Topsy Turvey

Day 1 of my summer holiday - what a joy! My goal was to sleep in until 9 a.m. (I had a late, late night on Saturday) and then go about my day. I don't know what I was thinking! I woke up at 5:45 a.m. feeling frantic. Not anxious frantic, just busy - omg I have so much to do - frantic. So I started tidying up the house. Once I got started with that, I had a hard time stopping ... and consequently I did not make it to the gym in the morning. 

I did, however, do 100 burpees and 135 squats (Day 14 of the squats challenge) and I got a whole lot of stuff done at home. 

I think my frantic-ness of the day was caused by a sugar/carb-crash following what I ate the night before. Although it may not seem like a lot, when you don't eat that kind of food on a regular basis at all, I think your body reacts to it much more quickly. These are the consequences -- I gotta live with them. 

On my way to acupuncture in the morning my car battery light went on. I was already overdue going for its servicing, so I freaked out a little (the last thing I wanted was an overheated car!) so off to the garage I went, and then I was car-less. Ugh. How annoying!! 

D was a sweetheart and came home by 4 p.m. so that I could take his car to Kajukenbo at night. 

We did some circuit training before our martial art workout. I can really see the impact of my CrossFit & weight training paying off here. While all the other girls were totally out of breath (one even vomited - she was new to the class) I was feeling the effects, but I could keep on going without much difficulty. It felt good. I felt strong! 

By the time I got home, washed up etc. I was exhausted. I had just enough energy to watch the Arsenal match and then I was pretty much ready for bed (and it was only around 8:45 p.m.). I lazed on the couch for a bit and was in bed before 10. I was SO tired! 

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Headed out of the house early this morning to get my car. The car was ready yesterday, but I had to make a decision - get my car or go to Kajukenbo? Kajukenbo won. I had them keep everything ready for me so that I could get it first thing this morning. I was so happy to see it parked right at the entrance of the garage ready for me :) 

Off to the gym --- though I met with a friend for breakfast first. We hadn't caught up in a while, so once again my morning workout didn't go as planned (I feel like such a slacker!!) but we both went in for Body Balance so at least I got that in! 

This afternoon was my last CrossFit class until August. I'll be traveling soon and then the schedules will be topsy turvey because of everyone else's travel plans for the summer. I'm ok with that as I still have the gym. However, I will miss CrossFit. 

Today's WOD left me completely breathless. OMG what a killer. We were supposed to do 3 rounds, but our coach stopped us after 2 coz' it was just deadly - lots of burpees, deadlifts, mountain climbers, push-ups etc. Definitely left me with a workout to remember for the rest of the summer! I'm hoping that while I'm in the States I'll get a chance to try out a CrossFit box or two. We'll see how that goes. 

I've got a birthday dinner to attend tonight. They're all gym buddies so I'm pretty sure that the food will be healthy. 

Picture post tomorrow! 

My Day in Pictures

Breakfast 

(the usual + a cup of green tea - not pictured)

Yoga on the Beach 

(practicing my wheel pose)

Cardio at the Gym 

(1 hour on the cross-trainer)

Lunch

(just veggies + 1 tablespoon of pine nuts)

Dinner 

(my best friend's baby shower - I knew it would all be bread & I was right; I ate, I tried to stick to the least harmful things; I enjoyed what I ate, and most of all, I shared a wonderful evening with my best friend)

Quinoa Salad 

Plate of Carbs

Yes - A Cupcake

Best Compliment of the Day 

"I'd like to congratulate you on your amazing new body; I'm so proud of you because I know you've worked your ass off and you look incredible." 

I was taken aback, slightly embarrassed, but also really happy :) 

Thursday and Friday Food Pix

Thursday Food:

Breakfast #1

The usual - Peanut butter, banana, and 1 date

Breakfast #2

Tuna salad

(tuna fish, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, balsamic vinegar)

Lunch

Grilled chicken with leftover vegetables from the night before

(broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, and bell pepper)

Dinner

Fish salad - confession, this is an old picture and it has crumbled feta cheese on it; my dinner did not have any cheese

Friday Food: See last Friday's pix. Everything was the same except for lunch, which was the same as yesterday (chicken with vegetables).

Made it to Thursday!

I woke up to this email from one of my students:

Seems like a perfect way to end the semester. I can't tell you how happy I am that summer is here!!

This morning I hit the weight room. I'm so glad that the focus of today's workout was on the upper body because my legs, thighs, and ass were really feeling the effects of yesterday's squats/workout. I was ready for a bit of relief.

My workout went well. I managed to up my weights for the last set of each exercise (3 sets of 15 today so overall my weights were still a bit lighter than usual).

This afternoon I had Kajukenbo practice -- we did some arm conditioning. Holy *hit! Just blocking punches hurt! I've already got bruises on my arms. Still, he says that with conditioning practice our arms will get tougher and stronger -- I sure hope so!

