Feeling the Burn…. 09/16/2010

Driving home from work yesterday I was thinking about my little blog and realized it has not been receiving very much attention in the food department.  Before my first post I had some serious internal debates. When I finally hit publish I had the expectation that I would  write about food. So why haven’t I been? I can honestly say.. IT’S HARD! My photography skills are nill and sometimes well my food just isn’t that pretty.  How some people take beautiful pictures of chili and such I will never know. I want to make more of a commitment to actually take pictures of my food. SO there…it’s out in the blog world. Whether anyone is looking or not, more recipes are coming. 

SO, I will be taking a 30-day Paleo challenge very soon.  I love food and well Paleo diets at first glance don’t get me all excited. I love oats and fruit and YOGURT! What am I going to do?!?! I know from my personal experiences “Can’t” diets do not work for me. I am going to try to focus on eating the things that I love with in the diet… eggs, peppers, and definitely a lot more meat than I am use to. I don’t like to label my eating so I was never a part-time vegetarian or even a 3/4 of the time vegetarian but I make a conscious effort to eat meat alternatives.  I really want to see great results from all of my hard work in the box and Paleo will let this happen. It’s definitely going to be a change and I will need to retrain my brain. My self-doubt is high right now but I am going to try to stay positive. I CAN eat fish, fruit, almonds.. which is good.

As for my WOD last night…. that is another story. I didn’t make it to the 20″ box.. I saw it and once again scarred myself right out of it. I DID however put a 45# plate on my 12″ box… it’s progress at least.

WOD:

10 min. AMRAP

10 pull-ups (green band)

20 box jumps (baby box plus 45# plate)

RESULTS: 4 Rounds

Karen and Other Forms of Torture 09/15/2010

Not only did I meet Angie on Saturday (sorta) Monday night I met Karen. If I had to pick one I would say I like Angie a bit more…. Karen was a Bi–(fill in the rest for yourself)!  Maybe it was the repetition or maybe it was the 5 minute squat hold in the warm-up but I definitely over used by arms and my squats were not my best. I try to remind myself that this is a journey and I have made huge strides in the past month. I would have never believed a month ago how much I have grown. Even the most experienced athletes have room for improvement and are learning and evolving. One reason I started crossfitting was to face my fears. My fears of starting something new, something different and something pretty darn hard. I know each day that when I face my fears and  I finish a WOD I am growing and becoming the person and athlete I want to be.

Karen:

150 wallballs for time

10#

TIME: 14:36

So last night I ate dinner before my WOD! I know, I know… I thought an hour and half pre-wod digestion would be enough. It wasn’t. I felt sluggish and the running was not my best.

WOD:

20 min. AMRAP

400m run

50 kettlebell swings 26#

Results:

3 rounds + 33 kb swings

I allllllllmost went for the RX’d 35# but I didn’t want to sacrifice my form. I made it through the workout with minimal self doubt and whinning overall a great workout.

I met Angie…. sort of 09/11/2010

Well I met Angie’s mean little sister. My trainer wasn’t kidding when he said that today’s workout was going to be a good one. I was definitely a little nervous when I walked in. Even though I knew he would probably scale it a bit I was still nervous. Pull-ups??!? me doing pull-ups?! Gahhh. Up until this point I have only done jumping box pull-ups but  I knew it was time to push it a little harder especially after yesterday. I graduated to assisted band pull-ups and I definitely surprised myself but after 25 I was struggling. Overall, I am happy with my performance but the wine with dinner last night def didn’t help me.

