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.