ZZZZAAAAPP!!

Extra holy iris, Batman!!! 

Last April or May, my sweet husband finaly went to the eye doctor after an extended period between visits due to a lack of insurance/mulah.  He got online and found a doctor listed on our vision plan who was close to home.  To make a long story short, my incredibly impatient husband was incredibly pleased with the doctor who spent 2 HOURS fitting Beau with contacts that actually fit.  Wow.  Beau had such a good experience that I decided I should go get my eyes checked.  My vision is fine, but I hadn't been to an eye doctor in 8 or so years.  I figured it was time.  Turns out it is a good thingI went.  I have what is called narrow angle glaucoma.  Go here to see what that actually is.  Basically, the plumbing in my eye doesn't work right, so my eyeball fluid has no where to go.  The scary part is glaucoma has no symptoms until you've lost vision, and I'm not talking about blurry vision, I'm talking about giant black shadows in the middle of your vision.  You are probably saying..."Isn't she too young for glaucoma?"  I think so too, but that's not the point.  Luckily this condition is treatable without too much trouble.  I will not be spending my life with daily eye drops, etc like my grandmother.  No, thanks to technology, I have had the pleasure of a laser iridotomy.  In a nut shell, this procedure zap-zap-zaps an extra hole in the iris so that the fluid in the eye has another avenue through which to drain.  The website, makes it seem easy and mostly painless.  The website if full of crap.  I was pretty uncomfortable for the duration of the day, had a splitting headache, and my vision was jacked up enough that I couldn't read or watch TV without more pain during the 3hr process of drops, wait, drops, wait, zap, wait, drops, wait, wait, wait, go home.   And I get to do it again in two weeks for the left eye.  Joy.

My Lenton Food Challenge

     One of the foundations of the CrossFit lifestyle is diet.  They encourage a diet high in protien, fat, and vegetables; and low in carbohydrates.  They discourage consumption of grains and sugars.  This is not Adkins type stuff, as you can eat as many vegetables as you like.  Many are high in carbohydrate but they do not illicit the insulin response that bread, pasta, and refined sugar do.  The purpose of denying yourself all that is tasty and "good" is to train your body to use fat as feul and not sugar.  Go here to read an article on how this works.  Now, obviously this is  little controversial.  It goes against "conventional wisdom" as well as everything you and I have ever known.  Over the past year I have decreased my bread and sugar intake significantly, however I have not gone full out bread and dessert free.  I haven't bought breakfast cereal or a loaf of bread in I don't know how long.  The only sweets I buy are multiple forms of dark chocolate and the occasional "all fruit" popsicles.  B and I have terrible sweet tooths.  A package of Oreos won't last 3 days in this house.  Therefore I don't buy them.  I have continued eating sadwiches and rolls and cookies....... just not in the quanities of old.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it all out all the time.  I love my carbs. 

     Last week marked the begining of Lent.  Lent is the 40 days and nights before Easter.  It is ment to symbolize Jesus' time in the desert leading up to his betrayal, crucifiction, and Resurrection.  Most people think that only Catholics observe Lent.  I am not Catholic.  I was raised Presbyterian.  In my church we study, and observe Lent in anticipation of Easter.  We do not, as a religion, give up any food groups (the Catholics do not eat meat) we just use the time to learn and dwell on the upcoming events.  When I was in highschool, my Sunday school class chose to give up something for Lent.  It was a challenge to give up something so we might have an ever so miniscule idea of the deprivation Jesus experienced.  I think I gave up cokes.  I struggeled.  It was hard.  But I did it.  I took that experience and I've continued it almost every year since; usually giving up something "easy" like cokes or chocolate or shopping.....  Little things that make me think everyday about my choices but nothing too challenging.    This year..... I've given up all grain based carbs and sugars.  This has not been easy although it has not been excruciating either.  This week has been more challenging and slightly less successful than last week, mainly because of an upcoming monthly event that wreaks havoc on my hormones and therefore cravings.  I lost 5lbs last week alone, telling me that there is something to this.  So, to give you a little taste of my diet the last 12 days or so, here is a little  example of what I've eaten lately. 

