emotionally I'm talking physically. The upset stomach and bloated feeling not to mention sometimes paying for it in the bathroom (see once again, have no clue why anyone would read this with these kind of references lurking), just isn't worth it. I'm caring less and less how I look, and much more how I feel.

Since starting crossfit (and changing my diet, okay A LOT of it is from changing my diet) I've noticed an increase in energy levels, more discipline in other areas of my life, and a sense of confidence in myself that I've never had before. I've had energy to go home and help out more (dishes, take out trash, cooking, etc), have been reading A LOT more (my purchase of a kindle is proving to be well worth it) and otherwise have been feeling great about myself, which that feeling alone is worth the monthly fee I pay for my gym.

(guess I didn't slip any quotes in)

pullup PR

Really really needed an off day. Tuesdays workout was a really hard warmup and then all sprints. Go ahead and google "death by 10m". Its already hard enough, then you factor in Houston's 6pm heat (i.e. soul sucking) and some would question my sanity.

Tomorrow I get my BMI checked for the first time since I had it checked in January? Maybe it was earlier, probably more like November. In any event my BMI was 18%, I'm hoping to shatter that score and get a score of < 12% , but who knows. Each method of calculating it (there's like 4 methods) can produce wildly different results, so we'll see.

During the warmup tuesday is set my PR (personal record) for pullups in a row by knocking out 12. That may not seem like a staggering amount (my friend Cody once did 46 in a row) but I started out only being able to complete about 1.5, so that nearly 1000% increase is actually pretty good.

Also today I tipped the scales at 169.4 at night, meaning that my adjustments are causing me to lose (healthy) fat, and for the first time since high school I'm below the 170's. This really is uncharted territory for me and I love it. I think the body part that loves me the most are my knees, as they've had almost 20 lbs of pressure relieved that they have to support.

Now I need to get some rest and be ready to tackle whatever WOD Charlie draws up for me (I'm fearing that 'FRAN' is in my near future).

more than just crossfit

Part of my matt adams 2.0 project (which I don't think I've discussed in this blog, but I definitely have discussed it to many in real life) is to explore new hobbies and interests that I've once put on the back burner for one reason or another. I've decided to become increasingly passionate about a select few things, and really dive into them rather than spread my interests out too thin.

That being said, I took my first Krav Maga class today. It was intense, and really really tiring to take it after my 5pm crossfit workout. I knew 2-a-days would be tough (looks like I'll be doing Krav Mondays / Tuesdays until the end of the Grace Bible Church thursday night series, then move to 3x a week) but I was really tired during the warmup. Not a "I'm too out of shape for this", but really a "I don't think my legs have any energy left" type thing. The instructor was awesome and put up with my sarcasm and laughed at my jokes (the key to my heart). Needless to say I'm excited to learn the Israeli form of self defense and attack (aka Krav Maga), yes its a workout but its also just practical knowledge. For instance today we learned how to escape rear choke holds when someone sneaks up on you (and then proceed to "eliminate the threat").

Anyone that's even slightly interested in learning should come to a class (its free to try), and right now the classes are small but will surely grow once they get mentioned on my super popular blog that nobody reads anymore.

Also in a fit of laziness (and a desire to not be on the computer so late), I may not post EVERY workout, you can always go to pinups main site to see the workouts everyday if you really want to. I'll try to keep a high posting rate on other various interesting topics and of course, feel free to ask me any questions (how's it going? do you like long walks on the beaches? are you keeping up with your workouts? etc)

So yes I did a WOD today, yes it was tough and left me on the floor (not to mention we ended with ab work post wod) in a pile of sweat, and yes I'm going back for more tomorrow.

bayou city - best in the region

If you wanna be the best, you gotta be coached by the best. I'm not sure who said that (probably Abraham Lincoln) first, or if I'm original in my thought (but lets face it, I steal 99% of my jokes) but it applies to everything. That being said, I'm pleased (okay extremely pleased) to say the Bayou City Crossfit Team (aka my coaches) got 1st place in the South Central Regional Crossfit competition and are on their way to nationals.

I looked down at the scale and it read 170.8, which is the lightest I've been since High School I'm guessing. Even though I'm past the point (at least I like to think I am) of weighing myself, it's still nice to know the small changes I've made since plateauing are helping me push through. I figure as long as I'm continuing to improve my strength / stamina / performance on workouts, and that I'm eating enough then the weight loss is safe.

