Monthly Archives: December 2009

2010: My Body is a Temple

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with , ,

Good morning loves! Well, here we are, on December 31st…the last day of 2009. Where the HECK did this year GO??! This has been quite the transformative year for me. When I look back to this time last year, I don’t even RECOGNIZE that person, and I’m oh so thankful to be where I am today. Since January 2009 I have literally gone from being the saddest I have ever been in my whole life, the most lost, etc….to being the HAPPIEST I have ever been in my life. That’s pretty remarkable for only ONE year!

It was pretty funny, during this move I have found some things I had tucked away that I haven’t looked at in forever. One of the things I found the other night was a journal that someone had bought for me in Feb 2009. One of the first entries in that journal was talking about how my life was scattered and I had absolutely NO routine. I was going to bed at 2am on some days, but usually no earlier than midnight. I was rushing out the door without eating breakfast everyday…and grabbing something once I got to work (which usually consisted of a whole wheat (thats healthy right?! haha) bagel with veggie cream cheese (oh yeah! DEFINITELY healthy! it has VEGGIES in it :-p) and a coffee. Then I would get to work, be bored out of my mind and frustrated about things going on at work (super unhappy about that), then for lunch I would go to Viga and get a bowl of pasta with marinara and a roll (holy shit…), and a SODA!!!! Then after work I would go home, sit around, make myself whole wheat spaghetti with LOADS of veggies in the sauce (that was my justification) and a big glass of milk (I’M DYING HERE!). NO WONDER I constantly felt SO sick, NO WONDER I was unhappy with the way my body looked, NOOOOO WONDER JEN!!!!! HELLLOOOOOOOOOO, MCFLYYYYY!

Where was the workout you ask? Well there was none of that. Next question?

So somewhere around the beginning of the summer I started to realize things weren’t working and I was really frustrated with everything. In June I went to a workshop that Franson Family Chiropractic was doing. It was the “Eat Well” workshop (You can watch it here!!! It changed my life :) http://www.vimeo.com/5615898) From that night on, I started thinking differently. Everything I learned in that workshop made so much SENSE! Now let me tell you, I have tried every single diet out there. I have been interested in health and wellness since as long as I can remember (I bought my first book on nutrition in the 4th grade bookorder in Mrs. Anderson’s class). The problem I have is STICKING to one! I got bored, I felt deprived, etc, you’ve heard the excuses. Then in July, I met Nick through Franson Family and gave him my word I would go in for a new patient visit. I kept my promise :) During my one on one with him, I told him I really wanted to work on cleaning up my diet (this was at the beginning of August). So, upon leaving that initial appointment that day, Nick handed me a DVD to watch and return. It was a past Eat Well workshop that Dr. Franson had done. I watched it the next night when I was lying on my sunshine yellow couch icing my back (from my first adjustment :) ). Since then, again my life has changed DRAMATICALLY! (Just for a little comparison, I’ll tell you how much ROUTINE has become as priority in my life…heres what I did so far today. I woke up with Nick at 5:20…we made a DELICIOUS oatmeal; steel-cut oats, almond butter, raisins, nectarines that we picked this summer, I did the dishes, got ready, came to work, will eat a HEALTHY lunch, go home, and typically I will go to Crossfit, then go home and we make dinner, and go to bed by 9:30…no TV in there either….big change HUH?!)

Since June I am 13 pounds lighter, my skin doesn’t break out NEARLY as much, I have bundles more ENERGY!, I am HAPPIER!!!!, life LOOKS better….my attitude toward life is so much more positive, and when you look for the good you get MORE good. I mean, if you WANT to see how shitty life can be, it’s out there to find….but I prefer to see how friggin’ amazing life can be :)

SO! For 2010, like the rest of the world, I will be making resolutions for myself.

-I really want to clean up my diet even more, work on making my tummy a little happier ALL the time.

-I want to attend Crossfit 3 times a week at a MINIMUM for 6 months, and then reassess whether I need to up it to 4 times.

- I want to travel a ton more (going to get my passport this month hopefully!!)

-Hike Mt. Katahdin and Mt. Washington (Maine and NH’s highest peaks).

-Do 10 kipping pullups by years end consecutively!!

-Do 20 pushups consecutively on my TOES!

-Do a free-standing handstand :)

-Do at least ONE Crossfit workout at PRESCRIBED weight! :-D

I can DO this!!! and whatever goals you have for yourself in 2010, I have all the faith in the world that you can do it too :)

Have a fantastic day :) and see you in the New YEAR!!!!!!

