Do We Live in a Dynasty?

http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/adam-d-young/2013-10-03/neugebauer-center-dust-wwii-memorial-ranger-government#.Uk4j0Y0jJIE

 

This situation shows me how detached Senators are from the average American’s life. 

 

Senator Neugebauer (R) from Texas, who is in favor of the government shutdown unless Obamacare is removed from the budget, verbally assaulted a park ranger who was refusing to let tourists into the WWII Memorial today. Telling the park ranger she should be “ashamed of herself” he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t let all “these people who have travelled thousands of miles” in. Fortunately a furloughed Federal veteran of 30 years sprang to the ranger’s defense.

But the incident reinforces my belief that we no longer live in a democracy, but rather a dynasty, where there is a “ruling class” that has become so wealthy off the backs of our citizens that they have completely lost touch with what the working class has to contend with thanks to Congress. 

 

 Consistency Drives Results…

Thanks to CrossFit Rockwall for this post!

Your Secret to Success

Consistency is possibly the most important part of an exercise program. Even if you use the best exercise program in existence (i.e. CrossFit) and give 100% effort when you work out, if you’re only doing it once a month it will have little effect on your overall health and fitness. Additionally, you must have consistency before intensity. If you are not consistent enough to get to the point where you can add intensity, you are really missing out on results.

In the beginning, consistency may be working out twice a week. Think about it…that’s 90 minutes (two 45-minute classes) of your time over the course of an entire week. Can you make time for that? How much time do you spend watching TV each day? How much time do you waste doing nothing at all? Could you wake up an hour earlier just twice a week? Once you become consistent working out twice a week, add a third workout. Then a fourth. And maybe even a fifth. The more consistency you have, the better your results will be.

Your goal should be to make exercise a part of your daily life. Put it on your calendar first. Make it your number one priority – after all, if you can’t take care of yourself, how on earth will you take care of your family or succeed in your job? If you are in fact consistent with your exercise, it will become part of your life. You won’t even have to think about it – it will become automatic…a habit.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle

Here are some tips to make exercise a part of your daily life:

• Schedule your workout and put it on your calendar. Treat it like a business meeting with your boss – there’s no way you would miss that, right?
• Show up even if you are tired or feel like crap. Tell yourself to just get through the warm-up and then stop if you want – chances are you’ll be ready to keep going. If not, at least you still got a good warm-up in (and at CrossFit Rockwall, the warm-up is kinda like a workout anyhow).
• Don’t make excuses. Real life doesn’t care about excuses. If it’s not life or death, it can probably wait an hour until you’re done with your workout.
• Train with a friend. You are more likely to stay consistent if you train with family or friends. Find someone you like to help keep you on track. Or just show up consistently to our classes and you’ll make new friends!
• Keep a workout log. You don’t want to have to skip from July 10th to August 1st in your log. Putting it on paper makes you more accountable.
• Post your results. Tell everyone how you did in our comments section – everyone will start looking for your posts and if we don’t see ’em, we’ll call you out.
• Reward yourself. At the end of the week, if you haven’t missed any of your workouts, treat yourself to something you enjoy (we’re NOT talking Ben & Jerry’s here, guys…). Eat a good steak, get a massage or just sleep in a little later than normal.

Leaky Internal Dialogues.

Leaky Internal Dialogues..

Leaky Internal Dialogues.

 

Moms, this one’s for you.

How many times in a day do you put your physical appearance down in your head? C’mon. Be honest. You don’t have to tell anyone, just have an honest moment with yourself and come up with a number. Every time you pass a mirror in the mall, catch a glimpse of yourself in the rearview mirror, see yourself in a picture…count them all.

How many times do you let that voice inside your head leak out? Usually that voice is disguised as,…well, it sounds a lot like your own voice. It says things like, “Oh, I look so fat,” and “If I could only lose 10 pounds,” “Ohmigod, I look HORRIBLE!”

Now, think about how many times you’ve let that internal dialogue leak out in front of your children?

Now, I am NOT judging, because there was a time when I would self-deprecate every 10 minutes. It was a circular litany of phrases like, “I’m fat, I look old, my hair is horrible, I have too many wrinkles, look at my flabby stomach..” The list is endless. But one day I caught my oldest daughter, at the tender age of 7, looking at herself from all angles in our hallway mirror saying, “Ugh. I am so fat. Look at how big my stomach is. I really need to go on a diet.” 

I was shocked. Horrified. Nauseated. And I began to realize that my leaky internal dialogue was fueling the same self-loathing and hyper-criticism in my daughter. Tears welled up in my eyes. How could I let this be the legacy I was passing on to her? I wasn’t teaching her to value her intellect or her creativity or her compassion. For all of my feminist ranting, I was reducing her to one element: her physical appearance. I was guilty of what I had condemned so many men for.

