Crazy Weight and a PR

Okay, so I've gone from the girl who didn't want to weigh herself all month when this started to the girl that weighs herself daily.  This morning I got on the scale when I first got up and I was 141 flat.  It's been 5 years since I've been this weight and I'm so excited about that.  I've noticed that I feel myself excited, but not because of a new body...like I've never been thin, but the return of my old one....the way I always think of myself.  I'm back to my old self...and maybe a bit better since I was not lifting before.  It's a good feeling to know that I'm not going back there, bc paleo seems to work for me.

So lots of awesome stuff happened at CF today.  I did the OLY wod and I was very tired [aka jetlagged] for the first part. Here was the workout:

Snatch: 60 x 2, 65 x 2, 70 x 2, 75 x 2, 80 x 1, 85 x 1, 70 x 2  (%'s)

• I was tired and sluggish during this.  I did manage to put up 25 kg or 55 lbs for my 85%...which looking back is 1 kg/2.2lbs off of my PR from before I went to China.  Not too bad when I look at it that way. 

Hang Clean: 60 x 2, 65 x 2, 70 x 2, 75 x 2, 80 x 1, 85 x 1, 70 x 2 (%'s)

• I'm still struggling with this a bit.  I keep jumping my hips foward a bit when I'm exploding up.  I did manage a good couple of reps towards the end.  I easily cleaned 77 lbs tonight. 

Front Squat:  60 x 2, 65 x 2, 70 x 2, 75 x 2, 80 x 1, 85 x 1, 70 x 2 (%'s)

• I lifted heavier on this than I intended too, but I PR'd so oh well.  My partner was lifting heavier and I think that motivates me to do more than what I do when I'm alone.  For my 85% I got 101 lbs/46 kgs.  Before China I PR'd at 44kg or 97 lbs.  :)

In other good news, I did some pull ups during the warm up with a 1/2" band.  I got about 5 before my arms were cashed, but that's a new thing for me.  It will happen by the end of the month.  I will have at least one strict one. 

I'm going to be so sore tomorrow!! I probably won't do the wod b/c Mark will be home by then and I want to see him.  I could probably use a rest day, too.

Food was eh today.  I had a fried egg and 2 pc of bacon for breakfast.  For lunch I went to Buono Beef because I was craving a chicken salad.  I got the buffalo ranch one without corn or cheese.  Yes, there are tiny tortilla strips in there and buffalo sauce so not ENTIRELY paleo, but I wanted it.  Dinner hasn't really happened tonight - I got home, went to CF, ran to Whole Foods, and then talked to Erinn on the phone.  I'll probably graze before I go to bed.  Mark's home tomorrow though so he'll start cooking again. :)

Gotta go! It's late and I need to shower.  I got this new macadamia oil hair mask thing and I really like it so I want to use it again today.  <-- Oh, the simple things that I enjoy!! :)

Feb Progress and March Goals

What did I want to do in February?  A little cut and paste job from a month ago:

So, to get there I need goals for February:
1) Weigh under 143
2) Get my guy-style pushup
3) Add at least 10 lbs to all of my lifts
4) Do Fran again in under 7 mins with 40lb thrusters and a smaller band than before
5) Do Zumba & Yoga on Sundays

How did I do? 

1)  CHECK!  I'm 142.4 today.  I was 143.8 yesterday, but I'm back down today so I'm going to consider this met.
2)  CHECK!  I accomplished this right before I went to China.  I can't string a bunch of them in a row yet, but that's ok!  Now to refine them and work on doing more.
3)  CHECK!  I put more than 10 lbs on my snatch, OHS, press,  and clean and jerk.  We didn't really work on back squat this month, so I can't say for sure on this.  I only did front squat once and I PR'd but I wasn't a max effort.  The last time I maxed I was at 92 lbs.  I easily put up 97 lbs the other night so I can assume that I can do 5 more lbs on top of that. 
4)  I didn't have the opportunity to try Fran again. I hope to try it again this month.  I did accomplish some pull ups on a smaller band this month so that's progress there.
5)  CHECK! I Zumba'd before I left for China and we went to yoga also.  We were gone for 2 of the Sundays - in Atlanta and the recent trip.

4 out of 5  - Not too shabby.

What to work for in March?

