CrossFit triathlon, diet, and my Box

Last year I watched my buddy compete in the 4th annual Hellbox CrossFit triathlon. At the time I weighed in at 346lbs. I wanted to do that triathlon so bad. That's what got me back into CrossFit and eating right. I'm down to 265lbs. I've lost 81lbs preparing for that race so far. If I continue to lose the same rate as I have been I'll be down to approximately 230lbs by then. I will have lost 116lbs. They've renamed the race Enchant-Fit CrossFit triathlon.

This week my Powerlifting coach Vernon Smith is having me do a recovery week. Light weights and low volume. He also requested I don't do any crossfit workouts. All week I've been close to eating bad food and a lot of it. The only thing I've ever found that helps me stay on the diet wagon is crossfit. I'm not exactly sure why. But going to CrossFit keeps me motivated and on track diet wise. My calves were cramping horribly on all three of the runs. My body was freaking the heck out. Which is exactly why coach told to take some time off to recover. But ever since doing that workout i haven't been tempted to binge eat. I think doing that CF workout was the right thing. Perhaps not the best thing for my recovery. But it helped control my desire to over eat.

CrossFit. I don't always like it. I'm not built for it. But it's damn good for me. And I really love the people in my box.

On a side note. I failed the USPA referee test I took last week.

This American Life: Tell me I'm fat, on Pandora

Last week I listened to This American Life on Pandora. The episode was called Tell me I'm fat. Not to sound dramatic here, but it changed my perseption of myself. I'm fat. I'm not always fat. Sometimes i am able to lose a lot of weight and be thin. Or what other people perceive as more attractive. Or or even more acceptable as a person. I've gained and lost 60-120 pounds dozens of times. I always hated myself when I was fat again, but just couldn't seem to stop from gaining the weight back.

It seems to me that it's only ok to be fat in society if the fat person shows they are in the process of trying to lose weight. How they're trying to change themselves to better fit everyone else's expectations.  Listening to Tell me I'm fat on Pandora helped me to realize it's ok if I'm fat. Being thin doesn't change who I am. If I'm not accepted or I am looked down apon that's the problem of the bigot who's judging me. It's ok to be happy exactly as I am. It's ok to be content with who I am and how I look. I don't have to change myself to make other people happy.

So.... this is what it feels to like myself again and be happy in my own body again. I like it. Being content in the moment and loving myself feels much better than hating myself for who I'm not.

sport nutrition coach update

I've hired a nutrition coach to help me lose enough weight to get down to the 105k weight class while still making performance gains in olympic style weightlifting. We were supposed to start next week. Yesterday i received an email from him saying he was so excited he was willing to start coaching me early for no additional cost. Seriously? How often does that happen? Awesome! He analyzed the last week of my diet and sent me almost 2 pages of observations and suggestions. He sent me info regarding what to eat before,  during,  and after my workouts to get the best benefits from training. How many carbs and what percentage of my daily carbohydrate intake should be consumed within a two hour block of training. He sent me suggestions on what to eat, when to eat, and why it'll benefit my performance. Since getting his email I've probably emailed or Facebook messaged him a dozen times. He always responds within moments and spends the time answering whatever question i had in great detail. I can't believe all the work this guys doing for me for only $75 a month. I doubt he's making minimum wage coaching me at this point. I'm thinking hiring this guy to be my sports nutrition coach was the best decision I've made in long time. My only regret is not hiring him earlier. If i had I'd already be a 105k and would have qualified for the 2016 Master's National Championships weightlifting meet. With Coach Shane Miller as my weightlifting coach and and Barry Schroeder as my sports nutrition coach I'm certain I'll be making unbelievable gains. Current weight, 309lbs. Next stop, lighter, stronger, and faster baby!

metabolic rate and Olympic weightlifting

In the last week I've lost 1.6 pounds. That's a little quicker than i had originally planned, but my strength doesn't seem to be affected at all. Last week i squated 301 pounds 6 times.  And today i tied a training PR snatch of 81k. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 1.75 inches around my waist. I've accomplished all that while eating 3,250 calories a day plus eating any calories burned from working out.  That means my metabolic rate is still hovering at around 4,000 calories a day. The life & metabolism of an Olympic weightlifter is great!

