Who's this!? It's meeeee...

Well, hello!

Fancy seeing you here ;)

I've been toying around with the idea of bringing my blog back to life, and now look where we are today!

SO much has happened since my last post. Let me quickly fill you in...

• I had my son, Brandt, in 2014. He is now 3.5 years old! What the heck!? Where does the time go!? He continues to be the light of our world and simply amazes us each day. But MAN, there are some days where I need a little light and some Jesus to get through. I wouldn't call them terrible 3's... trying. It is a VERY trying time in our lives 😝 I wouldn't change it for the world.
• My husband continued to work for Cal Fire as a Seasonal Firefighter up until June 2017 when he promoted to an LT Engineer. {difficult time in my life which I will address on another post} January 2018, he accepted a permanent position as an Engineer, and now is currently separated from Cal Fire {again, maybe another post, who knows. I do want to keep some of my personal life personal} after 13 years working for them. This has been another obstacle in our lives, but Jesus take the wheel we are getting through it. If this is the WORST of our problems, I'd say we're doing pretty good.
• I joined a Network Marketing company in 2015, whom I still love very much, and quit in 2017. Met some incredible badass {sorry I'm not going to censor myself here} women along the way! Sometimes, I regret my decision to quit, but for now I think it was best. 
• Summer of 2016, my anxiety started coming back, and it continued to get worse over time. I feel like I'm just now starting to get a grip on it, but have my set backs here and there. {stay tuned.. more to come}
• We lost some pretty amazing people in our lives over the past year. I continuously remind myself that some day we will meet again. But shit, sometimes it just freaking hurts that they are no longer here.

I stopped CrossFitting in August of 2017 when the location I was going to closed. Broke my heart to not be able to workout in a space I felt so comfortable in and see so many familiar faces who ultimately became family. Since my anxiety was pretty bad, I took it as a sign to venture onto something WAY out of my comfort zone.. Yoga/Pilates! I absolutely LOVE them both, but my schedule no longer jives {adding: working mom to resume now} with the studio I was going to 😭

Starting February 2018, I started heading down a deep dark slippery slope. I would wake up anxious, wouldn't want to do anything, lost drive and motivation. I would have to beg myself to leave the house because in the end I knew it would be good for me. I had a hard time accepting what was happening, but thoughts and feelings that I had felt in my past kept creeping up on me. There have been very few people I have shared with the thoughts going through my head, but I knew I needed to. These thoughts/feelings needed to be faced head on, and I have the support of my amazing husband by my side. 

All of this lead me to wanting to get back into writing and bringing my blog back to life. Having this blog was extremely therapeutic for me in the past, and it's why I came crawling right back. I've also felt sharing my struggles, might just help someone else out who might be going through similar situations.

This past week had me feeling a lot of lows. I woke up yesterday and looked at myself in the mirror, and said I'm not happy with where I am, what I've become, and how I look. I need to do something... NOW. I got myself dressed and signed up for a membership at a Globo Gym. There is obviously NOTHING wrong with Globo Gyms.. they just personally haven't been for me, and I never saw results from them. The machines are intimidating {maybe because I don't know what the HELL I'm doing}, and there are a thousand treadmills {have I ever mentioned I hate running!?}

I MISS all things CrossFit, but I will be experimenting and CrossFitting with the equipment they have available! The past two days have been interesting as I'm adjusting to my new environment.

Here are the workouts I've done each day:

Day 1 - Warm Up: Run 1 mile {ok, so walk - with an incline - then run, and back to walk, then run} 12:31 not too shabby! I'll take it.

then...

5 Rounds of 30 sit ups & 20 dumbbell power snatches {12lbs} 

Day 2 - Warm Up: 200m row on the rowing machine {this thing is SO weird & is most definitely NOT a Concept2 Rower} 

Started with some Yoga Stretches before hopping right into it.