The changes I made since plateauing:

1. Eat more at breakfast - Now I eat eggs / veggies (scrambled in a sort of "hash") along with my protein shake
2. Eat leaner meats - When I'm at home I try to only eat either grassfed beef / bison or free range chicken. Also when I go out to eat I'm choosing chicken more often then not. I've eliminated bacon (for the most part), despite everydaypaleo's claim that bacon can be eaten everyday.
3. Eat less nuts
4. Eat less fruit - this sounds counterintuitive because everyone just naturally assumes fruit is amazing for you. It is in some senses, but when trying to "lean up" or lose weight fruit can become a hinderance, its higher in carbs, high in sugar and some fruits have a high glycemic index which means insulin hits your system extra fast (not a good thing).
5. Eat more vegetables - try to eat at them at every meal, and have added a lot of broccoli into my diet
6. Drink more water - though I'm not always as successful at this as I should be
7. Add supplements of fiber , calcium, and a one a day (flintstones) vitamin every morning

(Some people might say, if paleo is so healthy, then why the supplements. My answer, paleo is very healthy, and if I were doing paleo perfectly I wouldn't need supplements. You can get fiber from many vegetables / fruits, same with calcium (spinach, kale, broccoli, other leafy greens) I just admittedly don't eat enough of certain foods (leafy greens) or a wide enough variety of vegetables (like beats, turnips, carrots, eggplant, etc) to get all of my vitamins. I try to add in different vegetables but I'm also trying to make this work in the modern world, which means I don't have the time to prepare something new everyday or have the space to have a wide selection of veggies. What works for me are a few simple meals and slowly adding in new ones, the number one thing about changing your life is to do what works for you.)

I think the natural reaction for most people is to eat less, but really the thinking should be "eat less bad food eat more good food". Your body needs food, eating too little causes your body to go into starvation mode and actually cling to calories / fat rather than burn it. I'm no scientist or dietician (but I know a registered dietician at church who I bounce ideas around with) and I believe that increasing my calories at breakfast helps jump start my metabolism in the morning.

As an added bonus, I'm starting Krav Maga on a trial basis today. I guess you could call crossfit + krav "2 a days" in preparation for wedding season (or life) .

Follow Bayou City at the Games

My coaches are competing on The Bayou City Team.

Crazy thing about the team of 4 competing:

Vic - Owner
Charlie - My first coach (basic coach / Tuesday and Thursday Coach at Pinup)
Kristian - Coached my first boot camp I went to that wrecked my world and made me realize I wanted to join crossfit
Cody - Not a coach, was on my actual team at work (about a 9/100,000 chance)

So yes, I'm pulling for my boys to win.

okay put your money where your mouth is, current results

I've been avoiding this post for a while, but I want to prove to everyone (with pictures) that I'm not just blowing smoke when I say if you put in the effort you can start seeing the results (and rather quickly too).

Without further adieu, my first before and after pictures:

The furthest left picture is my "before" picture taken Feb 26th, but it might as well have been March 26th because that's when I decided to take my first crossfit class (and I assure you I didn't improve my physique at all during that month, not even accidentally). The second picture was taken May 15th, where you can see some improvement but still noticeable flabby areas. To this point I hadn't taken my diet very seriously. I would allow myself to eat gluten throughout the week and really took the weekends off diet wise, and allowed myself cheat meals almost every other day. I probably didn't get real serious about being a paleo eater until early May, (so maybe just a few days before picture #2 was taken). The picture on the right was taken yesterday June 15th, and is about as current as can be (yes even my paleness, gimme a break I work in an office and actually take skin cancer seriously). The funny thing about those two pictures is I probably weigh within 2lbs (Both are about 173-176lbs), but I'm beginning to "tighten up" with muscle mass replacing the flab (still have a long ways to go). In June I added progenex recovery and more muscle to my diet, and since early May have eliminated gluten / eating as paleo as possible.

For a time frame reference:

March 26th - started my first crossfit basic class, was only going once a week for 2 weeks then moved to two times a week

April 26th - Moved to 3x week

June 1st - Move to pinup crossfit, still at 3x a week

June 5th - 4x a week

So in the course of 2.5 months I changed from picture 1 (notice the double chin) to picture 3. The scale says I've lost 15lbs (188 to about 173) but that doesn't account for gaining lean muscle weight (like I said, I weigh the same in pictures 2 and 3).

Now I'm strongly considering adding a krav maga class that meets at my crossfit gym pinupcrossfit , because my roommates in college took it and loved it, and also because I would get a discount for being a current pinup member. Basically I want to be able to win fights (that I clearly would look to start).

I hope these pictures help show that results are achievable, I'm nowhere near "ripped" or where I want to be, but I feel much better about myself from a health stand point (and I'll hopefully get to prove it as I'm having my BMI / cholesterol / other fun things checked (for free thanks to health screenings from the company I work for) next week. Next picture day is July 15th.

oh yea, also had a workout today, which was my 4th in a row (taking friday off):

WARMUP:

30 box jumps

30 Kb swings (40 lbs)

30 sitsups

10 HSPU

Workout:

1-1-1 max

Deadlifts

Back Squats

Overhead Press

my results:

245lbs

245lbs

95lbs

Really think I can deadlift / back squat more, my legs were just tired from the 150 squats on wednesdays workout, and not getting any rest days this week so far. Other then that I was pleased with my results as I'm improving each time we max out.

What am I eating?

I didn't take today off seeing as how the gym is closed this friday for the southwest regional crossfit games. Bayou City is sending a team of some of the best athletes I've met, so you can consider me amazed if they don't do very well.

