WODs & Well-Being

Funny you ask that... I have been asking myself the same question. Which is why I was reluctant to try it. I did watch a pretty good documentary call "Magic Little Pill" that talks about the benefits of low carb, high fat, medium protein lifestyles. Its pretty good... I also think its important to change things up every now and again to keep the body going... in the long run I know this is not sustainable for me. However if it works to change my composition a bit... it was worth it. One of my issues (prior to Keto), I was leaning too much on "processed food" even though I was eating healthy. I had a lot of oats, greek yogurt and protein powders to hit my numbers. While I wasnt actually eating a lot of breads and still no pastas, there was still a lot of sugar in my diet and it was causing me to plateau. Maybe doing this will help me to eliminate the "junk" so when I do go back to macro counting, I will look for my carb sources elsewhere. I also cheat...

Its been a while since I have posted, as I have been busy with life with a 3 year old... the gym, work and all the fun-ness of life. I have however started a new "treck" and I wanted to write about it in the case that anyone is interested in reading. Honestly, not even sure if anyone follows my blog anymore... but if anything, its for me to be able to look back on. I have had much success over the last year using Avatar Nutrition (avatarnutrition.com) as a guide to counting macros. Avatar is a flexible dieting tool that recalculates your macros weekly based on your goals. Its really nice because it adjust as you adjust and if you want to change settings from "weight loss" to "lean muscle gain" you can do it with the click of a button. The system knows where you have been and where you are going... so it adapts. In the year I was on it, I have been able to loose, gain and maintain when appropriate for me. My body has really responded to the way it works. ...

Open Letter to Crossfit 696, Thank you. Thank you for the most amazing year. A little over a year ago, I walked into a well-established community, filled with so many new faces, personalities, abilities, friendships and walks of life… and not once did I feel out of place. Right away, I was welcomed, chatted up and made to feel like I belonged. I want each and every one of you to know that you inspire me, you make me a better person, you make me get out of bed at 4:30am (ok… 4:45am) every morning and haul my ass to the gym to train and be a better me.   I couldn’t do it without you. I competed in the Opens 2017 as a member of 696, but over the last year, by sharing my life with many of you, I feel like I competed in the Opens 2018 as a part of the 696 family. Over the last year, I have laughed with many of you, smiled at all of you and shed tears with a “lucky” few as well. We sweat together, encourage each other, coach each other and stand by holding our breath while ...

Today is September 1st. There is something about September 1st that just makes me feel happy and invigorated. Lots of people feel this way at the beginning of the new year, a new beginning… but for me, when the air starts to change, the leaves start to fall and I can sit with my boys and a cup of coffee and a hooded sweatshirt on a Sunday morning. It just makes my heart warm. Maybe it’s the new school year and the reminder of new sneakers, empty notebooks and the nervous butterfly in your stomach feeling of waiting for the bus on the first day of school. Maybe it’s the fact that the air feels so much lighter, the dampness is lifted and the smell of rain, warm apple pie and chili or pot roast in the crock pot fills it back up. Maybe it’s the fall tones, burnt oranges, deep burgundy and navy blue that resonate with me on a comfort level that I just cant explain. Whatever it is… its my favorite. I know there are many people that feel the complete opposite. That everything is ...

Question of the Day: If you had to describe yourself using a street sign, what street sign would that be? Are you “under construction?! Do you feel as if you have “dangerous curves?!” Take some time and think about it. Think about how the world around us can influence thoughts beyond what the “real” meaning of something on the outside could be interpreted as. Stuck in traffic, looking around, seeing a sign and thinking how the phrase “no passing zone” can be applied to other aspects of your life. Where can you use that as fuel? How can you make that push you beyond your limits to not let anyone pass you? You are in the front of the pack. You are the leader. This was the question of the day today at the gym. Off the top of my head at the moment, I came up with “children at play,” because… lets face it. That is my life right now. I mean my last post was relative to a show my kid watches daily and can recite lines to. However, the more I thought of it (which is the whole poin...

My kid has a mild (ok maybe more than mild) obsession with the TV show "Super Wings." Hes 2.5 and loves all things that drive and/or fly. We dont have cable, but found this show on  Amazon Prime and now Hubs and I often find ourselves singing the theme song while putting our dinner together or just driving home from work (wonderful isnt it?!). Its actually a pretty decent show for the little man... "Jet" who is the main character airplane is a package delivery plane. At the start of the show, "Jimbo" (the traffic controller man) calls Jet into the control tower and gives him a package that needs delivering. Whats cool is that Jet goes all over the world to deliver these packages to kids. Before he leaves, Jimbo explains the country he is going to go to, a fact about it and a phrase in the native language. So... at least little man is learning while he is watching. Jet then delivers the package (on time, every time). He presents whatever it was that was o...

There is something so satisfying about setting a goal and reaching it. I talk about it a lot… it applies to all walks of life, not just the gym… I love my job. I have said it before, that I was lucky enough to learn at an early age what I liked to do and went for it. I have had lots of success, as well as lots of failures to get where I am… and the hits just keep on coming. There will always be ups and downs, but what is important, is the will to keep on going and the thrive for the next goal or to complete the goal that was set forth. When I initially meet with a client/owner for a new project, we typically sit and discuss what it is they are expecting from the project, what the overall goal is. What they like, what they dislike and what their needs are. From there, we develop a schematic design… an image of the goal. Often we provide the client with renderings to see what we are working towards, as well as floor plans to give them a general idea of the space. Once agreed upo...