My Reflections on a Cross Fit Summer

Hello! I do still exist, despite the fact that I haven't touched this blog since June.

I've found that as I work hard on my business, getting everything done for it, AND take care of my family, that several things have fallen by the wayside. The first one is this blog. For some reason, I've been taking FOREVER to write things lately (as in 1 hour to write something that should take 15 minutes), which means it was the first to go!

However, here I sit on a Friday night, with a bit of spare time and the muse to write!

I'm incredibly motivated by seeing Brian, Beck, and Kevin back on the bandwagon, with quick dip-ins by Dave and RipX and even one by Billy. A good portion of the old FAT Coalition. I'm glad to see you guys still at it!

My clients are currently 12 days into the first 28 days of an 82 day contest that's being run through my business. It's called the LeanBody Transformation Contest, and it's separated into three stages, each lasting 28 days. Me being the trainer I am, I cannot design a program and expect my clients to go through it without doing it myself.

My compliance with the fitness portion is nowhere near what it should be, but it's definitely a good program! I haven't got a problem following the nutrition portion, as it's similar to the way I've been eating for quite a while now (minus carb cycling). Basically, a high-quality elimination diet: no wheat, dairy, sugar, or processed foods, but packaged in such a way that we're not focusing on what we don't have.

At any rate, first week results were pretty awesome. I'm excited to see what the rest of this month is going to produce.

However, what I truly wanted to write about were some reflections on doing Cross Fit this past summer. Scheduling prevented me from continuing beyond August, but it was fun while I did it! I certainly made some good progress fitness-wise, although I still am not anywhere near where I would like to be (more than 20 full-body push-ups in three minutes, please!). The workouts are, basically, brutal. They varied between doing olympic strength followed by short metabolic circuits or doing LONGASS metabolic-style circuits. And lots of running. Lots, and LOTS of running. And no, my running times haven't really improved. I will say short distances have gotten relatively easier.

The drawbacks to our Crossfit program revolved around two things: injuries and cooldowns. As in, one existed and the other didn't, and it wasn't in the order it should have been. Over the 4th of July, I managed to injure my shoulder pretty good and proper doing pull-ups, and then, three weeks later, up popped some plantar fascitis. Not cool. There were plenty of other people who were getting injured as well, so the program had some definite weaknesses there (the injury rate in my program is pretty much nil, if you'd like something to compare to). I know I injured my own shoulder- I thought I should be able to do better pull-ups than my body was truly ready for- but it was to "keep up," in a sense. In fact, I almost always felt like a fitness failure. THAT was interesting.

The second drawback was cool-downs. They RARELY had cool-downs incorporated into the program. Every so often, there was guided stretching, but not regularly.

The good parts of the Crossfit program were the awesome fitness improvements and the good muscle tone that developed as a result of the heavy lifting and intense workouts. I have amazing quads now, and I know they developed over the summer. I've also got some ab definition happening. I like that.

So in all, I liked the Crossfit program. However, I do believe there were areas they could improve, and probably should, to keep their reputation up. Being that I've never tried a workout in another "box," as they call their gyms, I have no idea whether this is common practice.

The Something That's Been Missing

I've noticed something missing from a lot of my weight loss blogger friends recently (and no, I'm not talking about the lack of posts).

Strangely enough, it's love.

WHAAA?!

Yes. It is.

Yes, you may be feeling the love from others who are encouraging you.

But are you loving yourself?

Truly?

I posted this on my blog at CarrannmorFitness.com earlier:

When was the last time you said “I Love You” to your body?

Was it this morning?

Yesterday?

Sixteen years ago?

Ever?

How often do you say “I love you” to those closest to you? Probably pretty often. We do it because it’s one of the strongest emotions we have. Those three little words have power. They tie us together.

And if you love someone, it’s pretty rare for you to go knocking them around, either physically or verbally.

So why is it acceptable for us to verbally beat ourselves up? Listen to some of the things running around in your thoughts. Have you thought any of these recently?

“I hate my stomach and how it pooches out like that.”

“My arms are so jiggly, it’s gross.”

“Ugh, look at that fat under my chin.”

“I’ve really got to stop eating so much junk and just eat salads.”

“I don’t want to exercise, it’s boring.”

“Man, I hate my butt.”

If you are unable to say “I love you” to your body, or yourself, I can hazard a guess as to why you’re overweight, why you turn to food or too much tv for comfort, and why you hate moving around.

If you had just been physically beat up, would you be exercising and having fun?

It’s time to turn your thought patterns around. If you catch yourself with any of those above thoughts (or similar ones), stop, take a deep breath, and say to yourself, “I love you.” You can continue on with more affirmations, or you can keep repeating it.

I used to have a very deep-seated body hatred. I would stare at myself in the mirror and continually put myself down. It resulted in me sabatoging myself when it came to enjoying healthy foods, avoiding my workouts, and kept me from being happy. I was unable to appreciate how far I’d even come! All I could see was how far I had to go, and that it was taking me “forever” to get there. It wasn’t until I had gained 15 pounds and discovered the idea of loving myself that things truly started to turn around for me. I had a lot of work to do, but it was amazing how saying “I love you” to the person in the mirror was a healing, positive journey. It turned all my other thoughts around instantly. Suddenly, I was enjoying vegetables. Suddenly, I had no problems exercising. Suddenly, things became easy.

I still find myself doing the put downs on rare occasions, but now, when I catch myself, I turn it around. I look into my own eyes, take a deep breath, and say “I love you. I love you. I love you.” I will also continue with other sentences, such as:

• I take absolute joy in eating high-quality foods that give me life and vitality.
• Body, let’s work together to get rid of the toxins that we’re storing and find our best potential.
• I love how my body can run, jump, and play.
• I am absolutely amazed with how far I’ve come, and I look forward to the rest of this journey.

When you start saying “I love you” to yourself, it may feel rather crazy at first. In fact, you may be tempted to throw yourself in the crazy house. However, notice the emotions that well up inside as you say it while looking into your own eyes. Notice the release of burdens, the waterfall of unshed tears, and the forgiveness that appears. Notice how things that were challenging before start to become easy.

Once that happens, the weight will fall off. The fat will magically disappear from your body. You’ll start to gravitate toward foods that give you energy and vitality, ones that make you feel alive. You’ll want to move around in any way possible.

You will appreciate so many more things in life, and you’ll be able to enjoy it in harmony with your body, and not in spite of it.

Written by Carrie Moritz, CPT

http://tinyurl.com/25kyouz