February Revolutionary

We are one whole month into 2014 and what a year it's been already!

Everyone and their mom is talking about the Seahawks' monstrous win over the Broncos yesterday. 43-8. I feel bad for Denver. Seriously. But go Hawks!

Anyway. One month ago, I made some substantial goals for 2014. In order to keep myself accountable, I'm doing a monthly progress report. I have a tendency to do two things: 1. Get discouraged when I don't instantly meet my goals and 2. Forget what I'm working towards.

This year I am desperately trying not to fall into the trap of forgetting my goals by Valentines Day.

The media doesn't help--- advertisements and specials for gym memberships, health food, and cleanses last up until Jan 31.

Then Feb 1 hits--- valentines day. 

Candy is EVERYWHERE. 

Seriously. Red and pink confectionery sugars are all up in my business. 

And no matter what health kick I'm on.... well... chocolate is still my friend.

But anyway. 

Goal progress.

Life goals

• Complete the Artists Way by September 1 
• Haven't started yet.. wah wah.
• Make Grad School Happen:  
• Turned in my application materials Jan 30, just waiting for PSU to get back to me!!!
• Read 10 books this year:
• Currently reading "Wolf Hall" Its a little slow right now... but I'm making my way through it.
• Creative Cooking: 
•  I've tried numerous new recipes and its been awesome.
• Celebrate the small stuff: 
• Our jar of happy moments is slowly but surely filling up! So much to celebrate!

Fitness Goals

• WOD an average of 4x/week: 
•  A little under average right now. I was out sick with a RAGING flu for a solid week. This week, I'm headed into dental surgery. No doubt I'll pick right back up!
• Complete 60 doubleunders, unbroken: 
• I'm at fifteen. Slowly but surely....
• Handstands will be my bitch: 
• Okay. Havent even tried. I'm being a wimp. 
• Deadlift more than 300lbs: 
• My current PR is #265.
• Backsquat with 195lbs: 
• Current is #175
• Compete at least three times: 
• Looking at the CrossFit Open, hoping I can make it happen with work.
• Drop #25 by July 1: 
• This one is painfully slow moving. I've started taking more photos and its awesome to see new muscle definition. And we've cleaned up our eating substantially. Progress is not limited to the scale, but sometimes I long for the days where I could lose like four pounds a week.

HOUSE goals

• Paint the living room once: 
• We've picked out some lovely gray paint and are starting next week!
• Replace the back-fence: 
• We've decided to do a living fence and are planting some really pretty bamboo (in beds) along the back line. 
• Build garden by April 1: 
• The yard is marked and ready to go. Just need to buy materials! (and the rain needs to slow down)
• Finish the guest room by July 15: 
• SO MUCH PROGRESS HERE! This weekend Shane and I insulated half the garage area, painted the giant black sheath covered wall, ripped down old gross shelving and made the space so much nicer. I'm diving into the room, post surgery!

FINANCE goals

• Pay off US bank CC by Mar 1
• On track. Thanks IRS 
• Pay off Elan CC by Dec 1
•  Consolidated our debt through Advantis to make this easier.
  
• Reduce total CC debt to less than $1000 
• May need to adjust this. Our fabulous roommate is leaving which means so is our rental income. Wah wah. 
• Pay off the damn car by Dec 31 
• On track! 
• Transfer $50 week to savings (and leave it there, seriously)
• Doin it!  

So by the next update, I WILL HAVE

• US bank paid off 
• Attempted a handstand
• Living room painted
• Garage room painted

#Hashtag2014

2014

is 

going 

to rock. 

seriously

So many things to look forward to already! 

I'm going to San Diego for the first time!

My drivers license expires!

I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed!

oh 

AND I'M GETTING MARRIED

Truth.

less than 200 days. yah. for real. 

After a crazy, crazy Christmas in seattle (both good crazy and bad crazy), we rang in the new year right: game night, drinks, dance party, a sweet mermaid trophy and of course an intergalactic unicorn shirt, all with fabulous company.

