NYE | Fitness is Sweet

Happy 2017! I have to say, I know in 2016, a lot of bad things happened, but it makes me sad how much the year has been trashed. But that’s a topic for another time.

I’m blogging from my bed. I didn’t plan to start 2017 sick, but here we are. I went to a 75 minute spin class this morning before I realized I was sick/started feeling bad. When I got back, I couldn’t believe how sore I was. Crossfit yesterday was hard, but it shouldn’t have been that bad. My fever isn’t crazy high, but after riding it out all day I finally gave in and took some tylenol so that my body and brain would stop hurting. So my 2017 has been mostly spent in bed.

Somewhat with this health fairy:

I’m making sure to get in lots of fluids and Vitamin C (although studies show that Vitamin C doesn’t actually help you recover faster. Can’t hurt though!)

I’m not the type of person who gets sleepy when I’m sick, just tired. But as part of my resting, I’m thinking through the immune process going on in my body right now, as ironically, I have a test on the immune system this week. But plenty of Netflix is happening too. While it’s never fun to be sick, I guess now is as good a time as any. Next weekend I start a crazy travel schedule, so I’m hoping I’m okay by then!

In less depressing news, let’s back up.

Thursday

Thursday morning was my last one on one time with Chloe. I took her on her normal short morning walk, and was struck by how beautiful this area is.

Afterwards, I went to a yoga class at the gym where I first started working out. It was the same teacher as I’ve gone to countless times in my youth (high school/college breaks) and it was so nice. I was definitely sore in some weird places though.

Mid-morning, I took Chloe for one final walk before my parents returned. She picked up a stick and was just the happiest dog in the world.

For lunch, I made a salad with leftover Christmas turkey, cranberry goat cheese, pear, and balsamic. On the side, I had some roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, and apricots that I picked up at the Whole Foods hot bar after yoga.

For dinner, I made my family my spaghetti squash mac n cheese, plus some bread.

Friday

I went to Crossfit in the morning as per usual and worked on 20 rep deadlifts. I used 150# for my set of 20. After spending a little time on classwork, my family set up for the big football game. Stanford was playing North Carolina in the Sun Bowl! For the occasion, we had beer flights of the beer from our December beer of the month club.

The Black Forest was the unanimous winner.

Pup slept.

For lunch, we made guacamole with sweet potato nachos. We simply roasted sweet potato rounds and then topped them with spinach and cheese, and then broiled until the cheese was melted. Then, we sprinkled some green onions (from our CSA box) on top.

It was a close (and ugly) game, and despite several injuries, we managed to pull it out.

Saturday (NYE)

Naturally, I started my morning with a brutal Crossfit workout. Check it out:

40 Wallballs (20,14)
40 Hang Cleans (95,65)
40 Pulls Ups
40 Deadlift
40 Push Ups
40 Box Jump (24,20)
40 KBS (53,35)
40 TTB
40 Air Squats
40 Hang Snatches
40 Double Unders
40 Sit Ups
40 Burpees

It seems like pretty much every single Crossfit movement. We had a 30 minute time cap, and no one in my class finished. I just got through the hang snatches (I used 55#), and I think no one got past the double unders. It was a rough one!

I refueled post workout with another delicious turkey, pear, and goat cheese salad.

After lunch, we watched the Washington game. Then, I took Chloe out for a walk with an old friend from High School, who I haven’t seen since June. Chloe had already gotten a walk in beforehand, so she snoozed on the way there.

It was another beautiful day, and you could see clear to SF.

It was great to catch up, and Chloe got a nice long walk in, including meeting another Aussie. Despite being wiped out on the drive home, she managed to maintain a high energy level throughout the night.

For dinner, we made simple open faced turkey, havarti, and pear sandwiches with a side salad.

I had a couple of high school friends over, and my parents were excited for both an occasion and a sufficient amount of people to merit opening a jumbo bottle of champagne.

My friends and I snacked on some homemade guac, chips, and veggies while playing board games. #old

We turned on the TV just in time to watch the ball drop. And then it was 2017! I couldn’t imagine a better crew to ring in the new year with.

The funny part of the night came when we watched the post-midnight performances. Chloe LOVES having visitors and is always crazy when they’re here. But just after midnight, she put herself to bed. She walked right into her crate! Too funny. I guess she was tired after all!

