I Got Tanked! Again.

The tank visited our gym last week. I'm not so happy to report the results......

On January 31st I weighed 112 pounds and my bodyfat percentage was at 12%.

Although I was satisfied with my body composition, I wanted to see if I could gain more muscle, and consequently lean out a bit. At the same time, I the Zone was beginning to consume my life and drive me a little insane. Specifically, it doesn't allow for any flexibility. Just as CrossFit is founded on constantly varied movements, I believe my diet should follow a similar pattern. So, in my effort to "change things up" producing muscle gain and fat loss, I played around with my Zone block prescription. Recently, I've even experimented with the NHE eating plan.

Six months later, I had increased my bodyfat by 1%, taking me up to 13% at 114 pounds.

I guess it could have been worse, but I had a hard time swallowing this one. Clearly, my efforts were fruitless. I don't think it was a mistake to allow myself to stray from the strict 10 Zone block allotment however, the caloric restriction may have been too aggressive signaling my body to (gasp) store fat.

Thankfully, I attended the Nutrition seminar at NorCal Crossfit and got a lot of good insight into my diet and nutrition in general. Robb Wolf is the man, he really knows his shit. Most importantly, I learned that I am carb sensitive and how to modify my diet to control this sensitivity.

My diet modifications:

1) Eat 4 meals/day

2) 3/4 meals; add fat blocks and subtract carb blocks.

3) 4th meal; add carb blocks and eliminate all fat blocks.

4) Time my "carb-up" meal after my workout.

5) Weigh and measure ALL my foods.

What are you training for?

Why are you doing that? What is that called? How much does that thing weigh?

These were some of the questions directed to us while Mike and I got our CrossFit on during our vacation. Not surprising, the kids were most intrigued, as the workouts were on or near the monkey bars at the children's playground. I had a lot of fun doing these workouts, it's nice to get out of the box every once in a while and humiliate yourself in front of a bunch of kids:)

Workout #1

Location: Beach, South Lake Tahoe

3 Rounds of:

50 walking lunges

8 one arm KB swings, each arm, 25# DB

12 Pull-ups

Time 9:47

Finisher: Tabata Push-ups: 4

Workout #2

Location: Todd Grove Park, Ukiah, CA

3 Rounds of:

10 Stonewall Jumps

3 DB Snatches, left arm #25DB

2 DB Snatches, right arm #25DB

8 one arm KB swings, each arm, 25# DB

Time 5:19

Workout #3

Location: Lake Merritt, Oakland

How many rounds in 20 min?

10 Thrusters, 20# Dumbells

10 Pull-ups

10 Rounds+ 2 Pull-ups

Fun in the Sun

Family baseball game in the park (catcher, big bro).

I just returned from a fabulous vacation with my boo! It began in sunny Lake Tahoe with a slight detour in Chico for a highly anticipated nutrition seminar, and finally ended in Ukiah for a short rendezvous with the folks. In between all the driving, we did a lot of napping, playing, tanning, and eating! We even managed to fit in 3 outdoor workouts. But there's really nothing like some serious rest, I highly recommend that anyone committed to healthy living (which everyone reading this blog should be) make an effort to take it easy every once in a while, especially if you're Xfitting! In order to fully reap the benefits of your hard work you must give your body a chance to recover.

And for the rest of you.....
Stay tuned for the On-the-Road Wods
Equipment: 1 Dumbell 25# & Monkey Bars

9Am
3oz Turkey Breast
9 Cashews
1.5 cups Broccoli & Cauliflower, steamed
1:30PM
3oz Turkey Breast
9 Almonds
1.5 cups Broccoli & Cauliflower, steamed
5:30PM
.5cups Low Fat Cottage Cheese
6 Cashews

8:30PM

2oz Birria (goat meat)

Spinach soup

Cashews

No Workout Today.

A happy Father's Day, indeed!

I am happy to announce that my dad's attempt to lose 10 pounds, per his doctor's request, was a success!

High blood pressure and steady weight gain prompted his doctor's recent concern over my dad's health. Although Dr. Cowin didn't provide him with specific instructions on how he should go about loosing the weight, my dad took it upon himself to GET IT DONE! And he did.

Naturally, I quickly stepped in to offer up 257 different ways he could take on this 10 pound beast! He simply nodded his head and did it his own way, quietly. 7 weeks later my dad has successfully lost the weight and is feeling great! He looks amazing and must say I was shocked and thrilled when I saw him on Father's day. He said he didn't modify his diet necessarily, instead he just focused on the quantity of food consumed at every meal, "I decided I didn't have to feel stuffed every time I ate".

