CHANGE IS GOOD

I don't know a lot about climbing, but seeing what this girl can do at such a young age is incredible. I am guessing she is the Tiger Woods of Woman's climbing. I am sure that some of you who climb already know of her. I was just blown away how fast and fearless she is at such a young age.



Back to the real world....I woke up this morning with some tight shoulder muscles. (You know that great feeling you get when you know you worked out hard. ) :) After my work out today, I was feeling pretty loose and then after about an hour in front of the computer at work, somebody walked in my office and when I turned my head to talk to them I heard about 10 loud popping noises come from my neck. It sounds like a Chiropractor was doing an adjustment on my neck. The guy that walked in even heard it from across the room and just laughed. I think I am due for a massage. Anyone have any suggestions of good masseuses in the area?

Workout

Skill
Weighted pushups 10@10#/10@15#/10@15#/10@15#
Dips 4 sets of 5
Lsit for 30 seconds / 3 times

WOD 45/15 for 3 rounds
planks
double kb clean / 16k
renegade lunge / 35#
side to side jumps
xchop to halo / 16k

At home - Rowed 5 20 sec sprint as hard as I could and rested for 10 sec. and then did the same thing with jump rope

Food
Breakfast - oatmeal with protein and flax oil
snack - protein and water
Lunch - 2 egg veggie omelet with fruit on side
snack - protein with water
Dinner - Chicken, corn, black bean, salsa thing that Shannon made with Brown rice. (very good)
snack - 1 skinny cow
Good water intake, about 64oz

Through this whole weight loss venture I have been going through, I have never tracked how many calories I intake in a day.  So this morning I decided to try and track how many calories and how much Protein I eat in a day.  So by my best calculations I ate about 1500 calories and 150-170  grams of protein.   I eat a lot of the same things every day, with small adjustments here and there, so if I can stay around that number I will be pretty happy.   I am kind of in a happy place with my diet right now, not necessarily because I am losing weight, but because my recovery time between work outs and my energy level is way up from what it was a month ago.   So I am going to stick to what I am doing right now with my diet and hopefully the improvements will keep coming.  

No work outs to speak of today unless you want to call side stepping through a busy wall a work out.  :)  The kids wanted to spend some of their Christmas money so we first headed down to 23rd where my youngest found a hat she had to have at the Dapper Capper or something like that.  Then off to Wa. Square mall, the place was a mad house and the busiest store we walked into was the Lego store, the line to the register was to the entrance of the store when we got there.  My youngest daughter totally got into Lego's this past month which is cool for me because I loved Lego's as a kid and she lets me help.  hahaha  My middle daughter found a game she wanted for her new DS and found other things she wanted but couldn't stand to part with her money.  LOL  

It was a fun work out today, I was partnered up with my wife Shannon for the first time and I was very impressed to see the big jumps she has made since starting her Recreate a month ago. I kept telling her to slow down and pace herself, but she didn't really need it, she did an awesome job pushing herself.  In fact I don't think she would have been able to finish the work out a month ago.  It is great to see how far she has come and how much she enjoys working out now....I am very proud of her.   

As much as I enjoy the holidays I am glad that they are pretty much over and things can get back to normal. Since I was in Seattle for 3 days and pretty much eating what others made (which was delicious) or eating out, I really felt like crap. I was getting headaches every day, which I used to get all the time when I was eating bad and overweight. I used to make sure I had Excedrin with me all the time back then. Today I ate good and prepared or ate the food I am used to. I love my oatmeal every morning!!! :)

It was also great to get back to Recreate Fitness. I hadn't worked out there since Monday and I was really missing the place. It was a great day to come back too, we did a 6 round 20/10 workout and I really enjoyed it. It was very challenging as all the workouts were but really liked the format of this workout.

Skill was 5 rounds:
10 Heavy Med ball cleans. (I got to 60 lbs.)
5 pull ups.

Work out was 6 rounds of 20/10
Row
Med ball cleans
Rope
push ups

Food:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with protein
Snack - Half or protein bar
Lunch- Chicken/Fruit Salad with minimal dressing
Dinner- 4oz shrimp, 1 1/2 cup veggies
Snack- Protein drink

Well believe it or not, we braved the "blizard" and drive up to Seattle today. Everything just came together and we made the drive. I am glad we did because it gives us a little time to relax and get ready for the 3 days of Christmas ( hitting other family members holiday parties) I am going to visit a Crossfit facility in Puyalup for a work out in the morning. Hopefully the roads won't be too icy to make the trip out there.

