Paleo Kick Off Tomorrow

Hey everyone, exciting things happening at the gym today!  ;)  I didn't lift yesterday so I took a couple pieces of the workouts from yesterday and today to make a workout.  I took a quick video of just a regular snatch just to see how things were looking.  I look much more solid compared to 2 - 3 weeks ago.

Here's the workout from today: 

• Snatch Complex:  2 Snatch Pull, 2 Power Snatch, 1 OHS   x 6  @ 65% of Snatch1RM
• I did 1 set at 37 lbs, but then thought that might be a little ambitious for 6 sets. 
• The last time I did a workout with snatch in it my 80% was 32 lbs.  I did today's workout at 32 lbs and it was challenging, but very do-able.  I was pretty excited, especially b/c I power snatched that weight easily.   
• So just to recap just in case that was confusing....1 set @ 37 lbs and 5 sets at 32 lbs
• Jerk Complex:  3 push press, 1 jerk  x 6 @ 75% of C&J1RM
• I used 40 lbs for all of the sets.  This was challenging and I was tempted to go down a little in weight, but I didn't. :)  Yay!!
• Front Squat:  3 x 5 @ 75%
• I went a little light on these sets and continued to use 40 lbs.  I think I should have been at around 50, but I was exhausted from the other lifts.  My form was good and I didn't break the plane of my back like I tend to do sometimes.

As I mentioned, I will post my measurements and weight tomorrow.  I will do my best to document my food and not to be tempted to eat DMK every day. :)  The other thing I was thinking of doing for fun was a little outfit of the day action if I was wearing something particularly cute. That has absolutely nothing to do with paleo, but a couple other blogs I do it and it seems kinda fun.  It also makes me actually try to recreate some of the outfits I pin on Pinterest.  

Alright, gotta run!  :)  

Gluten Sensitive??

Could I be gluten intolerant?  I have never been to a doctor to determine if this is the case, however, I can with confidence say that keeping carbs and gluten out of my diet seems to work for me.  Eating paleo makes me run a little calorie deficient, but I don't thing that is the only thing that's helped change my body over the past year.  "Food babies" are virtually non-existent, I sleep better, and I feel less sluggish/tired.  

Yesterday, I ran across this article:  
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7482/10-signs-youre-gluten-intolerant.html

After reading this, I can't help but think that it has to be true.  Of the 10 items, I can easily say that 6-7 of them have changed since I changed my diet.  One interesting thing is the Keratosis Pilaris.  I suffered with this for years and I didn't think there was much I could do about it.  I had no idea that it was even tied to diet??  The interesting thing is that my skin is totally smooth now.  Additionally, I have been a sufferer of migraines since I was a freshman in college.   I still have them, but they have tended to be less severe in recent months.  The article mentions that gluten may affect hormone imbalances which is what my doctor attributed my migraines to, so perhaps that's being more regulated.  And finally, there is no "food coma" and fatigue after meals like there was before a heavy carb meal.  

So, in no way am I suggesting that this is something everyone should do.  I certainly know people who don't seem to be as negatively affected by carbs as me.  However, it works for me. I decided that I should do a lot of cooking tonight so that way I can start the paleo thing a couple days early.  I had been doing so well with prepping meals, but the holidays and life got in the way.  Recently I've been doing a lot of quick meals and eating a lot of scrambled eggs.  Tonight I made some chicken stir fry, baked brussel sprouts + onion, baked butternut squash with cinnamon, and a tri-tip roast with veggies (still in the crock pot).  Wow...I know.  :)  

Stay tuned this week because I'll post my weight and some measurements so I have something to compare them to at the end of February!

Reality Week

Happy Monday and happy first "real" week of working for me since before Christmas.  :)  I think I'm ready to start diving into this and being busy again.  I am extremely fortunate for the down time that I've been able to have, though.  I needed it.  

