112809 WOD

Skill Day -
Turkish Get ups
Holding top of dip position on rings

Eating This - India Chicken

I love my crock pot. It just makes my life so much easier. Anything I can cook in there I do. Yesterday I made a huge fryer hen, and had enough for our dinner and leftovers for a few lunch portions.

India Chicken

7-8 lb Whole Fresh Fryer Hen
6 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 lemon
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Curry Powder
Turmeric Powder
Paprika
1 small Red Pepper - seeded and diced
1 small Onion - peeled and diced.

Warm up crock pot. To help remove the chicken later, Take a long length of aluminium foil and fold it legth wise. Line the crock pot length wise with the ends of the foil extending over the edges. Take another length of foil, fold it in half length wise, and lay it in the bottom of the crock pot perpendicular with the ends extending over the edges of the crock pot.

Wash and rinse chicken. Tuck wings under back of chicken. Place in crock pot. Pour in just enough water for about 1/2" depth. Drizzle chicken with olive oil. Rub with sea salt and minced garlic. Sprinkle generously with Turmeric Powder, Curry, and Paprika.

Fold the ends of the foil over the chicken so you can put the lid on and have a good seal.

Cook on low all day, or cook on high for 3-5 hours. About 1 hour before it's done, generously sprinkle the red pepper and onion over chicken.

When you think it's done, check the temp with a meat thermometer to ensure it's done.
Lift Chicken out using ends of foil. Let most of the juices drain, then place on a cutting board. Let set 10-15 minutes, then slice to serve. Serve with broth in a serving bowl.

112709 WOD

Warm up -

200M run
Arm Circles
Front Straight Leg Swings
Side Leg Swings
Windmills
Front twists
Perfect Stretch
Deep Lunge
Inch Worm


WOD-
3 rounds
Run 200m sprint
15 overhead squats

Cash out-
Hamstring stretch

Standing Hamstring Stretches -- powered by eHow.com


Seated Hamstring Stretches -- powered by eHow.com

Hip Flexor stretch

Joel 2:12-32

¹²Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].

¹³Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].

¹⁴Who knows but what He will turn, revoke your sentence [of evil], and leave a blessing behind Him [giving you the means with which to serve Him], even a cereal or meal offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?

¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion; set apart a fast [a day of restraint and humility]; call a solemn assembly.

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; assemble the elderly people, gather the children and the nursing infants; let the bridegroom [who is legally exempt from attending] go forth from his chamber and the bride out of her closet. [None is exempt from the humiliation.]

¹⁷Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; and let them say, Have pity and spare Your people, O Lord, and give not Your heritage to reproach, that the [heathen] nations should rule over them or use a byword against them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?

¹⁸Then was the Lord jealous for His land and had pity on His people.

¹⁹Yes, the Lord answered and said to His people, Behold, I am sending you grain and juice [of the grape] and oil, and you shall be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the [heathen] nations.

²⁰But I will remove far off from you the northern [destroyer's] army and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, with its front toward the eastern [Dead] Sea and with its rear toward the western [Mediterranean] Sea. And its stench shall come up [like that of a decaying mass of locusts, a symbol and forecast of the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord], and its foul odor shall come up, because He has done great things [the Lord will have destroyed the invaders]!

²¹Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!

²²Be not afraid, you wild beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have sprung up and are green; the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their [full] strength.

²³Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord, your God; for He gives you the former or early rain in just measure and in righteousness, and He causes to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.

²⁴And the [threshing] floors shall be full of grain and the vats shall overflow with juice [of the grape] and oil.

²⁵And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten--the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you.

²⁶And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never be put to shame.

²⁷And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am in the midst of Israel and that I the Lord am your God and there is none else. My people shall never be put to shame.

²⁸And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

²⁹Even upon the menservants and upon the maidservants in those days will I pour out My Spirit.

³⁰And I will show signs and wonders in the heavens, and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

³²And whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered and saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the remnant [of survivors] shall be those whom the Lord calls.

