90 Days Complete!

A little late coming but here are my results for the 90 Day Challenge! Nothing drastic but i'll take it :)


90 Days Ago:

2 mile run = 17 mins 1 sec


60 sec PushUps = 24

60 sec SitUps = 31

Weight - 139 lbs

Waist = 28 in

Hips = 34.5 in

Chest = 32.75 in

And now......


2 mile run = 15 min 22 sec
60 sec of Pushups = 28
60 sec of Situps = 35


Weight - 136 lbs
Waist - 27in
Hips - 32.5 in
Chest - 32 in

Days 74 & 75

I came across an interesting article about cravings and what your body actually needs when you are craving a certain food.  For example, if you crave chips your body is really asking for calcium.  I was happy to see that in the "sweets" column grapes are suggested as an alternative.  Sweets are my nemesis and we have battled for years....I'm now over 8 days without a single teaspoon of sugar and grapes have been my go to, mangoes as well.  I've been able to go in spurts without sugar but nothing long term. I'm hoping that this is the start of a sugarfree Randi....with the odd earned treat ;)

Days 69-73

Okay I know I'm totally killing it with these documentaries but I just can't get over some of the stuff I'm learning and I want to share it.  60 Minutes this past weekend had a segment on sugar and asked the question, Is it Toxic?  On this special there was a doctor by the name of Robert Lustig and he mentions another presentation that dives further into how different sugars are digested by the body.  This talk is less "sexy" but his explanation about how fructose (corn syrup) is digested by the body versus sugar from fruit is truly eye opening and he believes this is the reason why some many people are obese.  He does not believe that all calories are equal and this is why the calorie in/calorie out method does not work for people trying to lose weight.  Click on the link below to watch.....

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Days 66-68

I watched another great documentary that I wanted to share with you.  It's free to watch online till March 31st.  It's called Hungry For Change and if you've been looking for a reason to give up sugar...they give you 90 minutes worth of interesting information.  Worth the watch if you have the time.

http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

Days 61-65

Yesterday was the last workout for the CrossFit Open and I couldn't even do it! The workout involved 2 movements, one was Thrusters and the other was Chest to Bar.  Thrusters are a combination of a front squat and overhead press done with a barbell, this I can do.  What i can't do is Chest to Bar!  This is a pull up that requires you to touch the bar with your chest making you pull higher than a regular pull up. You would think that being a woman it would be easier for me to hit the bar with my chest but unfortunately it's not. I actually tried so hard to do this exercise that I flew off the bar and fell on my side! haha.  It was quite embarrassing because it was in front of the whole crew at the gym.  Matt almost caught it on camera because he was going to record my work out on video.  That would have been pretty funny for you all to see.  So after trying more than 30 times to do this movement combined with hurting myself I decided to sit out on 12.5.  The Open was fun to be a part of because it really gives you an idea of the things you need to improve upon.  There are some competitions coming up in the summer months that Matt and I want to be a part of so we better get to work!

Days 53-60

Since watching the Forks Over Knives documentary Matt and I have been eating WAY LESS meat. Last week we went 6 out of 7 days strictly vegan and to my surprise it wasn't that hard.  Now I'm not saying that I've converted to Veganism full time but I am enjoying the challenge of eating a more plant based diet.  My sister's birthday was this past weekend and knowing that her favourite dessert is coconut cake I decided to try and make her Vegan Coconut Cupcakes.  They turned out perfectly!

Another vegan recipe I wanted to share that was super simple to create is called Avocado Pesto Pasta.  It literally took us 20 minutes total to put this all together.  The avocado pesto is super creamy and tastes incredible! It will definitely be added to the rotation.

Days 51 & 52

My goal of achieving 8 rounds in the 12.3 workout did NOT happen.  Holy crap.  The combination of going from the Push Press to the Toes to Bar almost killed me after 2 ROUNDS!!  I seriously did not think I was going to make it the full 18 minutes.  I ended up completing 6.5 rounds which I was really happy with after understanding how tough this workout was.  Being part of the Open has really got Matt and I thinking that we would like to try and compete next year.....and by compete I mean make the Top 60 in the North West Region.  The CrossFit Games takes the Top 60 from each region to compete in the Regionals and then the top 3 from that go to the Games in California.  A pipe dream perhaps but something worth trying for!