I started my morning, probably later than I should have, at the gym.  (Hey, at least I went.)  The stolen workout for the day was:  

• Hang Cleans:  6 sets x 3 reps @ 80% of 1RM C&J
• I did a few warm-up reps at 40lbs and then moved up to 60 lbs to do the sets.  They were challenging but not that bad.  
• Clean Pulls:  8 sets x 3 reps @ 110% of 1RM C&J
• I did half of the sets at 80 lbs, which went fine for the most part.  I noticed that I couldn't stop rounding my back on the third rep of the sets so I dropped down for the last 4 sets to 70lbs.  No problems after that.  
• Jerks:  4 sets x 2 reps @ 80% of 1RM C&J
• I went a little conservatively on this and used 50 lbs.  It's not that it feels heavy, but I'm just slow with this whole movement.  I'm not sure if I don't trust my balance with my split and I'm afraid to really get under it or what...  

After the gym I headed over to Trader Joe's to get a few groceries for the week.  I've decided to  do another month of paleo to see how things go in conjunction with the lifting.  If I start losing a bunch of weight I will have to adjust and eat more calories + fat.  Below is a picture I took over the weekend of my outfit and I'm thinking that I look at little thin.  I'll keep you posted on #'s.  

Friday Recap

Since I've been going to Conviction I think it's easier for me to pass the time there with my iPod.  I am the first person to admit that I neglect that thing and I haven't * really * put any new music on it in a couple of years.  I do think that I have an adorable and eclectic little mix on there, but nothing that really makes me wanna lift like a little lady beast.  I mean don't get me wrong I can row all day to MJ's "The Way You Make Me Feel," but powering through 30 hang cleans today it just wasn't cutting it!!  So girls, what are you listening to while you're lifting?!  I need to know.  I tend to have good luck with Girl Talk...Green Day...some Foo Fighters, but nothing is really pushing me like I need it to.

Quick recap of yesterday.  I went to yoga - the 1hr 15m class.  WTF.  You wouldn't think that an extra 15 minutes would make that much difference, but that class felt like 3 hours long.  I felt good afterwards, but tired and a little sore.  I can tell that I'm stronger b/c I can stay in high plank for a considerable amount of time without feeling like I want to die and I can side plank, too.  A month ago I couldn't do either of those things very well.

Today I got up and went over to Conviction to do the regular WCCF wod.  The workout was 5-4-3-2 deadlifts and then 30 hang power cleans, 60 walking lunges and 30 cal row ....the last part for time.  I warmed up by rowing 1000 meters and then I set everything up to deadlift.  I did 5 x 60 lbs, 4 x 70 lbs, 3 x 90 lbs, and 2 x 110 lbs.  Definitely, not a max out effort.

For the timed portion, I did 10 unbroken HPC at 60 lbs - which if you follow along is 3 more lbs than I've done since returning to lifting.  I actually failed to clean and jerk 57 the other day.  So to review - 10 unbroken at 60lbs and then 10 unbroken at 50 and another 10 unbroken at 50.  :)  Walking lunges were fine and the the row was easy too.  My time was 8:30, which I was pretty happy with considering I had to change a weight and I was by myself.

My lovely friend, Katie, came over this afternoon to give me a massage, which was awesome!!  I feel so much better.  :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.  I'm celebrating some birthdays and having a friend in from out of town.  Should be an awesome weekend!!

Hawks and Wednesday Workout

Here's a quick gym update for today.  Oh, but first, I gotta say that I made myself go this morning and now its out of the way and that's a good feeling!!  If I'm not going to be lifting with friends or people I'm comfortable with them being in the empty gym is the next best thing.  There were a few random people around this morning, but overall it was nice and quiet.  :)

Today's workout:

Snatch: 5 sets of 2 reps @ 80% of 1RM

• I did a few warm ups at lower weights (22, 27, 30) and then my 5 sets of 2 at 35 lbs.  This movement really feels natural and normal again.  I paid close attention to my legs when I was standing up the lifts and there was no Dance Party USA today. :)  No videos today as I was in a hurry to get home for a work phone call.

Front Squat:  3 sets of 5 reps @ 75% of FS1RM

• Since there is a lack of girl's bars I had to squat with a guy's.  Not that that's a big deal, but I forgot initially when I was calculating my weights so I really was lifting heavier than I thought. :)  I should probably do that every day.  I warmed up with low weights again (40, 50) and then I did 2 sets at 60 lbs and 1 set at 65 lbs.  
• I don't know if I was tight or what, but these didn't feel so great.  I stretched some in the middle and the last set was not that bad.

