Workout Update

100 Workouts in 100 Days Project

Days: 61
Workouts: 57

So clearly I'm not where I wanted to be at this point, but I'm closer! I have to confess though, that this week has taken it ALL out of me...between lost sleep over the time change and various other life stresses, I am just going to hang on for dear life until Friday!
New projection: will be at 67 workouts on day 66!

You may be wondering, what do said workouts consist of? Well, I have started a 10-month program designed by Alwyn Cosgrove ( ) which consists of 3 full-body strength training workouts per week. On the off days I am doing a smattering of  "cosmetic" training, that is, working on all the stupid little muscles that I'd like to see grow in order to look good, along with taekwondo specific drills for speed and agility. So my weekly schedule looks more or less like this:

M/W/F workout 1: full-body strength
M/W/F workout 2: steady state cardio (usually a triathlon-style brick workout; 45min bike followed immediately by a 15min run)

T/R  workout 1: Agility circuits
T/R workout 2: Arms and shoulders isolation work (chasing after the elusive coconut-shaped delts I covet!)
T/R workout 3: Taekwondo class

Saturday: Sparring class

Sunday: Long outdoor run

Obviously I'm not getting 14 workouts in every week...but that's what I shoot for.

Project Gray-leo

Buy Nothing Month is is over, which means it's time for a new, non-exercise-related project! I've been feeling pretty uninspired in the kitchen lately, so the last time I was aimlessly wandering around Chapters while Shannon was in her music lesson, I picked up a copy of Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo.

 While I am always leery of any diet that excludes entire food groups, I have seen firsthand the benefits of eating the Paleo way (if you aren't familiar with it look here for more details) and I think in many ways it makes a lot of sense: lots of protein, healthy fats, minimal grains, and no sugar or processed junk. Practical Paleo is a gold mine of nutrition information, recipes, tutorials for kitchen basics, meal planning, and how-to's and supplementation for eating to accommodate chronic conditions, athletic performance, and fat loss. There are multiple 30-day meal plans, and big, beautiful pictures of all the recipes...honestly, it is everything you could possibly ask for in a cookbook. And the icing on the cake is that the author has a website (www.balancedbites.com) where you can download all of the grocery lists and other resources. Awesome.

 Following one of these 30-day meal plans seems like a great way to bust out of my food-prep rut, break some bad habits that have been worming their way back into my daily life, and expand my family's horizons.

The children, however, did not share my enthusiasm for trying some new things. They met my proposition with suspicious glares and hairy eyeballs. They wanted to know what kind of new things.

 Fish, I offered, and lamb. I showed them some pictures of the recipes to try and drum up some excitement over this project. When that didn't work, I tried the gross-out reverse psychology trick: liver! Stuffed mushrooms! ROASTED MARROW BONES! Ha ha, yum yum yum!

 Nope. With desperation in their eyes, they asked me what would happen at lunchtimes when Dad's cooking. I played my last card. Fine, I said. You don't have to like everything. But I expect you both to be willing to try everything, and for the love of goats, be polite. 'Cause I'm the BOSS!!

So this weekend, my mission will be to pick up some groceries and get some advance prep done for the week...cause I'm not going to lie, this is a big undertaking. WAY more cooking than I usually do - which is sort of the point for this plan - but I don't know how realistic it is. The other caveat that I foresee from looking ahead at the next 30 days is that it's going to be pricey...but I could be wrong; it's very possible that armed with a meal plan I will spend less than I usually do with my laissez-faire approach to grocery shopping. 

Sunday is day one. Stay tuned...

100 in 100 update: 55 days in, 51 workouts down. Feeling unstoppable, baby! Whooee!

Book Review: The Heavy by Dara-Lynn Weiss

Book Review: The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet

I did it: I went and actually spent money on the book that I was loathe to read. Even the title strikes a nerve and makes me twitch with irritation. A kid on a diet? Come on. And this Mom? Described as a Manhattan socialite who puts her daughter on a diet at age 7, with the promise of a glamorous photo shoot at the end? Nauseating.

A few posts ago, I promised to read this book, written by arguably one of the most publicly hated women of 2012, and then review it here. I was not looking forward to reading it; I fully expected it to make me really, really angry.

It didn't. In fact, to my surprise, I don't disagree with what Dara-Lynn Weiss did. Do I disagree with the details of how she did it? In many cases, yes, but here's the thing: I fully believe that everything she did to help her daughter get to a healthy weight was done lovingly, sensitively, and with her daughter's best interests at heart. She is also the first to admit that she made a lot of mistakes, but under the circumstances she was doing the best she could.

