Room to Think

Couple more days and the vacation is coming to a close.  It’s been a great one, folks.  I thought about lying to you all to make my vacation sound a bit more adventurous and exciting…like saying I stayed awake for 48 hours, climbed a mountain, swam across the ocean naked, or even fought a bear and won.  However, I didn’t do any of those things.  My life for the last 7 days has consisted of sleeping, eating, napping, sunning, swimming, napping, eating, running, and reading.  Maybe a little bit of shopping mixed in (Ry let me get the new Vera Bradley purse I’ve been eyeing for weeks).  And that. Is. All.  It took a few days to get used to doing nothing.  It is a weird feeling sitting down to read on the balcony and to not feel like I need to get up fold laundry or unload the diswasher.  Guilt, I have found, it quite self-imposed.  Unfortunately now that I’ve gotten used to this lazy, slower pace of life, it’s almost time to jump back into reality.  Sad day.

Anyway, I have learned a few things while sitting on the balcony.  Things I probably wouldn’t have realized if I wasn’t forced to take the time to slow down and relax.

• I can have meaningful conversations with my husband that do not involve work, stress, or money.  We’ve had some of the best talks this week about dreams, what we want out of life, and utter nonsense.  It’s like being kids again!  It just proves to me that we choose on a daily basis to let things stress us and our marriage and we can also choose to feel like this too.  I pray that we can find some time every night or week to sit on our proverbial balcony and chat.
• I’m not a very good pool sunning person.  I get antsy, hate the feel of the sunscreen oil, hate being hot with sweat dripping down my face and not wanting to wipe it off for fear of wiping off the sunscreen.  I get bored.  And then I come in, sit in the shade of the balcony and see all the new freckles that I gained for that hour in the sun.  Ry and I have decided that we need to put some serious research into faux tanning before our next vacation.  Although I’ve had a great giggle at Ry trying to relax at the pool.  Poor fella has the most sensitive eyes of any person I know and his eyes water like he’s crying a river.  But he stuck it out there trying to get a tan.
• Even on vacation I don’t sleep past 7:30 (at the latest) and then I’m out on the balcony drinking some java.  Maybe I can’t sleep late anymore?  I don’t know.  Ry is the same way.  He’s beat me out of bed every day this week!
• While sitting on the balcony I realized that all the pressure I put on myself to perform is just that- pressure I put on MYSELF.  Coach B is only asking me to do what I can to the best of my ability.  He’s not asking me to be better than the next girl or the fella before me.  CrossFit can only make me a better athlete if I let it and get my ego out of the way.  I can’t be a stronger runner if I chose not to run because I’m afraid I can’t.  Why are thoughts so clear when sitting outside with nothing but air and trees in the distance?
• I learned just how much my cats are a part of Ry and I’s lives.  Goodness, if we said it once we said it a dozen times, “I wonder what _______ is into right now?”  And then we’d laugh.  But everyday the laughs get a little more sad because we miss the cats.  Couple more days and then they will give us the greeting we are accustomed to when we leave for a while.  They will pointedly ignore us for a while, just to prove how mad they are that we left.  After a few hours one cat will finally want some lovies and then we’ll get all 3.  It’s heavenly.
• Sunsets and sunrises are a gift from God when to take the time to sit and enjoy them.

I hope you all have a chance at some point to get away and reflect on life from the balcony.  After 7 days of it I’m convinced it’s the best medicine you can take to cure a stressed life and to figure some things out.

I’m in the beginnings of vacation day 5.  It is lovely.  I sit here typing on our back patio deck, the sky is overcast and there is fog over the green hills…it’s lovely and very relaxing.  Ry and I have done very little for the last few days and after the hustle and bustle and stress of the previous weeks this relaxing factor is not lost on me.  I think I might be a little addicted.  I’m only writing you this post today to tell you two things that my 5 days of vacation have taught me so far: 1) I was burnt out on my life and 2) I’m not sure the direction of this blog anymore.