RDLs:  4 sets of 8 reps at 60% of CJ1RM

• Easy.  I did 40 lbs for these.  I'm sure I could have done more but since I'm not quite sure what my 1RM is...I didn't try to push it.  

GHD situps:  Ran out of time so I had to do regular ones at home.  

I went to the Hawk's home opener last night and it was amazing.  I missed hockey so much.  There was such a buzz of excitement in the air.  There's just something about being a hockey game that other sports can't replicate.  Don't get me wrong either - I love going to any sporting event, but hockey is something totally different.  So glad it's back!! :)  

Things got a little tense at the end, but Crawford was  a stud and now we're 3 - 0!! Yay!!  :)

Monday Workout

Hey everyone - hope you all had a nice weekend.  I believe that I am grateful more and more every day for a work from home job.  Monday's seem so much less horrible now.  :)  

I am trying to convince my dad to come up here soon so I can get a couple things at IKEA and then "supervise" him as he puts them together.  So far he has ignored my emails.  Perhaps he will see this and realize that his daughter cannot put together her own furniture!?!? (Hi dad!!)  I would also accompany him to a Bulls or Hawks game to make up for the stress of going to IKEA.  Seriously, that place overwhelms me so I can only imagine that he's dreading it.  

My weekend was really awesome.  I got in my karaoke fix and also a late night/early morning breakfast at the Nugget.  It's a special night when I sing the Divinyls.  I also got to spend some fun times with former coworkers on Sunday.  Good times!! :)  

I was really dreading going out in the cold today but around 5 I decided that it was time to go out.  Here was a recap of my workout:

Hang Snatch:

• 50% x 3 = 12 lb
• 60% x 3 = 17 lb
• 70% x 3 = 22 lb
• 75% x 3 (x 3) = 27 lb

All the reps felt great.

Rest 1:30 m

Power Clean/Push Press/Push Jerk:

Okay so when I read this I hoped that this mean do a power clean, do a push press and then a push jerk.  Below is a video if my heaviest successful rep.  I'm not sure what the dance party going on with my left leg in the beginning is all about....oh and umm that's a split jerk.  Whoops!!

6 sets to get to a very challenging push press....and I got through 5 before I got in my own head and couldn't clean my 6th set.  

• 27 lbs, 32 lbs, 42 lbs, 47 lbs, 52 lbs (video), and for some reason 57 lbs wasn't happening.  I tried it twice and I bailed out on both attempts before I even got the weight near my shoulders.  It wasn't that heavy but I was psyching myself out.  

Muscle Snatch: So I had to watch a video about this on youtube today to make sure I knew what it was.  No probs here.

• 6 sets of 3 @ 50% = 12 lbs 

Just a quick update I know I posted a few days ago about feeling a little off.  I'm feeling much better now and having so much less stress!! Whoohoo!! :)

There's a first for everything...

I had a VERY empty calendar today and still managed to put off going to the gym until 5:00 pm.  I did accomplish some work, though, and even straightened out some insurance stuff for my new job....so it wasn't a completely wasted day.  :)  Working from home is so far amazing.  I'm actually looking forward to being more busy as I need to start working on my discipline of getting up and getting things done.  

First things first, I need to go to the gym BEFORE I do other things.  Otherwise it falls into the "okay, I'll go at 2"...."no, I'll go at 3" ...."4 is still okay" thing and before I know it I don't want to go.  You would think by now I could train myself to remember how good I feel after I go and maintain that?  I'm a work in progress.

So, I went outside to drive myself over to Conviction and when I remembered how sweet my parking spot was I decided to take the bus.  Am I a true city girl now that I actually make decisions based on where my car is parked and how happy I am with it?  I think so.  ;) After the gym, I walked home because I was feeling good.  

The workout for today (which I steal btw...don't think I'm taking credit for making shit up because I'm not):

Hang Snatch:  

• 50% x 2 = 15 lbs
• 60% x 2 = 20 lbs
• 70% x 1 = 27 lbs
• 75% x 1 = 32 lbs
• 80% x 1 = 37 lbs

I just realized as I was typing that I snatched from the ground and not the hang.  Oh well.  I got some feedback the other day on my video from a friend that my butt was coming up too soon and so I tried to work on that today.  I took another video and I think I pretty much solved that problem.  I think I needed to start a little lower in my squat, but everything else felt great.  I snatched my 80% a couple times - just for shits and giggles.  

