Day 6 of 42

Who loves Mondays? Mondays get no love.... I am back up bright and early. I grab my usual water and an orange and ready to coach my 6am class, which by the way is a very dedicated one. I decide to do some L Holds in between my 6am and 7am classes. I am the master of this exercise. I can hold for over 5 minutes without a problem. I should try to do a record breaker very soon. Back home I go, I have no time to cook because I have to be back by 9am and coach from 9am through 12pm. I have my espresso and eat a bowl of Cheerios and top it with bananas and strawberries. I grab a cup with pineapples and leave. By noon, my lunch had been delivered and not surprised that once again it's very delicious and nutritious Spanish ajiaco. If you don't know what an ajiaco is, it's a rather thick soup loaded with some beef, and some roots which are my favorite form of carbs. I think you would agree that all carbs are not equal. Not the same to have bread and dough, which I do not; than some great roots like yucca. I eat a bowl of my ajiaco, drink a glass of water with lots of lemon and I have to go take my son to private tutoring. I home school him but have always used the help of a professional. While I wait for my son, I go to the bank and pick up a few things from my local super market. Back at home until 4:40pm, I try to catch up with my emails and some personal time. I eat a good amount of granola, an apple and a tall glass of water, I will need it because I am going to WOD after I coach or try to squeeze it in between. Let's see how it goes. It's 7pm and some of my competitive boys have arrived, that means time to WOD. I warm up Helen, this is a CrossFit WOD; 3 rounds for time to run 400 meters, 21 Kettlebell swings (35lbs) and 12 pull ups. My goal has always been to do this WOD in less than 8 minutes but I am happy with my 10:04. I move on to the WOD which is 20 minutes of As Many Rounds As Possible, in CrossFit we call it an AMRAP; 20 sit ups, 8 burpee wall ball, 8 roll over and 6 atomic push ups. I get 6 rounds completed and after 30 minutes. My competitive boys and I come across the crazy idea of trying to establish our max kettlebell swing. I personally go for 5 swings of 30lbs, 5 swings of 40lbs, 5 swings of 50lbs and I am definitely going to go for the 5 swings of the 60lbs. Mission accomplished and I feel like a million bucks right about now. This is the first time I am ever able to swing the 60lbs kettlebell.
After a cool off mini session, I coach the 8pm class and I am not home until 9:40pm. At home I make myself a mix of steam carrots, broccoli and have some baked chicken, a glass of coconut water since I've sweat a ton today and aside from being delicious it hydrates my muscles. It's way too late, I am exhausted, I need a shower and my bed asap.

Day 5 of 42

Happy Eater to everyone that celebrates this day! I do and in a special way. I have planned to go to church at 8am with my family and meet up with other family members for brunch at 11:30am. A lot of you that I coach and work out with me have expressed some concern for not being able to cook at home. I understand you, however I must say to you that there are healthy choices in most restaurants menus. I love the taste of my own food and have been very committed to cooking for my family ever since I got married 15 years ago, I just make it a priority and therefore it happens! Moving on, I took a bottle of water with me and had an apple with a handful of tangerines before I left my house. I was rushing out as I usually am. By the time I make it to the restaurant I was very hungry and luckily they had a table for us within 10 minutes upon our arrival. In the meantime, I ordered a glass of orange juice. Time to order, I look at the menu and I go for the 2 scrambled eggs, sliced tomatoes and orange wedges. It comes out with 2 toasts but I only eat one and I make sure it's whole wheat. I drink a glass of water and today I am not even tempted to drink a mimosa, which is pretty strange. Hahahaha!

We leave by 12:30 and we need to prepare ourselves and our house for our special guests. We are having my mom, step-father, father-in-law and a few more family members come over for dinner; it's a double celebration because we will also celebrate my father-in-law's birthday; which also means we must make a stop at our favorite local market and get a cake. We grab the cake, a bottle of wine and a few other things to make sure we have the most pleasant evening.
I'm home and my guest are going to be knocking on my door by 5pm. I need to move quickly, I light up scented candles and start preparing the meat. Everyone arrives on time and while I waited for them I had some peanuts, about 2 handfuls and NOT salted. We are a Latin family and my family loves to keep it traditional so this evening in honor of the birthday boy a cooked a typical Panamenian arroz con coco, (rice with coconut) that I learned to cook many years ago with my mother in law. My husband is bar b quing some skirt steak, not the leanest steak but their favorite one and it's not about us today. I make a tomato and onion salad with a parsley and basil dressing. Can't forget, also on the grill some yellow plantains. They like it fried but we can compromise, I do not deep fry anything at all! For occasions like this one it's about portion control, I am satisfied with a small, very small scoop of rice, a 6oz steak portion and my salad. I skip the plantain!
Time for the cake, I literally had about a 2x2 piece of cake. Again, I had no alcohol, instead I had about 4 ounces of pure grape juice.
It was a fabulous evening, I thank God every time we get together for blessing us with each individual family member. I know from experience we never know when we will celebrate together again and I like to express my love and appreciation for them while they are alive.
They are gone, I am cleaning my kitchen. I want to go to bed, tomorrow is Monday and usually a very busy day for me. I have another glass of water and my last Omega complex pill. I needed this day.....