I've actually been eating MORE lately and still dropping inches and a few pounds (172 at last casual weigh in) so I thought I'd write about my day today from a food perspective:

Wakeup:

Protein Shake

Scrambled Eggs with sauteed onions / peppers (I have them in containers in the fridge pre-diced so I can't just throw them in the pan). Take a flinstones vitamin (yes I actually take a flintstones) and a couple of fiber chewable tablets. I decided to add in the vitamins and fiber just today as I wasn't getting enough in my diet. Yes the additional fiber had the effects you assume it does.

Mid-morning snack (If I'm getting hungry): Spoonful of cashew butter (Goal here is to make sure I don't overeat. A spoonful (1-2 tablespoons is more than enough to hold me over till lunch)

Lunch: Puerto Rican Beef (I cooked it for dinner last night, but made enough to eat on throughout the week). Today I also added another protein shake because I was still struggling to recover from yesterdays workout. The protein shake did wonders for me the rest of the day. Also, not that it needs mentioning, but I always finish lunch with a large glass of water (I'm still drinking water throughout the day).

Afternoon Snack: Today I didn't have one, but it would be either cashew butter, or if I can wait till I get home I would have some paleo trail mix OR if I'm being REALLY good I would have some pureed squash or other vegetables in the fridge and would eat those. I try to keep it light because my workout is at 5.

Post Workout: Recovery Shake (progenex has both a muscle building morning shake and a post workout recovery shake)

Dinner: Ginger Chicken with broccoli , onion stir fry, and a small side of avocado. I had some chicken breasts from whole food that were already cooke, so I got the onions cooking, added the broccoli, poured some tamari sauce (gluten free soy sauce) over the sauteeing mixture, then cut up the chicken and dropped it in till it was warmed and ready to eat. The side of avocado was half of a small avocado purely because I bought two this week and don't want them to go bad. Actually turned out quite deliciously. Once again drink a big glass of water before bed.

WARMUP:

15 pullups

10 box jumps

15 OHS

Bear Crawl across the room and back

x2

WOD:

50 burpees

100 Situps

150 Squats

400m run

This workout was hard, but I really felt that I'm improving. I was able to do the squats in sets of 50. I broke down the workout into 3 sets and finished in 16 minutes on the dot (1st place!). This is a great workout if you don't have access to fancy equipment.

And for your viewing pleasure, that's a pic of me performing an overhead squat, just so you know I'm not making all of this up. The weight is a standard 45lb bar.

Do I have to be in shape before starting crossfit?

This post will probably be short as I have to be AT work at 6:00 am tomorrow. Just typing that makes me feel ill. Really want to expand upon a common question that has been asked of me:

"Do I have to get in shape before starting crossfit?"

Answer: 1000 times NO.

In fact its probably better that you don't waste your time "getting in shape" (once you start crossfit you'll realize why I put that in quotes). There are people of all fitness levels and ages (me and a friend were joking after yesterdays WOD how at bayou city there were high schoolers dominating us and we were just hoping to beat the 14 year old girl). Yes the workouts will challenge you in bring to the brink of vomiting (or in the case of some, actual vomiting) but I can't emphasize enough that if you come in with a good attitude and are willing to work, you will see dramatic results quickly (and yes I realize I'm sounding like an infomercial). I'm always impressed with the people who have just started, because I know how tough it is to complete these WODs even after months of training, so the fact they're fighting through it week 1 is inspiring.

I'll put it this way, if you can do a single pull up, you're MORE than fit enough to start, because most people that start can't.

WARMUP:

200 M run

5 Burpees

10 Pushups

15 Squats

WOD:

800m run

3 Rounds of:

10 Tire Flips

Farmers Walk (about 100yds) (53lb kbs in each hand)

15 kb swings (53 lbs)

800m run

This WOD might seem short and sweet at first, but it really REALLY left me hurting. In fact merely typing is killing me as my forearms and grip muscles are just exhausted. The farmers walk absolutely taxed me, but I could definitely tell I'm improving on my KB swing stamina as I was able to knock out the first 2 sets without setting down the kettlebell. Also while the workout says '800', we're actually just running around the block 3 times so the actual distance is closer to 900m (the one negative about pinup is we're essentially running around downtown houston rather then have a nice track).

Finally, as I've been saying the best idea for anyone who needs motivation is to take pictures of themselves (shirtless, or if you're a girl, in a sports bra, and please don't tweet them to me) and keep them up on a wall in your room or next to your computer, just somewhere you'll see them. Then as you begin your crossfit journey take pictures of the same angles about once every month. I've been doing this on the 15th of each month, so I guess you could say tomorrow is picture day. I'm planning on posting some before and afters relatively soon.

whole foods is really expensive

I mistakenly was living under the premise that central market and whole foods were similarly priced. I actually loved the idea of going to whole foods over central market (closer, better selection of grass fed products) until making a quick grocery run tonight and realizing I might as well be lighting money on fire. The vegetables are outrageously priced, sometimes double central market prices ( you can argue things like "organic" for however long you want with me, but you can't assure me that the fruit and vegetables are truly organic and NON-gmo (genetically modified, a common practice in farming) ), which isn't necessarily cheap to begin with. So to all my friends who shop at whole foods, I have only one thing to ask: WHYYYYYYYYYY?

