Looking the Pig in the eye

I really enjoyed this blog post from Farmhouse Delivery, a local service that:

"brings the farm to your door, offering local produce, meat, dairy, eggs, and local artisanal products to customers in Austin. We sell produce grown exclusively on local farms and even grow some of it ourselves! Meat and dairy products are sourced from farms within a 200 mile foodshed, and artisanal products are sustainably produced here in Austin. Weekly, bi-monthly, or one-time delivery is available with no delivery fee."

Pretty awesome!

Next Month, Farmhouse delivery is hosting a pig roast & this post is an eloquent response addressing some vegetarians that were quite upset about the event. I mostly appreciate the idea of connecting to the food you eat and the commitment Farmhouse Delivery has made to this concept.

I have many close friends that are vegetarians, and while I do not agree that a diet free of animal products is a healthier choice, I can at least empathize with the decision when it's due to the terrible situation of our meat industry. For me, instead of not eating meat, I cast my vote for supporting businesses like these (and I do! I've signed up for monthly deliveries). Plus I really love bacon.

I had a date with Angie...but I stood her up

Oh boy. I missed Angie. And I really have no great excuse, other than I couldn't get momentum towards the gym. In all fairness to myself Monday was my first day off with no obligations in a very long time. And part of me just wanted to do absolutely nothing and soak in the freedom of not having to be anywhere at any particular time. Especially because I still had to do so much while being sick that I felt I got cheated out of a full-on face to the pillow kind of day. But man, the guilt factor is terrible. Because I know that I would have felt awesome afterward. And because I love Angie. And because the night before, I thought about my goal to not miss a single class this session. See the thing is, a few things have changed at my job which requires a ton of myself. It's been very rewarding, but it's a new level of multi-tasking and responsibility. Which means the days when I feel sluggish are rough. So I'm working on how to optimize my energy by both getting a ton of sleep as well as not missing any crossfit classes. I really only miss classes if I'm out of town or really need to sleep. And I have a feeling that I will be feeling the need for rest and rejuvenation quite a bit in the upcoming weeks, but I don't want that to mean missing training. I might switch to a later class, or re-arrange other aspects of how I organize my time. This month, being all Ladies and Heroes and a wrist that is really showing signs of healing, I don't want to miss this opportunity to get in the gym and be STRONG...it makes everything else in my life better and easier. So I post this to first, apologize to Angie...you have always been one of my favorites and I'm sorry I acted so selfishly on Monday. And second, to ask Angie out on a date at the end of the month...just you and me in my backyard. On October 31st, I'm posting my Angie score...until then, I'm going to hang with some cool ladies and heroes*

*a bunch of killer workouts named after women and fallen soldiers. Like Angie: 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats!

Fight Gone not so Bad

I wasn't sure how this was going to go. My goal last year was to get a 280 at the Elite level. But my training had to take a slow down in 2009 because of my wrist tendonitis, and I did not do the Elite level this year. I would have been okay on the sumo deadlift highpull, I would have been semi-okay on the push press (although I know that round 3 would have been a real struggle) but catching that 14 lb medball just hurts my wrist too much. Well, am I ever glad that I signed up for intermediate level instead because prior to Saturday morning I had not worked out in almost 2 weeks due to being sick. I had no idea if I would hold up during one of the most intense workouts, but I made sure to get as much rest as possible before hand. I told myself to take it slow and realize that this was fun and for a good cause. I gave myself permission to let go of having a high score. Last year I got 257 and this year I got a 273. I feel pretty good about that actually, considering how I had been feeling only 2 days prior. I'll take it!

What I love is to see how the pain grows in my face as each round passes. The smile on my face in the picture above is clearly the smle of someone who hasn't started the workout yet.

One round down, first rest station:

Two rounds down, second rest station:

Three rounds down, & done:

I also learned that I stick my tongue out a lot when I workout...I don't think I knew I did that. There were pictures from every station that looked like this:
And I make the infamous Hart family Squint Face!And I promised my sweet husband, who worked very hard on taking lots of pics, that I would include his "art shots":Matt would like you to note the in focus foreground vs. out of focus superstar! Very artsy of him!

