Climbing the Mountain

The sweetest feeling in the world has got to be when you are finishing the last round of a WOD. Soon, precious oxygen will be yours to breathe deeply (all you want!) and the cool mat awaits. I always feel a surge of power when it's the last round and I push a bit harder and jump a bit higher. "Finish strong", I'm thinking. It's difficult because there isn't much left in the tank so it must be pure determination. Or stubbornness. It feels damn good to be on the other side of the WOD.

"Thanks for the ass kicking! I'll just lay here and reminisce about our time together."

The Zone is being good to me. I've been introducing zone-friendly meals into my daily plan. In the last week, I've had Zone breakfasts, snacks. and lunches of low glycemic food. I haven't checked my body fat percentage yet so I can't say how it's affected my fat weight, but holy cow my energy and clarity is rising. I just feel more ... here. Present and accounted. And the food is extremely satisfying. A new word: satiety. Pronunciation: \sə-ˈtī-ə-tē. The state of being satiated. The challenge I have is eating all the food! I'm used to a cup of coffee in the morning, 18% cream with sugar, and a bowl of Kashi. Now it's black decaf with a breakfast burrito literally bursting with fresh tomatoes, avocado, lean Canadian bacon and egg whites. To date I have not actually finished the whole thing. This morning I came very close. (Holding fingers very close together) I love it. I've read 'Enter the Zone' and a visit to my local library yielded about a dozen more books about the Zone, Fish Oil, recipe blocks and more. I'm going to read them all. I'm going to get good at this stuff. Starting this Monday, we're embarking on a seven week Zone eating plan to get a good taste (ha!) of what this is about. I'll be blogging regularly about what it's like and how it's affecting me.

This is a complete turnaround for me. Months ago, I literally said that diet doesn't matter and it's all about exercise. Nosir, eat what you want and it's the effort you put out that makes the difference. I just wasn't making the connection between diet and exercise. That's probably because I haven't had great success with "diets". Meal planning I can get behind. But eating according to a special plan? Forget it. Well, that's an interesting perspective and I've made a few key distinctions since then. Diet does matter. When I read about and really understood the concept that food could be used like a theraputic drug to produce the hormonal state that would support my goals, a light bulb turned on. And, it doesn't have to be the Zone diet. Use whatever makes sense. I LOVE variety in my meals. I don' t like the same thing twice and I don't like just two things on my plate. Give me colour! Give me flavour! Give me lots!

The point of all this isn't just to lose fat weight. While that is a major goal, the real vision is an energetic, strong and fit me. What that means to me personally is a feeling of abundant energy, a readiness for the unknown, deep restful sleep and a sense of pride. To get those feelings I've chosen Crossfit as my lifestyle. When I first started I didn't get it. Not really. I wasn't in to a lifestyle. I just wanted to feel better. A couple of months and tens of thousands of pounds later, I'm getting it. Pound by pound and meal by meal I'm moving closer to where and who I want to be.

Workout of the Day
7 Rounds
20 - pullups (jumping. I'm getting better. You should see Mike do them)
10 - box jumps
10 - DB split snatches @ 20% bw (35lb)
10 - Ab wheels