Beautifully, many people used November to share daily gratitude thoughts on Facebook. I loved it especially in light of all the insanity around the election. This was my first time participating in this practice but I loved how it brought a new dimension to my daily gratitude practice. If you are not practicing gratitude daily, I highly encourage you to do so. The benefits are multi-fold. Just google and see how many articles there are around the benefits. For me personally, it brings me to the here and now and makes me love and appreciate every thing I have in my life rather than focusing on what I don't. As Sheryl Crow says "It's not having what you want, Its wanting what you got"
What are you grateful for?
Here are my 30 days of gratitude posts:
Day 1 I am thankful for my crazy kitties who are a source of whimsy, comfort, joy and some times a little exasperation. :). Feel free to share some thing you are thankful for.
Day 2 I am grateful that I regularly get 8+ hours of sleep. It helps make me healthy... And probably less cranky ... some times. :)
Day 3 I am grateful for my two crossfit homes in Richmond. I am lucky to live in a town that has quite a few crossfit boxes (8 or more?!). Several of these affiliates really work together to create a greater Crossfit community for Richmond. I regularly spend time at two of these gyms CrossFit Midlo and West End CrossFit . Crossfit Midlo gave me my start. Introduced me to the whole Crossfit movement. The coaches: Kevin, Ryan, Lindsey, Kathy and Tyler have made me a better athlete, a better coach and a better person and I am lucky to also count them as friends. West End Crossfit has continually made their doors open for me and welcomed me in for what ever I needed: questions, observational coaching, a WOD, time with Mandy. Jen and Tim are warm, generous people and who are damn good coaches. I have really appreciated having them so close as I try to find my work out passion again. ~simply filled with gratitude to these two places - or rather the people who are there, the coaching that they do and the community that they create~
Day 4 I am grateful for my Mom, Dad and 3 sisters. We share a lot of love and laughs and every one is in good health and for that I am very grateful.
Day 5 I am grateful for Metabolic Effect and JillFit Physiques..or really the people who run these fabulous companies. I love Metabolic Effect for several reasons. First off, I really dig what they have to say. Figure out what works for you from an eating perspective (the give you a starting point and tools) plus they advocate lifting heavy weights and short workouts. I have literally given out 20+ copies of their books to people. It is life changing stuff. Second, Jade Anthony Teta and Keoni Teta are some of the most warm and genuine people I have never met. Of course through, ME I found Jill. It is hard to say enough about some one who continually helps to make your life better. First I bought nutrition plans from Jillfit and got to know my amazing coach Jillian Sarno Teta - a beautiful, brilliant, enlightened badass. :) But Jillfit took me so much further than food. It brought community, challenges and focus on something bigger and better - knowing myself and being happier in life. I joined Jill Coleman's coaching group this past year and every month I get better. I have grown in so many ways.I love what Jill is creating in the world. I could go on an on here about more reasons and more people that rock just know that I am deeply grateful each day for having come across this group of amazing, inspiring people.
Day 6 I am grateful that I live in the United States. On this voting day it was the most obvious gratitude choice. While it is by luck of birth that I am here, I do enjoy being in a country where I do get to contribute my voice to who runs the government. I get the freedom of speech to voice the opinions that I want to voice with out fear of imprisonment or censure. I have had a great education which as a woman in this world I feel pretty damn lucky about. I got to choose who I married. I can make choices with my own amazing body - whether that be clothing, tattoos or birth control. I get the freedom of religion where I can practice any religion... or none at all. Many women in other countries don't have the same opportunities/choices for education, marriage, religion or control over their bodies. It is not a perfect country after all it is run by humans - imperfect beings but it is a damn good one that allows me so much and has given me so much. I am grateful to be here in the US.
Day 7 I am grateful that I have an amazing collection...er... group of friends. There are SO many people in my life that just take my breath away with how amazing they are. Smart, funny, warm, radiant, loving, honest, supportive. All different kinds of people and each so beautiful and precious.
Day 8 I am grateful for my husband. No one makes me feel more loved or spoils me more. I am still ridiculously in love with him and just in awe that I get to be his partner in life.
Day 9 I am grateful for my healthy body. It has seen me through so much. Years of soccer, biking riding to my friends house, marching band, step aerobics, weight machines, free weights, kick boxing, growing and birthing my daughter, being really over weight, 2 marathons and countless other runs, hours of sitting on the couch and in front of a computer, crossfit, countless meals and glasses of all kinds of liquids, and tattoos...just to name a few things. I have spent too much time berating it for not looking the way I wanted it to be. All of that was wasted time. All my parts work, my breath is easy and free, my heart beats strong, my muscles get me moving. I am grateful for it. ♥ What are you grateful for today?
Day 10 I am grateful for half and half. Yes, some times the little things mean so much. I am a big tea and cream kind of girl.(Or as my friends have some times pointed out I like to have a little bit of tea with my cream.) I have always loved half and half. I have very early memories of hitting those little creamers from restaurant tables. That amazing little burst of creamy goodness. It makes my brain happy.
Day 11 I am grateful for the men and women who have served and serve today in the armed forces. I would love it if we could live in a world where the military was not needed to keep the peace and resolve conflicts and disputes but that is not yet the case. Given that, I am thankful that there are those willing to go out and serve for their country. Thankful for their sacrifices and commitment. What are you grateful for today?
Day 12 I am grateful for water. In this country we have more access to clean water than most. I start my day with a big glass of water to rehydrate and refresh in the morning. Water is the base for all the yummy teas I drink.
Day 13 I am grateful for my sweet baby girl. Ok, she is not a baby girl any more but she will always be that to me. I stand in awe of the person that she has grown to be - smart, curious, self-aware, wicked sense of humor, beautiful, loving, affectionate, driven. My heart is bursting with joy thinking of her.
Day 14 I am grateful for my big comfy bed. I am not feeling well today and haven't been sleeping well this week and yet it hasn't complained that I have been thrashing around restlessly in it even once. :) Seriously, I am glad I have a safe warm bed to crawl into every night.
Day 15 I am grateful for people who have skills that I don't. I mean if society was dependent on me to design a car or computer... we would all be in trouble. My mind can't even wrap around how some of the things we use every day even works. I am thankful that there are those inventors and innovators with all kinds of skills and perspectives that make awesome things...or even mundane things.
Day 16 I am grateful for music. I love that just hearing the right song can turn a shitty day in to a dance party or move you to tears and give you goose bumps Music can totally change the motivation and effort in a workout. I got to see Peter Gabriel and Duran Duran in concert this year. Two big long time musical loves for me and seeing them in person was a high light. It is a part of my every day life and I love it.
Day 17 I am grateful a quiet start to the day. I love having my own time in the morning to get a little walk in, focus my positive attitude for the day, dwell on some gratitude and refuel my bod with some good food.
Day 18 I am grateful for double unders. For those of you not familiar with them it is simply the act of jumping rope and letting the rope pass twice under your feet with one jump. Sounds delightfully simple, yes? It is the skill I have been working on with intensity recently with the goal of doing 25 every day. What a learning experience that goal is providing. No exercise floods me with frustration like this one does. Some days I can get a few and some days it looks like I have never held a jump rope. I am grateful for the opportunity to have more presence with how I am holding my body, how high my feet are leaving the floor, where my hands are, what the frustration and struggle teaches me. After all it is the struggle that teaches. I am struggling there fore I am learning. :)
Day 19 I am grateful for getting to do what I love in coaching crossfit and personal training. It is fun helping people learn to move better, feel better, get stronger and do things they didn't think they could do. Plus I get the bonus of learning a ton by teaching.
Day 20 I am grateful for the constant movement of life. I am talking about the ups and downs, ins and outs. I used to hate it and rebel against it. I mean wouldn't it feel great to be happy and content 100% of the time? But that is not how we experience life. It has highs and lows, amazing experiences and experiences that bring us to our knees. Everything changes and flows. How can I appreciate how much I love that I get excited to go lift, if some days I really don't want to go? How much would I wrap my arms around energetic, productive days if I didn't also have days where my energy was barely enough to get me off the couch. Would I enjoy deeply connecting with my friends if I didn't also have times of being completely alone? What ever mood or place you are in today, it will shift and be different in a few minutes or a few days. It makes each moment that much more precious to me.
Day 21 I am grateful for my neighborhood. It is quiet and small and has been quickly filled with families that all seem to be nice people. This is the neighborhood I wanted 19 years ago when my daughter was tiny so that she could grow up in a safe place to ride her bike and play with tons of other kids. Too late for that part but it is a great place all the same.
Day 22 I am grateful for an actual day of thanks. I hope every one is surrounded by family, friends, food, warmth and love today. While I think gratitude should be a daily practice, I am thankful for day that allows people pause to think about what they are thankful for in their lives.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Day 23 I am grateful for the perfect evening with friends.
Day 24 Today I am grateful for the people who lead the way in change. I was reminded about this theme after watching Lincoln. I don't know that I have the bravery and courage and stamina that it takes to be at the leading edge of fighting for equal rights but I am so grateful that there people who are willing to lead in this space.
Day 25 Today I am grateful for books. So much learning or mindless escapism. :) I love getting wrapped up in a great book.
Day 26 I am thankful for laughter. I love sharing giggles with friends, laughing with joy at seeing a favorite person enter the room or just cutting up and being silly. As my husband will tell you, I think I am very funny and I crack myself up all the time. :D I love to laugh until I cry and my jaw and abs ache. I love the way genuine laughter can make you feel.
Day 27 I am thankful for an endless inspiring supply of paleo recipes on the internet. Since moving more to eating this way, I have really learned a ton about cooking. While I have purchased some cook books, I love googling for ideas. Today was breakfast chili and pumpkin granola. Yummers. Helps keep my body fueled and healthy. Thank you to all those paleo chefs out there keeping me inspired and well fed.
Day 28 I am thankful for my home gym. It makes me happy...not to mention healthier and stronger. While I love going to a CF box to work out it is nice to have something here to use.