First things first, before I left my everything on Friday morning I was stressed about work, deadlines, exercise, the never-ending heat…you name it.  Absolutely nothing was going my way and I was letting it get to me.  It seems like a completely ridiculous statement saying that from where I am sitting right now, but you live in the moment right?  I feel like I should issue a public apology to Ry, Ash, and Coach B.  Goodness they put up with a lot the last couple of weeks.  I was so stressed at work. Probably the most I’ve been in some time.  Working out is not going well because the heat is just not letting me do all the things I want to in regards to my heart.  That is So. Frustrating.  I absolutely adore CrossFit.  All the people that work there and train there are like family to me but I was thisclose to giving it up and going to another gym (that has air conditioning) for the rest of the summer because I have too much pride to modify workouts, to come in last, or to quit all together due to the heat and my heart.  I’m very lucky to have those 3 folks mentioned earlier because they slapped some sense into my snotty crying face and got me to the end of the week; to my vacation.  Ash sent me a quote this morning and I’ve held close since I read it, “Don’t be concerned with what you can’t do.  Work on what you can do- then count your blessings.” ~Alan Robinson (a 56-year-old partially paralyzed marathon runner)  Pride has got to go and I’ve got to do what I can and be thankful for that.  It’s a harder concept to get through your heart than your head but 5 days of relaxing help. I have done very (very) little exercise these 5 days.  Honestly, besides the occasional run and the occasional WOD I don’t know how much I’ll get in the the last 5 days of my vacation.  And I’m ok with that.  I’m resting.  I’m regrouping.  And everyday that goes by I get that longing again, the longing to attack something bigger that me and win; the CrossFit feeling.  Bring it.

The second thought this vacation has brought me is my blog.  What is the purpose of my blog?  What do I want to say?  What is the point?  This little thing started up years ago when I was training for my very first distance race, the StL half marathon.  I didn’t really write much other than what I did and how I felt.  And then more people started reading it so I started talking about life stuff.  And then I started talking about nutrition.  And then my heart condition.  And then the roller coaster of my emotions.  Honestly, how much of that stuff does anyone care about but me?  I’m still going to be selfish and say that this IS my blog therefore I will write what I want to write, however, I am going to find a direction.  SarahtheQueen will be taking a turn of direction in content.  Wish I could tell you more about it but I need to streamline.  I also need to be a bit more dedicated with posting.  I’m learning.

I think I have reached my time limit because Ry has now joined me on the balcony and wants to chat.  I think I will oblige him because he’s pretty cute.

TODAY I LOVE:  sleep and no agenda

SONG OF THE DAY: crickets.  They talk a lot.

Coconut

When most of you think of coconut I’m sure you think like I did, coconut cream pie, pina coladas, and and toasted cookies.  That sounds pretty good right about now actually.  I do like a good coconut cream pie.  But I digress, I’m sure very few of you think of coconut oil.  After the milk is drained from a mature coconut it is possible to take the remaining meat of the plant and make oil.  It’s actually kind of interesting.  There are a couple of ways to get the oil from a coconut; the wet and the dry methods.  The wet method is like separating milk fats from a cow essentially the same thing happens with the coconut.  The milk is gathered and bits of the kernal (meat) is mashed with it and the milk separates from the fat and the oil is skimmed off.  The dry method involves baking the kernal (meat) until the oil reside is left to collect.

The oil itself is a fantastic cooking oil because of it’s stability.  Also because of the stability it lasts a very long time without becoming rancid.  Coconut oil has been used for ages in towns and villages around the world because of this.  It is stable due to the level of saturated fat contained within the oil.  Whoa, did I just say saturated fat?  Sure thing.  Before you all freak out about it, let’s sit back and be rational.  Just like there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol the same applies for saturated fat.  We hear the word saturated fat and immediately lump it into the bad category.  Let’s look at a little science, as we all know fat is energy.  As humans and efficient machines we have to eat fats to have energy and to feel satisfied.  In basic terms fat molecules are in chains: short, medium, and long.  Almost 2/3 of the fat molecules in coconut oil are medium-chain molecules.  This is good because it means that the molecules are directly absorbed through the liver and immediately available for use for our body.  In short, the fatty acids in coconut oil are absorbed quickly and are easily digestible for the body.  Because of this coconut oil is less likely to cause obesity because it is not readily stored (used immediately).  One word of caution, however, always choose the pure organic coconut oil.  Don’t buy anything that says the words “hydrogenated,” or “refined.”  You want the real, natural stuff.