I ended up staying up until 2. I feel sort of weird about 2017. My entire life, I thought, “2012 I graduate high school, 2016 I graduate college.” Those were the big numbered years my whole life. I never considered 2017. I truly feel like NOW I’m living in the future, and kind of drifting along without my bearings. But maybe that was the fever coming in.

Still, here’s to hoping it’s a great year. Cheers, 2017!

Happy New Year! I don’t have anything terribly groundbreaking to elaborate on about these past couple of days-on New Year’s Eve my friend and I took a train to San Francisco, but I don’t have a lot of pictures from that.

I rung in the New Year with whole grain pancakes (there were a lot more than this), some topped with maple syrup and others with blueberries.

The day was spent watching football, which was really depressing because things did NOT go well for Stanford football, and it was frustrating to watch thanks to some questionable play calling. But back to today’s topic.

Tips for Trying Crossfit

I want to start out by saying that I know a lot of people are intimidated by Crossfit-the culture, the throwing heavy things around, the idea that you have to eat Paleo. As someone who fairly recently (6 months) started Crossfit, I assure you this is not the case. At my box, never once have I heard someone even mention Paleo. Heck, when you graduate intro classes, they make cookies-yes with real wheat and real sugar-and champagne! The culture is just really nice! Everyone is incredibly friendly and welcoming. That being said, the culture definitely does differ depending on the gym and its owner. At this point, I’ve worked out at 5 different Crossfits (3 in Maui), and I have had a little of a mixed experience. For example, the Crossfit I go to at school doesn’t have the traditional type of Crossfit community, probably because it’s student heavy-it’s just not as friendly. That’s not to say that it is intimidating-the people are still really nice-it just doesn’t have the same sense of community. So-tip #1:

1. Do your research. Every box is different, and they are everywhere. There are 2 just 2 miles from school for me. Look on Yelp, check out their website. If the box is super hardcore, their website is a decent indicator. Don’t discount the box just because of that though! Don’t be afraid to visit a few places and try it out-almost every Crossfit gym offers a free intro class to give you a taste of what Crossfit is all about.

2. Don’t be afraid. You DO NOT have to be super fit to try Crossfit. EVERYTHING is scalable to your level-most people in fact scale the workouts. And everyone has to start somewhere-other Crossfiters understand this.

3. Just get through the workout. If you’ve gotten through the initial intimidation phase and are there and working out, don’t be a hero. You’re new. You will not finish the workout first. If you come out balls to the wall, you’re going to a) burn out super quickly and it’s going to stink. A lot. b) injure yourself-if you’re new and aren’t used to these kinds of movements or this kind of exertion, you’re more likely to get hurt. Some people claim Crossfit to be super hardcore and that everyone pukes after the workouts. This is simply not the case. I’ve never seen this happen-you take the workouts at your own speed, and nobody should be pushing themselves to the point of vomiting.

4. Use the runs as recovery. Not all workouts involve running, but the ones that do, I don’t recommend sprinting the run. Running is a lot harder when supersetted with lifts-a lot of times I’m panting prior to the run. I often use the run as an opportunity to catch my breath and recover a little bit. I may get passed on the run at the beginning, but by the end of the workout I’m passing people because I didn’t burn out right away.

5. Ask for help. Not sure about a movement? Don’t know what weight you should scale to? ASK. The trainers are there to help you-don’t risk getting injured by lifting too heavy before you’re ready. Each workout is programmed in a particular way-no workouts should be at weights of your one repetition maximum, and some call for much lighter weights and a faster pace.

6. What do you need? Exercise shoes. That’s it. That being said, there are other things that may help you. I have special Crossfit shoes-the Nano 2.0s.

The purpose of these is that they have a flat bottom. Traditional running shoes tend to push you to move your weight to your toes, which makes weight lifting much more difficult. The nanos are better for running that straight weight lifting shoes.

I usually wear workout pants and a t-shirt. I’m not a fan of lifting in a tank top because I’m also worried the bar will scuff me up, but most people don’t have any issue. Some people have weight lifting gloves or belts. I never learned to lift with those, so it’s probably not something I would use, but some people love them.

Hopefully this was helpful-if you have any further questions, just let me know!

Would you ever try Crossfit? Why or why not?