Day 29 I am grateful for delightful connection time with some one who means a ton to me. I love my friends. I love time with my friends. It makes my heart happy.
Day 30 I am grateful for being alive for another day. We all know that life can change in an instant. So the fact I got to post every day about gratitude this month and woke up this morning and so far lived out this day is pretty cool to me.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
One Thing at a Time
If you have been following my blog for a while you know that I love running monthly experiments. Things I want to try, new skills to pick up, habits to change. It usually ends up looking like a laundry list of to do items.
Something like that. You get the idea. Recently however I have noticed that I get a panicked feeling when looking at my daily to do list. My experiments are turning out to be not so much fun and end the month I am not accomplishing what I thought I would.
A while ago a seed was implanted in my brain from my Precision Nutrition course. It was an idea that seemed crazy. It was brought up again recently in an email from a friend that made me take another look at it. The idea is focusing on 1 new habit at a time. Once you master that one, you move to the next one. Those of us pursuing better health know that it requires a balance of good nutrition, exercise, stress management and quality sleep. So what happens when you take all this in at the same time and you are trying to eat 20+ grams of protein with every meal, get more veggies, get to the gym 4 to 5 times a week, break that diet soda habit, try meditation and long walks, work on getting 8 hours of sleep and read books, blogs etc to help improve self awareness and loving-kindness? Of course this is in addition to the job, kids and whatever other social obligations you have. It is a bit crazy making.
How do you do it differently, deliberately and probably with better long term success? One habit at a time. Focus on getting 30g of protein at breakfast and that is all. Declare success that day. Only tackle your diet soda habit. Perhaps working on getting an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep each night is where your focus is. The idea is to pick one thing, focus on it, accomplish what you are going after, make it a habit and build confidence. Very few of us can completely change our way of eating over night and then if we can it is usually for the short term. Wouldn't it be better to move slowly, making progress and have greater success in the long run?
I admit. The idea of this one thing at a time gave me heart palpitations. How can I only work on 1 thing?! There are so many things I want to do! What I am finding so far is that it makes the daunting seem achievable. I stress out when I think I have to tighten up my diet that may have strayed a bit far off the fatloss path. I love my wine, cream in my tea and treats when I feel like it. If I think, I only need to cut out sugar during the week. I will leave the wine and cream alone for right now. That feels better and less anxiety producing to me. Chances are I will have better success in not trying to approach it with no more wine, cream or sugar and feeling super deprived which makes me cranky which makes me end up blowing it all anyway on some kind of binge.
More on this later as I continue to see how this plays out in my learning journey. I really challenge you to consider it. It could be the key to long term success with health that you were looking for!
- Meditate for 5 minutes a day
- Walk for 30 minutes a day
- Crossfit 4 times a week
- Only 1 treat meal a week
- Read 40 pages daily
- Blog 2x a week
- Do 25 double unders a day
- Do 10 pull ups a day
Something like that. You get the idea. Recently however I have noticed that I get a panicked feeling when looking at my daily to do list. My experiments are turning out to be not so much fun and end the month I am not accomplishing what I thought I would.
A while ago a seed was implanted in my brain from my Precision Nutrition course. It was an idea that seemed crazy. It was brought up again recently in an email from a friend that made me take another look at it. The idea is focusing on 1 new habit at a time. Once you master that one, you move to the next one. Those of us pursuing better health know that it requires a balance of good nutrition, exercise, stress management and quality sleep. So what happens when you take all this in at the same time and you are trying to eat 20+ grams of protein with every meal, get more veggies, get to the gym 4 to 5 times a week, break that diet soda habit, try meditation and long walks, work on getting 8 hours of sleep and read books, blogs etc to help improve self awareness and loving-kindness? Of course this is in addition to the job, kids and whatever other social obligations you have. It is a bit crazy making.
How do you do it differently, deliberately and probably with better long term success? One habit at a time. Focus on getting 30g of protein at breakfast and that is all. Declare success that day. Only tackle your diet soda habit. Perhaps working on getting an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep each night is where your focus is. The idea is to pick one thing, focus on it, accomplish what you are going after, make it a habit and build confidence. Very few of us can completely change our way of eating over night and then if we can it is usually for the short term. Wouldn't it be better to move slowly, making progress and have greater success in the long run?
I admit. The idea of this one thing at a time gave me heart palpitations. How can I only work on 1 thing?! There are so many things I want to do! What I am finding so far is that it makes the daunting seem achievable. I stress out when I think I have to tighten up my diet that may have strayed a bit far off the fatloss path. I love my wine, cream in my tea and treats when I feel like it. If I think, I only need to cut out sugar during the week. I will leave the wine and cream alone for right now. That feels better and less anxiety producing to me. Chances are I will have better success in not trying to approach it with no more wine, cream or sugar and feeling super deprived which makes me cranky which makes me end up blowing it all anyway on some kind of binge.
More on this later as I continue to see how this plays out in my learning journey. I really challenge you to consider it. It could be the key to long term success with health that you were looking for!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Don't Waste Your Time!
Over the past few months, I have strengthened my belief that negative self talk is a complete waste of time. So many of my women friends (and perhaps my male friends too although we don't spend too much time talking about these things) beat the crap out of themselves. Energy focused on berating themselves for thick thighs, not having wash board abs, not looking like you are ready to step onto a magazine cover or for not being as strong today in a workout as you might have been yesterday, what ever it might be.
None of us know how long we will have to be here. We may live a long life of 90+ years or it may end this afternoon. Regardless, do you REALLY want to spend any of that precious time kicking the crap out of yourself?
I heard a story the other day that I thought was powerful. Two friends are talking as they are getting ready to go out to a party. One of the friends was struggling with a serious illness. The other friend asked if her dress made her look fat. Her sick friend replied "You don't have that kind of time". I loved that. We don't have that kind of time to be letting thoughts keep us from being present, from connecting, from being our wonderful true selves.
Those negative thoughts are all just stories and patterns in our brain. It takes time and practice but once you become aware of those thought patterns they can be changed. You can be present. You can be your amazing you. Greet each day as the amazing gift that it is. We have no idea how many we get. Don't waste any more of your time.
None of us know how long we will have to be here. We may live a long life of 90+ years or it may end this afternoon. Regardless, do you REALLY want to spend any of that precious time kicking the crap out of yourself?
I heard a story the other day that I thought was powerful. Two friends are talking as they are getting ready to go out to a party. One of the friends was struggling with a serious illness. The other friend asked if her dress made her look fat. Her sick friend replied "You don't have that kind of time". I loved that. We don't have that kind of time to be letting thoughts keep us from being present, from connecting, from being our wonderful true selves.
Those negative thoughts are all just stories and patterns in our brain. It takes time and practice but once you become aware of those thought patterns they can be changed. You can be present. You can be your amazing you. Greet each day as the amazing gift that it is. We have no idea how many we get. Don't waste any more of your time.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Desperate (but not serious)
Finding my mojo post injury has been a struggle. I have put on some pounds and honestly, workouts that I previously did now make me nervous. I swing between being at peace with being slow, steady and coming back with better form to being in despair about the strength that I have lost. I flip back and forth between just eating whole nourishing food and scrambling for a tight, restrictive plan to get my eating back on track. I have gone through the whole "its not fair" blame game - totally playing the victim role. In deep anxiety about my expanding waist line, I have been desperate to find THE plan that will solve everything - make me lean, make it easy to turn down wine or chocolate, make me never struggle with food again. Magic pill anyone? :) And this is coming from some one who has consulted with nutritionists for years, bought countless plans from various trainers and holds two nutrition certifications herself. ha!
Then through some journaling and listening to some pretty wise people, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes "The struggle is what teaches". So apparently, I still have lots of learning to do in this area. (yay learning!!)
Here is what my struggle has been teaching:
1) Holy crap! When you are struggling and fighting with something so hard, take a damn minute, slow down and figure out what you need to learn here. Its much better than wallowing in that particular emotion.
2) I am choosing to be in victim mode. I can also choose to change my attitude. Being a little plumper is hard? Bitch please. Losing some one you love is hard. Dealing with a terminal illness is hard. Living with my jeans being a little snugger after not working out for almost two months when I have a healthy body, a beautiful family, amazing friends and an in general dreamy life? I think I will be ok.
3) My search for the next plan that would solve all my problems is focusing on controlling the food and not with all the other stuff that is going on. I can't do weight loss from a control stand point for very long. The harder I fight to control the more I break and binge big time. Making choices daily, minute by minute, that come from a place of love and self-acceptance? Now THAT can get me some where.
Upon reflection, I think my mojo is back post injury. It just looks and feels different than it did before so I guess I didn't recognize it. I am spending time doing workouts that bring me joy. I get filled with joy in nourishing my body. Every thing else will settle out. While I feel better personally being a little leaner, I am not a better person because I am leaner. I am me at any weight or body fat percentage. And that is cool with me.
Then through some journaling and listening to some pretty wise people, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes "The struggle is what teaches". So apparently, I still have lots of learning to do in this area. (yay learning!!)
Here is what my struggle has been teaching:
1) Holy crap! When you are struggling and fighting with something so hard, take a damn minute, slow down and figure out what you need to learn here. Its much better than wallowing in that particular emotion.
2) I am choosing to be in victim mode. I can also choose to change my attitude. Being a little plumper is hard? Bitch please. Losing some one you love is hard. Dealing with a terminal illness is hard. Living with my jeans being a little snugger after not working out for almost two months when I have a healthy body, a beautiful family, amazing friends and an in general dreamy life? I think I will be ok.
3) My search for the next plan that would solve all my problems is focusing on controlling the food and not with all the other stuff that is going on. I can't do weight loss from a control stand point for very long. The harder I fight to control the more I break and binge big time. Making choices daily, minute by minute, that come from a place of love and self-acceptance? Now THAT can get me some where.