Here's what I think is really interesting: parenting, and mothering in particular, is a competitive sport in our society. Like it or not, we are insanely judgemental of each other where parenting is concerned, and there's no way anyone is going to garner full support from putting unconventional ideas about parenting out there. Especially if you admit to being human: for getting frustrated, acting inappropriately sometimes, for failing here and there along the way. The other big hang-up our society has is weight. It's taboo to talk about, and again you're damned no matter what: if you overeat or have a tendency to overeat you're lazy and weak-minded and permissive. If you resist the giant portions and processed junk in favor of being healthy, you are in danger of being labeled sanctimonious and controlling. So what do you do if you have an overweight kid? There's no end to the character crucifixions that are going to be hurled your way.

 I have to confess, a lot of what the author was up against in her journey with her daughter hit closer to home than I'd like to admit. Like me, she's a working mom with one kid who has a tendency to overeat and one kid who easily self-regulates. Like me, she has lots of her own emotional baggage where weight control is concerned. Her story could be mine except that my older daughter never reached a point where our family doctor needed to step in and demand that something be done about her weight. And that's where my first irritation with the book lies: right at the beginning. 'Cause seriously, how do you let a child get to that point? Who's in charge? But I'll let that go because I think she learned her lesson the hard way.

There are a lot of small aspects of what Dara-Lynn Weiss did to help her daughter lose weight that I don't agree with. What I do agree with though, is the fact that she put it all out there, and I applaud her courage for shining a light on an extremely contentious issue. For making a plan and sticking to it. For wading through a ton of misinformation and making her decisions based on what was right for her daughter and her family in spite of the unabashed judgement of onlookers. For being honest about her mistakes and failures, and for letting her daughter take ownership of what successes they achieved together.

Childhood obesity needs to be talked about, from a more sensitive and understanding standpoint than what we are used to. If nothing else, Dara-Lynn Weiss has opened the door to frank discussion on the subject. Her book is worth a read...and can I just say that I'm very glad I spent the money on it?

Project Update
100 workouts in 100 days: today is day 52, and I'm at 44 workouts. Still on track to be at par by day 60, though it might kill me!

In other news, feet are happy and (wait for it) my left arm is not going to require surgery after all, just a whack of physiotherapy. Whoohoo! 

 

Work with me, Feet!

It looked pretty nice out this morning, so I thought it might be fun to go out for a run. Figured I'd do a quick 5km, then I'd have workout 1 in the bag for the day. I also had this idea that I'd try and set a PR for 1km. I mean, why not? Gotta have a goal for each workout, right? So off I went, and I hadn't gone a block before it hit me that there would be no trying for PR's today; it was WAY too icy. New goal: survive 5km without falling and breaking my ass.

A series of realizations floated into my brain while I was out gingerly trotting over icy ruts:

1. I'm pretty good at seeing an obstacle, then carefully navigating over it. Nice bare patches of sidewalk are a hazard though, because I am very likely to get bored with whatever song is playing on my phone, or check my gps to see how far I've gone, or get lost in some kind of daydream...and trip over nothing and fall on my face. True story. No face plants today but there were some close calls!

 2. I have to get out running more if I'm going to go after that Spartan Trifecta medal. Haven't been doing much running lately, because...

3. My feet are not happy. I've been having fun experimenting with all the new minimalist shoe designs for the last year or so, and my conclusion is this: they are great to train in. I am a fairly big person though, and since I mostly work standing up, wearing them for work from day to day isn't doing my feet any favours. They are pissed at me. It's time to go back to more supportive shoes for standing around the gym.

4. Getting old is starting to suck a little bit! And no, at 35 years I do not consider myself old...as a general rule. In fact, I'm really digging this decade. But, my body is not responding to things the way it did ten years ago, and that's just how it is. The prime focus of every single workout is now to get to the next workout without injury. Does that mean it's time to slow down? Hell no! I still fully expect to keep getting better and better...but it does mean that it will take a bit more soft tissue work, a more thorough warm-up, more attention to pre-hab exercises, and generally a 'work smarter, not harder' kind of approach.

5. Working smarter, not harder is all good until you get dropped by a woman with grey hair and a yappy little rat-dog. Moving on.

Project Update!

100 workouts in 100 days:
Today is day 43 and I'm at 32 workouts. Definitely not where I wanted to be at this point, but what can I say? Life threw me some curve balls. Expecting to be caught up by day 60 - the plan is in place!

