Hey there

It's been awhile.  Life got busy.  Let's do a photo dump, shall we?

Last we left off we were doing a CrossFit competition and Spartan race in the same weekend.  It was a LOT of fun.  Was definitely beat up though, called out of work that Monday, then was sore for daysssssssss after.  Took awhile to stand up and waddled a bit.  #worthit

The competition was fun.  We lost, obviously, but completed all the WODs.  The Spartan Race took longer than expected.  It was mostly hiking up and back down the mountain with a few obstacles thrown in.  At least we didn't have to run all that much. ;)  Pretty sure that's why my ass was sore for days, but it was a lot of fun!

We went on vacation to visit my dad in Florida for my bday.

Driving sucked. But the sunrise was worth it.

Yankee and Holly didn't get along well, but left each other alone for the most part.

He wanted nothing to do with the pool.  After he fell in. lol

Got some new shooeeeeeeeesssss :)

Grilled lots of pizza

Did a Yoga Challenge!

It appears I'm better than I thought.  Except down dog.

Cut the grass lots of times.  That shit grows fast.  We got an actual gas powered lawn mower though, it works much better than the mangled push mower we had.  Thanks Pop!

Had a mini BBQ/hang out on the porch with the doodles.  Made GRILLED cheese. on the GRILL.  Yank doesn't like his pool.  Just the toys.

 

I planted a garden. 

It got HUGE.

Then some nasty ass black squash bugs ate all my squash.  And then my cucumbers.  :(  The tomatoes and peppers prevailed!  We've been eating lots of BLTs.  And I made sauce.  I still have like 5 tomatoes in the fridge, and probably 10 more still on the plant.  Hopefully they turn red before it frosts!

I meal prepped.  Every Sunday.

Made some more delicious foods.

BBQ French Breads from How Sweet Eats

Pumpkin Waffles from PaleOMG

Hung out with these cuties: 

Anddddd these ones: 

Hosted a mud run at the farm:

And a CF Competition for CF Plexus:

We went to my new best friend's wedding:

Aaaannnnnnddddddddddd Yankee was adorable.  He is now officially the box dog.  He comes up with us and hangs out every day.  We brought in the baby/dog gate so we can keep him in the storage room while people are there, then he runs free when they leave.  

Told you we were busy!  We have yet ANOTHER crossfit comp coming up on Nov 1st.  Can't get enough!  This time Sean and I are on a team, together.  So...that'll be fun.  Hopefully we don't kill each other. :D

I'll report back. :)  Probably soon.  Hopefully with a new recipe!

Delaware Affiliate Challenge 2014

Last month we participated in our first official CrossFit competition.

Next weekend is our second CrossFit competition.  AND a Spartan Race.  In the same weekend.  Sean also has a baseball game in between.

Go big or go home, right?  I'll probably call out broken for work on Monday.  #worthit

Anyways:  the DE Affiliate Challenge.  One of our neighboring boxes needed another girl for their women's team, so they asked me to fill in.  We were going to attempt the RX workouts...until the night before.  It was pretty intimidating. LOL The other ladies didn't have pull ups (very well), and that turned out to be one of the primary movements in multiple WODs, so we dropped down to the scaled division at the last minute.  It was SO much better that way.

Here were the scaled WODs:
(we had 4 people per team)

WOD 1:
a. Partner "Fran"
42-30-18
Thrusters 75/55
SDHP 75/55

b. Partner "Kelly"
5 RFT
400m run
30 Box Jumps 24/20
30 Wall Balls 20/14

I did half of the "Fran" portion.  Not too terrible.  We finished in under 8 minutes.  For both parts, our team came in 5th place.

WOD 2:
Partner 1 & 2 (each):
"Grace"
30 Clean & Jerk 115/75
then, 500m row

Partner 3 & 4:
"Helen"
6 RFT
400m run
21 KBS (35/25)
12 Burpee Box Jumps

We were dead.  My feet were KILLING me after this..hence the shoes off.

I did one of the "Grace".  KILLED it.  Got through the 30 C&J in under 2:30, and rowed my best 500m EVER after that, in like 2:08.  It was pretty awesome, after it sucked.