For Time: 25 Dumbbell Goblet Squats {12lbs}

25 Push Ups

25 Air Squats

25 Push Ups

25 Dumbbell Goblet Squats

I REALLY wanted to use the pull up machine {some lady kept hogging it} my next workout I decided to improvise and change up

5 Rounds of 20 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans {12lbs} & what was supposed to be pull ups I changed to 10 Dumbbell Push Presses. 

I feel SO good, and I'm surprisingly looking forward to tomorrow's workout! It's been so long since saying that, but it feels good to be back on track and back here 💕

Until next time...

XO Crossfit Blondie 💪

Biggest Fan

It's nice to be surrounded in life by people who help encourage you.

When you tell yourself you can't, they remind you yes you can.

My wonderful husband, Chris, does that for me!

He's the one who got me into Crossfit.

I tell him what my dreams and goals are, and he helps me achieve them and encourages me along the way reminding myself not to give up.

He taught me to cook, and learn how to enjoy it. And even when my cooking isn't good he eats it anyways and tells me it was. :)

When I go to the late classes at Inferno, he has dinner ready by the time I'm home and never eats until I'm home so we can eat together.

He listens to me talk Crossfit all the time; asks how I did at the gym, and applauds me when I have a PR.

He reminds me everyday that I'm beautiful <3

I couldn't have picked a better person to spend the rest of my life with. I cannot wait to grow old with you and raise a family together.

I love you very much Christopher! <3

Thank you for being my biggest fan!

You down with ATP? Ya you know me!

I've been taking ATP Mechanix Pre and Post Supplements for about a month now.

In order to test out ATP's fullest capabilities, I cut off my other post supplements.

The first week I felt a difference; I wasn't feeling "full" or "heavy" after taking my post and the pre gave me more energy that would kick in right when I felt my feet were dragging.

The true test though would be how I would feel after my competition.

My first competition on the way home I felt sick, light headed, wanted to vomit; yes some of this was my diet wasn't quiet dialed in, but the next day I felt like I wanted to DIE! My body was so sore I couldn't move and I took a week off from the gym.

Well today, 2 days after my competition I feel GOLDEN, ready to kick ass and get back to training for Battle of the Boxes next month! Yesterday I had very minimal soreness, and today I have none at all!

When I say ATP Mechanix is like gold, I mean it! Now what are you waiting for!? Go get some!

Visit ATP's website to make your purchase: http://atpmechanix.com/

Beach Bash Competition

I competed in my second Crossfit Competition yesterday; Crossfit Inferno's 2nd Annual Beach Bash!

I had an AMAZING time, competing against some strong women in my division and getting to hang out and cheer on friends/teammates!

I finished in 7th place which I'm pretty stoked about!

I gave each event everything I had, and left it all out there.. I felt like all the hard work I put into my training really showed.

My favorite event of the day was, "Sand Stones". You had to get as many reps as possible of stone over shoulder in 1 min after doing a 60m sprint. I was able to get 1 rep of the 95# atlas stone, which was a lot heavier than I thought! And I'm pretty sure I was the only female yelling each time the weight got heavier! Haha here's a video my sister shot..

In order to prepare myself for this competition, I did each WOD's a total of 3 times... Just kidding! I didn't do ANY of them. I had never even done SUP boarding until the morning of; which is a BLAST!

During my warm up time before the comp I decided to test out the "wobble stick" and 1 rep of the thrusters I banged my nose. Thankfully today, I do not have any black eyes.. just a bruised nose and pride ;)

This was one of the BEST competitions ever and I'm not just saying that because my Inferno fam put it on. So much thought went into this to make it a great event. I love how Bill and Danica challenged every one of us with each event, taking us out of our comfort zones and making us get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Thank you guys!

Thank you to everyone; family, friends, judges for all your encouraging words as I faced each event! I could hear everyone of you which helped me push myself to keep going!

Give Yourself Credit

I tend to beat myself up, mentally.

I never give myself credit where credit is due.

I've been upping my weights this past week to get me out of my comfort zone. 

Learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

If I don't get as many rounds in an AMRAP or don't finish the WOD in the allotted time frame, I walk out beating myself up; telling myself I could have done better, to try harder next time, and keep pushing through once I hit that wall.

When in reality, I should really take a moment to pat myself on the back. I've come a long way from when I first started. I've worked my ass off to get here. I should remember that not everyday will be AWESOME times and PR's. Not everyday will be perfect. Some days will be harder than others, but as long as I show up and give it my best that's all that matters. 

I'm proud of myself this week for stepping things up, and feel I will not only a better athlete, but a stronger individual once I learn to give myself credit.

Bar Muscle What!?

I tend to dream about my goals...

Lately they've been having to do with Crossfit.

In my dreams I accomplish my goals with ease, and no struggle what so ever.

Obviously real life is never that easy or we would never have goals to work towards or things to get better at.

As my previous post listed I have a couple goals I wanted to check off my list before I hit my year mark with Inferno...

Well today was a GLORIOUS day!

It started off by waking up at 530am.... On a Saturday.... WIDE awake.

I let the cat out.. adjusted the pillows to surf my ipad.. My typical morning when preparing to either a) go to the gym or b) go to work.

I left the house extra early today due to the Pioneer Day Parade going on in the lovely town of El Paso de Robles (it's a day where people dress up as pioneers and ride tractors around downtown.. just to sum it up for you) and I didn't want to have to deal with traffic. Since I was early I took a stroll and grabbed a lovely Almond Milk Cappuccino and a tasty Paleo treat from Cloud 9 Coffee.

Saturday mornings are the days that I take a mobility class; tend to areas that are sore and tight, and for me I focus on my hips and shoulders since I'm FREAKISHLY double jointed (apparently not ALL humans can create angel wings with their shoulder blades... just found that out a couple years ago). Afterwards my husband, Chris, and I were going to head to the parade and finish watching the last of the parade come through. Well selective hearing got the best of him, and by the time he headed to the box to meet me the parade had to be over. I wanted to do "Sally Up" to front squats (I'm working on getting legs like Miranda Oldroyd haha) so I hung around for a bit and waited until my coaches, Bill and Danica, along with another Infernite were done doing the WOD.

The second part of the WOD for today was max bar muscle ups... One of my goals I'm working on to accomplish before I hit my year anniversary.

Today was the day I would again attempt bar muscle ups without the band!

First time.... Fail.

Second time.... Danica assisted (no pun intended) me.

Third time..... Well just watch the video :)

Bar Muscle Up..... Check!

I am on a freaking high from this... so of course I wanted to attempt ring muscle ups. After a few ugly attempts, and a freakishly weird fall this is the closest I got.

Today was a reminder for me, that no matter how high I set my goals I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Hard work and determination paid off!

Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Goal update: I WILL get 1 muscle up by the end of this week. :)

Hump Daaaaay!

Woot woot!

Alright who's excited!?

It's almost Friday; the work week is almost done!

Today I got up and headed to the gym  to attend the 530am class.. I got REALLY pumped up and motivated after watching the Crossfit video, "Beauty in Strength" last night!

Here is the video if you didn't already see it on my Facebook page:

It again reminded me to keep going, don't stop, and when the non crossfitting haters start chirping... Go even harder!

Here are a few of my goals before I hit my year my one year mark with Crossfit Inferno:
Butterfly pull-ups (I have the movement down, just need to figure out how to string the dang things together and NOT kip!)
Muscle-ups (rings and bar)
Double unders (I can do 5 in a row so that's a start but I want to be able to do 20 in a row)
Clean and Jerk my body weight (even if it's just my 1 rep max!)

What are your goals? What's stopping you from achieving them?

Learn to stand up against that little voice in your head that tells you you can't and push yourself to the limit. No one is stopping you, but YOU!

Go for it! Get after it! :)

Palio?

I think it's cute (yea I say cute because I'm a GIRL.. and things can be cute.. except in the gym.. Kettlebells aren't cute) when I hear people call paleo, palio!