What’s in YOUR food?

Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , ,

Happy Tuesday!! I’m especially happy because Nick comes home today and I have a half day!! WHOOOO HOOOO!!!!

So, I have an assignment for all of you, if you so choose to accept it ;) Last night I had my first ever guest over in the new apartment for a healthy and delicious dinner and a movie. We broke in my new cast iron skillet and made a tasty veggie stir fry with squash, red, yellow and orange peppers, broccoli, string beans and carrots over white rice with a ginger garlic sauce from this little place, you may have heard about it, York, Maine’s own little StoneWall Kitchen (http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/). Anyway, it was really delicious AND nutritious, and while eating, we settled in to watch a movie, Food, Inc. Now, honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this documentary. Everyone that I know that has watched it told me that it would change the way I thought about food forever. With that being said, I wasn’t sure if it would be one of those movies that were going to just make me feel bad about my food choices or what. It wasn’t. It was BRUTALLY honest; just cold hard facts. It’s the facts that all of us in this country have the right to know about. Don’t we think its odd that someone has to write a book, or make a documentary to tell us where our food is coming from?! As was said in the movie, that tells me that we are sooooo far removed! Unfortunately , however, the MAJORITY of people who would watch this movie in the first place are already interested or conscious of what they eat and where their food comes from. The majority of people who NEED to watch this the MOST would probably NEVER even give this movie a second thought while browsing for their Friday night entertainment. So this morning I used the old “if you love me, you’ll watch this” tactic on my mother. It didn’t take too much convincing fortunately, but this is what we NEED to be doing!! We need to be passing this information on to those people in our lives that we LOVE and care about! You wouldn’t want someone you love drinking poison right? So if you love me (or heck, even LIKE me!) YOU’LL WATCH IT!

Food, Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner.

Rent it tonight, or this weekend…WHENEVER!! I promise you, it WILL change the way you look at things….

You have the right to know.

Love, Jen

the aftermath

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with , , ,

So, it’s the Monday after Christmas….I’m back to work…and sick. Yep..my fault! I’ll take that blame! I vowed to you that I would exercise everyday…I vowed to eat pretty well…and did any of that happen? NO! Why do you ask? Was it lack of self-control? Throwing my vows out the window? No! NOTHING went as planned as far as ANY of that! The most exercise I got was playing with my little cousins who I don’t ever get to see (one of them I’ve met ONCE, and the other I met for the first time this weekend- and fell right in love with them!). Now, don’t get me wrong..that was a LOT of work! haha. I was doing squats and throwing her up in the air and chasing them around for two days straight (they’re 5 and 2). However, I didnt’ get to do an ACTUAL workout even ONCE! As far as food…ha! I think I had 3 servings of vegetables while I was there!!

This all, my friends, taught me a VERY important lesson. After a day I was exponentially more irritable; really snappy with my parents (sorry guys!). I started panicking and kept eating vitamin C tablets, but it didn’t seem to work completely. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like I had been run over by a truck! My throat was all closed up (as if my tonsils were MAJORLY swollen, but I dont’ have any!), I had a fever, and my whole body HURT! I had to drive 7 hours to get back home, IN the rain, feeling like THAT!

So, during these three days I realized something about myself…I am  A LOT more routine oriented than I ever thought I was! I like having MY kind of food around and amazingly (never thought I would say this!) I like the way I feel when I work out!…I realized I function a MILLION times better that way!

Now don’t get me wrong…there was much more positive about my weekend home with my family than negative..this was the ONLY negative thing. Since this blog is about health though, that is why I spoke about that! I had an amazing time home with my family (ridiculous amounts of laughing, GREAT PRIDE in my family, and lots and lots of love!) and great time with friends while I was home! I had such a great time home in fact, that I allowed my health to fall to the wayside!

Ways to fix this problem:

Bring my own FOOD! (it was much much more difficult to eat healthy up home because the options for healthy food are barely THERE!) ; make it a priority to exercise (Even if I have a 5-year-old telling me she won’t let me out of her sight even for a second!), and maybe find someone who will come workout with me..(that was a challenge up home though); and when those two are there, the stress levels will be down because I won’t be so IRRITABLE!

Lesson learned! So now to reallllly up my healthy foods and make sure I find time to exercise while moving the rest of my stuff from my apartment into the new apartment tonight! Whew!

