Wednesday, November 26, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD



I had to share this photo of Kirk, one of the guys who trains at One World. Here's what Freddy had to say:
Kirk Wu on his way to kicking the crap out of the SF Crippler with a blazing time of 6:21. If you pay attention to the boards, you have noticed that day in and day out, Kirk is one of the top performers at One World. Hard to believe that early in 2007, Kirk was dismissed from the SWAT team because he couldn't pass the physical fitness quarterly qualifier. (He couldn't finish the 1.5 mile run in 16 minutes.) Kirk new he had gotten lazy and out of shape. Kirk started Crossfitting in July of 2007. A few months back, he reapplied for the SWAT team. He crushed the physical fitness test and finished first overall. Kirk was reinstated on the team, and we were glad to have him back! So just how much has he improved??? Kirk ran a 5k race last weekend and finished with a 7 minute mile average. WOW!

Big congrats Kirk! You rock!

Warm-up
None

WOD: Mr. Joshua
Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
15 Deadlifts 115#

Joanne's Final Time - 39:10

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
This is not one of my favorite workouts. Who the hell am I kidding? I hate this WOD. I really should have looked at my last effort on this one. It was miserable and it took me almost an hour to finish. Tonight's was much better, but I lightened up the deadlift a lot! Next time I'll go 135# and just work through the misery. Tonight was challenging because the roads were wet and dark, so I have to be extra cautious when I run. (I sprained an ankle and busted my knee a few years ago and haven't quite gotten over it.) Also, the pads on the GHD machines are wearing, so I lost a lot of time trying to set up a machine.

Setbacks aside, this was miserable. Period.

saying good-bye

In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t make it a habit of posting unattractive photos of myself. That’s a big thing for me to admit because if you’ve ever seen my myspace page or have ever seen my room, you’ll find tons of photos of myself.

I’m a bit of a narcissist. So what? I like to think it’s just me exercising a healthy and positive self-image.

I haven’t been as good about working out lately. Blame it on the weather. It’s typical for me to falter during the winter because it’s just too damn cold to do anything and I’m so not into indoor running and such. However, I will now declare that I really need to start training for the Kaiser Half in February. No excuses. The race is too close and the cold just isn’t a good enough excuse to not train. Besides, I have a doctor check up in January and I’m hoping that I pull some good numbers. I don’t have the kind of body that can afford to not exercise because my diabetes levels depend on exercise and healthy eating. For me, the exercise part is way easier than the eating part. Anyway…

Since I’ve been diligently working out and trying to become healthier (the journey started in July), I’ve lost about 16 pounds. It’s not a lot, but I think right now, my body is trying to re-configure itself. So though I’ve been in an exercise slump, I’m still maintaining or losing weight (or at least that’s what it looks like). I think this “re-configuring” stage is normal because I feel like my fat is just re-distributing itself. By the way, I don’t know what it is about those good old omega-3 fish oil pills, but I will say that I feel less bloated and fat in the belly since taking them. Eric suggested I take 5 pills when I wake up and 5 pills before I go to sleep. I think it’s a small change anyone can incorporate into their days. For those of you who have a Costco card, $9 for 400 pills is a total bargain! But I’ll let you know the final verdict when I get my numbers from the doc in January. Anyway…

Lately when I see Margaret she always says that my body is changing. Most recently, she said that I had to say good-bye to my old body. I didn’t realize what she meant until I dug up these old photos:






Shut up. Laugh all you want. In case you’re wondering, these were taken in early 2003 when I worked for Stila. I wanted to take photos with my co-workers because I was leaving the store to start GSI-ing. The last photo was taken when Mae got married. I was rockin’ curly hair then. I can’t believe how different I look in the photos. From what I remember, I always felt healthy and happy. I was an avid cardio kickboxer/krav maga-er, so in my mind’s eye, I was healthy. Granted, I knew I wasn’t skinny, but I thought I was a good kind of thick (if you will). In fact, if you were to ever ask me how I would describe my body, I would say that I’m “curvy athletic.” (If you think that’s an oxymoron, then you need to go away.) Anyway…