low carb and olympic weightlifting workouts

This morning I had my 2nd olympic weightlifting workout while on the induction phase of a low carb workout. I felt fine at first, but I became fatigued about half way through the workout. I want to lose weight, but not if it means screwing up my progress in weightlifting. So I've decided to eat a couple cups of white rice before my strenuous workouts, and a cup of milk with whey protein post strenuous workouts. I only do 3-4 difficult workouts a week, so I'm relatively certain if I follow a strict low carb all week except when I eat to fuel myself well for a strength training session I'll get the best of both the weight loss and weightlifting.
This morning I weighed in at 290.4lbs, a loss of 4lbsin 3 days of low carb dieting.

creatine monohyrate and olympic weightlifting cycle #2

I started taking creatine monohydrate on Monday. The last time I started taking creatine I made the biggest gains I'd ever made in strength and weightlifting. The last time I cycled 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off. This time I'll take creatine for 12 weeks on, 8 weeks off. The only thing I really don't like about taking creatine is that I'm so much hungrier all the time. Seriously, creatine makes me hungry! All the time! I understand that the hunger is because I'm making more muscle and strength gains so my body needs the extra calories. I know that I wont get fatter because of the extra calories. I'm trying not to freak out, but it's hard for me because I know how I look right now. I'm 280 pounds. I'mcrea obese. I'm in the process of losing fat while gaining muscle, and that process takes time. I didn't gain it all in a year, so I can't expect to loose it all in a few months either. I'm working in the right direction every day. In the mean time I'm trying to be gentle with myself.......

2nd treadmill tabata workout

Todays workout was a day for recovery from strength training, and hard cardio. I did a bench press workout of 5X5 at 65%. After the easy bench press routine I did a treadmill tabata. I did a 5 minute warm up then put the treadmill at a 12% grade, then ran 4 minutes of 20 seconds hard and 10 seconds recovery at a 12 min per mile pace. I felt like I was working hard at that speed. I'm pretty sure I could have ran at a slightly faster pace-, not much more though. I was close to max effort. Next Thursday I'll try the same workout with 2 minutes at a 12 minute per mile pace and 2 minutes at an 11:40 pace.

Man am I in horrible shape! It's hard to believe I used to be so good at running back in my triathlon years. I used to be able to hold a 7 minute per mile pace indefinitely. Now I struggle running sprints on a treadmill at a 12 minute per mile pace. But as long as I'm moving I'm going in the right direction. I have to keep this up and start eating healthier. Being this heavy is not ok. Yesterday my 6 year old was in a play. It hurt to sit in the chair through the whole performance. My belly is so big it pushes against my legs and makes it difficult to breath. No one should allow them self to get so fat that it's uncomfortable to breath while sitting in a chair. I'm currently 279 lbs. My first weight loss goal is to get to the 105k (232lbs)weight class in olympic weightlifting. My 2nd goal is to get to the 94k (207 lbs) weight class. Back when I was training and racing for triathlons I felt best at 200 lbs. Here's a picture of what I looked like at 186 pounds, my body fat percentage was eight & a half percent.

I figure I'll have a lot more muscle now that I'm a weightlifter, so 207 should be pretty lean and healthy for my body type. My #1 goal is to get to a healthy body weight again. While in triathlon I was at such a low body weight it was causing health problems, now I'm at the oposite end of the spectrum.

Healthy. That's where I want to be. Healthy for my wife. To support her through nursing school and the start of a wonderful career that she's always dreamed. To be be a parent and spouse with her, not just a memory. To live long enough to show my baby girl what it's like for me to love her, respect her, treat her with kindness, and listen to her thoughts, feelings, and opinions in the hopes she learns not to settle for anything less than a man who treats her the same way. I want to make sure I'm there for her to walk her down the isle. One of my wife's friends had to get married without her Dad there because he died young. I don't want to do that to my baby girl. I want to be there long enough to teach my boys how to be good, strong, and kind men. If I don't change my eating soon I wont be able to be there with them and it'll be my fault.