We made it in for the 7:30 class this morning, I thought for sure it was going to be cancelled but I am so glad they didn't. (Thanks Nathan and Tina) I know it was getting pretty bad after we left though, the roads were getting really slick.
WO was a Mini Cindy ( 12 minutes) I ended up tearing the skin on my palm on the last set of pullups. Other then it stinging a bit I am sure it will be fine.

Breakfast - oatmeal with protein
Snack- eggs and potatoes
Lunch- Fresco Burrito from taco bell
Snack-a few crackers and M&M's on the drive up
Dinner- Chicken Salad with flat bread

You know you were humming this song or your sang it when someone was mentioning all the ice we have today.  hahaha  What can I say about today?  That was pretty crazy having that glaze of ice over all that snow from the day before.  I know I almost landed on my butt a few times when we went out.   Other then that, today was a rest day and boy did I need it.  I woke up this morning and my shoulders and calves were so tight that I was moaning getting out of bed.  My calves haven't been this sore since I started Recreate 2 months ago.  Love that burn!!!!!  I was just glad it came when I had a rest day to recuperate.  

It was great seeing all the snow today. We got about 8 inches at our house and it was surprisingly easy to get around town today. I went in for the early work out today just in case the 10:30 class got canceled because of the snow.

Skill was max pull ups. I think I got 13, which totally wasted me for the partner work out. My shoulders were wasted after doing the pull ups and the medicine ball clean and press yesterday I think. When we started the partner work out and I got to push ups, it felt like somebody put 50 extra pounds on me. It was all I could do to get 15 push ups. I made it through the work out, but damn it was tough.

Breakfast- Oatmeal with protein
Snack- Protein with water
Lunch- 1 Sushi roll fromSanSai
Snack- Cupcake
Dinner- Pizza
Snack- Almond m&ms

Skill today was 6 rounds of Medicine Ball Cleans and 5 ring rows.  I matched my old PR but with not as much trouble as before.  5/50, 5/60, 5/70, 5/80, 5/90, 5/100.  

Now that I am starting to get more in shape I have been thinking of taking up some kind of sport or something to keep me active next year and will be fun and rewarding. I started running as a sport last year but found out after about 3 months that my body is not made for that. I am still too heavy and my knees were hurting when I started running 7 miles 3 times a week.

There are so many active people at Recreate Fitness, I was hoping that some of you might throw me some suggestions of something physical or athletic to work towards next year. There aren't too many things I won't try, so let me know some things you have done or are doing and maybe an accomplishment I can work towards. Just leave a comment on here maybe and let me know. THANKS!!!!

No work out today. (rest day) Did 500m sprint on rower 4 times.

Breakfast-oatmeal with protein, 1 banana
Snack- 1 crossaint
Lunch- Laughing Planet Southwest Burrito
Snack-2 string cheese, 5 triscuts
Dinner- Chicken Salad with fruit. hummus with bread.

Such a clever name for a restaurant in a town filled with hippies. hahaha Here is their website HASH I stumbled upon this place on my way home from work today and decided to stop in for a late lunch. I had their zucchini press sandwich that was very good. They use fresh sustainable ingredients in their foods and make all their own sauces and breads. If you ever want to get out of the city and try something new, I would suggest trying them out. I am thinking of going back for breakfast this weekend because their breakfast menu looked amazing.

At the gym....
4 x
20 squats
10 lunges
10 jumping lunges
10 jumping squats
then for fun, throw in 10 atomic pushups!

This was part of our workout today and as hard as it is, I do enjoy doing it. I think this is the 3rd time doing the leg circuit and I can see huge improvements from the first time I attempted it. This is one of those workouts that you feel for awhile. :)

Not the greatest day of eating...

Breakfast- Oatmeal with protein
Snack- protein with 8 oz water
Lunch- zucchini sandwich with fruit
Snack- 100 calorie pretzel snack, 15 triscuit thins, 1 string cheesse
Dinner- 5 oz chicken, 1 cup of peppers, 1 cup brown rice,
Snack - (my boss sent me some harry and david chocolates) 1 truffle and 3 oz of chocolate covered cherries. (UGH!!! Tis the season though.)

I picked up the rower tonight! I am not sure I am going to get a chance to row tonight at this rate, my kids and their friends have been rowing for the past hour. We will see how they feel tomorrow. :)
The kids school is closed again tomorrow, at this rate they are going to have a 3 week vacation. We will see what we get tonight, I have heard anything from rain, sleet, dusting of snow, 6 inches of snow, ice storm, snow for 4 days.....I guess we won't know anything until it happens.

