CrossFit, Yoga and Mud Runs - Oh MY!

It's been a while. My apologies. Sometimes my life just gets in my own damn way! But, I am here today to catch you up a bit.

After a week of a nasty cold and the following week being laid up with horrible muscle spasms in my back and a doctor's note (which pretty much excused me from life for a week), I was finally able to get back to CrossFit. In that two week time, I was having the worst withdrawals. I felt horrible, sluggish and was so inactive. Meanwhile I'm watching people from my box posting on Facebook about how they smashed their PRs, finally got that HSPU (Handstand Push Up) or shaved 9 minutes off their baseline. This is wonderful news! But I was sitting at home, so jealous that my goals were taking a backseat to health issues I had zero control over. Needless to say, it felt amazing to finally be back.

The bad news: My "welcome back" WOD was 150 push-ups. You read that right, ONE HUNDRED FIFTY PUSH-UPS!!! If you took a pause from your push-ups, you had to go take a run. This was a horrible WOD! I'm so proud I was able to finish, BUT my arms felt like they were going to fall off....for an entire week following!! This made my other WODs that week almost insufferable. It was rough.

So, what do you do the day after you (somehow) bust out 150 push-ups? Well, the sensible person rests and recovers. This crazy girl decides to try Hot Yoga. That's right, I took my noodle arms and met a friend for Hot Yoga; for the first time. Ever.

I know zero about yoga. A few simple poses and to remind myself to breathe is the extent of my yoga knowledge. I have an amazing best friend who is so mindful of her own body/mind/spirit and who is currently exploring yoga more in depth. (Some of you may know her as Wednesday Blogger: Zo.) Every time I hear her speak of yoga I feel enlightened! It has encouraged me to dip my toes in the water a bit. The best way for me to learn is to do. So, a friend of mine and I bought a Groupon for ten sessions of Hot Yoga. We went for the first time, the day after push-up-hell-WOD, and it was the most intense workout experience I have EVER endured. I have never sweat so much in my entire life. I mean, wring-your-towel-out-when-you're-done kind of sweat. It was amazing. To think of all the toxins I was able to rid my body of is incredible. The state I was able to take my mind to was ineffable!  It really was an enlightening experience and I can't wait to use my other nine sessions.

All of this hard work, besides benefiting my overall health and wellbeing, is in preparation for our next mud run. Hub and I, along with two fun friends, are going to tackle the Rugged Maniac at the end of November. My first mud run (Warrior Dash back in April) was so fun but one obstacle defeated me. I refuse to allow that to happen again! So, I'm going to be busting my butt during the month of November to prep for the Rugged Maniac.

That's my recent haps. What goals are you currently working towards? What new fun activities have you tried lately? Would you do them again?

See you at the finish line!

PUMPKIN!

It's FALL and the weather is starting to finally feel like the season.  There is a slight chill in the air and it makes me want to BAKE! Cold weather and baking go hand and hand, and there's nothing like the smell of fresh baked SOMETHING in my house!

That SOMETHING lately has been pumpkin and lots of it.  I'm in search of the perfect Paleo Pumpkin muffin/bread and have subjected my friends to be my Guinea Pigs taste testers.

The first one I tried was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from PaleOMG
These turned out pretty good but I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin and chocolate together. I was hoping for something very pumpkin-y and these didn't quite hit the spot

 I tried these again without the chocolate chips and I think they taste much better, however still not enough pumpkin.

The second recipe that I tried was Pumpkin Spice Bread from The Barefoot Cook.  These had a lot more pumpkin in them but the spices were overwhelming.  The lingering taste was Allspice and it masked the flavor of the pumpkin.  I plan to modify the recipe so that it has less spice and more pumpkin.

Do you have a favorite Paleo treat?  If so send me your recipes and I will test them out!

Pumpkin Spice Bread (modified)

Dry:

• 1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Spice Mix:

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Wet:

• 3/4 cup roasted pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients and spices together in medium-large sized bowl.
2. Mix wet together in smaller bowl.
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix together until smooth.
4. Pour batter into muffin tins
5. Bake in 350 degrees oven for approximately 22 minutes.
6. Remove from pans and cool on rack

10 (Mostly Selfish) Reasons to Do Yoga

1.  Because breathing is suddenly easier. (And ladies, if you loosen up/remove the bra it's AWESOME.)

2.  Because it feels like drugs, but costs less and lasts longer.

3.  Have you seen how your ass looks in those pants? Yum!

4.  Because not everyone *is* a good dancer, but on the mat you feel like a good dancer.

5.  Because even chanting is an ab workout. (Try it. Aim for at least 5 minutes right now.)

6.  Because every twist and inversion is one step closer to the most incredible, cleansing bowel movement ever.  (You'll thank me/your yoga teacher later. Trust me.)