WOD:

*25 pull ups

*25 push ups

*25 sit ups

*25 air squats

*800m run

*25 pull ups

*25 push ups

*25 sit ups

*25 air squats

500 m run (At the end my own personal punishment for yesterday)

TIME: 16:30 (500m not included in this)

Settling 09/10/2010

Today I had a total WOD fail. I went into it with a mediocre attitude so I got a mediocre workout. This was not the fault of my trainer or the WOD itself but because of my fear. I have several excuses but the real reason is fear. I was the only girl and it was a new class that I had never been to. I cheated because the trainer didn’t know my skill level and I settled for what the fear was telling me. This one looked pretty tough because all the guys looked like they wanted to hurl. It just makes me want to push that much harder tomorrow.  settling

WOD(fail):

12:00 AMRAP

3 SDHP

6 power clean

9 push press

RESULTS: 7 rounds 15# bar (and yes trainer told me after the first round that I definitely should have used more weight. That’s what I get for being a chicken and having a crummy attitude).

Comforting Chicken and Noodles 09/09/2010

I started this comforting meal last night when I knew that I was not going to have a lot of energy this morning (read I anticipated a slight hangover from girls night). I pre-chopped carrots, celery, and onion. This morning  I tossed the veg (love Jaime Oliver) into the slow cooker and then placed two whole leg quarters ( I left the skin on, don’t worry it’s not going to be peeled off later) on top and seasoned with bay leaves, thyme, s&p and chicken stock. I set it to low and headed off to work.

When I got home, I carefully took the chicken out of the slow cooker. While I was waiting for the chicken to cool a bit I dumped in half a large bag of egg noodles and can of condensed cream of cheddar soup…. Yes, cream of cheddar soup.  I never said this was healthy but it sure is cozy and comforting.  I was really looking for that creamy chicken and noodles from my childhood and this was hiding in the back of my pantry. Crank the heat to high and let the noodles soak up that delicious broth.

Now, carefully remove the skin, and separate the meat from the bones. Watch out for any little bits and you will be very thankful for spending a little extra time. Unless of course, you are not an impatient ravenous beast like I am when it comes to food, then you already know better than to rush this step. Add the chicken back to the pot and set to warm until you are ready to eat to devour.

You see this is where my problem is today….  I have a delicious pot of goodness bubbling away now and I  still have to go to the box to complete my pain for the day. I started this blog post to distract myself from “taking just a little bite” over and over and having an inevitable tummy ache. I need to stay strong… even if it means going to class an hour earlier for non-newbies.

Chicken and Noodles:

Ingredients:

*2 Whole Leg Quarters (you could use a whole cut up fryer chicken)

* 2 carrots diced

* 2 ribs of celery diced

*1 medium onion diced

* 2 bay leaves

* salt and pepper

* 1 T dried thyme

* 1/2 quart of chicken stock

* half of a large bag of extra wide egg noodles

* 1 can of cream of cheddar soup

WOD:

21 15 9 (for time)

*Overhead Squats

*Push-ups

We also did our 1 rep max bench press… this was my first time EVER doing a bench press. When I say ever.. I mean it.  I definitely was never the girl in the weight room during gym class.. I was likely hiding in the bathroom or just trying to stay out of harms way. Tonight I started with the 45# bar and worked up to 75#.  Not too shabby for a shrimpy like me. Strong is the new sexy after all.  I want to work up to some more weight. At this point I am really only benching pre-teens (which I sort of resemble given my pre-teen like stature).

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

I had an intense craving for an icy cold pumpkin spice smoothie this morning. This may have been because I have a can of Libby’s pumpkin in my fridge because it sure wasn’t the fall like temps this morning.

Can I make a blogger confession? I really am not all that impressed with Pumpkin Oats ( I haven’t been taking pictures of my morning oats not because I don’t love them but …they just aren’t that pretty).

However,  my first attempt at a Pumpkin Spice Smoothie was decent. I will definitely be tweaking this recipe tomorrow and giving it a second go around.

Ingredients:

* 1 medium banana

* 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

* 3 ice cubes

* 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

* 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice seasoning

* 1 teaspoon agave nectar

It was definitely a little to banana-y for my taste. I think I am going to use greek yogurt tomorrow but that is definitely going to be a super protein packed breakfast. Hopefully my belly won’t be rumbling at 10:30 like it normally is.

