GaTech President's Walk

This was my 1st official event as co-health ambassador for my office...and we won for most participants in the small office category!

We invited the whole office to participate in a 1,2,or 3.14 mile walk with the Institutes president. 

We even got team T-shirts!

I chose the 1mike walk. It wasn't about me getting a workout it was about promoting corporate wellness ;-) 

Who was leading my group, one of my athletes Officer Gutierrez! He was a member of a 12 wk fitness group I trained. Still keeping up his walks and runs.

It was great to share my passion for fitness with my co workers. It's always nice to take a break from negotiations and budgets and get some fresh air in the lungs and blood pumping to the muscles.

Go team Research Administration!

Health and Happiness 

L

Year 30 ... Bring It!

It was a fantastic birthday week!

The weekend before my birthday we took a trip to Chateau Elan in Brasleton, GA.  The largest winery in Georgia. My husband booked us the "Winemaker Wannabe" package.

First we toured the winery. MMMmmm it smelled so sweet in the processing area.  Then we sampled the Chateau's Vigonier, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and their sweet Muscadine Wine Duncan Creek.  Mmmm the Duncan Creek was my favorite, I love a sweet white wine.

After lots of sampling we got to try our hand at mixing. Anthony prefers a dry red, I enjoy a sweet white, so we blended the 2. It actually cam out very tasty! Good job hubs, putting that techie ingenuity to good use ;-)

Great weekend!

Then came my actual birthday :-)
Mom wins for 1st mssg of the day!
And dad  followed with a super sweet morning message.

Then I got to share my birthday with my clients. My buddy clients and my group class were able to experience the 13 minute birthday workout on the KB, they all loved the 30 burpees or jumping jacks.  Then my dad whipped up his own version of my birthday workout, Crossfit style, and everyone appreciated that!

My lil Sis Alicia, Me, and Husband Anthony killed that birthday workout! I had to wear my Flag nor Fail "I kill because I want cake" . Then we treated ourselves to some yummy treats at Whole Foods ponce.I had to get my favorite chicken fried tofu and OMG the strawberry cupcake was soooo tasty.

By the end of the week I acquired quite the birthday loot.

When I am ready to take on Paleo again I'll be ready thanks to the new books from mom and sis. Then my mom put the icing on the fitgeek cake and got me the TPTherapy total body package with learning guide and video!

It was a great birthday week! I had so much fun. Thank you everyone for all the birthday love, and playing along with the intense workouts. I see big things on the horizon for this year!


Health and Happiness

L

My Break up with Paleo

It's not you Paleo, it's me...

So I started to feel the Paleo crash coming last Saturday. But, I thought I would hold out for one more week and get in 3 whole weeks...I made it to the 22nd. A sign that Paleo was too strict for me at this point in my training. You shouldn't be counting down the days on a meal plan when it is the right plan for you and your goals.

My Paleo experiment ended with a yummy burrito bowl from Chipotle with brown rice and I had tummygasms and feelings of elation that do not make sense to most people.

Then I ate a box of Dr. Lucys gluten free cookies, very tasty! But all that sugar was too much for me, Had a 24hr stomach ache.

5 Things I loved about Paleo:

1. simplicity, think fresh think hearty
2. variety, I started following different Paleo blogs, twitter, and Instagram accounts, people get really creative it's not just salads and slabs of meat
3. recipes, learning to cook with coconut flour and think about carbs differently

    4.   fruit, all the fruit I want, and finding fun ways to incorporate fruit into my meals

     5.   result, my goal was not weightloss but I did drop about 3 lbs in the first week and my tummy was as flat as it gets during lean out

5 Things that made me question our relationship

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

My favorite moments with Paleo:

Finally learning to cook quinoa (not stirct paleo)

Post workout fruit salads and coconut water

Meeting my nutrient goals while on Paleo

I will look back fondly on the days we spent together. I don't think I was ready for an exclusive relationship with Paleo, but I'd love to hangout with it occasionally.

Have you had success with Paleo? Do you have a Paleo recipe or blog you'd like to share? Comment below.

Health and Happiness

L

Paleoooooo...Kinda

So my sis and I have decided to go Paleo for the month of March.

Why Paleo for the month of March? Why in honor of the Crossfit Games of course! The open kicks off March 6th, and I am participating. Whoohooo! I figure if I am going to lift like a crossfitter I would try eating like one too ;-) Plus there have been a handful of clients ask me about eating Paleo, so it gives me a chance to do a little hands on research.

What is Paleo?
My interpretation, a return to more natural eating. If you could plant it, hunt it, harvest it, and eat with little to no processing you can eat it on this meal plan.

Robb Wolf , paleo nutrition expert, breaks it down to avoiding: dairy, grains, processed food & sugars, legumes, starches and alcohol and enjoying: fruits, vegetables, lean meats, seafood, nuts & seeds, and healthy fats.

Everyday Paleo, lists items to include in your pantry and fridge to support your Paleo eating and she refers to Robb Wolf's info as well.

Sweet Potatoes and Quinoa?
Ummm yeah. This is where the debate heats up ;-) . Sweet poatoes seem to get the okay in moderation. Quinoa makes some lists but not all (seed with the characteristics of a carb).

