So much to be Thankful for

As some of you know, our house was robbed on Sunday and many of our valuables were taken. Our TV, both our computers, stereo, X-box, DVD player, & ALL my jewelry (including engagement ring and family heirlooms)...gone. They even stole my pillow case to use as a bag for the jewelry. yuck.

But you know what? It's okay. Because it really is just stuff.

And this is such a timely event because I've been spending a lot of time this past month reflecting on my attachment to stuff and the different roles "stuff" plays in my life. I set a goal to have our house purged of anything that does not add value to our lives by the start of the new year. I have two sides tugging at me as I attempt to move through each room in my house. On the one hand I want to go to the extreme end of purging...get down to the bare necessities. But on the other hand, I am a maker with a great appreciation for the energy of objects & their sentimental value. It has been an intense process to evaluate each object one-by-one, each piece of clothing, each piece of jewelry, every fork and spoon...everything. Questions arise like, "is the "possible future event" I am hanging on to this object for really worth it? Is it even going to happen? Do I need this now? Will I notice it's missing when it's gone? Does it currently add value?"

One question my Dad told me to ask myself in regards to my clothing was, "Do I feel good in this?" and if the answer was NO then get rid of it. That helped me purge about 50% of my clothing. You would be surprised at how many pieces of clothing I don't feel good in that I was hanging on to as some mental or emotional placeholder. But if you eliminate the objects that exist purely as emotional or mental placeholders, you are making room for more ideas and more growth. It feels awesome. But one area that I was particularly having trouble with was my jewelry. Jewelry does not take up that much space so it's easy to say, "ill just keep that" but some jewelry is deeply rooted in older phases of me. Sorting all that out was more emotionally taxing that I anticipated and I found myself procrastinating the jewelry. But I sleep right next to all my jewelry and I was starting to feel like the vibes of Catherine's past were seeping into my dreams and I knew I had to work on letting go of some of those pieces. I had to make more room for new Catherines to emerge. So you know what, the thieves made my decisions for me. They took it all. Every last piece of it. Even the black rubber bracelets from college that are of absolutely no value. And you know what, it feels awesome. There are pieces I am sad they took of course, but it's been nice to reflect on the memories those pieces held in the first place.

Actually, they did leave ONE thing in my jewelry bureau....my Dog Tags. Unbelievable. The universe had to have a hand in this one.

So on this Thanksgiving day, I have no sadness about losing my stuff. I feel that I only have things to be thankful for...possibly more now than ever. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my health, my freedom, the magic of art, food, & music, my staff for working so hard for me every day, the Sunday evening of reading next to my husband in silence since we didn't have a TV, and to all of you who take the time to read my blog. I appreciate absolutely everyone, large and small, in my life. And everything I just listed is something I could never lose in a robbery. So really my life is rich with blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Owning Your Own Situation

One of the women I'm with on this trip is pregnant. She & her hubby were caught off guard by the pregnancy and, while ultimately very excited, she didn't have any time to mentally prepare for all the lifestyle changes she had to make. One thing she is particularly struggling with is not being able to have a beer or a glass of wine at the end of a long day. Well, last night was the epitome of the end to a very long day and boy did she wish she was having a beer with the rest of us. She was struggling on her side of the table and expressed about feeling jipped.

Well, on my side of the table, I was battling every factor that contributes to my overeating all at once. 1) I was totally exhausted 2) I was overly hungry and had run out of my healthy snack stash 3) Hadn't been able to have solid Catherine time in days & instead was flooded with social interaction after social interaction 4) I've been away from my husband so I haven't had a good hug in a while 5) I was half way done with my beer before the enormous basket of chips and queso was placed right in front of me. I was doomed. And when I'm tired like that and I already have alcohol in my system before I start eating, it's like I've flushed all will power down the toilet. So I went for it. I ate WAY past my full point and left the restaurant feeling very uncomfortable.

When I got back to my hotel room and tried to go to sleep I was smacked in the face with how miserable I felt. There was absolutely nothing I could do to get comfortable. Hit with a serious carb load that my body hardly ever gets, my heart was racing and I was so irritated in my own skin. I was miserable. My pregnant buddy, on the other hand, was sleeping peacefully. I kept thinking she was so lucky she didn't drink too many beers and had a perfectly proportioned chicken salad. What I had forgotten was she fell asleep feeling jipped out of the experience of the evening.