Another thing I've noticed while at whole foods / central market is the number of people who seemingly shop there because they think its healthier, yet have fallen into the trap that is very common of picking out the most unhealthy stuff. I'll leave the gluten thing alone tonight because that's still up for debate, no I'm referring to people who shop at these "healthy" places and load up on the cookies / chips / dips / "healthy ice cream" and so forth. The main point I'm trying to get at in apparently the most round about way is, just because you are shopping at a healthy grocery store doesn't mean it's blank check to everything they offer, there are plenty of unhealthy options. Of course just typing this has made me want ice cream, thankfully laziness is keeping me in bed and not in search of a sweet fix.

So now that I've made everyone reading this feel terrible about themselves and eating habits (yes I'm one of those people that judges people on their shopping carts and prides myself when none of my purchases come prepackaged / in a box), I will share a quick tip to avoid another common dietary pitfall.

KEEP HEALTHY SNACKS ON HAND. I can't say this enough. Tonight at about 9pm I had a fit of hunger come over me (this is because I handled dinner poorly as I didn't have any food on hand and was too lazy (I guess laziness is a running theme tonight) to cook after buying all the groceries, so I essentially hoped my post workout shake would be enough... it wasn't). These hunger pains late at night are common times when the usual response is to grab the nearest food, and in my old days would usually mean killing a bag of doritos or oreos, or about 4 bowls of cereal (I could eat cereal like a CHAMP). Not only was I making poor choices, but I was compounding the issue by eating so close to bedtime. The ONLY thing you should be having within 2 hours of bed is either a protein shake or water. That's it. I try to not eat after 8pm unless I know I'm going to be up till 2am or something absurd like that. Yes that means I'm going to bed hungry tonight, and if millions upon millions of children in impoverished nations can do it, then I can put on my big boy pants and do it too.

That's not a joke, I really do have a heart for them. I'm becoming much more interested in the work of living water, and hope to go on a trip in the fall (BUT ALL THESE WEDDINGS ARE GETTING IN THE WAY).

Oh ya, I also worked out today:

Warmup:

200m Run

10 Squats

15 Situps

20 Box dips

x2

WOD:

25 Dead Hang Pullups

20 HSPU

10 Pistols Per leg (by the way, Pistols is something I'm really hoping to master, being able to do them gives you instant street cred at wedding dance parties)

THEN

10 Minutes

3 Squat cleans (95 lbs) every minute on the minute, for remainder of the minute perform as many double unders as possible.

This workout really challenged me today, not only can I still not do handstand pushups I'm not even comfortable holding myself in a handstand. Also, the prescribed weight for the squat cleans was 135lbs, umm Charlie you serious? Only one guy in my class managed to do the prescribed workout, everyone else had to scale down. The weight was just right for me, I probably could go up in weight next time but I definitely had to fight for the last few reps in the later rounds. I'm finally beginning to understand why people grunt / yell / slam the weight (we use bumpers so I can literally just slam it from chest level ). When you start really challenging yourself, you have to fight through pain, fatigue, and anything else to knock out the workout.

a wedding weekend

Spent the weekend at a wedding celebration in Austin and loved seeing old friends (especially the ones who mentioned this wonderful piece of internet literature you're reading right now). Always fun talking to people about what I'm doing or mentioning paleo and then randomly finding out that three other people at your table are doing it as well. I'm trying to remember all the questions people asked me and share them here, but alas the combination of heat and wine (okay mainly wine) has me drawing some serious blanks. Most of the questions were about cost and commitment, but as I told everyone, you should just go try one of the free sessions. I promise it will break you physically, maybe even mentally, but you'll want to come back for more.

I've hit some weird bumps in the paleo road, namely I feel like my taste buds are changing. Food I used to eat all the time just isn't appealing to me, in fact tonight I couldn't stand all the squash I had prepared (I made about a pound of butternut squash puree for a quick side dish) to eat throughout the week, and ended up throwing it out (along with the cauliflower mashed potatoes experiment). On the bright side I'm really beginning to like chicken, which is a strange development. Growing up (heck, up until last week, and it still is true mainly) I would ALWAYS get beef if available. I didn't like chicken, didn't want to go near it or it come to me. It's always a fun dynamic to go to wing joints with friends (pluckers, buffalo wild wings, etc) for 50 cent wing night and order the burger. Anyway I've been more adventurous and have really started enjoying good flavorful chicken (aka marinated properly). Unfortunately I'm not confident in my ability to cook chicken quite yet, so I'm "settling" for whole foods chicken that is pre cooked (meaning that day, not the frozen variety) and I just have to heat up on the stove. Delicious. I'm wondering if this new found chicken craze will help me drop some more unwanted body fat quicker. One can only hope.