But what makes this day so fun is that fact that we all endure this pain together. And I don't think I could have kept the momentum if it weren't for the excitement and support of everyone in this amazing community.See what I mean? I'm clearly about to puke but how could I not keep going with the always kick-ass Melicious cheering for me?

AND I happened to be wearing the COOLEST shirt ever, made by the bad-ass Anna Krachey, who also ripped it up at Fight Gone Bad. Watch out for this one, her dedication is serious and she is a real athlete.
Congratulations to everyone that participated. A special shout out to Erika Jeanne and Mel for stepping it up to the Elite Level this year. Way to RIP IT UP ladies, I'm so proud of you!! Next year I will join you there!A trip down memory lane, remembering last years Fight Gone Bad experience.

But I just can't resist it!

We all know the pull of the foods that make us feel bad. We all know that cleaning up our diets, eating more veggies, cutting out sugar & processed crap makes us feel awesome. But no matter how good we know clean eating makes our bodies feel and how bad sugar and overly processed non-food makes us feel, we still crave the bad stuff! And I don't know about you guys, but not only do I crave it, but sometimes I binge on it. I get the taste for it and I can't stop. In fact, that happens to me with all food. I have a tendency to overeat no matter what I'm eating. I can ignore the full signals like no bodies business because the "I want more" team is cheering much louder than those full signals. This is one of the reasons I gained a lot of weight in the first place. In order to get my weight under control I, of course, had to start exercising and eating healthy food but I also needed to develop techniques to curb my overeating habits. This is still a daily challenge for me, but some of techniques I've developed have really helped me and I thought I would share them. I know that no matter how disciplined you are, our coaches included, we all fall victim to the almighty carb binge resulting in a horrible hangover the next day and a declaration of reigning in our clean eating from now until....
And we have to remember that when we look to the diet of our paleolithic ancestors to understand what our genes are designed to eat, we are looking to a world that did not have a corner store with snickers bars and a world that did not have office parties with pizza and chocolate cake in the break room. We can learn about diet and lifestyle quite a bit when we look back, but we certainly can't learn about the "tools of resistance" from our ancestors because...well...they had nothing to resist!

1) Smaller plates, and smaller pieces!
Trick your brain to see more volume. I know that the overeating indulgent side of my brain can look at a meal & calculate how many bites I get to enjoy. And of course, I want to have as many bites as possible. Sure, I could cut tiny pieces with my fork, but once I get the taste, I just want to ravage through it. So chop up your portions before you cook.
Take this sausage for example:I could eat this puppy in 4 big bites.
But now look at this same sausage on a slightly smaller plate all chopped up. I see many delicious bites in my future. This is Applegate Farms Chicken & Apple Sausage by the way (totally awesome) and is 2 blocks of protein.

2) Serve yourself 1/2 and go back for seconds!
This has been very effective for me when I cook dinner at home. I know before hand the portions of my entire meal (usually 3 blocks) and I only put 1/2 on my plate to start. I try and eat it slowly and convince myself this is my whole dinner (and if I've used my volume trick sometimes that seems reasonable to my pesky overeating brain). Then I take a few deep breaths and get super excited that I get to go back for seconds-guilt free! I know it seems silly, but it's not my body that wants to keep eating...my body is getting all the fuel it needs. It's my chatty overeating brain that talks me into it. Sometimes it just wants the feeling of getting to go back for seconds. This pleases the overeating cheerleaders and they are usually very satisfied by this fake feeling of going in for more!

