Body Image

It is incredible how much your body changes throughout pregnancy and afterward.  Another incredible thing is how differently all women change during this time.  Some women barely look like they are pregnant, some seem to carry it everywhere, and some are huge only in their belly area.  The aftermath is just as diverse.  We all know someone who looked exactly the way she did before the day after giving birth.  Some women carry a new body for the rest of their lives.  I find myself caught in between these two.  I dropped to my pre-pregnancy weight within just a few days, but my body was very different than it was before.  My hips are wider from my pelvis opening to allow little munchkins to pass through them.  Where I used to have a moderately flat stomach is now an empty pouch.  Somewhere on the nine month journey, love handles have developed on my lower back.  I would like to say that I have embraced my new body and love it for the gift it has given me.  I am trying to embrace it, but it is definitely frustrating having clothes fit differently, and seeing photos of myself not looking like I thought I was looking is down right hurtful! Don’t get me wrong, I would give up my entire body and all of it’s abilities for my children, no question!  It is just challenging going through such a roller coaster of physical change in one year.  No wonder women are so emotional.  What makes me love and appreciate my body, however, is my daily reminders of what it is capable of.  My hips have opened in such a way that the perfect sized shelf has developed to sit each of my children on.  My slightly (and I mean slightly- I have not been blessed with the large baby boobs many moms get) larger chest is the perfect pillow for them to sleep on.  Also, my body has an amazing way of remembering how to do everything it did before.  I can run, jump, bike, and row just as fast as I could before.  I can pull my body over a pull up bar, gymnastic rings, and climbing rope.  I can lift just as much weight as before.  All of this now feels easier than it did before I had children.  Why?  I believe it is because I have grown a greater appreciation for my body and everything it has shown me it can do.  What a gift.  Everyday I read and hear women discussing how they are dissatisfied with their bodies.  I am grateful and feel so blessed that I have one that functions as well as it does and has provided me with a family. I fully intend on using it to my greatest ability.

Next, the double jogger!  My new jogger arrived last week.  We purchased the double version of the single jogger I had with just Stella.  It is a Schwinn Safari Turismo and I LOVE it!  It is a lot easier to maneuver, fits through every store doorway I have tested so far, and gives the kids a smooth ride.  Augustus turned three months old yesterday and seems very content and comfortable in it.  It folds up small enough to fit in the back of my Subaru too, which is a huge plus.  My first jogger was a tandem style jogger, so it felt very tippy, was challenging to turn, and I didn’t like the fact that I could hardly see my daughter in the front seat.  I can see and talk to both of them easily in this side by side, and they each have a music speaker in their seat.  Best part?  It was a screaming deal.  $256 on Amazon.  For a new double jogger, you can’t get much better than that.  Let’s cross our fingers the tire doesn’t blow up on this one like the last one did!

So my last post included some goals I am working toward over the rest of the year.  I tested several of them this week and was VERY surprised at where I was at!  I front squatted 165, Rowed 500 in 1:44, can do 21 unbroken pull ups, 12 unbroken handstand push ups, and completed “Grace” in 2:10.  I couldn’t be happier with where I am at, but I still have a long way to go!  I am running another 5K this Friday with my family, then (gulp!) off to Missoula next weekend for the Half Marathon.  I promise to share gory photos of what my feet look like post race- always a treat.

That is all I have for you right now.  If you are in Missoula for the Half or Full Marathon, best of luck, and please look me up!

It has been a while!

It has been a while. I was on track with my writing for so long, and then all of a sudden a few weeks snuck past me! Since my last post, a lot of things have happened. Tanner, the kids, and I ran the Mother’s Day 5K in a BLIZZARD, Augustus started rolling over, we spent two weeks in Montana, and I have started a new job! So much going on, and all good things.

I will start with the 5K. Tanner and I were watching the weather two days out from the run because the news was telling us to expect some snow and colder weather. I kept my fingers crossed, but as we drove down town, the snow got thicker and thicker. We hadn’t picked up our race packets yet, so when we got there, Tanner and the kids stayed in the car while I ran to get them. Little did I know it was a mile to the packet pick up! By the time I got back to the car (with two miles of running under my belt), I was already soaked. We bundled up the kids, waterproofed them as much as possible, and jogged to the start line with our friends Eric and Jen (now three miles under my belt). Tanner and I agreed that I would run solo as hard as I was able, then back track and take the kids to the car so he could finish. Upon hearing “3-2-1-go!” my heart fluttered with excitement and I was off! The snow was coming down sideways, and there were unavoidable puddles everywhere, creating a miserable yet exciting course. I finished the race in 26:55. Nowhere near my fastest 5K, but with the conditions, I was thrilled. And the best part? Tanner can’t wait to do it again! We will definitely be doing more this summer as a family.

The craziest thing happened. When Auggs was five weeks old he decided to roll over from his belly to his back. I was shocked and terrified all at the same time! I thought it had to be a fluke, that he had accidentally rolled over, as most babes don’t roll over until four or five months from what I have read. Needless to say, he has done it 30-40 times now. I think we have a very determined little man on our hands!

