FIGHT GONE GOOD

crossfit & paleo lifestyle: a beginners expedition

[fightgonegood]

Where have I been?

I took the Summer off because I was busy enjoying life. Not that I'm not busy now or enjoying life....I love Autumn nearly as much as Summer! But I do spend more time indoors. So much has happened in the last 4 months or so. Scott and I took a trip out to LA this Summer for vacation AND obviously the 2013 CrossFit Games. What an awesome experience! Long days, but well worth it. We rented an apartment in Venice for the week and I can't wait to go back (maybe permanently this time?) I'll definitely be looking for jobs out there in the near future. Would LOVE to spend a few years on the West Coast.

Aside from that, I have been much more rigorous in my yoga teaching and practice. I'm completing a 200HR program for a second certification at Strala Yoga with Tara Stiles. We're about halfway through and my teaching has improved TEN FOLD. I'm learning so much about myself as well, physically and mentally. My crossfit training may be slightly lacking as I'm only going 2 or 3 times a week (I'm doing really intense yoga 3-4 times a week) I miss hanging out at the gym so much, but I know that this program is almost over and I'm really reaping benefits from it.

I'm so excited to be learning from Tara and her husband Mike Taylor (a ridiculously awesome yogi) but also excited to be hanging out with a group who is excited to be there and happy to pass what they learn to others. Strala is a movement based yoga, very easy going and fun. It's an all-levels type of thing...they don't really have levels. I'm starting to incorporate more of it into my weekly yoga classes at my gym and people seem to be digging it. Not to mention, the playlists are usually fun and upbeat. Keeps the mood light and not so serious.

Most people don't realize that yoga doesn't always have to be serious. In fact, it's so much better when it's not. Smile, laugh, and have fun. Just because you're in a Warrior Pose doesn't mean you have to take on the persona of a warrior. You should just be comfortable in your body and mind and go with the flow. Whatever happens, be prepared to let go of expectations! And learn to work with what you've got.

Back at the box tonight after dealing with a minor lower back pull this past week. Finally feeling normal so I've got to still take it easy...but definitely getting my WOD on ASAP.

And hopefully now that Fall is upon us, I'll be back at the blogging with some recipes and updates.

[fightgonegood]

Busy, busy, busy!

WOW, I've been M.I.A. for awhile. Mainly due to Summer coming and me just enjoying life. Still on the Paleo wagon with the occasional cheat! (I broke down when not feeling so great and had some Annie's Peace Pasta. It's been years and it's my favorite!)

Drinking has been in a bit more of an abundance as Summer and warm weather just makes me want to lay outside drinking a good Pimm's cup! I enjoy living life so I've been doing just that! And last night was beautiful weather so Scott & I took a nice run downtown (about 1.5 miles) and enjoyed a cup of Fro-Yo. So yeah, still mostly paleo but with nice weather comes temptation. It's been incredibly enjoyable!

A couple of big milestones and events. In mid-May, Scott & I took a big roadtrip up to Canton, MA with our box to check out the Northeast Regionals. We had an amazing time! Reebok HQ is just amazing. We set up our tent in the grass and enjoyed drinks and food (there were delicious paleo vendors!) and we cheered like crazy watching these athletes push themselves to their limits. I lost my voice from yelling so much. Our main cheering was for a fellow athlete from the box that made it to regionals. He did an exceptional job, but no dice. I think he placed somewhere in the 30's. The WOD's that these athletes were required to complete were just insane and challenging beyond belief, even for the most efficient and amazing athletes. Especially performing 2-3 workouts in each day only a few hours apart. 3 days in a row! I can't even imagining the stress on their bodies and minds.

Honestly, I'm so glad to have been there experiencing everything as a spectator. We had such a blast. And a friend of mine's brother works for Reebok so we got a nice tour of the facility. It's amazing. They have their Reebok ONE crossfit gym (which I sadly did not get to see), an onsite store (50% off, all the time), a regular gym (mostly machines), a track, tennis courts, baseball/softball diamonds, etc. They really cover their ground and provide a lot of amenities for their employees. It'd probably be a dream job to work there and man there is no reason for an employee to be overweight. There are just too many fitness options. The campus is just beautiful (fountains and such) with interactive pillars that offer fitness feats and such. The architecture on the buildings is just NUTS! It's so cool looking and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see it.

SO excited to go back to regionals next year and experience everything again!

I know this update hardly covers anything I've been up to as of recently, but I do have a much bigger thing happening that I feel deserves its own post. I'll try my best not to disappear again and post when I get a chance...but the sun is shining so brightly....

I'll be back on a rainy day, I suppose ;)

[fightgonegood]

Fran RX - First Time EVER

Happy Friday!!!! Feeling pretty great, though it's rainy and gloomy. I'm rocking the glasses at work because that's how I roll on days like this. I'm extra sleepy so I'm throwing back coffees like it's my job.

