Shift Changes and the Whiteboard

The third week of my crossfit experience was a tough one.  I have started a new shift at work.  I go in later in the morning but that means I am getting off later at night.  I also seem to be getting more overtime on this shift than I was.  I don't mind the extra money but its rough on the nights before crossfit because a lot of times I do not get to bed until 10:30 and then turn around and get up at 4:30 am.  So I am not getting a lot of sleep so I think my Thursday workout suffered.  Also my mood was not the best last week.  I  was missing my wife alot.  Due to our work hours we really do not see each other during the week.  Last week I think we maybe saw each other for a total of three or four hours.  Tie all that together and my emotion levels were down in the dumps which usually leads to me being a bump on the log and eating bad.  But after spending the whole weekend with my wife I feel alot better.  This just another thing I have to work through and not let it derail me as much.
The other part of my tough week was my Thursday workout.  It was a brutal one.  I have never done Man Makers or toe to bars and lets just throw in jump roping for a bit of more struggle.  After the first round I was totally gassed.  I kept on stopping to catch my breathe.  By my third round I could barely jump rope.  When the WOD was over with I looked at the whiteboard totals and found that I was next to last in amount of rounds completed.  The only person that I was above was an older lady.  Now I am not sure if  I felt defeated because of where I was on the board or because of my mood.  Probably a little of both.  I talked to Coach Chris afterward about it and I felt a little better about it but it still was bothering me.  My wife noticed it when I was talking about my workout.  She told me something that made sense to me.  She reminded me about how the scale would get her down and I would tell her how its just a number that does not represent how hard she has been working or how great of a person she is.  Well she pointed out that the whiteboard is my scale.  I get so worked up about how everyone else is doing that I beat myself up.  She told me to just worry about me and not what others are doing.   Also Coach Shannan reminded me that I was doing a full  workout, meaning full movement, full reps.  This is the first time I have done the full workout.  In the past my workouts were scaled down since I am just beginning crossfit.  Also she pointed out that others were only doing quarter or half movements and reps.  I would like to thank these three for talking me off the ledge.  I was so focused on the whiteboard that I did not give myself a high five for what I had done.  Giving my efforts enough praise is something I do not handle well.  I do not mean that in a cocky way but I realize you need to be proud of yourself in what you do.
For now on I will not let a shift change derail me or cause me to be less of the person that I am.  I also will look to the white board as a work in progress tool and not a final judgement.  I will use it to drive to be better and not as something that will hold me back.

Stuff is About to Get Real

Looks like Thursday I am going to be measured.  Yea can't wait.  Well really I could but it will be nice to see where I am at.  Need a baseline to build off of.  I can also compare them to the ones I took back in March.  Still thinking about taking a shirtless pic but still not sure.  I usually do not care what people think of me but for some reason being shirtless bothers me.  Maybe I will take one and keep it for myself until I can see a noticeable difference.  Ok enough with my ramblings.

Success Makes a Visit to the Kotaliks

Well last week was a successful one for the Kotaliks.  We ate right all week even when we went to the casino over the weekend.  I may have had a couple of drinks there but I limited them as best as a I could.  Cheris had measurements taken with her trainer to see how she has progressed in her first month of training.  I am proud to announce that she improved in every area.  She was so excited to tell me.  Love to see her face light up when she tells me about her accomplishments.  She has been working hard and eating right glad it is paying off.  Another way she can tell  the results of her hard work is on her clothes.  She has some shorts that were a little tight when she first bought them and now well lets just say they might be a little too big for her.  High five baby so proud of you. 

Well I kind of sneaked a peek at my weight on Friday just to see where it was.  I am proud to say I have dropped six pounds in two weeks.  I know most people will say that it is water weight or that its just a number but for someone who is heavy it is a mental thing that is hard to shake.  We need to know that what we are doing is working.  It keeps us on the right path.  On the other hand it can also derail us if it shows us a number that we did not want to see.  Its something I need to work at.  I can tell I am getting smaller by the fact that my work jeans are getting looser so yea me. 

Oh yea and one other success story for the week.  We have A/C once again in the house.  I am going to miss our in house sauna.  NOT!!!  Our old unit was undersized so we bought the correct size for our house.  Wow does it make a difference.  I was freezing my rear off the first night.  We actually had to raise the temp the net night.  That is unheard of in our house.

