When did exercise become exercise?

I have been very fortunate to be able to share many things I've learned over the past year with my friends and family.  Whether is was them trying out the Paleo lifestyle, reading my blog, supporting me at Crossfit events, or even trying CrossFit out themselves I've truly enjoyed sharing this huge part of my life with them.  My favorite moment by far occurred almost 2 months ago.  The very first class of CrossFit Route 1 Rebels was about to happen and I was pumped to bring my 6 year old nephew. 

Riley had cheered me on at the Garage Games at CrossFit Southie last November and we've even done some push up challenges at home.  He was ready for his own experience in the box!  With his excitement came his worries... he's a very cautious boy sometimes.  The morning of class, we had been talking about how I was going to do the adult class which he could watch, then after would be time for the kids' class.  Then he asked "What exercises are we going to do?"  I start listing the things I'm pretty sure they'll be doing... push-ups, jumping jax, sit ups, squats etc...  He laughs and goes "That's not exercise, that's fun!"

I smiled to myself thinking he's already "drinking the cool-aid" and he's totally right.  It IS fun.  At some point in life people stop looking at moving their bodies at play time and start looking at it like a chore.  My challenge to everyone reading this is to find what is fun for you.  Walking on the beach, playing ultimate frisbee, hopscotch with your kids, going shopping (malls are big, lots of places to walk!), riding a bike in the awesome whether we're having are all great things to do!  Don't limit yourself to what we've all grown up to define as exercise.  Find what you love doing and it won't be exercise any more, it will be a way of life.

For those of you wondering how Riley did in his first class... the answer is awesome of course!  He watched me complete a killer workout with Daniella first.  Then figured out modifications for the workout so he could do it.  Which he did.... Made him rest a bit before his class started, but he was off again.  When the class was over he was still running around with a ball having a great time.  When we were leaving he asked "Am I going to get to come back here?"  I was so happy and excited that he loved it as much as I do!  A big thanks to Queen Coach Emily for the awesome job she's done with the CrossFit Route 1 Rebells.

Paleo Challenge and the Magical Powers of Pizza

It's been all business since January 9, 2012 at Crossfit Route 1.  The 60 Day Paleo Challenge started with about 30ish participants.  This challenge involves an all or nothing points system.  Eat pure Paleo, earn 3 points... eat 1 thing not Paleo 0 points.  1 point for 8 hrs of sleep and 1 point for working out.  I was doing great for 3 weeks... almost completely perfect except for a couple missed work out days.  And then at the end of a very stressful week when I was pissed off and frustrated with everything... there sat Pizza.  It was calling my name.  Jenny, oh Jenny.  You love me remember, I'm so yummy.  Forget that you'll feel gross after, you'll be happy while you're eating me.  mmmm I'm so yummy.  and I was done.

Yes, the pizza was yummy while I ate it... but not as satisfying and definitely not worth the massive headache I had afterwards.  So why then have I been struggling to get myself back on track the past 2 weeks.  I'll have a good day, then a bad one, 2 good days and another bad one.  soooo frustrating. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately... If the frustration and anger got me eating crap... then continuing to be frustrated isn't going to help me.  My new goal is to wake up happy and feeling good.  Now when I'm looking at food the question isn't "do I care if I lose Paleo  points today" the question is "how will I feel tomorrow?"  Every morning that I wake up after a day of clean eating I feel amazing.  Ready to concur the world... If I tried to take a nap, I couldn't because I'm that rested and alert.  The days I wake up after eating non-paleo items... i feel awful.  My stomach isn't right.  I always want to take a nap halfway through the day and succeed very easily in my papazon chair (yes I have one in my cube and it's awesome). 

Bottom line.  I can't be worried about points and the challenge.  This is my life and I want to wake up happy :)

Strengths

Usually when I think of my strengths I'm instantly talking about crossfit.  I can definitely rock a pretty awesome Dead Lift and Kettle bell Swing.  I know what I'm good at and I know what are my weaknesses.  I love getting to crossfit early to stretch, socialize, and work on my "goats."  (Goats are the things that you struggle with the most).  You'll usually find me with a jump rope for double unders, doing handstands, or on the pull up bar swinging.  I think that if I had to make up my own work outs, I would be just focusing on the things I need to improve.  The good news is that crossfit tells you what to do :)  I work on my strengths just as much as I work on my weaknesses.  Without that, I would have never gone from a Dead Lift 1 rep max of 205# in January to a 3 rep max of 285# in December!

