Purple?

I am a big proponent of eating heirloom vegetables. Earlier this year I read 3 Michael Pollan books and a Barbara Kingsolver book that really changed my views on food. I highly recommend them if you have not already read them.
I shop at Whole Foods or Fresh Market for my meats and vegetables. I like Fresh Market better (it has wider aisles and tends to be a little cheaper) but it is in Chapel Hill and that is a pain in the butt. So, I tend to go to Whole Foods on Broad in Durham. Last night I ran into 3 people I know outside of CrossFit. This is a little bothersome because I very rarely go when I do not look disgusting. I usually go right after working out, like I did last night.
Anyway, I was looking for broccoli when I found this:

I am sorry Whole Foods but I can not believe that occurred naturally. Why is that cauliflower purple? I do understand the need to jazz things up a little so that kids will eat them but I expect Whole Foods to be above that sort of silliness. I mean, I love grapapples as much as the next person; but I expect to buy them at Target.

Accountability

I have been struggling with my weight since I was in my early 20's. I have been really fat and really skinny. Right now, I am some where in between. Staying skinny is very hard. I gained a lot of weight when we moved here. For the past year I have been trying, through CrossFit, to lose weight but have not lost much. I know I have gained muscle but I am a long way from where I want to be. This is a fact that has been really bothering me. That is where Dori comes in.

Dori is kind of like a savior to me right now. She suggested that we do it together through My Net Diary. She came up with a plan that uses it as a tool so that we can hold each other accountable. I do not know why but if you have a friend checking up on you it makes it way more important to be good. If I am bad I am not only disappointing myself but I am letting Dori down.

I have lost a little over 3 lbs since we started. Mainly because I keep track of everything I eat. That makes a huge difference. I know I would not have done this at all if it were not for her. So, Thank you Dori. When we are skinny together I will owe it to you.

Here are a couple of pictures of either extreme. Sorry about the half naked photo but it is the only one I can find.

Not Paleo but pretty Damn close

I got this recipe off of Pioneer Woman. I changed a few things. I highly recommend her site. I have made a lot of her recipes and every single one has been great. It is not a paleo site though. I repeat it is not a paleo site.

Ingredients

1½ pound Flank Steak, Trimmed Of Fat And Sliced Very Thin Against The Grain

½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce

3 Tablespoons Sherry (Not Paleo)

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (Not Paleo)

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch (Not Paleo)

1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger

8 ounces, weight Fresh Asparagus

5 whole Scallions, Cut Into Haf-inch Pieces On The Diagonal

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Crushed Red Pepper, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) or wok over high heat. Add asparagus and stir until cooked. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the asparagus. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Serve immediately. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.

Oh My God!!!

This is totally why you should NOT hit the next blog button at the top of your screen. It is okay. I will stay strong and not be tempted by you, delicious treats. Damn it!

I take it back

As many of you know, I went to Mexico with husband and 2 friends for Thanksgiving. The place we were staying had a pool bar. The pool was unbelievably cold so we usually sent the men folk to brave the icy waters to get the drinks. On one of the many drink runs I decided I would cool off by jumping in to the frigid waters and get the drinks for husband and myself. When I swan up to the bar the guy Jack, I mean Mack was talking to said: "Is that your sister?" I do not think we look anything a like but lets compare shall we...
Me: 5'2"
Mack: 6' something"
Me: pasty white - of English and Irish decent
Mack: tans with in seconds of being in the sun - of Asian and Spanish or Italian (I can not remember) decent.
Me: reddish brown hair
Mack: black hair (with a touch of gray, and yes... I went there)
Me: klutzy with no scene of spatial awareness.
Mack: can do 20 million double unders and muscle ups with ease
Me: brown eyes
Mack: brown eyes
Bing! Bing! Bing!
That must be it; we are SO much a like.
Well, apparently Mack has taken the discovery of a new found sibling to heart and has decided to treat me as such. This entails teasing me so much that I want to give him a severe pummeling. This teasing was particularly bad last night because I said nice things about him yesterday in my blog and ruined his street cred.
So, lets set the record strait shall we... Mack is a total badass that totally could beat you at anything and could completely kick your butt if he wanted / felt like it.

