The Zone: Good for Diet, Bad for Dating

Tuesday, April 29;

I've not been very good at maintaining the Zone while out on dates. I don't want to give the impression that I'm one of those girls who only eats salad! I usually eat a steak or chicken or something. Last night, I decided I was going to stick to it... I'll tell you it did NOT pay off!

I met up with sed date, who will remain nameless, last night for dinner. We skimmed over the menu. He made his selection (crabcake sandwich), and I made my selection (skirtsteak salad). When he asked what I had picked he made a strange sound in response to the skirtsteak, but I thought nothing of it.

We continued our conversation (which was acceptable at best) until our meals came. We tried each tried our prospective platters, and he said I should try his crab cake. I in turn offered a piece of my steak. He immediately refused saying, "I don't eat steak." Oh, did I mention my date was Hindu? At that point I realized that ordering steak may not have been the best idea.. actually it may have been down right offensive. Throughout the meal he kept speaking to me and then he'd glance down at my plate of bloody steak (cooked medium rare!). To make matters worse... our table was off balance, so everytime I sliced into the steak the table would rock back and forth!!!!

Trying to continue the conversation, I was asking him about his family. I asked about his brother and sister. Then I asked about his parents. "Do your parents still live in India?" At this question, he paused for several moments, swallowed his food, wiped his mouth and said, "I'm from Pakistan."

At that point I apologized then I returned to my stake to hack up another bite size piece of holy meat. We finished shortly after, and I ran off to hop on the metro to end my humiliation. It's so nice when I put my foot in my mouth.. or maybe I should say.. sacred meat. Wait.. that's sounds even worse. I'll just stop while I'm ahead.

Needless to say, there will not be another date.

Shoulder Shocked

Tuesday, April 29;

Pushups are good... 75 pushups at a time are not good. Ouch! today was the first time that I felt the bad shoulder burn in a while. Note to self.. take it easy. Instead of actually doing the pushups, maybe I should have just done situps or squats.. or something else.

Warmup:
As many pushups as possible in 6 minutes
Total: 75 modified pushups

Workout:
For time...
Front Squats: , 4
Star Jumps: , 8
Weighted Situps: , 16
18:49
I'll put the rest of the numbers up.. too many numbers. I forget.

New Study on Artificial Sweeteners

This is a follow up from my earlier Diet Coke entry.
It's the latest from a study done at Purdue University.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/06/040630081825.htm

This Tuesday will mark two and a half months without Diet Coke. I think I can safely say I've broken myself of the habit. What is it that they say?? It takes two months to break a habit. I haven't had a craving for a diet coke.. the next battle is kicking my love of sweets. God help me with that one!

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

Friday, April 24;
You may be wondering why in the crap do I have a picture of Loretta Lynn on my blog. I thought it worked perfectly to go along with the title of this entry. Friday was a great workout, and the lyrics to the Loretta Lynn song, "We've come a long way, Baby!" kept running through my head.

You may think that's a horrible thing, but I disagree. The phrase has been used to further the feminist movement... you know.. we've come a long way..., but this may be a new kind of feminism. A 21st century feminist that Loretta Lynn would be proud of. The kind of girl that doesn't let a bump in the road keep her down. That puts a smile on her face and puts one foot in front of the other despite what kind of crap she's dealing with.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with that.. To get back to my initial thought, Jenn Conlin came in to work out today and we partnered up to do a wounded shoulder work out. We are recovering from opposite problems with our shoulder. She is trying to build back her range of motion after surgery, and I am trying to tighten my shoulder muscles to avoid surgery. Neither of us can do most of the Crossfit workouts as prescribed, so it was awesome to have someone to workout with.

Since we are both recovering, it's smarter for us to focus on perfect technique rather than getting the fastest time or the highest number of reps. The most difficult part of this workout for me were the pushups (done from my knees). It was the first time I've incorporated pushups into a workout since January. We kept the number of reps pretty low and focused on keeping a solid core and perfect form. We also did hang power cleans and a push press. The idea was to keep this pretty light, so I could maintain perfect form. I'm having to retrain my body to properly do so many movement. I'm going to go pickup some little weights today, so I can work on my over head strength at home.

