Nothing Feels Quite Like A Good Snatch

In October Scott and I attended CrossFit's Olypic Lifting Cert. We spent 2 days working on Snatch, Front Squat, Clean and Jerk with the Mike Burgener. If you are anything like me the mere mention of Mike Burgener will result in a glazed starry eyed look, a WOD revealing Olympic lifts will put butterflies in your belly like a teenage girl on prom night. Getting schooled on Oly lifts by Burgener himself! I mean, the guy breeds Olympians!

There were no chairs at this cert. The lesson plan was written on the board before we arrived, but the learning and note taking was all hands on. We kicked things off with individual introductions to the class where Burgener quickly nicknamed Scott “Marine” and me “Marine’s Wife.” We responded with snickers and much pride. Saturday was dedicated solely to the Snatch, and Sunday was the remaining lifts. Burgener would walk us through a single step then released us into groups lead by one of his handpicked instructors to work on that step. We moved in this fashion until we had full comprehension of The Burgener Warm-up, the snatch skills transfer, and each lift. We performed as students, we acted as instructor, and we even played the role of an uncoordinated client. By end of day our backs were on fire, and asses kicked by PVC and a little old man with motivational consequences (YAY BURPEES!).

My new take on Olympic lifts, they are much like a choreographed dance. There are special steps to follow. The body moves through the specific points like a well oiled machine. The steps are highly technical, intricate, and missing a step will affect your entire performance. Much like a dance, rehearsal is a must! Practice, Practice Practice. Without the dress rehearsal, the show does not go on. Burgener warm up is my practice and supplementing Olympic lifts into my training is my dress rehearsal. Come Game Day, I’m prepared to put on a flawless performance.

By the end of the weekend Scott and I were ready to pack it all up and move to California just to be adopted by Burgener. Well, maybe after the kids are grown.

Full Time Life = Part Time Paleo

I'm not afraid to admit that I'm not perfect. Hahaha, I wish that were a true statement, but its a big fat lie. I'm scared to death to admit that my diet sucks on the weekends. It makes my mondays suck. I feel like crap, my eyes are puffy, and just ask my husband about my moods. Yikes! Sounds like somebody has a serious case of the mondays.

Friday
Breakfast - the norm, 3 eggs, some meat and veggies an apple and almond butter.
Snack - just almonds because I couldn't stand to eat another boiled egg this week.
Lunch - I made a date with a this super sexy guy I met quite awhile ago. We went to TX Land and Cattle and I had Sirloin and half a dry sweet potato, and side salad with vinaigrette dressing. So far so good.
Snack - Here's were it gets confusing. Probably some trail mix with peanuts and m&m's and raisins. An apple. Lots of almond butter. This was all over a few hours.
Dinner - Rudy's Turkey & extra moist Brisket. Maybe a tbsp of sauce.
Snack - a bite of a protein bar.

Saturday (Oly Cert all day)
Breakfast 3 eggs, 1 oz turkey, 1 apple. Handful of peanuts
Snack - Almonds
Lunch - HEB - Rotisserie chicken, mixed fruit, Spinach Salad w/ vinegar & oil as dressing.
Snack- Almonds. Here's where it all goes to crap (shame) the bad kind of trail mix. A few bites of the Jiff peanut butter, fully loaded with high fructose corn syrup on a protein bar. some granola cereal. 6 Baked Doritos. An apple. Grapes. Strawberries. A fig newton.
Dinner - Outback Steakhouse. A few bites of cheese fries (dipped in ranch) 2 margaritas, Salad with ving dressing, Steak & broccoli, 1 delicious pint of Neapolitan ice cream (my freakin fav!)

Sunday (More Oly Cert)
Breakfast - 3 eggs, 1 oz turkey, 1 apple, a few strawberries
Snack - grapes, strawberries
Lunch - HEB cafe on the run. Chicken, grilled veggies, asparagus. Some fruit
Snack - Some fruit, some granola cereal, an apple
Dinner - The Gristmill - (another fine night for a date with that hunk of love I am so fond of.) 1 Margarita, chips & salsa, refried beans, chicken breast with Verde sauce all over it, steamed zucs and squash. 2 fries. 2 scoops dutch chocolate ice cream....on a cone :-)

Monday
Back on track, For the most part. Only cheat was a hand full of graham crackers.
I'm tired of logging the norm, food logs are boring, so I'll just log my weekends and see if that holds me accountable.

Dry Post

Just my food log today, But for some great content check our CFCP's blog.

Breakfast 7:00am

3 fried eggs over

1 oz ground grass fed beef

onions, asparagus, zucchini

1/2 muffin (they are finally gone)

1 apple

2 Tbsp almond butter

Snack 10:15am

1 Boiled Egg

1/4 cup almonds

1 quarter sized bite of chocolate cake. (The old me would have eaten the entire cake.)

CFE WOD 2:00pm

Tabata 2mile run, 38 crappy rounds

Lunch 3:00pm

3-4 oz grass fed burgers

1/2 Zucchini, Broccoli, Cabbage, onion (over 2 cups of veggies all together)

1/2 cup Quinoa

Snack 5:30

5 Strawberries

1 Spoon full of almond butter

(Lets see if I can find some protein in the fridge. The end of the week is here and left overs are hard to come across.)

