Day 10, Shoes, Road Trip & Shout Outs!

I've finally hit Day 10 of my 10 Day Advocare Herbal Cleanse Challenge. The results?

Weight: Started at 158.5#, ended today at 155#, although my lowest was 154#. I'm not too discouraged because I have been lifting heavy this week and as CrossFitters, we all know the scale doesn't always reflect our true measurements.

How do I feel and how hard was it? I feel fabulous. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be; I thought missing coffee would be the hardest part and it wasn't, thanks to Spark. I've been eating paleo on and off for months now so the clean eatting wasn't hard at all. Yeah, sitting in the bar with my friends over the weekend, watching football and not drinking wasn't my idea of a great time but being 100% sober actually let me put all my focus on the games, so I didn't miss a play. And I definitely didn't miss being hung over.

Did I cheat at all? I will admit, last night, Day 9, I did have two beers, two cookies and some chocolate at a celebration. How did I feel after? Like total shit. Was not worth it. I don't think it effected me too much but to be extra cautious, I may throw in a second WOD for today (just a run).

So my next steps? I'm going to continue on the Spark and Catalyst and I'm now officially an Advocare distributor. I may try some of the performance supplements but that won't be for a few weeks.

In the meantime....my new CrossFit "Toy"...my new INOV-8 F Lites 195s!! I'm so stoked to have a pair, as I was watching the AgainFaster.com website every day for a few weeks now. My Coach bought the same pair as well. So far, we love them. I did a big happy dance on my front porch when the post master dropped them off last week; he found it entertaining. :)



I got the shoes just in time for my big weekend road trip! Me and Navy Mike are starting in Davenport, IA on Friday morning to WOD at Quad City CrossFit, then shoot up to Rochester, MN to WOD at CrossFit Progression. Then on Saturday morning, it's Handstands in front of Lambeau (aka...Heaven on Earth < 3) and then to check out the new CrossFit Green Bay box. But I think the hardest part of the trip will be getting through my cousin's wedding that afternoon....after all that WODing, it will be interesting to see if I can stay awake during the ceremony.

And lastly today, I wanted to give a couple of shout outs! My buddy Khristian Moore was just interview on CrossFit Radio last week; it's an inspiring yet entertaining interview so I recommend everyone listen to it:

http://journal.crossfit.com/2010/10/crossfit-radio-episode-141.tpl

For those that haven't heard mine & Navy Mike's interview yet, you can find it here:

http://journal.crossfit.com/2010/09/crossfit-radio-episode-137.tpl

Also, my buddy Ric Stokes just started a Paleo challenge, on his way to a healthier CrossFit body and has started a blog to document with photos how his progress is going. I know he'll do great! :)

Sleep : Quality over Quantity

Day #4 - Still Rockstar
Weight - 156#

Most "diets" are different; some are low cal, some are low fat, some are low carb, some are all three, etc. But the one thing that every diet or every personal trainer will agree on is that sleep is a very big key to anyone's fitness, whether you are trying to lose weight or just be healthy.

Sleep has always been a horrible thing for me; I've had sleeping disorders since I started sleep walking at the age of 3. Most of the disorders have subsided by now but anyone that has been following me on twitter over the last 6 months knows that sleep walking to the kitchen for a snack has pretty much been every night over the last 6 months. It's hard to lose weight and stay positive when your sleep quality is horrible and you are consuming an extra 200-500 calories at 2am.

I went to the doctor and got tests done; his only suggestion was to switch from a Paleo diet to a more rounded Zone diet due to a carb deficiency. I started eating oatmeal for breakfast and I was able to sleep 3 or 4 nights without sleep walking.

I've been talking to a couple of girls this week that I know who are doing the same Advocare cleanse that I'm doing and one of the first comments I made was that I wonder how I will sleep while taking these supplements; the smallest things can effect my sleep so I didn't know if I would be sensitive to the supplements or not. Sherris reassured me that she has never slept better.

And I have to agree! I'm on Day 4, and with each day, I'm feeling more and more rockstar. I know there is no one key reason to why I feel this way; but I do feel like all of the reasons are all fitting together in a way that makes me feel the best I have in months. This cleanse, the supplements and this diet are doing my body good, which is making me get fantastic sleep at night (whether it's 5 hours or 8 hours), which in turn is definitely showing improvement in my MetCons at the box. How could you not feel rockstar?