112309 WOD

My sprint around the block was much easier. I was able to jog most of it without breaking into a walk.

OHS need a lot of work. My walballs need more work.

Rest Day Musings - Excuses and reasons

Excuses.

We all have them.

You know, those things you tell yourself as to why you can't workout today. Like "My kids/spouse/neighbours woke me up last night." or "I have dirty dishes in my sink.", or "Everyone will look at me and think I'm weird!" Most of the things we tell ourselves are really excuses to cover up the fact that we are stalling on doing the workout because
A) We are lazy.
B) We don't like the workout for the day.
C) We are afraid we can't do the workout of the day.
D) We are lazy and don't want to exert ourselves on the workout of the day.
(Did I mention we are lazy as one of the things our excuses cover up?)

But there are instances where we are telling ourselves things as to why we can't do the workout of the day, and they are not covering up laziness, or fear of the workout. They are legitimate reasons. They can include anything from injury, to emotional fatigue, to life throwing you a big curve ball, to not having mastered proper movement form to keep from killing yourself.

It's ok to have legitimate reasons to skip a workout, modify a workout, or do a different workout all together. Just don't let your reasons turn into excuses to keep you out of the game.

But how can you keep this from happening?

First, you have to really know yourself and be totally honest with yourself. You have to know what your fears are, your weaknesses are, and what your strengths are. If you consistently pass on workouts that have movements you are weak on or don't like, and substitute for a workout that has movements you are strong in, you will never strengthen your weaknesses.

Second, Hold yourself accountable! Keep yourself accountable to someone who knows you well. And who values your friendship or life enough to give you a swift kick in the fanny if you need it. Some one who knows you this well and values you can help you sort out the excuses from the reasons.

Third, eliminate all the excuses, or ignore them. So what if everyone looks at you and thinks you're weird? I'm sure someone else looks at them and things they are weird as well. Dirty dishes in the sink? They will still be there when you walk back in the door.

Fourth, take care of your reasons. Get sleep, eat right, listen to your body and don't workout if it's really telling you it needs rest. Haven't mastered the proper form of a movement? Get a good coach for a week or two of intensive one on one training. Whether you workout in a box or workout at home. Injured? Modify the movement or the workout.

Just for fun, here's a video Eva T did a while back of excuses heard frequently at CrossFit SantaCruz Central. See how many you can remember saying to yourself.

And please know I am totally preaching to myself on this subject. I've done pretty good this past week, but who knows about next week!

Be Blessed

112009 WO

Walk 2.5 km.
Jog/Sprint 500 m

Let's talk about eggs!

Lets talk about eggs or What are you going to do with all those eggs?

My family eats a lot of eggs. We could easily go through 1 ½ or 2 dozen a day. We have eggs in some form for breakfast almost every morning. And eggs make a great take along snack when they are hard boiled.

It's not unusual for me to go to Braum's on my shopping day and get a case of eggs or more.

I love the reactions I get when I walk in and get that many eggs at once. The question I get the most is “What are you going to do with all those eggs?” DUH!!!! We're going to eat them. But sometimes I feel almost onery enough to say “We're having an egging spree tonight. We need a few new targets, can I have your address?” I haven't done it yet, but it's more tempting each time! :)

I also get the response in the statement that “Eggs are so expensive”. I had one lady tell me that, just as she was paying over $5.00 for one ice cream sundae with all the trimmings.

For that same $5.00 I got my family 4 dozen eggs. For the same price that she purchased a small boat of fat and sugar, I was able to get protein for the next 2-3 days for my family.

It's all a matter of perspective, and all a matter of priorities.

Eggs are cheap protein. When you compare 1 egg to the price of 1 oz of cheaper ground beef, the cost is usually the same or less. Then you have to take into consideration, that when you cook the ground beef, you loose some of the volume as the fat is cooked and drained off. 1 full oz of raw meat is not going to remain 1 full oz cooked. You're going to need to eat a little molre 1 oz of cooked ground beef to get the same protein as in one cooked egg.