Now, on to me. Half way through yesterday's WOD my right wrist started hurting, really badly. I looked at it and it had turned purple. The WOD was: 21-15-9 For Time:
DB Thrusters and burpees. I stopped doing the burpees and switched to push-ups, so I would not be slamming my hand against the ground. After the WOD I talked to Nemo and he said, he had hurt his wrist 4 years ago and it still bothers him. This, needless to say, is highly disappointing news. Is it an age thing ? I do not remember healing being such a pain in the butt before. Well, at least the purple went away.

In early August

Today

And another thing I love about CrossFit

Every gym has at least one. That one guy or girl or both that are really good at everything. We have at least one of each in our gym (and a few floaters that come in). We will call them Mack and Mashley (to protect their secret identity). The thing about these people at CrossFit is, they are really nice. It is impossible to hate them and their super human abilities. They cheer you on when you make your minor accomplishments as if you are amazing even though they are way stronger and faster than you. The only time you see any kind of frustration towards these people is when someone that does not really know them challenges them and then fails..... repeatedly.
Last night one of these people, Mack, did just that. He acted like it was awesome that I dropped 10 seconds off of my split time. And lets be honest, we need that sort of encouragement to keep going.
Here is what happened: Yesterday morning I forgot my tennis shoes. So, I called husband and asked him to bring them to the gym for me. He said okay and then promptly forgot to bring said shoes. The WOD was running and jumping rope so doing it in my duck foot like Keen slip-ons was not an option.
The only solution was to row instead of run, because I think running in my bare feet is a very bad idea. I am klutzy, the gym is in Durham (I would undoubtedly run over glass), and my feet and mind are not conditioned in the same way Colin's are.

Half way through the first 500 meter row, I realize that I am feeling fine and maintaining a 2:00 (my past 500 meter row was 2:12). I get excited and determined to keep it up (knowing the 50 double under will be hard but I really did not care). I pushed and finished at 2:02. I started celebrating immediately (there was a lot more WOD left). Husband gave me the disapproving Kermit look (with a half smile) to encourage me to get on with the rest of my WOD. I finished, though the first set of jumping rope was VERY hard after blowing my WOD (pun intended) on my first row.

After I was done I told Mack about my amazing achievement (his split is probably sub 1 min) and he acted excited and proud of me. It was in that minute that I decided to try really hard to do the same for everyone else in the gym. That being said.... David, my former bootcamper moved from blue to red band yesterday. He started with jumping pull ups a few months ago and now he is rocking the red band. You are awesome David!

The Horror

I am trying to enter everything in to My Net Diary, my food and exercise. Of course the program does not have CrossFit programed in as an option. No problem, that is what my trusty friend the internet is for. This time however, my friend shared some very bad news with me..... CrossFit 200 to 300 cal per hour. AHHHHH! That is it? No wonder I am fat. I will be adding more cardio in from this moment forward.
Part of me thinks: "But What about Dunsey she is super ripped and thin?"
Oh, right.... she weighs everything she puts in her mouth. That is why she has those awesome legs and abs.

I am really not willing to do that. I have to be honest. It just is not going to happen. More running it is.

Maybe I should pick another marathon or half to train for. There are 2 issues with this. One, running a marathon is very painful so I am more inclined to run a half. Two, I truly think I could run a half right now so that is not a challenge. A full it is. Now, I have to pick one, preferably in June or July.

Update: I like the idea of the Princess Half at Disney, but I think you only get a certificate that you have to print out. I am totally motivated by silly metals. I might have stopped my last marathon at mile 2o had I not thought "I want that golden Mickey head". There is one in Montana that gives you a cowboy belt buckle but that is an expensive flight.