Upon reflection, I think my mojo is back post injury. It just looks and feels different than it did before so I guess I didn't recognize it. I am spending time doing workouts that bring me joy. I get filled with joy in nourishing my body. Every thing else will settle out. While I feel better personally being a little leaner, I am not a better person because I am leaner. I am me at any weight or body fat percentage. And that is cool with me.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Books That Have Helped Me Make Shifts in Ways of Being
This year has been a big year of mental shifts for me. There are many things I can attribute to why this happened (coaching group, deliberate practice, just getting a wee bit older, etc) but one piece I would like to share about is some books that I have read.
These three books have helped me be different in this world. Happier.
1. Loving What Is by Byron Katie - With her simple set of questions, what she refers to as "The Work" she helps you see that you don't have to believe your thoughts and that arguing with reality causes suffering.
1. Is it True?
2. Can you absolutely know that it is true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be with out that thought?
I haven't internalized all that this book contains and some of the concepts that she addresses are hard for me to grasp but I get it enough to know that this is an important tool. It has helped me separate reality from my story that I bring to what is happening. Powerful beyond measure. By the way, she gives all of this information away for free on her website.
2. Being Happy: You Don't Have to Be Perfect to Lead a Richer, Happier Life by Ben Tal-Shahar
I have never considered myself a perfectionist. I feel like I am a "good enough" kind of person. However, this book really struck home for me in several ways. It made me see how in certain areas I was setting impossibly high standards that I could never meet and there for living in constant disappointment with myself. It also stated another point which I talked about in more detail in a previous blog post, that there is an assumption that happy people must be happy all the time and that if you are not then you are not really happy. This of course is not true. As obvious as it might be to some, this was a mind blowing realization to me. It allowed me to think that maybe I am a happier person than I thought even though I do have mood swings and get sad. I am happier person on a daily basis with this realization.
3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - I started this book as more of a "have to" read. It chronicles a writer taking on a one year project to be happier. Every month she has new things to try. As you all may know I am a HUGE fan of running monthly experiments! There are many resolutions that she tries that I like a lot. I think the biggest piece I am taking away however is make time for what you are passionate about and forget results. That is inspiring me to focus on a month of learning new things every day. I am passionate about learning... really for the sake of learning and not to get me anywhere. So I am going to purposely track learning one new thing each day for a month and see how I enjoy that. The forget about results part is pretty interesting too. For me for body image stuff, I had been driving for so long to get six pack abs or a low body fat percentage and I was making myself miserable. Now? I focus on filling up with nourishing food, delightful culinary experiences and challenging my body in ways that bring me joy. I am much happier and you know what? I did NOT balloon up to 200lbs!
What books have brought about big changes in your life?
These three books have helped me be different in this world. Happier.
1. Loving What Is by Byron Katie - With her simple set of questions, what she refers to as "The Work" she helps you see that you don't have to believe your thoughts and that arguing with reality causes suffering.
1. Is it True?
2. Can you absolutely know that it is true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be with out that thought?
I haven't internalized all that this book contains and some of the concepts that she addresses are hard for me to grasp but I get it enough to know that this is an important tool. It has helped me separate reality from my story that I bring to what is happening. Powerful beyond measure. By the way, she gives all of this information away for free on her website.
2. Being Happy: You Don't Have to Be Perfect to Lead a Richer, Happier Life by Ben Tal-Shahar
I have never considered myself a perfectionist. I feel like I am a "good enough" kind of person. However, this book really struck home for me in several ways. It made me see how in certain areas I was setting impossibly high standards that I could never meet and there for living in constant disappointment with myself. It also stated another point which I talked about in more detail in a previous blog post, that there is an assumption that happy people must be happy all the time and that if you are not then you are not really happy. This of course is not true. As obvious as it might be to some, this was a mind blowing realization to me. It allowed me to think that maybe I am a happier person than I thought even though I do have mood swings and get sad. I am happier person on a daily basis with this realization.
3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - I started this book as more of a "have to" read. It chronicles a writer taking on a one year project to be happier. Every month she has new things to try. As you all may know I am a HUGE fan of running monthly experiments! There are many resolutions that she tries that I like a lot. I think the biggest piece I am taking away however is make time for what you are passionate about and forget results. That is inspiring me to focus on a month of learning new things every day. I am passionate about learning... really for the sake of learning and not to get me anywhere. So I am going to purposely track learning one new thing each day for a month and see how I enjoy that. The forget about results part is pretty interesting too. For me for body image stuff, I had been driving for so long to get six pack abs or a low body fat percentage and I was making myself miserable. Now? I focus on filling up with nourishing food, delightful culinary experiences and challenging my body in ways that bring me joy. I am much happier and you know what? I did NOT balloon up to 200lbs!
What books have brought about big changes in your life?
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
An Interesting Place
A few weeks ago I hurt my back while working out. (Don't blame Crossfit. It happens.) These weeks have really been an interesting journey. Emotionally I have been all over - in disbelief that it happened, sadness at feeling like I may be losing the muscle and strength I have gained over the past few years, desperation in dealing with the moment to moment chronic pain and relief at getting a chance to step back and rest.
Lessons I have learned while injured:
1. It is REALLY easy to get used to not working out. You all know I am a workout freak. I love Crossfitting and was doing it 5 days a week. Now I am back to having it scheduled on my calendar and thinking "well I could work out now or I could go and do X,Y and Z". I now have a little more sympathy for those who fall off the wagon or have never started working out at all.
2. There is no "there" to get to. I believe good work outs consist of lifting heavy things and sprinting. Neither of which I can do right now. It started me in a bit of a panic. Who am I with out that? How the hell do I work out any other way? Breathe. Its going to be ok. A few months of not doing that is not going to suddenly make me an obese couch potato. I am working on shifting my perspective to joyfully explore what my body can and can't do now and discover new ways of working out.
3. Maybe 5 days a week of Crossfit is too much for me. This injury has also helped me refocus on dealing with my fatigue. It is something I have been trying to trouble shoot for years. Ideally I am hoping it can be solved through good nutrition, proper sleep and stress management. I met recently with a paleo nutritionist to see if there was anything else I could be doing in regards to heal possible adrenal burn out. Her first recommendation is not to Crossfit 5 days a week. Ugh. What? Of course at the moment I am doing 0 days a week. Part of my plan going forward is 3 days a week and long walks on the other days. THAT is going to be a big adjustment.
4. Focusing eating on nourishing my body is so much more fun than thinking about fat loss. I have been using this time to maximize on my nutrition. I am making an effort to try and give my body all the nutrients that it needs to heal the best it can. That has felt so good having my eating just focused on just nourishing my body... which of course does my brain pretty good as well. Meal times feel more relaxed and oddly my cravings for wine and sugar have really dropped off. huh.
What have your injury or down times taught you?
Lessons I have learned while injured:
1. It is REALLY easy to get used to not working out. You all know I am a workout freak. I love Crossfitting and was doing it 5 days a week. Now I am back to having it scheduled on my calendar and thinking "well I could work out now or I could go and do X,Y and Z". I now have a little more sympathy for those who fall off the wagon or have never started working out at all.
2. There is no "there" to get to. I believe good work outs consist of lifting heavy things and sprinting. Neither of which I can do right now. It started me in a bit of a panic. Who am I with out that? How the hell do I work out any other way? Breathe. Its going to be ok. A few months of not doing that is not going to suddenly make me an obese couch potato. I am working on shifting my perspective to joyfully explore what my body can and can't do now and discover new ways of working out.
3. Maybe 5 days a week of Crossfit is too much for me. This injury has also helped me refocus on dealing with my fatigue. It is something I have been trying to trouble shoot for years. Ideally I am hoping it can be solved through good nutrition, proper sleep and stress management. I met recently with a paleo nutritionist to see if there was anything else I could be doing in regards to heal possible adrenal burn out. Her first recommendation is not to Crossfit 5 days a week. Ugh. What? Of course at the moment I am doing 0 days a week. Part of my plan going forward is 3 days a week and long walks on the other days. THAT is going to be a big adjustment.
4. Focusing eating on nourishing my body is so much more fun than thinking about fat loss. I have been using this time to maximize on my nutrition. I am making an effort to try and give my body all the nutrients that it needs to heal the best it can. That has felt so good having my eating just focused on just nourishing my body... which of course does my brain pretty good as well. Meal times feel more relaxed and oddly my cravings for wine and sugar have really dropped off. huh.
What have your injury or down times taught you?
Sunday, August 5, 2012
The Happiness Assumption
I am not sure if many of you know but I am participating in a coaching group this year with a small group of women and it is headed up by Jill Coleman, who if you don't know her... find her and see what she is all about. My life is better because she is in it. Anyway... each month we get a book to read. This month it is Being Happy by Tal Ben-Shahar. I am only a little ways through the book at the moment but I am blow away by two concepts and I can't wait to see what else I learn from this book.
1) Assumption of happy people always happy - The author talks to a wide spread assumption that he covered through talking to people about happiness. It is the thought that "that truly happy people are some how immune from feeling sadness, fear and anxiety of from experienceing failures and set backs in life. " It is a sign of perfectionism.
Now I would not have consider myself a perfectionist. If you know me I try to be a comfy, casual, roll with it person. However, I have spent many an hour beating the crap out of myself for feeling more sad or moody than I feel like I should with the amazing life I have. In essence, I completely buy in that happy people should always be completely, floating on the clouds happy. Huh. Will need to think and practice around this one a little more.
2) The book provided an insight to me on at least one reason Crossfit makes people better. - "Taking on challenges instead of avoiding them has a great long-term effect on our self-esteem more than winning or losing, failing or succeeding. Paradoxically our overall self confidence and our belief in our own ability to deal with set backs may be reinforced when we fail, because we realize that the beast we had always feared-failure-is not as terrifying as we thought it was. "
I get a chance at least several times a week to feel afraid. I see a workout that makes me start thinking "I can't do this, it is too hard." I get that deep pit in my stomach that makes me want to run, get in my car and go home. But I do the workout anyway. Some days I just barely get through, some times I thrive. Either way I know I am a better person for it on the other side and I am happy that I made the choice to stay. It is good to have it confirmed that facing challenges regularly is good for the self-esteem.