Day 50 - Game Day Baby!

Today is the day we complete workout 12.3 for the CrossFit Open.  It looks like it's going to be a doozy.  The Toes-to-Bar move is really tough for me so not sure how many rounds I'm going to be able to do. The best woman so far completed 14 rounds! My goal is to get somewhere around 8 rounds.

12.3 WOD
As Many Reps As Possible In 18 Minutes
15 Box Jumps 20"/24"
12 Push Press 75lbs(women)/115lbs(men)
 9 Toes-To-Bar

Last night I went ahead and made those Harvest-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms   ... they were sooooooo goooooood and really filling. I'm hoping they are going to be the fuel that gets us through the workout this morning.

Day 48 & 49

Watched an extremely interesting documentary last night called Forks Over Knives.  The movie talks about how the current Western diet is not only making people fat (2 out of 3 Americans are overweight!) but it also causes cancer.  The argument is that we need to eat a more plant based diet.  I won't go into detail about the movie because I will not do it justice but I highly recommend giving it a watch.  Matt and I are changing our ways as of today and eating less meat! Going to give it a try anyways....so tonight I make Harvest Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms.  Yesterday before I had watched this documentary I discovered Chef Chloe who just happens to be a vegan chef. She has some amazing recipes on her site and they seem very easy to make.

Eat more greens people! I want you all to live to 100.

Day 47

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

There is a great website called Busy But Healthy and the woman who runs it always posts delicious recipes that have been modified to be a healthier version of the real thing.   I gave these muffins a try a few days ago and they turned out great.  Here is the recipe:

Makes 12 muffins

1.5 cups oat flour*
3 x 30 gram scoops whey protein powder (vanilla)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup stevia baking formula (or 12-14 stevia packets)
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (1 snack pack)
4 egg whites ( I used 1/2 cup liquid egg whites)
1 tsp vanilla

* To make oat flour, just grind up old fashioned or quick oats in a blender or food processor.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl.  Mix together wet ingredients in another bowl.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until blended.  Scoop batter into a sprayed muffin tin and/or lined with paper liners.

Bake for 15-16 minutes until a toothpick comes clean.

Nutrition (per muffin)   Calories: 139   Fat: 3.4 g  Carbs: 21.5 g   Fiber: 3.6 g   Sugars: 5.1 g   Sodium: 201 mg   Protein: 9 g

Days 39-46

Another week another CrossFit Open WOD completed.  This week was a tough one...not that last week wasn't but this time it was more power focused.  If you aren't familiar with what a snatch is (get your mind outta the gutter) click here.  The workout was as follows:

30 Snatches (Male 75 / Female 45 lbs)
30 Snatches (Male 135 / Female 75 lbs)
30 Snatches (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min.

Matt and I were both able to complete 60 reps of this workout.  I had finished my first 60 reps in about 4 and a half minutes leaving me 3 minutes to try and get 100lbs over my head but I just couldn't do it.  I have a lot to learn about proper technique and that was definitely holding me back when I got to the heavier weight. I am now ranked 526th out of 2765 in the North West Region and 7206 out of 38593 Worldwide. 

Days 25-38

Whoa! I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  New York was AMAZING.  It was everything I had imagined and more.  I can't believe how densely populated that city is and so much to see and do.  We lucked out with the weather and I was able to walk for hours each day going from tourist destination to tourist destination. I was curious how much walking I was doing and so I took the pedometer out with me one day and tracked 24,000 steps which equates to almost 20km! Incredible to think you can walk that much and not see the same thing twice.

