For two weeks I ate great, kept up with my 100 days and nailed each WOD in my 3 on, 1 off routine. I hit a PR on my Clean & Jerk and matched my Snatch max.

Then I got sick – go to bed early, sleep late, leave work after three hours sick. After two days off work and five full days of rest off working out, I felt better!

Saturday, a full week after my 150lb C&J, I was lifting a 65lb barbell and felt like someone stabbed me in the back. It was a sudden rush of pain that has yet to clear.

Over the years I’ve injured my back in a variety of ways: lower back sprain after a car accident in 2007, in 2009 I missed catching the bar correctly when I jumped up to the pullup bar and had some other back related emergency room visit in 2011, frankly can’t remember what I did that time. Each time ice and rest have been enough. Doctors offered pain medications, but not solutions

Realizing I don’t want to keep taking myself out of the game and knowing that 65lbs generally is nothing for me to move, I sought additional help went to a chiropractor. My injury isn’t something that has me bed-bound, but with living a fairly active lifestyle I don’t want to it to be something that keeps me down in any way. I’ve had one appointment so far and performed stretches given to me on my own. Range of motion is getting better each day. Progress = good. My next chiro appointment is Friday and a massage next Tuesday.

The point of me sharing this is to encourage you to take care of your body. Understand if something feels off, what that means and how you should handle it. There is a difference between good sore and bad sore. For me, I’m in the middle of an annoying coincidence of back to back weeks of sickness and injury. And looking ahead, I am regretfully backing out of running a half-marathon this coming Saturday. I know by Saturday, my back may be feeling better, but that would probably be too much, too soon. In that past coming back from injury too fast has definitely been an issue. It’s the responsible side of me that knows I should not run even if the stubborn side wants too.

Moral of the story: be nice to your body, it’s the only one you have.

Well I did and now I’m craving freaking carbs. This afternoon is better, this morning was hard. Yesterday I had A half slice/piece of pita. The day before, PIZZA. Sorry 24-day challenge/cleanse. I rocked your plan like 95% on days 1-10, when it called for 80% buy-in, then days 11+ when diet strictness called for 90% commitment, I started the crash.

When I get sick, the fat girl inside of me wants pizza. Why I can’t be a normal person and want chicken noodle soup, I don’t know. For the last decade, all I can remember craving when I am sick is pizza. Saturday – Sunday – Monday – Tuesday, I basically ate one meal per day. Who knows what was wrong with me, but for the first of those several days, I held strong. I felt like garbage, but resisted the pizza urges. Monday and Tuesday, home from work, I subsisted on saltines and Gatorade. The saltines I feel are negligible to my diet, because I needed something in my body. By Tuesday evening I was feeling better, but the urge was still there. I caved with a Papa John’s medium pepperoni pizza.

Within minutes of ordering the pizza, I regretted my action. During the time it took for the pizza to be made, I went to the grocery store and bought salmon burgers, asparagus, cauliflower, celery, apples and plums as a way to make up for bad behavior. But I still ate pizza when I got home. I wish that pizza tasted like heaven on a plate and therefore would make up for my regret. But no, it tasted like a Papa John’s pizza, I didn’t even make it worth the cheat with Tommy’s or Angelo’s.

Today is day 18, I’m on back track. My half-piece of pita yesterday was a way to slowly lessen the “I-need-something-like-a-bread-carb” urges. This morning at breakfast, I shared my inclination and desire to scarf some toast or a bagel and was told “don’t feed the beast.” The beast apparently is the little carb monster living inside of me. The advice made me laugh, but rings true. By feeding the beast, I awakened the little craving monster inside that now I have to battle back into submission. Knowing that I feel better without the massive amount of bad carbs I used to gorge myself helps. Mostly because my bad carbs were often in the form of processed foods and microwave lunches. This whole change of eliminating bad carbs really is a change towards real foods. I’m still trying to find the happy balance of not having cravings, while eating real and good food. It’s out there and I am diligently searching.

Fun update on my coworker who last week I mentioned lost 10lbs doing the Herbal Cleanse. She decided to continue the full 24-day challenge with me. 15lbs and counting – keep it up girl!

Boy oh boy, are you in for a treat! This morning, I went for a run. Whilst coming down the homestretch, possibly for the first time ever, I completely overshot my street without even noticing. It would be awesome if it were because I were a phenomenal runner that could go for days, alas that is not the case (yet). My head was simply full of thoughts, so many it distracted me from realizing where I was headed.

From the gym to certs to food to supplements to whether or not my niece will go to college and how it’s going to get paid for (she’s 18 months old by the way), it was all on my mind. Instead of word vomiting all of this on you, I’m going to stick with food and supplements. It is what I intended to write my last blog post about after all.

I haven’t quit Weight Watchers, though with an absurd schedule I have not made it to meetings as I should. What I can say is that the fruit smoothie I’m currently drinking is zero points plus. The Advocare Meal Replacement Shake that I’ll have for breakfast is five points plus. One of these (Weight Watchers/Advocare/Whole30/paleo) will work for me, because they all have something in common, FOOD.