Next, on to our big Wyoming/Montana road trip! It is SO hard to eat “clean” while traveling- especially when you are traveling to places with favorite restaurants you have missed dearly. I will not lie, I took full advantage of eating at favorite restaurants like Moose’s Pizza in Kalispell, MT and The Back Room in Columbia Falls, MT. More importantly, I indulged on my dad’s homemade soft shell tacos. You are only home so often, and must enjoy these things! I did, however, keep on my workouts as much as I could. I had the privilege of completing a WOD at my old box, CrossFit 307, in Casper, WY with my old workout crew. I was also chased by a 30 pound mutt while doing a running WOD in Kalispell (and I totally didn’t scream like a girl and run with my hands over my head…ok, maybe I did). The best part was getting to work out with my brother James early in the morning in his garage in Missoula, MT. He introduced me to lifting weights, boxing, and CrossFit, and is the most motivating person I have ever worked out with. No matter the day or time, he is on and ready to rock. Being able to work out with him again reminded me of why I love fitness so much: fitness is only a side benefit- it is the relationships you make with the people you work out with that is truly the reward. When I think of my very best friends, 90% of them are people I have worked out with on a regular basis. In my mind, going through the daily journey of a WOD, hitting PR’s together, or trying new things together are truly amazing tools to strengthen friendships. James reminded me of this as we giggled together warming up, made up a workout together, pushed and motivated one another through a crushing WOD, then laid on the floor soaked in sweat and covered in chalk trying not to puke, discussing how much it hurt and wondering why we ate what we did the night before knowing we would do this to ourselves in the morning. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy working out with him and miss doing it on a daily basis. That man is the best workout buddy on the planet, he is kind of funny lookin’ like me too…

Exciting news! I took a new job as Head CrossFit Coach at Park Meadows CrossFit in Lone Tree, CO. They have an incredible facility and wonderful team of trainers I am very excited to be a part of. I will only be teaching a few classes a week, mainly focusing on the development of the other coaches, and am so excited to be teaching again. If you are ever in the area, please swing in and say hello! You won’t be disappointed.

My next competition is in less than two weeks! I will be competing with two wonderful ladies from Casper in the “CrossFit Cherry Creek Triple Threat” in downtown Denver on June 14. We find out next week what our WOD’s will be and I am jacked! I can’t wait to find out what WOD’s they will be challenging us with and am terrified there will be a movement or two I will not quite be ready for. Tanner hung my gymnastic rings for me a week ago, and I have been working my muscle up transitions like crazy! I am so close to getting it back, it isn’t even funny. I secretly hope they will post muscle ups so I will have to have it back by then. Fingers crossed!

That is about all I have for you right now! My goals from now until the Triple Threat are to maintain my three days on, one day off schedule of working out, as well as get back on track with my healthy eating now that we are done traveling and having visitors for a while. Any guesses on what they might throw in to the competition?

Weigh and Measure Day 2!

It has been two weeks in already!  Besides one BBQ and going out to two dinners, resulting in having to estimate my blocks without a scale, I have stayed true to my Zone plan.  Also, Tan was gone most of last week for work, and I was able to make sure I got my daily workout in while the kids were sleeping.  It was rough, I won’t lie- I wanted to use that time to nap, vacuum, read, or just lay and stare at the ceiling, taking in a few minutes of silence…but instead, I drug myself out to the garage and made myself work, and felt better after I did it!

                                        Here is the first Auggie smile I caught on camera, and one of Stella rocking her stellar hair do!

My main motivator for working hard and getting back to the things I love is to be a better mom and wife.  I know by spending one hour a day doing something for me, I will feel re-set and ready to rock at being a mom, and it couldn’t be more true!  I already feel re-energized, like my body is starting to reset and gain strength, and have noticed I am more patient with my toddler- willing to try to do more things with both kids on my own, like going to the park (this may seem like an easy event, but when you have a new born and an almost two year old, at least to me, it feels like you are going to freaking Disneyland!).  Another way I am feeling really good about what I have been doing is my milk supply.  Auggie is gaining weight like a rockstar, and, even though I have been weighing and measuring every ounce of food I put in my body, I have a ton of milk to provide him with!  I have been eating 14 blocks per day (I normally do 12 when not nursing), so if my weight loss starts to plateau, and my milk is still doing great, I plan on cutting back to 13 blocks to stay on track. I feel like I am getting plenty of food each day, and though I get a little hungry here and there (mainly for chocolate…), it is doable for me, and I am a total sissy when it comes to dieting.  That leads me to  one other thing I wanted to discuss: Zone Diet vs. Paleo.  I had a friend on facebook ask my why I don’t just do Paleo.  Answer: I am a total fat kid and would eat so much meat on Paleo, I would loose my ability to do pull ups! Really, when you say Paleo vs. Zone, I hear “quality vs. quantity”, and what do I want? Both.  I want to provide my body with the highest quality, most nutrient dense foods I can, but I also want to balance them and consume the best quantity for my body and my goals.  When I Zone, I am not eating cookies, beer, and jerky- I am still eating whole food- not Paleo, because I didn’t raise my own chickens for their eggs or go shoot a buffalo to grill burgers for dinner, but 95% of what I consume is meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar.  Sound familiar, Glassman fans? I completely agree with his theory, as it makes me feel like Wonder Woman!  I just need the extra discipline from the Zone Diet to make sure I am getting the appropriate balance of macronutrients (carbs, proteins, and healthy fats) to regulate my hormones and support my lean body mass and milk supply.  I know myself, and if I ate strictly Paleo foods, I would be living off of meat and dates (they are amazing) and not getting leaner or meaner.  I hope this answers your question!