I wanted to share the workout we did friday because it was a MONSTER:

(Don't remember the warmup)

WOD:

400m run
35 overhead squats (45lb bar)
35 front squats
35 back squats
400m run
35 press
35 push press
35 push jerk
400m run
35 hang power clean
35 hang power snatch
400m run

Use the same weight, in this case a 45lb bar for the entire workout. Just looking at the sheer numbers, you should probably be thinking "thats insane", and I assure you it was. With a 35 minute cutoff I skated in at 31:07 and absolutely collapsed.

I guess one of my favorite things about crossfit, is that everytime my roommate asks about how the workout was, I can only think to respond with a "horrible, wanted to die". Every workout pushes me to my extreme limits, WAY past the point of pure exhaustion and sometimes into the "I can't see" phase. Both Andrew and Charlie know are very good about staying on me to make sure I don't rest too much if I need a quick break (I try to limit myself to less then 10 seconds, but sometimes you feel like you need 10 minutes), and I appreciate them for always making me work harder.

I know I usually give progress updates on sunday, I didn't weigh myself today but I was 173 on Saturday before we left for Austin. In an upcoming post, I'm going to re-post all of my baseline stats and note the improvements I've made since.

every rep counts

I stopped looking at my blog stats, and people have stopped asking me questions so one could make the argument that I'm one of those people that just like to hear themselves talk (or in this case read their own writing). I'm not sure when or how, but I'm going to make the suggestion that pinup crossfit include my blog on their site because 1) I actually update this thing on a regular basis and 2) the coaches are already in ridiculous shape and look like comic book characters. I'm sure people perusing the site would love to hear the point of view of someone trying to get healthy during their journey.

Today I came to the discovery that the best way to conquer soreness is to just do another workout. For the past two days I've felt dead, but showed up to the workout anyway and was surprised how the soreness goes away once you get warmed up.

Warmup:

400m run

20 squats

15 hollow rocks

20 OH (weight over head) lunges with 25 lbs

WOD:

900m Run

then

AMRAP 20 minutes (run counted for the 20 minutes, so AMRAP whatever time is left after the run)

6 pullups to K2E (knees to elbows)

8 Deadlifts (115 lbs)

12 situps

If you're reading this and are confused, then you are like me when I first read the board this afternoon. Pullups to knee to elbows? Only 115 lbs on the deadlifts? The pullups to K2E was much harder than I expected, and I don't expect anything to be easy. Basically you do a pull up, then touch your knees to your elbows. That's 1 rep. Whats hard is, 1) my core still isn't up to snuff 2) kills my kipping rhythm 3) your forearms get really really tired of holding that bar. The deadlifts were light because we were working on our endurance deadlifts, meaning we weren't supposed to drop the weight after 3 reps and gather ourselves, but rather knock out all 8 reps in a row. This got harder and harder as the pullups wore down my grip, and gripping the barbell for deadlifts was hard even though the weight was light.

The hardest part of the workout for me was the other guy in the class (there were only 2 males in this class) was just slliiiightly ahead of me the entire workout. I glanced over (I'm admittedly bad at checking myself against others) and noticed he wasn't putting in good reps on the pullups or the K2E's. The competitor in me really wanted to beat him, and was getting frustrated that he was counting iffy reps. The main takeaway I got from this workout is, while it's nice to "win", if I start counting so-so reps (we've all done it actually) I'm only cheating myself. So I took a deep breath and let him have his win, (he beat me by 2.5 reps) and I made sure to make every rep count on the K2E's (easiest round to cheat), which meant dropping off the bar after every one in the later rounds, gathering composure and getting back on it.

One last workout tomorrow (for the week) then off to one of many weddings this calendar year.

(Why do you think I'm trying to get in shape?)

a paleo failure

Just a word of advice, paleo mashed potatoes are NOT an acceptable replacement for the real deal. In an effort to increase my veggie intake, I looked up the paleo version of mashed potatoes, which is basically making them out of steamed cauliflower and coconut milk mixed in a food processor. While they weren't spit out of your mouth horrible, it was still like eating cauliflower, though I was impressed with the texture (it actually had the consistency of real mashed potatoes) it just didn't do it for me. Though I think just like real mashed potatoes, it needs some sort of flavorful sauce as they were just bland. Oh well at least I got about a pint left of my first batch so I'll have plenty to experiment with.

Speaking of food, I broke my gluten-free-ness today. Yes I report both my triumphs and my failures. I was at a work lunch where literally everything had gluten, first it was chicken parmesan, with a side roll, and some cake desserts to top it off. I ate the a serving of the chicken parmesan (the breading is where the gluten was located), it was pretty good I must admit. Instead of falling down the slippery slope, I declined eating both the roll and the cake (however, I'm fully resigned to the fact that I WILL be eating delicious cakeballs this saturday made by two fabulous ladies at the wedding I'm attending). I feel like everyone needs a cheat day, just as long as you limit yourself to once a month-ish (for good old fashioned mega cheating).

