Start Chasing a Performance Goal

Posted on May 29, 2012 | 1 Comment

While watching an interview of Gred Amundson on crossfit.com this morning, I was reminded of a great philosophy that has worked really well for me for a long time.  I have gotten away from it recently, as my goals for fitness are different while pregnant, but I was glad to be reminded of this advice just in the nick of time for Baby B to be born and for Momma B to be getting back in shape.

Greg said, “Remove from your mind trying to get your body to look a certain way, instead chase performance.”  If you want your abs to be flat or your butt to be firm that’s great, but don’t chase body composition, work on your overall fitness and nutrition and those things will come.  I’ve heard Coach Glassman, the founder of Crossfit, say that when people (usually women) tell him they want to work on certain parts of their body he just smiles and says, yeah, I can do that.  He then proceeds to carry on with functional fitness that targets the entire body without focussing on any one part of the anatomy because he knows it will all come.

Chasing a certain body image is exactly why people don’t ever get there.  The way your body works is much more important than how it looks, if you focus on your performance (intensity, strength, endurance) your body will have no choice but to start reflecting those improvements.  I understand that many people aren’t fortunate enough to have a Crossfit/functional fitness facility or coach to go to for the instruction they need for these functional movements and the motivation they need to get a good level of intensity.  Don’t let this stop you, many people have done this at home for a very long time and will continue to do so.  It may be hard to start, but if you want something badly enough you will make it happen.

Whether you workout at a Crossfit gym, a YMCA, or 24 Hour fitness, you can start working toward performance instead of image.  Set a goal and work toward it vigorously.

Example goals:

  • Do a pull-ups(or 2, 10, or 30)
  • Complete a specific workout in a faster time than before
  • Run a 5k
  • Set a personal record on any of your lifts
  • Workout 2, 3, 5 times each week
  • Do “knees to elbows” and actually touch your elbows

If your goal is to do pull-ups spend 5 minutes working on pull-ups each day, the same for knees to elbows or other movements.  If you’d like to get faster, whether that be during a workout or a run, start increasing the intensity on ALL of your workouts.  Start chasing your performance goal and leave your body image goal in the dust, it will only hold you back.  Go to the gym and give it everything you’ve got and the rest will come.

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I Actually Took My Own Advice

Posted on May 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

I did it!  I actually took my own advice.  You know how I talk about being prepared and thinking ahead and using a meal plan?  Well, I suck at that.  I am the queen of last-minute meals made from whatever is in the refrigerator,   I am the girl who flies home from work ready to devour anything and everything in her grasp, only to find nothing ready to eat.  To top it all off, those recipes I create from dishes I’ve concocted?  Well, I am completely incapable of following them.  If I had to choose between doing another Tough Mudder and following a recipe, I’d pick the Tough Mudder. (haha…just kidding).

But today!  Today I followed my own advice– I printed off the preparation guide, filled it out and went to the grocery store!  Wait it gets better!  When I got home from the grocery store I unloaded, cleaned, cut, and bagged the groceries!  I now have a fridge filled with veggies that are ready to be cooked, two whole chickens, some pork cutlets, and two vegetable dishes that are cooked and ready to be eaten!  Oh, and there is a huge pork roast in the crock pot ready to become pulled pork.

As to not sound like a complete hypocrite,  I’d like to go on record saying:  I may not always know on Sunday what we’re going to have for dinner on Thursday, but we do always keep the fridge stocked with only the food that we know is going to help us make a good decision when we make a last minute meal or snack.  And fortunately, my husband has been doing a lot of meal planning and cooking over the last two months as my energy and tolerance levels are getting lower.  Phew I feel better now, I didn’t want people to think I’ve been ordering in and  stocking up on Twinkies and Ding Dongs (of course not, because Hostess went bankrupt).

Because we are prepared, our week will go much more smoothly.  I know we have a ton of pulled pork and chicken ready to eat and defrosted steaks ready to be grilled.  Our veggies just have to be dumped out to be steamed, grilled, or roasted and there is plenty of food to take leftovers for lunch the next day.  It’s going to be a tasty week.  Use the extra day this weekend to get on top of things, and try not to eat it all before you go back to work on Tuesday!   Happy extended weekend!

