Level 1 All Over Again - AKA Where Did 2017 Go?
Level 1 All Over Again - It's still a pretty great weekend...
Hello again world! I really mean to write more... Oh well! I will write when I write!
2016! 2017! These have been very transitional years in my life. I think it's finally starting to settle down a bit:)
Last year (Summer 2017), I was facing the expiration of my CrossFit Level 1 Certification. This is the cert that basically enables you to be a CrossFit coach. I completed my 1st Level 1 in 2012 and have since MOVED (Fall 2016):) That means I also had to move to a new gym... I was SOOOO sad to leave CrossFit Manayunk (https://www.manayunkathletics.com/). This was a place I had thrown so much of myself into and where I 1st loved CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting. And in turn, a place where I loved who I was and what I could do! We had moved into this awesome new facility. I basically (helped!) paint every wall myself, literally... Obviously not the amazing arty walls:)
In spring of 2016, I had competed at both the NAtional's Masters Olympic Weightlifting Meet in Savannah and the PanAm's Masters Olympic Weightlifting Meet in San Juan, PR. I took Bronze in my weight class in BOTH!
(Dave and I were in Savannah when Nova won the National Championship! V's up!!)
I was feeling lean and training hard! I even posted a picture of ME ... in a TWO PIECE bathing suit... ON FACEBOOK. (1st and only time folks!) (That's my gorgeous bestie April in the pics! BTW. We had a lovely time in San Juan!)
Fall of 2016, after PanAm's... my body needed a rest. I had nagging knee pain and wrist pain and a house to pack up! So I stopped my Olympic Weightlifting training and started back up with CrossFit (lots of scaling!) I packed up my house and made the move to the burbs... For while I tried to make the commute to CFMY but ultimately, I had to let go...
Fortunately! That CrossFit community kicked in and my old buddy from CrossFit Manayunk (See Coach Rob below! Get it!) reached out to make sure I knew I was welcome at his gym CrossFit Valley Forge (http://www.crossfitvalleyforge.com).
Now CrossFit Valley Forge is 5 minutes from work and 8 minutes from home! I have ALWAYS said... if it's not convenient, you're not gonna go! This was pretty damn convenient:)
So I started up with a few classes a week and we were off...
Listen... the WOD's are good! The community is there! The coaches are knowledgeable! I was just transitioning a lot in life and struggling to find my "WHY" again when it came to my health... I was gaining weight again. Everything hurt again from my knee to my wrist... to my back. I am actually NOT that great of a CrossFit athlete. I scale A LOT! CrossFit is HARD. I was on le struggle BUS.... as they say. And I was surrounded by lots of new friends! So you tow that line of...
Then Rob intervened... (Paraphrasing here but something like this).
"Ummm well, you have to renew it so you can coach here."
Oh!? You want me to coach here? I didn't know that. I slept on it a bit. And ultimately.... said yes!
There was some discussion of Level 1 vs. Level 2 cert... it really came down to schedule as I was out of town for the Level 2 cert...
So back to CrossFit KOP! Level 1 - Part Deux!
Some familiar faces appeared on the coaching staff - Ms. Aimee Lyons! Austin Malleolo! And some new friends in Joey Dill and Chris Jax:)
Level 1 is still SUCH A GOOD WEEKEND. I had been coaching CrossFit now for five years so it was like... reading a favorite book where these details you hadn't picked up on the 1st time were now so bright and bold, making for this richer, better story!
The part of the weekend that really stuck with me most was the nutrition discussion. We all associate CrossFit with Paleo Diet and "macros" counting but the truth is that CrossFit really promotes the "Zone Diet" ! The Zone Diet is a way of eating that always BALANCES your macros (proteins, fats, and carbs) in each meal by making them "blocks" that you count. In a way, you are couting your macros by balancing your blocks?!
But that's NOT the part that stuck with me...
This time, they focused on its importance as the FOUNDATION of the CrossFit pyramid and something that you SCALE for your athletes.
As an example, if you have a new athlete come in and they drink 5 cokes a day... it's un-realistic and setting people up for failure to expect that they will RIGHT AWAY be able to cut out all soda, even though... obviously that is a good thing to do in terms of nutrition. It's starts with cutting it back, increasing water consumption. Just like with fitness, these are incremental achievements in nutrition for a novice that are measureable! A Paleo Challenge is GREAT but you also have to set people up to live in real world and provide the nutritional support for when it ends! All the macros, meal prepping, food prepping, paleo "rules" can be very overwhelming to nutrition newbies...and those of us doing it for years now! So this discussion of how to SCALE the nutritional foundation really rang true to me.