5 minute AMRAP

Today was cardio day. After doing 5 sets of 5 reps of bench press I did a short and hard cardio session. Rion, my 4 year old, did the cardio session also. The cardio was a MetCon (metabolic conditioning) workout that was a 5 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of
5 push ups
5 burpees
5 wall balls
I was able to finish 4 rounds exactly, no reps on the fifth round. Rion completed 4 rounds and a some extra reps into the fifth.... Yes, my 4 year old beat me...... Since starting up cardio again a couple weeks ago I've made some pretty great gains, but I'm still REALLY out of shape. After the workout I thought to myself, "I'm glad I'm not in CrossFit right now, because I'd have been an embarrassment". I know that if I continue training the way I am, in no time I'll transform myself from a fat and out of shape olympic weightlifter to an olympic weightlifter who is in great shape. Today was another step in the right direction.

My weight has stabalized at 280.

olympic weightlifting bib

I looked up the USAW rules and my triathlon bib fits in their rules for competition. So the good news is I can use my tri-bib to compete in Olympic weightlifting competitions, the bad news is that I don't fit into my tri-bib anymore. I need to lose at least 10 pounds before the NM state games on May 16th. If I can't fit into my tri-bib I cant compete because we cant afford to buy a weightlifting bib right now. I'll be broken hearted if I cant compete. I'm currently 279.6 pounds..... Looks like I'll start my diet tomorrow..... or maybe Friday..... or perhaps Monday...... If I can't compete in the NM state games I'll just be all that much stronger for the next competition right?

creatine, whey protein and Olympic weightlifting

I've made big gains in my strength the last week. I've made bigger gains this week than any other 3 weeks combined. I'm even feeling less fatigue and recovering more quickly between sets! The only thing I've been doing differently this week than before is that I'm taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate once a day and whey protein immediately after my workouts. The only negative effect's I've found about taking creatine and whey protein is that my weight loss has stopped and I'm REALLY hungry all the time! I assume the weight loss having stopped and me being so hungry is because I'm building more muscle, so I can't complain. Ultimately me gaining more muscle will make my body burn more calories and help me to drop more fat later on, so I'm content maintaining my weight of 260 pounds for awhile if I continue to make such wonderful gains.

first run in many moons: treadmill tabata

I have been postponing running until I get below 250 pounds, I'm currently 260, but since I signed up for The Missile Man duathlon (formerly the Jon Stermer duathlon) on Feruary 1st 2014 I decided I needed to start running now. Yesterday I did a tabata so that I'm building my running ability while also building fast twitch muscles. I did a 5 minute warm up on the treadmil, then set the incline to 4% and the pace at 8 mph. Then I ran 20 seconds on 10 seconds off. I could only keep that up for 6 rounds, stopping at the 9:50 mark. I've also started cycling to and from work again. Until the Missile man duathlon I'll be weightlifting on Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat's. Cycling on Tue's, and running on Thur's. After today my tabatas will be more strenuous. I'll set the incline to 12% and the pace 30 seconds slower than my latest best 5k. Then 20 seconds on 10 seconds off for four minutes or 8 rounds.

I have to say thank you to Travis from Zia CrossFit for helping me out with this fast twitch building cardio. It's new to me and I'd never have known what to do if it wasn't for your help and guidance.

The upcoming Missile Man duathlon Feb 1st 2014

I've decided to register for the Missile Man duathlon at White Sands Missile Range NM which will be held on Feb 1st 2014. Ever since I got ran over while cycling back in 2011 I don't feel comfortable cycling near vehicles. So now on the rare times I race I prefer to race at WSMR. There's rarely anyone driving on the bike course, when there is a rare vehicle driving near us they always slow way down, are courteous, and give the cyclists a ton of space and respect when passing. WSMR is the closest thing I've found to racing on a completely closed bike course.

The 2014 Missile Man duathlon will be my 87th multisport race and my 21st duathlon. I competed in this race last year. At the time I weighed 250 pounds, the race took me a dismal 2 hours 28 minutes and hurt me like bloody hell. Right now I'm weighing 260 pounds..... gulp. I expect it'll hurt even worse now that I'm heavier. I'll let you know how I do.

sick and training

So far after 6 weeks of Olympic weightlifting I've built up to a 53k power snatch. A 53k snatch is much much weaker than I was hoping for, but I'm still much better at Olympic weightlifting after 6 weeks of training than I was after many many months of triathlon training, and I eventually became an excellent triathlete.    