3) Just wait!
Sometimes I eat past my full point because I love to eat and I don't want the eating experience to be over. But now that I have built in snacks and eat 5 times a day, I don't have to wait very long in between eating. One very effective tool is to tell myself, "Stop, you will get to eat again very soon. If you wait to eat this, you will enjoy it twice as much because you won't feel guilty." And all the sudden 2 hours go by so fast and I get to eat again & not having the guilt factor is so worth it!! The regret ways us down. We don't have time for it. I know it seems too simple, but it really calms the overeating cheerleaders. It's like saying, "hold on guys...let me just get some things done in the next 2 hours and we can totally eat again when I'm done." It's great because the cheerleaders wait patiently on the bench as long as they know there is a game in their near future.

4) Change your situation immediately.
I have some built in rituals to change my situation for those moments when I start heading toward the fridge for a totally unnecessary munching session. Because it really is just those pesky cheerleaders who want you to overeat and not your body, give your cheerleaders some new scenery for a bit. My favorite ritual that always works is a walk to the corner store to buy myself a Lime Topo Chico (Mineral water with a twist of Lime for all you Non-Texans). It is the perfect distraction. It's a 400m walk...just long enough to switch up my brain waves, get some fresh air, and still treat myself to something. And I always feel great afterward. I'm happy I didn't indulge unnecessarily, I'm happy from moving my body and taking in fresh air, and I'm happy to have a refreshing bottle of deliciousness! Love it! My other favorite ritual is to paint my nails (sorry gentlemen...this may not be a great tip for you...although who knows...:). Works every time. I start getting excited about the new color and the new personality I can wear with the new color. AND with wet nails, no fridge rummaging will be happening. And when I'm in a plain nail phase...go for clear!

5) If you're gonna go crazy, at least go clean!
There is no better thing you can do to stop sugary indulgences than to not have any of that stuff in your house. Just don't buy it ever. So, when you do go to the fridge to pick when your not actually hungry, at least you are picking at the good stuff. I learned how true this was on Friday night when my awesome girlfriend Erika Jeanne brought me some homemade, all natural chicken soup. I have been sick since Wednesday (thus my MIA from Crossfit world) and Erika made me some almighty healing soup. She said, "Eat as much as you can and then SLEEP" Well, I took her up on the eating as much as I could...and then some. I ate 3 large bowls of her chicken soup, 1/2 yam, 1 apple with a bunch zucchini hummus, & 2 tbs almond butter. I'm sure 1 bowl alone was a 3 block meal...but I just wanted more. Let me tell you, I woke up the next morning with a flat stomach...not the "possibly 3 months pregnant" bulge I wake up with when I binge on sugar. It was a totally different story the next day. So, if you are going to eat beyond your blocks cuz you can't help it...stick to clean indulging and you won't regret it! Another tip: Frozen Grapes: a childhood favorite. When they are frozen, you eat less and they seem more like dessert.

If I think of more I will post them.
What are your tools for resistance?

Meet Team Phoenix

Anna, Catherine, & Erika.

There is so much I could say about this day but the main word that comes to mind is PROUD.

I am proud to be a part of a phenomenal group of women who inspire me & push me to new heights on a daily basis.
I am proud of myself for getting through these workouts and actually being able to say that, despite the pain, they were really fun.
I am proud of my team members Erika and Anna.
I am proud of them individually and I am proud of how we worked together.

This is what my kick-ass team and I accomplished together on one rainy Saturday morning:

A 2 mile run with that could not be started until 150 Burpees were completed.
There were 2 stations that we stopped at during the our run to complete:
200 Kettlebell swings
200 med ball passes
Then back to the gym to complete the following:
50 barbell power snatch (45#)
200 box jumps
175 ab mat sit ups
100 pull ups
125 duo dead lifts @ 95#s (oh yeah, did I mention Team Phoenix did 105lbs by accident?)
150 jumping ring dips
100 duo shoulder press (55#)
Run 400m

Some memorable highlights for me were:

1) When Erika decided who was boss when it came to the 16kg Kettlebell. I was struggling with the weight and my wrist was weak when it came to stabilizing it overhead. I couldn't do as many reps as I wanted to in order to spare my team mates. But when Erika grabbed that Kettlebell, she let out an almighty grunt with every swing that said, "Guess whose boos MotherF&%$er!!" and swung that baby with all her might.

