Introduction

Welcome!  I am glad you have taken the time to visit my page.  Here I will present you with a blog of my experiences in Crossfit, Nutirition, and a little view into my life in Hawaii!

A little introduction about myself...

I am 24 and just recently married (07-20-2012) my best-friend in the entire world, my husband Justin.  He is the one who got me involved in Crossfit and I love him to death for it!  It has changed my life and is truly a passion of mine.  (Below is a picture of us from our Wedding Day!)

We have only been cross-fitting since April of 2012 but we surely have seen many changes and gains not only in our lifts, endurance, and cardio in Crossfit but in our lifestyle as well.  Before moving to Hawaii in April 2012, we lived in Fargo, ND...talk about a LONG way from home!  I was always avid in fitness and weight-lifting but things got Seriously committed in November of 2011 when I decided to train for a NPC Women's Physique Bodybuilding competition.  (Below is a picture from the Contest in March 2012, I took 1st place in my division!)

One of my biggest accomplishments was doing this competition, it was tough mentally and physically but well worth the entire journey!  In the 4 months of training, I lost 20 lbs and 8% body fat.  Weighing-in for contest, I was 125lbs and 12% body fat...the smallest I have ever been in my entire life!  I felt like I looked fabulous but definitely not the healthiest looking, we would joke that I was "Holocaust Child" ha!  Since this competition, I have put on some healthy weight and mass and currently weigh in at 138 lbs and 18% body fat, I feel much stronger and healthier.  Prior to moving to Hawaii and getting into crossfit, I was pretty much on a cycling of low-carb/high-carb days diet. 

Recently, we completed the Whole30 Challenge (Sipping the Kool-aid into a Paleo lifestyle) and I did not cheat once.  If you haven't heard about Whole30, you should definitely check out the site: http://whole9life.com/  Or at least read their book, it is very informative!  I didn't see that many changes in my body personally, I lost 3 lbs, 3.5 inches, and 3 % bodyfat according to measurements.  The one thing I noticed on the diet was that my tummy couldn't have been happier, I used to get stomach aches all time and make frequent trips to the bathroom (Just because you all needed to know that ha!).  But during the Whole30 I felt great and I could eat until full and feel satisified, I wasn't bloated at all, I was just comfortable.  Now that Whole30 is over, I plan to eat Paleo style probably 80-20, with a few "road-bumps" along the way.  When I say "road-bumps" I mean "cheat meals" but I don't want to consider it cheating because if you think of the way you eat as a Diet then you feel restricted if you think of it as a lifestyle you will not have that added guilt of having a yummy dessert every once in awhile!  A very good article I read the other day explains this perfectly, check it out: http://www.health-bent.com/blog/scarlet-letter

The couple from the article referenced above, have the site listed below which is my new favorite site!  Their blog is awesome, funny, and informative!  Also, they have great Paleo recipes and I can't wait to try some of them.  I just may need to support their site and buy a T-shirt :)

Soooo, to shorten this up.  Above is just a brief overview at my fitness lifestyle.  On here, I plan to write about our Crossfit gains, experiences, and some kool-aid drinking ha!  Also, I will be trying out Paleo recipes and hopefully posting them for others to experience and help to better them!  From my experience so far I think Paleo needs a lot of tweaking to cater to the particular person's needs and I want to figure that out.  Here I will blog about my experiences and changes with the way I eat and exercise to see what works best for me!  But hopefully, you can also give your opinions and we can help each other to DO BETTER!

(Below are just a few pics from the Hawaii VA Loans Showdown me and my teammates competed in, we only made it through the first 2 events and placed 18th out of 38 teams.  If we would have made the top 12 we would have gone on to events 3 and 4.  What a great experience thou!)