While we were there Matt and I managed to get a few workouts in....not as many as we would have liked but you know how it is :)  One of the top things on my list was to run through Central Park and we enjoyed getting lost in the park for 5 miles.  We also visited the NYC Black Box Crossfit gym.  If you can believe it, it's the only Crossfit gym in Manhattan.  They have over 350 members and service over 100 classes per week.  The gym is located on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex. It's old and falling apart. You aren't even allowed to drop your weights because the people below complain! ha.  But we enjoyed working out with the people there and it was great to see what this legendary gym was all about.

Speaking of Crossfit...Matt and I decided to sign up for the Crossfit Games Open. This is an event that is put together to find The Fittest On Earth.  While I know that I am not in that category I thought it would be something fun to try.  The Open is 5 weeks long and there is a workout posted each week that you must complete.  You can either do these workouts at a Crossfit gym OR if you aren't able to get to a gym then you can video tape the workout and post it for submission. It's done this way so that the Open is available to everyone in the world. Matt and I had to opt for the video submission while in NY and it was hilarious trying to find an area where we could film ourselves.  The Week 1 workout was 7 minutes of Burpees. There was a gym at our hotel so we decided that it would be best to do it there.  We didn't expect that there would be a lot of people in the gym (which was 400 sq ft) at 8am on a Sunday but we were wrong.  When we got down there the place was packed and we were very limited to the space we could use to try and set up our camera, timer and area for burpees.  Thankfully there were some wicker hamper baskets in the room that we set up on top of each other so the camera could sit on top of it.  People in the gym were looking at us like what the heck are you two doing?  My budget video is available for you to see right here.  You can see Matt's as well on the right hand side of the screen when you click that link.  I was able to complete 84 burpees in the allotted time. This places me 9770th out of 20,020 women in the world.  The number 1 woman was able to complete 143 burpees! She must be a machine.

Day 24

Using this for motivation.....

Day 23

This is a must try dessert! And one that you don't have to feel guilty about.  It was Matt approved last night.  The base of the dessert was a Sweet Potato and Hazelnut Cake , having a food processor is a bonus because it makes blending these items a lot easier.  I then topped the cake with mixed berries and coconut whipped cream.  Due to my lactose intolerance I have to get creative when a recipe calls for something that includes dairy.  The coconut whipping cream was better than the real thing. All you have to do is put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight.  When you open up the can you'll have a layer of coconut at the top, you want to scoop that out into a mixing bowl and leave the water at the bottom of the can.  Do not put the water into the mixing bowl. Turn your hand beaters on to high and mix for 3-4 minutes. You can then add some some sugar and/or vanilla to taste and mix again.

Happy Valentines Day!

Days 18-22

22 days in and feeling good! This past weekend was jam packed.  Friday night we went out with friends for dinner and then 10 pin bowling.  I don't know about you but the last time I went bowling was years ago.  My wrist and hands were actually tired by the end of our 4 games.  Saturday morning Matt and I started the day off with a great workout called the Filthy Fifty.  I will list that workout at the end of the post.  We were then treated to a day at the spa thanks to my sister and her boyfriend, Ben.  They purchased us a gift certificate for Christmas and we decided to redeem it this weekend.  Nothing like a 15 minute foot and leg massage while sipping some champagne followed by a 90 minute couples massage.  Matt and I stepped out of there looking like we were still asleep.  We had both never had relaxing massages before only RMT massages so this was a nice treat.  

On Sunday I ran in a 12k Valentines Run along the Portland South Waterfront with about 400 others.  The morning was perfect, no rain and about 7 degrees.  It's funny when you run those races because even though you aren't really racing (it's supposed to be for charity) you tend to pick out a few people that you keep seeing throughout the run and internally you are saying to yourself, "there is no way this person can beat me".  The person that I had picked was this curly haired girl who was running in what looked like hiking boots.  She started off the race ahead of me and about 2 miles in I passed her, only to be passed by her a few miles later, I thought to myself "no way this girl is running faster than me in those clunky shoes", and so I passed her again a few minutes later.  Well she must have realized the race within the race that we were having and she just took off! She literally bolted and ended up kicking my butt. ha.  I swear you can never judge runners by how they look, the minute you do they ended up running right by you.  I was happy with my results though.  That girl pushed me to run faster than I usually do and I ended up averaging an 8 minute mile and finishing 12k in 1 hour 3 minutes.  