Spiced Apple Kava Kombucha + Sweet Vodka = whoops thats delicious

I love New Years Eve. For some, I know its just another night with super expensive bar covers and a chance for the mayans to tell us the world is ending. But to me its an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for another year.
The following day feels like a fresh start. So much opportunity lies in a new year. What do I want this year to hold? What changes will I make? What do I want to accomplish?

Social media is littered with resolutions right now
"I'm going to work out EVERYDAY for 8 hours while maintaining a full time job"
"I'm going to pay off all my $100,000,000 debt tomorrow with my starbucks paycheck" 
"I will never eat pasta on tuesdays with a full moon"
"I will run twenty marathons while carrying a horse on my back"
 "I will lose 50lbs off my 120lb frame"


Obviously, I'm exaggerating, but frighteningly not by much. This time of year, we feel invincible (hooray!) and like we can take on the world (yah! lets do it!). But this is why so many resolutions fail. By march 1st, we're overwhelmed, overworked, or just plain forgotten what we've resolved to do because none of it was actionable, timely, or realistic.

I prefer to make goals for the new year, things I'd like to accomplish, instead of resolutions. Is there really a difference? Maybe not. But a goal feels like something I am constantly working towards, something I can check off baby steps and see progress. I like that. Today, I am this much closer to my goal.  
So if by the end of this year, I didn't meet my goals-- its not failure, I'm just not finished. I can look at all the great things I accomplished on my way to meeting those goals. Progress doesn't hurt.

Last year one of my goals was to record an entire album. Like of music that I'd written. Ambitious right? yah. Well. Didn't happen. BUT I did record ten songs that I covered and two songs that I'd written. And I am proud of that for sure.

I also, like many, just forgot what I'd resolved to do. I'd written my goals down, but that scrap of paper got lost and found and lost and found and lost all over again.

So this year, I tried something different. I created something I could not possibly lose. 

My lovely friend Em came over for a crafting new years goals party. As a pair of wildly ambitious and crazily crafty women, we really got into this...

Puffy paint, obnoxiously bright colored paper, poster boards, oh my. 

School supplies heaven.

I broke my 2014 goals in four categories:

Life

House

Finances

Fitness

 And I made a lot of them. 

But. 

They are actionable. 

They are measureable. 

They are attainable.

AND they are on bright colored paper, with glitter, on a huge posterboard.

Life goals

• Complete the Artists Way by September 1. This is a 12-week creative development book that I've been dying to really get into. This year. I'm making it a priority
• Make Grad School Happen: Applying to the MPH program at PSU. Submitting my application materials NEXT WEEK. WOAH.
• Read 10 books this year
• Creative Cooking: try one new recipe a week
• Celebrate the small stuff: We now have a jar in our house that is slowly but surely filling up with slips of paper describing happy moments  we've experienced during 2014 so far. Next NYE, we'll read those papers:)

Fitness Goals

• WOD an average of 4x/week: Shit happens, I'd love to workout more. But four days is something I can definitely commit to. 
• Complete 60 doubleunders, unbroken: No singles inbetween, no stops. JUST GO. I got my doubleunders earlier this fall and now I want to make them extra awesome
• Handstands will be my bitch: Seriously. I am tired of being afraid of going upside down. This is stupid. 
• Deadlift more than 300lbs: My current PR is #265. I want to crush that. 
• Backsquat with 195lbs: Current is #175
• Compete at least three times: CrossFit Open, Gorilla Takeover, and ????
• Drop #25 by July 1: Okay this is my token weight loss goal/vain wedding push.  Sure, I'd love to see an ab or six, but I'm feeling strong and happy. If this happens, great, if I only drop five or ten, thats fine too. I've learned the scale doesn't really represent progress. 
• 2013: Gained 8 pounds, dropped two sizes. Say what?

HOUSE goals

• Paint the living room once: In the little more than a year that I've owned this place, the living room has changed colors three times. We need to paint again, but NO MORE after this. 
• Replace the back-fence: Somehow showing off our living room to our neighbors a block away, feels weird
• Build garden by April 1: Six raised beds, moving a couple of sheds and thrashing the shit out of some grass and we are good. 
• Finish the guest room by July 15: Paint, furnish, rid of random shit and make generally habitable.