1)  a strict pull up
2)  10 push ups strung together
3)  A regular WOD a week or yoga + OLY
4) Average 7 hours of sleep per night
5) Return to paleo - another pretty strict month

I am having more trouble with adjusting my sleep patterns back to normal now that I'm home than I did in China.  Both nights I've been back I've struggled to sleep before 2:30 am.  Last night I ended up taking a tylenol pm around 3:30 am.  I wanted to stay in bed this morning and skip yoga, but I decided I should go.  I'm going to fight the urge to nap today and I will be taking another Tylenol pm tonight EARLY so I guarantee myself some zzzz's.  I should cook today, go through all of my emails, and do laundry. 

Yoga went okay today.  I felt tired and tight, but that was expected.  Mark and I signed up for next Sunday already.  I like this yoga studio b/c its not so hot that I want to die.  Today it was warm enough to feel good.

Braving the Scale

I wondered on Facebook this morning the last time I'd been in bed since noon......probably a couple of years, if not longer?  Is that weird? At any rate, it was wonderful and I probably would have slept longer but a text beep woke me up.  I decided that it was time for a shower.  I know this is going to sounds so gross, but the last time I showered was....Thursday night in Hong Kong.  I traveled Friday and all I wanted to do was sleep when I got home.  I don't know what it is about showers but they always make me feel good.  That's probably why I like to stay in there forever.  It's too bad that we don't have endless hot water here anymore - 30 mins just doesn't cut it sometimes. 

After my shower, I was standing at the sink and I could feel the eyes of the scale buring a hole in my back.  I didn't really want to get on it.  First I told myself, "No.  Don't do it. Give yourself a week to get back on track."  The scale continued its stare down.  I started to crack.  "Well...maybe it won't be that bad?  I need to know what damage I did."  The scale quickly won that show down.  I got on.  "Let's hope for 145 or under. I'll be "happy" with that."  ....143.8!  (Only a pound heavier than when I left.)  Not bad for all of the bad things I ate and for not really working out.  "I blame United for this and all of their stupid desserts,"  I added to relieve myself of any responsibility.  :)

So, I slept through CF today.  I woke up at 8 to use the bathroom and I thought about staying up for about .4 seconds.  I added myself to the waitlist for yoga tomorrow morning at 10 am, so I hope I get into that.  I think the sweating and stretching would do me good.  I guess if that doesn't work out I'll go to Zumba at 11. 

I went to Whole Foods last night to get some groceries.  I actively tried to pick out more veggies along with my usual fruit staples.  I've been on a burger kick lately so I got 3 lbs of grass fed beef to make more of those.  I've been craving cheese so I got a little bit of fresh mozzarella, too. Eggs, bacon, and a few other odds and ends rounded out my shopping trip.  I'm feeling really uninsipired when it comes to recipes.  I'll try to find some new and exciting (read: easy) recipes. 

Until I get motivated to get back out of bed I'll be right here watching HGTV.  :)

Back Home

It's good to be back home.  I arrived in Chicago around 11:30 am and after going through customs and taking the blue line back into the city I crawled into bed for a nap around 1:30 pm.  I hadn't slept well the night before - I always feel like I'm going to oversleep something important....like a flight.  Mark and I went to breakfast at 7 am and then took the train out to the HK airport so I could try to get on the non-stop flight home.  With the flight leaving at 11 am (HK time) they cleared the standby list at 10:15 am and I had to hurry to get through immigration and security.  I made it on the flight, but had to be in coach. I can entertain myself, but the ability to lie flat in the first leg of the trip was crucial.  Also, if my Nook wouldn't have frozen on BOTH trips...that would have been awesome!! 

Another reason I'm glad to be back home is my ability to control my food better.  I know that I made choices this week to stray from paleo and that's not what I'm refering to.  There were times when I wanted to eat differently and couldn't.  For example, on the way home there weren't many food options.  Pretzels were our first snack and then a chicken dish with rice and a roll was served.  The portions were small, so I felt obligated to eat my roll and also the dessert just to fill up.  Midway through the flight they gave us a snack back with a banana, tort, and crackers inside.  Again, not knowing if they would feed us again until we were close to Chicago, I ate it.  I needed to snack again before breakfast so I snagged another banana from the kitchen.  For breakfast, they gave us eggs, a sausage link, and 2 hashbrowns and a pastry.  (Honestly, United...what's up with all the desserts?!)  I'm happy to be able to go back to my routine.  I know I traveled and my body clock was off for days, but I felt like my change in diet made me sluggish and hungry all the time. 

Another thing I'm looking forward to is going back to CF.  I want to be back on track with things.  We'll do measurements and etc when Mark gets home.  I doubt I could do all of that myself anyways - accurately.  Tonight, I'm going to lay low and try to catch up on my sleep.  I might venture out to get some groceries and get out of the house, but not much else. :)  I'm totally okay with that. 