Here is looking to another great week for both of us.  We each have a goal of making it to the gym five times this week.  Oh and there is a rumor going around that we maybe going organic.  More details to come.

Week One in the Box

Have been busy so this is going to be a couple days worth of ramblings  Well week one was a success I did not have to be revived at any of my workouts.  My second workout I got to place my totals on the board.  I felt so proud of my effort.  I may not be lifting a lot of weight right now but I am still proud because that is my number.  It represent the work I did and it is also a stepping stone to bigger and better things.  I wonder if my coach thinks I am a big baby with all the comments about how sore I am.  Heck even I think I am in need of a diaper change from all the crying.  LOL.  One thing I have learn from this week is it does not matter how in shape you think you are, "The Box" will keep your ego in check.  One other thing I learned also was Tabata is a mean heartless witch .  Not sure what I did to her or her family but she is out for revenge.  My goal for each WOD is to try and finish strong.  I do not want to be that person who is looking at the clock as the final seconds countdown.  I look forward to this week coming up.

On the healthy eating front I think I did real good.  I have phased out most of my grains.  I used to have oatmeal every morning but now I am having eggs and turkey bacon or turkey ham.  I feel full without the empty calories and carbs.  I have carrot sticks and nuts for my mid morning snack.  Lunches have been chicken with veggies and fruits.  I still have a Special K protein bar for my late afternoon snack.    A couple times a week I have popcorn as an after dinner snack.  I know there are some areas that need addressing but for the most part I have phased out bad choices and replaced them with good ones.  This weekend I did have a little miss step when it came to my diet.  We went to my nephew's birthday pool party.  I did not have any cake or ice cream but I did have two slices of cheese pizza.  I did swim with the kids so maybe it balanced out.  Me loves some pizza.

One last thing went to HEB and did our weekly shopping.  Normal it takes us 45 minutes to a hour to get in and get out.  This time only 20 minutes.  Main reason we stuck to the outer perimeter.  Mostly buying only fresh vegetables, fruits and meats.  Only two side aisles were visited .  I am so proud of us for making the lifestyle changes we needed to make to be the people we want to be.  One side benefit to sticking to the outer part of the store layout is less stress.  I would get grocery store rage sometimes going down packed aisle after packed aisle.  I also do not do well with people lacking common sense.  So the longer I am there the worse it gets. 


I posted a new video on the photo page.  Take a look and have a laugh.

Surviving is half the battle

Well today was my first Crossfit workout and I am proud to say I did not have a heart attack or even release my breakfast on the floor.  I am calling this a victory.  Now walking tomorrow or the next day might not be so easy.  If anyone has a used Rascal I maybe interested in it so I can get around.  All kidding aside I had a great workout.  It was hard but it felt good.  My instructor took it a little easy on me since the beginning section of class was one rep max chest presses and back squats.  I worked on form more than weight.  I liked this because I am worried about my shoulder since I surgery around this time last year.  I did light weight only 63 pounds but it did let me know that my shoulder was not going to break.  This is something that I believe held me back in pervious attempts to get in shape.  Shannan my instructor took a short video after our WOD.  To say that I was out of breath would be an understatement.  Words were at a minimal but large gasp for air was on high.   Can't wait for Thursday.

Welcome to the Starting Line

Well here we are again starting over in this long journey.  Only good thing about it is we are trying again and not quitting.  This time I believe we will be a success story.  There were things in our life that we had to address first to get into the right frame of mind.  Now that those have been fixed we can fully turn our attention to leading a healthier lifestyle.  Steven will be doing Crossfit twice a week at Crossfit Champions but may add a third day later on.  Cheris has a personal trainer that she will be working with twice a week at 24hr Fitness. 
We also will be changing our diet too.  In the past we ate out most of the week.  I think we did this because it was easier.  Our plan now is to cook at home six days a week allowing ourselves one meal out.  Our meals out will be at a salad place we found recently called Salata.  Once a month we are treating ourselves to some Mexican food.
We will tweak it as we go but I feel this will help us reach our goals.  You are welcome to join us for our little trip to better health.  Hopefully you will enjoy it and also learn something from our success and our mistakes.