Coconut oil has load of benefits and is even being tested as an immune system booster!

The first time I bought the stuff I was a little confused.  It comes in a jar and looks all white and pearly on the inside.  When I opened it up to spoon out a 1/4 cup for a recipe it was rock solid!  I didn’t realize the oil only comes as a solid.  I learned that you can run the jar under some hot water in your faucet and it liquefies pretty quickly.

Not only does coconut oil work great to cook with, it also makes a wonderful natural deodorant because of it’s moisturizing attributes!

Agave Plant

If you’ve ever tried to start eating healthy and kick the white sugar habit, you’ve probably run across a recipe that calls for the ingredient agave nectar.  Put as plainly as possible, agave nectar is the juice from an agave plant.  It looks very similiar to those aloe plants that your grandma always kept around for sunburns.  I know, you can’t imagine sucking the juice out of that plant and putting it in a cake, but it’s not exactly the same.  As you can imagine, most agave nectar is produced in Mexico or the warmer climates of the Southern United States.

Once the juice is collected from the plant it is heated so the sugars in the nectar are really fired up and thus turn into simple sugars.  Depending on the filtering and the heating temperature the liquid produce can be a variety of colors, but each contains iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.  The syrup is thinner than honey in consistency.  Also, the darker or lighter the color, the stronger or more subtle the flavor of the nectar.  Best of all, this syrup is sweeter than regular table sugar!  A little goes a long way!  Full disclosure- agave nectar is not low-calorie.  Truth be told, it has just as many calories as raw white sugar.  If you’re restricting your diet for low calories you will want to take it easy.  But as it is a sweetener that is sweeter than sugar, you should need less.  There are tests going on right this second to determine if agave nectar is lower on the glycemic index than others sugars therefore making it a better choice for diabetics.  Let’s hope!

Agave nectar is a great replacement for honey or sugar.  As it is from a plant, it is completely vegan.  If you’re focusing on vegan or a raw eater be sure you check out the botte and make sure you get the raw unheated version of the stuff.  If you need to have sugar it is clearly one of the “cleanest” options you can get.  Completely natural, no chemicals, no harsh additions…what more can you ask for?  I like using agave as a substitute in recipes when I want to cut the sugar.  Get the darkest form of nectar and put it on your pancakes or waffles!  Use the lightest nectar and use it as the sugar in your muffins.

And yes, for you know-it-alls out there, agave is made from the same plant that they make tequila.  I think it would take agave nectar a while to ferment into tequila though.

For your baking pleasure, here’s a recipe!

Agave Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fun with Agave Nectar

We did some box jumps but not just any old box jumps.  This old gal got herself up on the big boy box!  For 5 sets of 10 reps I jumped on the big box.  I have never done that before!  I was scared to death I was going to fall because that box is pretty tall and intimidating but I did it!  And he said I even had a few inches to spare!  (Meaning I was clearing the top of the box easily enough.)  One of the lessons intermingled in the box jumps was learning how to land softly and cushion the knees.  Unthinking, I have a tendency to sound like a ton of bricks being dropped off a building when I jump on that hollow box.  If I’ve heard Coach B say “Land Light” once I’ve heard it a thousand times.  One day I will learn.  It was a lot harder for me to land light on the big boy box because I was afraid of missing.  I can only focus on one thing people.  Maybe next time I’ll land a little lighter on the big box.  Shoot, I might be able to leap over buildings by then.  Who knows.