Hang Power Clean + Jerk:

• 50% x 2 = 37 lbs
• 60% x 2 = 42 lbs
• 70% x 1 = 47 lbs
• 75% x 1 = 52 lbs
• 80% x 1 = 57 lbs

These went well and no pain to report from the injury a week ago.   57 lbs wasn't that heavy and I know I jerked it without really having to get too far under the weight.  

Overhead Squat - my favorites!!  

• 50% x 2 = 22 lbs
• 60% x 2 = 27 lbs
• 70% x 1 = 32 lbs
• 75% x 1 = 37 lbs
• 80% x 1 = 42 lbs

I was really excited this was in the workout today.  I'm not sure why but this is my favorite thing to go (besides snatch).  

+ 50 sit ups

I noticed across the board that my 80% are all over half of where I was at my strongest time this spring/summer and that's encouraging!!  I hope I can be back up there or around there in a couple of months if I'm consistent.  

I need to hit up the grocery store tomorrow and return to my Sunday/Thurs cooking schedule.  The holidays threw that all off. Paleo is going fine even in spite of the fact that someone left Twix bars at my house the other day.  They are untouched.  

Okay, that's all for now - Happy Weekend everyone!! 

Short Update & Pic

Alright, so here are the pics to start the new year.  Just to refresh everyone's memory a little bit here's a cut and paste of where I've been over the last 12 months.

Red #'s are January 2012 and Green #'s are November 2012.  I did lose a bit more weight in December and dropped to 130, but I'm about 132-133 right now.

Upper Arms (at bicep, relaxed):

• Left: 11"     /     10.75" /     10.75"  /  9.75"
• Right: 11"     /     11" /        10.75"   /  10"

Waist (at belly button):

• 33"      /      28.5"   /          28"   /   27.5"

Waist (at narrowest point):

• 28"     /     26.25"/    26"   / 25.75"

Hips:

• 41.5"     /     39" /   39"    / 37.5"

Legs (mid-thigh, relaxed):

• Left:   23"     /     21.75"/      21"  /  20.75"
• Right:  23"     /     21.75"/     20.25"  / 20.5"

Waist to Hip Ratio:

• .67      /      .67     /    .66  /  .68

Weight:

• 152.4     /   145/  140.2   /  133.6 
  
  
  
  
  So, this one was from yesterday.  It's hard to get the pics exactly the same since I'm not in the same apartment anymore, but you get the idea.  The one I took straight on turned out very blurry so I didn't include it.  I still have a ways to go with getting into better shape, but I'm totally cool with the number on the scale.  I'm 5'10" so it will be weird for me to be too thin and that's not the point.  
  
  
  
  Today was another day of rest because I was really sore and my day didn't go as planned.  I will go tomorrow - at least to yoga.  You would think it would be easier for me to go to the gym with my new schedule, but for some reason it hasn't been.  That's 100% my fault.  Resolve to do better!!  
  
  

First Spaghetti Squash

Can we just take a quick second to acknowledge my small cooking accomplishment of making a spaghetti squash and sauce?  ........................ ok.  :)  ....Wait.....another small pause for it being edible?! ............................and......we're good! Thanks!!

I decided that it was safe to go back to the gym today and my attitude was also in line for doing that.  I thought it might be a good idea to dig out my old WCCF log book and see where I was with weights when I first started and maybe to try to mimic those percentages.  That was probably a good idea because things went much, much better today.  I took another couple of videos and I think they look better.  I'll post them below.  Can someone let me know if they don't work....because they work for me when I click on them.

I started with back squatting.  When I looked back I was absolutely shocked that I was able to max out early on at around 100 lbs.  I assumed that since that was after virtually zero lifting in my past that I could start around 65 lbs for my 55%.  

