Welcome To Rock Bottom: Population One

Jeremiah; the world's cutest baby (only because his
siblings are no longer babies!).

On March 20, 2012 at 5:03 p.m. my husband and I welcomed our 2nd biological baby into the world!  Jeremiah was 19.75 inches long, 7.4 pounds, and has been growing every since.  He's a good eater!  Hopefully all of that breastfeeding will help some body fat come off of me!  We are experiencing the typical "new baby" adjustments such as sleep deprivation, new schedules (or lack there of), balancing attention with all of the other kids, and of course the overwhelming joy of a new life in our home.

My main focus in life is always my family.  My life is dedicated to them.  However, Crossfit, now blogging, and an occasional afternoon out keep me sane.  So, while the older 5 kids do school, our toddler's in front of the television, and the newborn naps, I'm trying to get some writing in.

In the midst of all these blessings and often times chaos, I realize that I think I've officially hit "rock bottom".  I'm healing from the birth of our son so I have to wait at least 6 weeks to get back in the gym.  Which is okay because I'm so sleep deprived the idea of a WOD right now may be close to one of the last things my body wants to do.  I'm not working out and now that there's no baby filling up my body I'm left with what's left over; stretch marks, extra skin, varicose veins and of course lovely fat.  I feel terrible, I look awful, I'm tired and overwhelmed.  I think these are all normal feelings to have after a new baby but hopefully this is as bad as my body will get.  I think, and even hope, this is my rock bottom.

So what the heck do I do now?  Well, I'm enjoying my gorgeous new baby, getting help where I can, and my new double stroller arrived today so I can start going for walks with my two littlest boys.  I'm back to Paleo with my diet so for right now I feel like I'm doing all I can.  I am losing weight, body fat I hope, and don't want to rush my healing.  I am eager to return to the gym when my body is ready.  I admit, though, that I wonder how much progress this time off will cost me.  Don't get me wrong - my baby is totally worth it - but I think it's okay for me to be a little bummed that I'll be starting over on a lot of things when I return.

Maybe you've just had a baby too or have reached some other kind of rock bottom; spouse is complaining about your appearance, your wedding ring doesn't fit anymore, you don't fit into one seat on an airplane, you get winded going up the stairs...whatever it happens to be; Welcome to Rock Bottom.  I'm Aimee, the Mayor here.  The first step to leaving is to admit that you are here.  It can only get better and we'll do it together.

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Coming in Last Can be Bad Ass!

Jessica Andrason of Crossfit Iron City

Yeah, I know, sounds messed up right?  Who wants to be in last place?  I'm not talking about having a bad workout because you've had too many cheat meals or maybe missed a few WODs so you're feeling out of shape and your performance showed it.  I'm talking about pushing yourself and taking the hard road.  I'm talking about having the slowest time because you pushed yourself as far as you possibly could.

Crossfit is hard in general.  However, it fits that old cliche that "you get out what you put in".  Often times, WODs need to be modified in some way; newbies, the injured, the pregnant, or if the WOD includes movements that are completely new to someone.  There's no shame in that.  Check your pride at the door and accept where you are.  Easier said than done, right?  But that's what we need to do to really improve.  We should always be improving; whether increasing weight, increasing reps, decreasing time, having better form, and/or weaning off modifications; for example decreasing and getting off bands for pull ups.

We need to be brave; to push ourselves and embrace the struggle.  I think it's in the struggle that we learn and grow.  We naturally want to avoid pain and struggle so I understand it feels odd to embrace pain, but that's what I'm saying; don't fight the struggle, embrace it and work through it.  By embracing and accepting it is how we ultimately beat it.  No one likes to fail or feel like a failure.  Many people don't try new things out of that fear of failure and maybe that's why people don't want to really push themselves at The Box.  It takes guts to take risks.

Coralyn Saldana from Team Crossfit Acadamy

Crossfit is competitive.  We all see the scores on the board.  Nobody wants to be last.  Sometimes though,  I like it when I come in last.  If I got "beat" because I did more weight or because I did the workout completely prescribed then I should be proud of that, not embarrassed.  I don't mind taking  more time to finish because I struggled to get that "Rx" by my name.  It's also a good reminder that nobody else really cares how I do.  I mean, I know the coaches do, but although Crossfit is competitive it's still an individual sport.  So if you want to cheat on your reps or do lighter weight to go faster, well, that's up to, and on, you I guess.  I'm certainly not going to feel bad or like a failure in my WOD because you had a faster time than I did because you chose an easier workout.

Also, the coaches have seen and experienced it all; muscle failure and fatigue, bailing out on lifts you can't make, falling on your butt, getting whipped with the speed ropes, hand tears, cussing, puking, and crying.  They certainly won't be shocked when that happens to you.  If you truly push yourself you're eventually going to experiences at least several of those effects.  It's just part of pushing yourself.

Staley from Crossfit Fairfield Post WOD

I think we all (Crossfitters) want to be fit and healthy and come'on maybe even a little bad ass.  Taking the easy way out mainly due to fear is not bad ass.  We're not going to see the results we want by being scared to suffer in our workouts.  So come on...if you're not completely new, injured, or pregnant, take a chance.  Push yourself in your WOD today.  Leave everything you have on the line.  Do more than you did yesterday...and if you come in last on the board, be proud of yourself because you know why you had the slowest time or the least number of reps.  We all have limits, but if you never push yourself you'll never know what your full potential is.  Coming in last can be bad ass!!!

Blondes are Out; Brunettes are In

While doing some research for an upcoming blog article I came across this British study that said out of the 2000 men polled by Badoo, 60% of men preferred dark haired women to light haired women.  Although this study was unscientific I did enjoy hearing it. I've heard since I was young that men prefer blondes, in general.  I also know that a lot of women bleach and highlight their hair to get it even more blonde.  Well, nothing profound here on my end, just got a smile out of it...Go Brunettes!