 FINANCE goals

• Pay off US bank CC by Mar 1
• Pay off Elan CC by Dec 1
• Reduce total CC debt to less than $1000 
• Pay off the damn car by Dec 31
• Transfer $50 week to savings (and leave it there, seriously)

Woah. That is a LOT of goals. 

Let's get goin! 

CrossFit Cat thinks you should make some awesome goals with glitter pens too.

Gorilla Takeover my life

WOAH. 

What a month this has been! 

I was put to the SOBE-TOBER challenge for October 

and 

I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back and call it a success. 

This was less about boozing for me (I'll admit--  I had a few glasses of wine sporadically) because I rarely drink anyway, but more about keeping my diet in line and focusing on some fitness goals.

My fitness goals for October:

• Continue my double-under awesomeness and learn to string them together. Practice these each time I work out. YEAH BABY! I did it. I can string my double unders together without singles in between. Not super consistently yet, but hey it is undeniable progress!
• CrossFit/BootyCamp four days per week I faltered here a bit due to a stupid dumb dumb stupid cold, but I made consistent attendance.
• Do five unassisted kipping pull-ups Yeah no. Close but no cigar. Still working towards this!
• Compete in the Gorilla Take Over Garage Games AH HELL YEAH I DID. 

So I am going to focus on my last goal of competing in the Gorilla Take Over.
The competition was held over two days. Three WODS on Saturday and then two on Sunday (including the finals.)

I competed in the individual women's scaled division.

Holy Ballz. 

Me and my fabulous lady friend/coach/judge/cheerleader extraordinaire, EM

This was an absolutely amazing weekend and while I am still tired and sore, I cannot wait to do it again. Just watching and cheering for the other competitors was exhilarating. One woman brought me to tears as she completed a 345 pound dead lift. And no I was not crying because of the assumed pain she would be in tomorrow. But I could relate to the mental and physical duress she just overcame in that moment. These competitors are so dedicated and it requires so much emotionally and physically. It was incredible to watch her set a new PR. I am so thankful for my coaches Tony, Joon and Emily for pushing me to do this, plus the fabulously supportive fitfam, who cheered throughout the weekend.

One of the best parts though---I got to share this weekend with my mom. She came down to do some wedding dress shopping (I SAID YES to the dress...) and I talked her into staying for part of the competition. It was very reminiscent of my volleyball tournament days, bleacher butt and all,  and I loved sharing this huge part of my life with her. At one point she got the entire bleacher section cheering for me. I am so lucky.


My goals for the weekend were to:

• Finish all the WODs under the time cap
• PR my deadlift (previous max was 175) and break 200 pounds
• Make it to the final WOD
• If I made it to finals, not to finish last.

WOD 1:

500M Row
Then 
21-15-9
Thrusters (#45)
Box Jumps (20in) 
TC 10:00

Okay. See the maniac rowing in the middle of the back row? Yeah that crazy chick who is doing two for ones for everyone's pulls? Dont you want to scream at her to slow the hell down?

yeah. Where were you saturday morning?!

Mom's handy ipad cam proves my insanity

I jumped on the rower and all the advice I'd heard ("dont burn out on the row" "take it easy" "pace") flew right out my head. Pure adrenalin took over and I rowed like my life depended on it.

thanks to TA Barnhart for capturing this moment

Unfortunately, when I stepped off the rower, my legs turned to jello. I battled through the thrusters and box jumps (coughSTEPUPScough) and managed to finish in 7:18.

(c)TA Barnhart

Thank god.

WOD 2 
Ten minutes to find a 1 Rep Max Deadlift

OMG most rewarding WOD award goes to....WOD 2!

I've never REALLY pushed myself to find my deadlift max. I stopped around #175 and never pushed further. Obviously, competition is not the place for that mentality. My goal was to break #200 and I fucking smashed it.

This is attractive....

I PR-ed at #245!!!!!

I had four failed attempts at #255 and am still kicking myself for not being able to get that shit off the ground. BUT it was SUCH an awesome feeling to push myself so damn hard. I had a phenomenal group of cheerleaders screaming their fool heads off and my mom even got her section of bleachers to root for me.

