This week's goal-Make a Difference

Gymnastic Cert in Atlanta.

This past weekend I traveled to Atlanta to CrossFit HD for my CrossFit Gymnastic Cert with Jeff Tucker, Julie Maurer and Jessica Gray. Let me just say that I felt like a school kid the entire time! All during the day I felt like I needed to pinch myself and was constantly saying to myself "I am so glad I'm here!", "Can I really call this work?", "This is just too much fun!" and of course "I love Tucker!!"

Seriously, after spending 2 months sick with Bronchitis, YES! 2 MONTHS!, this put me in such a fantastic mood that I feel I am still floating!

I am still riding on the joy and feeling so blessed! I am blessed!

I have had the opportunity to work with outstanding coaches such as Mike Burgener, Jeff Tucker, Chuck Carswell, and on and on!  I get to meet truly amazing athletes such as Brandon Phillips, Emily Griffith, and Alecia Grantham and Leah Polaski. (Look for them in Regionals!) The friends I have made in my few short years of CrossFit are priceless! But more importantly I have the privilege of sharing CrossFit with other people. I have the honor of spending an hour with someone and help them to achieve goals they never dreamed they would achieve. Can it get better than this?

I could go on and on. Bottom line? CrossFit has changed my life and has brought me a joy I didn't know I was missing. Are you waiting for the mushy music to start? hahaha!

I know, this is soft and mushy, but this is how I have been feeling this past week. I wish everyone could feel like this! But here is what I have learned. I am not normal.

Surprised? Haha, probably not!

I know there are other "not normal" people out there and I love you! I also love the normal people. I realize not every one of my athletes live and breathe CrossFit. That's okay. They still walk in the door with a goal and if they don't, I give them a goal. (Goals are your friend!)

My goal right now is to make a difference. Yes, I have other goals such as a 135lbs snatch or finally getting a strict muscle up, but in the big picture my top goal is to make a difference.
I am working on that goal this coming weekend. The WODism for Autism.

This was an idea I had a few months ago after being inspired by my friend Sean Dickenson, from Combat Fitness who had done a day long (brutal) WOD to collect food for Backpack for Buddies. I loved it! I wanted to do something like this to raise money for the Autism Society of Alabama.What I came up  with was a WODathon  which we will host at my gym, Trinity CrossFit.

As you may or may not know, my oldest son, Taylor, has High Functioning Autism. He has been doing CrossFit Kids for 2 years now and it has been so great for him. I wanted to share this with other parents, so I thought this would be a great way to introduce CrossFit to people who may think it is only for the Elite and to raise a little money in the process.

Jeff Tucker with GSX CrossFit programmed the WOD "Taylor" for us. We are also going to be having a ground to overhead relay going on all day for the total amount of weight overhead by the end of the day.
I can't wait! I have no idea how many people are coming, but I do know that it has grown much larger than I had dreamed. I am looking forward to it!

If you would like to participate with us by doing the WOD "Taylor", here it is.
"Taylor"
10 minute AMRAP of
Handstand Holds - 5 seconds
5 Ring Pushups
5 Shoot Thrus
15 Air Squats
Hollow Hold - 5 seconds

I will blog next week and let you know how it goes!

OK, now on to the WODs this week
I have taken the past 2 weeks off because I couldn't get well so I only have Monday and today to post.

Monday:-
Strength
Push Press (no rack) 3-2-2-1-1 (95lbs, 105lbs, 110lbs, 115lbs, 125lbsF)

WOD
15 minute AMRAP of
5 Power Cleans (100lbs)
10 Toes to Bar
15 Wall Balls
6 Rounds +2

Strength 2
 Bench Press 5-5-5-5-5 (95lbs, 95lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs)

Tuesday
Skill
Ring Support 4 x 15 seconds
Ice Cream Makers 3-3-3-3-3

WOD
100 Overhead Squats (65lbs)
at the top of each minute do 3 burpees
8:45

Feels good to be back to my WODs again. My goal for the next 4 weeks is my bench press and my muscle up. I am working towards a bodyweight bench press and a strict muscle up by this time next month.

SKINNY does not mean HEALTHY

I have spent the past week or so really trying to find the right words for this post. I have finally come to the realization that I just need to be up front and point blank about this. I really just need to vent just a bit.