Workout:
3 rounds for time

10 HPC & PP (35lb barbell)
5 ring rows
10 perfect pushups (from knees)
15 squats
5 ring rows
10 perfect pushups (from knees)
15 squats

Jenn and I finished about a second apart. I don't remember the exact time, but it was a little over 11 minutes for both of us.

Something else to point out, it was so cool to workout with someone who was doing the same thing you're doing. I was competing with Jen, but for me it was more important to keep perfect form than to actually finish first. That is certainly a big change than how I used to workout. It's a nice change!

Headed for the Keystone State

Sunday, April 20;

In preparation for my weeklong trip in Pennsylvania I decided to do a blowout exercise day yesterday. I hit the stairs early in the morning.. got my haircut.. then went out on a 9 mile bike ride.

Workout:
10 Rounds for time:
round of stairs
20 jumping lunges
20 R arm KB swings
Total time: 28:48

Workout #2:
Very, very slow 9 mile bike ride with a friend.

I finally bit it on my bike... twice I've been riding three times now and I couldn't get away with another fall free day. We were in Georgetown and heading down to the trail there. I missed the entrance to get onto the sidewalk and realized I was stuck in the middle of the road... I unclipped one foot and realized I was stuck.. there I was.. falling over on the curb. I have a nice chink in my right ankle. That one wasn't so bad.. the second fall was the doozy. We were coming to a stop and I had unclipped my left foot (I'm used to unclipping my right foot first). Then I tried to get out with my right and lost balance. The next thing I knew I was falling over my bike. I flipped into another bike that was left in a rack, my bike flipped over top of me, and I landed. Ouch. My pride is so hurt!

The rest of the ride is good, and I'm getting more comfortable, but not completely.

I'm out on the road all next week, so I'll be noticeably absent from blogging.

Kicking the Habit

I wanted to post something a little different today in honor of a major milestone. Yesterday, Tuesday, April 15 marked two months without Diet Coke. That means not a sip, not sniff and certainly not a gulp of the lovely liquid for 60 days. As you can tell, I still have an affinity for the syrupy, sugar free soda. I am convinced, however, that my decision to kick the habit was a good one.

Since I quit, I've had many people ask me if I've noticed a difference. My answer isn't exactly encouraging. Honestly, I've noticed one significant difference, and it's not exactly fit for public discussion. We'll just say if I went to the doctor today a urine test would appear more clear than yellow. Gross, but it's truly the only noticeable difference. I never had headache's (I'm still drinking coffee for my caffeine fix), I never went into hysterics.. nothing. I still crave the drink when I hear someone else pop open a can or twist open a cap, but my will power to conquere my diet coke addiction has overcome any desire to succumb to these cravings.

Although I may not have offered any noticable changes since I've quit, I decided to do a little online research about what kind of havoc diet coke could have wreaked on my system. (Note: All research was done from online newspaper articles. I do not guarantee that any of this is true, but I did try to find more than two sources for much of this information.)

The major concern with Diet Coke is the chemical that artificially sweetens it. That chemical, called aspartame, has been shown by doctors and scientists to cause head aches, encourage weight gain (I'll go into this one further) and in large doses has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats. Many studies though have shown that lab tests on rats don't exactly translate into how humans will react to a substance. In my diet coke drinking hayday I could throw back between 3-5 cans a day. In recent years, I had cut down to just two a day. I'm not sure what constitutes for large doses of aspartame, but I think 5 cans a day could probably be called excessive.

I thought the weight gain I mentioned above to be pretty interesting, but I don't know how much I buy into it. It kind of goes along the lines with The Zone's idea of increasing glycogen and how sugar stimulizes the body. Sweet foods cause a reaction in the body called a "salient orosensory stimulus." That sends the body a message to prepare to take in a lot of calories. The body alerts its ingestive and digestive systems and tells them to get ready for action. When the sweetness is artificially created (as in Diet Coke) and is not followed by calories the system gets confused, which interfers with the body's ability to intake calories when they ARE real.

