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  • THURSDAY 8-3-17

    THURSDAY 8-3-17

    Strength
    Gymnastics
    5 Rounds (NFT)
    5 Strict Pullups (weight as needed) – Did strict ring rows instead
    10 Dumbbell Snatches – At 15 lbs (L/R)
    15 GHDSU – 5-10 x 5 (FIRST TIME!)

    Metcon
    5 Rounds
    20 overhead walking lunges (15 lb)
    10 burpees
    Time: 18:06

  • How To Be Stronger Than Your Critics

    How To Be Stronger Than Your Critics

    There are many things I wish were different about America, but one thing I’m very grateful for, is not being treated like an unwanted pariah for not being under 130 lbs.

    Growing up in Asia, the beauty standard of a young adult woman was to be thin, preferably to the point of having a teenager’s body. You want to be frail so that everyone around you felt sorry for your weak ass, and some knight in shining armor would inadvertently come to your rescue if you in as far as slip from not having enough energy to stand firmly on the ground.

    You want to avoid all fat, all carbs, and live on fiber and vegetables. You want to not eat, and if you do, dig your throat and remove all traces of sustenance that could be the reason your thighs are rubbing. You want to not drink so much liquids, not even water, because that could make you swole. You want to do it to the point of having a very long and lean silhouette, and sit with an arched back so that the hollows of your stomach can be concaved to show how thin your waist is from your side profile.

    Being beautiful in Asia means you need to be a few things. You should appear more stupid than guys, show no expression (it’s all about the shy girl, unsure girl stealing looks), and you want to speak sweetly and softly. That is key. You want to be a damsel in distress, but make damn sure you are skinny enough. If you’re born thick, don’t bother with the theatrics because it won’t work unless you do it to a guy with questionable standards.

    It’s easy enough to speak like you’re half-dead when you don’t eat, because you won’t have energy to speak when you’re starving. If you develop dark eye circles from malnutrition, don’t worry. You only need to slab on copious amounts of lightening loose powder to mask your lack of health, and use pink blush to give the illusion of great blood circulation. That is the Asian girl way.

    Whatever you do, DO NOT GET ABOVE 130 lbs. If you do, be prepared for a lifetime of concerned and often times, hurtful remarks from guys, other women, your parents, relatives, non-relatives, EVERYBODY who knows your immediate family. Be prepared to never date a typical Chinese, Japanese, or Korean guy. Or face the abuse like a champ. You’re going to need a strong mind to weather the onslaught of unsolicited advice and random attacks. Some guys are not going to be nice to you.

    Needless to say, as my weight has never been lower than 150 lbs since I was 13 years old, I didn’t have a great experience dealing with body issues growing up in the far east. Most people were decent and unassuming, but once a week, your shape, size, and weight will come up in conversation when you meet any of those people listed above.

    NOT YOUR REAL FRIENDS THOUGH.

    Your BFFs have your back, and they love you just the way you are.

    I have spent half a lifetime of HELL listening to Asians tell me I need to lose weight like a broken record. My mother, a former beauty queen was in existential crisis for birthing a meatball. The Asian guys I dated liked my personality enough to want to date me, but ultimately couldn’t take the unbearable thickness of my being.

    I’ve been told by a famous producer, that if only I would lose a bit of weight, my career in media would skyrocket. My thick girl stories of heartache are many, and as I don’t care to live in the past, I’ll spare you the gory details of how I got my battle scars.

    Fast forward to present day. I am doing Crossfit. I have stopped starving myself, because I can’t flip tires without nutrients.

    New International Version
    But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

    2 Chronicles 15:7

  • Start with why you want to be fit and healthy

    Start with why you want to be fit and healthy

    On an every day basis, we are often bombarded with images of perfectly shaped women, selling promises of a beautiful body in exchange for buying their product. I know, it’s what sells, and everybody loves buying, but for a regular food-loving woman with a metabolic disadvantage like me, seeing bodies of women who were already born with figure cards stacked in their favor can be downright depressing.

    I know no matter how hard I try, I can never be as young, flexible, and as strong as the demi-goddesses of fitness. I say this with a serving of reality, because youth and time are commodities that cannot be replenished. I can’t turn the clock two decades back, and suddenly become the fittest woman on earth. I can’t push as hard, nor recover as fast as my 18 year old self. Even if Jesus powered my cells, I wouldn’t be allowed to compete with women half my age.

    Moreover, genetics is a real thing. If I was designed to be a pro-athlete, it would have happened a long time ago. I would have somersaulted and done back flips as a kid. I would have been able to touch my toes. I would have won sport events that I tried very hard at doing. I never did. I was a sick, plump child with lots of respiratory ailments. I could never do splits like my classmate Alice, nor run as fast as friend Mona. I was always plump, even when I didn’t eat.

    All my life I’ve struggled with my weight. My tiny Asian girlfriends delighted in striving for under 100 lbs, while I’ve never weighed lighter than 150 lbs from the time I was 14 years old. It didn’t matter if I had chicken pox, measles, or follicular tonsilitis. It didn’t matter if I went vegan, did keto, or ran 10k every day for two years. It didn’t matter that I did detoxes, or cut calories.