Rear View

Kelly Starrett owner of San Fransisco CrossFit, dropped by CFO yesterday for a much appreciated and incredibly insightful lecture on back health. Not only is he a badass Crossfitter, Kelley is also a physical therapist at the Stone Clinic in SF. He really knows his stuff! I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend the lecture and meet Kelly. Here are just a few pieces of valuable information that I walked away with:

1. Don't neglect your posterior chain! Just because we can't see our backside as easily as our front (abs), it's no excuse for a weak back and hamstrings. In the future I plan to do more back extensions and less sit ups!

2. Pay close attention to head and neck position, especially while doing heavy lifting. It is imperative to maintain a neutral position (in alignment with the spine) at all times. Think of the back as a whole system!

3. Stretch! This is key for improving hamstring and quad flexibility yielding stronger, faster workouts. (I am ashamed to admit I'm definitely guilty of this one).

7:30AM
Fish (leftovers)
handful of Walnuts
1 cup Strawberries
1/2 tsp peanut butter

11:30AM
3 oz Pastrami
1/2 Avocado
1 cup Strawberries

2:30pm
Ceaser Salad
1/3 Cantaloupe
1/2 cup Fage Yogurt
1 Slice of raw Blue Cheese
1/2 tsp peanut butter

Dinner (?) probably Wholefood

Workout:
Seven rounds for time of:
10 One legged squats, alternating
12 Ring dips
15 Pull-ups
=58:22

I can't get full-range on my Pistols so I squatted to a target. The dips took FOREVER. Mostly singles.

Hormonal binge

Lately, I've been playing around with my zone prescription. Awhile back I started feeling a bit Zoned out and picked up Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin. I've been doing the NHE eating thing on the fly as I've been reading his book. However, I advise that you never start a new diet without reading all the fine print first, particularly if it varies drastically from your current feeding ritual. While I haven't sabotaged my diet entirely, I've managed to gain 3.5 pounds. Oops. My bad.

Yesterday I finished the book and I am excited to start the diet! The right way. For more information on the NHE diet visit Faigin's website: www.hormonalfitness.com

Today's Meals:
7:45AM
Shredded Chicken w/ cheese
Salad w/ tomatoes, guacamole, onions & salsa
Coffee w/ Cream

11:15Am
Tuna Salad
A handful of Walnuts & Cashews
Black Tea

2:30PM
3oz Shredded Chicken
1 Granny Smith Apple
Peanut Butter

No workout Today.

Move over, Batman

A big thanks to fellow crossfitter, Angela Lim for bringing this wod to my attention. She spent the week preceding memorial day at CF Boston and came home with this crazy mash-up workout that they did for memorial day.

WOD: Hero Mash-up
Run 1 mile
21 Handstand push-ups
21 Thrusters, 95 pounds/65 women
21 Overhead Squats, 95 pounds
Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Pull-ups
50 KB swings, 2 pood
Run 400 meters
21 40#/25# DB Snatches, left arm
21 40#/25# DB Snatches, right arm
21 L-pullups
Run 1 mile

I had to scale down some of the weights, use a target for my HSPU and I even did kipping L-Pull-ups. However, no amount of scaling down could have made it that much easier, this thing was a killer and its long...I'm just happy its over. My time= 1:08:11

My infrequent blogging is frustrating and a direct result of some hectic in my life.
Lemme quickly do some serious catching up.....

The good: A great week at CFO! I was back on the training floor which always makes me happy:) Getting to bed early and beginning my day with an early morning workout sets the tone for a great day! Last week, I was able to get to hit all of the CF wods and even fit in some time for lifting.

The not so Good: I spent the weekend in Lake Tahoe for a girlfriend's bachelorette party, where I did my fair share of some good, old fashioned drinkin'. As to be expected. What are friends for, right? Needless to say, I completely fell of the diet for about 48 hours. Oh, and in case you were wondering; tequila, wine, champagne and bud lite. I made sure to chase my drinks down with lots and lots of nuts, meat and cheese in an effort to stay somewhat close to the Zone. We didn't go to the Lake once:(

Sunday & Monday I made up the workouts that I missed while I was gone and today I did Hang Power Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1reps. I failed at 65# after attempting it 7 times.

8:00AM
Avocado slices wrapped in Pastrami
1 cucumber sliced

12:15PM
+/- 2 ounces Sheep's Milk Cheese w/ Salami

2:30PM
Lg. Green Salad w/ radishes, onions, egg and chicken