1) Assumption of happy people always happy - The author talks to a wide spread assumption that he covered through talking to people about happiness. It is the thought that "that truly happy people are some how immune from feeling sadness, fear and anxiety of from experienceing failures and set backs in life. " It is a sign of perfectionism.
Now I would not have consider myself a perfectionist. If you know me I try to be a comfy, casual, roll with it person. However, I have spent many an hour beating the crap out of myself for feeling more sad or moody than I feel like I should with the amazing life I have. In essence, I completely buy in that happy people should always be completely, floating on the clouds happy. Huh. Will need to think and practice around this one a little more.
2) The book provided an insight to me on at least one reason Crossfit makes people better. - "Taking on challenges instead of avoiding them has a great long-term effect on our self-esteem more than winning or losing, failing or succeeding. Paradoxically our overall self confidence and our belief in our own ability to deal with set backs may be reinforced when we fail, because we realize that the beast we had always feared-failure-is not as terrifying as we thought it was. "
I get a chance at least several times a week to feel afraid. I see a workout that makes me start thinking "I can't do this, it is too hard." I get that deep pit in my stomach that makes me want to run, get in my car and go home. But I do the workout anyway. Some days I just barely get through, some times I thrive. Either way I know I am a better person for it on the other side and I am happy that I made the choice to stay. It is good to have it confirmed that facing challenges regularly is good for the self-esteem.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The Hourglass
Recently the image of an hourglass has been popping up in my brain frequently. For me it is a visual of how life is moving...second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour. This is how we experience life whether we are aware of it or not. Before long, years pass and we are at the end of the journey. Tara Brach, a meditation teacher, often talks about reciting "...and this moment...and this moment" bringing your self to the presence of each moment that comes to us and really thinking about how what is important is really just the minute that is in front of us that we are experiencing.
I actually really like thinking of life like this as it is simply the way life unfolds. The hourglass reminds me to be here and be with what ever life is bringing in the moment. The image makes it clear to me that life changes. Whatever is going on be it beautiful, stressful, boring, exciting, hunger, pain, joy it will all pass and change.
In the present moment, you can't be regretful about the past. You cannot be worried about the future. You are just here.
If being present is not a regular practice for you, I recommend trying it. Simply bring your focus to what is going on in front of you where ever you are... in front of your computer, at a meal, at a stop light, in a meeting or during a workout.
What are the sounds here? Where is my breath? What all am I observing? How does my body feel?
While I try to do this with as many minutes as I can during the day, I do love it during my workouts. It takes away the fear. I don't focus "I can't do this" instead what does my body need to be doing here? How are my feet moving? How does that bar bell feel in my hands? Wow, my lungs and heart are working! I can feel it. More often than not being present during a workout fills me with gratitude for a body capable of doing what it does, a community that I love and a connection with getting to be doing what I love and that is better to me than any time or PR.
Why this is important? Our lives pass us by one minute at a time. Being present as often as possible allows us to "be" better with the time, more connected with what is happening right in front of us and it allows us to be aware of all the things that are around us that remind us that we are alive.
I actually really like thinking of life like this as it is simply the way life unfolds. The hourglass reminds me to be here and be with what ever life is bringing in the moment. The image makes it clear to me that life changes. Whatever is going on be it beautiful, stressful, boring, exciting, hunger, pain, joy it will all pass and change.
In the present moment, you can't be regretful about the past. You cannot be worried about the future. You are just here.
If being present is not a regular practice for you, I recommend trying it. Simply bring your focus to what is going on in front of you where ever you are... in front of your computer, at a meal, at a stop light, in a meeting or during a workout.
What are the sounds here? Where is my breath? What all am I observing? How does my body feel?
While I try to do this with as many minutes as I can during the day, I do love it during my workouts. It takes away the fear. I don't focus "I can't do this" instead what does my body need to be doing here? How are my feet moving? How does that bar bell feel in my hands? Wow, my lungs and heart are working! I can feel it. More often than not being present during a workout fills me with gratitude for a body capable of doing what it does, a community that I love and a connection with getting to be doing what I love and that is better to me than any time or PR.
Why this is important? Our lives pass us by one minute at a time. Being present as often as possible allows us to "be" better with the time, more connected with what is happening right in front of us and it allows us to be aware of all the things that are around us that remind us that we are alive.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Competition. What if you looked at it another way?
One thing many people love about CrossFit is the competition. For the people who were competitive athletes in high school or college, Crossfit is a great way to reconnect with that competitive environment.
What about for the rest of us?
In pondering this over the past week, I want offer a different perspective on competition. For me, I know I some times get caught up with feeling like doing the workout as prescribed as the end goal or that if I don't put up times close to the top athletes at our gym that some how I am failing. This focus this can leave me feeling frustrated and depressed when there is really no need for that.
I have been practicing looking at it another way. If I complete against myself what does that look like? Because I track all my workouts, its easy for me to compare performance on a particular lift or workout. If I have done a workout more than once, was I able to do it in less time this time? or with more weight? For any given lift, did I do it better, more efficiently this week? Even beyond the actual metrics: Did I show up more times this week? Did I relax more and manage my self talk more during the work out rather than berating myself or complaining endlessly? Did I check the website, groan as it is stuff I hate or things that scare me and show up anyway? :)
Take some time and make sure your standards of success aren't so high that you are in a state of constant not feeling good enough. There are so many ways to look at competition, growth and success. This isn't about lowering the standards so that every one gets a ribbon kind of thing but rather shifting perspective to way that you can appreciate how you are stacking up against the you that was yesterday, last week, last year.
Ask yourself "How can I be better today?"
"Competition is not about winning or losing, its about putting yourself out there, doing things that might scare you a bit, and coming out the other side a better version of yourself" - Ben Bergeron CFNE
What about for the rest of us?
- Those of us who were really never athletes?
- Those of us perhaps even completely inactive up until starting Crossfit?
- Those of us who rarely if ever get to do a work out at prescribed weights or standards?
- For those of us who will never have the fasts times or highest scores or heaviest weights written on the board?
- For those of us who worry "Am I going to be the last one again?"
In pondering this over the past week, I want offer a different perspective on competition. For me, I know I some times get caught up with feeling like doing the workout as prescribed as the end goal or that if I don't put up times close to the top athletes at our gym that some how I am failing. This focus this can leave me feeling frustrated and depressed when there is really no need for that.
I have been practicing looking at it another way. If I complete against myself what does that look like? Because I track all my workouts, its easy for me to compare performance on a particular lift or workout. If I have done a workout more than once, was I able to do it in less time this time? or with more weight? For any given lift, did I do it better, more efficiently this week? Even beyond the actual metrics: Did I show up more times this week? Did I relax more and manage my self talk more during the work out rather than berating myself or complaining endlessly? Did I check the website, groan as it is stuff I hate or things that scare me and show up anyway? :)
Take some time and make sure your standards of success aren't so high that you are in a state of constant not feeling good enough. There are so many ways to look at competition, growth and success. This isn't about lowering the standards so that every one gets a ribbon kind of thing but rather shifting perspective to way that you can appreciate how you are stacking up against the you that was yesterday, last week, last year.
Ask yourself "How can I be better today?"
"Competition is not about winning or losing, its about putting yourself out there, doing things that might scare you a bit, and coming out the other side a better version of yourself" - Ben Bergeron CFNE
Monday, June 4, 2012
Glad to Be Here
I was taking my typical long Saturday morning walk in a nearby park when I saw a young woman putting on her head phones and take off for a run. A few years ago I would have been me - same park, slipping on my head phones and running. In observing her, I breathed a sigh of relief that it was no longer me.
I spent so many years toiling away. Looking to be fitter, healthier and feeling so frustrated.
I convinced myself that I just needed to push more, work harder even though I was working out more consistently and harder than most people I knew. I ran a half dozen half marathons and two full marathons. Of course accomplishing the goal of a those distances is a reward in and of its self. However, part of the reason I was logging all of those miles was I thought that is what I needed to be doing to be thinner, fitter. I created some great friendships, conquered some goals but as each training season ended I was typically injured (stress fractured femur, constantly painful knees) and always flabbier. Even my weight lifting didn't bring me the results I wanted for various reasons. I was following advice from mainstream fitness sources (magazines, tv) and honestly they just miss the mark. The really good trainers in the industry know this and don't train their clients that way. Not ever having been a high school or collegiate athlete or having exposure to a trainer who knows what the hell they are doing, I didn't know any differently.
I am not knocking things like Shape or Women's health. Every program out there will bring results from some one - this goes for both fitness and diet plans. Some one will get in better shape from following a workout plan from a monthly women's magazine, from eating vegetarian, from marathoning, from following the South Beach plan (or insert any of the 10,000 different diet books out there) but none of it worked well enough for me and it left me feeling lazy and stupid.
And then I found Crossfit. It set every thing that I thought I knew about fitness on its head. You don't need hours of cardio that make you miserable to be leaner? You can do something other than 3x10 for every body part and still build muscle? You can do a workout that is only 4 minutes long and that is all you need for that day? Tell me more. :)
There are so many lessons I have learned from Crossfit but the point of this blog post is this one:
Question what you are doing. Have you been doing the same thing for years in hopes of being fitter but not really seeing any changes? Seek out experts and test their advice. Run experiments on yourself. Are you happy with how you look, feel and perform? If you are, then super! If you are not, then change something....not a BUNCH of somethings... but something so that you can observe and learn from. I spent years thinking I just needed to be working harder but what I needed to do was to work smarter. Find out what works for you. Demand it for yourself.
While I wish I would have known better about training earlier in my life, I am so glad to be where I am.
I spent so many years toiling away. Looking to be fitter, healthier and feeling so frustrated.
