Wagon Wheel

~ Darius Rucker ~

I love weekends - it gives me time to recharge, do things I don't have time for during the week or do nothing if I feel so inclined.  I have also previously mentioned that pants & bra's are optional over weekends. I love weekends but my eating plan vehemently disagrees. 

Come Friday night all my good eating goes out the window and I slip-up.  It's not that I go out on all-night booze & take-away benders. I might skip breakfast because I wake up a bit later. Or I will have that extra snack when it's not really snack time (i.e. not hungry).  

This weekend we made nachos at home, which is not the unhealthiest thing (only the chips & the cheese), but it's not something that I would normally eat during the week. I had a cup of Milo on Saturday evening while playing PC games and I had popcorn for lunch on Sunday whilst watching a movie.

Would the weight/cm's come off faster if I didn't have these weekend "treats/cheats"?  Most likely. But I also think that even 2 weeks of straight dieting will end up with me binging on something that's a whole lot worse then nachos, nut butter & Milo.

How do I keep my weekends more goal-friendly? Is it OK if I eat an extra handful of nuts or a tablespoon of macadamia nut butter (or two - seriously who can have only 1). Is it a mental thing that I have to figure out? Do I have to go balls to the wall until I've reached my goal or do I take it slow & steady & live life? Cause you cannot "diet" for the rest of your life.

On Saturday morning I did my first Crossfit "Chipper". It was amazing & hateful all rolled into one. 300 (or a 100 double unders that I still can't do without giving myself whip marks) skips, 80 push-ups, 60 thrusters, 40 medicine ball squat cleans, 20 burpees, 10 Turkish get-ups. I missed the 20 minute cut-off time with 100 skips to go. And everything is hurting a bit today (yesterday it hurt a f*ckload) - calves, inner thighs, outer thighs, quads, butt, lats, ribs, triceps, shoulders, boobs... It's amazing how such simple exercises can work so many muscles.

Barbell burn - I guess that is why they wear the socks...

I hate to think of it as "getting back on the wagon" or "starting on Monday", but that's what I do every Monday.  You almost have to have one of those heartfelt sport movie "get your mind back in the game" moments with yourself.  
 

 

Have a good week people. Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest | Bloglovin - you'll get a reminder when there is a new post out.

Soul Meets Body

~ Deathcab for Cutie ~

Since this is the Internet, and some people may read what I write in their tone, not mine, I just feel like I need to say the following upfront: I understand body dysmorphia is a real illness and that it can get real bad for any person living with it. In today's post I'm only referring to the milder aspects of the disease. 
 

Many of us have those moments when we take a look in the mirror & wish for things to be different. Body dysmorphia is a mental illness where a person is so excessively concerned with body image that they start seeing it as a defect. They have constant negative thoughts about their appearance which for the most is either minor or imagined. Some people are so preoccupied that they spend hours obsessing every day, constantly comparing themselves to others and asking for reassurance about their appearances. Body dysmorphia can also be quite mild, where people can accept that they probably look "normal", even though they may see their defects as obvious and unattractive. 
 

If you have every watched the show "How to Look Good Naked" (BBC) hosted by the flamboyant Gok Wan (just loved how he used to tap girls on the boobs and call them bangers or knockers) you will know how he tried to change the way ladies see themselves. In every episode he would take Lady X and put her in front of a line of ladies ranging from sizes a - z and she had to decide where she thinks she fits in. 99% of the time the girl would insert herself between two ladies that were at least 4 to 5 sizes bigger then her, reacting with shock when Gok would move her up the line to where her actual measurements fit in. Is this what we do to ourselfs?
 

A common group therapy activity for the illness is body tracing. Sketch an life-size outline of what you think your body's size is on piece of paper, then lie in the outline as another person trace your actual size inside of it. It should show the discrepancy between what we think our body shape is, and what it actually is.  I wondered how far off the average woman's perception of her body is?  I myself will sometimes ask Boyfriend "am I bigger or smaller then that girl" just because I cannot judge for myself. 

And how can you look (and feel) awesome at one point in the day, and then a couple of hours later you feel fat, wobbly & pasty in front of the same mirror? I know lighting plays an effect, but surely most of it must be in the mind? We focus so much on our bodies during weight loss that we notice the flaws more and not the subtle changes. Sometimes I still think I should be picking out a size 14, even though I'm actually closer to a 10. I put it down to having seen myself one way for so long, that my brain still needs to catch up... 