Buy Nothing Month:
Argh, this has sucked!! SO happy it'll be over soon. On the bright side though, I really learned some stuff, for example: I spend so much time in 'get it done' mode that I don't stop to think about whether some things are really necessary. Sometimes it's good to wait. Other times, it's not - like for instance, I really need new shoes.

No wait, I'm serious!

Building back up and the Numbers that DO Matter

Day: 35
Workouts: 24

Remember when I said I'd be patient and build my gimpy left arm back up slowly?

I lied. At the time, I really meant it and had full intentions of doing that, but after a few really good days of pounding my upper body, I've decided that I can go back to mostly full capacity. Honestly, it feels better lately! It helps that I haven't blocked any kicks with that arm in a couple of weeks... and it's true, there are some things that that arm just won't do. But it's official: I am done with avoiding upper body all together. Hooray!!

 I celebrated this morning with a fun shoulder workout, and I am dedicating it to Nia Shanks because not only is she straight-up awesome (she is the SPF Push-Pull world record holder for her body weight), but her website is a refreshing gold mine of common sense where training is concerned, especially if you have two 'X' chromosomes. She also has an unhealthy addiction to bacon, which I appreciate. Whenever I feel my interest lagging I head on over to her website, Lift Like a Girl, to see what she is up to. She is the one who inspired me to send out the challenge at the bottom of this post, so make sure you stick around to the bitter end!

Sweet-Ass Delt Workout
1. Military Press - start with a weight where you can do about 8 reps. Do as many as you can with good form, until you have one rep left. Pause for 45 seconds (no less, no more). Repeat 4 more times.
2. Front Dumbell Raises - 4-6 reps, S L O W L Y. 3 sets.
3. Seated Arnie Presses - same protocol as the Military Press.
4. Cable Lateral Raises - 10-12 reps, 3 sets
5. Reverse Cable Crossovers - 10-12 reps, 3 sets
6. 1-arm Rear Flye with stretch band, 15 reps, 3 sets
Finished with some high-intensity intervals on the rowing machine. Fun!

 I have another public service announcement to make quickly before we get to the important stuff: I have found a green tea that doesn't taste like the bulls' balls!

 Anyone who has ever made an effort to pursue a higher level of health and fitness has read over and over again about green tea's superpowers. And that's great. What none of that literature has the grace to mention, though, is that green tea tastes like pond water...only with less risk of E. coli poisoning. So I have tried for years to find a way to make green tea palatable, and the only way I have succeeded is to use cold green tea in smoothies with lots of other goodies so that you can't taste it at all. But today, my friends, I have found a variety that I can enjoy! Here's the story: I ordered Splash from David's Tea because it sounded interesting...and healthy (and if you know me you know that I am willing to gag down just about anything if there are health benefits attached) but when it arrived and I opened it up, the smell alone put me off so thoroughly that I sealed it up and pushed it to the back of my tea cupboard. (Yes, I have a separate cupboard for tea - it's a problem.) Anyway today, after a month of putting it off, I squared my shoulders, firmly gripped my gag reflex, and made some...and amazingly enough, it's really good! The ginger and cardamom are strong enough to kill the taste of the foul green tea and sea lettuce. And hey - it's really, really good for you!

 My last post was all about our unhealthy obsession with numbers - particularly the one that blinks out of the scale when you step on it. And I'd like to re-iterate that once again:

 WHAT YOU WEIGH DOESN'T MATTER! 

The scale is like that person at the party who doesn't know anything and think they know everything, so they talk more and at a higher volume than anyone else in the room without letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. The scale doesn't know what your fluid balance is that day, how sore you are from yesterday's workout, what your body composition is, or even if you're male or female. So why on earth would you bother with it? Unfortunately for most of us, the idiot at the party will usually say something stupid and offensive that we take home and stew over for days, and the scale seems to have that same niggly day-ruining power...but I have a solution for that problem. Ready?

 Forget about the scale. Stick it in, or under, the bathroom cupboard or somewhere the sun doesn't shine, and focus instead on the numbers that are much more fun and actually DO matter: your workout stats. How much can you deadlift right now? How many push ups can you do? How fast can you walk a mile? It doesn't matter which exercise you choose at all, but I challenge you to choose ONE of them and for the next six weeks, check THAT number once a week instead of getting on the scale. It'll be fun, I promise. And don't forget to work on that skill a few times during the week as well, because here it is again:
WHAT YOU WEIGH DOESNT MATTER. WHATS IMPORTANT IS WHAT YOU CAN DO.

Numbers, Schmumbers.

It's been that kind of week: super busy, kind of under the weather, and I'm beginning to worry that this falling behind on my 100 workouts in 100 days is a permanent state, because the coming week is no less busy.

