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.