Day 4 of 42

Saturday, my favorite day of the week! The box is supposed to be closed today but I will go do my very own WOD. Can't go 2 days in a row without WODing, specially now that I've got to win this challenge. I am up by 8am, drink a tall glass of water and take my daily multi vitamin, I don't think I had shared that and I can't leave anything out for those of you who are following me. I also take a Triple Omega complex (Fish, Flaxseed, Safflower & Olive Oils), I take this 3 meals. I eat an apples, tangerines and grapes salad with a tablespoon of greek yogurt over it and head out. My WOD is 50 Box Jumps (20" height), 50 dead lifts (145lbs) and 50 double unders jump rope for time. I try to move fast and efficiently and finish my WOD in 16:12 minutes. Prior to this WOD, I did a 20 minutes stretch followed by a mile run as a warm up. I leave the gym thinking I've moved faster in this very same WOD in the past.... something tells me I am still a bit fatigued. I am taking tomorrow off!!!

I am going to meet up with m sister-in-law to take our children Easter Egg Hunting today, woooohoooo!! We get to the place to find out the egg hunt ended at 11:30, kind of early. Oh well, let's go to the mall and buy a nice blouse, tomorrow is Easter and we have to go to church. I am trying to look sharp for the occasion and get those Easter baskets filled with many goodies. On my way to the mall I pass by my local coffee shop, order a skinny latte and two boiled eggs with of course, no yolks at all this time. Out at the mall I purchase a bottle of water to drink as I am browsing, find my perfect blouse and by now we have to eat our lunch. It took an hour for the perfect blouse to become my own. At the mall there are many unhealthy choices but the are a very few that could be the right lunch for me, I decide to go for a Crepe filled with Romaine lettuce, chicken breast, I ask the guy making it not to put any sauce at all and instead give me extra tomatoes and sprinkle with tiny bit of feta cheese. That's my lunch with a bottle of water. I go back to complete my Easter shipping and within the next 30 minutes I am done. I go to my mom's house again because they are bar b quing some steak and I am not planning to cook tonight. I try to cook from Sunday through Thursday, I think I deserve to take Friday and Saturday off the kitchen; for dinner that is......
At my beloved mother's house I eat my grilled steak and a salad with lots of lettuce, some onions, corn and by now you've figured I love tomatoes. I think I can eat them the same way you'd eat an apple.
I drink a 100% juice mixed with some vegetables made by a popular brand (4 ounces) and after that, I am ready to go home. In the comfort of my home I am so happy, I have everything I need. Most of all, I have good health and my children who are also healthy, what else can a person ask for?
I get the baskets ready and by 9:30pm I am already ready to go to bed. I have an 8oz glass of milk as my treat and off to bed. Zzzzz......