 Let's see, where am I? This would be day 29...and I'm at 20 workouts. Meh, I can catch up- it's early.
All I need to do is kick out the germs that have been plaguing my system this week and then it's full speed ahead! Had a couple of workout fails this week, as well as some rather crappy news concerning my gimpy arm: the MRI was last Wednesday and I got a call from the doc the following Monday where they informed me that I need to come in and discuss the results...on March 5th. Did a bit of raging over this - another month? Really? Just to talk to the doctor? - then decided that enough is enough, I am NOT babying it anymore. I went straight out into the gym and started heaving around weights that would have been heavy before the injury...and wound up back in our staff room with the offending arm packed in ice. Bah.

Patience is not one of my virtues.

 I hereby pledge to take it easy while I build back up.

So. As usual, I have an axe to grind today. I almost feel like a traitor posting this, but here it is anyway...'cause who says everyone has to agree on everything?

 Today I feel the need to debunk the arguments of one of the most influential teachers in my fitness/nutrition/coaching career: Dr. John Berardi. Now, I have the utmost respect for the guy; my nutrition certification comes directly from his company, Precision Nutrition, and I spent two life-changing years in PN's coaching program, Lean Eating (which I'd recommend to just about anyone). But, Dr. Berardi keeps publishing these articles that just get under my skin and make me want jump up and down and yell and scream and punch him in the face. And if he's entitled to his opinion, then so am I!

 Dr. Berardi's latest offending article went up on PN's Facebook page today, and it's called "Top 10 Things Elite Coaches Do (and 6 Things They Read)". Check it out if you are so inclined. My biggest problem with the tone of the whole article is the obsession with numbers: tracking everything, before/after photos, logging changes in weight, measurements, appearance, pee color, etc. etc. I don't believe in getting obsessed with numbers; I think it's an unhealthy pursuit at the best of times and a dangerous hangup at the worst. I hate the 12-week weight-loss challenges that a lot of the big fitness companies put out there. HATE them. If you are looking to make a change, going into a gym and telling the trainer "I want to lose 20lbs in 12 weeks!" is just about the worst thing you can do. Why? It looks like a good goal. It's timely. It's specific. It's measurable. It's attainable (within the 1-2lbs/week that most weight-loss agencies advertise as healthy).

Blah, blah, blah. Baloney. Here's what I ask those people: what are you willing to change in order to see those results? What do you want to learn from this experience? How do you want the next 12 weeks (or whatever time frame has been set out) to affect your long term health? Are you interested in putting all that weight back on when you go back to "normal"?

'Cause here's the thing: lasting weight loss takes time. It takes work. It takes a willingness to ask yourself the hard questions about why you got to the point where you need help getting some weight off. And it might take some serious soul-searching. Can you dig deep into the archaeology of your psyche and figure out what those demons are and put them to rest, THEN worry about the weight loss, in 12 weeks? Hell no. Most of the time. Sure, any jackass can put you on a diet and tell you what to eat and when to eat it and how to work out. But what happens after it's done?

Dr. Berardi also advocates putting together a book of client testimonials and successes so that you can show it off to prospective clients, which on the surface seems like a good idea. But I don't like it, and here's why: I don't own any of my clients' successes. Any success my clients have is because THEY did the work. I can show them the path, I can guide along the way, and I can be an ear, or a shoulder to cry on when it gets hard or overwhelming. I can set out the plan, but I can't execute it. I also can't control what goes on outside the gym. And you know what else? If I own the success stories, then I own the failures too. And I don't want that.

 Here's the other side to that story: I want to introduce you to one of my clients (whose name has been changed). When 'Anna' first came to see me four years ago at 57 years old, she had recently gotten out of a long, emotionally abusive marriage. She had terrible posture, didn't like to look people in the eye, and carried a lot of extra weight around. She was in constant pain from a medical condition but afraid to deal with it. She would never speak up for herself.

Today, she is 14lbs lighter than she was then. If all I were concerned about were numbers, 14lbs is not much in 4 years. BUT today she walks tall. She isn't in pain. At 61, she's strong and fit and she knows it, and she enjoys life to the fullest. Yes, she is still carrying some extra weight around and she's still working on it. But the personal transformation through improved health and fitness that I've seen in her is much more rewarding than anything that could be summed up with a set of digits. And much more meaningful.

No fat kids!