Looking back on the trip I'm really excited to have had the opportunity to go.  Overall, traveling wasn't bad and China was fun.  I was glad to see Mark and to spend the day with him on Wednesday when he took the day off.  :) 

HK Update #2

Hello again from Hong Kong!  It's Wednesday am, 2/29 here.  I was just laughing with Mark about the fact that I haven't updated in a few days and its probably because I'm ashamed to report what I've been eating.  :P That's part of it, but also no real exciting gym updates either.

So, I'll just air all of my cheats now and get it over with.  There's a Subway across the street from the hotel and I've had that twice when we were in a hurry and grabbing snacks on the go.  Breakfast buffets at the hotel haven't included all paleo options and in order to feel full I've had to include things like hash browns and dumplings.  Yesterday, I was ambushed by a small box of Danish cookies....I didn't want them to get the best of Mark so I ate them to protect him.  The things I do for him, right?  :)  Last night for dinner we grabbed some happy hour snacks - some may have been deep fried.  This morning for breakfast I had a ham and egg sandwich and a cinnamon danish.  I was really fighting with myself over food choices, but I decided that while I'm on vacation I need to relax.  Paleo will be there in Chicago when I get back.

Monday I blogged a bit about Crossfit here in HK, but I don't think I described the workout.  It was a 30 minute amrap of 10 burpees, 15 box jumps, and 5 clean and jerks.  Mark and I were on a team together and in 30 mins we got through 6 full rounds.  It was a decent workout - pretty tough.  I know I held us back but really only on the box jumps.  (6 x 2 mins = 12 x 2 people = 24....so Mark probably averaged about 2 mins per round and I was about 2:30 per round)

Tuesday I hit up the hotel gym.  I did some squats and lunges, stability ball work, and a couple of machines.  I rode the bike for about 10 mins or so to cool down.  Yesterday, I didn't feel like going to to the gym because I wanted to shower and head out.  I should go today just to stay in the swing of things.

As far as activities go, I've been walking around  a lot during the day.  Monday I explored around TST (a neighborhood...think Lakeview)  which surrounds the hotel.  There's a ton of shopping and stores (Erinn, you would love!!).  Yesterday, I ventured out a little farther to the Rodeo Drive of TST called Nathan Avenue.  I went in a bunch of places, but didn't really buy anything.  There's obviously high end things, but also very moderately priced things.  My hold up on the cute stuff is that I'm not sure what the store's equivalent is in the US...Forever21? TJ Maxx?  I don't want to spend money on something that is going to fall apart in 2 seconds.  I got a pedicure while I was out yesterday, too.  Last night, Mark and I went to Mong Kok to find some street vendor shopping.  We were pretty successful with finding gifts for people.  I'll do some more shopping today, too.

I think tonight we are going to head to Victoria Peak to see the sights.  As far as tomorrow goes, my last day here, I'm not sure what I'll do.  Maybe get a massage?  Gear myself up for the flight home.

First class cashew fairies

The blogger website is only showing up in Chinese for me on Chrome so I'm going to do my best to update.  I have so much to say since the last time I posted, but I'm going to try to keep it brief because I have some exploring to do while Mark's at work.  First off, its Monday morning at about 10:30am for me here ...so we're about 14 hours ahead of home.

If you talked to me in the days before I left you know that I was nervous about the flight.  As it turns out, getting first class rids you of all of those worries.  First was incredible!  I've never been in first on an international flight so I'm sure it was painfully obvious to everyone sitting around me that I had no clue how to work anything or that there was a snack station at the front of the cabin the WHOLE time.  :)  I'm experienced now, so *hopefully* on the way home in first I'll seem like a pro.  The 15 hours and 45 mins went by fairly quickly with a combination of movie watching, tv watching, listening to early 90's music, snacks, naps, and reading.  I kept myself busy and it wasn't until maybe...2 or 3 hours left to go that I got a little restless.  Conclusion:  I am a spoiled flying brat now.

As far as food on the plane - I tried to keep it paleo without being a pain in the ass.  I took a brief nap and when I woke up there were warm cashews sitting next to me.  How could I disappoint the cashew fairies that visited me while I was enjoying my first of four Tylenol pms?  Simple, I couldn't.  For an appetizer they they use braized duck with a yellow curry sauce and crab cakes.  Delish!  Then, a mushroom soup and a salad followed that.  My main course was mahi mahi with a sweet potato souffle thing and some steamed spinach.  At some point later on in the flight I asked if the cashew fairies could return.  This time they also brought an apple.  Breakfast as we were approaching China was fruit, yogurt....and a croissant.  I didn't really want the croissant, but I was unsure how long it would be before I ate again.

