After a three day free-for-all of Mexican food, drinks, and desserts I really felt the difference. Crash and burn on the 2nd attempt to clean up my diet. With only 9 weeks left until Regionals I better get it together. I have decided to test a new theory for two weeks. Through years of dieting and un-dieting I think deep down I already know what to eat. There is a little inner voice that tells me when I am good or bad. All the diets, planning, measuring, and tracking are just different ways to prevent myself from ignoring the voice so I can have cookies and donuts for breakfast. I aspire to be a health nut but in reality I am nowhere near the point where it makes sense for me to decide whether carbs or dairy are good or bad. I usually follow up those decisions with white chocolate Kit Kat bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.

I want to forget the details for two weeks and see if I can train myself to stop “dieting” and just listen to my inner voice. It tells me to gravitate towards foods higher in protein and eat lots of vegetables, some fruit, and a little nuts. But I am not banning carbs, dairy, fat, or even treats. No weighing or measuring. No specific weight goal for me either. I think I have weighed myself just about every day since college as a habit. For the next two weeks – NO SCALE. As of Wednesday morning I weighed 142. At the end we will find out whether I lost, gained, or stayed the same.

The only rules for this experiment are to eat real food real slowly whenever I am hungry, to stop eating when I know I should, and to prevent myself from flipping that subconscious switch that suddenly tells me to go ahead and eat half a pepperoni pizza. To keep myself aware of what I am eating, I am writing it down and posting it here for everyone to see. This time it is only a list of foods with no measurements. Instead of using my measuring cups and scales I will see what happens when I use my conscience as my guide.

The first two events proved to be tests of endurance. This week’s event is going to favor the strong and will definitely cause some movement in the ranks. The challenge is to do as many squat clean and jerks as possible in 5 minutes. But the required weight is what could make or break people this week:165# for guys and 110# for girls. Some people use that weight to warm up with. But many more will find it a lot closer to their 1 rep max. Or over it.

Workout #3: As many rounds/reps as possible in 5 minutes of
Squat cleans at 165#/110# plus Jerks at 165#/110#

The weekend had everything I could have hoped for. Laughter, adventure, relaxation, a little shopping and a lot of fun. Friday night we went to dinner at The Yardhouse in downtown Denver and then went to see the rant comedian Lewis Black.

On Saturday we went mountain biking at Picture Rock near Lyons. Made a new friend.

After eating lunch at Oscar Blues we went to La Bellezza Spa located at a small winery. We spent an hour or so hanging around their gorgeous property testing their wines. We soaked in their hot tub for a little while and then enjoyed some very good massages. We ended up chatting with the therapists for about an hour afterward. Guess we just didn’t want to leave.

Finally we had some Mexican food for dinner. Todd told the waiters it was my birthday so of course they put a sombrero on me and sang. Surprisingly funny after 5 glasses of wine and a couple margaritas. Haha. I had a Gummy Bear Margarita. It really has gummy bears floating in it! So good.

On Sunday we went shopping, had Asian cuisine at TQ Asian Bistro by our house, and then came home and watched 127 Hours. Pretty intense. Then yesterday we went to Blackhawk. The original idea was to play blackjack but after the dealer got four 21s and seven 20s in a row we abandoned that and played the goofy penny slots instead. Never been a fan of the slot machines before but we had a blast without spending much. What a nice weekend!

Event #2 is out of the way. MBS CrossFit held on to 3rd place in the region this week. Somehow I managed to climb up one spot from 41st to 40th in the region as an individual. In fifteen minutes I completed 10 rounds plus 9 dead lifts, 12 push ups, and 5 box jumps. The goal is to land in the top 60 as an individual and for our team to be in the top 30. So far so good. Tomorrow I can tell you about my birthday weekend and then I think I will introduce you to my workout buddies, past and present. My girls are really kicking butt. I am so proud!

Yesterday I felt lazy. I didn’t go to CrossFit telling myself I would run later. But then I wasn’t sure I wanted to run either. I told Todd I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go and he sent me this:

 
I took the long way.

Finally finished our taxes. Ugh I hate them. It is like doing really confusing homework for a required class that you dislike in the first place. The government can probably figure out what I eat for breakfast so I think it’s lame that I still have to write down how much money I make and send it to them like they don’t already know. Maybe in future times employers, banks, etc will electronically submit our information directly to the government and… wait a minute… don’t already do that? So… isn’t it possible all that info could be automatically added to our tax forms via our social security numbers? We could just go online and view our already filled out taxes forms, correct mistakes, add deductions, sign and submit. Instead our taxes take about 2-3 months of dread plus 3 hours of aggravation and we are only about 80% sure they are correct. And really the government already has the answers. They just want to see what we will SAY we owe. Well anyway, glad they are done.

Yep. The push ups were bad.

Ever play that game at a slumber parties called “Light as a feather, stiff as a board”? One person lays on a table. Someone tells a ghost story and then five or six people chant “light as a feather stiff as a board” while “levitating” the person with their forefingers? The theory for why it works is that by telling the scary story and chanting those words the person becomes flat and rigid and thus easier to lift than a person who is relaxed. Same reason protesters go limp when authorities try to drag them away. It is harder to lift up a limp body. If I practice push ups using all the muscles in my whole body to stay flat, tight, and totally straight in the end it will be much less work for my poor tired arms. Not being straight and rigid makes my arms have to do way more work than they should have to. So stronger arms will help. But in the end better push ups will help more.

Event 2 for the Reebok CrossFit Open has been announced. Almost a perfect workout for me. Almost.. but not. For the girls its:

9 Dead lifts (100lbs / 45kg)
12 Push-ups
15 Box jumps (20")

Dead lifts and box jumps are two of my favorites. Push ups. Ugh. Not so much. I have been considering doing a program to increase push ups and pull ups since the beginning of the year but only started last week. Little bummed I didn’t start sooner. There’s a lesson. If you want to improve something don’t wait if you don’t have to. Another lesson too though. Better late than never.

 
Workout #1 of the Colorado Open is finally behind us. Our team at MBS CrossFit is ranked 3rd of 66 in the Southwest Region so far and 42nd of 786 teams around the world so far. Individually I had a pretty decent start too. Not spectacular but nothing to complain about. I normally do a little better on double-unders and little worse on snatch so I guess it balanced out. I ranked 41st of 618 in the region and 475th of 7108 overall in that one. There are five events remaining so lots of work left to do. Top 30 teams and top 60 individuals in the region move on to the Regional competition. Here are a few of us visiting CrossFit Verve on Saturday:

In the meantime our gym also signed up to do another competition called The Throwdown Series. The 2nd event in that challenge was on Saturday. For the girls it was:

750m row
21 dead lifts at 155
30 ring push ups
15 dead lifts at 155
20 ring push ups
9 dead lifts
10 ring push ups
750m row

I am not sure how are team is ranked yet but I will post it once they have it updated. Individually after both events I am 10th of 73 in that competition so far.

The first workout after a week of sitting on my butt was a little rough on Wednesday. This morning’s was a little better. I tried a muscle up afterward and couldn’t get one so not totally recovered yet I don’t think. Hoping I will be ready for another go at the first Sectionals workout by tomorrow morning. It really won’t matter if I am ready or not. I am doing it. I will put in the best effort I can and whatever happens happens. Man, a little stumble can have a major consequence if you aren’t careful. (Like this guy at about 0:55).

Day left: 30
Weight: 142