Crossfit and Paleo - One Week Completed

In an effort to get ready for boot camp in less than 2 months I joined a crossfit gym (which is conveniently connected to my current traditional gym). For months I had walked by the bay of windows behind which were ripped people sweating puddles and pushing enormous amounts of weight over their heads. It looked intense to say the least and I was intimidated. I think I just assumed that I wasn't fit enough to participate, but you know what they say about assuming. I quickly learned that each activity can be scaled to an individual's current ability. Can't do regular hanging pull-ups? Do them on the rings. Can't do push-ups on your toes? Do them on your knees. Can't lift 100 pounds? Just use the 15 pound bar - or a pvc pipe for that matter. Can't do one legged squats on your own? Use a box to balance. You're excuses are not welcome at CrossFit.

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I've been to about 6 classes so far at Balance CrossFit Thomas Circle in Washington, DC. I absolutely love it, regardless of the fact that after my first class it took me 3 days to be walk normally again. It's exactly what I needed. It's like personal training, but even better. The classes are pretty small (usually somewhere around 15 people) and everyone is very encouraging no matter what weight you're working with. Granted, it is pretty expensive-I paid $200 for the month-but I suppose taking care of your health and fitness should be considered an investment for life.

If you're looking for some inspirational CrossFit women I have done my fair share of You-tubing. Try watching the current CrossFit champion (a.k.a. the world's fittest woman), Annie Thorisdottir or fitness phenoms Kristan Clever and Katie Hogan. Miranda Oldroyd is also pretty inspirational. Those wall balls are no joke. I was pretty sure my legs were going to set on fire the first time I did them. I really like learning new things so weightlifting has been exciting to me. I still have a lot more to learn. Memorizing the names of all the different lifts is hard enough, let alone how to do them properly, but I'll get there.

Shortly after I joined CrossFit Balance I heard they were doing a 30 day Paleo Challenge. The Paleo diet has been dubbed the "Caveman Diet." As soon as I heard about it I knew I had to partake. I've had such a struggle with my sugar addiction that I thought putting $40 into a group challenge would inspire me to stick with a healthy lifestyle. You would think the need to get ready for boot camp would be enough inspiration, but even I can't begin to explain the rationalization that happens in my own brain. I'm no expert and there is certainly more to it than this, but the basics are that you can't eat any grains, dairy, starches (except sweet potatoes), refined sugar, or legumes. Thus, you end up eating a lot of veggies, fruits, eggs, and meat.

Paleo diet food pyramid. Source

I've made it through one week being really strict with the food aspect. I did however cheat by drinking alcohol two nights and sun-chips at a cook out (really, I caved to sunchips??). The first few days were hell. The nutritionist running the challenge says your body goes through detox the first week and I believe it. I'm pretty sure going from eating an entire box of Samoa girl scout cookies in one sitting to eating absolutely no sugar is enough to set your body into some serious withdrawal (we're talking drooling on yourself because your cousin sitting next to you on the couch is eating ice cream). For a funny, yet educational read from someone who just completed their 30 day Paleo challenge check out this blog post.

I've been eating a lot of these little scrambled egg and vegetable muffins. Source

I've had to spend a lot more money on groceries and more time actually preparing food rather than eating Lean Cuisines, but it's been worth it. After one week I've lost 4 pounds and definitely notice my clothes fitting better, as well as my body just feeling better in general. The challenge winner is whoever loses the most body fat percentage and I started at 23.9% so I'm hoping that 4 pounds lost the first week is a good sign, but I really have no idea - I'm just excited to be kicking my sugar addiction.

Keep challenging yourselves, 

  

Luck of the Irish

What was un-lucky about this year's St. Patty's Day was that I slept through my alarm and missed the start of the USA Rock N Roll Marathon (don't freak out...I wasn't supposed to be running it, just spectating). 

What was lucky was that I sprinted to the metro just in time to catch a train that would lead me to the Columbia Heights metro (about mile 7.5 on the race course). 

These runners were lucky to get through the intersection just before a firetruck came across the race course!