So Thursdays have been dedicated as an "open gym" day at our box as of recently. I love the idea because it gives me the opportunity to try something different or work on a weakness. Conveniently, my weaknesses include thrusters and pullups. I've gone the last year of CrossFit without ever having to do Fran. I swear it's a coincidence.

A few other ladies at my gym decided that Fran would be an interesting way to spend our open gym time. Woo, I can say that is a TERRIBLE idea. Haha but I'm glad we did! Especially because our fundamentals/on-ramp class of recently signed up members was trickling in Mid-WOD to watch us suffer through it and we probably struck a lot of fear into their poor little hearts. I hope they all come back ;)

My goal: finish sub-15. I've just started RXing WODs and I've just started to really get the hang of pull ups. The most I've ever done in a WOD is 20 pull ups (obviously only doing 2-5 at a time) and it takes me awhile!! I'm working on it, so hopefully they'll start coming together. Aiming to be able to do 10 at a time no problem. My exact finish time: 12:30!!!!!

Not amazing, but for me...it's great. I'm happy and now I have a goal to aim for. Next time, I need to get sub-10...hopefully around 8 minutes! VERY excited to do it again in another 6 weeks or so.

[watchxhit]

Ultimate CrossFit Workout

[fightgonegood]

Yeah. This isn't CrossFit. I promise.

[fightgonegood]

My First FRAN!

Tonight is the night. I've gone a whole year of CrossFit without having to do Fran. Somehow my coaches always programmed it on an off day or while I was on vacation. The Open 13.5 WOD was the closest I've ever come. And I didn't do terribly considering it was only 4 minutes and I had to do chest to bar. I got 21 reps, so almost a whole 2nd round of Fran. So I'm Well Thursday are now "Open Gym" or "You" days at my box. This is an opportunity to work on a goal, make up a missed WOD, or do some mobility/recovery work. And also socialize. Let's not forget that, because I like everyone I work out with. So I decided that I had finally worked up the courage (and energy) to try Fran RX. I've just recently begun RXing WODs and I'm curious to see how it goes tonight. Even if it takes me like 15 minutes, I'm just going to do it. And then in a few months I'll do it again and beat the crap out of my score because that's what progress is all about. And I'll get a kickass workout while doing it. I'll hopefully remember to pose about it tomorrow. Depending on how embarassing my time is...

[fightgonegood]

This is exactly how I felt hanging from the pull up bar mid-WOD during 13.5. Definitely working on pull ups a lot from now on.

[fightgonegood]

Conditioning Day 1

The 2013 Open has officially closed, my scores are in and as I said in my last post...I'm happy! I'm not expecting to go to Regionals or even do that well in comparison to other athletes in my box. But I've come so far from where I was when I started CrossFit. So today is my new "Day 1" that I can use as comparison this time next year.  I'd like to really concentrate on conditioning as well as strength in my Oly lifts.

This isn't necessarily for next year's open...but it's nice to have two points in time to really compare your abilities. However, the weather is getting nice and warm and it'd be swell to enjoy the beach while being comfortable in my own body. So lots of running and conditioning. Thankfully, my coaches LOVE getting us outside when the weather is warm and they love adding in runs. I hate running but I don't mind short distances. 400m or 800m runs in between rounds of pullups/deadlifts/air squats etc are kind of awesome. They're always my favorite and I definitely feel like I get the most results out of those WODs.

It'll be about 70 degrees today so we're definitely taking advantage! Really excited to do this one tonight!!

4 Rounds For Time:

400m Run

15 Ring Rows

30 Air Squats

[fightgonegood]

2013 Open - Done and Done!

This is my first open. It's my first year of CrossFit as well and I'm not terribly ashamed of my scores. I'm just proud I even attempted to complete any of these workouts and now I know what I need to work on for next year. PLUS I did 13.3 when I was terribly sick and hacking up a lung. Here's to being healthy next spring and maybe dropping to the top 1,000? Going to stay committed and stay focused so I can be a better athlete.

Bottom of my squat, keeping calm!

One thing...I'm really glad it's over. I get bad anxiety over people watching me. And a member of my box is a photog so he brings lighting equipment and his professional camera....which adds up to even more anxiety. Yuck.

[fightgonegood]

PaleOMG Belgian Waffles!

So I've been slacking on my posts. It's been a mixture of being both incredibly sick (still can't shake it) and incredibly busy (crossfit and yoga) But things have been great. Teaching is going well, everyone seems to love the classes. There have been PR's all over the place and my yoga class sometimes gets the credit when someone beats a previous WOD score, especially while we're in the middle of the open! :) It just feels good in general and I'm so glad that I can help. It's also been incredibly fun to teach, so yay for that!