This picture is for my girl Kelsey :) Thanks to my influence, she has discovered the power of the knee high socks during her WODs and she's hooked. Get some, girl! <3

Coffee vs Spark

Rockstar Day #3!
Weight: 157#

I decided that I needed some sleep, as it's essential to all things health with me, so I skipped my 0630 WOD and sleep until 0730. It was a pretty good 8 hours of sleep and it totally paid off. I got up, had my morning Spark and Catalyst and within 30 minutes, I was so ready to go on a 4 mile run. It was definitely the best run I've had in weeks!....until the trenchal downpour with lightening and thunder. :)

I use to joke right before Lent that you can take away my alcohol, take away my facebook...even taking away my texting for 30 days but don't even think about touching my morning cup of coffee. Both my Dad and StepDad were Marines so every single morning, even to this day, a full pot of coffee is awaiting every morning. So it's safe to say I've been hooked on the black elixir since a very early age.

But, I stayed open minded and decided to give this 10 day, no coffee, cleanse a try. The first two days, although were great, were alittle rough at times. On Day #1, by noon, I was tired and had a headache. Yesterday, Day #2, I started experiencing the same symptoms, but they were alittle less in severity and they didn't show up until 1pm. I am happy to say that each day is getting better and better; I know that 8 hours of sleep did have a hand in helping but I have felt fabulous all day and didn't get tired until almost 230pm today. (And no headaches)

So where do I stand now on the topic of coffee? I will definitely not say I will never drink it again; however, I did order a new canister of Spark (Pink Lemonade!) so for now, I have decided to make that my daily drink instead of coffee. Coffee has never let me down, but there's no way I can drink a full serving of coffee and then go for a run 30 minutes later; coffee is just too heavy for me and well, makes me have to pee right away :) I will definitely enjoy a Starbucks drink here and there, and maybe a nice cup of Joe on a rest day or some cold afternoon. But I'm just happy I've found a great alternative that fits my needs right now.



When I tell people what my diet restrictions are, people tend to look at me like I'm crazy. Paleo?! No bread?! I can't live without my cheese! You must really hate being on this diet.

Well, please see above picture of my most delicious lunch. Baked salmon, with nothing but sprinkled BBQ spices, baked spaghetti squash, with nothing but pepper, garlic powder and alittle salt (thanks Michael for introducing me to this awesome vegetable), and a couple of strawberries to cleanse the palette afterwards. Oh yes, my friends, how I suffer on this diet. :)

Day 2!

Weight: 157#

I can't believe I'm saying this but thanks to Spark, I'm not having a hard time not drinking coffee. Sometimes I miss the taste of it but I am definitely not depending on it for energy. Work up at my normal 5:30am this morning and was feeling super duper tired (more so than normal). I think a fell asleep around 11pm last night and pretty much slept through the night so I don't know why I was so tired this morning. (I don't want to place blame on the Advocare supplements I took before bed just yet). So I took my Spark and took my Catalyst and within minutes, I was ready to go.

Today's Lincoln Park CrossFit WOD:

Bench 5x5
95# (4 sets), 105# (1 set)

MetCon: 15 mins AMRAP (Got 4 rounds)
200m Run
20 Ring Body Row
40 Stick Jumps
20 Ring Push Ups

Even though I was still somewhat tired, I did great on both! I actually wished the MetCon was 20 mins versus 15. (Not very often I'll say that, ha)

So I don't know exactly yet how much the Advocare 'Catalyst' supplement helps with toning and muscle development, but I can tell you that it kicks ass with curbing my monster appetite. I am definitely staying safe and within my appropriate calorie range; I'm just not starving or overeating anymore. Since I usually work out in the a.m., I'm starving by afternoon, no matter how much I eat between my workout and lunch time. My afternoon, between lunch and dinner, is when I normally consume the most of my calories.

Now, if I take a Spark and some Catalyst around noon and wait 30 minutes to eat lunch, I'm now consistently full throughout the whole afternoon until dinner. I actually have to make myself have a snack half way through the afternoon! All of this has also been cutting back on overeating at dinner as well.

The verdict thus far, through Day #2 of 10 - so far, so good. :)