We are coming up to the last long weekend of the summer.
While I’m sad that summer is coming to an end, I’m also a bit glad as now I can hopefully get back into a good meal planning, food prep, and workout routine.
Over the summer I have definitely kept up with my workouts. Most weeks I had 3 CrossFit classes, 2 ball hockey games, and nine holes of golf. What fell by the wayside was any sort of meal planning or healthy eating.
Summer has come to an end and I feel like a big old blob of fat. I think I’m only up maybe 4 pounds, but I hate it.
September brings a clean slate and a chance to get back to healthier choices. I will get some added help with this starting Sept 7 when the Whole Life Challenge starts. I won’t lie…I’m a little stressed about this. There is a big list of things that I can’t eat. I’ve decided to do the Intermediate level. Here’s what that means:
So, if I’m going to stick to this plan for 8 weeks (and I really want to!), then I need to get my act together and start planning. Tomorrow we are heading to the cottage for one last summer long weekend, and I’m taking my iPad, which is loaded with Clean Eating magazines and lots of cookbooks. I will be spending some time browsing through recipes and planning out some menus. Hopefully I will find lots of quick, easy, delicious recipes that meet all the above requirements. Fingers crossed!
Tonight I am back to the box for my second WOD this week. It looks like a good one:
I haven’t been practicing my double unders, but hopefully tonight I will be able to get through them without too much trouble…or bodily damage! Last time we did them, I got pretty beat up! If I’m lucky I will string together 20 in a row somewhere in that 100 and be able to cross that summer CrossFit goal off my list too. You may remember that I was able to cross “do an unassisted pull up” off my CrossFit summer goal list up before I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, be sure to check it out here…I’m still pretty excited about getting them!
Do you have any great recipes that will meet all those WLC Yes/No requirements? If you do, please share them with me. With 8 weeks of this ahead of me, I’ll have lots of opportunity to try them out!
I DID MY FIRST UNASSISTED PULL UP THURSDAY NIGHT! I actually did about 5 in total, and managed 3 in a row…which my coach caught on video.
Click the pic and it will take you to the video (please click….I am so excited about this!!!)
Doing an unassisted pull up was one of my goals for the summer. I was worried I wouldn’t get it, since I hadn’t been practicing as much as I should (to be read, not practicing at all!). I do usually take a couple of minutes at the end of each class and work on my kips. Thursday, it all finally just clicked.
I can’t stopped smiling and I must have watched that clip about 20 times!
I did a big celebration dance when I jumped down, but Ryan had stopped recording by then so missed it. It’s probably for the best! LOL .
Next move to conquer: muscle ups! LOL
I am up at the cottage for our last week of summer vacay. Tonight one of our neighbors is having a big pig roast BBQ. I brought my cowboy boots, hat, and plaid shirt so I am ready to let my inner cowgirl shine! It should be lots of fun, with lots of laughs, and likely too many Corona consumed! Sept 7 and the Whole Life Challenge can’t come soon enough!
Have you been able to cross anything off your CrossFit goal list?
Hey, remember me! I’m your friendly neighbourhood MIA blogger!
I did warn you in my last post that I might not be too regular with my posts since I was heading on vacation…but I really didn’t think I would go silent for this long. I guess that just means I had a really good week…and I did!
Here’s what’s been going on in my world the last 13 days.
Our week at the cottage was amazing! We had a weekend with hubby’s family and then they headed out and we had the cottage to ourselves…well, sort of. As soon as his family left, my sister and her 2 little ones came up to spend the week with us, and then two days later a bunch of my friends and all their kids came up for 3 days. It was AWESOME!
Highlights included:
A cottage full of kids: This is most of them.
L-R: Baby Peighton, Nick, Kenzie, Tanner, Maddie, Presley, Emma and Alyssa. Missing: Jackson, Ryan and Nolan.
Ryan drives the boat:
Tanner enjoys a s’more:
We all wait out the tornado:
This tornado/storm was pretty intense. We thought it might miss us, but of course, as soon as we got the tent set up, and Gill loaded all her stuff in it, the rains came…big time! I guess officially it never turned into a tornado in our area, but a pretty decent waterspout was seen a few lakes over from us. We just had a LOT of rain…
and some pretty strong wind that pretty much leveled the tent:
We think the only thing that kept it from blowing completely away was all of Gill’s stuff, including her sleeping bags and clothes….all of which got COMPLETELY soaked. After the worst of the storm past, we went out to put the tent back together, take out all the wet stuff, and check out the damage, Nothing like a small lake inside a tent to make camping fun:
We got rid of the lake by lifting the tent up and dumping all the water out the roof! It was a bit of a mess inside, and there was no way anyone was sleeping in there that night, so Gill and her two kids set up camp in the cottage basement. Not the greatest spot, but a heck of a lot better than a soggy tent! As soon as the power came back on, we put sleeping bags into the dryer and they were all set for the night. By the next day, the tent had dried out and with a little wipe down it was good to go and the three of them camped tent-style the next night. Good thing…those kids were dying to sleep in the tent!
We drank just a few beer:
Can you tell why our hockey team is called the Corona Crushers?
The hockey girls and all their kids left Friday afternoon. We had time to do a bit of tidying and then the weekend crew rolled in. A couple of Rory’s buddies and their families came up. It was a bit tamer on the weekend that it was when the Crushers were here. (The Crushers managed two nights of 4am…I am way too old for that!!)
With the weekend crew we took all the kids to town for ice cream in the boat. Along the way they stopped for a little cliff jumping. No way I would jump off this cliff, but the kids had no problem with it.