My Olympic weightlifting coach Shane Miller of Miller weightlifting says my biggest attribute is my enthusiasm and effort. It was the same way with triathlon. I had the worst body type for triathlon, but my dedication and willingness to push myself harder and train more made me an excellent triathlete. I'm hoping my determination and willingness to work hard will make me as successful at Olympic weightlifting as I was at multisport. So far after 6 weeks of hard training I was feeling sluggish, fatigued, and ended up getting sick. Getting sick is a good sign in regards of my training. It means I was pushing myself to my bodies limit. I used to get sick every few months when I was training for triathlon and I was an endurance beast! I'm spending this week lifting light weights to recover, next week I'll come back stronger.

"Success is often nothing more than moving from one failure to the next with undiminished enthusiasm."
-Winston Churchill

I'm currently 260 pounds. 20 pounds lost so far in 6 weeks of Olympic weightlifting.

week 4 of Olympic weightlifting and weight loss

Today I start my 4th week of Olympic weightlifting. The last 3 weeks I've mostly been training to learn correct form, yet my strength is still gaining quickly. The first 3 weeks my coach Shane Miller, had me doing power snatches and power cleans from the knee, dead lifts, presses, squats, etc. This week my coach is going to have me start doing power snatches and power cleans from the ground. I'm excited about progressing to this next phase of Olympic weightlifting.

So far my weight loss has been progressing quickly and effortlessly. During the 7 years of hard core dieting and triathlon training I learned my body responded much better to weight loss if I dieted for a few weeks, then spent a week maintaining my weight. In the first 2 weeks I'd been averaging 2,500 calories a day and I lost 12 pounds. For the 3rd week of Olympic weightlifting I raised my calories to 3,400 and maintained my weight of 268.8 for the entire week. This week I'll be returning to a calorie restricted, high protein and fat, moderate carbohydrate diet. I'm going to try and keep my weight loss at about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds a week. If I stay consistent with this schedule I should hit my goal of being in the masters 105k class by May, just in time for the New Mexico state games.

My first 2 goals for Olympic weightlifting

Like I said in my previous post, I'm starting Olympic weightlifting on Monday.I'm currently weighing 280 pounds, so my first goal of Olympic weight lifting is to get down to 230 pounds so that I'll no longer have to compete in the super heavy weight division. I'd like to eventually get down to to 190 pounds so that I could compete in the 85k division (169-187 pounds). That means I have to lose 90 pounds. My body has always responded well to low carb diets, so that's what I'm doing. I'm in my 3rd day of low going low carb. So far so good.

Here are the men's weight classes of Olympic Weightlifting:

MEN
56 kg	≤ 56.00kg 123.3 pounds
62 kg	56.01kg – 62.00kg 123.22 pounds-136.4 pounds
69 kg	62.01kg – 69.00kg 136.422 pounds-151.8 pounds
77 kg	69.01kg – 77.00kg 151.822 pounds-169.4 pounds
85 kg	77.01kg – 85.00kg 169.422 pounds-187 pounds
94 kg	85.01kg – 94.00kg 187.002 pounds-206.8 pounds
105 kg	94.01kg – 105.00kg 206.822 pounds-231 pounds
+105 kg	≥ 105.01kg 231.002 pounds

body weight matters in CrossFit

When I started training for triathlons I learned the best way to get fast is to lose weight. When I was overweight no matter how much and how hard I trained my fitness couldn't make up for the loss of speed because of the extra weight I carried. I've found out getting fat slows down a CrossFit athlete just as much. Not that long ago I'd gotten to the point that I was doing every WOD with the RX and finishing quickly. I was completing the WOD with a fast enough time that I was going to start adding more weight than the RX. But then I fell off the diet wagon and gained a crap load of weight. I'm was still working out consistently, but the weight gain has slowed me down much worse than I had imagined it could. I'm back to having to do each workout below the RX and finishing close to last every class. Dang it, body weight matters in CrossFit too.
 