I don't remember our final placing, but I think we were in 3rd after these two WODs.  The men's team for the gym I was competing with ended up doing pretty good, too; we advanced to the finals.  We finished in 5th place overall, which I thought was pretty impressive!  It was the first competition for pretty much all of us!

The final WOD was a bunch of different AMRAPs.  Mine consisted of lots of bear complex.  Yay for squat cycles.

The men of CrossFit Plexus did FANTASTIC.  They finished 1st place after the two WODs, but unfortunately weren't able to advance to the finals because we didn't have a women's team (you needed both to take the "affiliate" title).  Next year, we'll be there.  For sure.

Can't wait to do it all over again in 3 days!  This one is an individual comp, too.  And not scaled.  They didn't release the WODs yet (tomorrow), so I'm sure I'll be freaking out a lot more then.

Wish us luck!

200# CLUB

I DID IT!

I got a 200# back squat.  I have a 215# Deadlift.  I need a 100# strict press (probably soon, haven't tested it lately).

NEW GOALS!

Double body weight back squat: 270#
Double body weight deadlift: 270#
Body weight Snatch: #135
200# Clean and Jerk

No idea how long it'll take me to get here.  But IT IS HAPPENING.

Here's my beautiful back squat.

I got 195# in January, but it was UUUUUUGGGGLLYYY.  I don't think I got below parallel.  I'll take 200# ass to grass ALL DAY!

Just looked at my programming for next week.  Tuesday is find a 1 RM back squat.  So, I may be at more than 200#.  VACATION PRs ALL DAY.

I alsooooo got a 115# SNATCH yesterday.  After a 6 minute AMRAP of Toes to Bar and OHS.  BOOM.  (That's a 110#, then the 115#)

I love lifting.

EAT.REAL.FOOD. Actual food. Whole food. That you chew.

I have so much to post about, but I need to rant...

People are popping up left and right with their stupid cleansing shit.  Maybe because it's almost summer or something but it is ALL OVER my facebook newsfeed.  I keep hiding and reporting it as spam, but apparently facebook doesn't get the hint that I don't wanna see that shit.

NEWSFLASH -
You don't need to spend hundreds of dolla bills on these "cleanses"
The part that actually makes you lose weight is the FOOD THAT YOU ARE EATING.

Have you checked the ingredients on these shakes?

DAFUQ do you need all that random shit for?

Cleanse for Life® Natural Rich Berry (Powder)

Other Ingredients: Fructose, 

natural flavor, potassium citrate, 

purple carrot (Daucus carota), 

citric acid, lime juice powder

Ionic Alfalfa™, Aloe vera leaf gel (inner-heart filet) 

powder, bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) extract, 

blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) extract, 

ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract, raspberry 

(Rubus idaeus) juice extract, pau d’arco (Tabebuia 

impetiginosa) inner bark extract, burdock (Arctium 

lappa) root extract, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seed 

extract, rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) root extract, yellow 

dock (Rumex crispus) root extract, deglycyrrhizinated 

licorice (DGL) root extract (Glycyrrhiza glabra), suma 

(Pfaffia paniculata) root extract, Eleutherococcus 

senticosus root extract, peppermint (Mentha piperita) 

leaf extract, turmeric (Curcuma longa) root extract, 

choline bitartrate, inositol, betaine HCl, l-methionine

Mmmmmmmmmmmm LET'S CLEANSE WITH FRUCTOSE!  Have you no idea how terrible sugar is for you? Yes, fructose is sugar.  The fast absorbing type. The type that TURNS INTO FAT if you don't use it right away.  And who the fuck chews on roots?  Nobody actually eats this crap in it's whole form.