Day 3 of 42

Thank Heaven today is Friday! If you are feeling like me then you are a little bit tired from your routines, however I push through because otherwise I will disappoint myself and that is a very unpleasant feeling to me. I like to know that no matter what I gave the best of me. I am up today by 8am it's Good Friday so the 6 and 7am classes are scheduled to begin at 9am instead. I drink my tall glass of water, espresso coffee, and grab an orange to head out. Today I am going to try to WOD in the morning hours; I have plans to get my hair done. My warm up is 200 single jump ropes really trying to not stop in between but my body is pretty fatigued and I am only able to jump an average of 55 at a time. This feeling is frustrating and I know to listen to my body. I complete all 200 repetitions, decide to do a mobility WOD instead. If you have not done a good mobility WOD, you are in deficit. I find it necessary, again because I push as hard as my body allows me and I am bound to get stiff muscles now and then. Let's go into the mobility WOD. I go against the wall, leaving a 2 inch gap, I place my feet on the wall and push my hips in. I hold this movement for at least 10 minutes. I do a few more range of motions to release the tension from my muscles, specifically targeting my quads and get going. Now that I know I am going to be on the road most of the day I eat 4 boiled eggs, only 1 yolk, drink green tea and take my apple with me; to the salon I go. By the time my manicure, pedicure are done I eat my apple before we move on to the hair. I know that process will take longer and I am not willing to skip my snack.
It's noon time now, I am done and just on time to have my lunch. Right next door to the salon, there is a grocery store where I bought 2 cans of tuna and toast crackers. I go visit my mother and make my tuna with NO mayo but instead use a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, chop an onion and dice an entire tomato. I place a scoop on my crackers and it is a delicious lunch. The question is how much of the tuna did I eat? I ate all of it, alone! Both cans! I almost forgot to mention while at the grocery store I also bought a Superfood drink and had it with my lunch. After being with my mom for a couple hours I head home and by 4pm I've already have 3 bottles of water and about to go coach so I take another bottle with me. Fridays the last class I coach ends by 7:30pm, this gives me time to go back home and get ready for a fun weekend. This evening we are being invited to a birthday party and we have made arrangements to attend. I eat a handful of peanuts and start getting ready; party starts at 8:30pm and since I know we normally run out of energy by midnight I need to get there as soon as possible. Off to the party we go.... I'm there, spot the waitress first thing I order is a glass of water and although it may not make sense to you; I am also ordering a martini. From time to time a little bit of alcohol assists me in making sense out of non-sense. Get it? Alright, my significant other orders wings and I am eating about 10 of those, plain and grilled of course, a side of carrot sticks and celery NO dipping sauce. Party is getting nice, I am pretty tempted to order another martini but my commitment is greater than my temptation so I will order some fish tacos with no sour cream. For dessert, of course a had about a 2X2 inch portion of cake and let's call this a night. My energy by 11:45 is gone, where is my honey? I gotta go home!

Day 2 of 42

Thank God! Today, my wonderful husband took the early morning shift and coached the 6 and 7am classes for me. By 8am I had our breakfast ready to go, an oatmeal I make with skim milk. Also, please note that I buy the oatmeal from scratch, not the bags in the box. I've already had a tall glass of water so I am having a cup of coffee (the 4oz cup) with my breakfast. For snack, at 11am I ate chunks of fresh pineapples; aside from being a sweet treat, pineapples naturally detoxes our body from toxins. Be really cautious of the amount you take though, I am only having about 6 of those chunks, yeah with another glass of water. Feeling refreshed? I thought so!
I already told you guys I get my lunch delivered to me, so by 12pm I am not hungry so I've put it away for 1:30pm and it is a baked chicken tight and leg beautifully garnished with fresh parsley, yet another detoxifier which supports the immune system when it's fresh. They also sent me a cup of lentils and lots of steamed veggies (carrots, squash and cauliflower). I am going to have to tip these people well because they are doing a great job with my lunches! Eating healthy was never so fabulous!! Right?
Although, I am not a big fan of supplements or protein bars, I really prefer to eat my protein from the natural source sometimes it is just not possible due to time and remember I did tell you on day1 day preparation would be a key component to our success. So, I've bought myself a few bars for days like today, I have to take my daughter to a doctor's appointment and that means I will be out. Therefore, I take a bar with me and by 3pm that's what I am having. Have you noticed that we are eating more and never hungry? A glass of water when I come home and ready to go aaaand WOD!
5pm sharp at my box, my warm up, I am trying to improve to the amount of push ups I can do at once so I go for 20 in a row. Going all the way on your chest and all the way to fully extending your arm and please do NOT do the worm. After 30 seconds, I go for 25, another 30 seconds of rest and I go for 30 in a row. Yessss! I got this!! I move on to another exercise that I want to master, toe to bar, I will start to upload videos so if you are not currently at a CrossFit box you learn what these moves are. I go for as many as I can do without letting go off the bar. the first one I do 8, raising my feet all the way up and my toes actually touch the bar. The second attempt, I am able to do 6, my third attempt I do 7, fourth and fifth still stuck in 7. I gotta video myself to analyze why I am not able to get more.  Now, I look at the white board and the WOD is 4 rounds of 2 minutes max snatches, 2 minutes rest in between each round. I'm down! I love snatches. I used to not like them but that was back when I wasn't getting a good understanding of this Olympic move. Now, I got it so it became one of my favorites. I am going to go for 65lbs because I am anticipating doing lots of repetitions. I ended up getting a total of 68 and my arms are completely on fire.

I coach someone for about 30 minutes or so and do a mini WOD of my own with her. Grab a kettlebell (20lbs) and swing it but from an angle. I made a video, no worries.... you'll see what I mean. I push to do 3 rounds of 10 on each side within a few minutes. Now, I am done. I want to go home and cook. I am baking a whole chicken, and also in the oven ripe plantain, yellow peppers and zucchini. I cut half of the breast portion of my yummy baked chicken, put on my plate a half of a half of that plantain, some zucchini and peppers. Drink 4oz of pure grape juice and it's a wrap. I need some precious rest.