"It is no disgrace to start all over. It is usually an opportunity. "George M. Adams

The extremist

I am by nature an extremist. OCD to the max. In many ways that benefits me, in many it doesn't. When it comes to dieting it doesn't. I end up pushing myself to hard to lose weight. From years of triathlon training and dieting I've figured out that my body responds best to losing no more than one and a half pounds a week. If I try to lose more than that I end up overly hungry and I fall off the wagon. I've also learned that Every 4-6 weeks I need to increase my calories to a maintenance level for a week or two. If I diet for longer than 4-6 weeks I end up getting overly hungry and/or burned out with dieting and I fall off the wagon. I've been dieting constantly since January, which was too long. Last week I fell off the wagon, and I've gained a few pounds back, I'm currently 235. Thankfully I realized what I was doing wrong. For the next 2 weeks I'll be eating more calories to let my body realize it's not starving, that there isn't a world wide food shortage, and that in a couple weeks it'll be OK to drop some more weight.

hydrostatic body fat test April 2013

I got my body fat tested at the University of New Mexico exercise physiology center today. I've been eating Paleo, running 2x a week, cycling 2x a week, and CrossFit 4x a week. I assumed I'd end up having made HUGE gains, but I didn't. I'm disappointed. 11.7 pounds in 9 weeks is not all that great.

I lost 11.7 pounds total, lost 14.7 pounds of fat, and gained 3.3 pounds muscle.

April 2013: 229.7 pounds @ 23.1% body fat. I have 176.6 pounds lean mass, and 53.1 pounds fat.

Feb 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.1 % body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

Jan 2010: 207 at 18.4% body fat. 169.2 pounds lean mass. 38.5 pounds fat.

July 1999: 204 at 13.1% body fat. 188.43 pounds lean mass. 15.57 pounds fat.

the 2013 CrossFit games: 13.1 and an injury

I'd been training at a CrossFit gym for 9 weeks when the 2013 CrossFit games started. I'm one of the slowest, least fit athletes at Zia CrossFit, but I decided to attempt the games anyways. The CrossFit games will be 5 workouts/fitness tests, one a week for 5 weeks. The 1st test is called 13.1, meaning it's the 1st test of the 2013 games. The 13.1 workout is:

17 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible in 17 minutes) of:
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible


1.5 weeks before the CrossFit games I maxed out (most weight I can lift one rep) on snatches at 125 pounds, so I was disappointed to see the 101st rep would be snatches of 135 pounds. I assumed I'd get to 100 reps and not be able to get a single rep of 135 pounds. Somehow I was able to accomplish 18 reps at 135 pounds, with a total score (reps) of 118!!!! That was much better than I dreamed. So far I'm ranked 2,384th out of  4,549 athletes in the South West.

One of the gym members posted a video of Matt S., Sarah B., and myself doing the 13.1. at one point I got so excited I yelled. I was embarrassed later, but the excitement got the best of me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbG6IwP1vzA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

On Monday I fell and injured my foot while practicing walking on my hands. My foot has been swollen and I can't walk on it. I'm hoping and praying I heal up in time to be able to attempt 13.2, the 2nd workout of the 2013 CrossFit games. The 2nd workout I should be able to kick butt at, because I'm really good at box jumps. The 13.2 is:

10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible in 10 minutes) of:
5 Shoulder to overhead, 115 / 75 lbs
10 Deadlift, 115 / 75 lbs
15 Box jump, 24 / 20 inch

I'm currently weighing 234 pounds. Since starting CrossFit I've lost 22 pounds and have gained over 3 inches around my chest and back. Since starting a Paleo diet competition with I Suck at CrossFit 4.5 weeks ago I've lost 12 pounds.

hydrostatic body compostion test

Today I got a hydrostatic body composition test at the UNM exercise physiology lab. The results weren't good. But there is an upside: I have a ton a fat I can shed to win this Paleo lifestyle competition I've started with http://isuckatcrossfit.com/. I'm going to SMOKE YOU Mr I suck at CrossFit! (I'm not calling him names, that's the name of his blog). To check out the competition check out this link: http://cody-the-clydsdale.blogspot.com/2013/02/day-1-of-paleo-lifestyle-competition.html

Here the results of todays body fat test, and the results of my previous body fat tests:

Feb 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.1 % body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

Jan 2010: 207 at 18.4% body fat. 169.2 pounds lean mass. 38.5 pounds fat.