6lbs.... hahaha I laugh in the face of danger

 

Yesterday Jan 2, 2013,  PortCrossfit reopened from the New Year holiday. Me, well i got on the scale. I was curious to see how much damage i did by partying,  drinking, and eating, and not getting to crossfit  (a couple of hangovers will do that to you)

like i normally do this past month, the answer a 6lb weight gain..but worse than that is how i feel..tired, weak, bloated, alittle down in the dumps, unhealthy!

I LAUGH IN THE FACE OF DANGER

For the first time in 12months i gained weight, and it wasn't a surprise because i knew what i was NOT doing! The awesome thing about looking at the scale and seeing a weight gain is for the first time in my life i am not  wringing my hands worried about what am i going to do. I truly know what i need to do, get back to eating paleo and get back to my commitment of 4 days a week to crossfit. I know it works and have spent the last 11 months proving how effective it all is! Even my 17yr old daughter who is my newest crossfitter asked me new years day "mom when does portcrossfit open, what time are we woding? god i feel so fat mom, its disgusting!" i replied "I so hear you baby girl!" 

BACK TO BUSINESS

My family..Erin(my 17yr old), Mike(my 16yr old) and myself were supposed to be in the 5pm class, my car needed to be fixed AGAIN and of course it took longer than expected.   If i don't pick up my kids, there is no other way for them to get to crossfit(their father refuses to drive them or let them drive to crossfit) So i had to rearrange my schedule of picking up my car, pick up my kids, eating and crossfit class time but come hell or high water we WOULD make it to class!!  I am pleased to say We all waddled into the 6pm crossfit class together and started our new years off as a family and healthy. I have my new years crossfit goals for myself for 2013...i want to be able to do a handstand, a pull up and do double unders by December 2013...and i am ready and willing to work on my goals! my weight lifting goals,  to lift heavier and ring  "Elisa's PR bell" as often as i can.....SIMPLE.  I know that if i show up for class and i am consistent i will lift heavier, get faster, be stronger,  be better with each passing day...i love how quickly you see gains in your fitness level in crossfit! What i also love so much about crossfitting is how much fun i have.. its not a chore to get to PortCrossfit, i run there ( and i hate running), and i am ready to work hard. Well folks you cannot out train a bad diet so back to being a cave girl for me! I love eating  paleo or "the caveman diet" because i  am allowed to eat real food...meats/poultry/fish/eggs...nuts/avocado..apples/berries...vegetables,  i use olive oil and occasionally i throw in a sweet potato. Paleo is a way of life for me, quality foods that are great "medicine" to keep my body and mind healthy.  i find that living a paleo lifestyle is not hard for me to remember, it is not about how many points or calories i am allowed to have, it doesn't get boring ,  i also can go into any restaurant and eat within these guidelines with out stress or worry, its  livable.

 CHEERS....WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR NAME

It was such a great feeling to wake up on the 2nd and know i am back to paleo eating and i am going to PortCrossfit, my home away from home. I walk in and i hear my name being called..."Hi Elisa!"  I get to see and say "happy New Year" to all the "die hard regulars" and my coaches and some new faces i introduce myself too. Best of all i made it thru the WOD, i was sweaty, out of breath, my arms and legs were shaking and  I am gloriously happy!!

FUN

Now don't you worry...Elisa is not going to stop having fun now that she is back to business. The way to have fun and be healthy is to find a way to balance the two. I guess that is my personal new year's resolution is to have alittle more fun and to find the fun/work balance in my life. 

