Solcana blog

Oh man you guys. We are so close to the one year mark of this blog I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT. Oh wait, no…that’s the kale and bacon I just ate, because we just started a little life tune-up at the gym…similar to the 6 week WholeMe Challenge you might remember from the beginning of the year. Major goals of this 3 week tune up include:

• Three cups of vegetables per day

  

• Meet my daily intake of protein, based on body weight (147-166g per day). To determine this, take your body weight in kilograms and make two calculations: multiply this number by 1.5 and 1.7. This is your range of grams of protein you are aiming to consume each day.
• Refrain from refined sugars and alcohol (we’ll see about this, it’s prime patio season out there!) This is a good list of dos and don’ts provided by nutrition coach, Lucia.
• Refrain from grains and gluten, with more tips from Lucia. CARBS ARE GOOD, YOU GUYS.
• Omit dairy. Again, this is to help support our digestive systems, as the protein found in dairy, casein, can be difficult for many to digest. You may keep butter in your diet as long as it is in the form of ghee/clarified butter. Yogurts, cheeses and milks from animals are out.
• Omit processed and refined oils. This is perhaps one of the more difficult aspects of this goal to track, especially if you eat out often. I’ve been doing well with this making most of my food at home. Good sources for fats and oils will be options like extra virgin olive oil, ghee/clarified butter, coconut oil, sustainably harvested palm oil and animal fats like lard and duck fat. AVOCADOS!

Non food related goals include:

• Drinking my personal goal for water. To find your personal goal for the ounces of water you should drink each day, take your body weight in pounds, divide that number in half and that is the minimum number of ounces of water you drink per day. If the number equals over 1 gallon [128 ounces], cap it at a gallon as your minimum. Herbal teas can count towards the goal, but coffee and caffeinated teas do not. Doesn’t mean you can’t drink them, they just don’t count towards your hydration goal each day.
• Obtain at least one hour of physical activity. Gym time counts, but so does anything else I might be doing, too: walking the dog, yoga, gardening, etc.
• Get 8 or more hours of sleep per night. Sleep is integral to our health–skimping on this in the long term is a stressor on our bodies and also one of the most difficult for me. I waiver somewhere in between a sleeper and an insomniac, but thanks to my friend Amy K at Amy K Acupuncture, I’m working on this in many different ways. Amy also recommended meditation, so I’ve started using the app Headspace. It’s a game changer, folks. Especially if you’re like me with a brain that DOES NOT shut off and suddenly it’s 3:45 am and you have to be up in 3 hours and you haven’t slept a wink. Give it a try and let me know if you also have success with it.

As of today, I’m 45 lbs down in 50 weeks, and based on my experience with the food challenge at the beginning of the year, I’m sure I’ll see some movement again here as well. I’m here for this.

In other news, Saturday marks the Solcana Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Meet where I WILL BE COMPETING! These are by far my weakest lifts, mostly because I really get in my head about the technique. I overthink it. Who would have thought that would be something that I would do OH GOD I AM OVERTHINKING THIS WHOLE BLOG POST. But for real, it’s a good thing for me to do…to get out of my comfort zone, challenge myself, spend the day with my friends, and push myself just a little further than normal. As of now, I’m not sure what my lifting weights will be for the Clean & Jerk or the Snatch, though the most I’ve done at either is 105# and 85# respectively. I’ve got a little meetin’ with Coach Morgen tomorrow morning to hash these things out. It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fun. I’m going to wear my singlet. This will be good competition prep for the USA Twin Ports Raw Open now just over 2 weeks away. Last Saturday at powerlifting, we determined some good starting weights and I think I’ll open at:

• Squat: 235lb (hoping to hit 265lb PR)
• Bench: 120lb (hoping to hit 130lb PR)
• Deadlift: 290lb  (hoping to hit 315-320lb PR)

Same as the Oly lifting meet, we will have three shots at each lift, so it’s important to open with something I know I can do successfully. Feeling good about this one.

It really has been quite the year of firsts, and yesterday was no different. The fine folks at FOX 9 invited me to co-host their morning show, The Buzz, and it was a blast. The best part was getting to bring Coach Hannah on for a segment all about Solcana CrossFit and some functional exercises to do at home. The main point we got to drive home was that CrossFit is for anyone – all different types of fitness levels, body types, genders, sexual orientations – anyone. I’m so pumped that I got to share on tv how much of an impact this community has made on me – truly one of the most accepting and supportive groups I have ever had the joy of belonging to. I LOVE YOU PEOPLE, I REALLY DO.

I love you so much that I braved the elements last night (chilly low 50’s, wet, drizzly weather) to join a few other brave souls for a free park workout at Matthews Park– a great way to be introduced to tbe brand new Solcana Outdoor Summer Program that will focus a fun combination of CrossFit, yoga and boot-camp style workouts. Classes will last one hour and participants will spend that time gaining strength, increasing cardio and learning new skills. Plus, over the course of the summer, the class will be training to run a 5K. Last night was no exception, in an hour we managed to work on:

• Pistol squats – 5 sets of 5 (DO NOT EVEN WORRY, most of us did scaled versions to the park bench!)
• Push-ups – 5 sets of 3
• Hill sprints – 3 rounds

And the metcon, for time, was a partner workout that entailed:

• Hill sprint
• 80 step-ups (40 each)
• Hill sprint
• 60 situps (30 each)
• Hill sprint
• 40 push-ups (20 each)
• Hill sprint
• 20 burpees (10 each)

My team (Megan and Melissa!) killed it coming in at 12:09 finishing time, weather and all. Coach Jerik made it fun and I am looking forward to popping in M-W-F throughout the summer to join in the festivities.

If you’re interested in joining the summer outdoor program, you can learn more about it here. i highly recommend it – low cost for high quality, functional, outdoor workouts and guaranteed results.

See you next week, where I will be an official olympic weightlifter.