Everyday Paleo » CrossFit

Making It Happen…

Sarah — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:57:18 +0000

I will admit that I live in a paleo bubble of sorts. As a trainer for Norcal I am surrounded by a huge community of friends who generally all eat paleo too. When Robb Wolf and Nicki Violetti happen to be the folks you work for, that’s just kind of how it is… Which by the way, if you haven’t yet pre-ordered Robb’s book- I strongly suggest you do so!! So, back to that paleo bubble I mentioned - a typical outing or get together with friends often includes paleo friendly food, but sometimes when I venture out of my paleo bubble, I am reminded that we are modern day hunters and gatherers, often having to forage for the foods that fuel us. I left the boys at home this weekend and made the four hour drive to the bay area to attend a wedding shower. When it comes to food choices in social situations and sticking to what’s best for us, sometimes we simply have to make it happen. Making it happen at the shower included eating the delicious green salad that was served at the party, and deconstructing the cute little sandwiches to get to the protein. No one even noticed my uneaten bread. Later that evening when my friend decided to order pizza, I offered to run to the store for you guessed it – more salad and I also tossed some roasted chicken in the cart which I ate instead of the pizza. On my way home this morning I ran into Safeway and picked up sliced turkey, fruit, and nuts for my breakfast – it took me 10 minutes and I was back on the road. My only other breakfast option in the vicinity before I hit the freeway was a Burger King.

Making it happen can also mean getting those work outs in, even while on the road. The last time we visited the in-laws, we loaded up our boys along with all of our nephews and nieces and hauled them to the park for a family workout. The kids had a blast, and we got in some exercise – it’s all about making it happen!

We can choose to, or choose not to; it’s really as simple as that… Trust me – I am FAR from perfect but I know that putting in the extra degree of effort is worth it in the long run and making choices that sometimes seem more difficult at that moment, actually make everything else in life much more enjoyable and manageable.

Cheers!

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Go Lou Mars!!

Sarah — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:07:57 +0000

For those of you who follow what’s happening at Norcal Strength and Conditioning, you are probably aware that Lou Mars, world class drummer is in the midst of trying to break the current world record for consecutive days drumming. His goal is to reach 120 hours and he is currently at 52 hours and going strong!! For all the details and to cheer Lou on, go here:

http://www.norcalsc.com/

Five minute rounds…

Sarah — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:27:46 +0000

When life gets tough, I often think about those few epic CrossFit WODS that have been permanently burned into my memory banks, and I think, “Well, if I can get through THAT, I can get through anything.” I also think about the resiliance of children and how they often tackle challenges with the bravery and optimism of warriors. For example, back in September we had our annual Fight Gone Bad fundraising event and our kids class participated in a separate heat at the end of the day. I was so impressed with the determination, willingness, and spirit the kids portrayed!! In fact, after the workout, I even heard one kid express how much fun he had!! What a great lesson. Even when the challenges we face are really really hard, we can look for the good, we can make it fun, and we CAN make it through. This was one of those challenging weeks – and I thought a lot about my life and how lucky I am to have three healthy kids, a kick-ass amazing husband, and a wonderfully supportive group of friends, and I realized that focusing on the positive and finding my own resilience made this week bearable. Just like those epic 3 five minute rounds, they really suck but we get through it alive and maybe even a little better for it…

Here are a couple of quick and easy meals that helped us get through this rather hectic week:

Chicken Sausage, Shrimp, and Kale:

Saute two sliced red bell peppers and one medium yellow onion in olive oil

Add 1 package of gluten free chicken sausage and one bag of frozen shrimp

Stir in one jar of marinated artichoke hearts and 2 big spoonfuls of sun dried tomatoes

Serve over a pile of steamed kale

Dinner in five…

Brown 2lbs of grass fed ground beef

Season beef with a little sea salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder

Pour in one jar of Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara sauce and one can of organic diced tomatoes

Add in 5 sliced zucchinis and simmer together until zucchini is tender.

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Finding balance….or not!

Sarah — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:15:35 +0000

A couple of years ago when I started getting serious about this whole Paleo/CrossFit thing, I remember venting to Robb Wolf and I said to him, “You know Robb, I’m just trying to figure out how to achieve some balance in my life.” His response was, “No, I don’t know, because I don’t even know what the F*@# balance is!” This one statement by Robb did more for me then any amount of time I could have spent with a psychologist. This one statement yanked me out of my own damn head where I was pitifully stuck trying to achieve “balance.” That very evening, I sat down and thought about what ”balance” really is. I came to the conclusion that balancing is difficult. I have never attempted to walk a tightrope but I have spent a fair amount of time on a balance beam (my worst gymnastic skill) and many of you know how much work and practice it takes to hold a handstand. Being firmly on the ground is much dang easier. So, with that said, I immediately threw out the idea of achieving balance and instead, took a giant leap off my proverbial tightrope and landed on solid ground. I was trying so hard to achieve balance because I was afraid that somehow, if I couldn’t do it all, I would be missing out on something great, or really important. And doing it all meant compromising my health, not just with my food, but with all the other choices that we are constantly faced with. I was stressing SO much about eating Paleo – stressing to the point that I would MAKE it a point to leave aside one day a week that I wasn’t eating Paleo and I would eat a bunch of crap and feel insanely guilty and disgustingly ill. I was also doing way too much, and ultimately, trying to find balance was slowly killing me. Life is too short to live on a tightrope, so I jumped off and instead of achieving balance, I found life. Fast forward two years later, I eat Paleo, and now and then I’ll eat some nachos. This is not scheduled. It just happens now and then, and I know if I eat gluten or too much sugar I will feel awful, and it will likely kill me, so I don’t. Once I stopped worrying, fretting, and reaching for some sort of balance in this crazy nutso life, it stopped being hard. I stopped freaking out about losing the rest of the weight, and then I lost the rest of the weight. I sleep better – maybe not more because if you know the rest of the Fragoso clan, it’s not really possible to get to bed on time, but when I do lay my head on the pillow, my brain shuts off and I really sleep. I no longer care about balance. I am who I am, I eat Paleo, I am a CrossFit trainer, and I am PASSOINATE about seeing other folks achieve healthiness, happiness, and finding their way off the damn tightrope. So, the moral of the story is: know who you are, what you can achieve, set your goals, but don’t make yourself crazy. You CAN CHOOSE to live your life on solid ground. Life is hard enough as it is, don’t make what’s supposed to make you healthy the hardest part…

Alexis’ Dream

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:27:40 +0000

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Alexis’ Dream fundraising strollathon this past weekend and meet some of the families that will hopefully benefit from the funds raised at our recent Fight Gone Bad event.

I was deeply moved by the strength and courage that these loving families displayed and most of all the incredible hope to someday find a cure and prevention for Rett Syndrome. Angela Herrick made a moving speech and acknowledged our Cross Fit community for helping forge on with the fight to end Rett Syndrome. Life is precious and fragile and this event was a wonderful reminder that community, support, friendship, and love is what makes life worth living, and these families who have little girls with Rett Syndrome are living with hands full, and hearts overflowing with love and dedication. Best of luck to the Herrick family and all the families touched by Rett. Check out these photos of Angela’s family, as well as two other CrossFitters, Rachelle and Mike who came to support!