Also today, I was unbelievably sore. The 100 thrusters from mondays workout have proven that I can indeed still get sore, in the worst of ways. I found walking in general difficult, and lowering myself into a chair excruciating. I only say this to you to prove to my faithful readers that I'm actually not a super human.

Finally, since moving office locations I have been unable to find a place that makes breakfast as good as my old office bistro. So tomorrow morning I'm getting up earlier and cooking myself some scrambled eggs with veggies. To save time I've already pre-cut the veggies (onions / red bell peppers) and they're in the fridge. Its unfortunate its come to this, because believe me, I like to sleep in as late as humanely possible, but I gotta eat.

Eating Enough

Can't believe I didn't sneak in a post yesterday. This is going to kill my book deal if they see my inconsistency. If I ever miss a post, you can go to the pinup crossfit site and click on the day you want to view, and you'll see the workout and maybe a picture or two of me. I can't promise they will be flattering pictures, but me none the less.

Monday I spoke to Andrew about my (apparent) plateauing. Once again the first thing he brought up was my diet, which is funny because none of them believe that I adhere to the prescribed paleo diet. Once I convinced him I actually do follow paleo, we broke it down even further and I realized I'm eating too many almonds (or my favorite meatloaf dish made with..... almond meal). He however brought up a good point that I wasn't eating enough in the morning, as I was only having a protein shake. So for this week I'm going to try a protein shake and some eggs to kick start the old metabolism. I tried that this morning and felt surprisingly full until lunchtime and wasn't tempted to snack, so far so good. He also suggested I start taking a fish oil supplement, as I don't get enough omega 3's in my diet. I don't think that suggestion was so much for "weight loss" as it was for overall health. We'll see, research is needed. I'm not overly concerned at this "plateau", as I said before weight is just a number, and perhaps my body is finding its natural weight, so I will be concentrating primarily on composition just to make sure the extra shakes I'm intaking don't start adding unneeded flab.

The saturday morning schedule has been slightly modified, but is still free for all new comers. Now the only way I can go on saturday is if I bring a friend, so anyone reading this that wants to come with me I'm more then willing. You'll get a great workout, get a chance to talk to one of the coaches, and see me gasping for breath.

WOD (monday)

50 thrusters (45lbs - prescribed)

800m run

50 thrusters

This WOD really pushed me for muscular endurance. Even though 45 is a low weight, it just gets heavy after about 35 thrusters, and thats on the first set. A thruster is such a good exercise because it involves your whole body as you go into a full squat and then "thrust" (hence the name) the bar above your head as you squat up. I definitely woke up the next morning real sore in my legs.

Todays workout:

WARMUP:

10 Back Jerks (like a push press but from behind the head, not even sure if thats what its called)

10 ring dips

10 situps

10 squats

2x

WOD:

2 minute timer:

200m run

5 burpees

1 rep max Back Jerk

rest 3 minutes

5 rounds.

This was a great WOD as it combined both strength and sprint cardio (the best kind) into one workout. Each round had to be completed in 2 minutes, and I usually had about 45 seconds left after the 200m run and burpees to gather myself for the back jerk. I started with 95lbs and kept increasing weight each round. The last round I attempted 145lbs and juuuuuuust missed it. Part of the problem is the move involves using "explosion" ( let me just tell you none of my former basketball coaches in middle school or high school ever described me as "explosive") and getting underneath the bar in a half squat. I really think I could've gotten the weight had I used better technique (I seem to say that a lot) as I didn't pop under the weight rather than just try to muscle it up. Nevertheless I was pleased that I got 135 as easily as I did, knowing full well that if I had done this WOD a month ago I would've been maxing at mayyybe 95lbs, probably less.

Another fun thing about today was that it was my partners FIRST day at crossfit, which I think is hilarious that I'm the "grizzled veteran" now after a whole month. I know how I felt on my first day and reached out to him, assured him he was much further along then where I started from and that he just needs to battle through the first few weeks to get comfortable (and to avoid being outrageously sore everyday). Tomorrow I get a day off (which is necessary with the new 4x a week schedule) and will use it to get some grocery shopping done, and probably see xmen again.

looking ahead

Went and saw X-Men: First Class, and I cannot say enough good about this movie. This is one of those movies (at least to me) where I didn't want it to end, it could've been 8 hours long and I would've happily watched the whole thing.

Weighed 174.8 today, which means I GAINED weight in the past week (every person's worst nightmare). I'm honestly not sure why, unless its because I'm putting on more muscle mass but one can never just assume thats the reason. I'm adding in more vegetables at every meal, my current favorites being sauteed broccoli and onions or butternut squash (which takes quite a bit of effort to make what is essentially "mashed potato squash").

I'm hoping the increase to 4x a week will help me push through this plateau I'm currently sitting at, also this week I begin taking progenics (both more muscle and recovery drinks) as the crossfit coaches swear by the stuff. Like I said, I'm using myself as a guinea pig and you are going to reap the rewards. The main thing I have to be careful about is watching my calorie consumption as I'll be drinking two shakes a day (one shake in the morning) and one shake in the afternoon post workout. The stuff is kind of expensive, so if I don't see results in two months I'll switch to something else thats cheaper.