WOD 2 went straight into the next WOD
WOD 3:
4RFT
10 Kb Swings #35
25 Yard Farmers Carry #80
8 Modified Rope Climbs
25 Yard Farmers Carry #80
(TC: 10:00)

25 yrd farmers carry with #160

I'd like to point out that the Farmer's Carry (pictured above) is #80 in each arm. #160 TOTAL.
But right after lifting #245, that #160 felt like nothing. And in fact, the #35 KB swing was dangerously light in comparison... I almost chucked it. whoops!

That night I went home and inhaled my dinner--- I was ravenous, rightly so, I'd say.  I passed out at the respectable time of 8:45pm gearing up for the next day. 

Note: I did have to be pushed/rolled out of bed in the morning and not because I was unwilling to leave my pillow.... little sore...


Shane was my cheerleader for Sunday and was at the sideline of each event screaming, cheering and capturing some of my crazy faces. Thank god there isn't any video.

Sunday morning kicked off with  
WOD 4: the chipper from hell

60 double unders or 180 singles
50 wall ball squats (#14)
40 burpees, jump to the plate
30 ab mat sit ups
20 lunges with wall ball
10 hand release plyo pushups
20 lunges with wall ball (#14)
30 ab mat sit ups
40 burpees, jump to the plate
50 wall ball squats (#14)
60 double unders or 180 singles
 TC 25:00

Okay mind you, my body is spent from SATURDAY and now I have to work my way through this bullshit?!?

Wall ball

Sit up, convince self that you are not dying, laydown. Repeat.

Weighted lunges.

FORTY BURPEES... twice. so EIGHTY BURPEES. *Whine alert*  burpees suck in general, but they really suck after doing 50 wall balls and they REALLY SUPER SUCK after doing three WODs the previous day.

Hurdle body at ground

Jump onto plate

Un-hurdle body and throw feet forward

take nap on plate.

This workout became so much more mentally challenging than anything (though my quads still beg to differ)















 I had several mantras running through my head, some helpful, some not.

"Stupid dumb stupid legs" this was also combined with punching my quads to remind them to work. 

"Fuck burpees, fuck this, why am I doing this"

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."
"HOW DID THAT WOMAN FINISH SO QUICKLY. DONT CHEER ME ON. YOU ARE CLEARLY CRAZY"

"I paid to do this, maybe I am clearly crazy"

"only 500000 reps to go"

Eventually, I did make it back down the other side of the pyramid. I powered through my wall balls and with less than 30 seconds left in the time cap, I threw everything I had left into jumping rope. I managed to knock out 55 singles before time was called. 125 jumps short of completely finishing. BUT as Em reminded me, I finished all the hard stuff. If there was just another 30 secs, I would have finished. I'll take it as a win. 

I walked away, shaking, exhausted, high from endorphins (not high enough though thank you) and slightly bummed because I figured since I hadn't finished, I wasn't going to make it finals. 

BUT duh dun duhhhh!!! I did! Holding on to the number 9 spot in my division, I got to move on!

CUE Happy Face! 

Or "Shit-yay-excited-wait-this-means-I-have-to-do-another-workout" pained expression.

The last WOD was exhausting, mentally and physically. 

Final WOD
Sweet sixteen sprints buy in
Straight into D.T.
5 RFT
12 Deadlifts (#85)
9 hangcleans (#85)
6 shoulder to overhead press (#85)
Sprint buy out
TC 15:00

16 Sprints.

12 Deadlifts

9 Hang cleans

6 shoulder to overhead

 The coolest thing about this community is that the very people you are competing against, are the same folks that are cheering you on. This is something I believe is unique to the CrossFit community.  I was well behind the other women in my division for this WOD and ended up being the last to finish. But I don't think I would have finished, had I not had a gaggle of people surrounding me, cheering like maniacs for me to get the bar in the air.  I sprinted my last bit and finished at 14:11.

At the end of the weekend, I'd managed to hold on to my number nine position in my division meeting my goal of not being last (aim for the stars).


My fabulous friends, family, and fitfam really made this weekend remarkable for me.

WHEN'S THE NEXT COMPETITION!??!?!?

My take-away from the weekend: "Tell your Mind to get out of your Body's Way"

SobeTober

SOBERTOBER is nearly upon us.

so no more of this...