When these photos were taken, I actually lost weight. When I moved back to the bay area in 2000, I think I wore a size 18-20 (plus size; yeah, you won’t find a lot of photos of me at this time). In these photos, I’m down to a 16, going towards 14 (plus size). In 2004 when I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, I lost weight again by simply lessening the bad carbs that were screwing with my blood sugars. I stayed at size 14-16, but I grew out of the plus size range and in to the “regular” clothing range. I remember at the time feeling a little sad because I could no longer shop at Lane Bryant. It was my go-to place, my comfort zone. It was the store where I always knew things would fit. Granted, out growing (or should I say under-growing?) Lane Bryant clothes would normally be a blessing. But for those of you who are a “regular” woman’s size 14-16, you’ll know it’s the shittiest size to be because manufacturers vary so much. It’s the size that is more miss-than-hit because clothing companies refuse to recognize that 14-16 is the average size of American women. I always felt I was too fat for “regular” clothes and too thin for Lane. Bleh! I think this dilemma is what made saying good-bye to my Lane Bryant body so hard.

And now, Margaret is right. I have to say good-bye again to my body. When I go shopping, I automatically pick up size XL for tops and size 14 for bottoms. I don’t bat an eyelash and I don’t think twice. These days, it’s not as easy. My bottoms range from 12-14 (depending on the manufacturer). My exercise pants went from a large/extra large to medium. Letting go of my old Nike pants is hard and I haven’t quite done that yet. I don’t know what I’m holding on to. I do know that training in them is a bitch because they keep falling. My tops are now down to size L, unless I’m in the juniors department, which puts me at XL. Though I eventually will, I refuse to let go of my exercise tops that are a bit loose. I just won’t do it! I have to try things on more carefully and tell myself that when deciding between two sizes, I have to go smaller because that’s just where I’m headed.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not wanting to be uber-skinny. My body isn’t made that way. I think the smallest I’d let myself go is a size 10. Anything smaller than that just doesn’t suit my body (or my personality). I think saying good-bye to my old body wouldn’t be so bad if I had an income that could afford some transition clothes. But that’s not the case.

On an up note, Margaret is starting to get involved with an organization called “Dress for Success” and they need clothing donations in size 14-16. I’m glad that saying good-bye to my old body will benefit someone starting up a new life.

I’m slowly coming to terms to saying good-bye. Right now, I need to say hello to a new winter training schedule. I’ll keep you posted!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD

This is Eric, my trainer. These days I'm sure he wants to poke my eyes out because I've been a no-show for quite some time now. As it says on the One World site, Eric is the man when you're interested in heavy weight training. He'll get you there. I know this because though I hate heavy lifting, it's always great to train with him because he knows his shit.

Warm-up
Run 1.1 miles
random hanging on the pull-up bars to get started on doing an actual pull-up!

WOD: Any Old Asshole
Complete the following for time:
Run 600m
9 presses
9 overhead squats
Run 400m
15 presses
15 overhead squats
Run 200m
21 presses
21 overhead squats

I used a 33# bar for this WOD. My final time - 17:02

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
It sucks being out for a long time because I have to start at square one over and over again. Oh well. Patience. I need it. Patience.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD

I lifted this from CrossFit Santa Clara, who lifted it from CrossFit Ventura. These are ugly CrossFit hands. I'd like to avoid them. But it looks like I can't hide anymore. I have to throw in the gloves and say hello to the callous. Boo!

Warm-up
Run 1.1 miles

WOD
Complete five rounds for time of:
21 kettlebell swings 35#
15 push-ups
9 knees to elbows

Joanne's Final Time - 18:50

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
I thought this was going to be okay. It wasn't. By round four I wanted to poke my eyes out. But I hung in there. Today was a sad day because I realized that I have to bid good-bye to my gym gloves and say hello to ugly CrossFit hands. If you know me, you know that photos will be on their way soon. But for now, I'm mourning the loss of my gloves. (Tear.)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD


I took this from Stef's blog. You have to be a real CrossFit nerd to get this. ha ha!