The end of the Lurong paleo challenge

The Lurong paleo challenge closed out on November 19th but final results weren't announced until November 28th

THE OBSTACLES

This paleo challenge was really hard for me in so many ways. Moving was incredibly hard on the first day of the challenge! then all the unpacking.. I still have stuff to unpack! I  now have a longer driving distance to work and a longer drive to pick up my kids from school which is draining. The lack of sleep in the beginning was very hard and i am still having trouble sleeping straight thru..i wake 4 hrs into my sleep then fall asleep for an hour wake up again.  It is just very hard to work the night shift!  With the increase of driving times, It was also tough to eat on the run ...being a busy mom. It meant i had to preplan meals, which didn't always go well. Then there was the hurricane which derailed alot of athletes in our region. Some because of destruction to their homes, box(gym) or both..some just because of lost electricity! I was very lucky on both counts and even pre-made food so that i would not have any excuse not to eat paleo during the hurricane. I also ended up getting my period twice in November and that's just Kryptonite for me..i am  much slower,  extremetly exhausted, and i can barely pick up a 15lb bar...yuk yuk yuk...the problems of a female athlete.

FUN
My favorite part of the challenge is the  bonds of the crossfit community. Every Sunday night all of us in the challenge would wait for the WOD of the week to be posted. Each new WOD posed new challenges.  At my box we would contact each other on facebook or see each other in class and discuss ..do we try and RX (advanced movements and weight requirements) the WOD?  or keep it scaled?, would we die or would we survive? we discussed diet challenges ? As the member with the most paleo challenges under her belt i would get alot of questions about why the scale didn't move, i would hear updates on Pr's, successes during wods..I also am an RN so i would get asked alot of health questions, I  also have asthma and would get questions about keeping it safe with asthma during WODS  (there alot of us crossfit athletes who WOD with asthma). Every day when i arrived at the box i would hear  how awesome i looked..how my body was changing! During workouts for the challenge i would hear tons of shouts and cheers of support and congrats on Personal Record (PR's) for weight movements. You just cant beat the Crossfit Community there is truly nothing like it! There is no drama, we compete against each other but truly support each other's efforts!

THE RESULTS

I had the privilege to be Jen's judge on her test out benchmark WODS for the challenge..during the initial testing Jen started wheezing during the 5 rounds of 20 kettlebell swings 20 burpees for time so it took her along time to finish the workout.  Jen dropped 15lbs in the 9 weeks and was able to drop 7 minutes off her initial time during the initial WOD with no wheezing!  Stacy and i are the same age..she initially didn't want to do the challenge. I somehow convinced her it would be fun ...lolololol! Well Stacy placed number one in our box..out of 7183 athletes across the USA she place 881..in women's master's divisions (women 45+) she placed 120 out of 628. I think what is so amazing is Stacy met each challenge WOD head on, she even surprised herself by RX a couple of WODS! I am so proud of her! The perk is she lost 15lbs in the 9 weeks and achieved her goal of wearing a size 8..she looks amazing!! AWESOME JOB STACY!! Jeremy is the top male challenge winner in our box. I remember when Jeremy first started and he would huff and puff on the warm up runs, now he blasts right past me with the other men the front of the pack! He has worked hard, shown up consistently, and his weights and crossfit skills have steadily increased! He also dropped 15lbs during the challenge but the best part is to see how confident and strong he has become! AWESOME JOB JEREMY!! Meg, placed 3rd in our box for the Lurong Challenge. Meg is the only female to Rx! Meg we call the "BEAST". My son describes Meg..."mom, she looks like a normal pretty girl on the outside, tiny in height and weight, but then she picks up a bar and she becomes "SHE- HULK". Ma you know she could probably toss a couple of guys across the gym she is that strong!" Meg works very hard and consistently at her weights, and crossfit skills and her hard work pays off!
Meg and became friends as we prepared to compete in festivus being the only two women to compete. She is someone i admire! YOU GO "SHE-HULK"...YOU DID AN AWESOME JOB! 

MY RESULTS
 I came in 4th in the box..i finished 1990 out of 7183 athletes and 241 out of 628 women's master's athletes. I didn't loose any weight (still 156lbs) but my body did change. I wore a size 8 pants when i started and now wear a size 4 pants.  I also for the first time EVER in my life i can wear SMALL scrub pants....yes yes i am doing the happy dance!! So here i go laying it all on the line for all of you....hugs!

