sharing the burden

http://www.usccb.org/nab/080309.shtml

how hard it is to deal with people! people complain all the time, they come to "worship" and their reasons are the least of pure, and sometimes, they're just downright annoying. this reading from the Book of Numbers is exactly how i've felt about a particular community. but read on. i think what happens next is extremely comforting.

Numbers 11:16-17 says:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself.

i think that's beautiful. before conference, i had the blessing of being able to discuss the highs and lows of being a leader with some really wise brothers and sisters. they gave me a bunch of inspiration. but more than that, their empathy towards my situation let me know that any efforts of mine were part of something much greater... even above all of our combined efforts, God is totally in control. for two weeks, i was a witness to what happens when everybody in the room acknowledges that God is in control. for two weeks, i not only witnessed it; i became part of that movement.

now, after conference, i ask God each new day to continue using my hands to do his work, my feet to spread his Gospel, my mouth to proclaim his words, my mind to reflect on his thoughts, and my heart to love as he loves. but what a beautiful thing to know that everybody who lived at the Kildare house is doing the same thing.

we are moved by the same spirit, and that's freaking awesome!

243.8

243.8. I'm about to leave for Chicago, and I need to get to 240 or under that. It's going to be a real challenge to maintain proper nutrition: plenty of veggies, proteins, unsaturated fats, some fruit, never refined carbs, never sugar.

I'm gonna tough it out. I have workouts written down. I'm going to work out every day. Wake-up calls would be lovely if I have any volunteers!!! haha but I will do this. It starts bright and early this morning.

For time: 37 pushups, 37 squats, 100 sit-ups. That will get me caught up with BBBB.
-Time = 10:17 (5 AM workout!!!)

It's been a long time

Last night's weight: 246.2 (thermal + shorts)
Morning weight: 245... finally! no letting up on that nutrition.

BR Day 3

Morning weigh-in: 250.2. Despite being here for so long, I feel physical improvements all around. Getting my nutrition right and not turning back will help me drop the last 25 pounds though.

Nutrition

WOD

Supplements

Beat Rommel Day 2

Day 1 was yesterday. I didn't eat like crap. Rommel Nobleza, I can't let you beat me. I need that $500 badly! That means I have to get back to rethink my nutritional intake and ramp up my workouts. And I've got to at least try to blog to try and keep my nutritional intake in check.

Nutrition
-0800: 1 package of Fred Meyer deli chicken; 1 package of Fred Meyer deli turkey; 1 cup Tillamook peach yogurt; 16 oz nonfat milk
-0830: 1 pan-fried porkchop
-1230: 1 pan-fried porkchop (again)
-1630: mcdonald's double cheeseburger (no bun)
-1930: 1 package of Fred Meyer deli turkey; string cheese; 1 cup Tillamook huckleberry yogurt
-2100: brocolli and fish balls in an oyster sauce reduction; 3 slices of cantaloupe; 8 oz nonfat milk

WOD
-0600: [21-15-9, for time] 35-kg overhead squats + modified ring dips: time=9:56
-1730: [21-15-9, for time] 40-kg hanging power cleans + pushups (half of them were modified): time=6:03

5-rep max. notes
-Hanging Power Snatch: 20 kg is the only one i've tried during any workout truly involving HPS (6.22.2009).
-Front Squat: 80 kg (kills my shoulders in rack position, and i can't keep my heels down sometimes. gotta work on those) (6.22.2009)
-Push Press: 50 kg (6.22.2009)
-Press: 52 kg (6.29.2009)
-Back Squat: 100 kg (gotta keep the heels down, elbows up) (6.29.2009)
-Overhead Squat: 35 kg (6.30.2009)

Other notes
-Half-Cindy PR: 7 rounds + 5 [rows, honest pushups, squats] (6.11.2009)
-Tabata This PR: 45 [push-ups, sit-ups, ring rows, squats, sumo deadlift high-pulls] I'll look up the details (lowest) for each. (6.29.2009)

Look what I can do!

3 months ago, my push-up capacity was 4 in 60 seconds. Today, (even after 4 rds for time: 5 burpees + 10 push-ups + 15 squats + 400m run = 16:09), I did 30 pushups in 1 minute. For the BLD Biggest Loser competition, that's 5 over my goal. I think by August 15, I'll be able to do at least 40 in a minute.

I think my sister clocked my 40-yard dash time is around 6.4 seconds. That's down from Memorial Day... way down from almost 9 seconds way back in the day the first time I ever timed myself.