Although we will NOT be measuring ourselves or getting on that scale daily I want to show your as I progress from how I am right now. As you begin your journey, I would highly recommend you measure yourself too.

Day 1 of 42

My day starts early, about 5:40am so by 7:30am I've already had a bottle of water and ready to make my breakfast. Today, I am having 3 eggs, 2 whites and I like some color so I mix only 1 yolk. I have prepared for my entire week and since I do cook about 80% of what I eat you'll quickly learn that preparation is key. I've decided to make an omelet filled with basil and topped with tomatoes. I only use some drops of extra virgin olive oil for it not to stick to the pan. I would not use butter at all if I were you either. I drink about 4 ounces of orange juice and have my favorite energy drink..... an espresso. Now, I feel ready! By 11am I've had an apple and another 4 ounces of water. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I think that's an accurate statement, I have not been ill in so long, I can't even remember. Ok, so it's 12:30pm and I have somewhere to be, I am one very busy woman so what I've done is contracted a company that delivers my lunches daily. It takes that out of my busy schedule; today they delivered a very lean steak topped with grilled onions, baked zucchini wedges and a cup of lentil soup, again I had a glass of water with a lemon wedge. If you've noticed I drink lots of water, it is essential for me. I work out and sweat so much my body asks me for it, you should not substitute water for any other fluid. It is of the essence, ok...enough said. It's 3pm and I do like some sweets so I grabbed my favorite greek yogurt and a fig cookie (ONLY 1), I crumbled it into the yogurt and that's my second snack of the day. 5pm it's fun time again, I gotta have my favorite energy drink, another espresso for me. We go to our box (CrossFit Gym) to work out (WOD). I hardly ever write my own WODs, I have a great coach, however today I will mix it up since after all, this challenge is against him, LOL. It takes some time for my energy to peak but by the time I'm done with stretching 6pm I'm very ready to WOD. Today my warm up was 3 rounds of 25 squats and 25 split lounges, this took me about 3 minutes to complete. The I grabbed a 15lbs medicine ball, a 20lbs and a 30lbs weighted bag which we call the Gucci bag. You feel some sense of pride after you run with it and if you are wondering what they are for, yes I will sprint 200 meters carrying them, first I went with no weight, that took me 36 seconds, the 2nd I carried the 15lbs and it took me 38 secs, 3rd with the 20lbs took me 38 secs and the 30lbs took me 46 secs. I go again with no weight and managed to do in 36 seconds, there is about a minute rest in between each sprint. I will always post my times to give you a clear idea of where you should be. Not for you to try to compete with me, more like compete with yourself, it is what I do every time I WOD. Once I am done with the sprints I go inside and wait for my work out buddy Alina, we are going to hit some fronts squats. Alina is the squat master I am excited to get to it. We are trying to reach our personal best so we do 2 at 65lbs, 2 at 95, 2 at 100lbs and me I am stuck at 115lbs so I do 2 and another 2 to finalize it, yes Alina moves on to 145lbs. Can't wait to be able to do that weight myself! Grrrrrrr!!!
Immediately after we join a group that is outside pulling the maximum weight they can establish in 10 minutes. I pulled 195lbs and go back inside to now do some planks. Here we go, we do one plank for 1 minute, wait 30 seconds in between and do a 1.5 minute, wait 30 secs, do another 1 minute and after the last 30 secs we do a 2 minute plank. Hold it! We always manage to hold it.... For the grand finale we turn around and do 100 flutter kicks. Wow!!! It was a nice WOD!!! Water please!!!

This WOD took me about an hour, I never spend more time than that unless I am training for a Triathlon. I get home to cook the last meal of my day and today's menu is a salad (spinach) topped with a grilled steak, sauteed onions, peppers (yellow and green), some dried apples all dressed with extra virgin olive oil and some vinegar. I also had a glass of 4 ounces of pure grape juice and today it's a wrap.
Hope I was detailed enough for you guys, I am an armature writer and wish your success just as much as I wish mines. I realize however that the only thing I can't give you is the burning desire for wanting this as much I you need to want it for yourself.
Hope you stay tuned!

Challenge Get Your Abs in 6 Weeks

Welcome to my journey! I will be posting as I go. First, let me tell you that just because I have been an avid athlete for the past year and a half does not mean I concentrate in my abdominal area. In fact, I barely train just abs. I will let you know that I love a challenge because I am one competitive girl and that is precisely why I challenge this one guy (Alexis), to who would get more defined abs in 6 weeks. Tomorrow, I will post a picture of how my abs currently look and and exact measurement of my waist line. How does that sound?
Would you like to do my exact routine and eat exactly what I eat in order to get yours?
If so, join me! I am excited for both, your gain as well as mines! Because I am bound to win my challenge!