one on one: day twenty

Woo hoo I reached TWENTY sessions!! Maybe this is why Joon set up an ass kicker of a workout today- to celebrate. Of all the sessions I have had, todays was by far the worse one yet. Yes yes, I know I always say something similar to that in almost every post but this time, I truly mean it. Today was the first time I have ever, and I mean EVER, felt like crying during a workout/WOD. The coaches always joke about it from time to time saying it's ok if you want to cry, just don't give up. Sometimes these WODs are a mental game and you just have to push through the suck, it makes you mentally tougher or so they say. But today I was breaking, mentally I was struggling and breathing was so erratic. With every movement something in my body was yelling at me and my mind couldn't deal with it, a few times I expressed to Joon I want to cry and he simply said, "don't let it break you." So I fought against the tears, and I promise you I was literally on the verge of shedding tears as I squat yet another squat, but instead I just grunted, moaned, and exhaled loudly. So here is what sent me over the edge:

Warm-up: 500m Row
Extended Warm-up:
     Tabata Russian KB Swings 25#

10 Rounds of:
20 Sec Max Effort on AirFit
3 Min Rest- Perform 10 Back Squats
(5 Rounds @ 105# / 5 Rounds @ 85#)

Results of AirFit (in Calories)
1- 11.3
2- 15.5
3- 9.5
4- 11.8
5- 11.8
6- 10.5
7- 12.3
8- 11.3
9- 11.2
10- 13.4

This is pretty much all I did and it was utterly horrible. My legs, primarily my quads, hated not only Joon but myself. If you have never gone max effort on the AirFit (Airdyne), you've been warned. To do that than have a 3 minute rest period where I had to perform 10 back squats within that time frame was so brutally hard, not just physically but mentally. The end result is that I did do it, I never gave up and I did my best giving my all. Even on a day I walked into the gym and told Joon beforehand that I was feeling quite tired and that I didn't know if I COULD give me best. Under those circumstances I still performed well. Could have I done better? Probably. My body can, but it's the beast of the mind that holds me (us) back. Besides my second round where I got 15.5 calories, I managed to get a big number on my very last round. We can dig deep when we try.

When it was all done I laid there on the floor for a bit and caught my breathe and whined in discomfort. My first attempt in getting up failed with me just falling right back down, I was experiencing spaghetti legs. After a few more minutes I managed to get myself up and moving around, with a couple of close calls. Once I got to my car though I have to admit that I did get all watery-eyed. This was a very tough workout for me but I am happy I did it and didn't let my mind stop me. Happy Twentieth Session Joon! :)

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

measurement wake up call

Due to the insane weather we had last weekend I didn't make it in for my scheduled measurement appointment on Monday, so we did it today. On top of that crazy weather I know my diet probably wasn't that great, in all honesty I have indulged in far too many Starbucks Hot Chocolate. I do my best on a daily to eat right and to stay active. I even went out and bought the Nike+ Fuelband SE (I'll be posting my thoughts on this product later) to track my activity level and my sleeping patterns. Unfortunately my measurements, which don't lie, are telling me I'm doing a piss poor job with keeping up with my success! I did still experience some loss in inches on some areas, like my forearms, waist, hips, and thigh. But I gained in body fat percentage, neck, chest, and arm. My calves have remained the same. 

So Tony, one of my coaches, had a good talk with me. Basically this isn't good. Something is clearly going on that is affecting my body, could be dehydration, diet, or both. I'm not entirely sure what is setting me back entirely but I am taking FULL responsibility for the results. I am the only person that can enact change for me. So I have decided to fall back to the diet I had while I was on my sugar challenge, which means hot chocolates are out and cutting down on the rice, pasta, and breads (even though I only eat whole wheat). And Tony says I should've been tracking my caloric intake from the beginning, and I haven't. I will now start tracking that and probably posting it here. He is expecting a difference in 2 weeks. I have a LOT of work to do!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.