Goals for this week are to show up to every workout with renewed intensity. Also I want to show better discipling with portion control on things such as the paleo trail mix and cashew butter, both of which I keep in my office to help control afternoon cravings, and eat more greens.

Moving to 4x a week

Second official workout at pinup, and my first ever friday afternoon workout. Apparently I didn't get the memo that people actually don't workout on friday, because only 5 of us showed up compared to about 15 on wednesday. I've been loving the 3x a week, but I made the decision today to move to 4x a week (the pricing is a lot more favorable for 3 and 4 times a week compared to 2 times). So now my new schedule will be M/T/TH/F and hopefully saturdays will be used for various sports and recreation. My end goal is to be in tip top shape for my buddy's wedding (well I'm good friends with the bride as well) on Sept 17th, giving me roughly 3.5 more months to get after it. I figure 4x a week plus eating right, with the possible addition of creatine (I've been talking to the coaches about it. Andrew in particular, takes some creatine after his workouts) will be the key for me to be looking my best (okay enough with the vanity).

I was talking to one of the girls in the class who had a high school reunion coming up and how she was struggling to lose weight. I basically told her about what I was doing and how I'd already dropped 15 lbs (plus whatever muscle gains I've made) and she basically used the excuse of "oh you're a guy". I'm not sure about the validity of that argument, I haven't researched much, while I bet it is easier for guys to lose weight because they can put on muscle faster, I still don't think girls should get into the line of thinking. I then asked her about her diet (at crossfit, no fitness topics are "off limits") and told her how I was really sticking to paleo and her response:

"oh I could careless about paleo, I like milk too much and can't give up grains" (or excessive booze). She basically confirmed my previous theory about the 80 / 20 rule. Of course she couldn't lose weight, she was trying the "exercise only" angle. For all you gents and ladies out there thinking about starting, while your waiting (which you shouldn't, that's another story) start with your diet. If you wanna lose weight its 80% diet 15% exercise 5% prayer (or genetics, whatever you wanna call it).

I found out that there will be some free workouts on sunday for people that want to come and experience it, but I can almost guarantee I won't be in attendance. Somewhere along the line I need to let my body rest up, I mean I lead such and exciting non-stop fast paced life that I'm not sure if I can find any other time (hint: I'm blogging on a friday night, yes you can feel free to enjoy a laugh at my expense).

Today's workout had 2 parts, one was a "skill" portion and then the regular WOD. The nice thing about pinup, is that everyone is relatively new to crossfit, so some classes will be spent on learning new lifts and practice rather than just throwing us to the wolves. Today's skill was learning the "Snatch Balance", which I had no idea what it was before hand. The snatch balance involves a weight (think squat bar) on your back (just like you're going to squat) then doing a slight dip and press (like a push press), only while pressing up you slide underneath the bar and catch it in an overhead squat, then squat it up. If it sounded complicated, I assure you its even harder to do in real life. Needless to say I was humbled (again), and Andrew just had me work on my OHS 3 sets of 5. I used 45 lbs and knocked it out fairly easily, Andrew even told me that I've gotten noticeably stronger in just a few short weeks. Looks like I'm moving up in weight next time we OHS.

WARMUP:

Run 200m

20 Squats

15 pushups

10 KB swings (53 lbs)

WOD:

AMRAP 7 minutes

3 Handstand Pushups

6 burpees

9 Ring Rows

Rest 3 Minutes

3 Pullups

6 Burpees

9 Box Dips

As usual AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) workouts are absolute killer, as they should be because you can always go faster and harder, so even as you progress you're just doing more work. Naturally I scaled the handstand pushups with a box, which is right now my biggest short coming in crossfit. I just haven't made the effort to get in and practice them before class. The burpees just zap all your energy (assuming you had any energy to begin with), and ring rows are one of the most underrated exercises in my opinion. If you're someone who is looking for a great back workout but can't do very many pullups, body weight ring rows is your answer. By the second set my back was on fire and I had to start scaling (which means changing your angle, for a full ring row, your body should be parallel to the ground, to scale just use your feet and walk yourself up a little to change the angle).

All in all managed 5 rounds + 14

The second AMRAP involved pullups (I love pullups in workouts because I've gotten so much better at them, once you go from barely doing any on the band to no assistance you really do feel like the king of the world) more burpees (whats up with all the burpees this week???) and the surprisingly effective box dips. I started out strong, but the burpees always win out and get to me. Not only do they take your energy, but they bruise up your knees, shins, elbows and soul and just wear on your mind the more and more you do. The box dips while easier than ring dips, gave me a great burn and tired me out.

Final Tally: 6 Rounds + 9

One thing I failed to mention and will mention now, both of those scores were tops in the class. This isn't me bragging (okay it is a little) because I scaled on the handstand pushups, but the real thing I'm trying to convey is how all fitness levels come together in our class. Pinup is clearly where the newbies are, whereas Bayou City had a bunch of crossfit champions (I was almost always in last place at Bayou City).