 Sobertober is our Fall Fit Challenge 

(things look so much more official when you capitalize them). 

My lovely friends (and BRIDESMAIDS) Jenn and Em dreamed up this SOBERTOBER challenge and I've decided to take part because well... I love a good challenge... and I've been talked into writing up some meal plans. So now I think you all should do it too.

The focus of the meal plans will be primarily paleo or primal.  I'll be posting shopping lists and recipes each week. Look for an update each Saturday. Each recipe will make enough for a small family (or indicate otherwise), so you'll have leftovers! woo!

New to paleo?
Study this...

Or check out this awesome infographic from PaleoHacks. Its fantastic. Seriously. Go read it.

The other piece of the challenge is fitness focused, but that is customizable to you!

My fitness goals for October:

• Continue my doubleunder awesomeness and learn to string them together. Practice these each time I work out.
• CrossFit/BootyCamp four days per week
• Do five unassisted kipping pull-ups
• Compete in the Gorilla Take Over Garage Games

What are your goals? Weight loss? Muscle building? Extra bendy flexible awesomeness? All of the above? Write it down, post your goals in the comments below or if you know our awesomeness in real life--- join our SobeTober event on Facebook!

weddings and fitness and sugar OH MY

Well.

It has been brought to my attention that I am seriously slacking on my presence in the blogosphere.
Its not that I didn't want  to write anything, its just that I really didn't have a ton to say. 

This summer has been awesome and transformational in so many ways. Continuing to sculpt my booty at the Love Life Be Fit booty camp and working on my wedding arms at CrossFit Stumptown (did I mention Shane and I are engaged? WOOO)

My last post, Midway adjustments  (on what turned our to be an uber fail of a detox) really kind of sums that weird fitness funk I was going through last spring

But this summer, and especially September was a good turn around for me! I decided to embark on yet another 21 Day Sugar Detox because well I feel like there was a lot of this happening in my life....

and this

and not enough of this

So, I challenged myself to a 21 day sugar detox and ordered a pair of "goal jeans" to hopefully shimmy into at the end of the challenge. Fantastically enough, they fit PRE-CHALLENGE.

What up. Hullo size 8.

That's been my ultimate goal size since I was 16 years old, so needless to say, that was a pretty emotionally awesome night for me.  

Speaking of success--- I FINALLY GOT MY GODDAMN DOUBLE UNDERS. 

In the middle of the WOD yesterday, something just CLICKED and I did one! And then I had to yell at myself to keep jumping. Then I did two, three, four, before thwacking the shit out of shins. But I was giggling and smiling like a maniac in the middle the gym. 

So life is pretty fuckin rad right now. I'm about to embark on SobeTober challenge with some of the most inspiring folks I know. I'll save the details for another post--- but full paleo, booty campin, boozless October filled fun.

Challenge Accepted

This May is going to be full of challenges: some work-related, some self-inflicted.

The first half of May, and really the weeks leading up to it, are the busiest time of the year for my office. Commencement is right around the corner (uh Sunday), and things are HIGH STRESS.



I'm trying to maintain the best of attitudes, but its a little intense.  I am frantically checking things off my to do list, trying to maintain a consistent presence at CrossFit, and desperately resisting the urge to drown my stress in bourbon and ice cream.

To focus my energies during this absurd time, and to help with the boozy ice cream float craving (sorry to plant THAT seed) 

I've decided to tackle another 21 Day Sugar Detox. 

BUT

This time....

I WILL DO IT FOR ALLLLLLLL OF MAY.

31 days sans sugar....

Please note aforementioned self-inflicted challenges...

But

I'm doing it with the support of my one of my fantastic trainers, Emily Celichowski

I've been training with Em for a year and half now and thanks to her encouragement and training, I've gone through some incredible transformations.

  we do fun things like this

    These really get my heart rate up too

Okay not exactly like that... replace the kittens with kettle-bells, resistance bands, weighted plates or barbells... But Em spews sunshine, so really broad jumps around the block may well be as fun as playing with kittens, unless you're allergic to kittens... 

But really, this woman is incredible. She's demanding during workouts, constantly asking you to push yourself, but she always has a smile on her face.