IsaLean® Shake Creamy French Vanilla

Ingredients: Exclusive Myo-IsaLean Complex™ [whey protein concentrate 

(undenatured), milk protein concentrate (undenatured), low-heat nonfat 

dry milk], isomaltooligosaccharide powder, fructose, sunflower (Helianthus 

annuus) oil powder, natural flavors, olive (Olea europaea) oil powder, flax 

(Linum usitatissimum) seed powder, xanthan gum, tapioca maltodextrin, 

medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil powder, cinnamon (Cinnamomum 

zeylanicum) powder, Ionic Alfalfa™, magnesium oxide, tricalcium 

phosphate, potassium citrate, magnesium citrate, apple (Malus pumila) 

juice powder, sea salt, enzyme blend [lactase (from Aspergillus oryzae), 

lipase (from Rhizopus oryzae), cellulase (from Trichoderma longibrachiatum), 

invertase (from Saccharomyces cerevisiae), protease (from Aspergillus 

oryzae), amylase (from Bacillus subtilis), bromelain (from Ananas comosus), 

papain (from Carica papaya), acid stable protease (from Aspergillus niger)], 

silicon dioxide, yucca (Yucca schidigera) root powder, vitamin C (ascorbic 

acid), magnesium stearate, psyllium seed powder, biotin, selenium amino 

acid chelate, Lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamin E succinate, copper amino 

acid chelate, vitamin A (beta carotene), stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) leaf 

extract, zinc oxide, manganese amino acid chelate, iodine amino acid 

chelate, niacinamide, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), 

chromium amino acid chelate, niacin, molybdenum amino acid chelate, 

vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), 

vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), folate (folic acid)

Sounds super lean.  And full of garbage.  That you don't need. 

BROMALAIN!  WHERE MY BROS AT? I got some MALAIN FOR YOU!

This isn't clean eating.  This isn't some magic weight loss tool.  This is a quick fix, not a lifestyle change (Well, unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars on non-food shakes every month. for the rest of your life.  Sounds like a blast.)

Here's an idea.  Cleanse your body by NOT EATING SHIT.  You have a liver and kidneys for a reason.  You don't need these fucking chemicals and "herbs" and "roots" and "blends" that your body probably can't absorb anyways to "cleanse" your system.  IT DOES IT ITSELF.  It's like fucking magic.  Just stop putting crap in your body, and you'll feel great.  You don't need all this extra shit for all this extra money.

And a wrap?  You're going to wrap yourself in some more chemicals and hope to shed pounds and keep them off????  Read literally ANY literature on losing weight. This isn't how it's done. PLEASE don't buy into this.  It even SOUNDS ridiculous.

Seriously, all these people are trying to do is make a quick buck off you.  And then talk you into selling it, and waste your time to get more money from YOUR friends.

Don't be THAT GUY.  Fer realz. Don't do it. We'll judge you. Hard.

If you need a protein shake, get some legit actual grass fed protein, and take it after your workout, when it is most effective.  Don't replace your meals with it.  The meals where you should be getting your nutrients from ACTUAL FOOD.

You want to do a cleanse?  Don't eat sugar for 30 days.  Cleanse your body by eliminating what it doesn't need, not ADDING extra shit that it can't use.

If you have any questions on this, please let me know.  I'll be happy to show you the light.  I don't have all the answers, but I can point you in the right direction to those that do.  And it won't cost you ANY MONEY.  (well except for food.  I can't buy the food for you. ;) I'll cook it for ya though!)

Just eat the goddamn food.  PLEASE.

Paleo Banana Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Let me preface this recipe by letting you know these were declared the "best cookies I've ever made." I mean, the original gluten filled recipe from How Sweet It Is is AMAZING, so I'm not sure how this possibly could've went wrong, but WOW. They're good. Really good.

I somehow came down with a cold last week. It was miserable (it still is. UGH). I was home sick on Friday, and Sean texted me to let me know I got him sick (I mean...it was inevitable babe), and the least I could do was make some cookies. Well, okay.
I didn't have any ripe bananas, but fortunately I keep some in the freezer for random requests such as this (NOT). But I did have some frozen that I just quickly microwaved and we were good to go!

Paleo Banana Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from How Sweet It Is
2 cups + 2 tablespoons blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons of salted butter, melted and cooled
6 tablespoons of creamy almond butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt butter with almond butter in the microwave. It takes about 90 seconds, check every 30 to make sure it isn't splattering everywhere. Set aside to cool. Mix the almond flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or another large bowl, mix together cooled peanut butter and butter with the organic cane sugar. Add in egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Add in the mashed banana and mix until combined. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, mixing until a dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop the dough in 2-3 tbsp cookies and place on a nonstick baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other, they will spread a little bit. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Try not to eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven, they're even better a day later!

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Apparently I should get sick more often. ;)