To get a sense of just how high it is….here’s a clip of one of the kids going over the edge.
Thomas takes a leap!
All in all, it was a great week at the cottage. We all came home tanned, fat, happy, and just a bit tired. We tried to rest up this week, because we are back up there tomorrow and will do it all again next week…hopefully just a tad tamer this time!
Being at the cottage for the week meant I went a week without CrossFit. I was nervous and excited to get back to the box on Monday night. The WOD on Monday was 21-15-9 Deadlfts and HandStand Push Ups. This was actually a good WOD to get me back into CrossFit mode. Aside from a 30 minute Jillian Michaels SHRED workout my sister made me do with her on the front lawn, the only exercise I got at the cottage was lifting a bottle of Corona to my lips! In the WOD I think I lifted 95lbs for the deadlift and did my HSPU off a 24inch box. I finished in about 7 minutes (I think it was 6:53). I also did 3 sets of 15 on the Reverse Hyper. I had never used that crazy machine before, but I picked it up pretty quickly. I’m not sure how much weight was on it, but I just did the same and the guys before me were using. This wasn’t the toughest workout I have ever done at CrossFit, but it was a good one to get back into the grove with. I’m back at the Box tonight for some Back Squats, Kettlebell Swings and Ring Dips. I can’t wait!
Tuesday was my golf night. I played my next match in our league match play competition. This time I was paired against a golfer with the same handicap as me, so there were no strokes given to anyone this match. We just played and whoever had the lowest score won that hole. In the end I was 2 up with 1 to play so I won the match. YAY! It was a nice night on the course, and I got to try out my new driver, since I broke mine when I was in Ohio. Callaway replaced it with an XHot….and I love it! My wicked left curve doesn’t seem to be as bad and the ball seems to go further than it did with my old driver. In the end I shot a 49! Another score under 50…super pumped! Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a shitty golfer…now I’m just slightly less shitty than I used to be. I’ve actually got my handicap down under 30:
I know it is barely under 30, but I don’t care…it’s still under, and much better than the 33.3 I started the year at. Hopefully I can keep this “good golf” going and drop a few more decimal points before the end of the season.
PHEW! That was a long post. I still feel bad for neglecting my blog for so long, but at least now I feel like I am caught up. Just in time to go on vacation again tomorrow and get behind in my posts again! Hopefully next week, since we won’t have any guests, I will get a chance to write the odd post from the cottage.
Hopefully see you tomorrow with another edition of The Friday Five.
How have things been with you? Do anything exciting these last 2 weeks?
This may be my favourite Friday of the whole year so far. Why? Because as of today I am on vacation for a week and we are heading to the cottage for the entire time! I can’t wait to pack up the cars (yes, likely taking 2 cars since we have so much stuff and the kids want to ride in the Miata!) and hit the road!.
But, before then, I’ve got half a day of work, one CrossFit workout and this post to write! Let’s get to it.
1. I am addicted to this song – I Remember You, by Queens of DogTown. Every day this week I have been listening to this song on repeat on my drive home, just cranked, and singing at the top of my lungs. I just can’t get enough of it. I always liked the original Skid Row version, as I am a huge Sebastian Bach fan (ever since he was on Gilmore Girls!). Then the song was featured on Californication as a cover sung by Hank’s daughter’s band. I downloaded the soundtrack that night and have loved it ever since. But this week, I just can’t seem to get enough of it. Love, Love, Love.
Love this song.
2. I joined the Whole Life Challenge.
This is a worldwide challenge that runs from September 7th to November 1st. I’m still not exactly sure what is involved, but I know there is a certain diet to follow, workouts to do, tasks to complete, and measurements to be taken. I have been curious about the Paleo diet and knew that I needed to become more focused on my diet to see better results at the gym. This challenge came along at just the right time. My Box is participating and I have joined their team. I’m hoping that the motivation and encouragement I get during my WOD’s will also transfer over to this challenge. I’ve got 35 days to figure it all out and psych myself up.
3. The AirDyne really is Satan’s Tricycle!
My Box recently purchased 4 of these bad boys and have been working them in to quite a few WODs lately. This is one tough machine. Last night’s WOD had 6 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off….and it was hell! They have also started monthly challenges at the Box. This month’s is 5 min max cals on the AirDyne. We get entered into a monthly draw for a proshop gift card for each time we complete the challenge and the best men’s and women’s scores also get a prize. I may skip this month’s challenge since I’m not sure I could do 5 whole minutes. 30 secs on 30 secs off just about killed me last night!
4. I need to get back to planning my meals and eating clean. Things have been so hectic this summer that my meal planning and food prep has really suffered. Hopefully now that ball hockey is finished and things are settling down a bit, I can get back to it. I should use August to try and get ready for the Whole Life Challenge because that has a whole list of food restrictions – no grains or starchy carbs, no dairy, no sugar or sweeteners, no alcohol, soda or juice, no artificial ingredients or processed foods, – and I really should try to cut back on those things now, so I don’t need to go cold turkey September 7th.
5. I will try to post while on vacation…but they might just be quick posts of awesome cottage shots like these!
I will be missing a week of CrossFit while I’m up at the cottage, but I will be bringing my kettlebells and my sister and I will be doing a few swing workouts next week. I’d also like to get a few walks around the point in, just to help make sure I get some exercise in between the Corona’s and s’mores!
Hope you all have a great weekend. It’s a long weekend for us here in Canada…and it blends right into my vacation. I can’t wait to get up there!
Happy Friday!
Got any big plans for you regular or long weekend?
My Pursuit of Happiness and Skinny Jeans 