So some days I can't help but do a few moves like this...

Signature dance move right there... oh yaaaa

If you're in the Portland neighborhood, you should for sure take advantage of any opportunity to train with her. 

Interested? Wanting to shape up for Portland "summer"?

 Lucky for you... Em is now teaching a new outdoor boot camp through Honest PT. 

She's put together a 10 Week Summer Slim Down for all those wanting to show off that new bra top at the lloyd center this summer, or perhaps just feel and look like a badass. 

Either way, its a full meal STEAL OF A DEAL: killer workouts, nutrition guide, and fantastic coaching. Ch-ch-ch check it out! 

27 small steps to go

I freaked out earlier this year from the seemingly backwards weight gain from my newly dedicated crossfit lifestyle. I'm also sure it had nothing to do with holiday treats and sweets.

But after reigning in my sweet tooth through the 21 Day Sugar Detox and focusing on healthy habits (like sleeping!),  I've finally shed that stubborn seven pounds and happily not in the form of muscles. I like my guns, thank you very much!

Using the pittance of pocket money I could scrounge up, I was able to purchase few key wardrobe upgrades. Wearing the same damn pair of pants almost daily gets really old.

I surprisingly slipped into a size 8 dress. Two sizes smaller than I was at Christmas this year, but my weight is the exact same. It was a good lesson in remembering that the scale is not always an accurate representation of progress.


I have twenty seven pounds to go until I hit my ultimate goal weight. Twenty seven, that's it. I can do this right? Admittedly, I am longing for the early weight loss days, when I was seeing the scale drop three pounds a week, sometimes more. Its much more difficult now. My body composition has changed drastically (yay) but that makes it more difficult to lose that last bit.  

This coming summer is going to be full of huge life changes. I'm sending off four of my closest friends to LA, house changes are frequent and will continue, people are moving in and out, friends are getting married etc. etc.

I want to be prepared to tackle this exciting and stressful time and hit my UGW by the end of July.

Sixteen weeks. 

         Full of: Crossfit. Plenty of sleep, plenty of water and plenty of sunshine(here's hoping).

Fifty down, twenty-seven to go.

Best friend Britt tells it like it is:

Liz: Thats 1.75 pounds per week to lose

            BAH

          I CAN DO THIS 

Britt:  YES YOU CAN!!

           SI SE PUEDE!!!

            listen to dora

          she's fuckin explorin

          and she doesnt give a SHIT what anybody else thinks

           BOOM.

21 Day Sugar Detox

March 4, I kicked off the 21 Day Sugar Detox, or the Whole 30 on crack as I like to call it, through balanced bites.

My weight loss has slowed substantially since the holiday season and while I could tell my body composition was changing, its been fairly discouraging to see the scale stuck in one spot (or creeping up in the wrong direction).

There hasn't been anything inherently wrong with my diet. I'm sticking fairly close to my paleo(or primal) 80/20 rule, but that 80 has been comprised of a lot of fruit and nuts (paleo sugar!!!) and some not so careful label reading. Thus the stall in a year's worth of infinite progress.

Which brought me to the sugar detox.

I unknowingly chose both the best and worst time to attempt the 21 day sugar detox.
A back injury half-way through, kept me from my beloved Crossfit stumptown, but my 25th birthday brought the temptation of booze and sweets on several occasions.

However, in spite of temptation the detox went well. I did allow some cheats, but they were methodical and planned out, not the source of giving in or stress.

In 21 days, I lost 5.5 pounds and dropped a pant size, which is GREAT. 

BUT 

More importantly, I learned some valuable things about my emotional response to food and 

kicked(or slowed) some bad habits.