So what does this mean...

Stop focusing on just your weaknesses!  This is something that I've finally realized as the end of 2011 came around.  Last year came with lots of ups and downs for me.  Some have been written about on this blog and other things I've found other outlets to work through.  I can honestly say that this is the first year I've ever had the right to say "2011 sucked."  The good news is that I am very proud of myself in 2011 and you won't hear me complaining about it.  Yes, crappy things happened, but I managed to deal with them and grow as a person.  At the same time I was able to accomplish all kinds of great goals at crossfit and with nutrition.  I have learned that I am a strong person both physically and mentally.  I might not have the answers, but I know I can find them. 

The past couple of days I've seen a lot of facebook posts from people who have had a rough or an amazing 2011.  Both types of people are excited about the start of 2012.  The question I have to ask myself is "What is going to make this year so much better?"  If last year was bad, what are they changing to make this year better other than just the calendar number?

A few weeks ago I was given a great book called Strengths Finder 2.0.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a little more about how they operate.  It gives you a code to go online and take a test like a Myers-Briggs type deal, but in the end you are presented with your top 5 strengths.  The results really put into words what I already knew about myself and gave me a starting place to evaluate my life.

My Top Five

Woo - Stands for winning others over.  The description basically says that I like walking into a room of strangers and making connections and friends.  That I see everyone as a potential friend. 
Positivity
Communication
Arranger - Being able to look at a situation and come up with the most efficient plan.  This type of people tend to be good a planning large events.
Includer

Okay... so those of you who know me well are now nodding in agreement that this was pretty accurate.  Basically I'm a people person who likes to be involved with planning events!  The next step I took was to see how my Strengths match up with my actions.

Crossfit - Group training atmosphere with competitions to participate in or cheer on friends.  Crossfit Route 1 has the best community and it matches up perfectly with my Woo and Positivity strengths.
Pampered Chef Consultant - Sales job where I'm constantly in front of strangers and setting up training events for my team.  I get to recognize my consultants for their efforts and be recognized for mine!  Doesn't get any more Woo or Includer than that.
Paleo Nutrition - At the beginning of 2011, I was a part of a 12 week program with other people learning about Paleo with my Mom at MVFC.  I learned a lot and love sharing my knowledge with others that want to know more.  Even have some of my awesome friends give it a try!  So this hit my Communication and Includer strengths... unfortunately none of my strengths are helping me keep to program myself.  I realized I needed help, so I started going to counseling.  I love counseling... I know it carries a negative vibe with it, but seriously... when else in life do you get to spend an hour just talking about yourself with no judgement.  It's amazing!  So now I'm honing back in on my Woo talent to expand my network and learn more about myself and why I'm sabotaging my Paleo efforts.  More to come :)
Engineering Job - Huh... this one doesn't seem to fit the whole working with people strength stuff I have going.  I love working on helicopter engines and working on teams to develop the best product possible.  I made a list of everything I love about my job and then broke the tasks down into why do I like doing them.  Everything has to do with working on teams, or fast pace environment, or collaborating with different groups.  Seeing a theme?  It amazes me how you adapt your situation to what you like the most or are the best at.  I've found lots of other ways to use my strengths as well. I am the engagement lead for my section. Which means I get to plan all the fun events throughout the year to make people feel loved (Positivity/Arranger/Includer). I'm also a part of the GE Women's Network, NU Recruiting team, Fairy Godmother Project, the list could go on (Woo/Communication/Arranger). 

I now feel like I have a great understanding of all parts of my life.  I can give myself credit my strengths and recognize the need to continue to grow them as much as my weaknesses.  As you can see above, you can use your strengths to improve your weaknesses.  This is my 2012 plan.  Find what plays to my strengths to accomplish my goals!  

Life is not a spectator sport.  You get out of it what you put in.