In many way, I have lived this and I see it with my family and members of the gyms I have belonged to! People need to form LASTING habits of good nutrition. This mentality of "challenges" and "diets" and habits of eating well ALL week only to blow it on the weekends... have wreaked havoc on my own metabolism and relationship with food. Because inevitably, you "cheat" or the "challenge"ends and life goes on but with this unnecessary guilt over the "cheat". Or it ends without real, tangible strategies and structures in place to continue towards achieving your (my) nutritional goals.
This idea of scale-ability in nutrition just made sense to me because you are trying to find the elusive "moderation" without resorting to extremes and cyclical pattern of:
Clean Eating -> Cheat -> Paleo Challenge -> Oh thank God the Challenge is over! Let's order Chinese!
Looking back on my own "CrossFit" journey, over the last 6 years, I have LEARNED SO MUCH about my body and how it responds to the food and drinks I put into it. I have learn ALL about my effing thyroid and how it affects so many aspects of my metabolism and immune system. I am still learning HOW to eat "on the road" with work and vacation so that I can have success and feel good when I am not in my own kitchen!
I THINK I am coming out on the other side where I know what can work and what it takes for me to get into a "weight-loss" mode, how to use the scale as a tool, and that really you aren't "cheating" if you are making choices, living your life and learning how it affects you. This just empowers to make that choice better in the future. (A glass of wine every now and then doesn't really affect your weight loss that much... but if we're talking bottles AND your GOAL is weight loss... meh... you might need to check ya self before you wreck ya self!)
Ultimately, I am learning there is always so much still to learn!
I am NOT a dietitian or nutritionist BUT I now have experience with:
Pre CrossFit:
So Level 1 - Part Deux...Check! Check! (It took me a LONG time to find myself in this picture! lol)
Long story long... life is good! I am coaching at CrossFit Valley Forge! Come on by! Check it out! We are adding more classes (Kids! Barbell!), more resources, and growing stronger each day! Each week! It's a good time! I am enjoying coaching and being an athlete again, being a part of this growing community!
http://www.crossfitvalleyforge.com/w-o-d/
I even did a couple of CrossFit Comps this spring! This one was in Wilmington, Delaware!
(Shout out to my partna Kate! and http://www.linettekielinski.com/)
The Girls on Girls at CrossFit KOP with Ms. Heather! Another great day with a great partna!
My mom would always tell me growing up that "Money isn't everything... but it sure does help." I think the same holds true with the CrossFit! It keeps you surrounded with fitness focused people who may inspire you and for me, just kept me moving when it was the last thing I felt like doing...
I think life is settling down (for today! lol) and I am just about ready to set some goals again and put the work in to crush them... Stay tuned:) This ol' gal still got some things left to do!
2016! 2017! These have been very transitional years in my life. I think it's finally starting to settle down a bit:)
Last year (Summer 2017), I was facing the expiration of my CrossFit Level 1 Certification. This is the cert that basically enables you to be a CrossFit coach. I completed my 1st Level 1 in 2012 and have since MOVED (Fall 2016):) That means I also had to move to a new gym... I was SOOOO sad to leave CrossFit Manayunk (https://www.manayunkathletics.com/). This was a place I had thrown so much of myself into and where I 1st loved CrossFit and Olympic Weightlifting. And in turn, a place where I loved who I was and what I could do! We had moved into this awesome new facility. I basically (helped!) paint every wall myself, literally... Obviously not the amazing arty walls:)
In spring of 2016, I had competed at both the NAtional's Masters Olympic Weightlifting Meet in Savannah and the PanAm's Masters Olympic Weightlifting Meet in San Juan, PR. I took Bronze in my weight class in BOTH!
(Dave and I were in Savannah when Nova won the National Championship! V's up!!)
I was feeling lean and training hard! I even posted a picture of ME ... in a TWO PIECE bathing suit... ON FACEBOOK. (1st and only time folks!) (That's my gorgeous bestie April in the pics! BTW. We had a lovely time in San Juan!)