We also worked on overhead squats (“OHS”).   My OHS form is getting much better since Coach B has been working with me.  I still have a tendency to drop my chest and lean too much forward and also tuck my knees in, so we’re working on that.  I did some OHS right smack in front of the wall.  That keeps me from going forward because if I do I’ll face-plant the wall.  Secondly, we went outside and did a new form of OHS work.    We did OHS with 2 kettlebells dangling off each end with bungee bands.  This is quite difficult because you have no stability.

Now, the WOD.  Before I tell you what it was let me preface the story with the weather.  Before I walked into the gym for training my phone said it was 95 degrees outside with the heat index.  No clouds and not a lot of wind.  It was stinking hot.  Wouldn’t you know it; my WOD was outside, in the sun, on the black asphalt.  Miserable.  The workout was called “Death by Thrusters.” Two sets of dumb bells are placed 15m apart.  At the start of the clock you sprint to the first set of dumb bells and do as many thrusters as you can until the top of the next minute.  Then you do 2 sprints.  Once the 2 sprints are completed you do as many thrusters as you can until the top of the minute.  Then 3 sprints, then 4.  You get the idea.  You keep going until you’re still sprinting when the clock laps you and you hit the top of the next minute.  I’m ashamed to say that I only got up to 10 rounds (55 sprints) and 52 thrusters (15lb kettlebells).  I’m officially throwing down the gauntlet to say that I want to do this workout again when it is cooler.  I know I can smoke what I did last night.  The challenge has been issued.  Done.  Don’t get me wrong, it was tough, but I know I could have done better if I wasn’t so darned hot.  I’m complaining, I know.

I’ll stop now with the workout nonsense.

To end today I think I’ll close with a few random observations that I’ve gathered the last couple of days:

• When I was a kid I liked to run around and catch lightening bugs.  My cats like to do the same.  I, however, collected them in a jar and they eat them.
• I’ve reached the point as an athlete that I’m much happier in my own skin in athletic clothes than evening wear.  This is a big confession coming from a former beauty queen.  I’ll take tennis shoes over heels, sweaty tanks over beaded ball gowns, and ratty ponytails in a hat over an intricate up-do any day.
• Either people’s hearing is getting worse or the decibel of my voice is getting softer because it seems that nobody can hear or understand me anymore.
• I’m looking so forward to my vacation at the end of July that I’m finding it hard to concentrate on other things.
• I have a lot of trouble choking down plain steamed vegetables.  Blah.

So, full weekend ahead.  Everyone give your fathers and grandfathers a hug.

TODAY I LOVE: sweet anticipation of the weekend and summer nights

SONG OF THE DAY: “Within You” by Ray LaMontagne

Several months ago (and I won’t tell you how many because it has been far too long) the folks over at POM Wonderful sent me a case of their 100% pomegranate juice to try.  I’m always game to try out new healthy products so I gave it a go!

Pomegranate

First things first, let me tell you a little bit about the pomegranate.  If you’ve never cracked open the softball-sized hard fruit you’re in for a surprise.  The shell (or rind) is very hard but once you get through the fruit itself is full of arils (seed casings) and membrane.   The arils are the part of the fruit you eat.  It is a bit time consuming separating all the arils from the membrane, but once you do you are indeed worthy of the prize.  After doing this only once you have a complete understanding as to why most pure pomegranate juices are a little on the pricey side.  It’s a lot of work!  The arils can be sweet or sour depending on the ripeness (as with all fruit).  The pomegranate has become this century’s superfruit.  It is loaded with Vitamins C and B, full of potassium, and bursting with antioxidants.    Pomegranate juice is being tested in several medical studies and in the preliminary research the juice has been effective in reducing systolic blood pressure, inhibiting viral infections, inhibit the production of breast cancer cells.  The juice is also being tested in clinical trials for it’s effectiveness against several diseases such as prostate cancer, diabetes, lymphoma, common cold, coronary artery disease, hemodialysis, and infant brain injury.

