The Voices of Chalk & Chi

If you follow me on FaceBook or on Twitter, you will see that there are two voices talking to you. Chalk and, well, Chi. Let me introduce them both to you now.

Chalk is the muscle head, if you will, of the two. Chalk enjoys lifting things up, putting them down, well-meant smack talk and getting her butt whooped on a good work out. If the workout involves snatches she's most happy even though a shout or growl of frustration doesn't signify despair for her either. You will find her with chalk on her hands, on the bar, on the mat mixed with a little sweat and maybe a chalky handprint on her butt. She's a little messy, but that's just Chalk for you.

Chi on the other hand is a little quieter. Chi likes to contemplate stillness as it relates to movement and is more likely to get distracted by a flock of birds flying by than Chalk is. Chi enjoys long walks on the beach, mud between her toes and can meditate her way out of a paper bag. Chi says, "thats because the paper bag doesn't really exist anyway you know." Did you know?

So these are my coaches. Some people claim to have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I have Chalk reminding me to keep moving and that I'm strong enough to complete any task. On the other shoulder I have Chi here to remind me to live in the now, and right now I can do any task.

I can learn valuable lessons from both schools of thought and approach. Thanks to these two i can hope that these two will lean on and strengthen the other thereby creating a necessary balance in my health and in my life.

Even though I don't always like what they have to say at exactly the time they have to say it....(ie, "REST dopey!")

 

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

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Paleo Rules, Flour Drools!

I'd like to claim that I eat Primal/ Paleo about 98% of the time. My indiscretions include dairy, the occasional heirloom potato, rice or nut crackers and chocolate. I've completely give up beer, but wine and tequila still make the cut. Once a year, on my birthday, I treat my taste buds to cinnamon buns because they are one of my most favorite foods. Know what ties them as a favorite food? Oven roasted sweet potato with pastured butter and a crack of sea salt. Yea I know, I get made fun of for that, but it's true.

ANYhoo, yesterday was my Annual Cinnamon Bun Day and I did indulge, while they were delicious but they also helped remind me why it was that I choose to eat Primal the rest of the year.

Check it out, isn't that cute? My mom made it look like a birthday cake!

I had two cinnamon buns for "lunch", and calculated it to be roughly 650 calories and about 92 grams of carbohydrates. !!! Yes, that's crazy. Practically half of my day's calorie allowance AND more carbs than I typically eat in like, two days! Afterwards, feeling very full and sugared up, I went to the beach. Because isn't putting on a bikini exactly what you want to do after you've eaten two MASSIVE sugar bombs?

My blood sugar felt so erratic that I felt drunk. Literally. Drunk. Two beer buzz drunk. From sugar. Gross. I couldn't keep my eyes open after blood sugar crash and I fell asleep at the beach for awhile. I was wondering if I was even going to feel well enough to go to my birthday dinner! Haha, nah I'm tough, I can do it ;)

But here's the pisser. I ate, lets say, 40% of my daily calories at noon and was woozy and STARVING by 4. If I'd eaten 650 calories worth of chicken, avocado and cucumber I'd have been set until 7. At least 7! It's no wonder that folks eating Special K for breakfast are sad and hungry by mid-morning. Then the marketers of diet pills and diet snacks are encouraging you to eat another sugary snack while simultaneously suggesting that your will-power is wimpy. So now they're hungry AND degraded...what a great combo!

Thankfully my parents took me to a fantastic new restaurant in our area that specializes in local food (as in, from their garden out back) patured meats and really fresh seafood. It was an amazing place and I left slightly jealous that no matter how I will ever sauté my zucchini it will likely not taste as good as that which I'd just eaten. Just so you understand, this was my dinner:

That's pretty Paleo no matter how you slice it. So my two birthday meals were on opposite sides of the spectrum and the first made me realize just how lucky I am to have found Paleo when I did. One meal was mass-produced (though still organic it was still flour, sugar, butter etc.), tan and white and relatively "one note," as they say. My proper Paleo meal however satisfied me in more ways than the cinnamon buns did. I wasn't sick afterwards, the zucchini was picked literally 100' from the kitchen and the lobster was brought up from the piers that very morning. This meal was a rainbow of colors that had nothing to do with dyes; yellow squash, dark green and white zucchini, red onions, the red of the lobster and tannish of steamed clams, the fresh cucumber, lime green zebra tomatoes and red lettuce that was in my salad. I would take this over cinnamon buns any day of the week my friend!

Actually, I may just do the lobster next birthday and start a new tradition!