I was inspired by my friend Alex to try and make a Nicoise salad last night.  She had made it for us a few weeks ago and it took me back to our trip to France last year where I tried that salad for the first time in Nice.  There is a bit of prep involved with boiling the eggs and potatoes and blanching the green beans but it is all worth it.

Next week is going to be a true test for the diet and exercise regime.  Matt and I are heading to New York for 8 days.  Traveling is always the hardest time to stick to any plan so it will be a new challenge to find healthy options while we are away.  I'm looking forward to a few runs in the famous Central Park.

Here is that Filthy Fifty workout that Matt and I did on Saturday to earn our spa day.....

For time:
50 Box jump, 20 or 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings
50 Walking Lunges, 20lb dumbells or 30lb
50 Mountain Climbers
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 14lb or 20lb ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders or 150 single skips

Day 16 and 17

These past 2 days I have been feeling extra energized.  I had been in a bit of a funk when I found out that a job I had got fell through.  I was really banking on that job to help me find my way in Portland, meet new people and add $$ to the house hold income!  But as they say everything happens for a reason and this time to myself has given me a chance to reflect about what I really want to do.  My true passion in life is training and trying to live the most active lifestyle that I can and I love motivating others to do the same.  The ideal situation would be to mix what I love to do into my career and so I have decided to get certified as a personal trainer.  I will continue to look for a sales position while I am studying but I'm hoping to turn the training thing into a full time gig eventually :)  I have to thank Matt for not only believing in me but helping push me to do it.  What he doesn't know yet is that he'll have to be my guinea pig as I work out the kinks when putting some programs together.  With this new focus I am feeling back on top of things and excited for my new adventure!

I decided to try Kelly's Egg White Muffin recipe yesterday and they turned out absolutely delicious.  If you are looking for the recipe it's under Day 4 comments.  Keep'm coming people.

Days 13 thru 15

Weekends are the toughest time to stay on your diet plan especially when you throw some traveling in there.  I made sure to pack the car with lots of healthy snacks for the trip up to Vancouver.  America isn't exactly well known for their nutrient rich foods and when gas stations are your only option your odds get even worse.  I will take dried mangoes over Blazin Buffalo & Ranch flavored Doritos any day. During the trip I was lucky enough to join a few friends for lunch and that's where I learned of a couple new recipes that I wanted to share here.

First off, Michelle Collens, told me about a cauliflower dish that is both simple and delicious! Tried and tested tonight.  All you have to do is break up the cauliflower into florets, spread them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle some olive oil and season with salt, pepper and paprika.  Bake at 400 for 25 minutes and voila.

Secondly, Kelly Trerise, shared one of her favourite snacks.  Same idea as the cauliflower but instead you substitute with kale.  Break up the kale into bite size pieces, toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and they turn out crispy like potato chips.  I purchased some kale today to try this snack tomorrow.

These recipes are probably nothing new to most of you but I had never tried them.  I love how simple they are.  If it's easy to remember I will likely make it more often.  Let me know if you enjoy them as much as I do.

Day 11 & 12

Trying to figure out new running routes in a new city can have some trial and error to it.  Luckily my run yesterday was 95% hassle free.  When you live in the suburbs you don't exactly have the most scenic views while working the pavement. It's mostly road, traffic light, more road, another traffic light and let's throw a train stop in there too.  There is nothing worse than having to stop a million times during your run because guess what....you may not start up again!  The feeling of stopping can be too good to pass up sometimes.  Yesterday, however, for the most part my run was wonderful.  I was able to find a 10k loop that only involved 2 traffic lights and one train.  Not bad.

This weekend I get to run at the place I love best.  Stanley Park.  I personally love running this path first thing in the morning, breathing in the fresh sea air and looking out to the mountains.  You will also notice a kind of runners code where every runner that goes by either waves, gives a nod or says "good morning". This positive energy always puts a little extra hop in my step.  So far I haven't found a place that can match the Stanley Park route and I miss living close to it.

