getting back in the swing of things

I'm counting this week as my first official week back at crossfit, even though I went twice last week and once the week before. It's always tough coming back from any sort of hiatus, and my 3 month hiatus REALLY set me back. My strength and range of motion is still not all there, but I'm slowly working back up to it.

I'm back down to the green band for kipping pullups. No jumping, running or explosive movements. Coach Rob bought an airdyne for the box, just for me to to work in some cardio during the WODs when everybody else is running. It is just as painful as I remember it to be, but I'm not complaining. It's just good to be moving again!

Mainly it's the mental benefits that I missed the most. Just getting through each workout has been a great boost for my self esteem. My muscles have been sore almost every day this week. Sore muscles, I'm finding, are a great reminder for what my body used to do. They remind me to stand a little taller, move a little more -- they just make me feel better in general. Is that crazy? Probably, but whatever works, right? I'm a little sad that I've had to modify and scale down every movement so much, but reminding myself that it took time for me to build up to where I was pre-surgery helps a little. This morning when I woke up, I felt slimmer than I have in a long while. Who knows if I really am slimmer (I didn't take measurements because I just knew it would be too depressing), but seeing my waistline peek through that extra fat roll that came along with sitting on my butt for 3 months was encouraging. It's a great feeling to finally be moving in the right direction for once!

I've upped my nike fuelband goal to 3000 fuel points each day. That meant that last night I took Kina out for a walk before going to bed to make up the last 900 points. It's working! The diet hasn't been perfect, but I've been tracking my intake on myfitnesspal. I'm making sure that I keep my carb intake below 100 g each day (it doesn't always happen, but like I said before, each day is a fresh start).

I watched part 2 of an HBO documentary called "Weight of the Nation" the other night. It was about how Americans are becoming more and more obese, and touched on various methods of weight loss. I was really hoping there would be some analysis of diets (ie paleo vs weight watchers etc), but there wasn't. They did provide some interesting facts, however:

1. given 2 people with the same body weight and height, where one achieved that weight by dieting and exercising and the other just naturally weighs that much and didn't have to lose weight to attain a healthy BMI, the person who started out overweight needs to consume 20% fewer calories a day than the naturally not overweight person just to maintain the same body weight. Translation: if I go out with a friend with the same body makeup as I do, but she didn't have to train to get to this weight and eat the same amount of food, I've overeaten by 20%, but she hasn't! it just doesn't seem fair, but it's good information to have.

2. people who are most successful at long term weight loss keep records (often meticulous records) of what they eat, weigh themselves often (sometimes even every day), and exercise at least an hour a day.

3. look at caloric intake each day as a budget.

4. start with one small change. Master it, then add another. Repeat until you have the behavior you want.

My first small change? Going to crossfit 3x/week. I'm still counting calories and tracking carbs, but if I slip a little, I'm not gonna worry too much about it until diet becomes my "small change."