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Sneaky Sugar!

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 4 Comments

I start every morning with the best of intentions; no sugar, no grain, no crap.  Most days this works out and I have no problems, I’m prepared, I’m disciplined and I can get through the day without reverting to those habits.  But then there are the days where I am 9 months pregnant with allergies and a raging appetite.  Yesterday I walked across the entire building (damn near a quarter of a mile I think) because they were giving away cookies.  I had a 5 minute walk to talk myself out of it… but I didn’t… after all it was a sugar cookie with colorful frosting and in support of Autism Awareness.  (As if eating a cookie was going to support the cause).  I ate the cookie and it was really one of the best sugar cookies I’ve ever eaten, which did make me feel slightly better about my poor willpower…but not much.  I would like to say that this was an isolated situation but it’s not, there have been many other cookie/ice-cream/pizza/chocolate incidents along the way.

In the bigger picture a cookie really isn’t a big deal, but this isn’t about the cookie.  This is about letting sugar and grain sneak their way back into your diet when you have chosen and know that those things aren’t going to help you on your quest for optimal health.  Everyone once-in-a-while you have to take inventory and see how many little pretzels, M&M’s, or “bites” of desserts have snuck into your daily diet and eliminate them.  It’s easy to let this happen and hard to make it stop.

Sugar has many aliases.  It’s so dangerous it tries to hide in food labels.  Some of the many disguises sugar hides behind are listed below.  Keep in mind some of them are “natural,” but they are still going to break down into your body as glucose and cause the same reaction.  Some natural forms of sugar are okay, just eat them in moderation–that does not mean daily.

  • barley malt
  • beet sugar
  • brown sugar
  • buttered syrup
  • cane-juice crystals
  • cane sugar
  • caramel
  • carob syrup
  • corn syrup
  • corn syrup solids
  • date sugar
  • dextran
  • dextrose
  • diatase
  • diastatic malt
  • ethyl maltol
  • fructose
  • fruit juice
  • fruit juice concentrate
  • glucose
  • glucose solids
  • golden sugar
  • golden syrup
  • grape sugar
  • high-fructose corn syrup
  • honey
  • invert sugar
  • lactose
  • malt syrup
  • maltodextrin
  • maltose
  • mannitol
  • molasses
  • raw sugar
  • refiner’s syrup
  • sorbitol
  • sorghum syrup
  • sucrose
  • sugar
  • turbinado sugar
  • yellow sugar

Check your labels, better yet, if it has a label don’t eat it.  Stick to meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts (and a moderate amount of dairy if you choose).  You’ll have your pitfalls but keep those situations isolated, don’t let them become your norm.  Remember that excess sugar becomes fat and nobody wants that!  Start today by cleaning up your act, prepare your meals ahead of time, and recommit yourself to an optimal diet. 

*The above list of sugars was provided by fitsugar.com

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Preparation Guide

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

Preparation is a huge key to success when it comes to nutrition.  If you’re ill prepared, you’re far more likely to make poor decisions.  Starting your week with a full fridge and a plan will make your week far less stressful and far more successful!  Try it once and you’ll realize that it is worth the effort.

Steps to Prep:

  1. Choose a time during the weekend to set aside for preparation.  Don’t let anything interfere with this time…this time is sacred.
  2. Create a plan.  Use this guide as it walks you through creating a plan for the week.
  3. Create a grocery list including the dinner options you have chosen, as well as breakfast choices, and snacks.  Remember to buy enough of each meat and vegetable for dinner and enough to eat leftovers for lunch the next day.
  4. Now that you have a plan and groceries, get cooking.  I find the fastest option to use is your oven to roast in the winter and your grill in the summer.  You may not want to cook for the entire week, but enough to get you through Wednesday or so.  If you don’t want to cook ahead of time, put the meals together in your fridge, for example; cut up all of the vegetables for one meal and put it in a bag.  Put the meat for that meal in a bag and store them together.
  5. Pack your lunch bag for Monday!  Trying to rush around and get it at the last minute is a no go…you’ll be late to work and you won’t have all the lunch and snacks you need.