Fall of 2016, after PanAm's... my body needed a rest. I had nagging knee pain and wrist pain and a house to pack up! So I stopped my Olympic Weightlifting training and started back up with CrossFit (lots of scaling!) I packed up my house and made the move to the burbs... For while I tried to make the commute to CFMY but ultimately, I had to let go...
Fortunately! That CrossFit community kicked in and my old buddy from CrossFit Manayunk (See Coach Rob below! Get it!) reached out to make sure I knew I was welcome at his gym CrossFit Valley Forge (http://www.crossfitvalleyforge.com).
Now CrossFit Valley Forge is 5 minutes from work and 8 minutes from home! I have ALWAYS said... if it's not convenient, you're not gonna go! This was pretty damn convenient:)
So I started up with a few classes a week and we were off...
Listen... the WOD's are good! The community is there! The coaches are knowledgeable! I was just transitioning a lot in life and struggling to find my "WHY" again when it came to my health... I was gaining weight again. Everything hurt again from my knee to my wrist... to my back. I am actually NOT that great of a CrossFit athlete. I scale A LOT! CrossFit is HARD. I was on le struggle BUS.... as they say. And I was surrounded by lots of new friends! So you tow that line of...
- How much complaining can they tolerate from me?
- At what point do I just sounds full of excuses!? (My wrist! My knee! My back! Blah!)
- How many times have I said, "Back at Manayunk, I could do a) b) or c)." ?
Then Rob intervened... (Paraphrasing here but something like this).
"Ummm well, you have to renew it so you can coach here."
Oh!? You want me to coach here? I didn't know that. I slept on it a bit. And ultimately.... said yes!
There was some discussion of Level 1 vs. Level 2 cert... it really came down to schedule as I was out of town for the Level 2 cert...
So back to CrossFit KOP! Level 1 - Part Deux!
Some familiar faces appeared on the coaching staff - Ms. Aimee Lyons! Austin Malleolo! And some new friends in Joey Dill and Chris Jax:)
The part of the weekend that really stuck with me most was the nutrition discussion. We all associate CrossFit with Paleo Diet and "macros" counting but the truth is that CrossFit really promotes the "Zone Diet" ! The Zone Diet is a way of eating that always BALANCES your macros (proteins, fats, and carbs) in each meal by making them "blocks" that you count. In a way, you are couting your macros by balancing your blocks?!
But that's NOT the part that stuck with me...
This time, they focused on its importance as the FOUNDATION of the CrossFit pyramid and something that you SCALE for your athletes.
As an example, if you have a new athlete come in and they drink 5 cokes a day... it's un-realistic and setting people up for failure to expect that they will RIGHT AWAY be able to cut out all soda, even though... obviously that is a good thing to do in terms of nutrition. It's starts with cutting it back, increasing water consumption. Just like with fitness, these are incremental achievements in nutrition for a novice that are measureable! A Paleo Challenge is GREAT but you also have to set people up to live in real world and provide the nutritional support for when it ends! All the macros, meal prepping, food prepping, paleo "rules" can be very overwhelming to nutrition newbies...and those of us doing it for years now! So this discussion of how to SCALE the nutritional foundation really rang true to me.
In many way, I have lived this and I see it with my family and members of the gyms I have belonged to! People need to form LASTING habits of good nutrition. This mentality of "challenges" and "diets" and habits of eating well ALL week only to blow it on the weekends... have wreaked havoc on my own metabolism and relationship with food. Because inevitably, you "cheat" or the "challenge"ends and life goes on but with this unnecessary guilt over the "cheat". Or it ends without real, tangible strategies and structures in place to continue towards achieving your (my) nutritional goals.
This idea of scale-ability in nutrition just made sense to me because you are trying to find the elusive "moderation" without resorting to extremes and cyclical pattern of:
Clean Eating -> Cheat -> Paleo Challenge -> Oh thank God the Challenge is over! Let's order Chinese!
Looking back on my own "CrossFit" journey, over the last 6 years, I have LEARNED SO MUCH about my body and how it responds to the food and drinks I put into it. I have learn ALL about my effing thyroid and how it affects so many aspects of my metabolism and immune system. I am still learning HOW to eat "on the road" with work and vacation so that I can have success and feel good when I am not in my own kitchen!
