Feeling Good

I am 28 years old, and never before in my life have I ever wanted to wear a pair of short tight shorts to the gym. Sure, I've tried them on in store dressing rooms over the years, but after seeing my reflection in the mirror, I never thought of venturing outside that door.

Finally, my thoughts have changed.

Please excuse my dirty bathroom mirror.
Hello Windex, that is gross!

I just ordered these from Reebok the other day. 

I wasn't sure if I'd keep them or not, but since Reebok offers free shipping and free returns, I figured Why not? So I got some. And these kind of validated for me how much my body has changed. It showed me how I am finally doing it right. I am pretty proud of how far I've come since August. I'm not trying to brag or anything; I am trying to show that it's freaking nuts how much can change occur in less than 6 months. It's been hard work, but it's also been fun!

It is never too late (nor too early) to change your eating and exercising habits. I thought I was healthy before. Now I feel it and see it every day, and it makes me smile that I am helping my body become the best machine it can be.

Also, check out the tag that was attached to the shorts. I know Reebok makes CrossFit apparel, but seeing that this "Fitness in 100 words" goes out to everyone who orders these shorts is pretty cool. Plus, read it: It's true!

Paleo Challenge Photos

Below, you will find my pictures before the Paleo Challenge followed by my after pictures (taken 9 weeks later). The quality isn't quite the same because my bf took them with my iPhone as opposed to our official CrossFit 919 photographer in the first set, but I think you can get the idea.

I did not weigh myself before or after the challenge because I am trying to get stronger, so I hope to gain muscle and lose fat. However, I did take measurements. While I have noticed toning in my arms, they stayed exactly the same, as did my chest and waist.  However, my hips lost 1 inch (the booty, I guarantee it) and EACH thigh lost 2 inches. Woah! That is the kind of improvement I am talking about.

Paleo reflections: My brother was the first to tell me that eating 100% paleo is not a sustainable diet. It's just ridiculously hard (and somewhat unnecessary). I have found, though, that eating paleo 80% of the time is a great goal. That means I'll eat cheese and yogurt again (of the highest quality, that's important!), but I still won't buy pasta and breads.  Those things I will enjoy when I go out to eat. I have noticed that when I do eat carbs and sugar now, they make me feel unbelievably tired in the morning. Super interesting.

In the following weeks, I will post some of my favorite paleo (or paleo-esque) recipes. I will also continue to track my CrossFit progress. I plan on measuring myself every 9 weeks since that's how I started, and we'll see how it goes.

CrossFit PRs I hit in these 9 weeks:
170# dead lift
103# back squat

Paleo Challenge: Day 3

I am now a proud member of CrossFit 919. It has quickly become my favorite activity and being there means it's my favorite time of the day!

One reason why I (finally) chose to drink the CrossFit Kool-Aid (figuratively, because that's so not paleo... and neither is Gatorade) is because I want to be stronger.  I am at athlete at heart, having played either softball or soccer since my preschool years.  However, after college, I stopped playing team sports and became a runner.  I loved (and still love) running.  However, I missed the conditioning aspect of working out as a group... the stuff that really makes you push your body instead of just allowing yourself to slowly jog a 10 minute-per-mile pace, never making yourself work too hard outside from your comfort zone.

Well, it was time to push myself a little harder.  I didn't just stop with joining Xfit. I also decided to sign up for the Paleo Challenge.  It's a 9-week eating commitment with Benchmark WODs to be completed at Xfit. About 20 of us signed up as a team so we can encourage each other to eat "clean."

Anyways, I could go on about Xfit and the Challenge, but for the rest of this post, I just want to share my first attempt at making bison flank steak. I have never cooked a steak in my life (as I stopped eating steak in middle school), but the Whole Foods man told me to cook it on very low heat for an hour or so. And I did. It was a little overcooked for my taste (pun intended), but not bad for a first try. I had this with sautéed spinach, onion, garlic, and mushrooms.

Also, Sunday night before the challenge, bf and I were celebrating his younger brother's 18th birthday. We brought treats from Whole Foods for the occasion, so these were some of my last non-paleo foods for a while.  I'm not craving any sweets yet, but I'm not sure how long that will last... this weekend, I may try out my first paleo baking experiment.