Download the preparation guide here!!

Try it this weekend and enjoy the sweet taste of being rewarded for your efforts all week long!  Let me know how the guide works for you!

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5 Great Ways to Decrease Your Intensity and Get Less Out of Your Workout

Posted on May 23, 2012 | 5 Comments

You’re working out 5 or 6 times a week to no avail.  You spend hours on the treadmill each week, you persevere through the rotation on every single piece of equipment at the gym, you do every workout.  It’s just not working!  You don’t see muscles forming or fat melting, just wasted time and effort.  If you want to continue down this road I would highly suggest you do the following:

  1. Eat poorly:  Too much, not enough, or crappy food will inhibit your workout more than you can imagine.  Depending on your digestive system, eat an hour or two prior to your workout so your body is running as efficiently as possible.  A good pre-workout snack might be an ounce or two of chicken, an apple and a few almonds.  Pretty simple. If you’re not eating well, you won’t see results.
  2. Sleep poorly:  If you’re not sleeping well or enough you are greatly affecting your workouts (and your life).  Sleep in a quiet, dark room, as the slightest light can keep you from getting your deepest sleep.  Wear an eye mask if you must, maybe some ear plugs would help, whatever it takes to decrease light and sound.  Take time to relax prior to bed, going from computer or television to bed does not allow your brain to calm and quiet itself.  Do some stretching and mobility work prior to bed time, going to bed with a stiff back and neck won’t allow you to rest comfortably.
  3. Bring a water bottle:  I know this sounds nice and responsible after all, you want to stay hydrated during a workout right?  No, you want to stay hydrated ALL DAY and give every second of your workout the intensity and attention it deserves.  Think of a water bottle like a blankie during a workout—it’s only there for comfort and it leads to distraction.  Maybe I sound like a crazy person, but I want to just kick everyone’s water bottles across the room and watch as they take a minute or two off their workout time.
  4. Complain: Yeah, that’ll help.  Think lots of negative thoughts.  Tell me how sore you are.  Tell me you can’t do it.  NOT.  If you think you can’t do it, you can’t.  Just focus on the task at hand and get to work.
  5.  Spend hours in the gym:  My suggestion to you would be to spend no more than 40 minutes in the gym.  Don’t think you can do it all in 40 minutes?  Then move faster.
  • 10 minutes to warm up: Stretch and get your heart rate going.
  • 20 minutes to workout:  Choose 2-4 movements to do for 3-4 rounds. For example; 4 rounds of: 20 squats, 50 sit ups, 20 push ups, 150 skips on jump rope.  Give yourself a time cap “I am going to finish this in 15 minutes.”
  • 10 minutes cool down: stretch and roll out your muscles

If you don’t leave a workout feeling tired, you didn’t work hard enough.  Increasing your intensity will increase your results and success.  That’s not a suggestion, that’s reality.   I challenge you to leave the gym feeling completely spent today, and tomorrow, and the day after that and watch as you become healthier, stronger, and faster.

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Day 2: How to Motivate You!

Posted on May 22, 2012 | 8 Comments

I am intrinsically motivated, of course I respond to competition and peer pressure but that is only if I already have a desire to do something. A perfect example would be during a run last year with my husband, I was trying out my new Vibram Five Fingers and just recovering from bronchitis- it was a beautiful day for a run.  I’m not a runner in the first place, so between the new shoes, crusty lungs, and the bad attitude I had brought out with me that day I was in for a long run.  Throughout the entire run my husband kept telling me “you’re doing great,” “you can do it,” “great work sweetie!”  He’s one hell-of-a-coach  and a great motivator but my switch was flipped and I didn’t want motivated and encouraged…I wanted to die.  Every time he said “you can do it,” I thought “how do YOU know what I can do??”when he said “you’re doing great,” I thought, “don’t patronize me…I suck and you suck for telling me differently.”  I had it in my head that I couldn’t do it anymore and I had to stop.

