Hey everyone!
I am joining the SINS Challenge (Strong Is the New Skinny). Whew! Now that my mind has finally been made up, time to get started. I should probably use this first blog (I can't believe I am blogging lol) to introduce myself and explain the who, what, when and why of my upcoming journey.
My name is Melissa (just call me "Mel") and I am 31 years old. I am, well, a lot of things to a lot of people, but the ones that matter most to me are: Army Wife, Mother, Daughter and Crossfitter. I married my soul mate four years ago and we just welcomed our first child, Samuel Elijah (Eli), two months ago this Wednesday. I have been a daughter, well, all my life (lol) and a Crossfitter for two years. It was my Crossfit coach, Becky, who first told me about this challenge and encouraged me to do it...so here I am, doing it.
I am going to start on Friday, April 1st and I will do this challenge for 100 days. That will put the ending of this challenge on Saturday, July 9th. This challenge is basically a good ole fashioned nose thumbing at society's stick figures posing on the covers of fashion magazines,claiming that one is only healthy if they are a bag of bones. I disagree...obviously. It has been a hard transition for me to accept that I will never be "skinny", never fit into a size 0, to accepting my solid and stocky body and enjoying the fact that I am strong as hell.
Now I will outline the goals I have set for myself these next 100 days. Some are goals for the gym and some are for the home, and all of them are personal. I have thought long and hard about these goals and what they mean to me. So here it goes...
1) Get stronger in the gym.
Ok, that one sounds kinda general so let me elaborate. I want to be able to do consecutive boy push-ups, kipping pull-ups without any assistance from a band, increase my running speed and break 200lbs in my deadlift. I already have a plan on how to improve my push-ups and that is by doing a 100 day push-up challenge along with the SINS challenge. So, on Friday, April 1st since that is day one, I will do one push up, day two, do two push ups, and so on until on Saturday, July 9th, I will be doing 100 push ups. The other things I am still working out a plan on how to improve.
However, one step to improving all of these (push ups, pull ups, running and my deadlift) will be to lose a few pounds through good nutrition...and this leads me to my second goal...
2) Eat Paleo on a more regular basis.
I got introduced to the Paleo lifestyle October 09 during a Paleo Challenge at Crossfit Fort Bragg. I have been eating this way ever since, with the occasional cheat meal thrown in. This way of life basically means that I eat a lot of lean meat, fish, vegetables, some fruit, nuts and seeds. I stay away from processed foods and I try to eat fresh as much as I can and frozen when I can't. I feel better eating Paleo than I ever have in my life. I can't really give you all the hows and whys of Paleo because I am still learning them myself. But I do recommend Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" if you want your questions answered. I am reading it myself. With this particular goal, I am simply wanting to decrease the number of cheat meals I eat. I am at one a week right now. I am thinking that by doing this I will get some good results. I will keep track of my meals and my results by taping my body. I will post my stats and I will tape every two weeks to see what kind of progress I am making.
Now I firmly believe that to succeed in anything requires a little forethought and planning...so onto goal number three...
3) Menu planning.
I think this one is pretty self explanatory. Menu planning will not only take care of "What am I eating today?" and "What's for dinner, Babe?" It will also help with our family budget by letting me buy only what I plan to cook so that I am not wasting food or money. I will plan my menu for a fortnight (just a fancy way of saying 2 weeks). For the first thirty days, I will be following the menu plan out of "The Paleo Solution". Robb's book has a full menu, broken down for each week and his website has the grocery list for each week.
And since I like even numbers better than odd, here is a fourth goal...
4) Lose my baby jiggle.
As I said above, my little man will be two months on Wednesday. I realize that if I were a Hollywood star, the jiggle would have been gone the day after Eli was born. Sadly, the reality is that I am not a Hollywood star and the jiggle remains. I did Crossfit during my pregnancy and that helped to keep my weight gain at a reasonable amount. But now that I am not pregnant anymore, it is time to get my body back. I know that the above goals I outlined will help me reach this last one. I am excited to begin on Friday and to keep you guys posted on my progress. Feel free to comment and to give tips or constructive input.
Until my next post, I am sincerely,
-Mel