• Set 1:  65 lbs x 5 reps - This felt a little harder than I wanted it to, but I gritted through them in a row.
• Set 2:  65 lbs x 5 reps - The second time I knocked out 5 of these it felt much better and much easier.  I noticed that I still have a little sway when I'm standing up, but I think my right leg will even out and that will go away.  
• Set 3:  70 lbs x 5 reps - These went pretty well, but I couldn't do all 5 in a row.  I had to break it up and shake my legs out after each rep.  (Something to work on.)

I could tell that my legs were tired after this so I didn't push it with more reps.  I didn't want to fail today because I thought that I needed to maintain my confidence after Friday.  Okay, so far ....Erica 1, Squats 0  :)

I wasn't sure what to do next, but I thought that maybe I would snatch and keep the good vibes coming.  I must say, I was really happy with how things went.  Bare with me....they're low weights, though.  

• Set 1:  17 lbs x 5 reps
• Set 2:  21 lbs x 5 reps
• Set 3:  27 lbs x 5 reps
• Set 4:  32 lbs x 5 reps

This is a video from set 4.  

Food was decent today.  I don't think my sauce or the chai latte I had was entirely paleo *wink wink*, but that's okay.  I had some chicken and half a sweet potato for lunch.  I also had some apple slices.  For dinner I had the spaghetti squash with meat sauce.

Pics tomorrow when I get up.  :)  I promise!!!

Sunday Funday

I am completely obsessed with food and finding new places and favorite things.  I feel like food dominates my thoughts and my conversations. :)  Sometimes, its hard to be a true foodie when I'm doing paleo, which is why going off paleo for a short bit is awesome.  Take for instance my breakfast yesterday from Coobah's on Southport.  AH - freakin' - MAZING!!  I got the huevos benedicto or for my non-spanish speaking audience - eggs benedict.  I'm not sure if anyone has ever ordered eggs benedict at Coobah's but you can get crab cakes with them instead of ham....holy shit!  They come with a side of chili powdered tater tots.  I must say that I never hear anyone talk about this place, but everything I've ever eaten there has been really awesome.  I am a huge fan!

Interestingly enough to me...not to you...but to me....I had bought crab cakes to make for myself at Whole Foods on Friday night so I had some for dinner....and dinner again today.  I think I've gotten it out of my system.  :)

....and now I need to be back on the wagon again. :)

As you know, I had a take a couple of days off from the gym.  I'm ready to go back, but I'm still not happy with the having to go light thing.  Being hurt sucks worse than feeling weak.  I'll get over it.

So, I really try very much to keep other personal things off of the blog, however, I guess I can just comment that I feel very out of sorts.  I hope that things sort themselves out soon.  Here's to pushing myself to do the best things for me.

My ego feels as bad as my back...

So....lifting went really shitty today.  I'll post a couple of videos to prove it....in case you don't believe me.  I was going to push myself a bit to see where I am with things realistically...not 1RM or anything...but just really grit a couple things out.  This is important to me for a couple of reasons: 1) to see what I'm working with having taken 6 months off and 2) I have to be able to push myself when I don't have Mark or my friends around to watch me.  My ego doesn't want to believe that I've become that weak and it doesn't want to be the one that's seen squatting a baby weight (as I refer to it).

About 3 lifts into the day something tweaked in my lower back and there wasn't really much I could do after that.  I tried to push through and do a few more reps, but it just wasn't happening.  I video taped a couple and I am so wobbly.  The weight doesn't feel that heavy to me, but just looking at my form ... it's no bueno.  I did a couple C and J's at 35 lbs...and that was easy.  I video taped a C and J at 45 lbs and that's when my back felt like crap.  I initially didn't think I could even do that weight, but after video review...its not pretty...but I don't even really have to drop down that much to get under it for the jerk.  I did one more C and J at 45lbs with MUCH better form after that, but no video for that one unfortunately.

I switched over to back squat, thinking that it would be less tiresome on my back.  The video I took shows me doing 65 lbs.  It, again, didn't feel that bad, but my left leg compensates a lot for my right one in the video.  Which is odd?  I would think that my left would be weaker.

I decided to run on the treadmill so the rest of the trip to the gym wasn't a waste.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easy that felt.  I am not a runner and I have always hated doing it, but today felt pretty good.  Yay endurance!! :)  I did 20 mins - alternating sprinting and jogging.