SKINNY DOES NOT MEAN HEALTHY!

That being said, I am human and I get my feelings hurt, too. I have to admit though, it really pisses me off that I couldn't just shrug this off but instead, let it get to me. Especially when what was said to me shouldn't have bothered me!

Last week, I had someone very close to me, another woman, lovingly point out the fact that I had still have a belly.
Not a shocker! I mean, it's not like I didn't know, but it hurt my feelings just the same. I said as much and she told me that she didn't mean to hurt my feelings BUT she was taking these appetite suppressants and maybe I would like her to get me some also to help me get rid of the rest of my belly.
:(
FEELINGS VERY HURT!

And do you know what makes me the most upset?! The fact that for a split second before I shut her down, I was willing to hear about these pills. WHY?

Seriously! WHY?!

If someone from my gym had told me that this had happened to them I would have come UNDONE! I would have been so upset! Then I would have spent the next 30 minutes explaining to them that SKINNY does not mean HEALTHY! Pills are NOT how to lose weight and blah, blah, blah!

So why didn't I have this immediate reaction when it was suggested to me that I needed help to lose my belly? I think partly because this statement came from a loved one, but I think the real reason is because I, like so many of you, can not be completely satisfied with how I look.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

I have never been that girl with the eating disorder. Mostly because I enjoy food too damn much!  What I have always wanted though, was an athletic build. A body that, when people saw me, would know that I worked hard for it, not wonder who my plastic surgeon was. (DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against plastic surgery, it is just not for me.)
Up until a few years ago, I didn't do the work to get that body, so I had no reason to be upset that I didn't have it. So, I wasn't.

If you don't work for it, you can't expect it, right? RIGHT!

After the birth of my 3rd and last son, I got serious though. I started working out 6 days a week doing something you may have heard of, P90X. This was perfect for me at the time. I had a newborn that I couldn't take to the gym and with this, I could work out at home. I did this for 3 years, every day. (YES! You read that correct) I measured myself monthly, weighed myself, took the before and after pictures. You name it! Over those 3 years, I saw my body begin to change and reward me with my hard work.

THEN I discovered CrossFit and my life completely changed!

I also discovered I wasn't near as strong and in shape as I thought I was. My first CrossFit workout handed my ass to me...and I loved it!!! As a result, I saw my body change more in the following 3 months than it had changed in the past 3 years of P90X. My arms, my legs, my shoulders and my back all begin to change. For the first time, I was able to see muscle definition. I didn't even know I had some of these muscles. Very cool!

What was even better, was that I found my goals had begun to change as well. I was no longer concerned with the number on the scale going down, or the measurements, or the damn "before" and "after" photos. My goals changed to things like, lift heavier, run faster, get an unassisted pull-up, learn the olympic lifts, do push-ups correctly.

Losing 5 - 10lbs began to seem silly to me.

I felt amazing and fitter than I had ever been in my life! Wasn't that supposed to be our goal?

I also learned what my body was not going to do. I had always expected my body to respond to everything, and for the most part it did...except my abs.

I joke with my friends that I only have a 3-pack instead of a 6-pack. Those other 3 abs that will not show, I have named them Taylor, Brendan and Jordan after my 3 boys.

So then why the hell did this conversation bother me so damn much? I had accepted a long time ago I was not a 6-packer.

Not a 6-packer

Nope, no 6 pack here either.

Reality = STRONG!

Not me! :)

My best friend suggested that maybe I was mourning a loss. She asked me, "Why are you not upset that your boobs aren't perfect?"
I laughed hard and said, "Girl, I have had three boys! There is no help for them expect for surgery, which I won't do."
She said, "The same is true for your abs! Everything else about your body changed as you expected with the exception for your stomach. Let's take a photo of those abs you think you should have, burn the picture and bury this crap!"

Well said, Cindy! So, for those of you out there that may be going through this same struggle, let's bury this crap! Love who we are! Be proud of what we are doing, and most important, don't let the hurtful words bring you down.

Strong is Sexy and Beautiful! Caring what people think of you...not so much.

You know better. I know better!

Be healthy, be fit, and most important, be HAPPY with who you are!