Warm-up
1 hour of yoga
Random stretching

WOD: Fight Gone Bad
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 14#
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 45#
Box Jump, 20" box
Push-press 45#
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Joanne's Final Tally - 182

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
I hate Fight Gone Bad. There's just no way to like it. I can't stand it. My reps were lower compared to the last time I did this. Last time I did a 12" box jump compared to today's 20" box (Eric tricked me! Wrong, I tell you!) and RX'd the weight at 55#. However, after Monday's WOD, my arms are simply shot. Everything feels heavy. Even carrying a cell phone hurts. So to do 45# was an all out effort on my part. I can't stand the sumo deadlift high pull because if you have a bust, it gets in the way if you're not extending your hips correctly. I get frustrated because I do the lift, and then bam, I get stuck, do the movement wrong and just slam the weight on the floor. My biggest CrossFit problem is that you can tell exactly what I'm thinking by the look on my face. It sucks and I feel sorry for anyone in my path when I'm working out. It's not that I hate you, it's that I hate the WOD!

Anyway, my arms are still sore as hell. They're so fuckin' sore that I can't reach to unhook my bra to take a damn shower. Bleh! Yeah. This is where a boyfriend comes in handy, huh? Buy me flowers. Hold my purse. Unhook my bra. Now leave. ha ha! Since we're on the subject, I'm still trying to figure out what "athletic boobs" are. Hey Margaret, care to explain?

Yes. It's late. I'm giddy. Maybe I need to check the blood sugars.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD


This is a video of today's WOD. Yeah. I'm not this skillful. This guy totally rocks! I've met Mike before and he's a total crack up. I had a blast doing interpretive CrossFit moves when he visited the studio for his level two cert.

Warm-up
Run 1.1 miles

WOD: "Randy"
Complete 75 power snatches for time 35#

Joanne's Final Time - 14:15

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
I like the oly lifting, but 75 of these bad boys? I don't think so. It was tough, but I kept it light so I could get through. I really need to go to Jason's Sunday morning classes.

Yes, you read that right. Today's movement was called the snatch. You can only imagine what dirty things we had to say at the studio about it:

Great snatch, Joanne.
Wow, that was a clean, smooth snatch.
Wanna see my snatch?


You get the picture.

Monday, November 10, 2008

CrossFit One World WOD


I know it's late, but here it is... my Halloween photo where I dressed up as Ugly Betty. Okay, Ugly Betty sans the braces. Anyway... I think I did a pretty good tribute, huh? I was sad because I saw a guy dressed as the Globo Gym guy and so wanted a photo for the One World site. Oh well. The intentions were there.

Warm-up
Run 1.1 miles
Stretching

WOD: "Twenty-One"
Complete the following for time:
20 push-ups/1 sit-up
19 push-ups/2 sit-ups
18 push-ups/3 sit-ups
17 push-ups/4 sit-ups
16 push-ups/5 sit-ups
15 push-ups/6 sit-ups
14 push-ups/7 sit-ups
13 push-ups/8 sit-ups
12 push-ups/9 sit-ups
11 push-ups/10 sit-ups
10 push-ups/11 sit-ups
9 push-ups/12 sit-ups
8 push-ups/13 sit-ups
7 push-ups/14 sit-ups
6 push-ups/15 sit-ups
5 push-ups/16 sit-ups
4 push-ups/17 sit-ups
3 push-ups/18 sit-ups
2 push-ups/19 sit-ups
1 push-up/20 sit-ups

Joanne's Final Time - 43:50

Notes (to myself) about this workout:
It's been three weeks and this was a tough WOD to come back to. I did full push-ups and abmat sit-ups with a weight holding my feet down. I don't know what came over me, but it took me forever to finish! I does make a difference when you do it without the modifications.