Practising handstands & eating a "with every topping" wakaberry :)

Tuna & coconut oil salad for lunch & chicken wraps for supper - summer food.

Early morning again tomorrow - Friday morning Crossfit! Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest | Bloglovin.  Night all, sleep well! 

Mirror Mirror

~ Def Leppard ~

I despise going in to a dressing room, but I cannot buy a piece of clothing without touching it & seeing on me from every angle. The stuff on the hanger never looks the same on your body. Normally I'll go in, eyes averted, put down the clothes, handbag, tag, other bags & then get right down too.

That's when I look in the mirror & think, seriously - when I left home my hair looked find & my makeup looked fresh but that bubble gets popped pretty quickly in this florescent lighting. And it looks like you are wearing underwear that should be donated to the Salvation Army. Why does buying clothes = self-esteem beaten like a pinata?

Even worse then dressing rooms are dresses with no zips. You start sliding it up your thighs before you realize uh-uh...this isn't going further. Now you do the "put it over your head" with your arms sticking up and for a couple of seconds there you actually think that you'll get stuck in this position.  Your either going to scream for an assistant or hulk-lady it & hope those seams pop....but then it's finally over the shoulders and it's not the right color and then the reverse has to happen....back over the head.

This lady took it a step further and documented her weight loss with changing room photos, she tells more about it here.  At least for me today was a good day, the lighting was dark, the sizes were good & I wasn't having a fat day so a few more gym tops found their way home.

Food was good for the day. I seriously need to reduce my coffee intake...but it soooo good.

Had an real fun Crossfit class tonight. We had to do as many rounds as possible of the following in 15 minutes of: 30 double unders, 10 toes to bar, 10 shoulders to overhead & 200 m runs. I managed to finish 4 rounds & now happy to work on it to better my score in 5 weeks time! Also practiced my handstands again and managed 6 seconds, whooo, we are getting somewhere!

Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest. 

Night all

You're my best friend

~ Don Williams ~

I'm not a mushy girly girl. I like pink only because it looks awesome on my feet and I've always been the tomboy playing rugby (primary school) and PlayStation (highschool) with the boys. But I must say there is something quite awesome about meeting someone that shares your interests (sport, gaming & food), goals (get ripped) & chocolate cravings (...hmmm, chocolate...). 

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that you need someone in your life in order for you to get anywhere. It's just nice to share the same concerns or issues with like-minded people. That is why online communities such as Sleek Geek, Sleek Girls & Eat Train Evolve are little mecca's.  It's people with the same problems as yourself, and 99% of the time someone has the solution that worked for them that you might be able to adapt. 

Do you have a SO (Significant Other) or Friend/Buddy/Pal who is your alter-you? Or how do you cope if your SO or F/B/P does not share the same goals as you? I was so frustrated in a previous relationship where there was a very one-sided love for health & fitness - there was no "let's go to gym" when I complained about a fat day, or the "how frothy do you want your protein shake" after a workout, or the "come-on, move your ass" while going ("being dragged") for a run.

So Boyfriend, thanks for dragging me on runs for the last 3 years. And the pretty flowers.

Had a nice clean day of eating & practiced handstands again - working my way up to almost 3 seconds unassisted...yah, still a way to go.

Night all! 

PS:  Hope everyone's furbabies are OK with all these idiotic bangs going off?

Explain it

~ Moved Out West ~ [...Never heard of them, but it fits...]

We had lunch with my dad & gran yesterday, and once again I was forced to explain what Crossfit is. Have you tried it? No, not Crossfit, explaining what it is... And not to fitness nuts like yourself...oh no...try to explain it to your 80 year old grannie who keeps interrupting you to say that she used to make tea for the weightlifters when she was younger...

I haven't been Crossfitting for long, but even if you live CrossFit how do you describe it to people who don't have a clue? I mean, no one is going to stand there & read from the CrossFit Journal. But you can't be so brief & vague in your description that you make it sound like every other fitness program out there. 

