Turning a Corner (or two)

The other day after complaining to my husband about my blistered hands and sore muscles--the result of a tough week of workouts, he said, "I think you've turned a corner". He went on to explain that he thought I was making progress with CrossFit.  I tried to act cool about it, but inside I was beaming.  Have I really turned a corner?  Finally?

Looking back on the entries in this blog, I realized I have gotten stronger.  I'm no longer doing puppies workouts, but pack workouts, every time.  Sometimes I have to scale the weights by 5 or 10 pounds, but otherwise I'm right there.  I've even done a few porch and big dog work outs. Those are the best days.  I'm currently on day 94 of the 100 day pull up challenge.  I jumped in at 63, inspired by a friend who was doing the challenge, and knowing I sorely needed to improve my pull ups.  So I haven't been doing this since day 1, but coming in at such high reps isn't easy.  Especially for me, a girl who has been known to cry, yes, SHED TEARS of frustration about the difficulty of doing just one pull up.

I can't believe it, but I actually enjoy doing pull ups now.

Sunset at our house in the mountains.  Who could ask for a better view while cranking out pull ups?

This alone is a huge change I never expected to experience. If I can learn to do something this difficult and actually start to enjoy it, well, then many things are possible. I'll stop now before I start to sound like a Hallmark card.

Now I'm just trying to figure out why it's taken me so long.  Why didn't I jump in and start making progress right away, or after six months?  Looking back I realize I had a ton of mental hurdles to overcome.  To begin with, I thought that all I wanted out of my fitness routine was to keep my weight in check.  I liked doing some cardio and fiddled around with weights, but other than that I just liked to get the work out over with.  When I was introduced to CrossFit, I was overwhelmed by the difficulty of the program and frustrated with a new way of eating that I thought was totally un-fun.  It violated my lax fitness expectations and required more discipline that I thought I had.  After many ugly work outs and pain sessions, it started to grow on me.  Journaling my results and breaking personal records especially changed my attitude.  After multiple set backs and personal epiphanies, I began to accept the barrage of new weird information and ended up loving the discipline/torture of it.  For the time I spend doing a workout everyday, I experience a state of Zen that I don't get from anything else right now.  For a few minutes, it's just me and the numbers.  

What makes this entry so hard to write, is that in less than a week I'll be boarding a plane to New York City, where I'll be living.  Goodbye garage gym and hard-earned fitness goals.  Much of that will be temporarily abandoned while we resettle our lives (and our three cats) in a huge expensive city.  Leaving our house in the country where we can do pull ups and sprints in the spacious back yard, and workout on our time at the garage gym will be difficult, not to mention stressful.

And have I mentioned that I'm a stress eater? 

We've decided we will be joining a CrossFit gym in New York.  I briefly entertained the idea of not doing so.  Of working out in a park, or doing CF in our tiny apartment, or even joining a regular gym (gasp!).  But these options are unrealistic and silly.  We know we love CF.  Like a religion, it's something we believe in entirely.  How could we live with ourselves if we joined a gym like Crunch?  We'd be frauds.  And we'd only approach such a place with the elitist arrogance of people who think they know more and are therefore better, which isn't right.

So we will join an affiliate, probably in Brooklyn, and it will be great.  It's the only way to keep up with what I've worked so hard to accomplish, and on top of that, it's a guaranteed way to make friends and establish a sense of community in a new, large, unfamiliar place.  This is the other corner, and although we aren't there yet, I can't wait.

New Year/Holiday Hangover

Happy New Year Everyone! My attitude about New Year's is not so great...I'm a little skeptical of putting too much emphasis on it. A new year won't bring me a new, better, self, or a new, better life. In general, I think goal setting and self improvement depends on what's right for each individual, and isn't governed by the calendar. However, it's still a great way to take stock on the past and make goals for the time ahead.  Whatever it takes to keep pushing. Cheers to that.

Looking back, 2010 was pretty awesome because I got married. Our wedding was lovely, and we topped it off with an enchanting trip to Peru. I can't imagine having a better year anytime soon.

 Just married, and walking into the sun.

All reflections aside, how many of us worked up a sugar addiction over the holidays? I was thrilled to do some baking, which I hardly ever do. This year I made my family's traditional Czechoslovakian recipe for Kolache. I also tried some new cookie recipes while my husband cranked out several batches of eggnog.  It was all delicious and lovely, but it has to end somewhere. It HAS to end now.

And so over the past month I've savored the last cookies, chocolates, and sips of eggnog, knowing that when they're gone--they're gone. At the same time I've been eating more like a cave woman and am quickly remembering how incredibly delicious paleo and primal eating can be. This post has a few recipes to help us wean ourselves from holiday sugar addictions.

Paleo Date Balls

I came up with this recently while trying to use a bag of coconut that's been sitting on the shelf for a suspiciously long time. Dessert should not be an everyday occurrence, and if you're trying to clean up your diet I suppose it should be avoided entirely. But if you MUST have something sweet, just for the purpose of weaning, this little snack will help you out.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped dates (in food processor, if possible)
2 tablespoons honey or agave
2 cups toasted coconut
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
*These measurements are flexible depending on consistency.  You want a sticky mixture that holds together, so adjust the wet and dry ingredients accordingly.

Toast the coconut and almonds together in a small nonstick pan. Remove when coconut is evenly browned. Process dates with one tablespoon of honey or agave until they become a sticky, chunky consistency. Mix everything together in a small bowl with a spatula, only adding honey or agave until the mixture is moist enough to stick to itself. (Try not to overdo it). Add a splash of hot water to loosen the date mixture, if needed. Use a cookie dough scooper or similar tool to scoop out small compact balls. Place on parchment paper and refrigerate. The cookies will not stick together perfectly, so have fun using your fingers to mold them together. After some time in the refrigerator they should set up nicely.

The combination of chewy sweet dates with crunchy almonds and coconut is surprisingly good. This is much cheaper than paying for some of the paleo snacks that are currently available online. Play around with this recipe, use different kinds of nuts and fruits, or cocoa powder for a chocolate treat.

 Egg Muffins

Breakfast is a special meal, but can easily become redundant. This recipe comes from Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which I highly recommend. It's full of creative, delicious primal recipes, including unique surprises like these egg muffins. They are insanely easy, and provide a transportable breakfast.

I used eight eggs, a box of turkey sausage, and one green pepper. Simply beat with a whisk, fill muffin tins, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Choose any meat or vegetable combination that pleases you. Take these to work with a piece of fruit and some nuts, and you'll look forward to breakfast. (Note, I would not recommend using paper liners. I tried them on my first batch and it made a papery mess. Greasing the muffin wells makes for a cleaner removal).

Good luck getting back to your hard-earned healthy habits, but don't forget to treat yourself along the way.

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
-Iris Murdoch