Eggs are nutrient dense, and considered a high quality complete protein. They contain all the essential amino acids required for the human body. They are calorically low, and one egg can have as few as 3% of the daily calories needed by a adult man. Eggs contain most of the vitamins and many minerals the human body needs. They are high in the B vitamins, especially B12.

And yes they contain fat. But fat has gotten a really bad rap. Fat is essential for the cells to properly develop, and the brain required a fair amount of fat to function to it's full potential. The right kinds of fat taken in moderation are not as harmful as most of the nutritional communitiy would like you to think.

I could go on, about the nutritional contributions that eggs make to the human diet. But there are already countless websites and journal writings that say way more that I could. Just do a google search on eggs and nutrition.

So here's just a few ways we make our eggs, and eat them too!

Perfect breakfast:

2 egg as an omalette or scrambled with ¼ cup whole milk with small dash sea salt

2 cups raw spinach leaves tossed in just before eggs are completely cooked

4 Tablespoons fresh salsa

Snack

1 hardboiled egg, 3-6 almonds/cashews, 1 medium apple or orange.

You can take the hb egg and make a single deviled egg by splitting it in half, mushing the yolk, with a tiny bit of mayo and mustard. If you do this, don't eat as many almonds if you're worried about zone blocks.

Dinner:

Eggs Florentine

½ stick of butter or coconut oil

¼ cup flour – more if needed

2 cups whole milk

Nutmeg to taste

8-12 eggs

Variety of fresh veggies; such as red peppers, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, onion, green onion, broccoli, asparagus, peas, corn, ect, chopped/diced/sliced.

½ lb grated cheese

Start by making the white sauce. Melt butter or coconut oil in skillet or saucepan. Add flour and blend well. Add milk a little at a time to avoid lumping of the flour. Heat until sauce starts to thicken and bubble. Add Nutmeg and remove. Stir more to help it thicken evenly.

Whisk eggs till well beaten. Add white sauce to the eggs. Whisk well to mix.

Prepare veggies and place in bottom of a square or rectangular baking dish. Pour sauce/egg mixture on top. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes. About 40 minutes start doing the toothpic test. Stick a toothpick in the center of the dish and pull out. When it comes out clean and dry, the dish is done. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Place back in oven for about 5 minutes to let the cheese melt a bit.

Let cool 15 minutes before cutting into. Serve along side a big salad of romaine and red leaf lettuce.

OHS Practice

Yesterday I worked on perfecting my squat form, and practised OHS with PVC filled with sand.

Warmup

5 Rounds
10 OHS with PVC

5 rounds
10 Front Squats with Kettle bell

Rest 1 minutes between each round.

Suprisingly my legs don't feel like jelly after this one.

However I am still having trouble with pain in my foot. It appears to be scarring from an old injury to my soft tissue in my foot that is causing the problem. So my husband/therapist is giving me tough love and subjecting me to the wonderful therapy of A-stem at home. You know, the therapy that's famous for making patients scream on the therapy table? That's it. I'm going to experience quite a few evenings on my bed with my face in a pillow while he works on/digs into my foot.

But it shouln't interfere with me getting back into my workout routine. Hopefully.

1 Cor 9:27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

What I eat. What I do. How I roll.

Yesterday I got an email from a friend asking me what I eat, what I'm avoiding, and what I do for exercise (like when, where, etc). I haven't had much time to blog lately, and thought it would be the perfect time to update my blog since I'd be writing the same stuff in an email anyway.

In our daily diet, we follow what is termed the Paleo-Zone diet the best we can. CrossFit Journal 21 recommends "eat meat and vegetable, nuts and seeds, some fruit, and no sugar." This is essentially the Paleo philosophy. The Zone aspect comes into play by making sure every meal and snack you eat is a balance of protein, carbs, and fat.

While our diet is not close to being clean enough, we have come a long way from where we were last year.

Yes I will tell on myself and say I brought home cookies from a girls night out party and ate 6 of them yesterday before I threw the rest of the box away.