The point is, when you transition from eating foods that don't support your health to foods that do, you can have moments where you feel like your missing out. Coach Megan expressed it well, when she stated that many people focus on what they CAN'T eat as opposed to what they CAN (which turns out to be a much longer list!). Watching people eat what you used to eat can cause some jealousy. But that way of thinking is not worth it and a waste of your time. You can always join them, but your not for a reason. You are making healthy choices for yourself and instead of feeling jealous, focus on how much better you are treating your body and feel good about it. You never know, they could be totally inspired by your will power and it's what they needed the whole time. Sit in your own power, sit in your own choices, own it and feel good about it!

My pregnant buddy and I laughed this morning about our jealousy exchange. And she came out the winner because I still feel full and bloated and she is facing the day with great energy.

Here's to hoping that all my readers are facing the day with great energy and happiness.

Traveling WOD's

Right now I'm in Dallas at a business conference & I was very pleased to find a newly remodeled fitness room in my hotel. Okay, no excuses...but you know I need my Crossfit Gym to help me push through a good workout. So, to ensure that I actually got out of bed after my wake-up call & went to that fitness center, I had to have a plan in place before I fell asleep. First, I needed to define my workout so that I didn't get to the gym and simply dabble. And second, I committed to myself that I would make a post about my WOD time so that I would have to complete it. So, my wonderful readers, while I'm on the road, you are my new Crossfit gym to keep me on track...because I can't lie to you!

Here goes: I first set out to do FRAN in honor of all my friends doing her majesty at Crossfit Central this Saturday. But there was no pull-up situation so I developed a modified FRAN. This was a great workout because I only had time for a "sprint" WOD.

This is what I had to work with:That's a 20lb med ball and 25lb dumbbells.
I named her FRANITA :)
3...2...1...GO!

21-15-9
Dumbbell Thrusters
Push-ups
Russian Twists (that's 42-30-18 touches total)

Time!
The last set of Thrusters I had to move down to 20lb dumbbells. And the last 5 seemed like they might be impossible. But I had a lot of lingering feelings from Veteran's Day and I thought about how many brave men and women have had to push through horrifying moments when they didn't want to. I thought about what it must be like to be faced with these moments & all the sudden pushing through those thrusters seemed like a piece of cake. A new energy flooded me. We all have the strength within for anything we want to accomplish...it's just a matter of believing it and drawing from it, but trust me it's there.

Time: 10 mins 7 secs

shower.
8am meeting.
good to go.

Happy Veteran's Day

Every morning when I wake up I see these dog tags hanging close to my bed. The 3 tags are: my father's tag from Vietnam, my grandfather's tag from Vietnam, Korea, and World War II, and my great-grandfather's tag from World War I (still equipped with the original red, white & blue ribbon). These tags are worn proudly around my neck every Verteran's Day and every Memorial Day & are one of my most cherished gifts my Dad has ever given me. There is an incredible power infused in these tags. These tags have been to war and they were worn by some of the most admirable and brave men I have ever known (I never had the chance to meet my great-grandfather but I hear that's where I get my artistic genes). I make sure that I look at these tags, hold them and feel them to recognize what they stand for. I try not to take for granted the enormous freedoms I enjoy and how that came to be. And most importantly, I hold them in my hands as a reminder to follow my dreams and to live life fully with passion and intention. Today, I thank my Father, my Grandfather, my Great-Grandfather, my cousin Scott, Coach Lance, and the thousands of others who have chosen to make the freedom of our country a priority in the most selfless manner. May I never take for granted the freedom you fought for and the blessings it has brought us. Thank You.

My first 5K

I had been feeling under the weather, not sure if it was allergies, & worried I would be out of breath the whole time. Distance running has never been my thing because it's hard for me to focus my mind on positive thoughts. "Man I wish I could stop" is what my brain likes to chant anytime I run longer than 6 minutes. While I know 3 miles is not that long of a distance, especially for the fitness level I have reached, I still worried about my ability to get through it. My friend Erika gave me a great goal to work with: no negative thoughts while running. Don't worry about speed, don't worry about finishing, just focus on having NO NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. And guess what, it worked!

I had the pleasure and honor of running with my sister-in-law. We don't get to see each other nearly as much as we wish we could so the excitement of being with her made it impossible to have negative thoughts. We got so caught up in chatting with each other during the race, that I hardly even realized I was running. We decided to take a nice even pace. We ended up doing a steady 11 minute mile and finishing at 33 minutes. This is actually a slower pace than we are both capable of and afterward wondered what our time would have been if we really pushed it. But the truth is, even though I wish I could brag about a faster time, this experience has equipped me with some nuggets of knowledge that really make me excited:

1) I am much better at running that I think I am. During the race I knew when I was running slower than I could & I know that I could have kept running for a lot longer. I felt strong and I faced how much endurance I really have. The fact that I was able to jabber away the whole three miles means I don't huff and puff as much I think I do.