After I had read up on the fruit itself I couldn’t wait to taste the juice!  POM Wonderful pomegranate juice is made from 100% Wonderful pomegranates (Wonderful is the kind of pomegranate, not just a great adjective).  The juice has no added sugars or preservatives, which is great if you’re a gal like myself that is trying to eat clean and avoid added junk to great food.  It has no added dyes and it is flash pasteurized so that by the time is reaches our grocery is still has all the nutrients and the taste from right out of the orchard.

I was like a kid at Christmas when my package came in the mail.  On top of the cute little bottles of juice, POM also sent me some great information on pomegranates, their juices, their operation, and recipes!  So now, my impressions:

POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice

First Impression. Great packaging and marketing.  The bottles are distinctive and set them apart from every other natural juice manufacturer out there.  Website is awesome!  It is evident from all that I received and from checking out their website that POM Wonderful loves their product and believes in what they do.  That’s important to me.

The Taste. If you’re looking for a sweet juice this wouldn’t be it.  I would equate it to a dry wine.  I think society has become accustomed to sugary-sweet juices so this might be an adjustment for some.  However, once you get past the initial shock of “this is not what I was expecting” the taste is pleasing to the palate.   I also found the juice quite filling.  I would drink an 8oz bottle as my morning snack and be content.

Uses. I enjoyed trying the juice in a cake recipe they sent me.  Wow!  It was great!  It added a lot of great flavor and moistness to the cake.  The recipe is the POM Velvet Cake.  It can be found on their website so check it out!  I also used some of the juice as a replacement for dry wine in a chicken dish and it worked great for that as well.  I love the flavor in recipes.

Products and Price. POM Wonderful and plenty of other products if 100% juice is not your thing.  You can purchase the actual fruit, teas, iced coffee,  meal bars, and even a new recovery drink that I’m dying to try!  The recovery drink is not sold in stores yet but I think you can buy it on their website.  As far as price it is a little more expensive than buying a bottle of plain ‘ole Tropicana but this is much, much better for you.  The quality is worth the price.  You most definitely get what you pay for.

When it came to weight lifting, at least to my limited scope and observation, back in that little room the main benchmark of fitness was the max weight you could bench press.  If the question was asked not once but twenty times in the span of a conversation (and also posted on a chart on the wall) you could consider yourself lucky.  I have no earthly idea what I could bench press back then but I know it was very little.  I didn’t care one lick about upper body strength and the minute I left the weight room I my head would clear of the fog and I’d go back to my band geek self.  Happy Sarah.

Based on that impression of me (which is totally accurate) it’s rather hard to believe that I even walk through the door at CrossFit.  My oh my how I have changed.

I usually avoid the WOD on days like today but since I have no desire to do any more burpees for a while I got up and went.  Today was a max lift WOD.  And it was benchpress.  Score.  Since starting full CrossFit in March of last year I can literally count on one hand the times I’ve had to benchpress.  The first time was back in March of last year.  My trainer at the time had me doing it and it was pathetic.  I could barely do the baby bar with weights on it for any length of time.  Pa-the-tic.  I can’t remember a time that I’ve done it since.  To say that I was less than thrilled about today’s challenge is overstating it greatly.  Not only that, but you couldn’t just lift 1 rep of the weight, oh no, that’s too easy.  You have to do 5 reps.

I am pleased to report that today, June 16, 2010, I worked my way up to 80lbs.  That’s right.  I did 5 reps of: 45lbs, 55lbs, 65lbs, 75lbs, and 80lbs.  I never in my right mind would ever think I could benchpress that much.  Granted, it is very small in comparison to others, but it’s ginormous to me.   It was a pleasant surprise to end my workout.

In conclusion today gave me a chance to avoid burpees, find out my max benchpress, and also to think about dim memories of high school for a bit.

I feel the need to pull out some Phil Collin’s “In The Air Tonight” and Guns N’ Roses “Paradise City.”

TODAY I LOVE: reading glasses and watermelon

SONG OF THE DAY: “The Old Days are Gone” by Gary Jules and The Group Rules