CF WOD 7:30pm

5 Rounds

15 Hang Squat Cleans #95

30 push ups

22:26 (we tried to quit at 3 rounds but stuck it out)

2 quarter sized bites of chocolate cake. (Recovery Snack ;-)

Dinner 8:30pm

1 cup fresh spinach

3 oz roast chicken

1/4 cup quinoa

some carrots, onions, cabbage (left overs)

Tomorrow is REST Day! Then its off to the Oly Cert. Yay Burpees!

Garage Gym

Its starting to look like a CrossFit gym in our garage! Scott has been plugging away for weeks,

(we had loads of stuff in the garage) and its starting to come together. Once the pull up bars were up Scott tested them out with the following WOD.

Jerks-Pull ups

10-1

9-2

8-3

7-4

6-5

5-6

4-7

3-8

2-9

1-10

Food Log

Breakfast 7:00am

3 fried eggs over onions & zucs

1 oz grass fed ground beef

2 muffins (they are like crack!)

1 gala apple

1 Tbsp almond butter

Snack 10:15am

1 boiled egg

1/4 cup almonds

CFE 20x 10sec on 5 sec off @ 9.9mph/2.5% incline

Lunch 2:00pm

3-4 oz grass fed ground beef

1 zucchini

1 celery stalk

1/2 cup broccoli

Onion & garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

all stir fried in a pan with spices

Snack 3pm

Hand full of Logan's Trail Mix...FAIL!

(Peanuts, raisins, m&m's & almonds=inflammation!)

2 bites of ground beef

Maybe a muffin, I was on my way to a quick nap and shoveling food into my face

WOD 7:30pm - "Franish" 4:13 #75

Dinner 7:45

3-4 oz slow cooked Chicken w/ cabbage, bell peps, onions, carrots & spices

1/2 cup Quinoa

A finger dip of almond butter

More Gluten Free For Me

I'll post my food log in a bit, but first here is a little about a recipe ANNA T of CrossFit Champion introduced me to at this weekends Oktoberfest Obliteration. I tried one of her Blueberry Muffins, gluten & dairy free. She used coconut flour instead of that nasty bleached yeasty stuff most bakers use. The results were pure deliciousness! She emailed me the blueberry & a banana muffin recipe.

Gluten Free and Dairy Free Cupcakes/Muffins

Serves 12 muffins

3 Tbsp butter, melted (or coconut oil)

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar (I substituted Agave Nectar)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 mashed banana

Chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients

Pour batter in a muffin tin with liners

Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees

I added blue berries to 4 of them as a test. I loved it, but should have cooked them about 5 minutes longer. I think had the kido not had donuts first she would have enjoyed them as much as Scott and I did.

Tuesdays Food Log

Breakfast 8am

4 Fried Eggs

1 Gala Apple

1 muffin

Snack 11am

1 Boiled egg

1/4 cup almonds

Lunch 2pm

3 oz Rotisserie Chicken

1/2 cup cabbage

Left over mixed veggies from last night (HUGE amount of veggies, I had trouble getting it all down)

CFE WOD

all out rower effort

4min on, 3 min off, 2 min on, 30 sec off, 1 min on, 3 min off, 2 min on, 30 sec off, 4 min on, Done. 3120meters.

Snack 3pm

1 Muffin from above recipe

Dinner 7:15pm

Jason's Deli Salad Bar with a side of chicken breast

olive oil & vinegar for dressing with a squeeze of lemon juice

Bite of Logan's Ice Cream...So hard to watch him eat that and not get one myself!

Monday's Food Log

Lisa asked me to post my food intake for a day. Let’s see how I do...Yikes!

Breakfast 7:45am
3 Fried eggs over left over 1 scrambled egg with bell peps, onions, 1/2 slice of ham
1 Gala Apple
2 Tbsp almond butter (fresh ground, nothing added)

Snack 10:30 am
a handful of dry roasted salted almonds
1 boiled egg

Lunch 1:00pm
2 cups steamed broccoli
4 oz grass-fed chuck roast (lots of fat)
5 Strawberries
a few bites of almond butter
A bite of a sugar waffer (Scott made me do it!)

Snack 4:45pm
Apple (Coaching PM classes, no time to think about Prot & fats...oops)

Dinner 7:30pm
3-4oz Rotisserie Chicken
Loads of veggies, 2 cups maybe (Zucs, broc, onions, garlic, cabbage, all sautéed in a iron skillet with olive oil & spices)

The Honeymoon's Over

No more 2-a-days, the games are over. No more boxes, we are officially moved in. No more crazy wedding planning, I'm an Isbell. No more sugar, the honeymoon is over.

Scott is all moved in and working hard to organize the garage, but we don't care to fit our cars in there. We want a garage gym. He's a pretty handy guy and has built a lot of our equiptment from scratch on a tight budget (Boxes, parallettes, weighted med balls, pull up bars, RINGS!, and other thing-a-majigs). I have to say that his most impressive project was a platform. The thing was custom built in a previous one car garage and had to be sawed in half for moving. He says the repair will make an even better platform.

For my birthday last year I got what every hardcore CrossFit chic wants. No, not a day of pampering and massage at the spa, even better. Scott got me an olympic bar! Well, there are only so many #45 lifts you can do before you start craving something heavy. This made the obvious gift choice for his next birthday bumper plates.  And in true Nikki fashion I had to get him a gift that I too, could benefit from. (You all know your guilty of the same!) Excited and unable to keep anything from my husband, I ordered our plates (Rogue Fitness) and told him about them that day. Actually he guessed it after I taunted him with a surprise.

In celebration of his 37th birthday Scott took on Grace in the comfort of our own home. We live a CrossFit life.

This is going to be your best year yet! I Love You!