Breakfast-Oatmeal with protein
Snack- protein with 12 oz water
Lunch- Lamb Gyro
Snack - protein with 8 oz water, 10 mini race cakes
Dinner - 6 inch Turkey Sandwich from Subway.

Thank God the roads cleared up enough for me to make it to the gym this morning. Poor Shannon would have had to suffer through me sulking all day if I would have missed my workout. hahaha The workout part of class was rowing for calories and Slam Ball. Great work out in such a short amount of time.

For the past couple weeks I have been browsing Craigslist for a Concept 2 rower for my home and I am so excited that I have found one in excellent condition for a good price. My evenings after work have been pretty uneventful since winter has rolled around and I have been itching to do some sort of workout instead of sitting around watching tv and feeling lazy. I should be picking it up within the next couple days. YEAH!!!!

Breakfast- Oatmeal with protein
Snack- protein with 12 oz water
Lunch- tunafish sandwich ( I use 1 can low sodium tuna with 1 tablespoon of lowfat mayo)
Snack- protein with 8oz water
Dinner- (Panera) Chicken Noodle Soup
Snack - 8 Almond M&Ms 4 oz of frozen yogurt

This picture is one I took just outside my home this morning. We ended up with about 4 inches. I like editing some landscape photos to look more retro.....like I did with this one. Some people like it and some don't but it kind of takes me back to my childhood and the photos that my parents had in their photo albums.

I love seeing all the snow but now I am wondering what it is going to be like tomorrow and if the gym will be open in the morning. I guess that shows how addicted I am to working out. My main concern about tomorrow is whether or not I will make it to the gym. hahaha






Breakfast - Oatmeal with protein

Snack - Max Gourmet protein with 8 oz water.

Lunch - Tuna fish sandwich

Snack - handful of raisins, hand full of small crackers

Dinner - 2 pieces of pizza

Snack - Protein Shake

I have just recently started doing the Saturday partner work outs, I think this is my third class. All I have to say is that I am so spent after these work outs because I push myself so hard, so that I don't slow my partner down. Matt and I were talking about this after the work out today and we were talking about the dead lifts we did yesterday and he was saying how he was pushing himself to lift as much as John and I. Well at the same time all I was doing was trying to keep up with him. I guess that is why we both killed our old PR's. I have never thought of myself as a very competitive person, but I am finding now that when I see people going heavy or putting up a fast time on a work out, it just makes me want to push harder and get to that level. After a couple small scares this last week that could have lead to injuries I know that I need to slow down and really work on form and technique.

Breakfast - oatmeal with protein

Lunch - San Sai (Best Sushi I have found) 1 Sushi roll and small Oriental Salad.

Dinner - California Pizza Kitchen 1/2 of their Waldorf Chicken Salad with dressing on side. (Used very little)

Snack- 1 string cheese, 1 yogurt, 8oz of water with protein

3 bottles of 16 oz water.

I have decided to make Friday's the day I weigh myself to see what kind of progress I make during the week. Now, I know that it is not all about the numbers I see on the scale right now. I am gaining muscle through these workouts so I know that I need to tell myself that it is ok if I don't see a smaller number on the scale every week. I am more concerned about looking at the scale and seeing a 5 lb increase because it seems to head that direction every time I look at junk food. :)

So in September of 2007 I weighed 350 lbs. (I don't recognize that guy anymore) Last Friday (12/5) I weighed 231.6. This morning I weighed in at 228 even. I was very strict on my food choices this week and it paid off. My big problem is snacking after dinner and I didn't do any of that this week. Mainly because I didn't want to get on here and admit to it! hahaha I am hoping to get down to 225 by Christmas and stay there for the rest of the year, because I know that it will be tough during Christmas with all the great food my family cooks during the holidays.

We did MAX dead lifts tonight at the gym. Last week I maxed out at 3 reps @ 305. So I walked in there hoping that I could get 330 and if I am lucky get 350. Well, I got to 375 on my last rep!!! I was pretty excited except for the fact that it was the ugliest single rep I have ever done. haha Everyone was breaking their PR's tonight it was a lot of fun. Congratulations to Matt C. for lifting 400! He shattered his old PR.