So....I guess the moral of the story is that I have to accept the fact that I will have to start light and it's going to take me time to get back to where I was.  I am worried, especially today after being upset about it, that it's going to be very hard to do this on my own.  I get discouraged sooooo easily.

I'll probably have to take a couple days off to make sure I'm on the mend, but maybe Sunday I can back and front squat a little?  We'll see how it goes.

Goals

I've had a couple of days to think about my goals for the new year so I'm going to detail those below, but before I do let me recap what I've been up to as far as working out:

Tuesday 1/8/13:  Vinyasa  Power Yoga (1 hr)

• Back on Black Friday, Power Yoga Chicago ran a deal where you could do unlimited yoga for $59/mo for up to one year - cancel at any time.  This seemed to good to pass up because if I went more than 3 times a month that paid for itself.  Yay!
• Let me first start off and say that I hated yoga initially. Have you ever done HOT yoga?!  During my first experience I thought I might choke on the moisture in the air and I practically had a panic attack that I would pass out during class and everyone would think I was a huge loser.  Am I over-dramatic? Yes, of course.  That was April, and now here I am in January of the following year and I like it more all the time.  I still HATE the feeling of that much sweat on my skin, but I always feel so good after I leave class that I get over it.  :)  
• Class gets easier all the time so I must be doing something right.  Let me just foreshadow to below where I talk about my goals that my abs are a focus.  That said, I notice that when I go to yoga and eat paleo that my abs seem flatter and more defined all the time.  This makes me happy! 

Wednesday 1/9/13: Conviction (45 mins)

• So, I got to the gym tonight and I ran onto an old friend from WCCF that I hadn't seen in months.  I got side tracked talking to her and by the time I was done the platforms were taken.  I was going to mess around with some weights, but I will do that tomorrow and give myself another day of rest on the squats.  I am still very sore from Monday night.
• I need to charge my iPod.  #wowIgetboredeasily
• Here's what I did: 
• Row:  I love to row.  I did a little bit tonight just to warm up.  I'm not sure exactly how many minutes I went but I know that my average time for 500m splits was around 2:30.  That's "average" speed when I'm not racing the person next to me.  When I really pushed it I can get it down to about 2:05 and I can maintain that for a while before I need to back it down a bit.  
• Russian Kettlebell Swings:  I did 45 of these (3 x 15) with the 16kg kettlebell.  Nothing unusual to report here, other than a couple really stupid people walked behind me while I was doing them. 

Okay, so on to my goals.  I have some fitness ones, but also some life ones, too.

1) Goal #1 is to be less stressed. For those of you who don't know, I recently took a new job.  Just the nature of my previous position lended itself to making me stressed out.  This new position - I'm sure isn't without stress - but just a different, less intense type. In general I need to do things that make me happy and don't do things (if I can avoid them) that lead to stress.  I have always tended to be a person who does for other people and really thinks about doing for myself last.  I'm going to have to actively try to do things for myself this year and not be as concerned about the other stuff.  

2) Go on vacation.  I made a promise to myself that I would start putting a stamp in my passport every year after I went to Costa Rica in 2010.  Last year, Mark and I went to Hong Kong.  Who knows where this year will lead me, but I have a list of places that I'd like to start tackling.  Tops on my list:  Italy, Greece, Brazil, Turkey and Egypt (<-- I won't be there for a looooong time, but maybe one day.)  

3)  Abs.  I'm this close to flattening them out.  I may be a little consumed with this, but what a long way I've come in a year with this?? :)  Paleo, strength work, yoga, and some cardio ....its made a huge difference.  I will probably need to adjust my diet a little bit and maybe do another 30 strict days without dairy, but we'll see how it goes now that I'm going to be lifting again.  It's easy enough to do now if I need to.  

4) DRINK MORE WATER.  This was a goal last year and I can't really say that I made much progress with it.  I honestly do not drink much but water, but I don't drink enough of it.  Between chai lattes (I know, I know) and a little bit of whole milk, all I drink is water.  I constantly find myself feeling thirsty and I know that's a bad thing.  I should be drinking proactively, not re-actively.  Must. do. better. with. this.  