It took a lot of people telling me the same thing over and over and over again to realize it. For some reason, my cohort Tricia’s blog post where she asks people to be “more aware of what you are putting in your mouth hole and maybe after reading this, you will eat more food“ really stuck with me. I think it was her use of the phrase “mouth hole” that did it (and her description of what food is). It helps that she’s cooked me dinner a few times lately and it turns out sticking cauliflower in the oven with a little olive oil and salt is delicious and takes two seconds to prep.

I’m still not paleo or Whole30 or tracking my points plus Weight Watchers style all of the time, but I’m eating real food a majority of the time, I feel better and am losing weight. My most recent kick starter to eating real food was starting an Advocare 24-Day Challenge.

Advocare is a health and wellness company offering energy, weight-loss, nutrition and sports performance products. A few weeks ago I was approached by a member asking for an Herbal Cleanse. Easy, here you go. Then a couple more people asked. Then I mentioned this influx of interest to a coworker, which sparked her interest. Well, I’m not the type to dole out these things without having the experience to back it.

Coworker and I ventured in together, day 10 was yesterday. She’s down 10lbs and I’ve lost five since we started. Yes, I attribute some of this success to the products, but you’re not taking a whole lot. It’s about diet and exercise first. Supplements are called that because they should do exactly that, supplement the other positive behaviors going on. The Challenge comes with an example eating plan, guess what – it’s real food! The same thing Weight Watchers, Whole30, Paleo and Trainer Trish tell you to “put in your mouth hole.”

I’m long-winded, I know, so I’ll end it. But this is a “my body, my experiment” conversation that I plan to continue.

Thanks for reading,
Jillian

Progress so far:
Advocare 24 Day Challenge Phase 1: 10 day Herbal Cleanse – Done! Phase 2 starts today. 3 on, 1 off x 2 cycles – Done, with two bonus runs on top of my WODs. Today is Day 14 of 100 Days of Suck, I’m caught up through 13.

This blog is supposed to be a place for me to share some incredible words of wisdom right? I mean, clearly that’s going to happen, because I am brilliant and all. BUT really, in my first blog post, didn’t I ask for some help? The quickest of recaps would include that it’s been about a month since I started this site. I’ve run, rowed and in general worked out more, shed a few LBs and renewed my appreciation for coaching. But let’s give you a fun chance to check up on me.

In our gym we have a goal board. In January I erased everything and updated it. When I hit my first goal this year, I erased it and added a new one. The second one that I hit, I crossed off. Purposefully keeping it up there to remind myself that yes, I have accomplished some of my goals. There are three remaining goals in my little corner of the board – one is such a pain in the arse I’ve failed it three times: The 100 Days Challenge, woof.

Well, I started again. Go me. Basically day 1 = 1 rep, day 2 = 2, and so forth up to day 100 = 100 reps, hence the challenge is known as The 100 Days of Suck. To add in the CrossFit principle of variance in workouts, participants are rotating between four exercises over the course of the 100 days. The recommended movements (courtesy of Bill Russell, CrossFit Cleveland) are pullups, overhead squats with an empty bar (45#), burpees and double unders (jump once, rope passes under twice) with permission to substitute a weakness for the OHS. My four day rotation is pullups, dips, double unders and burpees.

This goal lends itself two other goals that I have. One, listed on the board, is 100 consecutive double unders. My current PR is 62, but I hope that because I will be working on DUs every 4th day, I’ll be able to reach that 100 mark before then end of the year. A second goal and something discussed here is working out more. Like I mentioned, yup it’s happening, but I want to add more structure to it. I love spreadsheets and have laid out some really elaborate ones (you should see my 100 days one), but with this I want it to be simple so I decided to follow CrossFit’s standard protocol of 3 on, 1 off. If I’m not in or near a gym on one of my three days, I can go for a long run or throw down some body weight moves wherever OR I can plan ahead, like tomorrow when I’m dropping in on Friendship CrossFit near Columbus,OH.

Blending my “WOD more” goal under the structure of 3 days of work followed by 1 day of rest with my 100 days goal, doesn’t exactly give me a full days rest. BUT I did plan my 3 on, 1 off cycle to match my 100 days so if I have zero interest in walking into a gym on my off day, I don’t have to, I have burpees which can be done anytime, anywhere.

First paragraph says I had a chance for you to check on me, this is it. I’ve failed completing a 100 day challenge three times. Ask me how I’m doing. Ask me what day it is. Or maybe, but putting it out there to the lovely world wide interwebs this could be enough.

 Day 7’s still easy,

Jillian

PS. I totally started writing this post about food, it seems to be something I’m talking about ALL OF THE TIME lately. Clearly my thought pattern went a little askew, maybe I’ll get back to it for my next post? Fun changes with that too :)