Monday, Day 23 (19 Workouts, 23 Days)
Cardio Day: Treadmill @ 10% Grade: 10 min walk, 10 x 15sec sprints/45sec rest, 5 min walk, 10 x 15sec sprints/45sec rest, 10 min walk

Two things happened today that have spurred me to start a potential shitstorm online, to which I say bring it! More needs to be said on this topic, 'cause it's just about as taboo a subject as religion and invites way more 'expert' opinions...and WAY more judgement.

1. Daughter # 1 sat down to breakfast this morning and said, "hey Mom, do I have an eating disorder?"

2. The book The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet by Dara-Lynn Weiss hits the shelves today. I haven't read it yet, but I'm eager to check it out because this woman was possibly the most-hated mom out there for a few days last March when Vogue magazine published a personal essay she had written about putting her 7-year-old then-obese daughter Bea on a diet, then rewarded her progress with a glamourous fashion photo shoot. I find the whole idea of putting a 7-year-old on a strict diet abhorrent, but a photo shoot in Vogue magazine as a reward? Get me a barf bag and a baseball bat, quick!
Check out a more in-depth synopsis of the story here.

 

In spite of my raging about the idea of all this I am curious to read the book...from what I've heard it's quite moving. I'll review it for you here when I'm done!

We all know that childhood obesity is getting more and more common. We know that our kids are going to be the first generation that won't have a life expectancy that matches their parents'. And since diets and parenting are the two subjects where everyone has an opinion and everyone's an expert, the judgement and insensitivity and chararacter crucifixions run rampant.

So let me say this loud and clear:

Being overweight is not a character flaw!

Anyone want to argue with me on that one? Good, 'cause I really will readily exchange blows over that. Now that we have that out of the way, let's peel back the next layer of the onion, which is this: teaching a kid that how he or she looks has anything to do with who they are or how they deserve to be treated is horrific. Forget about the idea that it's a form of abuse to let a kid get to the point where the doctor has to tell them they're overweight or obese (which I will dig into later), teaching a kid to believe they're fat, tying guilt into their eating habits, and convincing them that they are somehow less worthy of respect is criminal. Want to know what will happen to a kid who believes they're fat while they're growing up? Whether or not they are actually fat, they WILL grow up into an overweight adult.

Don't get me wrong, I am definitively not one of the perpetrators of this bullshit "fat acceptance" movement. It is not okay to be obese. Not okay at all. And it's even less okay to let your kids get that way. Now, I am the first to concede that parenting is hard and tricky. We love our little stinkers so much and we have so much invested in making sure they grow up to be responsible, contributing members of society, that they're happy, that they have just the right balance of discipline and structure and freedom, that they have all the opportunities to learn and succeed, and that they have safe environments in which to fail. Well, lots of us do. For our purposes here, I'm talking about the parents who do actually care about their kids. (The ones who don't are the subject of a whole other post that may or may not appear here.)

Allow me to put this whole rant into context: I believed I was fat as a kid. Wholeheartedly. In fact, when I look at pictures of myself when I was young, there's a strange disconnect I feel between the slim little me in the picture and the me I remember, because I FELT huge. And when I moved out of my parents' house after high school, I immediately set about getting huge...which I had great success at. It took until I was thirty years old to get that turned around, and I still fight with the physical and emotional baggage from that journey on a daily basis. In fact, that's WHY I am who I am, and it's why I do what I do.

 I have two great little daughters who are mentioned here with some frequency. One has her mom's tendency to overeat and gain weight, the other does not. Daughter  # 2 enjoys natural athleticism, regulates what she eats easily, and never eats when she's not hungry. She can't be bothered with junk food and keeps herself active all the time. All I have to do for her is provide healthy food and the opportunity to stay active - easy peasy! Daughter # 1, on the other hand, needs a bit of a push...and by that I totally do not mean that she needs to be made aware of the fact that she tends to overeat; she will have plenty of time to figure that out on her own. As far as I'm concerned, my job for her is to be a good role model (which is the most important thing a parent can do as far as I'm concerned), provide regular, healthy meals, and the opportunity to participate in a sport that she not only loves, but that she's physically suited to and will enjoy some success at. This took a couple of tries, but we have found that fit in taekwondo. She loves that she is big and strong and can kick hard, but she also has a solid social environment there with wonderful friends, great instructors, and which is somewhat removed from school where her friends are starting to tell her she's fat.

School. Oh man, where to even start? How about this: I'm going to leave my bitching about physical education in schools, and about peer pressure and mean girls and all that stuff for another day.

