Over the years, I’ve learned to think of my body as a science experiment. Our bodies are constantly changing along with our environments, so if we want a certain something, we have to experiment with everything else to get it right. I’ve talked about this before and I’m going through it once again. For me, I don’t want to get a whole lot stronger because when I get stronger, I get bigger. And when I say this, please don’t take it offensively. This has nothing to do with anyone else or anyone else’s size. I just honestly don’t want my legs or my shoulders to get bigger. But with CrossFit, and especially right now at my gym since we are in a strength cycle, putting on extra mass is pretty easy for me because I still get excited about getting stronger. I get excited about my lifts getting better and my engine increasing, but then I look in the mirror and I’m not content with what I see.
This isn’t me crying about my weight or complaining I’m not skinny enough. I’ve been there, I’ve done that. Nowadays, I just begin to assess what I’ve been doing lately to gain weight or mass:
- Am I lifting more?
- Am I not taking enough rest days?
- Am I going heavier in my metcons?
- Am I eating more than I usually do?
I go through all these thoughts and start figuring out what has changed and what factors need to be altered to still be happy both physically and mentally. Since we are in a strength cycle at our gym and constantly increasing weights, I had to pull aside the coach and let him know that that’s not something I want to do. I have also decided that for a while now I’m going to mix in some different workouts and try new things to see how my body reacts to it. That means I’ll probably do a CrossFit class, then a Fit class then a Barre class and I may start adding in some yoga. I like being more muscular because I prefer that look and since CrossFit has helped me gain more muscle than I would have ever gained doing anything else, now I am able to manipulate those muscles more and challenge them in different ways. Such as Barre class, which I’m absolutely loving even though it is completely different from CrossFit! I plan to change up my routine for a month or so and see what the difference is because at the end of the day, our bodies and environments are always changing, so we might at well treat them as an experiment and see what happens!
If it were years ago, I would never have been able to do this. I would have gotten frustrated and cried and just not cared enough to understand why things were changing. It’s easier to get pissed off instead of taking the time to evaluate what changes are happening and why. It’s also easier to say something doesn’t work and throw in the towel. Earlier last week, I got a little frustrated then I decided getting frustrated wouldn’t do anything. What would help is my perception on how to alter my situation. I think it’s pretty cool to be able to think of our bodies are experiments instead of things that we have no control over. Sure, we may go through things that we can’t control such as illness or stress or whatever else, but if we are able to mentally control how we see our situations and what will lead us in better directions, we are often able to feel more in control and happier with what we have now. I’m not sure if this is all making sense today, but what I’m trying to say is: remember that you can control your life, one step at a time. There are always hurdles and changes and ups and downs, but if you treat your life, body and mind as a little experiment, you will constantly open your eyes to new and exciting ways to live a healthier and happier life! Now go try new things and get excited about how you’re taking care of your body!
Sunday – Rest Day
Monday – Rest Day – 8 hour drive back home from Nebraska
Tuesday – Back at it after 4 days off!
EMOM x 12: 1 Clean & Jerk. Fist set at 65%. Add as you wish. Goal of 95%. – I got to 125#
Then 15 min AMRAP Ladder Of: (3-6-9-12-15…)
Deadlift (225/155)
Wall Ball
Pull Ups
I got 18 + 42 using 125#
Wednesday –
Back Squats: 4 x 5. All sets at 83% (15 mins) – I used 155# for 2 sets then went down to 145# for 2 sets
Then 3 Rounds For Time: (12 min time cap)
35 / 30 Cal Row
15 Thrusters (115/75)
I finished in 9:48 using 65#
Thursday – Rest day – too sore to function
Friday –
3 rounds for time (19 min time cap):
300m run
25 kettlebell swings (70/55)
60 double unders
25 burpees
Then 3 rounds of: 20 GHD sit ups and 20 jumping lunges
Then I did a Barre Forte Lohi Class!
Saturday – Fit Class
- 7 minute AMRAP warm up: 100m run, 7 goblet squats, 7 high pulls, 7 incline push ups,
- Core workout: 3×1 minute rounds: 1 minute to complete 10 floor press (with barbell or plate) and 10 wipers with weight raised over head then in the remaining minute v-ups, russian twists, and ab mat sit ups. So you’ll do 1 minute of the press, wipers then v-ups then 30 sec rest then do it with russian twists then 30 sec rest, then do it sit ups. And do that 3 times through.
- Then 5 rounds (25 minute time cap) of: (I finished 4 rounds with 3 minutes to go but had to coach so I left early)
- 400m run
- 3/3 kettlebell clean and squat – I used 35# KB
- 2 rounds of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats)
- 1 minute plank hold (I did weighted with 25# plate on my back)
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At Home/Travel Workout:
10 minute AMRAP:
20 hand release push ups
20 tuck jumps
1 minute rest
10 minute AMRAP:
20 jumping lunges
20 pike push ups
1 minute rest
10 minute AMRAP:
20 side skaters
20 bench dips
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This Pretty Blue Racerback Sports Bra (40% off)
This Comfy Tank Top (15% off)
These High Rise Shorts (33% off)
These High Waisted Leggings (33% off)
These Nike Flyknit Running Shoes (33% off)
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What I Ate in a Day:
This is what I ate on Friday! I started my day off at about 5:45am. I had a glass of cold brew coffee with some water added to it along with a splash of heavy cream and stevia extract.