Since I last wrote, I've been slowly easing into the zone diet. I did great for breakfast but broke for lunch by eating at an Indian restaurant. Big mistake. Now I need to make a note to self about that. No matter how great Indian food sounds, it's really not good for me. I felt like I wanted to fall over after the meal. Boo! I then had my standard latte (Screw giving up the dairy thing. I can't live without my latte.) Before I knew it, I had to prep for my workout by having my shake. Afterward, I had my post WOD shake and that's that.

Getting back on the workout train is hard, but it has to be done. I need to start training for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon that happens in February. Technically, I should be training now. So I'm getting back on the workout bandwagon. Wa-hoo.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

VOTE!

It's election day everyone and it's time for you to get off your asses and vote! We have a lot riding on this election, so please, no matter who or what you're voting for, please just go out and VOTE. TODAY!







And in case you're looking for a little inspiration, here you go:



Saturday, November 01, 2008

entering the ZONE!

Yesterday was Halloween. Guess what I was dressed up as. Seriously, guess! Come on. Guess! Ha ha! photos to come later. For now, let's talk business...

After a long exhaustive talk with Eric, my trainer extraordinaire, two weeks of not working out (I tried to workout in Vegas, but you had to pay for gym usage in the hotel. Boo!), and months of giving this some serious thought, I decided to zone out for the next three months. Today is my first day and I’m kind of warming up to it. Sundays are cheat days, so tomorrow is technically a cheat day, which makes me laugh. Anyway….

I went grocery shopping and have a clear idea of my menu this week. I just have to be disciplined. If you’re curious about what the zone diet is, check out the following links:

Official Zone Site
Zone for CrossFitters
(Note: You can download this to your computer!)
Zoneful Thinking (It has a calculator to help you figure out how many blocks you need given your weight, body fat percentage and activity level)
CrossFit Journal about the Zone (More stuff you can download)

This is going to be really challenging and if you’re tired of my upcoming zone blogs, apologies. This is a tough time of year for me to start a new eating program. It’s just that I really need to get serious about my health and doing this “bootcamp” of sorts is, in my book, the way to do it. I know the holidays are coming up and healthy eating isn’t easy. But balls to the wall, J-Ro! You’re gonna do it!

And what’s the game plan? To follow the zone plan as best as possible. The block calculator states that I need to eat 14-15 blocks (which is high to me, so I’m going to focus on 14 blocks) per day and eat around 6 times per day. My blocks will look like this: 4/1/4/1/3/1. But I’m thinking of making it: 3/2/3/2/3/1. I’m keeping a strict food journal where I list the time I ate, what I ate, and the number of blocks. I also get one cheat day per week, which will make holiday eating more manageable.

Because I’m zoning, CrossFitting, and am trying to manage diabetes, here are some extra things I need to do (mostly per Eric):

Oh those omega-3s: Take 10 fish pills in the morning and before I go to bed. Yeah. 20 total. This is so I can have a good amount of omega-3, which are beneficial in countless ways.

Pre-workout: Have a protein shake that has 10g of glutamine and a vitamin C supplement (my supplement of choice is Emergen-C)

Post-workout: Have a protein shake with 10g of glutamine, surge powder and protein, with a vitamin C supplement. I’m not sure about the surge powder. I know I need the carbs, but as a diabetic, I fear it may be a little high. I’m going to start off with the protein powder I have now and hold off on the surge until next month.

I need to keep tabs of the diabetes meds I have to take. I also need to cook and pack my food more diligently, which I know I can do. When I was firsts diagnosed with diabetes, I lost 20 pounds pretty quickly because I packed my food. I just need to go back to that.

Some minor changes to the blog: Since I'm trying to commit to zoning out, you might see some new zone info. I'll also be taking a lot of mundane photos of my meals and such. This isn't meant to bore you. Instead, I'm trying to be informative in case you're considering zoning out too.

Wish me luck and if any of you want to zone out with me, let me know! I’d love to play and could use a cheerleader (but leave the pom-poms at home please)!