I almost forgot!!! So, for Christmas dinner we didn’t do the traditional turkey so much. We did a traditional french dinner (we started this tradition when we would go to my Aunt and Uncles in Canada for Christmas…and it just became the every Christmas meal eventually). We have chicken stew with ployes and creton. Ployes and Creton!?!?! What the heck is that?! Well any of my northern Maine (practically Canadian..OR my Canadian friends!) friends would probably know what it is, but for those of you that don’t, let me explain :) Ployes are sometimes called griddle cakes, or buckwheat pancakes. They are kind of like crepes, but less sweet. Creton is, plain and simple, pork spread. So, I am going to post recipes for these French DELITES, and you too can have a traditional French-Canadian meal tonight!!

Ployes!

1 cup refined buckwheat flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup
   flour, all-purpose 1 cup cold water 1 1/2 cups boiling
   water 1 tsp baking powder
  
  

Mix together buckwheat flour, salt, all-purpose flour
   and cold water to form thick paste.  Add boiling water
   and mix well.  Add baking powder and continue to mix
   until smooth. Cook in preheated, medium-hot cast iron
   pan without butter.  Cook in same way as pancakes, but
   do nut turn ployes over; they are cooked when the
   surface is covered with small bubbles. They are
   delicious buttered, and also with molasses (and CRETON!!).

Creton!!

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • chopped garlic
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • 1 pinch ground allspice
  • 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

    •  Place the ground pork, milk, onion and garlic into a large saucepan. Season with salt, pepper, cloves and allspice. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour, then stir in the bread crumbs. Cook for 10 more minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Transfer to a small container and keep refrigerated.

     BON APPETITE!!

    As always, thanks for listening :) and I hope you had a FANTASTIC holiday :)

    Home for the Holidays

    Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts and tagged with , , ,

    As I sit here at work today, and dread the 7 hour drive that is before me…I’m preparing myself mentally for the days ahead. I know that I do a few things differently than my family..and that I tend to slip a little when I’m outside of my little family down here in Mass. So, here are my vows to YOU!

    Even Santa works out!!! How do you think he has the energy to go full throttle all night long delivering all those presents?!? This holiday season I am making a promise to you, and to myself, that I will work out at LEAST two of the days I am home HARD, and move my body in some way the rest of the days (I’ll be home for 4).

    It will be hard to resist all the yummy sweets that will be in my face the whole time, but I vow to pick my battles :) I will eat a lot more veggies to compensate for the sugary goodness.

    Finally, I vow to enjoy and not take for granted one second of the time I have with my loved ones. When frustration creeps in, on either parties end, I will say aloud what I am grateful for.

    I am grateful for my family, and that I get to spend 4 days with them laughing and making memories; I am grateful for the amazingly warm fireplace that I will get to be curled up next to VERY shortly; I am grateful that I get to see my friend Stephanie on the way up, and that she is allowing me to stay with her tonight so I don’t have to drive the entire 7 hours; I am grateful for my boyfriend, who makes me laugh all the time, and that I get to wake up to him every single day starting Dec. 30 :) ; I am grateful for my health, and the knowledge of how to be well that I have gathered over the last few months; I am grateful for the changes I’ve made in my life, and that I’ve been able to stick to them; I’m grateful that I’m employed, and that my company takes good care of me; and I’m grateful for you :)

    What are your vows this holiday season? What are you grateful for?

    This Christmas remember:

    You don’t need to stuff yourself, it’s not the last time you’ll ever eat ;)

    Once again, thank you for listening :) Happy Holidays :) xoxo

    YOU have the power to be who YOU want!

    Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how life is so funny sometimes. Four months ago, if you had told me that by Christmas you would have met the most important man you’ll ever meet and be moving in with him on January 1st, I would have laughed. I felt so far away from all of that, just 4 short MONTHS ago! Now, if you had told me that “Jen, you are going to be a totally different person physically, mentally, etc…” I would have wanted to believe you…but wouldn’t have seen it being a reality for some reason. I have struggled with my body image, my weight, my eating habits, my commitment to exercise…my whole life. My senior year of college I developed a stomach issue that pretty much took over my whole life. Every single time I ate, I felt sick…so naturally, I started to fear eating. It wasn’t until I was taking a nutrition class and we had to record what we ate for three whole days, that I realized something was wrong. I was eating 600 calories a day. That is HALF of the MINIMUM of what we should be eating as women! HALF! I was running on fumes. No wonder I didnt’ have the drive or energy to work out!!!  Fast forward a couple years, the weight is all back, feeling like a slug, and then hard times hit again. Stress is my biggest enemy. So what happens? Times get tough, Jen gets sick, eats a lot less…but THIS time…I add exercise. I was working at a Rec camp, so we were sprinting around playing very active games all day everyday, then I was going home and running 5 miles every day to clear my head, and then barely eating on top of it all. Crazy… absolutely crazy. What was I doing to my body???? You can read my boyfriends blog on this, he puts it perfectly http://fransonchiropractic.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/dont-let-it-change-your-physiology-by-dr-nick-araza/. My body was shutting down….