In summary, carbohydrates from flour and sugar at stupid, damaging, injurious and unsatisyfing. Meat, vegetables and fats however are delicious, pretty, satisfying and deliver mucho bang for your buck; proverbially, mentally, physically and financially.

Find your truth!

Michelle

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Walk/ Run, Go As You Will!

As much as I love Olympic lifting and Metcons, there is always room in my week for a good walk. One friend of mine constantly gives me shit about walking, "what, are you 80 now?" No matter how much crap I get about walking "not being enough exercise" I'm going to keep on. Why?

What the heck makes you think that walking isn't good for me? What the heck makes you think that I think walking will improve my deadlift? Seriously folks, don't I get a little credit? I don't feel the need to hit-it-hard or not at all. Walking makes me happy and that's the best thing about it. Too much digital simulation at work and my eyes get all freaky and I start getting palpitations. My remedy is to go get into the woods. Walk, run, walk some, run some, it doesn't matter. I just plot a course and then follow my feet, however fast they go.

I also take pictures along the way, so really I CAN'T run the whole way without missing some great things like this little guy:

I went for a walk this passed Saturday after my brother rejected my oh-so-kind invitation with, "are you freaking nuts? I don't want to even sit on the porch for five minutes let alone go walk!" He's delicate. Or sane, however you want to look at it. Any way, I had a lovely time! I chose a four mile round-trip tree-shaded trail. Although it began as a walk, i ended up running nearly the whole way which, for anyone that knows me, is pretty amazing. I just felt so good (insert cliché Forrest Gump reference here)!

 

Pretend, though almost real, Post-Run Text Convo

Anti-walking friend, "How long did it take you?"

Me, "I don't know, less than two hours...ish ish."

Anti-walking friend, "siiiiiiigh."

Me, "Really?! How long have you known me? I just like to go hug the trees."

Anti-walking friend, "I can't believe I talk to you."

Me, "Go stuff your siiiiigh."

 

So go walk if you like. Or jog. Do what makes you happy, there's something beneficial to that I hear ;)

~ michelle

 

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Thrusters on Life

Just this past Saturday I did the Hero WOD "Wood" with my friends which involved a 400m run, burpee box jumps, sumo deadlift high-pulls and thrusters. As I'm currently nursing a funk shoulder, I pretty much had to modify the entire WOD to the point that it was no longer "Wood" at all. I was able to finish my round and head back out on the run long before anyone else, so I had plenty of quiet time to think.

I thought about how the WOD would feel different if I'd been able to go as prescribed on it. I started thinking about how each movement makes me feel, how each rep would make the next rep feel and so on.

The movement I can best recreate in all their horrible glory in my head; thrusters. I like front squats fine, push press no problem, but put them together and I want to run away. Even if the WOD said it was empty bar thrusters I'd likely still experience some back lash. WHY for God's sake?! What's with thrusters that are so awful?

Thrusters are life lessons, rat-a-tat fast in your face! Thrusters are life boiled down into two movements; down and up.
Down: the weight of life looks to drive into the ground, the crushing weight of the world forces you to your knees and makes you ache.
Up: Your will alone drives you upward out of the hole, out of the dark. You alone have the strength to get out the bottom (of the proverbial barrel).

Twenty one reps of thrusters and you're forced to confront the successes and defeats of life twenty one times. Twenty one times you must find yourself in the hole as the thruster sucks you in and twenty one times you must find your way out, thrusting into the light.

That was just one round. Do it again after a run, when you're tired, when you're not prepared, when you just aren't ready! Pains in our daily lives exist on a slightly longer and more indirect scale that you needn't pay attention to each day. But thrusters are fast, maybe 3 seconds long, right there in your face. Can you get out of this one? Are you WILLING to get out of this one?

So can thrusters teach us about life? I believe so. Whatever problems you have I bet it often feels like you're stuck, that you cant get out and that the pressure on you is too great. But fight to get up and out! Fight to move forward, take all the weight that is on you and launch it!

Practice this movement at your box so that the next time life comes at you, you'll know exactly what you need to do.

Thrust! Thrust into the light! :)

Time Sure Flies...

Holy crap, did you see that?! It's summer FLYING by! It seems funny that i spend time each day trying to be more "present" and to live in the now, then I go and lose whole months. Like June...what happened to June?

Lord knows I haven't been slacking or wasting my days. I've finished writing my book. I've got the whole next month of my workouts programmed (gonna get crazy strong..LOOK out), I'm organizing my Personal Training business so it can take off, and I've researched numerous continuing education opportunities. So where does the time go?