I had only signed up to track and receive messages for my cousin, but somehow as I stood there cheering for so many runners I was lucky enough to spot several friends and bloggers. My friends James and Sarah passed by looking strong. My friend Eileen was super surprised to see me. Emily over at Sweat Once a Day probably thought I looked like a crazy woman waving to her. Not sure if SR heard me yell "Go SR!" but I was pretty stoked about picking her out of the crowd when I didn't even know she was running. I was so lucky to see so many friends and runners, but the absolute best part was seeing my cousins Emily and Christina run with their dad. Our family is pretty awesome and we all wore these "Team Gallo" shirts that my uncle had his friend make:

My family was lucky to have near perfect running weather

I don't mess around when I say I'm getting dressed up to cheer on runners!

Back of the shirts reads "Family Matters"

Tons of random people cheered for my cousins and uncle just because of the shirts. I even heard one lady yell "I love your wine!" Haha!

In the haste of running out the door that morning I had accidentally left behind the poster I had made. Luckily my aunt brought it with her to mile 9.5 and said it was a big hit with a lot of the runners. 

 
 I also had a stroke of luck when I spotted a Capital Bikeshare rental right next to the race course in Columbia Heights. I grabbed a bike and was able to catch up with my family several times throughout the course and then just returned the bike at the finish line near the Stadium Armory metro. Congrats to my cousin Emily on her first half marathon! She ended up finishing with an awesome time of 2:10. 

Emily, Uncle Steve, and Christina

I'm lucky to have such a wonderful family. 
 

Generations of Strong Women

I haven't posted in a while, but as I gathered motivation from the strong women in my family this morning I logged on to blogger only to find that this is my 100th post, and I couldn't be more proud of the topic.

This post is in honor of my mom for running her first race ever, my great grandmother who is fiercely battling a truly devastating disease--Alzheimer's, and my cousin who is traveling to DC next week to run her first half-marathon.

If you've ever met my family, you know that we have an overwhelming ratio of women to men. Many of them have red hair and are yes, stereotypically stubborn and feisty. However, they are also wildly successful, frequently independent, have resilient souls, and are nurturing caretakers. They are lawyers, teachers, firefighters, realtors, grad students, wives, mothers, and most of all friends. 

This morning my mom ran her first race ever, The Pasco Challenge 5k to raise money for Alzheimer's research. She was nervous about completing it, but I knew she would be fine. When she called after the race and told me she did the entire 3.1 miles without stopping to walk I could hear the happiness in her voice and I have honestly never been so proud. She pushed herself to do something outside of her comfort zone and succeeded. In the process she helped contribute to research for a disease that hits close to home. I only wish I could have been there at the finish line cheering her on.

My mom at her first 5-k

Next weekend I have the privilege of cheering on my cousin as she runs her first half marathon (the RnR National Half Marathon on St. Patrick's day) with her sister and dad. You should have no doubt that I'll be decked out in Green sparkles and waving some ridiculous poster for all the runners. I hope I can come up with something as funny as the other spectator signs I've seen throughout my races.

I am honored to be a part of the women in my family. They impress and inspire to me to no end. Congratulations, mom! 

Looking at old photos with Grandma.

Love you, mom!

My mom with my great-grandmother

There's an App for That

I can't do a comparison of nutrition/fitness apps because the first one I happened to download turned out to be phenomenal...and free! No matter how many times I've resolved to "eat healthy" I've always resorted to old eating habits after a few weeks (read: eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's in one sitting). I'm hoping this new app I have called My Net Diary will be just what I need to stay on track for the long haul. 

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It really is unbelievable when you start keeping track of all the calories you eat in a day. Little things add up so quickly. With this app all I have to do is put in the food I eat and the exercise I do every day as well as my weight loss goal. So far, the app has been able to find every food in the database and save the nutritional information to my iPhone. At the end of the day it gives me an anaylsis of everything I ate and what I need to improve upon (for example my calorie intake was good, but I ate too much sodium and not enough fiber). It also tells me if I keep up at today's rate of eating/exercise I'll be losing about ____ pounds per week. 

You can also upload before and after pictures, keep track of water intake, any vitamins or medicine you've taken, etc. I think it's great and because I always have my phone with me it's pretty easy to keep up with. Here is the website if you're interested in learning more.

What are your favorite health and fitness apps? 
Do you have a weight loss goal? Mine is 139 pounds by June 1. I'm 5'8" and my starting weight on February 1 was 157 pounds. 

Happy Running (and fitness tracking!),