VALIDATED	VALIDATED
Waist	32 1/8 "	32 1/8 "
Hips	42 3/8 "	41 1/4 "
Chest	31 1/8 "	33 "
Thigh	24 3/8 "	23 1/4 "
Arm	12 3/4 "	13 1/8 "
Total	142 3/4 "	142 3/4 "

Here are the side by side photos...the changes are small in my opinion but they are there...sooo 

IT'S A CONSPIRACY, I TELL YOU!!

THE CONSPIRACY STARTS

Last year in January i was driving home on the northern state parkway after dropping my daughter  off for her travel softball team practice. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye i see something moving onto the parkway, its a very large raccoon. I am traveling 65 miles per hour, there is a car to the right of me and plenty of cars behind me..so i can't move out of the way or stop short with out causing a major pileup. I sadly i realize i have no choice but to continue on a collision course with this raccoon. 

When I run over the raccoon  i seriously thought i was going to throw up. It took me two days to even look at my car because i was afraid i might see this raccoon plastered all over my car grill. I was shocked by the damage which cost me $2500.00 to fix and 5 days in the auto body shop. The shop owner told me i was 1 of 10 cars in the last year that had accidents with raccoons. I was the only one who could actually drive my car,  so i counted my blessings and thanked God that i was safe and my car was fixable! After that when i would go to work at night i would seen many raccoons crossing road in front of me everywhere. All i could think is "they know, they know i killed their buddy, now they're after me for revenge"...lmao i have a great imagination!

MY NEW PLACE

My new apt is in a heavily wooded area.  Yup you guessed it,  raccoons everywhere, the little bandits raid my garbage pails. What they don't know is, i am a farm girl and i know how to out smart them or so i thought. I bought a garbage pail that locks even if its knocked over...hahahaha! On garbage day {I have an indoor cat} i threw the  used cat liter in an open garbage pail. Raccoons are territorial animals.  They sprayed their scent around that garbage pail. I picked up the garbage pail to bring it in from the curb...wait for it, Yes i now unknowingly had the raccoons scent all over me. 

RUNNING ERRANDS

 I had errands to run and hopped in my car determined to get everything done before crossfit class.  I am at my first errand on my list, standing in a store and all of a sudden i am smelling this funky gamey smell. "wow that smells is strong", i am thinking, "gee who is that and i turn around..gee it smells just like when i was a kid and lived in the park {my dad was a park ranger and we lived on the park property}, gee it smells like a fox, OMG A RACCOON!" THOSE B*****DS!!! I look behind me and there is a line and the people are standing very far away from me...OMG! i get outside the store and like a dog i start sniffing myself.... holy buckets, its me! The garbage pail, i realize! i get in my car and start sniffing the the car. The stench is allover the car, me, my clothes...ugh. I run home and scrub myself down, start a load of laundry, wipe down the inside of my car and pray when i start sweating in crossfit class i don't smell like roadkill.

THE SCENT
It is very hard to explain what a raccoon scent smells like. Have you ever been driving on the road and all of a sudden you smell dead road kill seeping into your car? Yeah that's what i smelled like.

THE RISE OF THE RACCOON'S

I was driving to work last night and i am still picking up a slight smell. The stench of raccoon is all over my beloved suede coat. I now have to get my coat cleaned , I can't wear it til i do, and baby its cold outside! I need to get my car washed.   I am going to try really heard not to smell like dead raccoon when i go out on a date this week. I could get lucky maybe this guy will be a hunter and i will smell "naturally" good to him. I told you the raccoons were out to get me! 

P.S. your wondering how this relates to crossfit? maybe this can be filed under " in crossfit we expect the unexpected?" or under the crossfit philosophy "sometimes you have to embrace the suck"...smelling like roadkill SUCKS!lolololol