Enjoy the Superbowl weekend everybody! Chat with you early next week.

Day 10

For those of you looking for a little refresher on the basics of nutrition....here is a great 20 minute video put on by the team at Innovative Fitness.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkYmFV5adcs&feature=share

Day 9

You gotta love the days when you just aren't feeling like running.  You step on the treadmill and dread pushing the up arrow to increase the speed.  But you do it.  The first few steps feel like your legs are made of lead and you say to yourself, "okay just a couple miles".  10 minutes goes by and you think, really is that all the time that has passed? But then something amazing happens....a good show comes on T.V. and you get sidetracked watching it! You don't even notice you are running anymore and all of a sudden your 40 minutes in feeling like you could keep going....at least until the show is over. Thank god for the television this morning. My 2 miles turned into 5 because I NEEDED to know how this 650lb woman lost 500lb's on the Today Show.  It just goes to prove that it's mind over matter most of the time.

Day 5,6,7,8

I guess I have a bit of catching up to do! 4 days flies by pretty quickly especially when every weekend is filled with "to do's" for our new life in Portland.  This weekend the focus was getting a desk and chair so we could set up the computer with all the fancy computer gadgets that Matt has.  It's one of the last pieces of the puzzle for the new town home. Matt's patience was tested when I attempted to put together part of the Ikea desk which included sawhorse legs.  I was rolling pretty quickly through the instructions and thought I had it all figured out. There was just one piece left....but why wasn't it lining up where it needed to be?  Hmmmmm....okay let's look at this again...not only did we have to take it apart once, twice but five times before we figured out that I had put the FIRST piece on backwards and it was screwing the whole thing up!!!  Needless to say, Matt took charge of the 2nd leg and finished it within 2 minutes.

Before all this went down we did manage to get a work out in and do Matt's fit test.  The workout was called, Breaking Point.  There is a great track around the Nike campus called the Berm which is 1.9 miles long.  The sun finally decided to shine and we used the track for the 5k portion of the Breaking Point workout, running the Berm twice.  Took us 35 mins to finish Breaking Point.


40 Squats
30 Situps
20 Pullups
10 Pushups
5km Run
40 Squats
30 Situps
20 Pullups
10 Pushups


Matt's fit test results:


2 miles = 15 mins 30 sec
60 sec Pushups = 44
60 sec Situps = 32


I wanted to mention another workout that we did tonight called the Dirty Thirty. I love these kind of WOD's because you are constantly moving for 20+ mins.  I highly recommend giving it a try. Here it is....


30 Squats
30 Situps
30 KB Swings 35lb/50lb
30 Box Jumps 20"/24"
30 Wallballs 14lb/20lb
60 Burpees
30 Wallballs
30 Box Jumps
30 KB Swings
30 Situps
30 Squats


Happy Monday everyone. See you tomorrow.

Day 4

My goal is to try and go to at least 3 Crossfit workouts a week.  Last night our WOD (Workout Of the Day) was called Isabel.  This is where you have to snatch (yes that's right) a certain amount of weight over your head 30 times in a row and you are timed.  The Rx weight or what is called the "prescribed" weight for ladies is 95lbs and 135lbs for men.  Looking at those numbers you're probably thinking to yourself, well that doesn't seem too bad....or at least that's what I was thinking.  I then proceeded to pick up the 45lb barbell...hmmmm...this seems pretty heavy just on it's own never mind throwing some weight on there.  After a few practice rounds it seemed as though I would get no where close to the 95lb recommendation! My "prescribed" weight was a solid 50lb's. hahaha.  Nothing like throwing on a pair of 2.5lb weights, it barely lifted the bar off the ground.  I completed the 30 sets in 2:50.  Check out the link to see what the workout looks like when REAL crossfitters do it.  I by real I mean you must take off your shirt to do any work out in Crossfit. Seriously.

