Back to Reality

I've been out of "Blog-World" for a couple of weeks. The first week that I was absent was because I was on a family vacation in Cocoa Beach Florida. Before we left for vacation, I was BEYOND excited to go! I couldn't wait! By the time we were done with vacation, I was ready to be home. Funny how that happens, huh? I had such a great time relaxing and creating memories with my family, but if anything, being on vacation, made me realize how grateful I am for my life. I had so much that I was looking forward to getting back to: I missed my church, my friends, my own bed, my car, CrossFit Fire, my dog, my job, etc. It's not that I don't like being out of my comfort zone, the contrary is true: I live my LIFE out of my comfort zone. I was just ready to come home to my life... I realized how incredibly blessed that I am.

My training on vacation was AWESOME! I worked out everyday! A couple of times, my brother and I put together WODs, which was awesome because he knows how to push me! A couple of times, I worked out on my own. A couple of times, I just ran on the beach. My body was WRECKED after the week, but I knew that was totally fine because I would have two rest days for travel. So, I figured, why not work out everyday? It was great getting up early, working out, sipping coffee by the ocean, etc. I loved it! The picture is from one morning when I got up so early to do some double under work, that the sun was rising, AND I got to see dolphins. I also took one morning and went to work out at CrossFit Cocoa Beach. It was interesting to see how a different box was ran and to talk to the owner... Plus, it was an awesome WOD!

My diet on vacation was actually, surprisingly good! I had a few cheats: M&Ms, ice cream one night, and a few night with adult drinks ;-) However, I am very pleased with how well I did. I am grateful that my brother and his wife were there to help me stay on track. I didn't gain a single pound over vacation, which was HUGE for me since I was nervous to get back on the scale. I am not only 4 pounds away from my goal weight! I'm buckling down on the diet these next couple of weeks because I had a goal to be down to my goal weight by Labor Day weekend. We shall see :-)

After driving all the way through from FL back home to IL, the next morning, it was back to reality: I had to go grocery shopping and to the teacher store. All of last week, I was back in my classroom getting set up and preparing it for 24 new young minds to develop. I also took a day to go shopping with my best friend since I had absolutely NO work clothes that fit because they were all too big... Let me just say, trying on clothes is WAY more fun when you are actually happy with how you look in clothes! I'm not totally happy with my body (after seeing pictures of me in a swimsuit, I know I have a lot of work to do... LOL), but the progress is unreal AND I do love how clothes look on me :-)

As far as training is concerned, it was SO GREAT getting back to CrossFit Fire! As I was walking up to the door to my first class back, I felt "at home". I think it's just something about the incredible community there that I missed. These incredible people have become such an intricate part of my life that I really truly missed them while I was gone. I loved being back! The training this week was awesome and totally wrecked my body, as usual. We did one round of "Fight Gone Bad", and I was pretty disappointed in my performance. I was hoping to break 100, but only got 93. Then, I started comparing my results to others, which just made it worse. A ton of my insecure thoughts came racing back to me: you're not good enough, you're not cut out for this, you're not pretty enough, no wonder you're still single, you have more weight to lose, you'll never cut it as a CF athlete, etc. It was awful! Luckily, I had people to turn to in order to pray for me right away. Sooooooo... In a nutshell, I need to stop comparing myself to others and start looking to only please Him alone. I STILL can't get my pull-ups, which in itself frustrates me. I KNOW I am strong enough! At this point, I just don't know what my deal is... I don't know if it's a mental thing, with my kip, or if I seriously can't do them. Is that possible? For someone to just not be able to do pull ups? I refuse to believe that's true, but either way, it's frustrating that I STILL can't get them! I feel like I'm putting forth all this work towards my pull ups and I've got NOTHING to show for it... I don't know... I feel VERY discouraged after this week. Let's hope this week is better!

Well, other than feeling discouraged with my performance, I am SUPER excited for tomorrow because it's the start of my second year teaching! I seriously love my job and could not be more excited to get back to it! I had an absolutely wonderful and relaxing summer, but I'm ready to the unpredictability that comes with my routine life :-) So, that's all for tonight... Not much of a blog post; really just me venting. So, sorry to disappoint you followers... I just had to get out my thoughts! Haha! Gotta get to bed early tonight because my body is NOT used to this schedule! Good night all!

