4 Days left!

With only four days to go until the NorCal Regional Qualifiers, I'm beginning to get really excited and terrified about the workouts. Yesterday a few of us test workout A with the women's Rx'd weight and it didn't go as well as I thought it would. Here's the workout:

Row 500 meters

30 Burpees

95 pounds Shoulders to Overhead, 10 reps

My time 8:57

I didn't kill myself on the row and I took it pretty easy on the burpees but I was surprisingly gassed when I cleaned the wieght for my first rep. My legs were fried and I could barely get the weight overhead. I attempted a second push jerk and failed. The rest were all singles. This was really frustrating because the workout is 10 reps shoulder to overhead NOT floor to overhead!!!! Anway, I am going to give it another go this afternoon and see what happens. Wish me luck!

6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Diet

High quality food is at the core of any healthy diet. These foods fuel the body with the nourishment it needs to function at its best. Fortunately, you can do a lot to improve your diet simply by making better food choices. Here’s how:

1. Chose unprocessed, unrefined, REAL food. Michael Pollan says that you shouldn’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food (In Defense of Food). This means “Go-Gurts” or “Pop-Tarts” are out of the question.

2. Buy chemical-free, Organic foods. Conventional foods are saturated with toxic chemical pesticides, and fungacides that like to linger in the body’s fatty tissue and organs.

3. Load up on fresh, fruits and vegetables. These foods contain very little calories but are packed with nutrients and fiber. Include them with every meal.

4. Don’t skip out on fat. Natural fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, natural oils, and coconut keep your skin looking healthy and help keep hunger at bay.

5. Drink purified or filtered water. Avoid drinking from plastic water bottles, especially if they have been exposed to sunlight. Try to get approximately 1/2 your body weight in fluid ounces every day.

6. Your protein is only as good as the farm it came from. Buy animal protein that is Organic, free-range, grass-fed or wild. If you can tolerate dairy, look for Organic and raw.

I'm Baaack!

With just a few weeks left until the norcal regional qualifiers, I've put my strength cycle on hold and started hitting the CrossFit wods. Strength training has been my primary focus for the past 9 weeks so this hasn't been the most enjoyable experience so far. I'm looking foward to seeing how my strength gains will translate in the metcons.

Results of last 2 CrossFit cycles:

"DT"Five rounds for time of:

12 Deadlifts

9 Hang power cleans

6 Push Jerks

My time-> 15:11 (89 #)

"Helen" Three rounds for time of:

Run 400m

21 KB Swings

12 pull-ups

My time-> 15:28 (44# KB & 20# pull-ups)

"Danny" AMRAP in 20 minutes of:

30 Box Jumps

20 Push Presses

30 Pull-ups

My time-> 2 rounds+ 20 box jums (80# push press)

Saturday- untimed wod at the track

"Angie"

100 Pull-ups

100 Push-ups

100 Sit-ups

100 Squats

My time-> 33:04 rx'd

Backsquat 3-3-3-3-3

115-125-135-140(2)-140(1)

I'm pretty wrecked today. My hands are ripped and covered in band aids and I have a huge gash on my collarbone that looks like a massive hickey. It's pretty awesome!

Favorite wod: "DT"

More on BioSig

Alright so it’s been almost 4 weeks since the BioSig seminar and I've been busy testing out the insulin protocol. After I returned I was pretty optimistic and eager to try something new. I guess you can say I get bored pretty quickly and have fun experimenting on myself. The BioSig stuff isn't way out there, but it does require a fair bit of discipline and patience.

To be honest, adjusting to the new diet & exercise regimen hasn’t been too difficult. The hardest part is making time to cook. In the last month I've switched from a pretty zoney 10 blocks to a high protein diet (20 blocks protein) with loads of low glycemic vegetables and fat. As Poliquin would say, carbs are not my friend, so I am keeping my consumption of sugary/starchy carbs pretty low. At first I found myself craving sweets and experiencing some minor carb withdrawals but after the first week I felt pretty damn good. Those of us, who don’t typically do well on lots of sugars, tend to crave sweets and have a hard time living without them. Cutting out carbs cold turkey can be really hard so I suggest weaning yourself off them gradually. Once I got off of them completely I found that my cravings disappeared and I felt much more energetic and clear headed. Eating this way will help to teach my body to become more sensitive or receptive, to carbohydrates and insulin.

In addition to the diet stuff, I’ve begun supplementing with lots of fish oil (1 tablespoon/day), fenugreek, taurine, HCL and other vitamins. While I haven’t really noticed any major changes in my body composition, my sleep has improved tremendously. I’ve also found that my energy and mood is much more balanced throughout the day.

Today’s meals:
9am
“Breakfast burrito” - 4 eggs, spinach, and broccoli rolled up in a Nori sheet (see photo).
1 tablespoon raw coconut butter
12pm
3oz Turkey breast
¼ Avocado
1 cup sautéed eggplant and zucchini

Hours slept last nite: 9