Is that paleo? Or zone? How many blocks is that?

UGH. These past two weeks have been ROUGH. Not only crossfit wise, but work wise, and just life wise. As most of you know, the RCFBC nutrition challenge started two weeks ago. You get points for each day you eat paleo, zone your meals, go to crossfit, or do some other activity. We are in teams of 4 (My team is the best, obviously!) When I first started at RCFBC, they did the first paleo challenge, and I was just thrown in there. I know how to eat paleo, and have adopted it as a new lifestyle. Now my friend Mike adds in this twist of "Zoning" your paleo meals. Just google the zone diet, and you'll figure it out- it's a lot of math and figuring out your blocks and equal numbers of carbs, fats, and proteins.  Basically, just a boat load of planning and preparation. It is definitely a much different challenge than the first one. My team is awesome though! Rose & Pete are amazing. They have 4 kids all under the age of 10, and our absolute rock-stars at paleo-zone. I'm just a single lady, and am having a hard time- I don't know how they do it with those kids (who are absolutely ADORABLE!). Our other teammate is Jess. I had never met her before, and didn't know what to expect. Well, she's awesome. And super nice. And amazing at paleo-zoning and cross-fitting! So glad to have all of these people at our box! We are rocking this- the only thing is that we need a team name!
Last week,  a few of our members were in a competition up in Rye, NH to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I was there as a judge. I was absolutely humbled by the whole thing- the athletes, the cause, the community- everything. The ride up to NH was absolutely hysterical. I drove, and had Colleen, Gareth, & Marvin in my car. Needless to say, it was amazing. We belted out DMX the whole way up & had a lot of laughs. It was beautiful up in Rye- we were right on the water, it was a little cool and windy, but overall a gorgeous day. We had two teams- scaled and Rx. On the scaled team was Kevin, Brian, Alex, Colleen, Melissa, & Nanette. The RX team consisted of Marvin, Gareth, Mike Monarch, Lauren, Kyla, & Kaylee. Mike L. & I were both judges (obvi not for our own team, hehe). Before the competition started, the guy who started it gave a speech. If you know me at all, you know that I obviously cried (and tried to play it off like it was the wind). He just told everyone there his story about how his son was diagnosed with CF & how he was in the hospital this time last year. Then they introduced his family- and a few young adults who are living with CF. It was just so amazing to see how much money was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation just through this crossfit competition. There was even a team there from Georgia! Our RCFBC teams were amazing, but it was so awesome to see teams from all over and how they represent their box. It was an honor to be a part of the crossfit community not only that day, but everyday.
What was so amazing to me was how welcoming and friendly everyone was. It truly shows the spirit of the crossfit community, and the main reason why I love it.
That night ended in a lot of alcohol, and shenanigans (which I will keep to myself), and subsequently my pact with Mike Monarch to give up alcohol until the end of the nutrition challenge. So far, I'm week without alcohol- I feel great, but I do miss my tequila, soda, limes! We only have to go until November 2nd, and I think we'll be able to do it.
Crossfit wise, these two weeks have been awesome. I HATE running- hate it. One of the past weeks' wods included 5 rounds of an 800m run, toes to bar, and burpees. 800m is 4 laps around the building. Usually, I have to stop a bunch of times to walk and catch my breath. I made it the first round, the whole 800m WITHOUT stopping. Granted, I wasn't going fast - but I didn't stop, and I couldn't believe it. I felt pretty jazzy that day. Another PR I got was on my clean and jerk. I've had a few setbacks with these movements because of my wrist mobility, but I was able to clean & jerk 80lbs from the ground twice. I cannot thank Zoe and Hilary enough for their encouragement and motivation while I was trying to get that up. I tried for 85lb, but it wasn't happening. A few days later, we did bench press. We hardly ever do them, so it was awesome. The last time we did them, I got 65lbs. This time, I got 85lbs. It was amazing. Colleen was with me & she is CRAZY strong! At the competition last week, she carried Kevin on her back for a long time- nuts!!!  I think she got all the way up to 115lbs!  That's nuts! I love PRs. They make you feel so amazing, and give you the confidence to go into wods.
The only thing I'm not so crazy about is Hatch. My back-squat has been looking rough. I always look like I'm going to tip forward, and then my back starts to hurt. Because of that, I've had to really cut the weight down on my back-squat, and really work on my form. As much as I hate it, I know that Mike is looking out for me, and having good form will ultimately help me in the long run.
There has also been a ton of burpees this week- I HATE burpees too. I wish I was more efficient at them- maybe one day. I just looked at the wod for tomorrow- Hatch, followed by burpees, and box jumps- AWESOME. hahahahaha.

I have the day off tomorrow, so I'll get to go to the 9am class and see people I never get to see! I can't wait! Now, for the rest of the Patriots game...Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!
-A <3

Our amazingly awesome RCFBC team!! <3

TRUTH.

Question of the day, everyday.