Weekend Warrior

At the time of this writing, I’ve made it through seven days of the Whole 30.  While it’s certainly not without its challenges, it honestly hasn’t been as tough as I thought it would be…so far.  The weekend required a lot more planning, along with a few pep talks, to get me through some of the rough spots which included three big social events wherein food and drink were a pretty big part of the festivities. But I am happy to report that I made it without the slightest stumble…I’m graceful like that.

I kicked off the weekend with donating some O+ at the blood drive held at my CrossFit gym.  As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my fellow ARCFitters lost her mother suddenly in March, and the blood drive was a way for us to come together as a group and provide support to Kristina and her family, while donating blood in her mother’s honor. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a parent and to see her at the drive thanking every person who showed up, was a testament to her spirit. 

My phlebotomist said I have STELLAR blood and was amazed by my blood pressure (115/75), my pulse (54), and how quickly I could fill a bag. (if I had a nickel…)  Reading that sentence back to myself makes me realize how pathetic I sound while trying to turn my blood donation into a timed WOD, but…rather than rewrite it, I’ll just add: I RX’d that shit! BAM!

Following the drive, a group of us headed to Skip’s Kitchen for food, beverages and CrossFit camaraderie. By the way – have I told you that I have the BEST box?! (damn it if I just can’t say it without doing so in Beavis’ voice).  If you’re contemplating trying CrossFit, I urge you to try my box (!). Don’t worry…we may entice you with the Kool-Aid, but we won’t sacrifice any virgins. At least, not on your first visit.  Also, if you join, then you get to tell people how much fun your box is.

Despite all of the beer and wine and group shenanigans, I still stayed on plan and managed to have a really good time.  However, I drank so much iced tea that I was wide-awake enough at 11:30pm to ride to the airport with my friend, Jake, to pick up a long-time buddy of ours.  I’m also pretty certain that I didn’t shut up the entire time, because the only things I remember him saying were:  “uh huh…yeah…well…” 

APO (against phlebotomist’s orders), I went to CrossFit to sneak in a workout on Saturday morning.  My knalf was still tense and I was still a little wiped-out from the blood draw, but I managed to get in some power cleans, push presses and burpees.  The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, until the husband and I went to the grocery store to get tri-tip to take to the dinner party later that evening.  I suddenly didn’t feel myself and the crankiness that emitted from me can only be described as primal.  That prompted a quick text message to my Whole-30 savior (and one of my fellow CrossFit badasses), Holly: “Tell me the weird, out-of-nowhere crabbiness passes?”  Seconds later I got back: “It will. I muted mine with macadamia nuts during the first week. It helped.”  I wasn’t even finished reading the response to Greg when he started throwing packages of macadamia nuts into the basket (he’s so supportive, that guy). 

Saturday night’s dinner party proved to be the biggest test yet: lots of good food and amazing wine with a group of my besties. Going in, I knew it would be a challenge, and I didn’t try to goad myself into thinking otherwise.  I knew I’d be tempted by the wine and the snacks, but I kept reminding myself how good I was starting to feel and that I knew I had the willpower to get through 30 days.

When everyone was eating mini-quiche and chex mix, I was eating raw veggies sans dip. When everyone was raving over my husband’s sweet broccoli salad, I was munching on spinach salad without dressing.  And, while everyone was drinking the wine…ohmigodALLthewine…I was, once again, guzzling iced tea.  I don’t have to tell you that it wasn’t easy.  Anyone who knows me knows how hard it was to pass up the Orin Swift “Abstract,” and the Chateau Montelena cab.  But, I ate tri-tip and chicken and salad and veggies, and not once did I feel as though I was missing out on anything.  Ok, maybe just a little bit when I bypassed the caramelized figs (over ICE CREAM!), but that only lasted for a minute.  The same minute it took me to get caramelized figs IN my hair, while trying to just SNIFF the yumminess right out of the pan. 

Ever the giver, Greg stepped in and represented Team Chapman with a fervor only professional winos can display.  When I asked him the next morning how much he drank, he replied in the same manner he does every time a hangover threatens to ruin his day: “ALL of it.” This time, I think he was right.

On Sunday, I got the opportunity to celebrate one of my besties’ birthdays with a small group of her closest friends and family.  Rather than have the standard night out to dinner and drinks, she wanted to bring everyone together to spend a day practicing random acts of kindness.  We met for brunch first, where everyone shared their ideas and we mapped out a strategy for these events. (To Type A people like us, even charity work can be orderly).  We took a big bucket of treats to a local firehouse that responded to a friend’s house fire a few weeks earlier.  We went to the store and purchased canned goods and staple foods to donate to the local food closet.  We donated work-wear to WEAVE for women who are going on job interviews as a way to help rebuild their lives.  We distributed dog food to homeless individuals to make sure their canine “kids” were fed. We hid change in playgrounds and taped quarters to parking meters, because sometimes all someone needs is a quarter.

Sunday was a nice distraction from thinking, living, and breathing the Whole 30. It made me realize, too, that even though it feels like a sacrifice to me right now, after 30 days I have the option of going back to doing what I was before I started the program.  Kat and Kristen’s friend, Robin, doesn’t have the opportunity to go back to grab her things that were destroyed by the fire.  People who rely on food donations, don’t have the option to just start shopping at Whole Foods whenever they want.  This really helped me put some perspective on my sacrifice and made me that much more determined to follow-through. 

Ultimately, I know Whole 30 will do great things for my health, my body and my overall wellness. I not only made it through the past weekend, but I woke up this morning feeling recharged and excited to keep going.  I know I am bound to hit some pretty significant obstacles in the next 21-days, but I'm relying on my strength and my new-found perspective to sail past those hurdles. I'm bound and determined to be more than a 30-day warrior.