Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Friday, February 11, 2011

Dora's Theme Song

My thirty days are up! Every time I think about being done I can't help but start singing the theme song from Dora the Explorer (those of you without kids may be completely lost on this one) but when Dora, Boots, and Backpack accomplish whatever mission they are on for the day they sing this song that starts off, "We did it, we did it, we did it!" I can demo for you if you need me to:)

Anyway, I did it! and Malachi did too so I am so super proud of us both. Overall, this was an amazing experience for me. I definitely learned a lot about discipline, receiving grace from the Lord during challenging times, and being able to achieve things that I didn't think were possible for me.

Some of my highlights from this Whole 30 Challenge are:
1. Actually completing the 30 days without cheating once
2. Learning new recipes for meals
3. Doing pull ups Rx
4. Discovering that it is possible to make a grilled cheese sandwich for your son without taking a bite
5. Seeing more definition and tone in my body
6. Receiving so much love and support from my family and friends
7. Feeling more energized and less need for naps during the day
8. Dropping body fat-I lost 4%
9. Being able to do 100 burpees in 5:56 and intimidating my husband with my fast time so he doesn't try to do the WOD:)
10. Getting to share with a few people at the box that the Lord's grace is what is getting me through this challenge.

So, the take away is that this diet plan truly has a lot of benefits. I feel stronger, fitter, more energized, and overall just more in control of my eating habits. I really feel my view of food has changed from something that I indulged in to more of a fuel source for my body. I absolutely will stick with eating a Whole 9 diet, probably not 100%, but most of the time. Thanks for challenging us all Crossfit Strong! It has been an awesome 30 days!!!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Rx Pull Ups! What, What!!

I did pull ups Rx! I did pull ups Rx! If you can't tell, I am singing that while dancing around my living room because I am so excited to say that I can do pull ups Rx now:) Whether or not this has anything to do with my eating Whole 30, I will forever look back and remember that I did my first set of prescribed pull ups during this challenge and therefore I deem it a huge, huge success. Seriously, I can't help but think that my clean eating has something to do with giving my body the fuel and energy it needed to build muscle and gain enough strength to get my stinking chin above that bar all on my own:)

I started at Crossfit Strong in mid November and have slowly been working my way through the different levels of tension bands for pull ups and yesterday my sweet husband made me try them on my own and to my own amazement I was able to do them! Crazy! Today we had burpee pull ups in the WOD and I did all 29 Rx. Super cool! Even though I am still using a band for dips, it is a huge boost to my confidence to be able to do regular pull ups and I can honestly say I am looking forward to them now.

On the challenge front, there are only two days left! I cannot believe it really. Malachi and I were just talking about how it actually has gone by somewhat fast. Sure I have missed many things, mainly diet dr pepper, iced coffees, gum, and the occasional brownie but all in all it has been a fairly speedy 30 days and I have enjoyed what I have been eating. The next entry will most likely be my conclusion on what the experience has meant to me... Can't believe it's almost here!!!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Some Things I've Learned

After being holed up in my house for the last week because of this crazy weather we've been having, I am realizing that I have definitely changed during this challenge. Either that or I'm just much more stubborn than I thought I was:) I think this is true for most people, but when I'm bored all I want to do is snack on junk and even if I'm not hungry I find myself opening the pantry or fridge and just staring waiting for something to call to me. Well, I have been able to stick to the Whole 30 even while being terribly bored at my house and making yummy looking food for my son. I cannot tell you how good the pb&j sandwich looked that I made him today. That is definitely going on my list of things I want to eat once I'm done! I do think part of my success has to do with stubbornness but mostly it is about having awesome accountability and really feeling a lot of love and support during these last several weeks. My husband and friends have been so amazing! Malachi is like the poster boy of self discipline so him just doing it with me and knowing that he definitely will not give in helps me to stay focused. And my friends have sent emails, texts, phone calls, and even cooked Whole 30 meals when we've gotten together. Truly special!

Its so cool to experience "the church" doing what we are suppose to do; hold one another up in a loving and supportive way. I absolutely would not be able to stick to this if I were living in isolation or even if I decided in my head to eat better but didn't tell anyone and ask them for accountability. At my first tempting moment I would have just shrugged it off and taken that bite of sugary goodness. That's why the bible is so emphatic on believers living in community because God knows how darn difficult it is to make it through even one day in this world on our own. He designed us to need relationships with each other. We were made in His image and I believe a big part of that is reflected in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit having relationship with one another. He knows the power that comes from sharing life with others, loving and being loved, and building one another up and I have definitely experienced a taste of that during this challenge. So thank you to everyone who has been encouraging to me. I could not have done it without you!

As for today's WOD, I did Fran for the first time which I now know is a pretty big deal in the Crossfit community. It is a short WOD but it is used as a measuring stick of sorts I'm learning.
21 thrusters, 21 pull ups
15 thrusters, 15 pull ups
9 thrusters, 9 pull ups

So now I can ask, "so what's your Fran time?" and be able to answer myself. My time of course wasn't that great, 8:10. I did do the prescribed weight on the thrusters, 65 lbs., but used a purple band on my pull ups... I guess I now have something to work towards when we do it again someday. Last night Malachi and I did the ice day WOD at home since the box was closed and it involved several elements, one of which was push ups. I will have you know that I did 155 regular push ups during the course of the workout! I was very, very proud of myself:)
Maybe there is something to this Whole 30 after all...