5) Okay and for my last goal...squat my body weight.  I'm guessing this is going to be a lot easier to do being 20 - 25 lbs lighter than I was last year.  I will be figuring out here soon where I stand with squats and then I'll start working towards this.  The last time I knew my "1RM" I could front squat about 50kg or 110 lbs and I was back squatting very similarly.  I doubt these were true numbers because I could do them pretty easily.  I think this should be attainable pretty soon, actually.  :)  

As promised, I will do the pictures soon-ish and if I think of anything else I'd like to add then I'll explain that out. 

Thanks for reading. :)

A Year's Worth of Changes

Tonight was my first trip to Conviction Fitness in Lincoln Square....in other words my first time lifting weights since July.  I had no expectations about how things would go.  Luckily for me a couple of friends showed up at the same time and that decreased some of my "first time" anxieties.  

I did a pretty light workout because I didn't want to push myself too hard and get hurt.  

Hang Snatch:  5 x 17lbs, 5 x 21lbs, 5 x 27 lbs, 5 x 34 lbs

• These felt pretty good, but shit, what a kick to my ego that I have to start at like half of where I was lifting before?  A look back at my WCCF book says that I maxed out at around 33 kg's which is almost 70 lbs. 
• What I did tonight wasn't a 1RM at all, so I wonder what I could really do if I pushed myself.....maybe 50 lbs?  That's not so bad when I put it into perspective.
• Snatching, even from the hang, felt good.  I was worried I might have lost this a bit, but it was more like riding a bike.  Yay!

Hang Clean:  We were supposed to use 75 - 80% of our 1RM.  When I was in the swing of things I was doing around 45kg or 100lbs.  Yeah, there was no way that I could really come close to 75% of that.  I did a couple of sets pretty light, no more than 40 lbs.  It wasn't that heavy but my form didn't feel right.  I know I was chasing the bar out in front of me a bit like I used to do.  

After sitting here on the couch for a while and assessing my soreness I know that I wasn't coming up from my squats using the right muscles.  I'm sore in the quads, not up the back of my legs as much.  Something to work on for next time.  :)  

Push Press:  I did 3 x 10 sets at 27 lbs.  I am not sure off the top of my head what my 1RM is on this one, but I would guess it was around 35kgs.  So again, working at about half.  

• These felt good, challenging, but good. 

Tomorrow I think I'll go yoga and give myself a day to be sore.  I think the goal will be to lift at least 3 or 4 times a week and try to do yoga on my off-days.  I looked at the kickboxing program tonight, but it seemed not what I'm used to.  The 2 girls in class were off to the side doing their own thing and I thought that was sorta weird....maybe they were new?  I surely hope so.

Paleo is back on and that's going fine.  I don't feel like I need to detail that as much.  It's not hard to do anymore.  Working from home means I won't be tempted to eat out and I can make whatever I want.  

I know in my last post before Christmas I detailed my last measurements.  Right before the holidays I hit my lowest weight of 130 lbs.  <-- Yes, that is not a typo.  I never thought I would be 135, let alone 130.  Taking a break from paleo over the holidays was a good thing but when I realized that I had "gained" 6 lbs I was freaking out a bit.  In typical fashion, I probably overreacted because a couple of days of better eating and I was back to 133.  

I'm not sure in what posts I wrote goals from last year, but from the ones I can remember I didn't do so bad.  Push-ups happened and making progress on lifts happened.  I also discovered a bunch of other things I liked....kickboxing and yoga. I do miss Crossfitting...there's really nothing like the feeling I have after I finish a WOD that kicks my butt.  I may have to do some dropping in at WCCF occasionally.  I also discovered during the year that I loved kickboxing.  I hope that I can find a way to work that in sometimes because I feel like it was a good way to relieve some stress.  I'm glad to be back lifting again...losing strength felt weird.  I'm continuing to do yoga and I'm really liking that.  Paleo has gotten easy.  I do need to work more on drinking water and taking vitamins.  I haven't been very disciplined with that stuff.  

I'll work on my list of goals for this year and try to update with some pictures.  As nervous as those make me to post, I've always gotten a bunch of encouraging responses from them so its not so bad.  

Until next time!!