    Fast forward again another year. I got an offer to work full-time along side one of the leading authorities in the raw food movement. I honestly didn’t know who she was, or what the whole raw food diet was about. Had you asked me before I probably would have said sushi and carrot sticks…right? Is that what you’re thinking too? It’s not though. (Raw and Living foods are uncooked, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains. These raw foods can be eaten whole or combined to make the healthiest, most delicious meals -Alissa Cohen http://www.alissacohen.com/index.html) Now, I tried to get that lifestyle to stick…but it wasn’t going to happen for me. However, I learned A LOT about nutrition in the couple months I worked with her. Suddenly, nutrition and diet were even more interesting to me than before.

    4 months ago: I was at the Salem Common in July, and I met this guy ;) We started going on dates, and then it got pretty serious :) In the course of this time I have changed DRAMATICALLY. I was introduced to the “Paleo Diet”. Simply put,  I eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. I started eating this way, and have stayed PRETTY dang close to it (sometimes I eat a cookie or something, come on, I’m human! Doesn’t mean I feel awesome after though…). Its amazing…for the first time in my life I don’t count calories…I dont’ weigh myself all the time….I dont’ EVER eat “low-fat” anything….I eat to support movement, to keep my energy up. I eat like I have a heart to nourish. Every meal I try to think, is there protein here? Is there healthy fat? Is there a vegetable?  Nick, I have you to thank for this the most. You have helped me sooooo much in adjusting this piece of my life. Which leads to Crossfit..the movement portion of my transformation (Nick also introduced me to this!). I HATED exercise all through highschool. Hated it! Then I got to college…exercised just when I started gaining weight…until I got it off. Then after college, I started incorporating it a little more, but it didnt’ stick. Now..I’ve been doing this since October, 3 times a week, and I’m honestly afraid to STOP! I have seen such dramatic results in such a short time that I am honestly afraid to stop!

    I started this whole process in October and my waist was 28 inches, my hips were 39-40. Now…my waist is 26 and my hips are 38. I am starting to see definition in my abs, my legs are the hardest they have ever been in my LIFE. I have never even had any calf definition, and now my calves are starting to SPLIT!!,  and I have noticed that my arms a lot smaller and they are getting more toned. It’s like some MIRACLE!! The workouts are a fraction of the time of any other workout I’ve ever done, and the results are exponentially MORE! Makes you think doesn’t it? :)

    Okay, enough about that!!

    Last nights workout was AWESOME! I had two of my favorite ladies working out with me, and my favorite man :) As I posted yesterday, we did Tabata double unders and squats for the main workout last night. Before that, however, we did straight presses. I think the last time I did straight presses I was struggling with the bar (15#), don’t laugh! haha. This time though, I started out with 10 on each side, totaling 35#’s, and needed to go up, so I ended up doing the last three rounds with 45#. Niiiiiiccceee!!! I think I could have even gone for more!

    So the tabatas…one of the 20 second rounds I did 3 double unders in a row with a single in between. WOOOOOOOOOT! I did a lot more than 3 double unders in the whole workout, but strung together with a single in between each, three was the most!

    For the tabata squats I got a lot of push from Doc Franson. He told us girls to pick a number (a number of squats that we didnt’ want to fall below in the 20 second rounds- again Tabata is 20 seconds as hard as you can go, 10 seconds rest, 8 times…for a total of 4 minutes of working out), I picked 10. My first round I busted ass and did 20, which is a squat per second!~Then the next two were 15, and the last five were between 12-13!! Not toooooooo bad!!! Had trouble walking up stairs after, and I got tired just standing to do the dishes…but thats how you know you had a good workout :) ;)

    Thanks for listening loves, and have an AWESOME day!!!!

    pics coming soon…

    Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized

    So I realized that the pictures I had up were not the best at showing my progress. So! I’m working on taking a progress picture each month in the same attire!