2) Anna and her never ending endurance makes me want to get off my ass and get going! While Anna has been an athlete most of her life, she has only being Crossfitting for about 2 months. She is new to many of the movements and new to the weight & intensity. But you would seriously never know it. She brings a "CAN DO" attitude to everything that she does and she was the first to cross the finish line amongst the 3 of us in both workouts. Totally inspiring.

3) I am pretty sure that Erika did the fasted sit-ups I have ever seen in my life. If I could get anywhere close to that speed I could shave a good 3 minutes off my "Angie" time. BAD ASS.

4) So, turns out Anna has never done a snatch with anything heavier than a PVP pipe. Remember that "CAN DO" attitude I was talking about? Well, we had to do 50 snatches with a 45lb bar (how much is a PVC pipe...1/2 lb?) and she ROCKED it with no fear. I watched her figure out the movement as she never stopped with grace, style, and determination. So awesome!

5) The cheers of all the ladies as everyone crossed the finish line made me feel a little choked up. Yeah, it was a competition...but it was so satisfying to watch everyone finish the race even if they totally beat us!

6) That run was so beautiful that I forgot that I don't like running as much as I wish to. The rain and the water made me forget the miserable Burpees and made me feel, well...special. I felt like a runner and I understood why I loved to do it.

See what I mean?
And the amazing meal we indulged in afterward was well worth the hard work: STEAK, FRENCH FRIES, and CHOCOLATE PIE = BLISS. Mel says it best with the pictures she took. Check them out!

Until Next time....
Team Phoenix will be in the 5 next year...watch out!!!

I'm pissed that you're pissed!

Okay...so I have tons to blog about this morning after a day of relaxation and recovery...an awesome art opening...an amazing women's challenge....

But before I get to any of that...my blood is boiling and I've got to post about it. I briefly mentioned in a previous post that I didn't understand why any citizen of Austin would be pissed that we can now enjoy a new Natural Grocery store in Hyde park just because it's somewhat close to Wheatsville. Last night, as I searched for some new recipes & where I might find some ingredients I need locally, I ran into a few reviews that got me pissed all over again. While most smart people are thrilled that more and more Natural Grocery Stores are joining the community...there are a few sour apples that simply piss me off. There is a trail of chatter on Yelp that begins with excitement for the addition of the Natural Grocers on 39th and Guadalupe and quickly spirals downward to a pissy rant about how Californians are ruining Austin with all this expansion...

For example:

"We like Wheatsville...which is why we'll keep supporting that almost completely local, community-owned and -loving emporium while wondering why a Colorado chain would set up shop just up the street from our most beloved and unique natural foods store..."

Before I tell you what really gets under my skin about this attitude...let me tell you a few quick notes about this "Colorado chain".

They have the freshest and MOST yummy almond butter I have ever tasted for only $4.99/tub. This is about 1/3 of the cost I have seen in other places.They also carry my favorite Turkey Jerky which is the only brand I have ever found locally to be both gluten free and sugar free. This stuff is a perfect portable protein and I can't get it anywhere else.Not to mention the fact that they sell Kombucha Tea for only $1.99 where the same brand is sold for $3.59 everywhere else in town.I personally believe that whether the owners of this chain are from Colorado or not, they have added a valuable resource for our community. And to be honest, I love Wheatsville and I do shop there quite a bit...but they are not quite as local as we want to believe.

But here is why I feel my blood circulating with great fervor when I read pissy rants about how unfortunate it is that the niche market of healthy eating is expanding:

HEALTHY EATING SHOULD NOT BE A NICHE MARKET!!!!