So now I am cautious my internal dialogue, and about how much of it leaks out, not only for my daughters, but for my son as well. For I do not want him to grow up thinking that a woman’s value is directly correlated to her pants size or her bust size. I choose to speak about the things I value in myself in all realms of my being: physical, intellectual, and emotional. I celebrate myself and my body. I am kind to it. And I am teaching my children to do the same. 

So, next time that internal dialogue goes the direction of self-hatred, steer it another way. Are you going to have bad days? Of course. Do I fancy myself a Greek goddess meets Camille Paglia every day? Of course not. But do not give in to that little voice in your head. Find something, anything, even in your most desperate moment of self-doubt, that you love about yourself. And then be kind to yourself.

 

Wynter Inniss

In Memorium
Wynter Inniss
Angels
by Unknown Author

The sky is filled with Angels
With puffy lacy wings
The remnants of God’s beauty
With treasures they now bring

Each one of them a Guardian
That travels in the sky
To watch throughout eternity
Their parents from on high

Smiles that come from Angels
They fall like crystal rain
Eases earthly burdens
Lifting all life’s pain

Halos so astounding
That glitter gold each day
Following their loved ones
In such a perfect way

Wings in gentle breezes
That fall from up above
Kissing every parent
With everlasting love

Angels soar through heaven
With everlasting light
Looking down from heaven
Saying their “goodnights”

Kissing all who loved them
So gently on the face
This life’s tender mercy
Each parent can embrace

Wings and shiny halos
Travel from on high
Surrounding all their loved ones
They never say good-bye.

THROW AWAY YOUR SCALE LADIES!

It’s that time of year. Everyone has “resolved” to lose that 10 pounds. Women everywhere are doing the cabbage diet, the Special K challenge, the Progresso Soup diet, Shakeology, Body by Vi, etc. They’re restricting calories and logging hours a day doing cardio, tallying up the calorie intake vs output. All in an effort to reach that magic number on the scale! All to fit into a certain size pants, a size that will magically solve all of their problems. 

Well ladies, I’m here to tell you that scale is your worst enemy. It’s like a drug. It affects your moods. It’s like your pimp. It dictates your day’s activities. It’s your captor. You live and die by what it says. So get rid of it!

Are you really going to let two sets of numbers tell you what your self worth is? Or for that matter, how healthy you are? In fact, in an effort to lose that 10 pounds and be “healthier” you may be doing more damage than you imagined.

First off, losing 10 pounds may not make you look any better. If you’re severely restricting your calories, and on top of it doing tons of cardio, you are probably burning muscle. So, you’ll lost 9 pound of muscle and 1 pound of fat. Consequently, once you lost the support of your clothing and undergarments, you will look like shit. You will be flabby. Your ass will droop to your knees. You will have cellulite. Yuck.

On top of this, if you are cutting your food intake and doing meal replacements, you are probably not getting all the nutrition you need and you are not as satiated as you would be with solid food. (This is a scientific fact. Email me @anneke@crossfittemeculasouth.com if you want links to the medical journals in which these studies appeared.) Even meal replacement options that claim to have 200% of your RDA have no regulation, so they could be feeding you a load of crap, literally and figuratively. Many of these shakes are laden with soy, gluten, dairy, chemicals. Why not just eat real food?

Finally, find your joy in something that matters. I have a client who is in her 70’s. DO you think she gives a rat’s ass what she weights? No. But she cares about what her squat clean is (70# by the way). Or her deadlift (165#). Because that is a real, tangible goal that makes a difference in her quality of life. She cares about her blood sugar numbers, her blood pressure, her resting heart rate. Not her weight. 

Ladies, stop letting the number on the scale dictate your barometer of health. It’s a false prophet. Find real health in real fitness and real food.

Risk and Reward

Pictured here is Chase Golightly, CrossFit Temecula South member and hockey player at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Chase had to make a tough choice about playing hockey in college vs. playing hockey in Canada. He had to take a risk. And judging by this picture, it looks like the risk paid off.

What risks have you taken in your life? Have they paid off? I’m sure a lot have. Have some ended in failure? Of course. That’s life. Well, actually, did you learn something from that “failed” risk? Did you overcome some fear, rise to an occasion, learn something new? Then it wasn’t really a failure, was it?

My point is this: sometimes you have to get our of your comfort zone and take a risk. It may be wildly successful and worth it. Or it may not go as planned and you may have to work a little harder to find the silver lining. But no matter what, if you never took a risk in life, think of all the things you may have missed.

What if you had never asked your wife out on your first date? What if you had never decided to go to college, or join the military. What if you had given in to your fear and you had never joined CrossFit?

Well, another opportunity for risk is upon is. The C.A.L. event is going on this Saturday. I know many of you have spoken to Dusty, debating whether you should sign up. And the common fear is “I don’t want to be last.”