    Here’s some crossfit pics for now!

    Tonight’s WOD at 7pm

    - 5×3 Press

    - Tabata Double Unders
    - Tabata Squats

    I’ll let you know how I did in the next post!!! :-D

    I look like an 8 year old tomboy!

    Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts

    So it’s entirely possible that I could have been hit by a truck last night rather than have done the crossfit workout. I woke up this morning in serious pain, to say the least. To top it all off, I decided last night was a great night (since I wasn’t spending the night with my boyfriend) to wear the dreaded retainer. Yeah…. so I woke up with an INCREDIBLY sore body, and a headache  like none other to boot! Fun!!

    So as I’m getting into the shower this morning, I can’t help but notice the dramatic bruise on my right shoulder from power cleans the other night (repeatedly dropping 55#’s on your shoulder 45ish times will do that), the bruises on my knees from all the push ups, and the whip-lash marks on my forearms from rope jumping….. it’s as if I’m a little kid again (although I would not have had bruises on my shoulders from power cleans at 8…but maybe my kids will, haha)!!

    On a POSITIVE note however, I friggin’ feel amazing!!! I have been doing crossfit consistently 3 times a week the last two weeks, and I’m feeling it! I feel like I have more energy again, I feel SEXY again (woot! sometimes I look forward to taking my shirt off, hahahaha), I DO feel like I’m getting stronger (if only I could conquer the pull-up!!), OH and I DID do my first, second, third and fourth DOUBLE UNDER LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! Bethany is my witness!!! I got a LITTLE too excited every time I got it! haha. Then last night one of my friends moms told me that I looked like I had DEFINITELY lost a lot of weight! WOOT!!! Kicking ass and taking names my friends ;)

     

    Okay, for the WOD last night

    3 Rounds
    -30 double unders -a double under is two revolutions per jump while jumping rope (For a modification I had to do 3:1 singles, so I did 90 singles)

    -30 wall balls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC2FmcPH64o)

    -30 double unders (again 90)

    so that means I did 90 wall balls last night, and 540 jump rope revolutions!!15 Minute Time Limit but finished in 12:50

    Challenge:
    - Max Consecutive Pull-ups I did 8, with the green band (thats my major weakness….I WILL get better at these!)

    May do crossfit Saturday morning, so I’ll post if I do. Starting to move my stuff into the new apartment  with the boy on SUNDAY!! :-D ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

    Thanks for listening :) xoxo

    Has anyone ever told you you’re beautiful? YOU ARE!

    Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts

    I want to be strong. I want to be beautiful. I want to be beautifully strong.

    I joined the local Crossfit gym down the street from me in October, thinking I would get a good workout. Little did I know that I would get SOOOOO much more than that! Crossfit has a community, a support system, like no other gym I’ve ever been to. This is actually NOT a gym…this is a lifestyle.

    I have the tendancy to start things and fall off the wagon…for EVERYTHING. I want this though…bad. This is where you come in. Knowing that there is a chance that someone is out there reading this motivates me to keep at it everyday, holding myself accountable. A year from now I want to be doing kipping pullups, not STRUGGLING with the “green band”. I want to be doing handstands freely, maybe even REAL handstand pushups instead on my knees, ass up in the air. I want a butt I can bounce quarters off of, and abs that if I were to be run over by a truck, wouldn’t feel a thing In addition to you helping me, maybe I can help you. Maybe seeing the change in me, my progression over the next year, you’ll want to get up and try this too!

    Thanks for listening :)

     

    Last nights WOD

    The Chief
    Complete as many rounds as possible in 3 minutes of:
    - 3 Power (135#/85#)  However, I did 55#
    - 6 Push-ups on my knees
    - 9 Squats

    Rest for 1 minute, repeat for a total of 5 rounds

    I did 15 rounds TOTAL, 3 in each round

    Challenge:
    Tabata Sit-ups (Level 3: W/ 35 Pound Dumbell)

    Tabata Definition: 8 rounds of 0:20 as hard as you can, 0:10 rest, for a total of 4 minutes.

    started the first 4 rounds doing 12 situps in the 0:20…then one round of 11 situps, the next at 10 situps, and the last two rounds I did 9.

    KICKED MY BUM!!!! super sore today!