•  Ode to artificial sweetener! 
• The plague of diet soda had crept back into my life, almost on a daily occurence. Something about diet dr. pepper just brings joy to my life. But as my sister would say, its cancer in a bottle, so I said buhbye to it this whole detox. BAM. 
• GUM. I swear I am a serial gum chewer. I chew a pack a day, constantly smacking my jaw up and down, popping winterfreshy goodness with my tongue. Its absurd. Somehow, I managed to nix this habit through the whole detox (save one "I just ate fish" necessity). 
• Fruit was my go-to snack
• I come home from work, I go straight to the fruit bowl for an apple, orange or banana. Same story if I'm hungry at desk. Sometimes is dried cherries, apples, or banana chips. Never carrots or celery. 
• I had to come up with new snack ideas
• Green Apples with homemade sunbutter
• hard-boiled eggs
• sliced ham or turkey lunch meat with carrots or celery
• Or just drinking tea or water, because I wasn't hungry, I was bored!
• Stress equals sweet-tooth.
• Anytime I got overwhelmed or stressed I discovered my initial response was to walk straight towards the treat door for some dark chocolate or really whatever I could find. 
• The detox forced me to find other ways to unwind. Now, I make a cup of tea, take a walk with the dog, or practice my piano to quell the crazy.
• Emotional Balance
• I've always known that the less sugar dependent I am, the more balanced I feel, but I never realize to what extent it is until I remove sugar completely. 
• After the first week, allowing my body to adjust to the fact that I wasn't going to get that banana or dark chocolate fix, I started to feel better. My energy was up, my sleep was deeper, and the fact that I couldn't make it to the gym was far less emotionally-disastrous than it would have been a month ago.

I broke my sugar fast this weekend at my family birthday celebration with some delicious peach crisp my lovely sister made for me. So sweet, so good, but I couldn't finish the helping I was served. Truly a treat, instead of a staple. I'll surely incorporate fruit back into my diet, but with more moderation and care than previously exercised.

2012 BAM

So this would be my belated happy new year in review blah blah blah post. 

2012 was an incredible year of transformation for me.

• I finally started recording music with the amazing Kelsey Anderson. 

Check out some of our work on the youtubes

• I bought a house!!!

Someone, somewhere thought it was a great idea to loan a single 24 year old woman with copious student loan and credit card debt an exorbitant amount of money. Thank god they did, because I now have a charming Portland 1950s bungalow to call home.

• I totally transformed my diet and the way I approach nutrition. 

Vegan to Paleo. What a trip. I reread a post from my super skeptical self from January 2012. Its pretty evident that I thought this paleo shmaleo thing was a load of crap. (Read for yourself) But as you may have guessed, now, a year later, I am a huge proponent of the Paleo or Primal lifestyle. It has completely changed my life, and I dont just meant the smaller pants I can now shimmy into. I am significantly healthier, emotionally and physically.

• I lost 50 net pounds, 66lbs of fat, and 36.5 inches.

I worked my ass off for this loss (or gain, depending on how you look at it). The wonderful trainers at Portland FitBody Bootcamp played a huge role in my success and I am unbelievably grateful for all the support they provided.

 

Dec 2011

Sept 2012

"You hit your goal!" tackle and laugh. NYE 2012

I am excited for 2013. I am back in action at Crossfit Stumptown and am ready to rock the rest of my goals.



2013 Smashin Goals

• Hit CrossFit at least 3/wk
• Lose 30 pounds
• Record and release an album with Kelsey Anderson
• Practice music at least 3/wk
• Save enough money to take the coveted disneyland trip with manfriend. Yes. That's on my list.

Six weeks to 50 el bees

New Years is in SIX WEEKS.

Can you believe it?!

My apartment is a hot mess of boxes, animals, clothes and general debris at the moment. I am gearing up to move into my very own big girl house next week.  Yes. I bought a house. Hashtag DEBT.

 

Amongst the mess, I found a craftastic piece of cardstock with very carefully written goals for 2012 etched in colored sharpie. I examined my goals, somewhat skeptically, trying not to be too critical of my ability to stick with a plan. I'm a dreamer, so shoot me!?

    some of my goals: 

• dedicate daily practice time to music (check and shameless self-promotion)
• take an acting class (check)
• apply to grad school (eehhhhhh)
• workout 5days/week
• lose 40lbs

If you had asked me last January, which of my 2012 goals seemed least attainable, I would have begrudgingly pointed to the last one. Lose 40 pounds. That's been on my list for several years. What a daunting number. FORTY. that's like half a backstreet boy.

BUT, as I've tooted several times during the past month. I did it! WOO!

