Simon Says

What a fun weekend! Friday afternoon I headed to Ft. Worth to watch the CF South Central Regionals. I love watching amazing athletes compete. It has always been inspirational and this weekend was no different. Hell's Half Acres lived up to it's name as it was HOT! I suncreened up enough to not get completely burned and ended up slightly pink. All of the CF Central athletes were amazing to watch and 2 of the women ended up placing in the top 4 to qualify for the CF Games in July.

The gym was closed today so I headed to the apartment gym to play around with my kettlebell, work on squats, freestanding handstands, and hand stand push ups. Squats are getting slightly better! I've been peeking over at the KB class at CF Central and played around with some of the stuff I've seen. Way harder than it looks. I think I'm going to start spending 5 minutes after CF class playing around with that.

After all of that I headed to a Vinyasa yoga class at Bodhi at the suggestion of my Bikram yoga instructor. He said it would help a lot with stretching my hips. Vinyasa was interesting. It was kinda like Simon Says except at super duper speed and I had no idea what the commands were so I was 3 commands behind everyone. It was so hard! Bikram hot yoga is hard but a little more about holding poses where Vinyasa was all about flowey movements. We kept flowing into different positions and then ended up in downward facing dog about every minute. My triceps were on fire. I don't think practicing handstands and HSPU's was a good pre-Vinyasa workout. I didn't like Vinyasa as much as Bikram but only because I was HORRIBLE at it, which probably means I should go back so I can get better. Vinyasa once a week it is. Hot Yoga (Bikram) hopefully 3 times a week. I'll see how that goes. I like that I've found this whole world of yoga that I'm horrible at so I can get better. I must have looked at the clock 20 times wishing it was time to end the class. It was probably one of the hardest 60 minutes I've endured in a long time. At least I'm at the point with Crossfit where I know the movements and what to expect. With this class, every minute was something new and challenging. I think yoga and CF go together like almond butter and celery.

Tomorrow is an *exciting* day. It's the start of my 30 Day Paleo Challenge. I did this in January with CF Ramstein and they are doing it again so I thought I would join in. My little cheats have grown and mostly come in the form of cookies and chocolate. So for 30 days I will stick to veggies, some fruits, lean meats, eggs, and nuts. No alcohol or dark chocolate. One 8 oz cup of black coffee a day. Minus the occasional cookie from drug reps at work and chocolate I eat pretty darn healthy so hopefully after a few days of sugar cravings I will be OK. The biggest annoyance will be the large amounts of free food brought into my office. I think Ill just have to stay out of the break room when the food is there.

I know you think, Kellie you are crazy. To which I say, "IT'S ONLY 30 DAYS!" I can do ANYTHING for 30 days and so can you. I challenge you to make healthier choices for the next 30 days. It doesn't have to be extreme. It could be giving up soda, french fries, or cream in your coffee. The first few days will probably be rough but after a week I guarantee you will feel better and really not even miss what you gave up. Just give it some thought. If I can do it, you can do it.

What am I eating today on my last day of unhealthy eating?? Veggies, some fruit, lean meat, nuts, eggs and 3 chocolate truffles! Yeah, I don't crave too much but some yummy chocolate truffles sounded like a good last treat. : )

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to everyone that has sacrificed for our country.

Some of my favorite advice from the Whole 30 Blog...

TOUGH LOVE

Here comes the tough love. This is for those of you who are considering taking on this life-changing month, but aren’t sure you can actually pull it off, cheat free, for a full 30 days. This is for the people who have tried this before, but who “slipped” or “fell off the wagon” or “just HAD to eat (fill in food here) because of this (fill in event here)”. This is for you.

1. It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Giving up heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your “struggles”. Because if we (Dallas and Melissa) can do this while living out of a car on our road trip, relying on a restaurant or a cooler for 90% of our meals, while constantly socializing for business, YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.It’s only thirty days, and it’s for the most important cause on earth – the only physical body you will ever have in this lifetime. So suck it up and join us.

2. Don’t tell us you “slipped”. Unless you physically tripped and your face landed in a box of Krispy Kremes, you DID NOT SLIP. You made a choice to eat something of poor quality. It’s always a choice, so do not phrase it as if you had an accident. Commit here, 100%, for the full 30 days, or go somewhere else.

3. You never, ever, ever HAVE to eat anything you don’t want to eat. You’re all big boys and girls. Toughen up. Learn to say no (or make your Mom proud and say, “No, thank you”). Learn to stick up for yourself. Just because it’s your sister’s birthday, or your best friend’s wedding, or your company outing or the Fourth of July does not mean you have to eat anything. It’s always a choice, and we would hope that you stopped succumbing to peer pressure in 10th grade.

4. This does require a bit of effort, people. If you’re cutting grains, legumes and dairy for the first time, you have to replace those calories with something. You have to make sure you’re eating enough, that your vitamins and nutrients are balanced, that you’re getting enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. You’ll have to figure out what to eat for lunch, how to order at a restaurant and how often you’ll need to grocery shop. There are a ton of good resources search-able on this site, and Googling “Paleo Recipes” is a great place to start. We’ll give you plenty of resources here, but take responsibility for your own plan. Improved health, fitness and performance doesn’t happen just because you’re now taking a pass on chocolate milk.