I don't know if any of this stuff has been proven for real, so don't make any life changing decisions based on this. I just thought it was an interesting idea.

My success in kicking the Diet Coke habit has led me to the next logical step. If I can give up one addiction why can't I give up another? Sweets is next on my list. I'm not sure if giving up sugar, chocolate and candy is really a feasable life plan, but I certainly can reduce my intake.

I started yesterday, and today was the first true test of my not-so-iron will.. There was a free breakfast at my office. I was thinking there would be some fruit there that I could grab and maybe some eggs. Unfortunately, when I arrived I realized that "breakfast" actually entailed about 12 dozen boxes of donuts from Dunkin' Donuts! Ahhhhh... I was proud of myself. I remained calm and stood a safe distance from the sweet, pieces of morning glee. After leaving, I went to the kitchen and prepared my little egg omelet that I bring to work with me.

Yay to self control.. I only hope it lasts.

Also, in my research I found this crazy girl who actually has a blog about how much she loves diet soda.. strange.. but interesting.
http://www.ilovedietsoda.com/labels/Diet%20Coke.html

The Blister is Back

Monday, April 14;

The blister is back, and I couldn't be more excited!! Take a look at it. It's beautiful.

It's been about 5 months since I've had a callous tear, so I couldn't have been more happy when I plopped the 45lb KB down after today's workout. There she was.. just waiting for me to turn my hand over.. like a little morel mushroom just waiting for a hunter to discover its glory. Big and nasty and just ripe for popping! Sweet.

Warmup:

5 rounds

15 second squat hold w/ 20lbs

15 second jumping squats.. no weight

10 minutes of hollow rocks

Workout:

AMRAP in 20 minutes

9 Right Arm Push Presses 25lb

12 Right Arm KB Swings 45lb

16 Weighted Situps 20lb

Total: 10 1/3 + a juicy callous blister :)

Some more good news.. Some of you know that I've been in the market for a road bike for about a year now. Over the weekend, I found my bike soul mate (if there is such a thing). She is a Specialized Dolce Elite. She's sweet! Now I'm in the process of learning how to clip in and clip out of her. I've already developed a nice bruise on my back from falling over onto my coffee table in my living room. I'm happy no one saw that. What was I saying a few weeks ago about not having enough bumps and bruises? Someone much smarter than I once said something like if you don't have bumps and bruises you must not be that exciting. I like that!

Check out my bike:

http://www.ajssportinggoods.com/lifesports/product.asp?dept_id=2100&pf_id=SP_65046&ad_id=froogle&key_id=SpecializedDolceElite27

Slow Down Sister!

Friday, April 11;

Today was the first time I have seen my physical therapist since my doctor's appointment and she has put a slight damper on my athletic enthusiasm. We talked about what the doctor told me, and she seemed surprised that he had cut back my physical therapy treatments (slight damper on enthusiasm). She also seemed shocked that he said he'd like to see me start introducing some old movements back into my workouts (another damper on the enthusiasm).

It's good for me to hear (my physical therapist is a hard-A-double-S, and she doesn't take my crap!). I could already feel myself wanting to hop in and do everything I used to do. Truthfully, my arm just isn't there yet. I'm doing slow pushups in sets of 10, and these suckers kill me! We've moved up to 2 pound weights and those feel good. Anyway, I have to remember to be realistic about my recovery expectations.

Jerry, if you read this I wanted to hear your thoughts about getting into the "active shoulder" position. I think part of what initially injured my shoulder is my misinterpretation of what the "active shoulder" position actually is. How do I properly get into the position without just shrugging up my shoulders and pushing my head forward? I'm trying to retrain my body to activate my scapular muscles in order to hold weight overhead instead of using the muscles in the front of my shoulder. I'll probably talk to you about this more in class.

But I'm happy to hear any technical feedback from anyone.

No Surgery for this Shoulder!

Hey guys,

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement over the past few months. You all have been so great. The doctor says my shoulder is much stronger than it was a month and a half ago. He says he sees no immediate need for any kind of surgery, unless I do not keep progressing. I'm going to keep up physical therapy on a once a week schedule for the next month. I will also slowly start to reintroduce some movements.. REALLY SLOWLY.