On another note, the chili turned out fantastic yesterday. I definitely recommend trying that recipe. I put it in the slowcooker for 7 hours if you want to do it the easy way like me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Day 3

After my double workout on Tuesday I honestly didn't think I would be able to get out of bed Wednesday morn. My arms and neck were in lots of pain. It's a good thing I have to drop Matt off at work otherwise I could have just laid there for hours.  I forced myself to go to Nike and run on the treadmill. The weather has been pretty crappy out here with rain that is just too heavy to run in.  After a SOLID two miles I threw in the towel to stretch!  Even stretching felt like a chore.

Today has started off on a better note. Thankfully my body just needed that day of "rest" and I was able to log 5 miles this morning with energy to spare.  But this challenge isn't all about working out! It's also about diet and so I wanted to share the Turkey Chili dish that I threw in the crock pot this morning. I modified it a bit. Instead of using Ground Beef I threw in Ground Turkey and instead of the Tom Juice I used Stewed Tomatoes.  Will let you know how it turns out.  If you have a delicious recipe that you've made feel free to share it! I'm always looking for new dishes. Stevie, maybe you should post your chicken tender one?

Day 2

After a groggy Monday I woke up with TONS of energy Tuesday morning.  I know Kelly and Morgan have their "Double Workout Monday" so I decided to try the double dip yesterday! Ran 5 miles in the morning and joined Matt for a Crossfit work out at night.  If you are looking for  something that is going to push you, try the Cindy workout that we did.  I can barely move my body today.

20 minutes do as many reps as you can:
5 Pull ups
10 Push ups
15 Air squats

Our trainer modified the program and we did 5 minutes on, 5 minutes rest for a total of 20 minutes of Cindy.  The rest sounds like a great thing but it actually ended up being harder because your body just wants to stop and you have to get it going again.  I ended up doing 18 reps of Cindy. Afterwards I could barely lift my arms to wash my hair.

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Tuesday as much as I did :)

Day 1 Complete!

Alrighty, I hope everyone had a good first day with the challenge.  I didn't exactly wake up roaring to go Monday morning but I did manage to get a late workout in with Matt and eat clean throughout the day.

I also have my results from the fitness test:
2 mile run = 17 mins 1 sec
60 sec PushUps = 24
60 sec SitUps = 31


I debated posting my measurements on here but since I am the one who decided to start this thing I believe I have to do it.  Also, since this is a 3 month challenge I thought we should test ourselves monthly to see how we are progressing.  So 30 days from now we will do the fit test again.  Post your results in the comment box below so we can compare.

Here are my measurements:
139 lbs
Waist = 28 in
Hips = 34.5 in
Chest = 32.75 in
R.Quad = 21 in
R.Bicep = 11 in

Challenge starts tomorrow! Fitness test results will be posted this week. Stay tuned.

90 Day Challenge

With January being the month of resolutions I wanted to create a place where friends and family can get involved in a 90 Day Challenge together.  I know most everyone wants to lose those extra lb's that they gained over the holidays! We are always so eager to get active in January only to have that dwindle away by the time March rolls around. What better way to stay on target than to have the people closest to you hold you accountable.

This 90 Day Challenge is meant to help motivate you and get you feeling your best.  I think we should measure this in a couple ways. First is a fit test. I thought we would use an official test, one that soldiers use!  They measure themselves thru: push-ups, sit-ups and a timed 2 mile run.  Record the amount of push-ups you can do in 1 minute and sit-ups in 1 minute and how long it takes you to run 2 miles. Post your numbers so we can keep track and refer to it in 3 months time.  The other measurement is, of course, your weight and inches.  You can keep these numbers to yourselves or feel free to post them if you like.

I encourage everyone to post links or info that you think might be useful during the 90 Days.  Let me know if you think I'm missing something. I'm going to wait a few days before officially starting this so that we can get a good group of people involved.  Looking forward to the 3 months ahead and seeing everyone's progress.  I'll post to let everyone know when it's ready, set, GO TIME!

Good luck!