Fitting It Into My Life

I started out the week trying to do a 6am workout. In theory, this should be perfect. In reality, it's not. If I go in at 6am, then I don't get home until about 7:10, then a quick shower, make breakfast (because it does have to be made), hope that I made lunch the night before, if not, I have to throw a salad together, dry my hair, get ready, and try to get to work between 8 and 8:30. I hate being rushed in the morning! I want this to work, but I need to figure out how. We did Grace Monday morning, which was a benchmark workout. It took me a while, but I finished. I've never lifted weights before and I really need to work on my flexibility. We also had a sprint/burpee workout that I didn't think I could do, but managed to get through a few rounds. This week my eating was challenged. I'm part of a group at work that has a potluck every month or so and each time we have a different theme. Even though the theme is Salad, I still debate whether or not I should go this time, because I'm really trying to make paleo work. I decide to go and bring a yummy spinach/strawberry/hazelnut/balsamic salad. Big hit with everyone. I looked around the kitchen at the potluck and realized that I really couldn't eat a lot that was there. But instead of looking rude, I took a little of the salads that looked the least dangerous, and a lot of mine. I stayed away from the freshly made croutons and the ceaser salad altogether. I did my best. And to be completely fair, I'm not completely paleo. I started eating more smoothies with whey protein. I'm also eating Nancy's yogurt with blueberries and almonds. I know I need to cut the dairy out, and I will, I just need to get through this yogurt (I don't want to waste it). I think it's funny that women who are dieting are more likely to eat low-fat Yoplait, with the second ingredient of High Fructose Corn Syrup, instead of full fat natural yogurt. Fat really isn't the problem, especially with something like that. Shouldn't you be eating naturaly foods? I also saw the doctor this week and saw what my weight really was - 153. Ouch. I didn't think it was that bad. I need to go back in a few weeks, so I kept that number in mind. I still manage to impress my friends and coworkers with stories of pull-ups and all the 'crazy' stuff we're doing. I start trying to recruit with no luck. Whatev. Their loss.

Why now?

I'm not an athlete. I never have been. That's OK. The first time I ever joined a gym was a couple years ago in Iowa. It was close to work and the people there were nice. I found a class called Cardio Interval on Monday evenings, where we did three minutes of one thing and three minutes of another for about an hour. What I liked more than anything was that I couldn't let my mind wander in class - I had to focus on what I was doing. Sometimes I need to be forced to be focused. We joined a gym when we moved to Eugene, but it's more mindless exercise. I felt like I was maintaining (barely), but that was it. Josh found out about Crossfit through his friends in Iowa. After trying a session there, he checked out the Crossfit in Eugene. He convinced me to come with him and try it for a month. July is a slow month for me, and I definitely needed something new in my life, so my first crossfit workout was July 13. The first workout made for a great story for my friends and co-workers. We held sandbags over our heads, which was awful, and in the actual workout we flipped tires. This I could get into. I didn't feel very strong that day, but I felt like I could be. I felt like I could commit. So I did. I ended up going 4 times that week - 2 regular workouts and 2 fundamentals classes. I felt comfortable in the fundamentals and scared in the regular. But that's OK, because I'm rarely scared in my real life. I can do this. At the end of the week, I learned about paleo. If I could stick with it for a month and clean out my system, I'd be in a better place to continue this process. A month time frame is perfect, since our trip to Europe was in exactly one month. If I just commit, it can work. I just need to commit. I've never been overweight, but I haven't been at the weight I think I should be in over 10 years. There was a time in 2001 where I was 125 pounds, but I didn't get there the way I should have, and that was a really difficult time in my life. Like we say at work, I can do better. I can get to where I need to be. The picture on the left was taken in May when my friend and I took off down the highway in search of waterfalls. We found snow. I'm not overweight; I'm just not where I should be. My jeans don't feel right. I don't like how I look in pictures. But if I just commit, I can do it.