    I would screw my body up, drive my white blood cells up, iron levels down, and pass out on floors from undereating, but I could never go lighter than 150 lbs. Never.

    I eventually found out why in 2010. Three diagnoses later, I learned that I have a hormonal disorder that makes it near impossible for me to lose weight. Is is the reason why I couldn’t do anything to shed the weight since I was a child, and wait for it, there’s no cure. I have lived with it since childhood, and will live with it for the rest of my life. So they say.

    So why would someone with a broken body sign up to do the hardest and most challenging workout program in the world, at my age?

    I’ll tell you WHY.

    Because I AM STILL ALIVE!

    I am not so sick or so old that my body cannot be trained to move in ways that expand my life. Even if I can never be a Size 4, I don’t care. I’m done with making the excuse that nothing ever works. I may never be a viking warrior woman, but I can be the best version of me.

    There’s still so much I can do to serve God, and if I can improve my physical fitness to serve Him better, that’s all that matters.

    The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him–my father’s God, and I will exalt him!

    I am not trying to be the next Katrin Davidsdottir, I don’t have Viking genes. Nor am I trying to engineer a body that people will salivate just by looking at it… well… one can still dream!

    I am working out to be the best me. I’m training my mind and body to be strong, so that I can be strong for others. I am doing this so that I can manage my condition, and overcome what might happen if I were to do nothing at all. I am doing this to thrive in my own capacity. I’m doing this for God, for me, my family, and my community.

    Slowtard is better than nevertard. N’est-ce pas?

    I can always be healthier and fitter than yesterday. That’s all I aim for.

    So the question is, why do you want to be fit and healthy?

  • How I Felt About Crossfit in the First Month

    How I Felt About Crossfit in the First Month

    Petrified. Unfit. Heavy.
    Crossfit is challenging.
    Am I crazy to think I can do this?
    Oh God, I’m cray!
    Google side effects of soreness.
    Read about rhabdo. Freaked out. Started thinking about possibly backing out.
    Dizzy when lifting heavy. Saw stars.
    Painful. Sore for days.
    Petrified to step into the gym again.
    Old. Heavy. Slow.
    Slowest to finish. Yet, I finished each and every work out.
    Found out I’m not a quitter.
    I knew that already, but Crossfit reminded me that I’m a badass.
    I freeze out of fear before each workout.
    I can’t think of anything, even though people are talking.
    I hear nothing but my own thoughts.
    Extroverted on camera, introverted while Crossfitting.
    Someone said, “Welcome here. Where our warmup is your workout.”
    So scared of the warmups I can’t talk. She was right.
    We do these walking lunges, bear crawls, duck walks, you name it.
    My workouts used to only be the warmups.
    For Crossfit, warmups are regular people’s workouts. Then we go into strength training. Then the WOD.
    WOD – workout of the day. But I knew that from my Crossfit friends in Asia.
    Found out I’ve been undereating for years. Spoke to my coach. Got it straightened out.
    People are nice and supportive.
    I wish I can repay the encouraging speak, but I feel slowtard unworthy to speak when I’m mindblown.

    My self-motivation mantras for the first month:-
    Everyone started somewhere.
    Rome wasn’t built in a day.
    I’ll get stronger.
    Just do what you can to the best of your ability.
    Go at your own pace, don’t pressure yourself too much.

    Notables for the first month:-
    Wow, I am stronger than I think.
    Finishing all the workouts gives me this awesome sense of achievement.
    Dropped 10% body fat.

    This Crossfit thing is grueling, but so rewarding.

  • How to Overcome Low Fitness Confidence

    How to Overcome Low Fitness Confidence

    Like anything, fitness takes practice.

  • Slowtard Ahead

    Slowtard Ahead

    Save the AMRAPs, I’m one of the last people to finish workouts for time at my box. I’m okay with that. I’m okay with it because, I’m also one of the newest people. I’m okay with it, because 2 months ago, I would never have imagined being able to throw wall balls, wall walks, deadlifts, and snatches.

  • The First Time I Flipped Tires

    The First Time I Flipped Tires

    I’ve been doing Crossfit for about 7 weeks now, and today, I flipped tractor tires for the very first time. I’m not exactly sure how heavy those tires were, but it felt like the heaviest thing I’ve ever lifted in my life. Without getting injured.

    This strength conditioning thing is all very new to me. I mean, sure, I’ve bought some 3 lb weights and done a bajillion kickbacks most of my adult life. But 300 lb tire flips are something else, and I did it 7 weeks after I showed up at a foundation class.

    I’ve seen those tires on the side of the wall before. Propped up on its sides, they looked hella scary. I thought I would be introduced to it, months down the road. Well, it happened today. After trying to hold a handstand for 3 rounds of 20 seconds.

    It took me several tries to be able to get the first flip. There were 4 tires of varying weight.

    I wasn’t really that switched on today, so I read the workout wrong. I thought it was 10 total flips, so I did 11 of them.

    Nonetheless, for my very first time flipping tractor tires, I’m happy with what I’ve done.