As for workouts, I have felt pretty good most of the time.  Running, biking, and rowing feel great, and I love the feeling of getting my sweat on.  However, gymnastics and weights are definitely a challenge still!  I feel like the spaghetti noodle someone threw at the wall to see if it was done yet.  I did some handstand push up skill work last week, and it took all of my core strength just to keep my body up on the wall!  Same thing with barbell work, 65 pounds definitely feels like 95 pounds, and the further it gets from my center, it gets exponentially heavier.  Each day that goes by I feel like I gain a little more strength though- my spaghetti self on the wall is starting to slowly dry out and re-harden (what an odd analogy?).  I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to racking a heavy back squat alternating with some muscle ups (and they better be linked together!).

So I had a great surprise last week.  Two wonderful friends of mine from Casper, WY swung down for a surprise weekend of fun.  Though I hadn’t showered, had no make up on, and my house was a tiny bit of a disaster, I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when they showed up!  These ladies are truly like family to me, so having them all to myself for two days was such a treat!  There are two points to this story- A: They came for an early surprise birthday treat.  I turn 30 next week.  Holy crap, I am going to be 30.  I honestly haven’t even thought about it, but what a cool thing!  I feel like I am officially a “grown up” or something- but I still watch cartoons.  Is it ok to watch cartoons when you are a grown up, or do I officially have to switch over to the news all the time?  B: We went and had a kick ass workout together!  I have made friends with a gym near our house, F.I.T., home to Park Meadows CrossFit.  I met the owners while working at a Level One Seminar, and thought I would swing in to say hi.  They told me to try out one of their “F.I.T.” classes sometime, promising me I would enjoy it.  It was described as being kind of like CrossFit, but 55-60 minutes long, so much  lighter weights, and less intensity due to it’s length, but a  total ass kicker.  So my girls and I packed up our Lulu head bands, strapped on our Nikes, and headed on over.  What a fun class!  Our instructor was one of the gym owners, Nathan, and he was absolutely fantastic!  From the second the hour long class started, to the very last minute, we were doing something, and hit just about every muscle in my body.  The class was full of fun loving women (and one very brave man- it was an estrogen festival!), who were absolutely thrilled we were there to join them. We ran, rowed, burpeed, threw kettlebells, wall balls, and slam balls, jumped on boxes, and went through one of the toughest core/plank routines I have ever done.  If you are ever in the Denver area, you have got to swing in and check out this gym.  It is clean and their community is kind and welcoming, plus they have some super cool t-shirts.  Who doesn’t want a super cool t-shirt with a story to go with it?  I will definitely be returning for more F.I.T. from these guys!  Check out their website: http://www.fitincolorado.com

On to the fun part!  Here are my measurements for the week. I am absolutely thrilled, because I haven’t been able to get under 160 since 2008!  It is barely under, but I will take it- what a motivator!

Weight: 159  (two weeks ago: 165)
Waist: 32.5 (two weeks ago: 34)
Hips: 38 (two weeks ago: 39)
Right/Left Thigh: 22/22 (two weeks ago: 23/23)
Right/Left Arm: 12/11.5 (two weeks ago:  12.25, 12.5)

No make up and scary hair at 5 AM…talk about dedication.

To finish off, I want to share with you something I used to eat all the time and kind of forgot about that is light and wonderful! Mashed cauliflower.  I honestly enjoy it more than mashed potatoes.  Simply steam cauliflower, then toss in to your blender, food processor, or Kitchenaid and whip the heck out of it.  I add a tablespoon of butter and some garlic powder (this is to an entire head of cauliflower).  You can dress it up any way you like though!  My friend, Darla, puts horseradish in it and says it is amazing! One cup of this goodness feels like a total cheat day, and is equal to only one half of a block.  Challenge of the week?  Try this, but put your own fun twist on it (has to be a healthy twist, not gravy and bacon bits- that makes everything taste good!) and share in the comments what you discovered!

Here is a link to a recipe I am going to try this evening for my hot wing loving husband!  http://paleomg.com/buffalo-chicken-pasta/  I will let you know how it goes in my next post.  I know it is going to be a good one because it is a Julie Bauer invention. I discovered her website, www.paleomg.com a few years ago and fell in love with her.  She adds a hilarious introduction to each of her posts that will provide you with a great ab workout from your laughter.  I definitely recommend regularly visiting her site! Have a great week everyone!