Posts Tagged ‘Cross Fit’

Paleo, Cross Fit and Competition!

Monday, November 1st, 2010

About a month ago Ian and I signed up to be a part of a Cross Fit competition at our work. Cross Fit is a group personal training class that uses weight lifting, strength conditioning and sprinting. Three days every week we go to an abandoned warehouse just outside of town and grunt, sweat and swear a lot. It is like being in a fight club, only less blood. We leave exhausted, drenched and smiling. I love it.

On the first day we did three sets of this very tough workout while they timed us. They also took our weight, measurements and pictures. This Thursday they are going to time us doing the same workout again to see how much we have improved. The trainers are going to use that and our new weights and measurements to determine who has had the most success. The winner gets three months of free classes, which equals out to quite a bit of money. Honestly, the competition is not that important to me. I really enjoy the classes and plan to continue whether I win or not. The hardest part is finding the time to go. I suffer from extreme mommy guilt and I feel horrible about anything that requires me to be away from the kids in the evenings. I keep having to remind myself that making time for my health is important. The extra energy I have gained definitely helps me feel better.

Our new gym is all about the Paleo diet. The simplest way I can describe Paleo is that if the cavemen did not eat it, neither do we. It is all about Meat, Nuts, Fruits and Veggies. When I started it I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. It seemed crazy to think I would never eat bread. We started simple, just Paleo breakfasts and snacks. I cannot even begin to describe the difference I immediately felt. I have so much more energy in the mornings! I usually have eggs, sausage and a small amount of fruit. Snacks are mixed nuts or a small salad, sometimes a bowl of veggies. Eventually I started adding in lunches and today was my first day of Full Paleo! Now, I am not saying that I am never going to eat dessert or a piece of bread, but it is hard for me to ignore how amazing I feel without both! Also, it is crazy how much time I used to spend thinking about food! Not to mention all the money eating out!

If you have never tried personal training or a small group class before I highly recommend it. I worked out on my own for months training for a triathlon and I did not see nearly the results I have seen in 4 weeks with a trainer. There is something about the way they hold you accountable and push you to try things that you would have never thought you could do! I promise, I will write all about Zane and Rocky in the next blog, but I just had to share something that I have found so beneficial.

PS-3 days until Rocky turns 1!! Ahhh!!

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Boo!

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

First things first…

Go Giants!!! WooHoo!! (Pardon Rocky’s dirty shirt…he is not the cleanest eater!)

Okay, Happy Halloween! Zane looks forward to Halloween all year, and this year he decided to branch out in his costume choice. He has been a cartoon character or superhero just about every year since he was born, and this year he decided he wanted to go scarier. He surprised us all by deciding to be a vampire! (We later found out his best friend was also going to be a vampire, so it wasn’t the most original idea, but oh well…). The greatest thing about the costume was how easy and cheap it was! I think the whole costume was $12.



Don’t tell Zane but he is probably the cutest little vampire ever! Big brown eyes and sweet little smiles do not instill fear in many people.

Zane and Carys had a fun time trick or treating together downtown. They told me that if anyone asked if they were brother and sister they were just going to say yes. They just wanted me to be aware.

Then there was Rocky.


Rocky was not the biggest fan of Halloween, these are the only 2 pictures I have of him where he is not sitting in his stroller. He prefers to watch from the sidelines. He was the sweetest, most snuggly little elephant ever!

We made our three usual stops. First, Trick or Treat Street downtown. We went right at 2pm when it started and I am so glad! By 3pm it was so crowded we could barely walk and we were out of there! Rocky decided to stick at home for that one, and Rachel was nice enough to let us take Zane and Carys while she hung out with Rocky while he napped. Then it was back home to drop off Carys and grab Rocky and Ray and head to the Mall. It is much less stressful than downtown. You basically just walk in a circle around the mall and there is much more room for strollers. Rocky just hung out while Zane loaded up on the treats. After that we grabbed a quick bite before heading out for the real door to door trick or treating. Zane is a funny trick or treater. He is a pretty cautious kid who is generally afraid of strangers so walking up to people’s houses and talking to them is not his most favorite thing. Plus, he hates dogs and things that jump out at him, so if a house has either of those things he will yell out SKIP! and just keep on walking right past it. We trick or treated for just over an hour and he was content. I think the only thing Zane really likes about Halloween is dressing up. He is even always giving away his candy!

I would just like to interject her and point out that I have not had a single piece of Halloween candy, or even a treat at all for that matter, since October 9th. Ian and I are right in the middle of a Cross Fit competition at work (more on that later) and we have been trying to stick to a mostly Paleo diet. This basically means that if cavemen didn’t eat it, neither do we. We have not been perfect at it, but we are light years away from where we are a month ago and I have never felt better. If you know me at all, you know that me not eating candy is highly out of character. I once ate a snickers bar for breakfast for an entire month in high school and have spent countless hours trying to come up with new combinations of Jelly Belly flavors. To say that Zane’s halloween candy smelled divine is an understatement. But, I held strong.

When we got home Zane did what every kid does – organize his candy. This is always a very complicated process that involves creating unique categories for some of the more “special” candy that he received. One house gave him peanuts, in the shell, not wrapped. Zane decided the only group they belonged in was the group of garbage in the trash. Then he had 20 minutes to eat as much candy as he could, and then 4 minutes of teeth brushing before he was off to bed. He has been in there for 5 minutes and is already asleep. Here’s to a very fun, stress free day!

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