-apples
-blackberries drizzled with heavy cream (it's berry season! YAY)
-greek salad complete with feta cheese and olives (I enjoy something along these lines at least every other day)
-tuna
-cottage cheese
-big juicy steak with lots of fat marbling throught out *drool*
-asparagus
-broccoli
-more salad
-dark chocolate
-a couple french fries (carbs yes.  grains no.)
-one buffalo wing followed by a "DOH!"  It's breaded.
-Chili complete with cheese and onions
-brisket
-home made trail mix made with raw almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and dried berries (snack of choice when afternoon munching is a must)
-protien shakes made with AES protien powder, coconut/almond/or whole milk, and whatever frozen fruit we have on hand
-2 Zone protien bars (these are not exactly on the plan, but they are my way of battling afore mentioned hormonal cravings...not meat and veggies but not giant wheat rolls or Oreo cookies either).

   Those five pounds I lost have revealed more back muscles, less elbow poochy fat, a couple more ab muscles, and one motivated girl. 

Now to withstand the next few days of hormonal weirdness accompanined with moodiness and a life and death desire to eat BREAD!

my recent endeavors

Since January 2010, I have been exercising 3 days a week.  I CrossFit.  If you don't know what crossfit is, google it.  It is, in a nutshell, constantly varied, high intensity functional movement.  All workouts are done for time; either a certain number of reps as fast a possible or as many reps as possible in a specific time domain.  Olympic weight lifting (my favorite) is also incorporated into the programming.  All I can say about crossfit is I. LOVE. IT.  I have never found an exercise regimen that I enjoyed enough to keep going after I reached whatever goal I was working toward.  When I started crossfit, I had no set goal or deadline. There was no size, there was no event.  I wanted to feel healthy, and feel good in my own skin.  I can honestly say I've done this.  I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, and I still don't have the desire to go run a 5K (although I am in April), but I'm stronger than I've ever been, I can over head squat 110# 5 times, I can do double unders jumping rope, and I can very likely dead lift your boyfriend.  I have found a "sport" that celebrates my thunder thighs for what they are...pillars of strength and power.  I have a new found pride in my body that I never have.  Sure there are still things about it that I would like to change, some achievable, some unachievable (due to genetic make up), but I know what my body is capable of and it's probably more capable that your's.  I've lost inches.  I'm wearing smaller scrubs to work.  My jeans are comfortable.  I have back muscles like you wouldn't believe.  Don't get me wrong, I do have goals.  I'd like to lose about 8lbs.  Do-able.  I'd like to clean 150# by May.  Do-able.  I'd like to do pull-ups un-assisted.  Do-able.  I'd like to back squat 200#.  Do-able.  I'd like to feel confident while doing box jumps.  Do-able.  I'd like to do infinite push-ups without having to put my knees down.  Do-able.  All of these things are achievable with a little practice, patience, and perseverance.   
I have also come to love the people of CrossFitFTW.  We've come to know and care for each other.  I have made some new friends, one in particular that I know I will keep for a very long time.  This is huge, seeing as how I don't make friends. I just keep the ones I have.  My coaches are extremely knowledgeable and motivating without tearing you down or making you feel like you've failed.  D is constantly reminding me of my strengths...excellent body awareness and movement...my form is impeccable...my shoulder mobility is unparallelled. Thanks, D for making feel good about myself when Pete just lapped me...again.  :-) 

All in all, I am not like the bad asses you see at the CrossFit games or on the videos you may have watched on YouTube.  But I'm a bad ass for me and in my world, and I've learned many things about myself since I started CrossFit. 

Things I've learned since I started CrossFit:
1.  A bad training day is better than no training day.
2.  Show up- don't quit
3.  you are your own limit
4.  don't be scared.  it will only slow you down.
5.  you will not die by pushing yourself to what you perceive is your limit...see number 3


I can truly see myself doing this for the rest of my life.  It really is a lifestyle that fits me perfectly.

Starting Over

I have a little more free time these days.  I thought I would try to get back to business here at the blog.  I'm hopeful for some big changes in my life this year, and I want to be in a habit of logging them before they happen.   So...here we go again.