And talking about moving heavy objects through distances quickly, I helped my dad clear out stuff from the garage. My dad would ask, "Can you help Jason move that?" I wound up doing all of the lifting because things just felt fine. And... and (despite usually being injury-prone,) I didn't hurt myself! Haha that was a proud moment.

My CrossFit Lifestyle

To my knowledge, the most I’ve ever weighed was 275 pounds. I spent two years of my life completely avoiding the scale because I didn’t want to know. For two years, very unhealthy eating habits and sporadic exercise (at best) had taken over my life. But on March 10, 2009 I participated in my first CrossFit workout. That was the day working out became fun again.

My first day of CrossFit, two friends and I did a workout called “Half-Cindy”. We had 10 minutes to perform as many rounds as possible of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 squats. In those couple of minutes I had managed just over three rounds. I felt the incredible burn of this short workout for the next 10 days. I had never felt so good after a workout in my life and the only equipment I used was a bar to perform pull-ups and my own body weight. What really hooked me was how we worked out. “Half-Cindy” quickly became a race, not just against the clock, but against the friends who were with me. Yet despite the competition we cheered each other on until the very end. The competitive nature made for a very intense workout.

As time passed my trainer, Andrew Bueno, started giving me tips on how to improve my eating habits. He taught me that healthy eating wasn’t about crash diets, but about balancing what kinds of foods I eat and how much. He guaranteed that if the one area I improved upon was my nutrition, I would lose weight and have much more energy during the day.

It’s been exactly three months since I started making changes to my exercise and nutritional habits. Those changes have become the way I live. CrossFit isn’t a passing fad; anything that can keep my attention this long is not a passing fad. Anything that would make my once stagnant (but blessed with an amazing metabolic rate) sister love working out is not a passing fad. The “highly-varied, functional movements at high intensity” workouts of CrossFit have shown their benefits every day since I started. Removing junk and eating healthier has made me more energetic, more confident and even happier. Best of all, I’ve lost 23 pounds.

Before my first workout Andrew asked me, “How do you define fitness?” I had never thought enough about it to establish my own definition, but after 90 days my honest answer is “CrossFit.”

Day 38?!

whoa. what happened to me?! i'm getting back on track. the last two weeks have been decent. i've maintained 253. that means i have to work even harder to get my weight down. it's the home stretch for GRFS and almost halfway through BLD Seattle Singles Biggest Loser.

Sleep: 7 hours
Morning weight: 253 (not much loss from 1.5 weeks ago)

Foodstuffs
-1000: granola bar, steak & hard-boiled eggs
-1300: fajita casserole
-2100: spinach salad w/ tomatoes, rotisserie chicken, sesame oil/vinaigrette dressing; 1 cup blueberry yogurt; 1/2 quart nonfat milk; a handful of walnuts

Workouts
-WOD "Karen" (150 wall balls w/ 20 pounds, 10 feet): 20:14
-Finisher: 400 m speedwalk/jog holding 45-pound dumbbells: 3:53
-Extras: 400 m jog/walk after WOD

Day 30

Morning weigh-in: 254.0

Foodstuffs
-0900: PB&J on whole wheat, 2% milk
-1000: can of vienna sausage
-1400: chili, microwaved bacon, hard-boiled eggs

Workouts

Notes
I need to go buy some food with good nutrition... badly. I need money for that though. Kawawa. The other day, i saw what looked like a black Klean Kanteen in the middle of the street. I thought aww, too bad for whoever lost that. I think I lost it.

Day 27, 28, 29

Day 27, I didn't work out. It was a "cheat day." Some nutritional highlights
-Royal Red Robin burger, lettuce-wrapped, but 2 baskets of fries
-2 scoops of Molly Moon ice cream (had no idea it'd be that big. i only finished 1 scoop)
-4 blue moon beers

Day 28: The most active I got was playing football and sprinting around the field.

Day 29

Foodstuffs
-0930: 1 pint nonfat milk
-1230: spinach salad with cucumbers, grilled chicken, honey mustard dressing
-0330: the remainder of that salad
-2000: PB&J on whole wheat
-0030: rotisserie chicken

Workouts
Angie: 28:01.

Notes
I was shooting for intermediate time, or at least closer to 20 minutes.

Day 26

253.7. that's work!