Well, I’m here to tell you that you need to take that risk. So what if you end up last? You’re doing more than the people sitting on the sidelines! You’re overcoming your fear! You’re having fun and proving to yourself that you have guts! So, you may not get a prize. You may finish last. Hell, we don’t care! The reward is that you DID IT! You took the risk! We are proud of you for just stepping into the ring.

Take the risk. The reward will be worth it no matter what the outcome!

CrossFit on The Biggest Loser

P.M. Competition Crew working hard. But CrossFit isn’t just for people who want to compete. It’s for people who want to be stronger, lose weight, lose bodyfat, be more confident, and be better versions of themselves.

Tonight some of the CrossFit Level 1 cert staff’s faves were on The Biggest Loser, proving that CrossFit is 1) universally and infinitely scaleable and 2) It’s not just for Games athletes. If these guys can do it, so can you!

Daily Choices

You ready folks? I’m about to unleash on you a million-dollar secret. I’m going to tell you the easy way to get fit and stay fit. FOREVER!

Before I tell you what the secret IS, I’m going to tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t a pill. It isn’t a magic shake. It isn’t spending hours logging how many calories you burned doing your cardio in your “fat-burning zone.” It isn’t a machine, and it definitely isn’t the thighmaster.

The key to lifelong fitness is this: Make good choices daily. Make good choices minute-to-minute. Take your fitness and health goals one choice at a time.

Starting first thing in the morning, put your alarm far away from your bed. Once you’re out of bed, CHOOSE to stay out of bed and go to CrossFit. Once your done with CrossFit CHOOSE to eat a healthy breakfast. CHOOSE to say no to toaster strudels, pop-tarts, oatmeal, and toast. Say “yes” to eggs, sausage, ham, spinach, kale, strawberries.

At work CHOOSE to steer away from the doughnut/muffin/bagel tray. If people give you a hard time CHOOSE to stick up for your right to be healthy, politely telling them, “I’m choosing to stick to my fitness goals this year, and that is not part of them.” CHOOSE to walk away while they stare at you, dumbfounded that you are not joining their failed attempts at their own fitness goals. Remember, misery loves company, and if your coworkers can get you to fall off your Resolution bandwagon, they won’t feel so bad about falling off theirs. Cynical, but true!

At lunch, CHOOSE to eat a healthy veggie, protein and fat. You can even do this at Wendy’s people. Is Wendy’s my first choice? No, but you can make good choices and bad choices there too. CHOOSE the good choice.

After work, CHOOSE not to open that bottle of wine to relax. Instead, take a bath. Read a book. Talk to someone. Listen to music. CHOOSE not to eat dessert.

CHOOSE to go to bed at a decent hour. CHOOSE not to fall asleep in front of the tv.

We all have choices. The key to making good ones is making them one at a time. Before you know it, your good choices have become habits, and you will make those good choices subconsciously.

Running in the Rain

DISCLAIMER: NOT MY ORIGINAL WORK. TAKEN FROM RUNNING.ABOUT.COM!

Dress in Layers if It’s Cold

If it’s very cold and rainy, you may need to wear a couple of layers. The most important layer is the one closest to your body. Make sure it’s a technical fabric such as polypropylene or CoolMax, which wick water and sweat away from your skin. Your outer layer should be a wind- and water-resistant jacket or vest. Don’t wear a waterproof rain slicker because it will trap moisture and heat.

Wear a Hat With a Brim

A hat with a brim can be your best friend during a rainy run. It will keep the rain off your face, so you can see, even in a downpour.

Don’t Overdress

This is one the biggest mistakes runners make when heading out for a rainy run. Wearing more layers will not keep you dry. Unless you’re running with an umbrella over your head, you will definitely get wet. If you have tons of layers on, you will just be wearing more wet, heavy clothes. Dress for the temperature, as if it were a dry day.

Be Visible

Select an outer layer that’s light-colored or has reflective strips, since running in the rain often means poor visibility.

More: Top Visibility Gear

Use a Garbage Bag

If you have to wait outside in the rain before the start of a race, a big trash bag with armholes and a neck hole cut out can help you stay dry. You can take it off and throw it to the side once you get moving.

Wear Old Running Shoes at the Start

If you’re running a race, keep your race shoes and socks in a plastic bag while waiting at the start. You can check your old shoes in your gear check bag, and put on your race shoes and socks right before you head to the starting line. If it has stopped raining by then, you’ll be able to run the race in dry shoes and socks.

Prevent Chafing

If you’re running long, spread Body Glide or Vaseline on parts of your body where you would normally chafe or get blisters — such as your feet, inner thighs, underarms, sports bra lines (women), and nipples (men).

More: How to Prevent Chafing

Protect Your Electronics

Store electronics, such as your cell phone and iPod, in a ziplock bag or a water-proof carrier.

Just Run!

The hardest part of running in the rain is often just getting started. Once you begin running and warm up, you may find that you actually enjoy it! And it’s good preparation in case you ever have to run a race in the rain.

From: running.about.com