We are now at Feb 1st – what are you doing to reach your goals that you set at the end of last year? You may call them resolutions but I think that word alone sets you up for failure so I don’t use that word — Let’s call them goals.  And I think that any progress towards that goal is a ‘win’, even if its just a few steps forward.

I posted this quote the other day on facebook:

For all those wanting to start making changes in their life: You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. – Martin Luther King Jr.

And it’s so true — you have to have faith and trust that you will be ok, that you CAN do it.  We all have decisions we have to make that are hard every day — exercising regularly should in theory be one of the easy ones.  The pic to the left is one of the athletes at CrossFit. He’s a big dude — no doubt — and look he did a friggin inverted handstand on the rings today.  Do you think he thought he could do that EVER?  Well now he KNOWS he can do that and how awesome is that? What a Win for him today!

For me, I needed a win — I have felt like I hit a wall the past few months. My eating has been off, my workouts have been off and it’s a viscous cycle if you don’t address it. So on Sunday, during my workout with Kim – when we did pull ups, I started doing the Kipping Motion to help me get through them. Mentally I absolutely took note of it — but didn’t want to jinx it and didn’t want to mention it until I knew it wasn’t a fluke.

This morning’s workout had pull ups – and sure enough the Kipping motion was there. Now I did it with a blue band but I will go without once I am used to the technique. THERE IS MY WIN!  See how things come through when you are least expecting it.  I had a great workout this morning – felt strong and ahead of the curve and got my mojo back.

The moral of the story? Don’t let your rut stop you from progressing towards your goals. If you need a few days off – take it – get your mind right. The key is to not let it STOP you — you can pause and breathe — and get back to it. It’s way harder to stop and start again, mentally and physically.

And to refer back to the Tony Blauer Be Your Own Bodyguard seminar concept of it’s all in your head:

Whether you Think You Can or You Think You Can’t — You’re Right – Henry Ford.

Giant Step for Cancer Survivor Mark Herzlich

New York Giants’ rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich stepped off the plane in Indianapolis to play against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI and immediately took to Twitter to express his gratitude. He was thankful not just to be there, but to be alive.

“2 yrs ago I was told I might never walk again. Just WALKED off plane in Indy to play in The #SuperBowl. #TakeThatSh*tCancer,” he tweeted.

In 2009, Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. The cancer was isolated to his left leg and the initial prognosis was not positive for the promising Boston College football star.

“They felt the NFL was a long shot,” Herzlich’s father, Sandy, told ESPN last summer. “They were first happy if they could save his life and they were happy if they could save his leg.”

…Now, one year into his NFL career he’s walked off the plane in Indianapolis and is getting ready to run onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, two things, that just three years ago seemed nearly impossible.

Warmupx3
5 Squats
5 Push ups
5 Ring Rows
1 Pull up
Mobility

Skill
Front Squat

WOD
5-5-5-5-5
Front Squat
75,95,115,125,135

Tony Blauer trains those that protect the rest of us – training special forces, military, FBI, and many government agencies all over the world and has been training for over 30 years. So just hearing his stories is an experience. He can talk – that’s for sure. The first part of the seminar was Tony talking about defending yourself, using the SPEAR method  -

The S.P.E.A.R. SYSTEM™ (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response) is a scientifically researched & medically reviewed personal defense measure that exploits the body’s natural responses to violence and danger.

And what was so interesting was that the point was you don’t need to be in the special forces to use it. You have built in response mechanisms that can react when you are in danger. Your arms, hands, mouth, legs and feet all can be put into action if you are PRESENT in the moment and prepared.  That’s the key — you have to realize that yes, you CAN fight back. The attacker doesn’t think you will fight back and that’s one of your best assets. You have to be ready to react when they make a mistake or misstep and they will. It’s guaranteed.

You have to be prepared to mentally pull from where you have passion. You fight back with passion and make it personal. The 3 P’s are Personal, Passion, and Present. You will survive because you have your kids to live for — you have your dog who needs you — whatever it is. Pull from that personal place that gives you passion and use that as the motivation to get the heck out of the situation.  So if that means you scratch his eyes out, bite his arm, elbow him, kick him in the balls, knee his head – whatever it is – you do it with all the force that your passion gives you.

Usually, the bad guys want only three things: Property, Body or Life. They also don’t want to get caught, to get hurt or for the crime to take too long – so anything you can do to interfere with those 3 things – ups your chances for survival and getting away. And realize that everyone has what Blauer calls the FEAR loop of paralysis in the face of danger, but you need to act.

FEAR loop – Failure Expected; Action Required — Get out of the Fear loop with your mind. Draw from the 3 Ps to motivate you and make getting to safety your goal and take action to get there without over-thinking.

Now, a lot of people say what Blauer talks about is common sense. He doesn’t disagree but what he says is it’s uncommon sense — that many people don’t prepare for it and if there comes a time when they need to react, they don’t react like they should.  Being prepared can mean not putting yourself in a sketchy situation, listening to that inner voice that says — whoa, this doesn’t feel right, or counter-attacking. Now I know what you are thinking — Counter Attack? Would you want to know danger is imminent 20ft from you or 2ft from you?