I convinced myself that I just needed to push more, work harder even though I was working out more consistently and harder than most people I knew. I ran a half dozen half marathons and two full marathons. Of course accomplishing the goal of a those distances is a reward in and of its self. However, part of the reason I was logging all of those miles was I thought that is what I needed to be doing to be thinner, fitter. I created some great friendships, conquered some goals but as each training season ended I was typically injured (stress fractured femur, constantly painful knees) and always flabbier. Even my weight lifting didn't bring me the results I wanted for various reasons. I was following advice from mainstream fitness sources (magazines, tv) and honestly they just miss the mark. The really good trainers in the industry know this and don't train their clients that way. Not ever having been a high school or collegiate athlete or having exposure to a trainer who knows what the hell they are doing, I didn't know any differently.
I am not knocking things like Shape or Women's health. Every program out there will bring results from some one - this goes for both fitness and diet plans. Some one will get in better shape from following a workout plan from a monthly women's magazine, from eating vegetarian, from marathoning, from following the South Beach plan (or insert any of the 10,000 different diet books out there) but none of it worked well enough for me and it left me feeling lazy and stupid.
And then I found Crossfit. It set every thing that I thought I knew about fitness on its head. You don't need hours of cardio that make you miserable to be leaner? You can do something other than 3x10 for every body part and still build muscle? You can do a workout that is only 4 minutes long and that is all you need for that day? Tell me more. :)
There are so many lessons I have learned from Crossfit but the point of this blog post is this one:
Question what you are doing. Have you been doing the same thing for years in hopes of being fitter but not really seeing any changes? Seek out experts and test their advice. Run experiments on yourself. Are you happy with how you look, feel and perform? If you are, then super! If you are not, then change something....not a BUNCH of somethings... but something so that you can observe and learn from. I spent years thinking I just needed to be working harder but what I needed to do was to work smarter. Find out what works for you. Demand it for yourself.
While I wish I would have known better about training earlier in my life, I am so glad to be where I am.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Check In and Start Again
This past month for me has been interesting. It turned out differently than I thought when I started on my little experiment to lean out joyfully.
Here are the new habits I worked on over the past month:
Here are the results of those actions:
My measurements changed slightly but nothing worth giving the details on here. That is almost beside the point for me. I got more out of this past month than what the numbers reflect.
The biggest gifts over the past month:
1) Finding the Perfect blog post from Zen Habits. I read it every day. I have made "I am already good enough. I am already have more than enough. I am already perfect" a mantra for myself that I turn to often. I'm focusing on doing things...anything really... because I love it and I am passionate about it, not because I have to be better. Its changing things and that is exciting.
2) I put an infrastructure in place for me to be successful in implementing the habits I wanted to work on over the past month. I set up my calendar so I knew daily and weekly what I wanted to do and had regular check ins scheduled for myself. That proved to be HUGE in keeping me on track. I often start experiments and new habits only to have them peter out after a few days or a week. I will definitely continue to this!! Love it.
Spending time in the next few days figuring out what I want to focus on next. Pretty pumped about it all!
Here are the new habits I worked on over the past month:
- 15-30 minute slow paced, stress reducing walks daily
- 1-4 Snatches and overhead squats daily starting at 65lbs and increasing weight each 1 or 2 weeks
- Start taking CLA supplement (supposedly good for fat metabolism)
Here are the results of those actions:
- I was successful in keeping daily walks which I just loved and connected with in ways that I didn't expect. I used this time to connect with nature a bit more, breathe deep and be present and having some extra peaceful times with my husband when ever he joined me.
- I didn't end up snatching with weight every day. That plan changed rapidly when I realized my squat/overhead squat form was pretty poor. I needed to take a step back. I spent the month doing 5-10 squats daily as close to the wall as I can, really working on keeping my torso up right. It was hard. I also spent some time hanging out in the bottom of the squat - increasing my hip flexibility. It all felt worth while when demonstrating air squats today in class I could feel that I have gotten better. My torso just stayed straight up!! I want to keep this up!
- I did take CLA. I am not sure it has changed anything other than killing my appetite and making me feel sick to my stomach some times. Not sure I am going to continue this but not sure 4 weeks is enough time to see if a supplement is working.
My measurements changed slightly but nothing worth giving the details on here. That is almost beside the point for me. I got more out of this past month than what the numbers reflect.
The biggest gifts over the past month:
1) Finding the Perfect blog post from Zen Habits. I read it every day. I have made "I am already good enough. I am already have more than enough. I am already perfect" a mantra for myself that I turn to often. I'm focusing on doing things...anything really... because I love it and I am passionate about it, not because I have to be better. Its changing things and that is exciting.
2) I put an infrastructure in place for me to be successful in implementing the habits I wanted to work on over the past month. I set up my calendar so I knew daily and weekly what I wanted to do and had regular check ins scheduled for myself. That proved to be HUGE in keeping me on track. I often start experiments and new habits only to have them peter out after a few days or a week. I will definitely continue to this!! Love it.
Spending time in the next few days figuring out what I want to focus on next. Pretty pumped about it all!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
My Latest Experiment - Update week 4
Week 4 updates of my leaning out joyfully (possible, right?)
Four weeks ago, I wrote about a plan I had put together to lean up a bit for an upcoming photo shoot and some other events happening later on this year. In that I had promised weekly check-ins, more for my accountability than your interest but here it is anyway.
Thoughts for this week:
I have been in a battle with myself this week. The photo shoot is getting closer and I waiver between leaning out joyfully and trying to convince myself to log all my food, track my macro ratios and start taking fat burners to get to this photo shoot as lean as I can possibly get. The struggle between wanting a super lean beautiful body and feeling the unhappiness of it to dedicate all my time and energies getting to that place. At the end of the day washboard abs, although beautiful, are not what is meaningful to me. What really makes me happy is connecting with joy through doing things that I love: good, open conversations with people, lifting heavy weights, helping people connect with health and happiness, being a cheerleader and a source of positive encouragement for others, make sure those closest to me feel loved and taken care of, being present in what ever I am doing and working to accept that I am enough exactly as I am.
Its funny that I feel like I have to explain that even though I am not chasing 13% body fat, I am not slacking off. I am still healthy and want to be. Just because I am not counting calories or know what my macro ratios are on a given day doesn't mean that I am busy stuffing junk down my gullet or that I have given up.
I have been reading this Zen Habits blog post every day so far in the month of May and spending time internally processing it: http://zenhabits.net/perfect/ Take time to read that post. Its amazing and powerful beyond measure.
There is a paragraph in there that makes my heart sing:
"You are now free to do things, not because you want to be better, but because you love it. Because you're passionate about it, and it give you joy. Because it's a miracle that you even can do it"
THAT is how I want to be spending my time on things that I am passionate about and because I love it.
I love filling my body with healthy food, I don't love obsessing over calories
I love lifting heavy and going to my crossfit classes, I don't love stressing if I should be doing more to be leaner
I love being present in the moment, I don't love beating the crap out of myself for not being leaner or where I "should" be.
Also from the Zen Habits post: "A powerful realization that has helped me is simply this: You're already good enough, you already have more than enough, and you're already perfect"
Breathe and take that thought in. :)
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
My Latest Experiment - Update week 3
Week 3 updates of my leaning out joyfully (possible, right?)
Thoughts for this week:
- Measurements and scale were down a bit - although waist measurements stayed about the same, which bummed me a bit. Oh well. They were down in other spots.
- These updates have been harder to post than I thought. I am putting myself out there and feel like people might think I am silly for not just bucking up and being as tight and disciplined for the next 8 weeks as I can be just to get it done. My favorite strength coach Dan John has said "fat loss is a war" where I as I am trying to make it a joyful journey. Maybe I am delusional. Even if I am delusional, I know I am not keeping so tight reign on myself that I break and binge. Feeling good about what I am doing daily is really where I want to be. I guess I am realizing that for me finding balance feels more important to me than being leaner. I am taking the slow winding path to fat loss and not the war path.
I think that is all for this week.... will provide at least one more weekly update next week.
Peace out!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
My Latest Experiment - Update week 2
Week 2 updates of my leaning out joyfully (possible, right?)
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a plan I had put together to lean up a bit for an upcoming photo shoot and some other events happening later on this year. In that I had promised weekly check-ins, more for my accountability than your interest but here it is anyway.
I have been consistent with my walks and logging daily thoughts in my "food, mood and gratitude" journal. I need to check back over the past few months since I have been logging that to see if there are things I notice or if there are trends to my energy. I recently added the "gratitude" part of those journal entries and I love it.
I have been working daily on my overhead and front squat form. Doing this through reading about squats from various sources and practicing daily with the PVC pipe...facing a wall. Some times just a few reps, some times set to a tabata timer. Its good work. It is not with weights but I know it is good foundational work that will bring strength and growth eventually. Below is a picture from Greg Everett's book Olympic Weighlifiting. I hope to squat like this some day. Beautiful.
My food has been ok. There are times where I feel like I should be pushing more, tracking every calorie and depriving more but that doesn't align with my goal of doing this with balance and joy. Running down the crazy train track of depravation will cause me to crack, break and binge. I know. I have been there.
I started this week on a deliberate strength training plan to supplement my Crossfit workouts. Happy to be under way with that. Also this month I am giving myself a little space. I am taking a break from training clients one on one to focus on coaching on Crossfit and spend some time on some other projects.
Measurements won't be done again until Monday so I am looking forward to seeing the results. Will report in next week's blog update.
Have a great week!!
Kara
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a plan I had put together to lean up a bit for an upcoming photo shoot and some other events happening later on this year. In that I had promised weekly check-ins, more for my accountability than your interest but here it is anyway.
I have been consistent with my walks and logging daily thoughts in my "food, mood and gratitude" journal. I need to check back over the past few months since I have been logging that to see if there are things I notice or if there are trends to my energy. I recently added the "gratitude" part of those journal entries and I love it.