Breakfast - Oatmeal with protein

Snack - 1 scoop max gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Lunch - Chicken Gyro with light sauce and a banana

Snack - Apple and 1 scoop max gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Dinner - 4 oz Shrimp, 1 cup mixed veggies, 1 cup Brown rice

6 or 7 16 oz bottles of water

Work out

Max Deadlifts

Free time, worked on pull ups mainly.

I am not sure if many of you have heard of Hopworks Urban Brewery but I have gone there twice for lunch now and the salads are very good. The vegetables taste like they are fresh out of a garden. I highly recommend the hummus appetizer, it comes with a little bread and a lot of fresh vegetables, it was delicious. Here is their website Hopworks I wish there were more restaurants that were more health conscious like this one.

Melissa was our instructor at the gym tonight and did a great job. I hope that Nathan and Tina could relax on their vacation knowing that they have great trainers to support them. Maybe they won't wait a whole year to take another day off. :)

Breakfast - oatmeal with protein

Snack - 1 scoop max gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Lunch - 1/4 cup hummus with veggies and a small chicken salad with minimal vinaigrette dressing.
Snack - 1 scoop max gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Dinner - oatmeal with protein

Work out:

Skill

7 minutes of kettle bell snatches

Work out (grind)

10 Mr. Spectaculars
20 ring swings
4 times

20 kettle bell swings
250m row
4 times

My work out routine right now is working out 5 days and rest 2 a week. Today was one of those rest days. :( I know that rest is key because your muscles need time to recover, but I wish I was in the gym instead.

Breakfast - 3/4 cup oatmeal with protein powder

Snack - 1 scoop Max Gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Lunch - Small chicken salad with minimal (maybe 1 tsp) of balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Snack - 1 scoop Max Gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Dinner - 4 oz of grilled chicken, 1 cup of veggies, 1/2 cup of squash, 1/2 cup of brown rice.

I was trying to burn up a little vacation time today and ended up only working a half day. (Sweet) I was getting a little bored at home though and was itching to get active and decided to go outside and practice some double unders. I am getting them but having a hard time putting a string of them together. I am hoping to buy a Concept 2 rower after Christmas and use that when I feel the urge to do something physical.

I said I was going to add some short and long term goals to today's post. Well I came up with a couple short term ones, but still need some ideas for long term goals. So here is what I want to do by January 1, 10 pull ups straight without dropping off the bar and or 50 push ups.
Right now, I can do 5 pull ups and I can do 30 push ups.

Breakfast - 3/4 cup oatmeal with protein

Snack - 1 scoop max gourmet protein with 8 oz water

Lunch - Subway flatbread chicken sandwich with veggies and minimal sweet onion sauce.

Snack - Apple and 1 string cheese

Dinner - 4 - 5 oz of shrimp and 1 cup of steamed broccoli

Water - 7 - 8 16 oz bottles

Great work out today, it was just what I needed.....very aerobic. The first couple times I did some private sessions with Nathan I almost got sick and we are not even talking full work outs. I think the first work out he had me do was row 250m, 12 wall balls, 12 ball slams 4 times and I don't think I even made it through the first round and had to go outside because I thought I was going to puke! So it has been a few weeks since I have felt sick during a work out so I decided to test myself today on our last round and see if I could go all out and not get sick. The good news is I didn't get sick, but for about 30 minutes afterward my stomach was not happy! hahaha I guess I better keep to pacing myself for awhile longer. :)

Workout:

Skill was:

10 weighted push-ups
5 weighted pull-ups
5 ring dips

Workout was:

40 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

row
rope snap
bear crawl
jumping pull-up

As far as my eating went today, I did good and am happy about my choices.

So back in September 2007 I started losing weight by joining LA Weightloss. The plan was easy to follow and with the support of my family and friends I was able to lose 125 pounds so far. Last month LA Weighloss closed their doors here in Portland, but thankfully I think they have taught me enough to keep losing the weight on my own. I still have 30 or so pounds I want to lose and am very confident I will do so, even though I haven't weighed that much since I was 16 years old.
In October I started working out at RecreateFitness here in Portland and have found myself addicted to the work outs we do there. The owners and trainers are amazing and the results I am seeing so far in such a short amount of time have me convinced that I am in the right place. I am sure you wil be reading more about these workouts as I go along.
So as I go along here, I am going to try and post what I eat every day (which may be a lot of the same food) and a brief look at my work outs. I need to come up with some short term goals and long term goals to shoot for as I move ahead. I will try and have those set by tomorrow.

Peace out!