The scary thing about being near the top, is that I'm now expected to be a leader (this wasn't told to me, but it's just implied). This means I have to raise my intensity and set the tone for those that want to slack off. Not to say I'm the best by any means, in fact there were plenty of guys better than me at the wednesday class, but by raising my intensity I can push them at the same time, really its a win win for everyone.

First Thursday Off

Random decision I made today, I want to not spread my business out to thin. What I mean is, rather than jump from place to place (or in this case different bars), I want to have a few that I become a regular at and actually know the people that work there. After visiting Harp for the second time in the past two weeks, I've decided that it is definitely on my "list" of bars that I want to be a local at. Come join me for a drink at Harp and maybe we'll even throw some darts.

Today was a day off from working out only because I plan to go in on friday and knock a workout out of the park. Made another batch of the paleo meatloaf (quickly becoming my go to meal) and tried eating both roasted broccoli and sauteed broccoli ( for this test the sauteed version won, but I was assured by the person that showed me how to roast it that I was doing it wrong, so I'll for sure give it another go) in an attempt to increase the amount of veggies I eat. I still haven't tackled the butternut squash, I have a feeling that will have to wait until saturday for some reason.

I don't really have any inspiring words tonight, other then if you have any questions about crossfit, paleo, or getting started please don't hesitate to contact me. I know some (avid) readers of this have had questions and truthfully, I don't mind answering them at all. I guess the one message that I would give tonight is that Rome wasn't built in a day, meaning don't get depressed when you don't see immediate results, dedication and perseverance are part of the game.

Describing Crossfit

I was given this link by a friend, and well he just does a MUCH better job describing it. Enjoy.

First class at PinUp

Made a huge discovery today, well maybe not huge but it was definitely a game changer in my mind. During my lunch hour I went to whole foods to pick up some groceries mainly because I was completely out of food, and me being out of food leads to eating out all the time and making up excuses to why I should keep eating out rather than go to the grocery store. This is why its important for me to get groceries on sunday, because if I miss I usually end up eating out triple the amount over the course of the week. Back to the discovery... I found that whole foods not only has grass fed beef, its the same price as central market. Like I said, not huge by any means, but I always assumed whole foods was twice the price of central market, but I was wrong. I'm going to compare other products, but with the meat being the same price AND more readily available (central market only gets its grass fed beef on wednesdays (or so they say) ) looks like I was just converted.

The next question you should be asking is "how the heck do you have time to eat and go grocery shopping on your lunch hour??", ahh great question very perceptive of you. I recently (i.e. today) moved work locations to greenway plaza, and moved crossfit gyms to midtown. My total driving distance for today was about 6 miles, which is about 1/4 of what I usually did with my old work location. My new boundaries are, nothing west of buffalo speedway, and nothing north of gray. Forget being a loop snob, I don't even have to go near I-10 save for sundays.

Also I discovered that when I take the link out of my gchat status, my "total page views" plummet. Its okay, my favorite people have already confirmed they read this, so I'm not really looking to gain too much more of an audience (who am I kidding, I need about 100x the readership to get my book deal).

I guess I should include some "fitness" updates to in this blog. Today was my first day to work out at pinup, which I immediately enjoyed more than bayou city. The classes are smaller (aka you people should come join me) and the people are more personable as most people at pinup are new (this could be you!) to crossfit and don't have the built in friends already. The negative to pinup is that its much smaller, and much MUCH hotter on the inside. Working out in the summer might be the worst thing ever, but I'm gonna give it a go.

WARMUP:

5 Handstand pushups

30 Squats

10 ring dips

Actually attempted to do real handstand pushups, still working on kicking up into the handstand and feeling comfortable. I managed a couple of real HSPU's but then scaled back down to the box. At least its a slight improvement. The ring dips were humbling as well, as I had much more trouble with them then I thought I would. I can do regular dips but ring dips add a whole new dimension of tough.

WOD:

25 burpees

20 T2B

25 Burpees

20 KB Swing (53 lbs)

25 Burpees

20 Box Jumps

25 Burpees

20 OHS (45 lbs)

25 Burpees

15 lunges (per leg, holding 45lb plate above head)

25 Burpees

This was a partner WOD, in which partner A completes and exercise while partner B rests, and then switch. My partner had the appearance of being strong and in shape already, so I naturally assumed I would be holding him back. How wrong I was. He struggled mightily with the exercises, and is proof that looks doesn't mean you're in shape. Granted this was only his second week, but he was definitely humbled (which happens to EVERYBODY including me almost every class), but I was just as impressed how hard he worked to fight through the workout. Thats the thing about crossfit, everyone's in it together. The newbies understand just how hard and accomplished the guys doing the full workouts are, and the "better" guys recognize the effort that the new people are giving (might even be more effort than the regulars). So I can say I was proud of my partner, no matter how confused I was that I was the "stronger" of us.