My recipe posts have been few and far between...I've been cooking a lot but nothing particularly mind blowing or new. Mostly just the usual and I've also been just grilling up a bunch of chicken and using it in salads for my lunches. And smoothies. Lots of those! :) BUT Scott and I did get a waffle maker from his parents for Christmas, which seems like an odd present to get for a Paleo couple...but it has been AN AWESOME addition to the kitchen. You wouldn't believe how much better paleo waffles are!!!!!

I used THIS recipe from PaleOMG. And altered it a bit. Alterations are below in bold with an asterisk.

Almond Flour Coconut Waffles

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  5 mins

Total time:  10 mins

Serves: 1-2

  Ingredients

1.5 cup almond flour/meal

2 eggs, whisked *I used 3 eggs

¼ cup canned coconut milk *I used a tiny bit more, my batter was dry

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or coconut flour

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

*1 Cup Blueberries - for added awesome-ness

Instructions

Plug in your waffle iron. You don’t have a waffle iron? Why? Because it’s the most pointless tool in the kitchen and is only useful for one kind of food. True. But buy one. Waffles are awesome.

Whisk your eggs in a medium-large sized bowl.

Add your coconut milk and whisk together with eggs.

Next add your almond flour and mix together.

Then add your shredded coconut, arrowroot powder, baking soda and mix together.

Lastly, add in your honey, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Mix together thoroughly.

Pour into your waffle iron and cooking until cooked through. It took about 4 minutes for mine to cook through and crisp up.

Notes

This made 3 full waffles for me.

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Her service estimation was dead-on. I had 3 full beautiful waffles. I also added my own "syrup":

2-3 TBSP of honey

1-2 TBSP coconut oil

1/2 cup blueberries (slightly mashed)

1 tsp of arrowroot powder (for a thicker consistency)

I heated this in a small saucepot on the stove for a few minutes just to thicken it up a bit and topped off my waffles with it. It was pretty heavenly!!! I hardly ever actually measure things like this, so those are all estimated measurements. I wing it, for the most part. Feel free to add more or less of anything. It's all taste preference, as well as what you're desired consistency is for a syrup type topping.

[fightgonegood]

De-Load Week :(

Welp, it finally happened. It was bound to. I got sick. :( I taught yoga and then did 13.2 Saturday morning and I had that burning sensation in my lungs for a long time afterward. Ya know that feeling? Like after you do a really gassing workout? It's sort of hot and sort of cold all at the same time through your throat and lungs? And you feel like you're never going to breathe normally again? Yeah, that burning. And it didn't go away...

I took a sick day earlier this week and I started to feel a little better. Then today I took a HEAVY decongestant. One of those 12hour Advil D type pills. I AM LOOPY AND WIRED, but exhausted at the same time. So I've taken the week off from CrossFit. I felt well enough to do some light yoga on Tuesday and went back to my regular Thursday yoga class last night. But something still feels off today... I can't stop sneezing, my eyes are watery and I'm just bleeeccchhh! SNED HALP!

So I am taking one last night off in a last ditch effort to be well enough to talk through my yoga class tomorrow morning. Yikes. :( My first class teaching when my mind & body are not up to par. Let's see how this goes...

[fightgonegood]

Elana's Pantry Irish Soda Bread

I make Irish Soda Bread every year for St. Patty's day...and usually a couple more times just because I love it. So I was excited to try this recipe from Elana's Pantry.

Irish Soda Bread 2 ¾ cups blanched almond flour ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda ½ cup raisins 2 eggs 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar pinch of caraway seeds

In a large bowl combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and raisins

In a smaller bowl combine eggs, agave and apple cider vinegar

Mix wet ingredients into dry

Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and form dough into a large, flat circle that is 8 inches across and 1 ½ inches tall

Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about an inch and (thanks Jessica!) a half an inch deep in shape of a cross

Sprinkle top of bread with caraway seeds

Transfer dough and parchment to a baking sheet

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, then turn off oven and leave bread in for 10 more minutes

Cool bread for ½ hour then slice and serve with butter and jam

Mixing....

...Baking...

I have to say it was pretty awesome. The whole thing is actually gone already! ;) I sort of prefer the real ISB to the paleo version, but honestly...this will absolutely do just fine. No need to make an entire loaf unless I have a large group of non paleo-ites helping me devour it. Otherwise, I'll eat the whole thing.

On the plus side of it being St. Patrick's Day,  Kerry Gold Grass-Fed Butter is available everywhere. I bought a bunch and stored half in the freezer. Yum! :)

[thiscrossfittinglife]

When shopping at Lululemon...

[fightgonegood]

Agh, exactly. And ya know....the pants are sooo comfy and I love working out in them, but for the price...YIKES.

My wonder under crops are already starting to fray at the seams!!! Why did I pay 80 bucks for these?! (NOTE: I'm totally going to end up buying more because I'm a sucker and I love the way they fit and feel...)