Have you ever felt a time warp? Like when you're holding a side plank for time and you just know the coach is about to call "30 seconds left" but you hear "10 seconds in" instead. AAaargh! Or like when you're having a great time hiking with friends and six hours fly by but feel like ages all at the same time. How does it morph like that?

There's the concept that time is an illusion and it expands and contracts based on your perception. Yogis use meditation to find a place where time stands still. Not so good for your workouts (ack, the never ending WOD!) but very useful if you're trying to appreciate the present moment. I'm not sure entirely but I'd imagine that achieving that would feel a lot like being a stone in the middle of the river. You're still and silent, not frozen in time, but moving and changing ever so slowly in relation to the river that's rushing all around you. Life, light, water, storms, days, nights, seasons all pass over. But there you stand, marked by the passage of time, but not swept away by it.

Do you ever meditate? What about during your workout or during yoga or dance? If I meditate and slow time, I notice that I come out of it feeling like I'd been meditating for so long that someone is sure to have noticed my absence! Then I find out its only been 30-45 minutes. I get a similar sensation during certain workouts, where I'm focused and SO sure I've been working for 20minutes and I check the clock (remember workouts are timed for us CrossFitters) and it says Ive only been at it for 6:37...yoysh!!

I for one would like a study done to compare meditating brains and WODing brains. I'm curious :) Someone out there. Make it happen!

Thanks :)
~Michelle

AMRAP Surya Namaskar!

Do you know what this Wednesday, June 20th is? It's the first day of Summer! What are you doing to celebrate?

Some folks' usual celebration may be a little dampened because it falls this year right in the middle of the work week. Lucky us, there's a time honored yogic tradition to help us usher in the new season that can be done after/before work.

WOD

108 Rounds
Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)

Each Salutation sequence consists of 9 individual movements; each movement linked to the next by your steady breath. Unlike your usual CrossFit WOD, this is not done necessarily for time. You may stop and pee, drink water if we get to do it outside (which you would be encouraged to do in this case), or simply stop, sit and observe your breath if you are moved to do that at any time.

(I called this post AMRAP because I've heard tell that this can take awhile to accomplish and I would understand if someone needs to throw in the yoga mat in order to go home & feed the offspring.)

What's exciting to me is that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of yogis worldwide will be engaging in this practice. I love that feeling of comraderie with people that I will never meet nor ever directly know of. Kind of like doing the CrossFit Open...kind of. Anyway, I love the idea that thousands of people, meditating on gratitude and peace simultaneously, could positively alter the worldwide consciousness, even if just temporarily. Will people just happen to find themselves happier on Wednesday simply because of this? It's possible, I mean, "a butterfly flaps it's wings," right?

I myself have never done this before, and like a good Hero WOD I'm a little interested to know how this'll feel. I know I can stick it out for all 108, but what will I experience along the way? I know I can do all 108 pushups, but will I get dizzy? Find a fluid rhythm? Get aggravated? Get giddy? Get teased for doing this in the parking lot of our box? I actually kind of expect all of these to occur at some point, but that's what makes it fun!

I will welcome anyone who is interested in welcoming in the new season with 108 (or as many as you feel inspired to do) Surya Namaskar to join me.

When: Wednesday June 20th, 5:00pm (is when I'm starting anyway)
Where: CrossFit 203, outside ideally :)

Help! My Salad Needs a Li'l Basil SOMETHING!

It's that time of year again friends. Fresh basil is popping up all over; in your garden plot or window box and in your grocery's produce section. Pesto may be one of my favorite foods, if you want to call it a food. I guess it's not really a stand-alone dish, despite how I CAN eat it by the spoonful. Shameful, I know ;)

Below is my Paleo take on a classic, turning standard pesto into a lovely springtime salad dressing. *Taste tested & approved by (my favorite)Paleo author, Adam Farrah.

Simple Pesto Dressing

1 bunch basil, roughly 2.5-4 oz (if purchased a lot of this weight will be stem)
1 medium ripe avocado
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 white onion
1 garlic clove
Sea Salt to taste
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)
Your favorite Olive oil
*you can substitute 3 garlic scapes for the onion & garlic.

Place washed/dried basil leaves in food processor along with all other ingredients except Olive Oil & Sea Salt. Blend until smooth-ish, scraping the sides down whenever necessary.
Taste, add small dashes of sea salt to taste. With blade running, drizzle in Olive oil until you have the correct consistency.
I like it somewhere between pesto & dressing (not completely runny) because it holds onto the salad leaves better.
To store: Place mixture in a glass container (plastic retains the garlic smell). Take a piece of plastic wrap & press down onto top of pesto to create an airtight seal. Then place the lid on container.

Hope you like it!