Foodstuffs
-0700: 1 cup of 2% milk
-0945: 1 orange
-1030: cheerios, 1 pint nonfat milk
-1145: 8 oz roast beef
-2300: Fish, hot dogs, and rice. weird combination.. especially with that rice.

Workouts
10 minutes of jump rope, 22 pushups in 1 minute

Day 25

Morning weight: 256.4 (with sweats, shorts, and a shirt)

Foodstuffs
-0130: apple
-1045: 2 oz pomegranate greek yogurt
-1100: 1 pint chocolate milk, egg salad sandwich on half a slice of bread.

Day 24

Morning weight: 257.4 (same as when I went to sleep)... after showering and not wearing my shirt, it was 255.7. I think my scale is pretty inaccurate.

Foodstuffs
-1000: peaches and cottage cheese
-1145: the rest of my peaches and cottage cheese
-1300: spinach salad with smoked turkey breast, honey mustard dressing
-2300: 2 dick's deluxes

Workouts
4 rounds for time: 400 m run, 12 turkish get-ups (20#, 25# and 30# weights used)

Day 23

Morning weigh-in: 258.0

Foodstuffs
-0900: 2 eggs, 2 hot dogs
-1430: 1 hot dog, half package of roast beef, 1 egg
-2000: a couple of handfuls of mixed nuts, 1 slice of turkey
-2200: package of fresh raspberries
-2230: pork chops, steamed bok choy

Workout
50 reps of each exercise for time (40:33)
-Squats
-Right-Arm Push Press (40 pound DB)
-Situps
-DB Swings (40#)
-Pushups (25 as strict as i could manage, 25 modified)
-Left-Arm Push Press (40#)
-Walking Lunges
-Broad Jumps
-V-Ups (modified)
-Burpees (with modified pushup)

Notes
I think the 255's from last week might have been anomalous. I sure hope I'm not rapidly putting on that much weight and going back and forth. 6 pounds in 1 week sounded too good to be true. Then again, I do need to completely stay away from rice and still be aware of my food intake on cheat days.

500 reps of work. plus all of the "i forgot what rep i'm at, so i'll just go back to the last number i remember" extras. wow.

Day 22

Foodstuffs
-0900: Steak and rice (definitely not the breakfast of champions)
-1530: 2 Hot dogs
-2200: 9 oz package of deli turkey, mixed nuts, box of strawberries, vanilla orange cinnamon greek yogurt, string cheese

Workouts
-WOD: 21 Hanging Power Cleans, 42 Pushups; 15 HPC, 30 pushups; 9 HPC, 18 pushups (for time)

Day 21

Weight: 255.7 (with sweats, shorts, and a long-sleeved shirt under short-sleeved shirt (over long-sleeved shirt)).

Foodstuffs
-1400: Steak, asparagus, and rice; 1 orange

Day 20

WOD: Relay for Life

Day 19

Sleep: 7 hours
Morning weight: 255.2

Foodstuffs
-0930: Cottage cheese and peaches
-1030: Honey Greek yogurt
-1330: 2 hard-boiled eggs

Day 18

Sleep: 6 hours
Morning weigh-in: 257.0

Foodstuffs
-0900: Greek yogurt (it tasted like cinnabon, but not nearly as unhealthy)
-1030: Cheerios, nonfat milk

Day 17

Sleep: 5 hours

Foodstuffs
-0830: Sausage biscuit w/ egg, minus half the biscuit
-1030: Special K, nonfat milk
-1100: Tuna sandwich on 1 slice of sourdough
-1730: 29 oz. can of peaches, drained
-2000: 1 strawberry, 1 stalk of celery, 2 deviled eggs (celery + deviled eggs is actually a pretty good combination)
-2330: 1 tbsp. peanut butter

Workouts
-WOD: 4 rounds for time - 5 burpees, 10 pushups, 15 squats, 400 m run
-1 minute pushups (to prove to Sachin that I improved that much): 21 pushups

Day 16

Sleep: 8 hours

Foodstuffs
-0900: Buttered whole wheat toast (2 slices), 3 bacon slices, 4 sausage links, 1 hard-boiled egg
-1300: 3 sausage links, 1 hard-boiled egg
-2000: 2 pieces of KFC grilled chicken, 14 hot wings

WOD: Ladder, for time
-20 push-ups, 1 sit-up
-19 push-ups, 2 sit-ups
...
-1 push-up, 20 sit-ups

Day 15

Sleep: 5 hours
Morning weigh-in: 259.8

Foodstuffs
-0820: Special K, nonfat milk
-1300: Chicken teriyaki with salad, rice, all sauces on the side; I only ate 1/3 of the rice they gave me (I'm getting better at convincing myself life's not that bad without rice).
-1630: fried egg, a bone of a short rib, a tablespoon of rice (I'm sort of getting better at it.)
-2000: 29 oz can of peaches, drained, 1 glass of nonfat milk.
-2030: shrimp and 1 cup of rice (tried it in a corn tortilla but that wasn't working).