For me, I am okay with sweet potatoes and quinoa. I am still in my muscle building phase so I need carbs. The fruit and veggies are a good source, but not enough to meet my current needs.

So, for the month of March I am a Paleo Moderate ;-)
It has been about a week and it is not so different from my bodybuilding diet, except that I get sooo much fruit, and oatmeal and brown rice have disappeared.  I am using MyFitnessPal to track my nutrition.  I am hitting all of my building season goals accept Calcium, so I will be supplementing that.

If you're also an athlete you may need to bend the Pale rules too. Here you can find some tips on Paleo for Athletes: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/nutrition/quick-guide-the-paleo-diet-for-athletes.aspx

Remember to speak with your doctor before beginning any new nutrition or exercise programming. Not every plan is right for every person.

Have you gone Paleo? What do you think about it? Got any tips or resources for a newbie?

Health and Happiness

L

What's Your Body Maintenance Plan?

At a minimum I hope you are stretching everyday. I upped the ante and got a certification in Hatha yoga and put flexibility higher in my priorities. There are a variety of tools and classes available to increase your flexibility, mobility, and range of motion.

My foam roller and I are myofascia buddies and I started incorporating massage last season. Rolling is a form of myofascial release that realigns the muscle fibers from a bundled position(knot) into a straighter alignment, using pressure in a back and forth movement for 30-60 seconds. I roll and/or stretch every night and every morning during heavy training. The rolling has made huge improvements in my recovery time from session to session. The massage is heavenly especially in the harder to stretch muscles of the upper and lower back. But what about my skeletal system, the framework that supports all these luscious muscles?

This weekend I had my 1st mini chiropractic adjustment. My body is not just muscles. I am loading all of that weight on my spinal column, neck, and shoulders. Those nerve endings radiating out of my spinal column are sending the signals to my muscles. If any of those signals are blocked or impaired can I really achieve optimal performance? This was my internal pep talk before I got my adjustment. It was painless! A little pressure and some popping and I stood up from the table feeling lighter, like my posture was better and my walking was lighter.

Adjustments and massage can be expensive, but a foam roller is pretty cheap and stretching at home is free!

At Crossfit ATC we start with mobility, or active stretches, then end our sessions with static stretches that we hold for 15 to 60 seconds and we have the opportunity for foam rolling. Our box motto "Extending our bodies warranty one workout at a time".

How are you extending your body's warranty?

Start putting together a maintenance plan in as little as 10 minutes every morning and night. Your body will thank you later!

Health and Happiness

L

Fitness Confessional: So What's Your Excuse?

Being the "fitness person" in my department opens me up for all kinds of confessions. Perhaps I should post "Fitness Confessional" on my cube ;-)

Today a co-worker came to me feeling down because she did not go to the gym.

1st excuse - weather was crappy

2nd excuse - I have a headache

Now for me the 2nd reason was valid. I suffer from debilitating migraines. So if I have a headache I don't workout... ok I shouldn't workout. I usually will and then the little headache turns into a full blown migraine, one day I might learn. Back to my co-worker; The fact that the headache was her secondary reason makes me believe she was just creating barriers to her own success (excuses).

1st excuse: Weather was crappy. Yes, it was 48' at lunch and yes, it was raining. I place a high value on my health and fitness so I put on my hat and jacket and walked to the gym. Do I wish I had packed an umbrella, YES! But, that was not a big enough barrier to keep me from the gym. I happily offered her my services as a walk buddy to the gym the next time she wasn't feeling motivated, and we can conquer the crappy weather together.

Barrier, CONQUERED!

Your turn, Confess! What was your excuse for not working out today? No time for excuses, how did you overcome a barrier?

  Health and Happiness
Larissa

Oh Frannie!

I had a very productive Saturday.

I had an 8:00 AM appointment for the BodPod at CrossFit North Atlanta.

Then headed to open gym at CrossFit Around The Corner in hopes that I could finally attack "Fran".  They did "Fran" on Friday and I missed her, I always miss her :-(

Completed "Fran" in 5:59. I am still working on my kip, so I had to sub jumping pull ups. In 90 days I'll say hey to Fran again, with a kip!

Crossift Around the Corner 90 Day Set It Off Challenge
For the next 90 days I am participating in my gyms resolution challenge to drop body fat and gain muscle.

Phase I: Pre-Assessements
BodPod Stats (January 5, 2013)
Weight: 135.93
%Body Fat: 20.6%
lbs Body Fat: 27.98
lbs Lean Mass: 107.96
CrossFit Baseline (December 3, 2012)
4:43 - 400M Run, 40 Squats, 30 SitUps, 20 Push Ups,10 Pull Ups(jumping)
Fran (January 5, 2013)
5:59 - 21-15-9 Thrusters(65)/Pull Ups(jumping)

Phase II: Plan and Track
3 days a week, CrossFit Metcons
3 days a week, Strength
3-5 days a week, 30 mins cardio HIIT

Phase III: Re-Assess April 8th!
I can make huge changes in 90 days.
Goal: 15% body fat at 130 lbs, -8.5lbs fat, 3-6 lb increase in lean mass, a lean mean 130 lbs
What can you do in 90 days?
Follow me daily @CertifiedFitGk

Health and Happiness
L