I THINK I am coming out on the other side where I know what can work and what it takes for me to get into a "weight-loss" mode, how to use the scale as a tool, and that really you aren't "cheating" if you are making choices, living your life and learning how it affects you. This just empowers to make that choice better in the future. (A glass of wine every now and then doesn't really affect your weight loss that much... but if we're talking bottles AND your GOAL is weight loss... meh... you might need to check ya self before you wreck ya self!)
Ultimately, I am learning there is always so much still to learn!
(Wine in the Dolemites! Wine in Temeculah! Beach Wine in Hilton Head!)
I am NOT a dietitian or nutritionist BUT I now have experience with:
Pre CrossFit:
- Weight Watchers
- Atkins
- South Beach Diet
- Worked one on one with a nutritionist/dietitian
- Eating "Paleo" and "Clean"
- Doing a Whole 30
- Counting my macros
- Meal Prepping vs. Food Prepping
- Meal prepping to my macros so I DON'T have to double track them
- Adjusting my macros to not be so damn sore all the time
- Timing my macros around my training sessions
- Ignoring my macros:)
- Currently, I am working one on one with a dietitian (my fabulous cousin at https://www.facebook.com/ErinvanStaverenRD/) while following the "2Bmindset" where you don't track your macros per se but you "Plate It" (plate them!) in appropriate ratios.
- (I am LOVING this as it brings together so many of the things that have "worked" for me in the past in such a sensible way that doesn't drive me crazy or stress me out! I am probably going to blog about this at some point! So ... stay tuned!)
- Also... yes. I have heard of the Keto Diet. No. It's not for me right now! If it's working for you and it's sustainable for you, I am all for it for you! You do you! Know what I am saying?!)
In retrospect, nutrition has a been a HUGE part of my CrossFit journey. And I grateful for all the knowledge I have gained. Grateful for each "Paleo Challenge" or "Diet Challenge" because I have LEARNED in each one.
I enjoyed learning about Zone Diet in the Level I cert. The 1st go around, it was literally Greek to me... but now, I see the parallels between that and all the other ways of fueling one's self that are out there.
I just signed up for a Nutrition Certification through the 2B Mindset (with the Beachbody folks... I know... we aren't SUPPOSED to like... team with them as CrossFit folks!) But I am really excited to dig even deeper into things like emotional eating, hormonal imbalances, general nutrition 101 stuff and some of the intangibles that are outside of "calories in/calories out"! Let's do this!
Participating the CrossFit Level I weekend certainly reminded me of my "why" :) And also, that I have terrible squat position (We all do! It's cool!)
I enjoyed learning about Zone Diet in the Level I cert. The 1st go around, it was literally Greek to me... but now, I see the parallels between that and all the other ways of fueling one's self that are out there.
I just signed up for a Nutrition Certification through the 2B Mindset (with the Beachbody folks... I know... we aren't SUPPOSED to like... team with them as CrossFit folks!) But I am really excited to dig even deeper into things like emotional eating, hormonal imbalances, general nutrition 101 stuff and some of the intangibles that are outside of "calories in/calories out"! Let's do this!
Participating the CrossFit Level I weekend certainly reminded me of my "why" :) And also, that I have terrible squat position (We all do! It's cool!)
So Level 1 - Part Deux...Check! Check! (It took me a LONG time to find myself in this picture! lol)
Long story long... life is good! I am coaching at CrossFit Valley Forge! Come on by! Check it out! We are adding more classes (Kids! Barbell!), more resources, and growing stronger each day! Each week! It's a good time! I am enjoying coaching and being an athlete again, being a part of this growing community!
http://www.crossfitvalleyforge.com/w-o-d/
I even did a couple of CrossFit Comps this spring! This one was in Wilmington, Delaware!
The Girls on Girls at CrossFit KOP with Ms. Heather! Another great day with a great partna!
My mom would always tell me growing up that "Money isn't everything... but it sure does help." I think the same holds true with the CrossFit! It keeps you surrounded with fitness focused people who may inspire you and for me, just kept me moving when it was the last thing I felt like doing...
CrossFit isn't everything ... but it sure does help:)
I think life is settling down (for today! lol) and I am just about ready to set some goals again and put the work in to crush them... Stay tuned:) This ol' gal still got some things left to do!
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