Acceptance/CFGames 2011/Shrinking

As I'm getting ready to leave for my family vacation, I realized it's been a while since I've blogged and as usual, I've got a LOT to say! This shouldn't surprise anyone :-)

ACCEPTANCE
For those of you who don't know, I've been struggling with my pull ups these last couple of weeks. It's been frustrating because I KNOW I'm strong enough to do this... Heck, I can jerk 67kg. However, something about the kipping in the pull ups is really throwing me off lately. So, I decided to accept the fact that my pull ups just aren't WOD ready. Although I can string 5 together, that doesn't mean they are ready for a WOD. I've been going back to the band to work on my kip and working dead hangs to continue building my upper body strength. Once I get back from vacation, I plan on doing mini-WODs after my workout that include pull ups in them to work on stringing together multiple movements. I've accepted the fact that right now, my pull ups aren't ready, but I refuse to allow that to define me as an athlete! I do not plan on accepting this for long. I'm giving myself another month to re-evaluate where my pull ups are at.

As I've moved beyond frustration and into acceptance, I couldn't help but to reflect on how this carries on in my life outside of CrossFit. There are many areas in my life that I need to learn to accept where I am now. That doesn't mean I don't do anything about it, but I have to learn contentment. So, my challenge for you: what are areas of your life that you need to accept with where you're at right now? What do you need to do to move forward?

CFGAMES 2011
For those of you living outside of the CrossFit world this weekend, it might comes as news to you that the Games took place this weekend to find the fittest team, man, and woman on the Earth. It was thrilling to be able to watch the live feed all weekend long. I was hooked! I started reading up about how far CrossFit has come and I am simple astonished. It truly is amazing! I have no doubt that CrossFit is the future of sports and is here to stay! It is going to continue to grow. Why? There are MANY reasons as to why, but I am convinced it has to do with the character of the athletes and community. One of the best parts is seeing the first competitor finish stay and cheer on the last competitor. Only in CrossFit will you get the audience cheering louder for the last person to finish than the first person. Only in CrossFit can you see two "rivals" hug after a competition. I might be new to the sport of CrossFit, but this is what makes it stand out amongst every other sport; it is super apparent to me that CrossFit is here to stay and I am super grateful to be a part of it!

On a personal level, I am even more determined to work on my weaknesses. One day, I hope to get to the games as a competitor. Sounds crazy and probably not a realistic goal, but you've gotta work towards something, right? So, I am! Everyday after class, I am trying to work on a couple of weaknesses in order to make me a stronger person, CrossFitter, and competitor. I know I have a LONG way to go (heck... I couldn't even make it through running today without walking during our WOD), but I absolutely LOVE CrossFit and will do what I need to do as an athlete. Next year, I can almost guarantee I won't be competing, but you bet your butt that I am planning on going out to Cali next summer to watch the athletes I look up to. I am inspired beyond measure and am so glad I got to watch! I could go on and on and on and on about how jaw dropping it was to watch, but words won't do it justice :-)

SHRINKING
I have been eating paleo and CrossFitting since February. I lost the first 20 relatively easy. Then, I hit a month plateau, adjusted my diet and lost another 12. Since June, I have only lost 5 pounds. I knew that the weight would become increasingly difficult to come off as I got more lean muscle, but I couldn't help but to be discouraged. Then, I thought about the big picture: in 5 months, I've lost 37 pounds! That's CRAZY! Not only have I been losing weight, but my strength is increasing! I know when many people loose weight, their PRs go down... Guess I'm an exception! Although it may have taken me 2 months to loose 5 pounds, I'm more than happy with that because I went down ANOTHER pant size! What's crazier than losing that much weight is that I went from a size 14 to a size 6! It's official... I'm a size 6 and darn happy with that! Not only do size 6 pants fit, but there's room to spare! I don't think I've been a size 6 since I was in Junior High. I'm 5 pounds away from my "goal weight" and you know what... It could take me two more months to loose that, and I am MORE than fine with that! Now, I just gotta figure out how to reorganize my finances to by pretty much a whole new work wardrobe... I could have way worse things to complain about :-)

Alrighty, I have more to say, but I will stop there! Gotta shower and start packing to get ready for vacation! With that said, I have to add that I am a pretty organized person, but I can't help but LOVE the chaos before a BIG trip: laundry needing to be done, last minute errands, boxes with food, packing, check lists, etc. I am lucky enough to have had parents who took us epic road trips growing up... I can't wait to get to do that with my family some day! Ok, I am going to leave now and enter to chaos of getting ready to leave on a road trip with the WHOLE family. The worst part could be the ride down there... Wish me luck!