Solcana blog

They say it takes 21 days to make a new habit. And, as of today, I have officially been doing CrossFit for 127 days. That’s approximately one habit, six times over. I feel comfortable saying it is a thing that “I do”. We know this, I’ve talked about it here before. The workouts are a mainstay in my new life and I’m thankful because this is a place I have never ever been in my life.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You get this. I say these words in every post. So why am I saying them again?

Well, kids, it’s time to take things one step further. Sure, I see some real improvements physically:

• Lost weight (currently 15lbs down), lost inches (not measuring but should really start!)
• Increased endurance (I completed a 5k and improved my original 2k row time by a minute in 8 weeks. Can’t wait to see how it improves again after the new Saturday rowing training classes are completed.)
• Asthma has improved (I didn’t even use my inhaler for the metcon last night!)
• Increased strength (I PR’d my squat last night at 205lbs, that’s a 30lb increase in three weeks!)

These are all great. I’ve always had a struggle with eating, though, and I have been thinking about how I would really like to change some of my habits around food now, too. This is extremely interesting considering
I am a terrible cook, you guys. No, seriously. As a teenager, I made my mother a birthday cake for her 40th birthday. She walked me through all of the steps before she left for work (it was the summer!) and the two things I most remember her telling me were that our “oven heats 20 degrees hotter” and the science behind the toothpick test – “if it comes out clean, the cake is done.” I compiled all of the ingredients from the box (we’re not gourmet, ok?) and got to work. This was going to be a fancy cake because it was the kind that also used pudding as an ingredient. This is an important detail, trust me. It was my mom’s 40th, after all! Needless to say, I put the mixture into the 9×13 greased baking pan and slid it in the oven to bake. Sometime later (not sure, I may have blocked out details due to PTSD), I came back to check on my masterpiece, which, based on the scent alone was perfect. I opened the oven and was taken aback – because before me was a pan of baked, brown, oily concoction that resembled nothing of a cake. Me, being the kitchen genius I am, actually thought that maybe the cake would rise upon cooling. It’s an honest assumption, right? (I need validation.) So, I followed my mother’s sage advice and did the toothpick test. It came out CLEAN, which obviously meant the cake was done. I can follow directions. Immediately, I took the cake out to cool and hope for the best. When my mother returned from work, she walked into the house with a, “Oh my gosh it smells GREA…..what the HELL is THAT?” My only statement about the subject was that I had done everything she had said, including the toothpick test. Then I got the inquisition:

Mom: Did you add the eggs?

Me: Yes.

Mom: Did you add the oil?

Me: Yes

Mom: Did you add the water?
Me: YES, MOM. I did everything!!!

Mom: Hmmm. Bring me the box.

Me: (picking up box) Oh my god I never added the cake mix!
(cue ridiculous laughter for hours)

So, you see, this was the start of my discomfort in the kitchen. Partner that with a lifetime of thinking I can’t eat too much and thyroid disease (Graves’ Disease turned Hypothyroidism) and I’m all sorts of messed up around food and eating! Throughout this CrossFit journey it’s become even more evident to me that we have got to eat a lot of food – or at least enough food for our bodies to endure and thrive in workouts, strength training, and just plain life. So, I’m working on it. This past Sunday I decided I was going to consciously start looking at the choices I make around food – how and what I eat – and make some adjustments. That means cooking. I KNOW. I am going to have to cook. Terrifying. Luckily, I recently made a new friend who is currently serving as a private chef in Northern MN who was willing to walk me through some of the basics. Basics like making an apple pork tenderloin. I wanted to make this to use as my lunches for the week at the office as I know it would help me not get sucked into going out to lunch every day. That can be brutal on an eating plan considering how hard it is to know what you’re eating when you didn’t prepare it.. When I told him I was going to use the crockpot (hey now! it’s easy and convenient!) for this tenderloin masterpiece he about jumped out of his skin and immediately took over:

He was right. 26 minutes was perfect:

Then, I took things one step further and followed a recipe that Coach Hannah shared with us in the Solcana Food Fan Club group (have you joined yet? It’s a free Facebook group!) that could be used for breakfast and/or snack during the day – breakfast cupcakes. They are basically protein (meat, eggs, goat cheese) and vegetables baked in cupcake form. That simple!

Ingredients include:

• 8-10 eggs (I used 8)
• 1/4 cup goat cheese or whole fat greek yogurt
• Salt/pepper/any spices you want
• 1lb pork sausage
• Any veggies you want

Step 1: Cook the pork sausage until browned, add veggies until soft

Step 2: Fill muffin pan 1/4 to 1/2 way full with meat/veggie mixture

Step 3: Beat eggs with goat cheese and spices

Step 4: Pour egg mixture on top off muffin cups filled with meat until to the top

Step 5: Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until top is light brown

And suddenly, you’re looking at healthy breakfast and lunch options for the week! Throw in some butternut squash, some avocado, and a few bananas and we got this dillemma handled, folks. It’s like I don’t even know who I am anymore. The best part? All of this took under an hour and a half. I made a week’s worth of healthy food in the time that I normally would have watched an episode of The Wire, Season 3 (I like to stay relevant). And guess what? The Wire is on demand, so I can watch that business anytime. It felt really good to make some positive food choices for the week and so far (it’s Tuesday) I’ve stuck to them. This week won’t be perfect foodwise, nor do I expect it to be. I’m just really pumped that I made a consciously positive decision around food.

Okay, if you need me I’ll be auditioning for Master Chef and turning down offers for catering parties with the only dishes I now know how to make. Can’t wait to see how these food choices affect my overall physical results!

Thanks for reading, friends. See you next week!

xo

Jenn