We have cut out most grains and starches. I no longer buy bread or make bread (ok, so sometimes I do bake bread). I avoid cooking with pasta, potatoes, ramen (I'm not even sure that's a real food), and rice. We have also cut way back on the amount of milk we drink as a family. We do not keep soda in the house, and very rarely do we have fruit juice on hand.

However, our fridge is consistently well stocked with fruit such as oranges, apples, pears, grapes, etc. I like to keep strawberries and blueberries in the freezer. Our girls go through fruit quickly, it's their preferred snack. If there is candy in the house they'll eat it, but if it's not here they don't ask for it but just reach in the fridge for some fruit. We probably eat more fruit than recommended, but it's better than candy or potato chips.

Meat/ Animal protein is essential for growing kids and for helping one's body recover/rebuild after a hard workout. We eat a lot of chicken, turkey, fish, cheese, and eggs. Beef occasionally depending on the cut and how good of a sale it is. Very rarely we eat deer when we're blessed with some from a friend.

I like to grill, bake, broil, or steam. I avoid breaded chicken or frying my meats when I can.

Yes you can get some protein from beans and soy. But beans are more carbs than protein, and beans give us horrible gas so it's not worth it for me. From the reading and research I've done, the human body assimilates animal protein better than plant protein, and a plant's amino acids are not the best for rebuilding muscle.

Eggs are cheap protein, and easy to fix for a quick meal or snack. You can poach them or fry them in small amounts of canola oil for breakfast, or lunch sandwich on some tortillas. Or you can hard boil them for a take along snack.

I do not eat pork. I avoid it if at all possible. It's just a personal preference of mine, and Jerimiah will eat it any day of the week. To me, there's a reason swine were forbidden to be eaten under the Old Testament Law. Swine are natural garbage disposals, and will eat anything including manure or other dead animals. They are great for rooting around, and turning the soil if they are temporarily penned in an area you plan to make a garden, but I don't consider them good for food. Plus the way most of the pork on today's market is raised/produced is not healthy for the animal or for me.

I also avoid Catfish for the same reason.

Cows thrive when fed fresh green grass. Poultry thrive when given free range to eat bugs, worms, and vegetation. (Have you ever had a garden and let chickens free range through it? In my childhood experience, they like tender peas and beans. We had ducks a few years back and they constantly ate my tomatoes!)

Vegetables, I buy as fresh as I can get them. Kale, spinach, Romaine, tomatoes, cauliflower, etc. Veggies I usually buy frozen are peas, mixed veggies, corn, etc. I love farmers markets and farm stands. There is a "You Pick" farm down the road that I'm going to try for next year for most of my veggies. I tried several years to have a garden of my own, but we have numerous stray cats in the neighborhood and I got sick of cleaning cat mess out of my soil. If you can grow your own, do it! If not buy it as fresh as you can get.

We eat a lot of oatmeal for breakfast, and I'll occasionally make pancakes with cornmeal and whole wheat or rye flour.

I don't like to cook with pasta. But spaghetti squash is a great substitute for spaghetti nights.

What about no sugar or sweeteners? I have cut out almost every sweetener from my personal diet. I do use raw, local honey in my coffee and on the kids oatmeal. But no processed sugar, no sucanat, no turbinado sugar, no molasses, no stevia, no splenda, no aspertame, etc. Splenda and Stevia may say on the box the have no sugar or no carbs. But research has shown that just tasting something sweet causes your body to respond by increasing insulin in your bloodstream. Frequent insulin spikes wreck havoc, and the crashes cause cravings for more, resulting in a really bad roller coaster ride mentally and physiologically.

We eat fats such as olive oil, canola oil, almonds, cashews, and avocados. If I can I like to avoid fast foods, fried foods, lard, shortening, and most oils.

Well, kiddoes, I'm out of time. My youngest is stirring in her bed so I need to grab a quick shower. I hope to answer the rest of this question tomorrow!

Be Blessed