I then practiced Jiujitsu with D for about 45 minutes. We didn't have a long session as it's the end of the week and we were both tired. Still, we practiced a few drills, and that was good enough for today.

... and that's it! I've come to the end of my week and I am so happy!

Food pix will be posted tomorrow!

Quick Summary

I didn't have to go to work either yesterday or today. I feel like I finally got a real taste of what my summer holiday is going to be like. All I'll be doing is working out, eating, resting, and alternating between studying for my personal trainer certification & working on my research. Definitely can't complain! Oh, and travel of course. Yes, there will be lots of travel!

I didn't get around to blogging yesterday. I was so wiped out by the end of the day that I barely made it off the couch and into bed!

So here's a brief summary of what I've been up to:

Here's what I did:

Workouts
Morning
- cardio warm-up (just a 1 km jog)
- weights almost 1 1/2 hours -- focus was 4 sets of 10 reps. I increased my weights with each set (except for the step-ups) and was pleased with my performance
- sat poolside for an hour though I didn't swim

Afternoon
- Kajukenbo practice for almost 1 1/2 hours

Evening 
- Jiujitsu practice for 1 hour

See what I mean about being exhausted? It was fine. I didn't overdo it. I just think that not getting a good night's sleep the day before had me start the day a bit tired, and I never really recovered from that.


Burpees: Tuesday 30 & Wednesday 30
Squats: Days 10 & 11: 105 & 110 respectively (ouch!)

Today: 

Morning
- Body Balance (1 hour)

Afternoon
- CrossFit (1 hour): strength focus: Deadlifts (lifting 120 kg feels good now (264 lbs); WOD: 4 rounds (30, 25, 20, 15 reps each) mountain climbers, hand-release push-ups, jump squats; followed by 100 crunches & 3x1 min planks.

I left the CrossFit box drenched. in. sweat!

Food

Yesterday: 
Breakfast and lunch (see what I ate on Monday) (my usual banana date mix plus chick peas -- not the chicken wrap)

The only things different were an apple that I had as a snack & my dinner - steak with vegetables.

Today was quite different! I don't know if I changed things up because I was bored of the food or tired of posting the same photos!!

Breakfast: Scrambled egg 

(1 whole + 1/2 cup egg white) + mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers

Lunch: Chicken with broccoli and 1/2 sweet potato

Dinner: Shrimp with vegetables

Snack: 2 oz of this dark chocolate

Other stuff: The main thing I accomplished today was that I signed up for my CPR and First Aid certification through the Kuwait Medical Association/American Heart Association. I'll be doing the course at the end of this month.

Chasing Endorphins

Am sitting here at my desk after CrossFit, still sweaty, arms still shaky and sore, and feeling totally satisfied. I tell you, there is something about CrossFit that gives you a different type of endorphin high. I mean, I get an endorphin high after all my workouts, but there's something different about CrossFit. I think a lot of it has to do with being able to track your progress. I think that's why I like lifting weights in general - when you see your improvements especially lifting more weight, you feel even more empowered and stronger. It's a great feeling. At CrossFit, when you finish a WOD you know that you've been challenged and that you survived. You give it your all, and it's ok if you're slow, just as long as you're doing the best you can. Slowly but surely you will improve. You just have to keep pushing yourself. That's another great thing about the CrossFit box - both the coaches and your teammates also push you and encourage you to do better ... to do your best. It's a great feeling. I left CrossFit today with a smile on my face, and it's still there :)

what's written on the wall as you enter our CrossFit Q8 box

Today's workout at CrossFit Q8 was Fran (21, 15, 9 reps of thrusters (30kg) and pull ups (still using a band but getting better) followed by 100 burpees for time (I finished in 9 min 36 seconds).

My afternoon workout was much better than this morning's -- just 5 km on the cross-trainer. I really need to make an effort to do some more focused cardio. Hopefully now that the semester is coming to an end I'll be able to do if after my weights workouts in the morning. I need to do something. I feel like I'm yo-yo'ing at this weight - +/- 1.5 kg. I'm frustrated!! I know I'm eating well, but I may have to revise my portions and my food prep too ... I don't know. I have to do something. If I want to see a change, then I have to make a change.


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Food for the day:

Breakfast -- are you bored yet? I know it's the same photo, but it's the same meal day in day out!

Breakfast #2: I got to work and realized I had forgotten to pack anything to eat. Not good! I knew I had a long morning ahead, so without hesitating I went to the cafe & stood there for about 10 minutes asking the guy tons of questions about the foods - none of them healthy really - and went for a chicken wrap. I had him cut it in half and I only took one half. I took 4 bites and then I was done. I just wasn't interested in eating anymore. I have not had bread in such a long time. It just wasn't that tasty plus I was full. I know it's wasteful, but I wasn't about to finish the wrap when I knew I didn't want anymore.