The standard definition is: Constantly varied, functional movements performed at a relatively high intensity - the pic below demonstrates it quite nicely. One of my other favorites are: "This shit gets you in shape fast, gets you strong and keeps you that way, quite simple. It isn't easy, but it works..."

Halfway through explaining it to them I gave up and just showed them the official Crossfit video [Granny: "Which one are you?"].

On a lighter note, Urban Dictionary describes CrossFit as follows: "A bunch of rich white people paying $250/month to have an uncredentialed coach instruct them to have spasms with PVC pipes and seizures on pull-up bars until they vomit. They generally do this for a period of 10-30 minutes and call it a workout. Those who partake in these group activities also have the option to pay $1000 to attend a weekend course where they have an alcoholic instruct them how to better lift their PVC pipe. Some people who do these activities may also confuse being nauseous with being elite."

This weekend was spent playing Battlefield 4 and drinking lots of coffee :)

Follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest.  Night all!

Ain't no rest for the wicked

~ Cage the Elephant ~

When I received my exercise plan from Evo Fitness and saw Week 4 was a deload week I thought "Whaaaat? How can taking a break make me skinnier (yep, was much more focused on getting the weight off then getting stronger at that stage). But David said: "Week 4 is a “deload” week, or a back off week. It’s probably the hardest mentally to do, but your strength and results will continue to grow when you allow this back off week". 

It’s a simple concept very few people seem to grasp or actually give a damn about. You don’t get stronger by exercising, you get stronger by recovering from exercise. You’d think this would be something at the top of everyone’s list of training components…

Apparently the aspects of not training are just as important as the aspects of training. Scheduled training breaks are exactly what they sound like. They are

planned breaks you purposely take from training for the purpose of giving your entire body and mind a much needed break. There are mainly 2 different types of training breaks: taking time off or deloading/easy weeks.

Taking time off is just taking a full week off completely from all forms of weight training or exercise in general. In this case of deloading/easy weeks, rather than taking actual time off from training, you just take some of the “load” off from training.

Struggled to keep on track today foodwise - just was not hungry & for some reason craved fresh, hot white bread with peanut butter & cheese & syrup...

Up again at 4:30 tomorrow morning for the 5:30 WOD. Anyone else have bruises on their collarbones? See you guys next week - have an amazing weekend girls!

Picture

~ Kid Rock ~ (I couldn't find a title with the word 'pin' in it - so went with the next best thing)

I'm quite new to the pinning world. My friend, Mrs T, introduced me a while ago and she is a Pinning Queen. The introduction conversation went a little like this:

But seriously, what is so great about spending hours browsing other people's images? Images ranging from Hello Kitty cupcakes to nail polish and ornate wedding dresses.

If you have been living under a rock here is how it works: Pinterest allows you to create & manage themed photo collections and share them with your friends and other connections.  You can follow the boards of friends, like and comment on images others pinned or re-pin content to you own collections.

 

I use Pinterest purely for motivation.  If I see an image that inspires me, or motivates me, or just make me laugh I'll add it to my boards. Whenever I have a lazy day I go to my Pinterest board (Get of your Ass) & browse through the images. Just seeing those toned bodies makes me wanna work extra hard!

It can get a bit crazy though:  Jane Wang is the single most-followed user on Pinterest  & maintains 118 boards across a broad array of subjects. Among the more quirky: "Small things that work very well" and an entire board for "Octopus." (or octopi).  It makes me & my 9 boards feel seriously insecure over here...

You'll notice that you can now pin the images on this blog straight to your boards, and from there follow any of my boards.  Let me know if you are a regular - I love to get inspiration from other peoples boards! Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest. 

I'm hoping that I can straighten my arms by tonight - my biceps (silver lining - I have biceps!) are so stiff that my whole body has to move with my arm when I reach to pick up the phone. Looking forward to tonight's Crossfit class - wondering how we are going to challenge ourselves this time. [Side note - it was more arms, wtf...]

Had a craving for sushi tonight - ended up having some fish & salad as well. And wine. And a Kaluah Pedro. Yum. 

Yummy grilled fish & salad from Ocean Basket.

On the more tech side - Battlefield 4 is coming out in a few days & Boyfriend & I are already rock/paper/scissoring it out to find out who gets to play first.

L-Glutemine is currently my friend. Good night all!