Homemade Laundry Soap: Not Just for Hippies Anymore

Okay, so I honestly don't know if hippies make their own laundry soap.  There are many motivations to making your own soap; allergies, concerns about toxins or other chemicals, and economical.  I decided to try making our own laundry soap just to save money with our large family.  I figured that since we are Christians, politically conservative, pro-life, pro-gun, and homeschool our kids that we're already considered freaks so why not let the freak flag fly proudly and start making our own laundry soap!  I know other families that make their own soap too and they're not nearly as weird as we are if that gives any comfort.  It's really easy to make and you'll save about 89% in costs.

This website was great, has step-by-step instructions with pictures and a great cost break down.  The man who  originally posted the recipe tested his soap against Tide and said it worked just as well.  You can use any kind of bar soap you want and add scented oils or not.  You can also make a dry method although I use the gel/wet.  I think it works great, the only thing I miss is that perfumey, artificial smell that you get from Tide with Downy.  I know, some may be disgusted by that but I like that "illusion of cleanliness" smell.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/

I still use store bought laundry sheets for the dryer. However, I've heard that you can take a bottle of liquid fabric softener, add 2 gallons of water to it in a bucket, dip a sponge in the bucket and throw the sponge in with the clothes.  If you line-dry your clothes I would still add some fabric softener into the washer.  I personally don't like crunchy clothes.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share.  I know making your own laundry soap is not a new idea, in fact it's an old one but it's coming back in popularity.  I'm also going to try making our own dishwasher soap, I'll let everyone know how that goes!  Good luck if you decide to try and make your own soap and don't worry, you don't need to wear Birkenstocks while making it!

Equinox: the Anti-Gym

We all know that “losing weight” is the most popular New Year’s Resolution.  Of course, 60% of gym memberships go unused, according to Time Magazine (revenue with no work!).  At any rate, January is the time to see gym rate deals, books on diet and exercise, infomercials, and discounts on home gym equipment.  I get it, businesses are simply trying to make money and they see an opportunity after we’ve all eaten too much and been lazy too many days over the holidays. 

I’m sure you’ve seen these commercials with before and after pictures; claiming they lost all their weight with some wondrous diet pills.  I’ve seen ads for shake diets, Charles Barkley who is the new spokesman for Weight Watchers, and even clothing apparatuses that somehow take inches off of your body while in use.  I find a lot of these products laughable, and sometimes the commercials are good sources of unintentional comedic relief, but companies wouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on advertising them if the advertisements didn’t work.  On the other hand, some of these companies have invested in good marketing teams and have very tempting campaigns, such as the Bowflex TreadClimber. 

We, the consumers, judge and validate these marketing campaigns by how we choose to spend our money.  Though the gym or equipment that speaks to us is totally different for each person, I’ve noticed that there are some common themes.  For one, you’ll never see fat people using the equipment unless it’s a “before” shot.  Secondly, the people modeling the equipment look like they’re having so much fun they can’t contain themselves.  Three, most of the models look like they don’t use the equipment; the females usually have no muscle tone and the men look like they needed steroids to get their results. 

Well, one gym this year based out of New York has taken their marketing to a whole new level.  Equinox Gym's New Year’s marketing shows pictures of extremely skinny models doing out of the gym activities.  Here are just two of their advertisements.

I am happy to say that there has been a negative response to these ads.  Equinox’s Facebook account was flooded with complaints from their customers saying that their models look unhealthy and anorexic.  Equinox and the fashion designer photographer, Terry Richardson, are also getting all kinds of criticism from the general public.  ABC even published a very short article for which “Neither Terry Richardson nor Equinox returned requests from ABC News for comment.” 

However, not all Equinox clients were unhappy and were even defending the ads. 

According to Susanna Kim’s ABC piece, 

“The people who complain, have missed the point … and the message it is meant to convey,” an Equinox member wrote in defense of the ads. “The selection of models and the images show Equinox as high fashion, cool, hip and edgy.”

Sweat Angel

Seriously, that’s what some people want in a gym?!?  “[H]igh fashion, cool, hip and edgy”?  Give me a break!  This is my definition of the anti-gym.  The complete opposite of what I’m looking for.  Either the person who made this statement doesn’t understand the point of marketing, or Equinox itself doesn’t understand the point of a gym.  Or maybe Equinox is simply catering to what the people want and making the ads and their gym all about appearance.  This is what really bothers me.  I’m glad even their own clients are complaining that the women in the ads are too thin and look hungry, but I’m also annoyed that the ads are focusing on appearance - yet again - and not performance. 

I want to see ads that show normal people really doing the prescribed workouts.  I want to see muscle and sweat.  I don’t go to the gym for the atmosphere or to be hip.  I go to challenge myself and to work hard.  I want to see sweat-angels, red-faces, and even an occasional hand-tear from pull-ups.

When I go to the gym I want to hear heavy breathing, grunts and moans, weights clanking, and frankly maybe a cuss word here and there.

With Crossfit you not only experience all of these things but also occasional inspirational yelling from a coach, encouragement and correction from trainers, and cheers from fellow athletes.  And guess what?  Most of us don’t wear make-up, have cute matching outfits or chew gum, read fashion magazines, or anything else that would qualify as fashionable, hip, or edgy.  We work our butts off and get results that are objectively measurable in weight (lifted, not on the bathroom scale), distance, time and repetitions completed. 

So to Equinox, fashion photographer Terry Richardson, and anyone who supports Equinox’s new ad campaign here’s a big, bitter “screw you” and a welcome invitation to any of their current clients to say the same by joining a Crossfit gym and getting some real, measurable results.