Workouts
-WOD: (400 m run + 50 squats) x 4 rounds

Day 14

Foodstuffs
-1200: big can of sliced peaches, drained; 1 glass of nonfat milk
-1500: steak strips, 2 cups of rice
-1800: steak strips, cantaloupe, glass of nonfat milk

Workout
-Basketball (about 30 minutes of playing time)
-10 pushups before sleep

Notes
This past cheat weekend wasn't the best. I woke up this morning at 261.2 (exactly the same as my official BLD Biggest Loser weigh-in from Friday). Just now, I weighed in at 262.4. I need to do a better job at keeping myself hydrated.

During garbage time (we lost the basketball game pretty badly), I went up strong for a layup and got bumped in midair. I landed with my right foot far in front of me and felt my tendons stretch. I'm pretty concerned about my Achilles tendon. That's where it's been hurting the most.

I think I'm going to pass on the basketball season that starts in June and focus more on getting in shape and strengthening my weak ankles. I've seen a dramatic increase in strength in my chest and core through CrossFit, and I know I can do the same with my ankles.

Day 13

Foodstuffs
-cinnamon & pecan Special K and nonfat milk
-roasted chicken
-30 BBQ lil smokies
-5 sweedish meatballs
-1 cup of white rice
-4 square inches of lasagna
-1 chicken strip
-2 corn dog
-1 cupcake
-3 beers
-1/2 glass of sprite

Workout
-1 minute pushups: 21
-15-lap (BJ's estimated distance) run time: 35:55.

Day 12

Nutrition
-0930: Special K Cinnamon & Pecan, 1 pint nonfat milk
-1300: 12" oven-roasted chicken breast sub on honey oat (converted into a 6" double meat by taking off the other half of bread)
1700: about 3 oz. of marinated steak

Workouts
-Lawn mowing. I also spent a good minute running from a bee.
-Took a run around the neighborhood. In my car, that was about 1 mile. Running along the sidewalk was probably 1.1-1.2 miles.

Day 11

Foodstuffs
-0930: Yogurt
-1100: String cheese
-1130: Spinach salad with egg, ham, honey mustard dressing
-1400: Bacon, sausage, spinach omelet
-2100: PB (Jiff) & J (Danish Orchards strawberry preserves) on whole wheat. No HFCS. 1 cup 2% milk.
-2130: Shrimp
-2145: Peaches & cottage cheese
-2230: 2 double hamburgers (minus one total bun)

Workout
WOD: Run halfway between the wading pool and the bath house and back + 30 squat thrusters; 4 rounds for time.

Day 10

Sleep: 6 hours

Foodstuffs
-0930: Cheerios, nonfat milk.
-1230: Spinach salad with diced ham and hard boiled egg, honey mustard dressing.
-1300: 2 homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my superiors made me!)

Workouts
-I think walking around UW's campus is actually quite a workout with a 25+ pound backpack on you.

Supplements
-One-A-Day
-1 Glucosamine
-1 Omega-3

Day 9

Sleep: 8 hours
Morning weigh-in: 259.0

Foodstuffs
0930: last night's ulam - beef with broccoli, a piece of rotisserie chicken, 1.5 cups brown rice. 3 cups of water, 1 cup of milk.
1330: beef with broccoli, 1 hard boiled egg. peach-mango shake, 2 cups of water.
2100: chicken quesadilla on corn tortillas. grapefruit juice.

Workouts
-1000: 5 strict pushups. my weakest skill by far. good form and explosiveness on the push are my goals. i want to break away from the modified pushup by week 3.
-WOD: 12 hanging dumbbell power cleans + 21 pushups (x5 rounds for time)
-Finisher: 3 minutes of trying to hold plank position on a picnic table.