So, now as 2012 comes to a close (WOAH) and I am BACK in action at good ol' Crossfit Stumptown,  I am challenging myself to lose another ten pounds by new years eve. 

So here's to the next six weeks, and ringing in 2013 fifty pounds lighter. 

attack of the frump monster

I spent my entire morning creating an outfit based on a stupid scarf I made this weekend. 

MY ENTIRE MORNING.

Granted, getting dressed has become a decidedly difficult task. Not the actual physical act--- I mean if we are talking about morning battles let's address the whole getting out of warm bed and facing the world at the ass crack of dawn. 

The difficulty lies in my lack of wardrobe choices. Forty-five pounds lighter and with a paycheck that also seems to be shrinking, new clothes don't seem to be in my future.

It also doesn't help that my cat steals my socks.... and I am damn well sure he stole the yellow sweater, that fits, that I wanted to wear today.

Nike+ = Liz+

I've been out of commission on the CrossFit front since last saturday, after a crazy intense workout with CrossFit Stumptown.

My competitive edge won over the common sense telling me to slow down and I ended the workout sweaty, heart racing and with an severely inflamed bicep. And while I'm sure it was comical for manfriend to watch me struggle to put on my jacket (or really move at all), its kept me out of the gym for about a week.

I hate that. 

I've seemed to lost all sense of routine since leaving Portland FitBody Bootcamp. My mornings used to be very particular: Wake up at asscrack of dawn five days a week and sweat with some badass women. But a series of events has made that less of an option these days.

So now I am getting all creative in my workout endeavors. A major saving grace in the grumpy factor has been running. I've long wanted running to be my thing, but always felt like I was failing miserably. I admired my sister and the grueling marathons she'd battle like a pro, but didn't imagine I'd ever get to that point. ( I am still not even close to that).

But I would say that running is slowly, but surely, becoming my thing. The other night, after a particularly tenuous day at work, I laced up my reeboks, zipped up my hoodie and hit start run on my Nike+ Running App.

And off I went.

Goal time of 45 minutes. The first fifteen minutes kind of sucked to be honest. It was cold; dark clouds threatened to test the hopeful waterproof protection of my zip up, but I kept going.

Explosive cheers from fabulous facebook friends "liking" that I'd started a run with Nike+,  interrupted my music from time to time, making me smile and push a little harder

And right as I ran up to my house, Sanya Richards Ross congratulated me on completing my goal of 45 minutes and racking up 4.51 miles.


To be brutally honest, the last time I attempted to run just four miles in a row, it took me nearly an hour and I thought I was going to die.  Forty-five pounds lighter and infinitely stronger, I now feel unstoppable.

rawrsome running.

I have been all about pounding the pavement lately. Its been delightful. Each time I lace up my tennies, I am pleasantly surprised at my ability to run farther and faster than the previous run. I've most definitely been inspired by the lovely Roya over at Life of Roya . She's been blowing up the blogosphere with her fabulous musings for more than a year now--- go check her out. 

 Last week, I did the color run with the lovely Jen and her friend Lauren. Admittedly, it was more color than run, due to the 15,000 other color enthusiasts sharing the track.

We are ready to ROCK this race

Ohhhhh yeah B-)

Color Cloud party at the end. I swear I am still hacking up tickle me pink colored phlegm. 

The day after the race (still covered in pink powder...), I boarded a plane to good ol' Denver, CO for a work conference.

I battled the elevation and ran through the streets of LoDo. Much to my surprise, I managed to PR on my 5K time, clocking at just over 30 minutes. Surprising because 1. I haven't run more than three miles straight since I smashed my ankle to pieces 8 months ago and 2. I'm running at 5000 ft. elevation. My sea-level lungs felt it the next day....



Unfortunately, these days I am without reliable transportation. Getting to Stumptown Crossfit has been no easy feat, so I've been creative in my bootykickin' I stumbled out of bed this morning and on to the streets of nopo. I trotted through the brisk october air and shocking loved every minute of it. Three and half miles later, I clambered up the steps to my apartment to get ready for the rest of the day, barely breaking a sweat.


I've said it a million times before, but I absolutely love challenging my body and pushing myself to the limits and its doubly rewarding when my body responds so positively!

Oh and down another 4 pounds. :)