2) 3 miles is not a scary distance. That is simply in my mind. I'm used to the Crossfit way of running 400m and 800m & really blew up how long 3 miles was going to feel in my mind. It is actually quite short and I look forward to running 3 miles when I get home and really going for it. How fast can I really run it?

3) It's all in your head. My brother and I have a joke that throughout life you are simply learning things over and over again that you already know. Well I was just reminded of the power of our minds, once again. Thinking positively and feeling joy throughout this run made it painless. I had attempted 3 miles run many times throughout this last year. Sometimes I finished but felt like my brain drove me nuts during the whole thing and felt like I would never do it again. Other times I just stopped and walked. But I just let my mind rule. If I let my healthy, fit, and very capable body rule and make sure my brain is being nice to me, I actually really like running. Who knew?

So while I can't wait to run another one and report a much faster time, I feel so happy that I've had these discoveries about what I'm capable of. Phew. It feels like a relief to not be afraid of running. And I already have a date with my sister-in-law at the next Midnight Margarita Run in Austin. Can't wait! Plus how can you be in a bad mood when your little nephew gets excited to run with you? You simple can't. Life is good.

Frailure is NOT an option

This fine Sunday morning I met my fellow Team Phoenix members at Austin High School's track for a run through of the benchmark workout Fran. In case you are not familiar with this nasty lady the workout goes a little something like this:

21 Thrusters
21 Pull-ups

15 Thrusters
15 Pull-ups

9 Thrusters
9 Pull-ups

Erika Jeanne, participating in the 5 week Fran Challenge, has declared FRAILURE is not an option. Sometimes the anticipation of a challenge can get you mentally psyched out. When this happens, sometimes the best thing you can do to stop over-thinking it is to just jump right in. So I showed up to cheer Anna and Erika on with a stop watch, some pull-ups bands, a barbell, and a "Frailure is not an option" attitude.

I'm proud of my Team Phoenix members for putting their ALL into this workout. Anna, who has only been crossfitting for 3 months rocked out all her pull-ups on the blue band (for those of you who don't know what the blue band is...let's just say it took me a year to get to the blue band...so it's bad-ass). And Erika rocked out her Fran at the Elite level, all pull-ups unassisted. Way to go ladies!One thing is for sure...both these ladies RIPPED IT UP.....literally!

The Language of Dieting

I've been thinking a lot about how the words we use to describe how and what we eat can really affect how we view our choices. I think it's important to check in with the associated meanings of the words we use to describe a healthy lifestyle and make sure they are words that make us feel good. Many people have commented on the word diet itself. The word diet has developed some negative connotations over the years. People often associate it with denial, restriction, or a phase. When really the word diet is the Greek word for "way of life." So, in truth, it doesn't make sense to be "on a diet." Everyone is "on a diet," it's just a matter of what your diet consists of.

I recently started calling my "cheat day" my "looser day." To me, "cheating" makes me feel guilty, like I'm violating what I'm supposed to be doing. That doesn't make me feel good. I have built in a day where I can be a little less restrictive on purpose. I feel that I need it for balance and to keep my obsessiveness in check. Everyone is different, but if I am too strict with myself, I could be setting myself up for a detrimental "F*#$ this" binge. I call it a looser day or a looser meal, because I am loosening the parameters I usually follow. For me, allowing myself a looser day is a healthy and wise

Now that doesn't mean the word cheat doesn't have it's place. If I declare I am going 100% Paleo with no loose days for a full month and I eat sugar, well then I cheated on my diet. I violated the rules and regulations of my way of life. Right now I'm abstaining from alcohol while I train for my 5K. If I decide to have a glass of wine, that's not loose...that's a cheat.

What's fun about thinking about the language of dieting is that you can make up your own words & phrases if it's helpful. The incredible Melicious, who once fought going Paleo, renamed it Dino-Chow and took the plunge. Love it! When I realized I was going to have to stop eating nightshades to heal the tendinitis in my wrist, I was sad to let go of my salsa, Cholula, and bell peppers as they were a HUGE part of my diet. I had to re-name them wrist poison so I wasn't so sad. It worked! In this case, the negative connotation was necessary for me to feel like I wasn't missing out on anything and in fact I was bettering myself. Now that my wrist has healed I'm slowly reintroducing nightshades & everytime I eat some, I apologize for having to call them poison for a while. I think I'm forgiven.

While searching for diet terms I ran into a great post that addresses this same topic. Stephanie from "Back in Skinny Jeans" uses the terms on the menu as in "that's not on my menu today" That seems less restrictive than "I can't eat that. Check out her post.

Because after all, eating well is about feeling good. Language is powerful, it should make us feel just as good as the foods we eat!
Any great terms you have come up with?