I have been working daily on my overhead and front squat form. Doing this through reading about squats from various sources and practicing daily with the PVC pipe...facing a wall. Some times just a few reps, some times set to a tabata timer. Its good work. It is not with weights but I know it is good foundational work that will bring strength and growth eventually. Below is a picture from Greg Everett's book Olympic Weighlifiting. I hope to squat like this some day. Beautiful.
My food has been ok. There are times where I feel like I should be pushing more, tracking every calorie and depriving more but that doesn't align with my goal of doing this with balance and joy. Running down the crazy train track of depravation will cause me to crack, break and binge. I know. I have been there.
I started this week on a deliberate strength training plan to supplement my Crossfit workouts. Happy to be under way with that. Also this month I am giving myself a little space. I am taking a break from training clients one on one to focus on coaching on Crossfit and spend some time on some other projects.
Measurements won't be done again until Monday so I am looking forward to seeing the results. Will report in next week's blog update.
Have a great week!!
Kara
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
My Latest Experiment - Update week 1
Last week I wrote about what plan I had put together to lean up a bit for an upcoming photo shoot and some other events happening later on this year. In that I had promised weekly check-ins, more for my accountability than your interest but here it is anyway.
- Realized trying to overhead squat and snatch daily with weights requires more warming up than I thought it might. Have been doing it mostly with PVC pipe or empty bar. Realizing my form for both is poor. Keeping up the practice all the same.
- Eating feels really stable and healthy right now and that makes me happy. Although I did manage to eat my body weight in spiced nuts at a friend's bridal shower on Sunday. Oh well, back on the wagon the next day.
- Did measurements on Monday. Things are down from the previous month which is great.
- Have been enjoying my morning walk - loving the early in the day exposure to sun and nature.
Pretty happy with things at the moment. Only struggle is getting organized around a more deliberate strength program to pair with my Crossfit. I am not detail oriented like I feel like I should be for tracking what I do every week and some times I am a little low on extra energy. Oh well, buck up and do it anyway! I know I will be glad I did.
- Realized trying to overhead squat and snatch daily with weights requires more warming up than I thought it might. Have been doing it mostly with PVC pipe or empty bar. Realizing my form for both is poor. Keeping up the practice all the same.
- Eating feels really stable and healthy right now and that makes me happy. Although I did manage to eat my body weight in spiced nuts at a friend's bridal shower on Sunday. Oh well, back on the wagon the next day.
- Did measurements on Monday. Things are down from the previous month which is great.
- Have been enjoying my morning walk - loving the early in the day exposure to sun and nature.
Pretty happy with things at the moment. Only struggle is getting organized around a more deliberate strength program to pair with my Crossfit. I am not detail oriented like I feel like I should be for tracking what I do every week and some times I am a little low on extra energy. Oh well, buck up and do it anyway! I know I will be glad I did.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
My Latest Experiment
I often get comments from people who know me well that they admire that I am on a constant path of self improvement. I love that. I do feel in this life that I want to learn as much as I possibly can so that I can be the best me I can be and so that I can help others around me learn and grow also. This is fits in nicely of course with my ultimate 2012 goal of "Be the most fucking awesome person you can be".
My new experiment fits right into that. For a month or so now I have been struggling to figure out how I can prepare for an opportunity for a photo shoot in late June 2012 with out making myself crazy or miserable. The idea of being super restrictive with food and increase the frequency with my workouts puts me at great distress. I want to show up being proud of the strong body that I have and be at peace at with where I am at that time.
I am willing of course to make some modifications and do things a little differently to get me there in a leaner state but not push so hard and live the next few months in a state of depravation and fatigue...even if that means not showing up at the photo shoot with a visible six pack.
It finally hit me today what I want to do. The Crossfit WOD we did today was a triplet of 9 dead lifts, 6 power hang snatches, 3 overhead squats. For those of you who haven't tried an overhead squat it is probably one of the ultimate in abdominal/core exercises. In doing this work out today I realized (again) that THIS is the kind of thing that makes me exceedingly happy. I love the thought of increasing my PR for the snatch and overhead squat. As Dan John says "if something is important do it every day" and that is what I am planning to do!
My current routine:
Crossfit 3 to 4 times per week
Sprints 1time per week (although this has been inconsistent due to traveling)
**Typically 2 to 3 meals a day depending on hunger level
Meals contain a balance of carbs, protein and fat
8 hours or more of sleep a night
** Have been reading about and experimenting with intermittent fasting. Two great sources for this: Fat loss: The Truth and Eat Stop Eat
What I want to add:
15-30 minute slow paced, stress reducing walks daily
1-4 Snatches and overhead squats daily starting at 65lbs and increasing weight each 1 or 2 weeks
CLA supplement (supposedly good to fat metabolism - we shall see!)
This is something I feel like I can do with out being crazy and even better than that something I feel like I can do that will make me happy and proud. Yes, I am wanting the results to bring about fat loss but if at the end of the 8 weeks I have merely gotten stronger... then I am pretty damn ok with that too.
So I commit to checking in once a week with status and hopefully progress. They say part of success in a plan is making it public so you have to stay accountable. So here it is! Feel free to ask me about it and throw in some words of support and encouragement.
My new experiment fits right into that. For a month or so now I have been struggling to figure out how I can prepare for an opportunity for a photo shoot in late June 2012 with out making myself crazy or miserable. The idea of being super restrictive with food and increase the frequency with my workouts puts me at great distress. I want to show up being proud of the strong body that I have and be at peace at with where I am at that time.
I am willing of course to make some modifications and do things a little differently to get me there in a leaner state but not push so hard and live the next few months in a state of depravation and fatigue...even if that means not showing up at the photo shoot with a visible six pack.
It finally hit me today what I want to do. The Crossfit WOD we did today was a triplet of 9 dead lifts, 6 power hang snatches, 3 overhead squats. For those of you who haven't tried an overhead squat it is probably one of the ultimate in abdominal/core exercises. In doing this work out today I realized (again) that THIS is the kind of thing that makes me exceedingly happy. I love the thought of increasing my PR for the snatch and overhead squat. As Dan John says "if something is important do it every day" and that is what I am planning to do!
My current routine:
Crossfit 3 to 4 times per week
Sprints 1time per week (although this has been inconsistent due to traveling)
**Typically 2 to 3 meals a day depending on hunger level
Meals contain a balance of carbs, protein and fat
8 hours or more of sleep a night
** Have been reading about and experimenting with intermittent fasting. Two great sources for this: Fat loss: The Truth and Eat Stop Eat
What I want to add:
15-30 minute slow paced, stress reducing walks daily
1-4 Snatches and overhead squats daily starting at 65lbs and increasing weight each 1 or 2 weeks
CLA supplement (supposedly good to fat metabolism - we shall see!)
This is something I feel like I can do with out being crazy and even better than that something I feel like I can do that will make me happy and proud. Yes, I am wanting the results to bring about fat loss but if at the end of the 8 weeks I have merely gotten stronger... then I am pretty damn ok with that too.
So I commit to checking in once a week with status and hopefully progress. They say part of success in a plan is making it public so you have to stay accountable. So here it is! Feel free to ask me about it and throw in some words of support and encouragement.
Monday, March 12, 2012
My 1 Year of Crossfit
March 11th marked my 1 year Crossfit anniversary! Little did I know that first workout that I was terrified to even show up at would turn me on to something that would change my life. After that initial workout, I started going once a week, then twice a week and probably with in a month and a half I was going as much as my body would allow me. In that time too, Crossfit Midlo moved from the garage to its own location and continues to grow like wildfire.
What I have learned over the past year:
What I have learned over the past year:
- You can squat below parallel- regularly.
- I am a Tough Mudder.
- No matter what the duration of the workout...3 min to 60 minutes... It's going to be exhausting.
- You are capable of more than you think you are.
- Facing the scary stuff makes you grow. You will at a minimum survive the experience and more than likely thrive because of it.
- Never underestimate the power of a high five.
- There are amazing people in the crossfit community: from the women in my 8:30 class, my coaches, the other people at the box who I don't get to work out with often but will greet me warmly and cheer for me all the same, to the people and coaches at other boxes I have had the pleasure of visiting. I have felt welcome every where and work to make others feel the same. I always worked out a gym by myself and was ok with that so I was surprised by how much I enjoy the commune aspect of crossfit.
- Lifting heavy makes me really happy. People talk about the flow when every thing else drops away and you have complete focus and joy. This is one of those activities for me.
- Coming in to Crossfit, I thought I knew a good deal about working out. This changed how I think about everything which has benefitted me as well as my personal training clients. I like being reminded to keep a beginner's mind - always open to learning and questioning.
- As with anything you love, it is important to see the good and the bad and embrace all of it. Crossfit continues to be controversial. I do see its flaws and understand where the criticism comes from. I question. I read. I change things I need to change. All the same, I love it, I am working safely and continue to get better and stronger.
Of course with all my lessons not only my brain has changed but my body too. I am finally building the body that I thought I could have that no other way of working out has been able to carve out for me.
I would love to hear other people's experience and learnings from Crossfit! Please feel free to share or message me!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
My Highlights from the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival
I had been excited to go for months so I knew this past weekend at The Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus Ohio was going to be a good one. It ended up being amazing. If you have never been and have any interest in really almost any aspect of fitness, it is worth checking out. I went last year for 1 day and knew this year I needed the whole weekend. This weekend was so full of amazing connections, people, lessons and experiences.
Here are a few of my highlights:
There is more I could mention (cake batter vodka, anyone?) here but those are the big high lights!
I loved it. I am still on a high from it and I can't wait for next year!!
Here are a few of my highlights:
- Meeting and getting to watch the work outs of some of the top of the top Crossfitters - amazing athletes and very nice people!
- Judging Crossfit for the first time - I was so nervous but so happy to have gotten this under my belt. I learned more every round I did and I didn't screwed up any one's score in the process.
- Competing on Saturday for the Games 12.2 work out - Facing the scariness makes you grow. I grew this weekend. Also it continued to reenforce for me the fabulous-ness of the Crossfit community.