Let me sum up by saying this: it is not for any of us - parents, teachers, or all other spectators - to pass judgement or foist our own discomfort with obesity onto our kids. It is not our job to try to make them conform to our aesthetic sense. We are not doing them any service by putting them on diets, or teaching them that they need to lose weight, or implying that they aren't good enough the way they are. Our ONLY jobs are to model healthy behaviour, provide wholesome, nutritious food at regular intervals, and to teach them to enjoy being healthy and fit, because it feels really good, no matter what you look like. In our current climate all that is easier said than done, but it's the ONLY thing we can do to truly help them.
Anyone care to disagree?

Warning: Contents under pressure!

Tuesday, Day 17

17 workouts in 17 days! Back on par - Yesss!!!

Days until MRI: 1!!

Days until Tournament: 5

Remember this? 

Well, it's totally true. 

Today I had planned to do one of my favorite cross-training workouts, and since my wrist has been feeling much better I figured I could jump right back into hard training. You know, all at once.

Which is retarded, I know, but after 4 months of taking it easy because of an injury it's easy to get myopic about these things...

Anyway, my body was out to teach me a lesson today, which was both good and bad. Check this out: 

Workout One: Xfit Fail

What I'd planned: 5 rounds for time:

20 x Bench Presses

20 x Back Squats

20 x Clean and Presses

800m run

What actually happened:

20 x Bench Presses

20 x Back Squats

2 x Clean and Presses (ouch, gimpy wrist did not like that one bit - no more clean and presses)

800m run (whoops, plantar fascia still burning from yesterday; better not run any more so as not to invite plantar fasciitis)

3 more rounds: 

20 x Bench Presses

20 x Back Squats

2mi Bike

So in spite of the nasty failure that this workout turned out to be, it actually ended up being pretty 

enjoyable AND a good ass-kicking. 

Workout Two: TKD Class

Somewhere in the back of my mind I know that whatever I work on during the day Tues and Thurs will be the very muscles I need for taekwondo in the evening. It's the rule. So since my body was still shaky and messed up from squats and benches this afternoon, I should have seen trouble coming when the warm-up for class consisted of walking lunges and push-ups. And I forgot my arm splint. 

To make a long story short, it was sparring day, and since I was using my unsplinted  left arm to block, it got kicked. A bunch of times. Hard enough to make my eyes tear up. Dammit.

 Wednesday, Day 18

No workout today (17 workouts in 18 days)

MRI Day

Actually had planned on working out today, but it didn't seem like a good idea after a night of no sleep thanks to a throbbing left arm and a boatload of anxiety over the impending MRI (I don't think I've mentioned it here before but I am very claustrophobic and the thought of getting tied up and crammed into a tube really makes my blood pressure go up. But I don't want to be a whiner so we shall not speak of this again!)

Anyway, the MRI happened, and it will be a week or so before I hear anything resembling a verdict. 

In other news, I tried roasting red cabbage tonight at dinner...

And holy atomic pile was it ever good! Even Shannon, chief hater of all cooked vegetables, stood at the counter and gobbled up cabbage right off the cookie sheet. Win!

Thursday, Day 19

18 workouts in 19 days

Workout: TKD class

Oh man. Left arm isn't any better after Tuesday's sparring and I fear fighting in the tournament this 

weekend is not in the cards. 

So. Bummed.

 But hey, check this out: the first of my kitchen toys is here already! Say hello to my new combination pressure cooker/crock pot! Tried out the pressure cooker tonight on some slightly freezer-burnt chicken (that I wouldn't be heartbroken about chucking if it didn't go well) and ended up with a very yummy chicken stew on the table in less than 30 minutes!

New Challenge! And it's not fitness related. Who's in?

Sloth Sunday!

Day 15 - No workout (13 in 15)

I know I play it tough, but sparring class yesterday kicked my ass! Thankfully, no injuries, though, just a whole lotta sore muscles...which is all kinds of awesome. It helps that I didn't do any heavy leg work late in the week so I was pretty fresh and ready to go. THAT's what Saturday mornings are supposed to feel like!

And can I just say that it's downright hilarious watching Shannon hopping gingerly around the house, whimpering with every step and every movement that requires ab stability? Call me an awful person, but I'm thoroughly enjoying her soreness...but also very proud that she worked hard enough to get sore. Yeah girl!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 16 - 2 workouts (15 workouts in 16 days)
Days until MRI: 2!!
Days until tournament: 5
Days until first Spartan Race of the season: 151

Front-loading the week this week because I want fresh legs for the tournament on Saturday! Gonna have to pay close attention to nutrition and recovery this week too...