The first night Mark and I went to dinner and then I needed to crash.  I timed my sleep on the flight well, so my jet lag has really been minimal.  Sunday morning we ventured over to the only CF in Hong Kong.  I wasn't impressed and they were sorta a-holes about giving us a shirt when we brought one from WCCF to trade.  Later in the day we took a 1 hour ferry to Macau, a neighboring province, to spend the day with an old friend of Mark's who lives there.  Macau was a juxtaposition of OLD Portuguese and Chinese architecture (like 1480's) and Las Vegas.  I mean, literally, we were standing on top of an ancient military fortress looking at the casino - completely illuminated from foundation to top with flashing lights.  Bryan got us tickets to Dancing Water, which is a Cirque-like show.  Incredible!!!  I'll try to find a link to the website and post it here later.

We had a traditional Chinese dinner last night at a nice place inside one of the casinos.  I even successfully at noodles with chopsticks.  This morning we hit up our hotel for breakfast and I had some more cheats.  (Paleo will begin again in full swing when I get home.)  Their take on American food here isn't bad for breakfast.  I tried to french toast, eggs, hash browns, etc.  Not too bad.  I'll have to figure out something for lunch today by myself as Mark is at work until 5pm.

I'm going to hit up the hotel gym and see what that's like.  I realize I'm on vacation, but I don't want to sacrifice my motivation to go and I have the time.  After the gym, I'm going to venture out on my own for a bit.  :)

Eve of the Hong Kong Flight Blog

Unfortunately, I am not any less stressed or anxious about the HK flight tomorrow than I was yesterday.  I'm not sure if this is unqiue to me, but whenever I travel I always picture a map in my head and I think here's where I started (ok, Chicago) and now here's where I am/am going.  Whenever I do this for this trip I start to sweat.  I'm going to force myself in a minute to finish up my packing and go to bed. 

I ate a late dinner with my friend, Dave, after Crossfit.  We ordered pizza.  Originally, I was going to experiment with gluten-free pizza, but I couldn't find a normal size pizza that got a good review.  Anything decent was the size of a personal pan pizza.  We ended up going with the regular pizza route from Ranalli's.  It was pretty good, but not tempting enough to go back to eating it all of the time.

Crossfit was good tonight, but I didn't think it was going to start out that way.  Warming up I felt pretty weak.  Sometimes I think I feel that way if we're doing lifts that I don't like or struggle with [aka clean and jerk] as a part of escape maintained behaviors.  Tonight we were doing overhead squats and they're my second favorite thing, so when light weights felt heavy I started to gear myself up for a less than stellar performance.  We were supposed to max this out tonight and I think I did a pretty good job with that.  I didn't fail, but my last 2 reps were pretty hard so I'm guessing I would have failed on the next round.  I didn't realize it when I stacked the weights but I had 31 kg on there which is about 68.2 lbs.  That beat my previous PR of 29 kg.

The second part of the workout was push press.  I also did really pretty well with this.  We weren't going for PR so when I'd done 6 sets - following Cori's percentage scheme I moved on.  I think my 85% rep was also 31kg.  These lifts actually went up really easy. :)

For my individual assignment I worked on clean and jerk.  I kept the weight pretty light because on my first attempt I felt the shoulder pain.  I did 20kg, 20kg, 21kg, 22kg, 23kg and then I stopped.  After the first set I didn't really feel any pain, but I didn't want to chance hurting it again. 

To finish the workout, we had to do 30 GHD situps and 25 pull-ups.  GHD sit ups make me feel nauseas.  I can make it through the first 10 and then after that I literally have to stop after every 2 and compose myself.  I struggled through the second 10 and then decided I had to stop.  The nausea didn't wear off for probably a good 15 mins after I got home.  Pull-ups were good!  I used 3 REALLY skinny bands to do them.  They were strong...maybe my best sets yet. 

Here's a run down of my food for the day:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 pc of bacon, coffee
• Snack: fruit
• Lunch: fruit and yogurt, 2 hard boiled eggs, coffee
• Snack: hamburger with tomato and guacamole
• Dinner: 2 slices of sausage, mushroom, and onion pizza

I'll try to keep up on posts while I'm gone.  I'll be 15 hours ahead there, so my posts will show up at weird times - not the usual 7 - 10 pm at night.  I'm really excited that we've still had a lot of readers this month - thanks for always checking the blog out. :)