The only concern is the return of pain once I start doing our regular workouts. The doctor says he doesn't want me to continually be going through injury and then taking time off to recover and then getting injured once again.. if that happens surgery may be a consideration. At this time though, I'll keep working on getting stronger and taking it easy on my shoulder.

Yay! Good news. Thanks again to everyone!

CONGRATULATIONS Karen and Joel!!

At Least it Wasn't Raining

Tuesday, April 8;

I think I said this weekend that my workouts weren't bruising me up enough. I have been missing the tears, cuts and gashes from the old CFOT prescribed workouts... until today. I was thrilled that I was able to do everyone else's workout with only a slight modification. I threw on a weightvest and hoped for the worst. I didn't know what I was asking for! About 2/3 of the way in to the run on my first round, I realized that the vest was rubbing up against the skin on my back. I ignored the slight bit of pain and continued on. By the end of the 3rd round my back was stinging and I knew I was in store for a rash that equaled my old situp rash from last summer. Ouch! But, Yes!

Warmup:
3 rounds of 30 seconds of each
Superman
Hollow rocks
Jumping Lunges
Hops
Russian leg raises
Side to sides

Workout:
3 Rounds for time w/ 15lb weight vest

800 meter run
30 R arm KB swings 36lb
30 weighted jumping squats 12lbs
Total: 26:10

Ready for tonight's Happy Hour!!

A Testimony to Crossfit's Scaleability

Sunday, April 6;

Today's CFOT workout was awesome for several reasons. The setup was a little different. To celebrate Crossfit Challenge's move from Saturday to Sunday workouts Jerry held our usual weekend class at 9am and then opened up a clinic to newcomers at 10am. I am constantly reminded that Crossfit has something for everyone. It doesn't matter if you played college sports or if you haven't worked out for years. There will always be something for you to do at Crossfit. We started out the morning with a Hero's workout, which involved running outside.. in the rain. What better way to feel hardcore than to go run outside and then hop on a bar and do pullups? I didn't do that but my wet, slippery kettlebell did my workout justice.

Back to scalability... I haven't been able to do a regular workout with everyone else for a few months now because of an injury. Despite the fact that I can't do many of the movements, I have managed to maintain my bodyweight and strength. It also helps that I've been zoning for a few months now as well. It goes to show that exercises can be replaced. As long as you put together a metabolic workout and continue to strengthen your muscles, Crossfit will continue to work!

After our regular workout this morning a group of 18 newbies tried their hand at Crossfit. (I love that their preview of their workout was a whole bunch of crazy people doing pullups and barbell hang-power cleans while soaking wet! My roommate was petrified!) The group was a great mix. Many people had military backgrounds.. some were athletes and others had spent time on the treadmill and the elliptical machine. Jerry, Chris and Andrea walked them through proper technique of the movements and then Jerry unveiled the workout.. I love the reaction.. "50!!" But the great thing is EVERYONE did it! Everyone finished their workout with a few modifications on the movements. One guy blew through the first round, so he did it again! It just goes to show that Crossfit really can be a great fit for many people. It's just a matter of tweaking exercises so they fit your skill level and physical ability.

A great day! And my roommate said it was the most difficult shower she had ever taken, because she couldn't move her arms!

Workout:
3 Rounds of:
800 meter run
30 R arm KB highpulls
30 Box Jumps
30 Situps

Total: 29:14

An All American Workout

Saturday, April 5;

I joined a group of Lacrosse players from American University on the stairs this morning. Well maybe I didn't join.. more likely I just got into their way. I know I'm getting old when a group of college lacrosse players is no longer attractive to me. It was a little sad for me.

Warmup:
Stretches

Workout:
10 Rounds for time...
1 round stairs
20 situps
20 jumping lunges

Total: 26:14

Wrapped up with 5 times up and down the stairs

The Craving Hour

Thursday, April 3

I don't know if any of you Zoners experience the craving hour, but I think I may die from it! If you've faced this particular time in your day you know what I'm talking about. It's the unbelievable food craving that hits in between the time between your lunch and your afternoon snack. It generally hits me at 3:30pm.