Workout 1 - Strength

Deadlift High Pulls
2 sets of 10 reps at light weight (65lbs)
2 sets of 10 reps at warm up weight (75lbs)
5 sets of 5 reps at working weight (95lbs)

Bent Barbell Rows
2 sets of 12 reps 55lbs
2 sets of 12 reps 65lbs
2 sets of 12 reps 75lbs
5 sets of 8 reps 85lbs

Workout 2 - Cardio Circuit Training

1 min work : 30sec rest, 2 min between circuits, 5x through
Jump Rope
Speed kicking L
Speed kicking R
Box Jump Burpees
Lateral Shuffle-overs
Stability Ball Crunches

Going to sleep well tonight methinks!

So Shannon is getting braces on Feb. 11th, which means that a sizeable chunk of our household's disposable income is disappearing as of next month. I choose to view this as an opportunity to stretch the limits of my own willpower and discipline ('cause THAT never happens, ha ha!) but this time with finances. I hereby declare February BUY NOTHING MONTH, just to see if I can do it. Sure, I'll still have to buy groceries and gas and all that kind of everyday life stuff. But NOTHING extra. The thought scares me a little bit; I have to confess that I like shopping and I know I do it more than I need to. Eep.

28 days. I can do this.


That said, yesterday I decided that it was high time I ordered two kitchen toys I have been coveting for months now, so they are on their way. I'm not going to tell you what they are until they get here, but for the record they were purchased in January! And I'm super excited - stick around; there's gonna be some good food porn around here over the next month.

Here's a hint...

Looking Up - Days 13 and 14

Day 13 - Barbell complexes with cardio intervals (12 in 13)

I love barbell complexes; they're demanding on every part of the body, they're efficient, and done right, they are downright brutal. So, with only 35 minutes to get a good workout in, the following seemed like a good idea:

1min jump rope

Barbell Complex:

1 leg deadlifts x 5

Bent rows off 1 leg x 5

Repeat on other leg

Clean/front squat/overhead press x 5

Repeat ALL of the above 5 times, and if your lower body isn't screaming at you by then, I guarantee you did it wrong! This workout is for one of my favorite athletes, coaches, and mentors: Martin Rooney. One day I'll get to his Training for Warriors workshop, mark my words. In the meantime, I'll continue to read all his work that I can get my hands on, and cheer wildly when I catch a glimpse of him in the corners of the ring at UFC.

Day 14 - Sparring Class
13 workouts in 14 days (still running a deficit here but hopefully now that the week of multiple injuries appears to be over I will pull ahead.)
Days until Tournament: 7
Days until MRI: 4!!!

Wanna hear something really stupid? I've been waiting for this MRI for oh, almost 4 months. Pain in my left arm has been pretty consistent, it's had the same degree of immobility, and it has woken me up at night a few times a week like clockwork, for four months. I've seen 5 doctors and had 2 sets of  x-rays. Now finally it's time to get it checked out for real, and in the last two or so days, it's suddenly started to feel way better. Seriously, what gives? Is this my body trying to make me look stupid? 'Cause I certainly will feel sheepish if I get the MRI and they call me up and say, "yeah, there was some ligament damage but you're healing up just fine - if it's still bothering you in a year give us a call and we'll wait another six months before we book an appointment." I almost feel like cancelling it but will go out of spite...and from the niggling worry that it has healed wrong, and they'll have to cut it open and make it way worse before it gets better. So, 4 days of trying not to think about going into that little tube again. Yikes.

Who misses cheesecake posts? The cheesecake biz has slowed considerably since Christmas, but I was privy to some loud protests recently pertaining to the lack of cheesecake production, so I declare that it's time to get experimenting and come up with some new recipes! Any suggestions? Making a good cheesecake is a two-day process so there isn't time for this weekend but I hereby promise some cheesy porn by next weekend. And as always, proceeds from cheesecakes are split between KidSport Canada and the Spartan Race endeavour....

I feel I must end this post on a more serious note, with a public service announcement. This is for all of you out there who live with multiple family members, work with the public, or are in a relationship where maintaining some sense of mystery is a priority.

DO NOT EAT WHITE BEAN SOUP FROM COSTCO!

Our entire house smelled like the litterbox for two days afterward. True story.

Tough Decisions - Days 11 and 12

Day 11 - Bailed again! Stupid sore hip. Sheesh.

Day 12 - TKD Class (11 workouts in 12 days)

 Let's talk food, shall we?

I mentioned a few posts ago that I am working with the indomitable Georgie Fear on fixing up my nutrition, one habit at a time. Right now my challenge is to stop eating when I'm SATISFIED instead of when my plate is empty, or when the munchies go away, or when I've run out of time, or when I'm full. It's surprisingly difficult! Especially if eating is happening because of something other than physical hunger...which happens to me a lot. There, I said it.