- Time with friends - I had some great conversations with friends I have had for a long time, some one I was just getting to know and one on one time with a person who continually inspires me. I felt honored to connect and get time with each of these people
- Time with a mentor - Nick Tumminello was up at the Arnold this year teaching at the personal trainer conference. I have had the fortune to connect with Nick a few times but this was a cool chance to get some time in a more relaxed setting. He is so friggin' smart about this training stuff. It is hard for me not to feel completely stupid around him but I loved the time anyway! :)
- The Strikeforce Fights - We all went to the fights on Saturday and it was a great time to see a new woman champion take the belt and to see all the fun people at the fights. Amazing night!
- Clarity - We went to the figure finals judging this year. It was awesome to see all those women on stage showing off their hard work. Competing in figure is something I have tried to convince myself I "should" do for several years now. This year after seeing it again and having a year of Crossfit experience under my belt, I was able to just let that go completely. I want to be strong and I would love to be ripped but my goals are different than those that were up on stage. It was great to get clarity around that.
There is more I could mention (cake batter vodka, anyone?) here but those are the big high lights!
I loved it. I am still on a high from it and I can't wait for next year!!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Show Up - Crossfit Open Games 2012
There is a quote I ran across this week that I can't stop thinking about:
"I don't care if you win, but I don't care if you come in last either. I only care that you don't make excuses...and that you suffer with me."
It was from a post from Crossfit Lisbeth talking about showing up for the Crossfit Open.
For those of you not familiar with it, Crossfit holds games each year to decide who is the fittest athlete (male and female). The coolest part (at least to me) is that to start EVERY one who wants to can participate and we are talking on a global scale. The first 6 weeks of the games are called The Open. All you have to do is pay your $20 to register and then complete the workout of the week and post your scores to see how you rank against all the other people competing. This year 55,000 people world-wide have chose to participate.
I think it is beautiful and amazing. Yes, there are some astounding world class athletes with fitness levels that I cannot even wrap my head around that are participating. These are the ones that will make it to the regional rounds and then maybe to the Finals in LA. However, I am sure many are people like me. People who show up at their Crossfit box or their garage regularly working on getting better and stronger. People who will try their best at a work out even if they cannot do the work out as it is prescribed. People who love to be a part of the community that comes with Crossfit. In the end, it doesn't matter if you are the fire-breather or the average Joe/Jane. We all get to show up, support each other, compete in a activity that we love - suffer together and grow from the experience of the 2012 Crossfit Open Games.
"I don't care if you win, but I don't care if you come in last either. I only care that you don't make excuses...and that you suffer with me."
It was from a post from Crossfit Lisbeth talking about showing up for the Crossfit Open.
For those of you not familiar with it, Crossfit holds games each year to decide who is the fittest athlete (male and female). The coolest part (at least to me) is that to start EVERY one who wants to can participate and we are talking on a global scale. The first 6 weeks of the games are called The Open. All you have to do is pay your $20 to register and then complete the workout of the week and post your scores to see how you rank against all the other people competing. This year 55,000 people world-wide have chose to participate.
I think it is beautiful and amazing. Yes, there are some astounding world class athletes with fitness levels that I cannot even wrap my head around that are participating. These are the ones that will make it to the regional rounds and then maybe to the Finals in LA. However, I am sure many are people like me. People who show up at their Crossfit box or their garage regularly working on getting better and stronger. People who will try their best at a work out even if they cannot do the work out as it is prescribed. People who love to be a part of the community that comes with Crossfit. In the end, it doesn't matter if you are the fire-breather or the average Joe/Jane. We all get to show up, support each other, compete in a activity that we love - suffer together and grow from the experience of the 2012 Crossfit Open Games.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Self Talk: I got this!
I have been thinking a lot recently about self talk. I have come a long way in this area as I used to be pretty hard on myself. However, it was a recent podcast from Leigh Peele that reminded me I could be doing better. I am more than the number on the scale. There are more important things than the fact that I don't have wash board, magazine cover-worthy abs. I had already decided that I would focus this month on not letting any negative comments about my body pass through my head - or I would quickly catch myself and counter them.
This morning reminded me that I needed to take this even further. There was a Crossfit workout posted that scared me. My immediate thought was "I can't do that. That is impossible." I was filled with fear and anxiety.
But you know what? There has not been one work out posted that I haven't managed to get through. It might not always be pretty but dammit I have done it.
So I am extending my positive self talk to my work out prep - No more "I can't do this".
Instead:
"I've got this!"
"I can do this!"
"I will conquer it!"
"The bar is light"
and what ever else I need I keep it positive.
How do you manage your self talk? How do you get yourself through the tough spots?
This morning reminded me that I needed to take this even further. There was a Crossfit workout posted that scared me. My immediate thought was "I can't do that. That is impossible." I was filled with fear and anxiety.
But you know what? There has not been one work out posted that I haven't managed to get through. It might not always be pretty but dammit I have done it.
So I am extending my positive self talk to my work out prep - No more "I can't do this".
Instead:
"I've got this!"
"I can do this!"
"I will conquer it!"
"The bar is light"
and what ever else I need I keep it positive.
How do you manage your self talk? How do you get yourself through the tough spots?
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Focus....hey! what is that over there!!
Nutrition and working out are big areas of interest and passion in my life. I spend a good portion of my time reading about various exercises, workouts, food plans and as you know I crossfit so that gives me tons of different things to want to get better at. I am constantly inundated with information on nutrition and fitness. My lesson recently has been around learning to reign in my work out and nutrition plan attention deficits.
Because of the constant nutrition and workout information flow, I am always discovering tons of exciting workout ideas and think I often think "Oh! I totally need to be doing that!!" So then I switch things up. Same with food. I have been mainly eating paleo style for the past 7 months (and then paleo plus sugar and wine over the holidays (oops!)). I see articles about intermittent fasting and meal timing and macro nutrient ratios and my head starts to spin. Mid-January I made a commitment to myself to go back to a plan I received from Jillfit.com which brought me some great results previously. One week into it and I find myself talking to a friend who is troubleshooting some issues with coritsol/adrenal fatigue which I am also working on. She has been advised to just eat 2 larger meals a day and she is loving it and feels better. So my head starts in "Oh!! I should try that too!!!"
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Hang on a second!!
What do I want to be accomplishing?
What am I working on?
Where am I headed?
How do I know what I am doing now is not working?
I do not believe that there is one plan that fits every one. You need to find out what works best for you personally. One way to do this is to run little experiments and then check in how you look, feel and perform. However, you need to give workout programs and diet plans a chance to work and show results (or not!) before you can evaluate them. If you are changing every Monday or every other week it is going to make it hard to really assess how things are working. Typically I advise giving changes a month to see how they are working out.. From here you can decide if you need to proceed forward with the same plan, make some tweaks or try something completely different. It is important to note here that expectations on change need to be reasonable too. If you are looking to drop 30lbs of fat or add 15 lbs of muscle in 1 month that is not going to happen for many people on ANY plan.
For myself, I have set some fitness goals around increasing my max for deadlifts, backsquat and shoulder press as well as working on handstands.
For food, I need to find balance again and be comfortable with my body. I am committed to sticking on my current plan for a month - checking in with pictures and measurements and then assess if I need to make any changes.
Focus is helpful. I am liking having it again. It helps me know that I am heading in the direction that I want to be going.
There are a ton of great workout programs and nutrition plans out there. Pick something and try it. Give it some time and see how you look, feel and perform. Focus.
Some great starting points:
http://www.metaboliceffect.com/
http://whole9life.com/
http://www.crossfit.com/
Because of the constant nutrition and workout information flow, I am always discovering tons of exciting workout ideas and think I often think "Oh! I totally need to be doing that!!" So then I switch things up. Same with food. I have been mainly eating paleo style for the past 7 months (and then paleo plus sugar and wine over the holidays (oops!)). I see articles about intermittent fasting and meal timing and macro nutrient ratios and my head starts to spin. Mid-January I made a commitment to myself to go back to a plan I received from Jillfit.com which brought me some great results previously. One week into it and I find myself talking to a friend who is troubleshooting some issues with coritsol/adrenal fatigue which I am also working on. She has been advised to just eat 2 larger meals a day and she is loving it and feels better. So my head starts in "Oh!! I should try that too!!!"
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Hang on a second!!
What do I want to be accomplishing?
What am I working on?
Where am I headed?
How do I know what I am doing now is not working?
I do not believe that there is one plan that fits every one. You need to find out what works best for you personally. One way to do this is to run little experiments and then check in how you look, feel and perform. However, you need to give workout programs and diet plans a chance to work and show results (or not!) before you can evaluate them. If you are changing every Monday or every other week it is going to make it hard to really assess how things are working. Typically I advise giving changes a month to see how they are working out.. From here you can decide if you need to proceed forward with the same plan, make some tweaks or try something completely different. It is important to note here that expectations on change need to be reasonable too. If you are looking to drop 30lbs of fat or add 15 lbs of muscle in 1 month that is not going to happen for many people on ANY plan.
For myself, I have set some fitness goals around increasing my max for deadlifts, backsquat and shoulder press as well as working on handstands.
For food, I need to find balance again and be comfortable with my body. I am committed to sticking on my current plan for a month - checking in with pictures and measurements and then assess if I need to make any changes.
Focus is helpful. I am liking having it again. It helps me know that I am heading in the direction that I want to be going.
There are a ton of great workout programs and nutrition plans out there. Pick something and try it. Give it some time and see how you look, feel and perform. Focus.
Some great starting points:
http://www.metaboliceffect.com/
http://whole9life.com/
http://www.crossfit.com/
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Here Comes the Sun
Little darling
It's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright
For months, I have been a deep pit. I was engaging in activities that were taking me further and further from where I am happy with myself. Yes eating what ever you want when ever you feel like it can feel like "fun" but it comes at a price. Then pile on heavy fatigue and depression and you can kind of get the jist of the space I was in. I knew I was there. No amount of cajoling, begging, pleading or beating the crap out of myself was going to make me move.