My workout didn’t happen yesterday because my legs were still hurting. I let them rest for the night and tonight I will go back refreshed. Who knew that those tabata squats would kill my quads like that! Goes to show the short intense methodology really works. I can’t thing of a single time a spinning class or elliptical did that to my legs after only twenty minutes.

Laboring Labor Day…. 09/08/2010

Labor Day WOD:

We got out of the box on Monday morning and got together at the local reservoir for a group WOD and a free yoga class from a member who works at lululemon (I still haven’t allow myself to step foot in the store…. I know it could be trouble if I do).

Warmup (challenging enough it should be a workout on its own)

*sprints – 100 m x 4

*Frankenstein

*butt kicks

*skipping high knee

*bottom to bottom tabata squats (OUCH killer)

9/6/10 WOD:

*2 x (each circuit is 2:00 with walking lunges between stations)

*26# kettlebells swings / air squats

*rower / push ups

*10# dumb bell cleans / plank hold

9/7/10 WOD (Beginner class):

*21, 15, 9 (sprints only after 21 &15)

*12 inch box jumps ( I need to get over my fear of the 20 inch ASAP)

*36# Sumo Deadlift High Pull  (with kettlebell)

*100 m sprint

My time was 5:55 and I am pretty proud considering the tabata squats really killed my legs.

BBQ and PRs 09/01/2010

After three weeks I am already showing some signs of improvement.

WOD:

500 m row

40 air squats

30 sit ups

20 push ups

10 box jump pull ups

TIME: 5:31

My original time for this workout was 6:58, so I shaved  about a minute and a half off my time. Great improvements =)

NOURISHMENT:

Dinner unfortunately was not as exciting.

Gardein BBQ shreds, green beans and vegetarian baked beans.

Filling but not fulfilling. To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of these meatless shreds.  I haven’t needed to cook a lot this week and I am definitely starting to miss it. The jambalaya and other leftovers in the fridge lasted us almost the entire week. Usually I cook at least twice during the week.

Death by Kettlebell…

I wasn’t feeling so hot on Monday so last night was my first night back to the box since Saturday morning.

WOD –

Warmup:

2 x

200 m row

5 pass throughs

5 box pull ups

5 inchworm push ups

2 hip mobility exercise rotations

Lesson: Strict Press with PVC pipe only

WOD ( beginners class):

3 x  for time

200m run

15 KB swings #26

15 sit ups

Time: 7:35

This workout was tough because of the kettlebells from Saturday morning. One a scale of 1 -10 this was about a 6 for me.

The Big Easy….. 08/31/2010

I threw together a spontaneous dinner party on Sunday night and I wanted to share the recipe for my easy jambalaya.  My family may tell you this is cheating (my mom grew up in a small cajun community in Louisiana) but it feeds an army and packs some nice heat especially with a few dashes of hot sauce on top at the end. This  was a great dinner to make for guests because it was really so easy to throw together and required very little attention once everything was cooking away in the pot.

source

Easy Jambalaya

Serves 6-8 (or 4 with plenty of leftovers)

2 tablespoons Olive OIl

2 green bell peppers

1 large onion (any variety is fine, this time I actually used 1/2 a white and 1/2 a red I had in the fridge)

2 large ribs of celery

4 garlic cloves

1/2 seeded jalapeno

3/4 lb large shrimp deveined and tails removed

2  chicken breasts

4 andouille sausage links

2 boxes jambalaya mix (I used Zatarain’s)

5 – 6 cups water

In a large stock pot heat olive oil and then add chopped peppers, onions , celery and garlic and sweat for about 6 minutes

Add cubed chicken and cook until approximately 3/4 of the way cooked and then add sliced sausages.

Add 5 cups of water  to the pot and bring to up to a boil.

Once water is at a boil add the contents of the rice mixes. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 -25 minutes.  Add additional cup of water if all of the liquid has been absorbed. I like my jambalaya on the soupy side.

Remove lid and add shrimp, cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the shrimp has turned pink and is cooked through.