[fightgonegood]

I LOVE your tumblr name. Perfection

Thanks so much!!! ;) I was so happy it wasn't taken when I initially created it!

[fightgonegood]

Veronica Mars MOVIE - KICKSTARTER

I don't often post about non-crossfit or non-paleo related things...I also don't often spam people on Social Networking sites, but I sort of feel very passionate about this project. And I have a lot of respect for all parties involved. It would be a huge disappointment if this didn't get made. So PLEASE if you were a fan of the show, throw them a few bucks so we can watch Kristen Bell kick ass as Veronica Mars on the big screen

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project

[fightgonegood]

First Class in the Books!

My first yoga class is officially in the books! About 15 people showed up, which I thought was a great turn out!!!! I was nervous at first, but I fought the butterflies. Apparently I said "um" a lot during my intro, yikes. But as we got into the flow, everything felt more natural. I'm really excited and so pleased with how it all worked out! It was surprisingly fun to teach and I think I'll get better at it as it happens more frequently. Everyone came up to me afterward to tell me how much they enjoyed it and to thank me, which I took as a great sign! ;) And they all said namaste!

[fightgonegood]

Yoga & CrossFit: My first class!

Yoga & CrossFit: A Perfect Pair

I've recently passed my yoga certification exam!!! I did pretty well on it, too! :) Very exciting. But I wasn't really sure where to go from there so I was looking into hosting yoga in a local park when the weather gets warm. This past  weekend one of my CrossFit coaches was complaining about Sciatica so I mentioned I was certified and gave him 3 or 4 postures to practice that have been known to relieve this kind of pain. He brought up the possibility of hosting some yoga classes at our CrossFit box in the future and I told him I'd be happy to!! Sure enough, he texted me the next morning to thank me and to let me know that his pain was completely alleviated!!!!

This was HUGELY exciting. Then, to make everything even more exciting, I received a more formal e-mail asking me to officially teach yoga starting on Saturday mornings. It'll be a trial to see if we get a lot of interest from members, but if there is enough interest and it starts to go well, I'll be teaching Saturday and Sunday mornings!!!

SO PSYCHED! and nervous too, but more so psyched. I'm really looking forward to helping everyone out and enhancing everyone's performance.

I just hope people actually show up :/

Any Crossfitting Yogi's out there have any tips or suggestions??

[fightgonegood]

MUFFINS!!!! - It's been too LONG!

Alright, my 6 week Zone-Paleo challenge is over now. It took me a total of 5 hours post-challenge to make Paleo Blueberry Muffins with coconut crumble on top (See recipe below!). As you can guess, I didn't really have much to write about unless it was to complain so I sort of kept off tumblr for the most part. I was pretty strict for 6 weeks on a 2 block zone meal plan, keeping it very paleo.

I had alcohol twice and 1 cheat meal (Valentines Day) throughout the entire 6 weeks. Not too bad! And ya know what? I didn't really see any better results than I've seen while just staying Paleo. I've got a good deal of muscle mass, but I can't really chalk that up to Zone.

I do have a much better idea of how balanced my meals should be and I'll definitely take a lot of that with me in the future. I do thoroughly enjoy preparing all of my fruits and veggies ahead of time because otherwise they sit in the drawer in my refrigerator and spoil. That equals a lot of money wasted :(

I do love being creative with Paleo and baking is a passion. I understand that it's not entirely paleo and that people tend to stray from this in order to truely reap the benefits, but sometimes I need to indulge without cheating too badly. So I made these:

  **Paleo Blueberry Muffins with Coconut Crumble Topping**

(I based this recipe off of Paleoholics muffin recipe and added my own topping)

2 Cups Almond Flour

2 Eggs

2 Egg Whites

1/4 Cup Honey or Maple Syrup

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Dash of Salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1 Cup Blueberries

TOPPING

3-4 Tbsp Almond Flour (add more of less, for crumbly consistency)

2-3 Tbsp Shredded Coconut

2 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (warmed/liquid)

1 Tbsp Coconut Butter or Ghee (if you're cool with butter, that would work as well)

Method

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Step 2

Place all ingredients excluding blueberries into your food processor and blend until smooth.

Step 3

Once completely mixed fold in blueberries.

Step 4

Spray muffin tin or mini muffin tin with a healthy, non-stick cooking spray.

Step 5

Evenly scoop batter into muffin tin. **NOTE: This is where you should spoon a bit of the topping over the batter for each muffin. Spread it out as best as you can.

Step 6

Bake for 25 minutes.

Step 7

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

Step 8

Enjoy

I definitely found that 25 minutes was a little long, especially because the topping tends to burn a little bit much. Be sure you check it around 15-20 minutes to see if the topping is browning too much.