And then it shifted.
I am ready.
I am ready to take care of my brain and body again. I am ready to do the work. To plan and prepare. To breathe deep. To sweat and lift heavy weights. To focus. To choose more often than not the steps that will get me to where I am going rather than the instant gratification. To nourish my body and my mind. To tap in to what I am passionate about.
I am ready.
Friday, January 6, 2012
How Do you Know?
How do you know if you need to give up on a goal?
I have dubbed each of the last 3 years "The Year of the Abs". I was sure in each of those years I would have abs worthy of showing off. Those of you who see me in person can attest to the fact that I have never come close to meeting that goal. I am planning for another year ahead and wanting it to be big as I turn 40 in September. I am desperately afraid of it being too late for me to be super fit. I am also desperately afraid of failing again.
I have heard people say you have to want it bad enough. I feel like I do. I dream about it. Touching my stomach is the first thing I do in the morning - in case it has gotten flatter or to remind me where I am in relation to where I want to be. I feel like it is always at the top of what I want and what I am missing in my life.
But maybe I don't want it bad enough to pursue it to the detriment of other things that I want in my life. I am not one of those fiercely competitive, win at all costs people. As a matter of fact, I tend to feel bad when I win. In telling my husband about sprints we were running at CrossFit one day. I was like "yeah I felt bad I totally beat this girl on the first heat". He asked me why in the world I would feel bad about that. I didn't know. I am also not one of those people who can sacrifice it all to meet a goal. I like to be comfy. I don't do well with strict guidelines. I tend to crash and burn. But is not that I don't like putting in the hard work. I crossfit for pete's sake. I have run 2 marathons and 6 halfs and completed 'probably the world's toughest race' the Tough Mudder. I can get the hard stuff done.
I work to be knowledgeable. I hired a nutrition coach for 6 months. I had very good success here and probably the best abs I have ever had but they were no where near "working out in a sports bra only" worthy. I read what ever I can get my hands out about working out and nutrition. I don't eat gluten and I am probably 85% paleo compliant (cream in my tea and a glass of wine are my last hold outs).
I have let the goals come and go. If there is no consequence for not meeting it then who cares if I miss it? If I continually disappoint myself, why does it matter if there is one more disappointment?
Am I sounding whiny yet? Yeah - I am probably a bit in my pity pot.
In examining this particular area for goals this year I am wondering what I should do. How do you know if a goal you set is not something you are really capable of? Maybe mentally I just don't have the grit to get it done. How do I get peace around that? In thinking about why this goal is important to me - what would it mean if I accomplished this? My sister asked me - what would it mean if I didn't have the beautiful ripped abs that I want? I don't know.
One of my goals for the year is to better hear the stories that I tell myself. You know those insidious messages that echo in our head telling us things we think are true about ourselves but really are just tenacious patterns that can be changed.
I have dubbed each of the last 3 years "The Year of the Abs". I was sure in each of those years I would have abs worthy of showing off. Those of you who see me in person can attest to the fact that I have never come close to meeting that goal. I am planning for another year ahead and wanting it to be big as I turn 40 in September. I am desperately afraid of it being too late for me to be super fit. I am also desperately afraid of failing again.
I have heard people say you have to want it bad enough. I feel like I do. I dream about it. Touching my stomach is the first thing I do in the morning - in case it has gotten flatter or to remind me where I am in relation to where I want to be. I feel like it is always at the top of what I want and what I am missing in my life.
But maybe I don't want it bad enough to pursue it to the detriment of other things that I want in my life. I am not one of those fiercely competitive, win at all costs people. As a matter of fact, I tend to feel bad when I win. In telling my husband about sprints we were running at CrossFit one day. I was like "yeah I felt bad I totally beat this girl on the first heat". He asked me why in the world I would feel bad about that. I didn't know. I am also not one of those people who can sacrifice it all to meet a goal. I like to be comfy. I don't do well with strict guidelines. I tend to crash and burn. But is not that I don't like putting in the hard work. I crossfit for pete's sake. I have run 2 marathons and 6 halfs and completed 'probably the world's toughest race' the Tough Mudder. I can get the hard stuff done.
I work to be knowledgeable. I hired a nutrition coach for 6 months. I had very good success here and probably the best abs I have ever had but they were no where near "working out in a sports bra only" worthy. I read what ever I can get my hands out about working out and nutrition. I don't eat gluten and I am probably 85% paleo compliant (cream in my tea and a glass of wine are my last hold outs).
I have let the goals come and go. If there is no consequence for not meeting it then who cares if I miss it? If I continually disappoint myself, why does it matter if there is one more disappointment?
Am I sounding whiny yet? Yeah - I am probably a bit in my pity pot.
In examining this particular area for goals this year I am wondering what I should do. How do you know if a goal you set is not something you are really capable of? Maybe mentally I just don't have the grit to get it done. How do I get peace around that? In thinking about why this goal is important to me - what would it mean if I accomplished this? My sister asked me - what would it mean if I didn't have the beautiful ripped abs that I want? I don't know.
One of my goals for the year is to better hear the stories that I tell myself. You know those insidious messages that echo in our head telling us things we think are true about ourselves but really are just tenacious patterns that can be changed.
- Maybe there is a story here that I need to hear and to change.
- Maybe I need a date goal that really matters (stepping on stage, a CF competition, wearing a bikini on the beach on my 40th bday and having to take a pic to be shared on facebook - regardless of how it looks).
- Maybe I just need to appreciate the strong healthy body that I have and stop wishing that it looked like something else.
How do you know?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
2011 in Review
Yes, I want to jump on the year in review and new year resolution band wagon. I get that I am already late on this post but I just have to put in my thoughts. You see, New Years is my favorite holiday. I love the chance to look back at the year that was and plan ahead for the coming year. I am not a big planner but I also want to make sure I do the things I want to do in my life and be the best version of me I can be. To do that I need reminders. But I am jumping the gun a bit here....first the year that was 2011.
This year was full: concerts, big life milestones, highs and lows, friends, new friends, reconnection with friends I thought I lost, new experiences, a regular mediation practice, paleo/primal community and ideas and just SO much learning.
Not to bore you with all the details here are my big 3 stand outs for 2011:
CrossFit: I started in March and it is now one of my favorite things. Finally something that shapes my body in ways that I have been wanting. It doesn't require hours and hours in the gym. I get to lift heavy things on a regular basis - which is a great cure for depression, btw. Plus the people are amazing. I have never had a community around working out before (see the girl in the gym with the head phones on and the "go away" look - yeah, that was me). CrossFit makes you better. Do yourself a favor in 2012 and try it out.
Adventures: Holy cow! I had some amazing adventures in 2012. Glamping (Glamourous Camping!) with my daughter in Montana, seeing Peter Gabriel at Red Rocks in CO with my bf and a trip to South Beach with an amazing friend to get tattooed by Chris Garver. There are many more things I could mention here but these were probably at the top. I think this year really solidified for me that I don't want things. I want experiences. I want shared time with people. It can be something huge like an amazing trip or just a lunch or a quiet walk in the park but shared, present, connected time. That is what I value most.
Progress and crash and burn: Those who know me already know that I am in a constant struggle to find a place where I am happy with my body. (ok - who isn't) This year I had some amazing progress with an all time low weight and fitting into a size 4 pair of jeans for the first time ever. Paired with that those was some big crashing and burning - binging, depression, complete loss of motivation. It happened 2 times this year where every thing was going great and I was holding steady on progress and then boom! I fell hard. My task for 2012 is to understand that better and figure out how to avoid it. I put on 20lbs since my lowest weight this year. Some of that is muscle, most of it is not. I can't lie it bums me out. It scares me. But I will continue to pick myself up, dust myself off and keep going, hopefully learning all the while.
I was surprised to hear how many people thought 2011 was a bad year. I feel like every year brings amazing things and really hard things. That is life right?
Coming soon - the plan for 2012.
This year was full: concerts, big life milestones, highs and lows, friends, new friends, reconnection with friends I thought I lost, new experiences, a regular mediation practice, paleo/primal community and ideas and just SO much learning.
Not to bore you with all the details here are my big 3 stand outs for 2011:
CrossFit: I started in March and it is now one of my favorite things. Finally something that shapes my body in ways that I have been wanting. It doesn't require hours and hours in the gym. I get to lift heavy things on a regular basis - which is a great cure for depression, btw. Plus the people are amazing. I have never had a community around working out before (see the girl in the gym with the head phones on and the "go away" look - yeah, that was me). CrossFit makes you better. Do yourself a favor in 2012 and try it out.
Adventures: Holy cow! I had some amazing adventures in 2012. Glamping (Glamourous Camping!) with my daughter in Montana, seeing Peter Gabriel at Red Rocks in CO with my bf and a trip to South Beach with an amazing friend to get tattooed by Chris Garver. There are many more things I could mention here but these were probably at the top. I think this year really solidified for me that I don't want things. I want experiences. I want shared time with people. It can be something huge like an amazing trip or just a lunch or a quiet walk in the park but shared, present, connected time. That is what I value most.
Progress and crash and burn: Those who know me already know that I am in a constant struggle to find a place where I am happy with my body. (ok - who isn't) This year I had some amazing progress with an all time low weight and fitting into a size 4 pair of jeans for the first time ever. Paired with that those was some big crashing and burning - binging, depression, complete loss of motivation. It happened 2 times this year where every thing was going great and I was holding steady on progress and then boom! I fell hard. My task for 2012 is to understand that better and figure out how to avoid it. I put on 20lbs since my lowest weight this year. Some of that is muscle, most of it is not. I can't lie it bums me out. It scares me. But I will continue to pick myself up, dust myself off and keep going, hopefully learning all the while.
I was surprised to hear how many people thought 2011 was a bad year. I feel like every year brings amazing things and really hard things. That is life right?
Coming soon - the plan for 2012.
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