But here's the cool thing: I am done with ridiculous crazy nutrition experiments that are designed to make you drop lots of weight really fast. Those programs, even if they do work over the short term, invite lots of messed up food behaviour later on when the experiment is done, and I am living proof that they are a recipe for disaster in the fat loss department. So this time I am out to conquer all the baggage surrounding food that has piled up in my brain over the years, and do it RIGHT so that it (the baggage AND the fat) doesn't come back.

Anyway, it's coming, but actually listening and responding to hunger cues is like trying to re-learn a language I haven't used since I was five years old. I'll keep you posted! But we're goin' back to working on getting some weight off 'cause there's stuff to train for!

Yesterday I had a tough decision to make: I had enough spinach left for EITHER a smoothie OR an egg white omelet. Since both of those are meals I consume daily, clearly one of them was going to have to go without greens: a catastrophic turn of events! Oh well, I thought - I am putting powdered greens and matcha in the smoothie so it'll be green anyway...

I started the omelet, which was to be lunch for at work. As it was cooking, I started throwing stuff into the magic bullet for the breakfast smoothie: raspberries, greens powder, matcha, chia seeds, almond butter, whey protein, almond milk, then it hit me.

I did have veggies for the omelet - I had broccoli and green beans in the freezer! Whoohoo, score! (I am easily pleased in the morning.) But the spinach was already cooked with garlic so I couldn't see scooping it into the smoothie. What if...no, that's gross.

Wait a second. Most people would already say this smoothie looks gross. I mean, it's GREY. I dumped the green beans and broccoli in with the raspberry/almond/banana concoction and buzzed it all together. And you know what? It was kind of okay.

Give me Advil or give me death! Days 8-11

Day 8 - Sunday: 7 workouts, 8 days
I had totally planned to work out Sunday morning...but remember that soreness problem that I had yesterday?
Yeah, it was Advil for breakfast day today. Lurched through the day today with all my weight on my right leg and couldn't ever quite nail down which muscle it was that was that was making me walk like someone hacked off my leg and stapled a baseball bat into its place. So much for working out; there'll be none of that action until I see my chiropractor.

Day 9 - Blue Monday: 8 workouts, 9 days

Bah. Blue Monday indeed! But not 'cause it's January or 'cause of credit card bills, and anyone who's bummed about that stuff today can bloody well sack up and accept that winter is cold and Christmas is expensive. Or I could give them a punch in the face...'cause then I'd feel better and they'd actually have something to cry about! Ha ha.

Couldn't get in to see Dr. Rod Beauchesne, my amazing magician/chiropractor until after the window of opportunity to work out was closed...and since missing another workout is totally unacceptable, I spent a little over an hour on the spin bike. And you know what? It was actually pretty enjoyable. That workout goes out to Dr. Rod, because he plays a big part in keeping me doing the things I love doing. When he's not trying to kill me.

The verdict today was that I've strained my psoas and iliacus, a couple of really deep core/hip flexor muscles. It's gonna take digging underneath my hip crest and massaging it daily to work the kinks out...which is going to test my pain tolerance. And I'm always up for some pain!

Day 10 - Tuesday: 10 workouts, 10 days! Back on par.
Light upper body workout, soft tissue work
Tkd class

Oh hell,who am I kidding? There was no light upper body workout. There was, however, an ego-based, impatience-driven, poorly-thought-through test to see if I can still bench press what I could before I got injured. Definitely wasn't very smart and it hurt lots, but guess what? I still can! Yesss!
Also notable is the large bruise I'm growing on my abdomen from pushing a stick handle through my abs to reach the injured muscles. Might get a picture later this week...but it's helping. Regaining some control over my left leg, now just have to keep at it and deal with the secondary problems that are cropping up because apparently I've joined the Ministry for Silly Walks.

It bears mentioning here that this aging thing is a load of shit.

Whoa, there! Before you all get all uppity on me, I know that thirty-five isn't that old. I never said it was. But, from an athletic performance standpoint, the cold hard reality is that at thirty-five you really do have to start spending more time focussing on injury prevention. Or, if your ego can't handle that (ooh! Ooh! Me!) and you end up injured (and let's face it, most of us do anyway), then good injury management becomes even more essential to life. Because, if I can quote a friend of mine who has been teaching karate for many years, in adulthood you can choose the pain of development, or the pain of degeneration.

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says different is selling something.