(This is a real image from a real product with a really great mission.  Check them out here.)

7. Because it is the most kindest and forgiving and eye-opening experience.  Every time you engage in yoga, on or off the mat, you are humbled and enriched.

8.  Because your favorite pose is your best friend and your most hated pose is your best teacher.

9.  Because post-yoga sex is incredibly delicious. All that oxygen to the cells and blood rushing healthily to the happy points... O!

10.  Because yoga is for everyone, but not all yoga is for every body. Find a style that suits you best. And don't be surprised if and when that changes, because yoga understands the dynamic and ever-changing body; cancer, pre-natal, arthritic, sedentary, nervous disordered, fit and healthy...it really is for everyone!

No, I'm Not Young Yet & I May Not Change My Mind.

My co-worker just stared at me, dumb-founded.  Maybe he hadn't heard me? So I said it again:

"I don't want to have my own kids."

"Ever!?" He looked lost and sad, like I had told him that world was indeed flat which, guessing by his reaction, was pretty much what I did.

"Yeah.  I'll adopt someday, but I just don't want to carry."

"Really?" Same expression.

Another co-worker chimed in. "You'll change your mind."

"Yeah, you're young yet."

This conversation has happened MANY times and by every side of the binary: friends/coworkers/family, male/female, young/old, married/single.  Often (and unfortunately), this takes place after I share that I have step-kids.   "Don't you want to have kids of your own?" Ugh.  This question is problematic as it suggests: 1. My step-kids are mere fixtures or hurdles in my life, and 2. My being a step-mom is a fixture in their life.

I love my step-kids as if they were my own. Do I wish I could have do-over moments? Well, duh, what parent doesn't?  But to suggest that our alternative family should need a do-over, a (their words) "real" kid, to address that is incredibly insulting.  Or that their love for me is somehow lesser because my genetic make-up is different than theirs.  Family is what you pour into it, what you share, and what you take.  Our bloodlines may be different, but it's all warm and red (or blue if it's not yet oxygenated) so it's not that different, is it?

Similarly, is the idea of adoption.  I just haven't had the intentional desire to carry a baby.  I certainly have had urges, but those urges left as quickly as they came.  Someone tried to explain that that urge was actually the voice of God.  Hmm, well if I indulged every urge of mine the voice of God, I would either be: a strung-out Suicide Girl, morbidly obese from chocolate cupcakes, or a dog hoarder (I'm pretty sure God doesn't use her/his/their voice to condone any of this). You know what has never left me though?  The concept of having a family through the means of adoption.

I'm not sure why this is a point of contention.  It seems unthinkable to some.  I've been accused of being immature or selfish or a femi-Nazi.  My being those things might be true, but this decision is not its result.  I have the ability to choose and my choice is solely my own based on my thoughts, perceptions and intentional desires for my life.

I've used that term "intentional desire" twice now, and I want to expand a little on that thought.  There are desires (fleeting indulgences) and then there are intentional desires:  pleasurable, yearned for pursuits which may flitter or flicker but whose flame never die out. Serious, hardcore intentional desires of mine have included: getting a B.A., getting a Masters, creation and publication of my art and others' art, falling (and staying) in love with my life partner, getting a PhD, and having children.  And I can say that I have seen through to completion all but one of my intentional desires--still no PhD.  As you can see, I count stepchildren as equivalent to adoption as equivalent to pushing a baby out of my vagina and keeping it.

The issue of birthing, raising, and having children is as personal as politics and religion. That doesn't mean it can't be discussed and ideas can't be shared, but please do not presume to know what makes for a "real" family or that my age or personality somehow weighs into this.  No, it is not a waste of my eggs nor is it an abomination to my gender/biological makeup and no, no, no! Your story of your cousin who said she didn't want to have kids of her own then ended up with four will not be my story nor change my mind.  It is simply that: her story.

My choice isn't as strange as it seems, but even if it does seem strange to you, I'm happy to discuss it--just mind your manners, and check your catch-phrases (along with any scriptures, pamphlets, and soapbox testimonies) at the door.