When I say I may die from it, I'm not exaggerating. Well, I may not die.. (so I guess I am exaggerating) but certainly the people who are forced to be around me are in eminent danger. They don't know it, but the pain in my stomach makes me want to tear off their faces. That's a little violent. Maybe not tear off their faces, but certainly to squeeze their fingers really hard or stomp on their foot. I get this glazed look on my face and my mouth begins to water. Imagine the monster in Aliens.. that's me by 4 pm.

I've tried nearly everything to calm this death craving.. huge amounts of tea.. and water... an almond.. everything! Since giving up the Diet Coke I have no good standbye. I am forced to hide in the bathroom and wait until snack time comes around. I'm in the bathroom because of all the water and tea I've had to drink. I call it my Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde moment.

Finally, at 5 pm I eagerly dig into my little cooler and pull out my most pitiful and ultimately unsatisfying 1 block snack.. today it's about 2/3 of a cup of Zone approved pumpkin mousse. Sounds yummy, and it would be great if I could eat another cup and a half of it! Then I'm left to suffer until I can fight through the end of my work day.. sit in traffic.. get home.. get the mail.. entertain my roommates.. and finally fix my dinner. THANK GOD!

Anyone have any solutions that I have not thought of. Please help... My coworkers would be very thankful.

Workout (Wednesday, April 2):

3 Rounds for Time

800 meter run

10 jumping squats

20 R arm KB swings (I have started working with my right arm again! Yay!)

40 air squats

Total: 27:49

Some Thoughts

Tuesday, April 1

I went for a nice run tonight and it gave me some time to think. Gar was talking to Jerry about some of the tracking that he's done of his workouts. It got me thinking about setting some goals of my own. I've shocked myself with my ability to quite drinking Diet Coke cold turkey. Today marks 6 weeks without Diet Coke. I think that's crazy! I have had a few sips of regular Coke and literally had to give it away, because it was too sweet.

I'm wondering if I can give up something I have been pretty addicted to for nearly half of my life. Then I should be able to control my cravings for sweets. My new goal is to cut down tremendously on my sugar intake (if I had been truly zoning.. then that wouldn't be an issue). I think this is what's keeping me from truly dialing in on my diet.

On top of that, I've been working on getting my shoulder healed. Physical therapy twice a week. That is why I miss class on Mondays and Thursdays. I've been icing the sucker religiously and doing my little shoulder exercises. I can do a wall pushup without any pain, and on Monday my trainer put me on the arm bike! I'm making baby steps, but it's been totally worth it.

This brings me to another concern of mine. The Crossfit certification is in a little over a month. I've finally come to the realization that I will not be at my peak performance. I probably will not be at any sort of performance level. I've started wondering if it's a good idea for me to go at this point, knowing that all I'm going to want to do is jump in and put in a hard workout. I'll think about it over the next week or so and see where I am. I have a doctor's appointment next Tuesday for the shoulder. We'll see if it's in store for some surgery (I'm expecting that is the worst case scenario).

I rambled. Sorry!

Workout:
4.5 mile run in 40 minutes.

Crackle and Crunch

Tuesday, April 1

April fools day usually brings out a bunch of jokesters, pranksters and a whole lot of no good. There were no jokesters or pranksters, but there was a whole lot of no good abound! Jerry treated the other CFOTers to a nasty grouping of about exercises and then told everyone to do all of the exercises 21-15-9.. "no joke".

While everyone sweated through that workout I had my own pairing of pain (like the alliteration?)!

Workout:
Walking Lunges: 100 - 75 - 50 - 25
Situps w/ Abmat: 25 - 50 - 75 - 100
All was done with 15lb weight vest
Total time: 19:35

Crackle=The sound my knees make when I do lunges
Crunch=What I did 200 times today, on an abmat, while wearing a 15lb weight vest

Cooldown:
For solidarity sake I threw in a few 21-15-9 rounds with the weight vest
21-15-9
Box Jumps (3 mats)
Deck Squats
R Arm Kettlebell swings (35lb)