What is Paleo?

Paleolithic diet/lifestyle (for me it's a lifestyle, not a diet) also known as the Caveman Diet, Primal, Hunter-Gatherer is based on the paleolithic era; eating lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats. Pretty much if the cavemen couldn't eat it... You can't either!

This as I will call it.. lifestyle.. teaches us to eat whole, natural, unprocessed foods steering clear of refined foods, trans fats and sugars. Foods you are not allowed to eat are dairies, grains, processed food & sugars, legumes (such as beans & peanuts), starches, and alcohol.

What you say? Isn't wine paleo?

Depending on what your ending goals are, I would refrain from all alcohol in general. Although if you want to drink I would stick with 1 glass of red wine... Not the whole bottle.

First thing to get started: Throw everything thing out that is on the DO NOT CONSUME list.

I know depressing. But having that food in your cabinet will lead you to temptation.

Second: When shopping for food buy no more than two weeks worth of food. It might be annoying to go grocery shopping every 2 weeks, but you'll get over it when you get the hang of things. The foods you're buying are fresh so purchasing items in large quantities that you might not be able to eat quickly will be no bueno for you and your wallet. But again, I could be wrong, this is only what I do and I'm just giving you suggestions.

Third and lastly, look up a few Paleo blogs and purchase Paleo cookbooks and get to cooking!

For those that are making this a lifestyle, start your diet off by eating strict. After the first 3 weeks once you get the hang of things give yourself 1 meal a week for you to use as a cheat. Unless you're balls to the wall and want to live a clean living life.. Then freaking HIGH FIVE, because YOU'RE AWESOME! Now if I wasn't doing the Lurong Paleo Challenge, you bet your ass I'd be eating a freaking cookie if I wanted. Or a few pieces of the 3 1/2 pound bag of tootsie rolls my husband MADE me buy him. Ugh! (I actually almost hid it from him this morning on my way to the gym tehehe)

I hope this helps for some of you who are curious about what paleo is and how to get started!

Good luck! :) :)

Xoxo!

Dump your Diet

 I wish I saw this years ago....

I'm happy to say that Crossfit has helped me beat a horrible demon of mine...

Body Image.

Growing up I thought in order to be considered pretty, beautiful or attractive you had to be skinny.

 I would do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to get there.

My mind was so warped by how I thought society wanted me to look.

And it wasn't until 2 months ago I threw the scale away. A huge sigh of relief came off my chest the moment I did it.

Negative memories surround that ugly scale...

I'd wake up in the morning stand on the scale, and hate the numbers I saw. I would tell myself, "You gained 5lbs.. How can you lose that in a couple of days to a week?" I would yo-yo diet to get back to that number that my brain was fixated on. If my pelvic bones did not stick out I felt "fat". I was never happy with how I looked. Sometimes I would cry and I wouldn't want to leave the house due to not feeling happy with how I felt about myself.

My now husband gave me the BIGGEST reality check, and I don't even think he realizes he did it. He received a text message of my now idol, Christmas Abbott, saying how hot she was. I asked him who texted him, and saw the message and specifically told him, "SERIOUSLY!? Women with muscles look DISGUSTING. You think that looks hot?" Deep down I knew she was gorgeous, but had my own mindset of how women should look. He said to me, "To be completely honest with you, I think women who are fit are far more attractive than stick thin women." Here I was striving to be thin to be "pretty" and have my soon to be husband think I'm "attractive" when in reality I'm doing the complete opposite! I was making myself unhappy, and miserable in order to achieve a certain look.

A couple months after hearing this is when I started Crossfit. I have never been so happy not only with how I feel about my body, but how I feel about myself. It has completely changed my life for the better, and I'm thankful for that! I hope that by sharing my struggles in life, that I can help at least one other person that is going through the same destructive path I did. Today is a new day, start today!

On a happier note....

Guess what day it is today!?!?

HUMP DAY!!!!!