His example of when you think someone is following you, turn around and ‘counter attack’ – Hey are you FOLLOWING ME? You are already starting to break into the realm of what the criminal does not want to be –caught, hurt or for the crime to take too long. Now, there is no guarantee that that will hold him off but it’s one of the first tactics you can use and just may save your life.

There was so much more information to learn at the seminar and I think it would have been so much better if it were more than 1 day long. We were just getting into the real scenarios and it was over. I think you could get some of the info just by watching Tony’s videos but he definitely is a dynamic, funny speaker who knows his stuff. You should check out his site for more info: Tony Blauer.

Tony Blauer The Cycle of Behavior: F E A R Management Skills

I will be writing more soon about the mental aspect — getting out of the Fear Loop in other aspects of your life – so watch for that.

• Package of 80% lean ground beef
• Package of spicy all natural sausage

–

In Food Processor blend 1 onion, a bunch of parsley, a few cloves of garlic

–

Blend well with your hands the following ingredients:

• meat
• the parsley, onion, garlic mix
• variety of spices (Penzey’s Pizza Spice, Red Pepper Flakes, Garlic Salt)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of Almond Meal

Once all blended, with your hands create meatballs
Place in shallow baking dish
Bake in oven at 425 for 20m or until cooked
Add cooked meat balls to a all natural sauce and simmer until sauce is warmed through

Eat meatballs with a side salad and you have a meal!

Kim was thinking: “tore a callous and was on the verge of puking, neither of us could speak a word….. my thoughts, “#$*@ that sucked! But I got my fix”.
And I was thinking — “and I was thinking -man I shouldn’t have had that dessert yesterday because I am about to unload it — just take the dam #@!! picture…”

It’s a good pic no matter what we were thinking –

Today’s workout was a 20 min AMRAP so you know it’s going to be challenging — and when you are done you feel like you ran a 5k.
Warmup
General Mobility
3x–
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Cobra Stretch
10 Squats
10 Push Ups
10 V-Ups
—
5 Hand Stand Holds (no wall – with partner spotting)

Skill
Double Unders

WOD
20m AMRAP
20 Double Unders (or attempts)
10 Box Jumps
5 KTE
total: 8+30

I was so frustrated!! I know I need to buckle down and practice them over and over and then do it over and over again. I did manage to string 2 together with a jump in between but man — it’s really pissing me off. It’s all in my head and making the connections. Also something taken from Tony Blauer’s seminar — I have to believe I can do it because my mind is my worst enemy. It’s so true!! I think I can…I think I can…

I realized that i love going to training sessions that really expose me to different ways to approach situations and of course helps feed my passions. I just eat that stuff up. I took some notes of thoughts I had while Tony was talking because I wanted to make sure to further explore topics that he talked about on my own.

Another great thing that came out of yesterday was getting to meet a CrossFit Athlete that I have been talking to since last year - Jeremy Kinnick. I heard about him via the CrossFit Games last year, and reached out to him to connect and we have talked on and off about CrossFit since then. He was even nice enough to write up a post for the recent nutrition Whole Life Challenge we did for our athletes at CrossFit Impavidus. He’s an all around nice guy who loves what he does and it shows. He gave me some good advice about learning how to push through when I become uncomfortable and want to give up that is now seeded in my mind and will be put to the test this week.  I love that someone like me — who is not looking to go to the games — but is just as passionate about their progress can go up to really great athletes/coaches and they are more than happy to give you their thoughts and coaching without a second thought.

And he’s focused on the 2012 CrossFit Games coming up — I will be rooting for him the loudest!

I did head to the gym this afternoon since I missed my Workout yesterday — Kim and I created a workout that looked good on the board but holy crap — I was near puking at the end. What a great WOD to create for MYSELF! I am a nut.

Warmup

PVC pipe stretching

Skill

Double Unders

WOD

15m AMRAP
15 Box Jumps
12 Pull Ups
9 Hand Release Push ups

total: 6+

Oh here’s a pic of Lori and i with Jeremy Kinnick.  He’s a cutie too — which doesn’t hurt!

3 Surprising Reasons to Give Up Soda

By now, it’s probably fair to say that most Americans know soda isn’t a health-promoting drink. Over the years, the carbonated beverage has been blamed for the obesity epidemic and rising healthcare costs. Some public health experts have even called for asoda tax to help deter people from drinking so much of it. While love handles and diabetes are obvious problems associated with soda, drinking the sweet carbonated beverages harbors hidden threats, too.

Love that Dr. Oz is talking about Celiacs and Gluten Intolerance

Dr. Oz recently went of Fox News to discuss the gluten free diet.  This is a major step toward a wider recognition of gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, hypothyroidism, and other gluten related conditions.  His viewership is in the millions.  Most doctors ignore the relationship between diet and disease.  Fortunately, Dr. Oz has a large sphere of influence.  Hopefully his and other prominent doctors recognition of this widespread problem will alert many physicians and get them to start looking more into gluten intolerance.  

Dr. Oz: You Could Have Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease: MyFoxCHICAGO.com