Crossfit in the morning!

So, 8:30 crossfit is awesome. Love starting my day with a good heart pumping Fran Workout in 11:36! 

Now, onto a road trip to Knoxville! And in case you were wondering, this is what a healthy road trip snack cooler looks like: 

Water, apples, bananas, coconut bars, fruit and almonds! So ready for this trip! 

Triggers...

So the past week has been stressful, between my mom, school, and preparing to go on a weekend trip with my family, I've been on edge since Sunday. With that stress many things have become clear, my diet, my sleep, and my focus all suffer when stress takes over. 

Holidays are always stressful at the Stewart home,  I believe that memories set in about past holidays, and the differences become glaring. (For those of you who don't know, two years ago my mother was diagnosed with Frontotemperal Dementia, which is very similar to Alzheimer's disease.) every day is a struggle to get through as we watch momma slowly being stolen from us, but holidays pack thier own special wallup. My sisters and I have begun planning holidays and coordinating trips and figuring out details, but remember (and sometimes hear in each other's voices) momma doing all the planning for everything. It becomes stressful, and tempers run high, causing me to leave my family in a stressed state. 

Next came school. Which I only have 4 letters to say about that: CRCT.

And the pinnacle to it all? Planning a weekend trip to go to Bug's (also known as Kaylie) college graduation. Which is wonderful and exciting and makes me so very very happy for her, but trips are stressful. Things like money, when to leave (which has been changed 4 times now) and what to do with the energetic and not so potty trained 5 month old Winchester (which we thought was worked out, but ended up not being worked out...) all add to my levels of stress. 

So, all that to say, with stress come very specific triggers that I never realized before. I don't sleep well at night, causing me to sleep-in in the morning, which means I don't eat breakfast. And when I don't eat breakfast, I snack till lunch. And when I'm in a classroom and didn't have time that morning to pack snacks? I eat what's there, which this week is pretzel sticks and vanilla Oreo cookies. Also, I want nothing more then to drink a nice cold coke. Also, chocolate. And it doesn't help that our lovely art teacher (who shall remain nameless) leaves bags of starburst on my desk... 

So my answer to all this? Paying for a nice long foot massage (which by the way, my favorite indulgence in the world, foot massage) 

Also, crossfit funny of the day: while talking to my dad, I tell him that I'm doing crossfit on Friday at 8:30 before we leave. He responds with "is that something you can do before a long road trip?" His tone suggesting that He thought I was completely insane for even thinking about crossfit before the trip. :) But you know what? I'm kinda excited to start my day with it, last time I did the morning session my entire day jaunt seemed better!

And with that, I'm nearly falling asleep while my feet are being rubbed, so I think I'll stop writing and relax for a while. :)

In contrast...

Here's a photo of a well used gym bag...

Today's lesson: I am really bad (maybe just nervous and not that confident) at doing two or more motions at once.... 

But no really, I learned a series of "clean" movements... Which Nic told me what clean refers to, but that was almost an hour ago with loads of other information in between. I learned how to do a hanging power clean, a hanging power clean squat, cleans and clean squats (maybe I'm forgetting a word in the last two...) basically hanging ones start with my arms hanging and the not hanging one start with the bar on the ground. 

WOD (which, by the way is my favorite abbreviation of all time... It's kinda fun to say): 30 clean and jerks with (let's do some mental math here... 15+15+15...) a 45 lb bar. Time: 8:50 (hey- I actually did remember my time by the time I got home!) 

Another lesson from today: when I stopped over thinking the movements, and just did them, one of two hinge happen: 1.) I jump my feet in the wrong direction. 2.) I do it perfectly and much quicker. (I wonder how I can apply this to life outside crossfit... Cause I maybe tend to overthink things...)

Today's victory: (there are a few, but I'm focusing on just one today) I took my sweater off, and let the arm fat do what it wanted for the last 10 clean and jerks. Doesn't sound like a lot, but I (very) rarely wear tank tops around people that I don't call family...

Note to self

So, I have not been going back and reading old blogs... In all my blogging I haven't really taken the time, cause you know, I wrote it, so why do I need to read it... But after rereading one from this morning, a new note to myself has been made: Always proof read before publishing... 

Now, I'm onto making use of that edit button! 

School picnics = exhausted Melanie

So here's a picture of my poor lonely gym bag that never got used yesterday... At least I didn't have to repack it for today I guess! :)

Yesterday we had our class picnic, which involved walking with around 100 kindergarteners to the park and then spending all day chasing 5 and 6 year olds around. Which was a blast, but left me exhausted and slightly sun burnt. So, needless to say, that gym bag did not get used yesterday. :) But don't worry, I'll still be crossfitting at least 3 days this week! We've already planned a session for Friday morning, which will be followed by a nice long drive to Knoxville for my baby sister's college graduation! 

Yesterday's small victories: 

I walked. A lot. And ran. A little. 

I realized half way through picking kids up and putting them on the monkey bars (which I spent the better part of 20 minutes doing) that I was using my crossfit form. It was kinda exciting. 

Oh! And I only ate a few bites of that cotton candy... Thanks to allison making me put it down after  those few bites, which was actually the perfect amount. :) 

Support Systems

Ok, so I firmly believe that obsession (maybe Addiction is a clearer word) is a personality trait. And by that I mean the tendency to focus on something, and do everything you can to experience that thing, and not just the traditional drugs, alcohol route, but with anything. Like having the same color polish on my toes for the past 3 years (until VERY, like last week, recently) or binge watching a tv show (with no care given to losing sleep or missing deadlines) or the same with a book series that I finish in days, or most commonly, my researching. I find a topic, and will google my heart out... reading every blog, article and story that I find... Current googling obsession? Crossfit/Paleo/Healthy lifestyle changes. I've read so many, that I may be on information overload, and realizing that I need to cool it with the google machine, SO much information has entered my brain, that I cant honestly remember any one piece of it. Every article, blog and story offers a secret to losing weight, exercising, and lifestyle changing, things from "chew gum so you don't eat" (cause you know, when I have gum in my mouth its just way to hard to throw it away so I can eat that chocolate,) to "Exercise first thing in the morning, it will get your endorphins flowing and give you energy for the day" (my experience- all I wanna do after exercising is sleep, or just lay down... never have i been energized after a workout, like not once.... i usually have to force myself to get things done), and (my favorite,) "Walk and Talk" (you know... for all those phone calls that i make these days... oh yea, did i mention I broke my leg by falling down ONE step... and bruised the bone in my foot a few weeks ago from falling while i was WALKING on flat ground... the whole walk and talk thing? Not so much something my brain can handle most days..

However, of all the things I've read, first hand experiences, blogs, articles one thing keeps pooping up over and over : The Importance of a great Support System. And I gotta say, I have a fantastic group of people surrounding me! From life long friends who consistently tell me how awesome I am (who even make a dessert they know I can't have thanks to my inability to process dairy, just so its easy for me to say no,) friends who at Easter Lunch, completely change menu items to make sure I can eat and still be good on my food choices (but also sneak a small chocolate egg to me.) Family who offer to try Paleo with me, Co-Workers who put up with my obsession of talking about crossfit and food endlessly, and who willingly eat Coconut Chocolate bars, even when I say the phrase "healthy and almost completely organic." Facebook has been pretty awesome too, I haven't said much about all of this on facebook, and the first photo I post? almost instantly comments and text messages, and "likes" abounded. Here are a few of those conversations:

People are kinda great aren't they?