Supplements
-One-A-Day
-2 Glucosamine
-2 Omega-3

Day 8

Wow.. that's a lot of catching up to do. Let's just say cheat days were filled with unhealthy nutritional values
Morning Weigh-in: 258.4... Whaaaaat???
Last night's sleep: 11 hours... that's why 258. haha


Foodstuffs
0730: Cheerios and nonfat milk, 2 glasses of water.
0900: 6 strips bacon, 2 eggs, 1 cup brown rice, 3 glasses of water. I weighed in at 262.0.
1130: 8 strawberries
1400: spinach salad with roasted chicken breast and honey mustard dressing.
2100: nonfat cottage cheese and canned peaches (drained)

Workout (explanation from the WOD website)
"Fight Gone Alright"

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The stations are:

1. "Chuck-ball", 8lbs thrown as high as you can
2. Sumo Deadlift High-Pull, 16kg kettlebell
3. Box Jump, 20"
   
4. DB Push Press: 25lbs
   
5. Burpees

The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

My score: 219
That's about how many cups of sweat i produced too. haha.

Supplements
-One-A-Day
-2 Glucosamine
-3 Omega-3

Other Notes
The switch from white to brown to no rice has been tough. I tried no rice for Lent, and my fast quickly became non-existent. Brown rice isn't too difficult for me to eat; the only problem is that nobody cooks it but me, and I get lazy to cook it. The portions of rice that I eat have drastically decreased since starting BLD's biggest loser, and even more since starting GRFS. I've had 2 cups about 3 times/week. I'm trying to get it down to 1 cup 2 times/week.

Day 4

WOD: 100 jumping pullups for time - 5:25.63

Day 3

Shorts, beater, and shirt weight (tonight): 262.8. i'm not gonna weigh myself every day. the change isn't drastic enough day to day so the results appear discouraging.

Breakfast: A cup of Mountain High yogurt.
Lunch: A cup of Mountain High yogurt and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a pint of nonfat milk.
4:30pm "Dinner": Corned Beef, the last two short ribs that magically appeared from last night, about 2 cups of rice (boooooooo), an individual string cheese.
Post-workout (9:30pm) dinner: A bowl of shrimp and vegetables (looked like peas and collard greens to me) in watered-down oyster sauce.

WOD: Tabata everything. My total score was kind of low for what I expect of myself, but that just means I've gotta work harder, right? And guess what??? I warmed up!

GRFS Day 2

-Morning weight was 263.2. I guess last night's 261.2 was outdone by nilaga. It's still about a 12-pound drop from less than 5 weeks ago, when i clocked in at 275.0.

-Breakfast: Yogurt and some Knorr's packaged rice that I found. I could pronounce almost every ingredient, or I knew where it came from. Not too much Saturated Fat (5-7% DV).
-Lunch: Unfortunately, went back to that rice because I didn't wanna risk going into starvation mode. After, I grilled up a package of steaks. 2 steaks in a total 3-pound package. I ate one. Probably not a great idea to nap an hour after.
-Dinner: 5 "Turboed" Short Ribs and just went to town on steamed Broccoli.

-Supplements: One-A-Day, 1 Omega-3, 1 Glucosamine
-Snacks: About an hour before CrossFit, I woke up and had about 5 oz. of the other steak.

-Workouts: It took me ~45 minutes to mow the lawn... I guess that's working out. CrossFit at Greenlake WOD was 12 Thrusters (Squat to a Push Press) and 21 Broad Jumps, 5 rounds for time (but only made 1/4 of the warmup... thanks, Ate... again. haha just kidding)

Foundation CrossFit 6-Week Get Right For Summer Challenge

Day 1: Monday, April 20, 2009

-Breakfast: Approx. 1 cup of Mountain High Strawberry yog(h)urt and a PB&J sandwich. Jiff is legit peanut butter. Danish Orchards strawberry preserves is all natural and has maybe 4 or 5 ingredients. Potato bread isn't very healthy though. 2 cups of nonfat milk.
-Lunch: ~4 oz. "Turbo"-broiled steak and ~2 cups of white rice
-Dinner: Nilaga and rice. I honestly don't know how much I had, but I can say for sure it was a lot more than I should have eaten.

-Stuff I snacked on: 1 cup of that yogurt, 1 banana
-Supplements: One-A-Day Men's, 1 Omega-3 gelcap (3/day is recommended), 1 glucosamine horse-sized pill (2/day recommended)

-Workout: Worked out at Greenlake. WOD was Tabata Squats, and 50-30-10 Lunges/Bench Dips (minus the warmup)