Part I: Body

 


                                                  Weeks 1, 2, and 4 of CF

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a couple weeks since I've written anything.  I wanted to wait a little while, so I'd actually have something exciting to update you on! I think this may be a 3 part blog because I really do have a ton to talk about now! Well, first things first. I've been avoiding the scale because, with such extreme lifting and conditioning, I was certain that I'd be putting on more pounds before I started losing. I decided to step on the scale this week. I started CF weighing about 180 lbs. Now before you gasp with shock at my weight, please understand that my body composition is completely strange. At 180 lbs I wore a size 10. I'm a thick girl. Thanks to my GIGANTOR father. Now, check this out...I got on the scale this morning. IT SAID 172!!!! It's working!!!!! After almost a month of CrossFit I've lost 8 lbs! I'll take it! Lose weight slow, keep it off forever!

So, let's discuss how I got to the point where the scale started going down...First of all, CF is very intense exercise, so you need to fuel your body accordingly. I also love running distance, so it makes for tons of confusion in my body. When I lift, my body craves protein when I run my body needs carbs. So, I had to figure out exactly what I needed to do to fuel my body appropriately. (Here's comes the boring part, skip ahead if you must..) First of all, after years of fad dieting and fad exercise and temporary results I've realized that I have to listen to my body more than anything. She really does tell me what she needs. My problem has been I didn't want to listen to her. A lot of times I would confuse thirst for hunger, sugar cravings for complex carb cravings, etc. Now, I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, but I know when my body feels like crap.

Anyway, here's what I've done:

So, you know how doctors say that we need to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. IT'S TRUE!! I started by drinking a ton more water a day. I cut out juice and soda, but NOT coffee. I couldn't do it. I occasionally will have soda or juice, but I never was really big soda drinker to begin with. I bought his awesome water jug (made by Bluewave) that measures out your 6-8 (it's also BPA free). It's been perfect! People make fun of me for carrying around the gigantic jug, but I just smile because I feel great. The first few days of using it, I peed like every 25 seconds, but after about a week I was good to go! So, the first thing my body truly needed was WATER!

Okay, so the next thing I needed was supplements. I've been on prenatal vitamins since the dawn of time because "they're good for yo hair and nails!" (which I'm proud to say are both beautiful, thank you very much) BUT, I've been sharing a lot of my CF experience with my buddy Gil. Gil has been my friend since elementary school, and has been an athlete for as long as I can remember. He played football at the University of Maryland. GO TERPS! (I didn't really meant that, I just said it for Gil) So, one of the first questions he asked me was, "what supplements are you taking?" At the time it was my prenatals, b12, and a regular omega 3. He suggested that I change my multivitamin (Opti-Women) and I use a krill oil omega 3 (GNC Omega 3 Krill oil), and of course I still take my b12 because it helps my attitude. I don't wanna go around hurting people. Omega 3 makes me nervous because I have a fish allergy, but I tried the krill and I've been fine. Anyway, HOLY BEJEEEEZ...changing my multi made a HUGE difference. I went from being completely exhausted after my workouts to feeling charged! So, thanks Gil. Ya kept a girl from dying...

Finally, I have slowly been changing my eating habits. This is a tough one for me, because I'm a good cook and I love to bake. I really love "cooking on the fly." AND I LOVE TO EAT! So, I've tried South Beach, Atkins, body cleanses, and tons of other things in the past that have not worked for my body. I've decided that I'm just gonna listen to her. If I want to eat a big ol' piece of cake, I'm gonna eat it. Seriously, one thing I know is that if I deprive myself of the things I WANT to eat, I won't eat them...right at that second. I'll wait a day later and then I'll binge. No good. Anyway, I've been using a little bit of self discipline. I'm eating more green food and trying to cook more. The busy life of a working mom makes it difficult to cook a lot. Fortunately my hubs is a great cook, so we take turns. The main rule that I follow is that with every meal I eat some sort of produce (apple, spinach, green beans, grapes, carrots, etc.) It works, and keeps the digestive juices flowing...mmmhhhmmmm...

Here's an example of an average day for me:

Breakfast: 2-3 egg scramble with spinach, homemade bran muffin
Lunch: Balsamic Blue Salad w/chicken, no blue cheese (my favorite from atlanta bread company: mixed greens, walnuts, dried cranberries, green apples, and balsamic vinaigrette) Sometimes I get extra chicken depending on the WOD
Dinner: lean cut of meat (chicken, steak, etc.) and a green veggie (broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green beans, etc)
Snacks: almonds, fruit, etc.

Now, as I said before, I drink A TON of water. Why? Well, your body needs it, and also I've discovered that sometimes when I feel hungry, if I drink water I realize that I'm not. If I'm still hungry after I have a drink then I eat. I also, at this point, haven't put a huge limit on my portion sizes. I also still haven't completely kicked the habit of eating junk. Occasionally I'll eat some cheetos or have and ice cream cone. Sue me. It's all good in moderation. The fact of the matter is, I'm learning to listen to my body. When it comes to food and exercise she definitely calls the shots. Long story short, I am on my way to figuring out what my body needs to be successful at CF and it feels good!!! Anyway, that's all for now!

Stay tuned for Part II: Body, Mind...

The blues...

So, this past the weekend the hubs went up to Maryland to watch the Virginia Tech game, so I was here alone with our son. That makes working out a little difficult. I could probably have pulled out a P90X video or some Insanity, but I opted to do nothing. I missed my Friday Crossfit workout (because of my laziness), and Saturday I missed the running club because I couldn't take our son with me. It was a rude awakening for me because I realized that I NEED EXERCISE.

The blues came on fast. Friday was okay, but by Saturday I really felt like I couldn't deal. I tried distracting myself by hanging out with friends, but it didn't seem to work. It was like all of a sudden the whole world was coming at me. I started thinking about EVERYTHING. Even while I was hanging out with my girlfriends I started to think about and talk about mom. It was too much. Here's the thing. I don't think that exercising makes my problems go away, but it definitely helps me compartmentalize them. I am able to bite off just a little bit at a time. If I don't exercise I just wallow in my own self pity and I start to feel like I'm drowning.

The fact of the matter is, I'm incredibly depressed. I put on a good front for the world. Nobody knows or will ever understand everything that I've had to deal with. I can no longer deny myself healing. There are moments when I don't want to get out of bed. There are moments when I feel like no one cares. There are moments when I feel like the entire world is crashing down on me and there is nothing that I can do. In those moments, I look for something that can bring me home again. Something that will help me fight through it. Sometimes it's my beautiful baby boy, sometimes it's performing, and sometimes it's crying. Crying. I've been doing a lot of that lately. They're always good cries. Cleansing. Something I've learned about life is that there are things that you may never get over, but you learn how to deal with them. In all of this personal pain and grief I am learning how to deal with everything. My life is beautiful. I am beautiful, and I have so much to offer the world. I thought a long time about writing this blog because it may get pretty personal. I'm doing it for personal healing, but I'm also doing it because I may be able to touch another person's life by sharing what I'm going through. Yes, it may be "nonconventional. But, that's Sarah Carter. I read this quote on a friend's Facebook page this morning, and it totally describes me in a nutshell. It's so true, so take it or leave it! "If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing YOU can be." -Maya Angelou

Oh yeah, Crossfit was awesome today! As usual!