Make it a good one :)

Xoxo!

Trying Something New

With not one, but two competitions coming up I thought I would step up my game in my pre and post supplements.

I made my first ATP Mechanix purchase and cannot wait to see some results! 

ATP worked together with some of Crossfit Inferno's athletes to develop a better line of nutritional supplements geared towards Crossfitters with their main goal to optimize athletic performance in an all natural way. 

Many of the current performance enhancing products boost energy artificially, pushing a single higher level performance. In order to accomplish this result, the products/supplements use harsh stimulants to force the body into higher output. Potentially, this causes your body to increase the release of adrenal hormones as it engages in the fight or flight response which taxes your nervous system and depletes your body's natural vitality. 

After analyzing the athletes before, during, and after each workout session ATP developed a product line to boost both immediate performance needs, and to support the body as a whole. All while keeping their products clean and in the purest form that would not include sugars or artificial flavors. YES! It's Paleo friendly! :)

In the coming weeks I will report back how my performance, and recovery has been :) 

In the meantime check them out at: www.atpmechanix.com

Thanks for reading! 

Xoxo!

Uh.. I should do this more often!

Ok I'm HORRIBLE!

I decided awhile back.. Oh I'm going to start a BLOG!

Then what do you know...... I make one post.

FAIL!

Alright so I'm here to say, I'm back and WILL make a point to write. It might not be everyday, but at least ONCE a week. 

The thing I wanted to write about today is how amazing it is when I have people message/email/text me asking me about Crossfit, my eating lifestyle and tell me how inspiring I am! Hearing that makes me beyond the happiest person in the world! I LOVE inspiring others and motivating others to achieve levels of fitness that they've never been to! Don't hesitate to ask, and don't feel silly! The only silly question is one that is not asked, I think. If I don't know the answer, I will certainly find out for you! :)

Since I've last posted I had my first Crossfit competition which I placed 15th, and I have two more coming up: Crossfit Inferno's Beach Bash and Battle of the Boxes (my first team comp)! I'm super excited and have been training even harder!

Currently I started yet another paleo challenge: Lurong Living Paleo Challenge. I'm finishing up week two and feeling GREAT! I've also been taking the Lurong Living Essentials. I haven't felt any different yet, but I have heard it takes 3-4 weeks to notice a difference. 

For those that stuck around and read this.. THANK YOU! :) :)

Xoxo!

First post

Here it is my first blog post....

It has seriously taken me FOREVER to do this!

My thought process behind wanting to write a blog was to give insight/talk about what I enjoy doing with my life... Crossfit!

My husband had been trying to get me to do Crossfit for awhile and I just would not budge! I did not want to be "bulky" or have any muscle. To be honest, my brain was so warped by society that I thought women were only pretty or felt pretty if they were skinny.

After struggling with anxiety attacks to the point where I could not stay home alone (my husband is a firefighter so he's gone for 3 days and home for 4), my therapist suggested I start working out to relieve stress.

We started out with walking.... Well that got boring quick, and soon the desire to want to walk died off. I tried P90X, but soon fall off about 2 weeks in, bored with the fact I know what the workouts would be and I didn't want to do them.

FINALLY... I sought out Crossfit! Why the HELL did I wait so long?!

I met up with a Crossfit gym who were just starting up in Atascadero (Atascadero Crossfit), and thought I would give this crossfit thing a go!

Now I KNEW I was out of shape... But I didn't realize HOW out of shape I was!

After my first WOD as I'm gasping for air, and trying to fight back the urge to puke (I ate food 5 mins before I was going to workout... I do not recommend that!), I was HOOKED!

I signed up with Crossfit Inferno soon after and have yet to regret my decision.

After being with Inferno for... 3 weeks or less than that I signed up for my first 8 week Paleo Challenge! I started off weighing in at 145, and ended off close to 125!

I had never in my LIFE felt so amazing, yet felt so good about my body!

And yet..... This is only the beginning! :)