What I bought:

How much I ate:

Lunch: Chick peas

 Dinner: Salmon with salad (balsamic vinegar & olive oil as dressing)

Dessert: Grapes 

Today:
- Workouts:

• Cardio at the gym - 5 km on the cross-trainer (38 minutes)
• CrossFit at CrossFit Q8 (1 hour): Fran + 100 burpees
• Burpees: 100 {3,830/20,130}
• Squats Day 9: 100
• Stretching: 20 minutes

- Food: 

• Breakfast: date/peanut butter/banana; 1/2 grilled chicken wrap
• Lunch: chick peas
• Dinner: salmon with salad
• Snacks: grapes

- Other: Went through my wardrobe and got rid of all the tops that don't fit me anymore. Managed to cross off one more thing on my 'to do list'. Did lots of research on hotels in California; it's tough to decide where to stay!

That was a Surprise!

When I woke up this morning I was in so much pain and discomfort from bloating and cramps that I couldn't even stand up straight and walk or breathe properly. I was actually in more discomfort than pain. The bloating felt like my stomach was about to pop; it was terrible.

I sat on the couch in the living room for a while, trying to will myself to go to the gym and just walk because light exercise can help relieve cramping ... but the bloating was just too much (way more than the cramping) and the dizziness and nausea made me feel like trying to attempt any exercise at that moment in time would be a bad idea. So I went back to bed and slept for another hour or so and definitely felt much better by the time it was time to get up and go to work.

It was a short day at work today - just admin stuff. I'm really happy with how my students did on their final exam. Their overall grades for the semester are great :) Yes, definitely pleased with how this term went. Just a few more days until summer vacation ... can't wait!

I just relaxed in the afternoon. Today was supposed to be my first proper Kajukenbo class and I didn't want to miss my first day. The bloating and pressure had gone down a bit. I knew the main thing that I had to do was fix my mind -- if I was going to go to class then I'd have to just suck it up and do my very, very best. No excuses. Just do it.

I went, and I think I did great. It was just me and another girl. She had been doing Kajukenbo for 2-3 months. The first thing I noticed when I saw her was that she was thin, and I thought, damn. Here I am, still the fat one in the class. Blah.

The first half hour of the class was warm-up: burpees, tons of jumping jacks, mountain climbers, running, tire flips, tire/hammer swings etc. Whatever he asked us to do, I did. It was really tiring, but it was good. I felt like my workout at CrossFit have really  helped me build up my endurance, though of course there's a lot more work to be done. I felt most proud when we got to the jump rope section. I think I jumped for about 5 minutes straight. In the meantime, the other girl couldn't even do a few skips. It seemed like she had never jumped before (perhaps she hadn't). So for the entire time that she was trying, I was continuously skipping. I felt good.

Something new we tried was rolling on the ground - basically somersaults but without putting our head on the ground. It was tough and intimidating. I tried - didn't do a very good job (was more rolling to the side than the front) but I tried.

After that we worked on punching and kicking, my favorite part. We don't wear any handwraps or gloves, so it's straight punching on the pads. I'm fine with that, but it definitely hurts more when trying to use both power and speed. I gotta watch my wrist positioning and work on improving my wrist strength.

Then finally ... he had us stand in fighting stance ... and that's when I saw him get the baton -- a 2 foot long hard plastic baton ... and I knew what was coming next. He had us raise our arms up, exposing our abdomen.

As he approached me I just looked straight ahead. I tightened my abs and I focused on my breathing. He said he was going to hit my abdominal area once for me to get an idea of how it feels. I didn't say anything, just stood there concentrating.

Whap!

Fuck that hurt.

I didn't flinch. I didn't move. I just breathed ... and at the same time I was thinking, holy shit, did that just happen?

He did the same to her and she yelled.

He came back to me and hit twice.

Whap! Whap!

Same thing. No reaction from me. Just me talking to myself in my head - staying calm, staying focused, this is only something physical. If you trust your coach, then you trust them 100%. I knew he was not trying to hurt me, and I knew that if I was going to do this - If I was really going to try and become a fighter in some shape or form, then I was going to have to learn how to take pain.

For me, this was lesson #1, and I was really happy with my performance.

So yes, this whole part of the lesson was definitely a surprise! 

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Not much appetite today ...

Breakfast: The usual - banana, peanut butter, 1 date + a cup of green tea (not pictured)

Lunch: Grilled chicken with tabbuleh salad

Dinner: King Fish on the George Foreman grill with steamed carrots and string beans 

Dessert: Papaya (12 pieces)

Today:
- Workouts:

• Kajukenbo at KOK (1 hour)
• Stretching: 15 minutes
• Burpees: 10 {total: 3,730/20,130}
• Squats Day 7: Rest Day

- Food:

• Breakfast: banana, peanut butter, date, green eat
• Lunch: grilled chicken with salad
• Dinner: grilled king fish with steamed vegetables
• Snack: papaya

- Other: Booked my London hotel! :)