I'm sorry that you eat organic food, not because it's better for you, but because you need it to fuel your alternative identity. I'm sorry that you are so selfishly obsessed with your identity crisis that you don't want everyone to have access to good food. How dare you. How could another health food store (which is a full 10 blocks away on a major thoroughfare) be the downfall of Austin? F?%K You!! You don't get to own healthy food. You don't get to treat healthy food like your beloved underground band that sold out to the mainstream. It's people like you that make me afraid to be an outspoken healthy eater. There are "convenience stores" every other block that sell 90% crap filled with processed shit and tons of sugar. Well I want my organic apple to exist every other block too!! You are complaining about 10 blocks?!?!

Organic/healthy food should be as popular as Ferris Bueller. To quote Grace, it should be enjoyed by, "The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads" alike!

This is so much bigger than your alternative identity. Our country is in a health crisis. Get over yourself.

Happy eating my lovely people!!!

9 is the new 8

Sleep. It's like breakfast: too many of us skimp on it and yet it will determine the quality of your day. Reality: I need at least 10 hours of sleep a night or NO LESS than 8 really deep/quality hours. But this almost never happens. It is so easy to slip into 7 is good enough. And 7 hours often feels like it was good enough because I was capable of multi-tasking & high levels of functioning throughout the day. But if 7 is basically getting a full-night sleep, then 6 1/2 is too...in fact sometimes I just have to settle for 6. I might be a little fog-headed when I first wake up...but the coffee will kick me into gear (sometimes).

But all it takes is the experience of a truly good night sleep that was long enough and quality enough for your body to restore itself to know that 7 doesn't cut it. It's actually unbelievable when you experience a freshness behind your eyes when you really get the sleep your body needs. I rarely experience this, but when I do I realize I am jipping myself. And when I perform amazingly in a workout where I have clarity of mind and fresh strength to keep going...it almost ALWAYS has to do with how well I slept the night before. I can examine my food journals all I want....but the answer usually comes from my sleep quality.

Adding healthy food and exercise to my life has brought me to new energy levels for sure. I would not be able to pull-off having a full-time job and an art career if I didn't crossfit and eat well. But I still find myself having those lulls....feeling like I want to crawl into my bed and just sleep...recharge. So I am joining the ever-fabulous Melicious on her journey of increasing energy by increasing veggie intake and GETTING MORE SLEEP!

The first step I am taking is to declare 9 hours the new 8 hours. I will strive for 9hours every night and will say that 8 (rather than 7) is the new good enough. This will be hard to do....when I get busy, good sleep is one of the first things to be sacrificed. But I also know that when I get more sleep, I get more out of my awake time because I am fresher. I went to bed at 9:30 last night and woke up at 7am....and I have to say there is a pep in my step today.

I have been reading "Lights Out: Sugar, Sleep, and Survival" by T.S. Wiley. This book, of course, points out how detrimental it is that humans do not sleep enough. In fact, in a very detailed and convincing 205 pages, the book basically states that lack of sufficient sleep is really the major problem behind most of our contemporary health issues. This problem happens before the overconsumption of sugar...lack of sleep increases our craving for sugar. One statement in this book that really spoke to me and I must share is:

"Understanding human physiological dysfunction is akin to repairing a broken vase. You start with the big pieces and, finally, all that's left is the impact point. Those tiny shards will go together in the end, but you never could have started there.

Those tiny shards are the only news the public gets. That's why the newspapers and news magazine shows are rife with "cutting-edge discoveries" that ostensibly will change your world, but, in real time, never provide one single cure."

This statement provided me with a sense of relaxation and understanding. It put words to something that I always felt was true. Because sometimes I feel like saying, how could this possibliy be so complicated? Why does one set of things cause cancer on one day and another set cause cancer the next day. Why does basically everything cause cancer? Why is the yoke of an egg the worst part of the egg one day and the most nutricious the next? One could simply go mad if you tried to keep up with all this mess. I am going to call these "shards" from now on. I can't go crazy over the shards...I want the big pices of glass...in fact, show me what the vase looked like before it was broken!

Speaking of sleep...check out these other cool beds!