About a quarter of a mile from the end of the run my determination was depleted, my willpower was all washed up….I was being a huge sissy.  Evan looked back at me, with my sore knees and wheezing lungs and said in a very sweet, understanding voice, “If you feel that bad, why don’t you just stop?” In a demon voice I responded “NOOOO!!!” and I began running faster, much faster, and fortunately by the time I made it home I had correctly redirected my anger at him back toward myself, sparing myself the humiliation of telling him he was being too encouraging.

It’s important to know yourself and your motivation style in order to succeed.  I now know that I need my coach to say “If you’re not going to give it everything, just stop!”  It may sound a little harsh, but if my performance isn’t matching my potential I need to hear it. I need a nice balance of “you’re doing that really well” and “you suck, why don’t you just quit!” to keep me going.  Do you find that confusing?  You can only imagine how my husband feels….

Today: learn what gets you going and tell your coach and your friends so that they’re saying just what you need to hear when you’re being a huge sissy. (And if you’re used to working out with me, you know I’ll tell you when you’re being a huge sissy so there will be no confusion).

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Day 1: This Shall Be Fun!

Posted on May 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

I couldn’t think of a better time to start my blogging comeback than with the start of the 5th Better Body Challenge at RARE Crossfit.  I realize not all of you are RARE Crossfit members, but the information I hope to provide should help/entertain/inform any reader.  The Better Body Challenge lasts 6 weeks with an emphasis on nutrition, but also includes workouts, recovery, and the use of fish oil.  As coaches we have found that with the combination of these elements we have been the most successful.

80/20

You’ve probably heard me say it before, but I don’t mind repeating myself (ask my husband): 80%of your fitness is due to nutrition and the remaining 20% is made up of how you workout, rest, and recover.  I’ve always believed this, but it wasn’t until the last 35 weeks that I REALLY started believing it.  I haven’t blogged about my pregnancy  (well I haven’t blogged at all actually) and I will keep it brief today, but during the last 35 weeks I have had a strong focus on my nutrition, even stronger than usual and it has made all the difference.

Knowing that I am growing a human has helped me focus on not only staying away from things that inhibit our (baby and me) health, but increasing the things that will increase our level of health.  Through proper nutrition, I’ve avoided morning sickness, increased blood pressure, swelling, excessive weight gain, a lot of back pain, and the overall exhaustion I hear a lot of women talk about.  Not to say I didn’t gain weight, have some back pain, and spend my share of days tired and grumpy, but those things were minimized through my nutrition.  I’ve religiously taken my fish oil and vitamins and that has helped immensely in my energy levels.  And until recently, I’ve rested like I’ve never rested before!

Exercise did play a role in this, but on average I’ve probably only worked out a couple times a week throughout my pregnancy.  During week 20 I pulled a muscle that has continued to bother me, especially when I am overly active so this has put a cap on the amount of activity I can do.  I have completely relied on my nutrition to not only keep Baby Elijah healthy and growing, but to keep mommy sane and comfortable.

Optimal Health

Just because you are not pregnant doesn’t mean your nutrition isn’t important.  Optimal nutrition will lead you to optimal health.  Many diseases can be avoided through nutrition. I believe that proper nutrition throughout multiple generations would drastically reduce the level of disease we have in this country.  It takes a lot of foresight and determination to think about how your lunch plate is affecting your health on a daily basis, but I challenge you to do so…at least for the next 6 weeks.

This isn’t a weight loss challenge, if it was we’d call it the Biggest Loser, this is a BETTER BODY CHALLENGE.  We challenge you to a better body and in turn a better life.  If you would like to know more about the RARE Better Body Challenge, visit http://rarecrossfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/BBC-5-Instructions.pdf  If you are not a member of RARE Crossfit and would like to challenge yourself for 6 weeks, nothing is stopping you from looking at the criteria and doing the same as the rest of the challengers.

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