After finishing up my Fashion Friday post and newsletter, I made breakfast around 7am. Breakfast sausage (find the recipe in Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook), sautéed arugula and spinach and Wildbrine kimchi. After breakfast, I took Jackson out for a little morning walk.
After going to the Social Security office to change my name, I headed to my gym to do a quick workout by myself then went to a chiropractor appointment. After that, I went to Barre Forte Lohi for a noon workout. After our workout, a friend and I grabbed bulletproof coffee at Carbon. Sooooo good. Seriously.
Usually a bulletproof coffee will hold me over for a while, but since I hadn’t eaten much, I was pretty hungry once I got home so I snacked on some Milton’s gluten free crackers (just a little bit left in the bag) and heated up one of my pancake breakfast sandwiches (they will be on the blog this week).
I worked on the blog for a while after a late lunch then took Jackson out for a long afternoon walk. Once we got back home, I made shake with frozen banana, almond milk, gelatin, unsweetened cocoa powder and maple syrup.
Since my husband tends to work pretty long hours in the summer, we don’t eat dinner until 8pm most of the time. Which means I want to eat by 6pm. I’m loving this Krave beef jerky for snacks. Yes, it has sugar in it, but I haven’t found another that I really love that doesn’t. All the others I’ve tried are SUPER chewy, like bubble gum, and I’m not a fan of beef bubble gum. So I had a couple pieces of this jerky before dinner!
For dinner, I made tacos with what I had in the fridge: Siete Foods cassava tortilla, Primal Kitchen Foods chipotle lime mayo, sautéed peppers and onions, grassfed ground beef with LOTS of spices and hot sauce, red jalapeños, lime juice, goat cheese, cilantro and homemade tomatillo salsa (which will be on the blog this week!). I was still hungry after one tacos so I ate more just without the taco shell!
If you have any questions about what I eat and why, feel free to leave them below and I’ll answer them ASAP!
Juli – You are being way nice and PC in your responses. Can we all just tell KA/Karin to GET A FREAKING LIFE!
I did crossfit for 5 years and am one of those people who pack on muscle. I decided I didn’t like the bulk so I started tapering weight. I got a lot of crap at the gym from members and coaches, we were unsupportive of my goals and talk shit if you are capable but don’t complete workouts RX. Ultimately, I quit crossfit because of it. My gym was more performance focused and I just wanted to look and feel good. I joined class pass and now love going to spin, pilates, yoga and other cardio classes. All that to say: you’re totally right, people should do what works for them and makes them happy. My diet and exercise regimen is a continual work in progress but I love the experiment and working toward being my best, even if that is different from what others think is best for me.
Juli, great post as always and love your ability to articulate a lot of what others experience. I agree it’s about experimenting and finding what works best for you. I think it’s worth mentioning that nutrition is the same. Macros, calories and type of foods eaten are going to vary from person to person depending on their metabolism, lifestyle and exercise. I love reading your What I Ate In A Day posts (please keep them up) as I love food and it gives me ideas for things I can make, but, even though I eat paleo, what I eat in a day is very different to you because my requirements are different. But like you, I don’t count calories or macros and just listen to my body, eat balanced meals and eat until I’ve had enough. Some days I eat more than others, but my weight seems to stay the same over time.
Can’t wait to see your recipe for pancake breakfast sandwiches!!!
Julie,
Can you do a blog post explaining all the crossfit terms you use? This looks like Greek, some are even worse.
EMOM x 12: 1 Clean & Jerk. Fist set at 65%. Add as you wish. Goal of 95%. – I got to 125#
This is 1 clean and jerk per minute working up to 125#
Then 15 min AMRAP Ladder Of: (3-6-9-12-15…) — What is this one?
Deadlift (225/155) — I know what deadlift is, what do the numbers mean?
Wall Ball
Pull Ups
I got 18 + 42 using 125#
Thanks.
Todd,
Ladder AMRAP means that each round you increase the reps. So the first round you do 3 reps of everything listed below, then 6 reps of everything, then 9 reps..and so on until the time runs out. The numbers are Rx, which means it’s a target weight to reach for. The first number 225 is men, and 155 is women. She didn’t use Rx, she used 125#, which shows that Rx is difficult to get to.
Hope that helps.
yes that makes much more sense.
So Julie made it to 18 reps on deadlift. What is the +42?
it means she finished the round of 18 and started in on the round of 21’s and got 21 deads, 21 wallballs and 1 pull ups. (im pretty sure that the deads and wallballs and pullups were all movements that increased by 3 with the deadlifts)
If you go to crossfit.com it does explain the lingo but..
EMOM- every minute on the minute (This particular one was for 12 minutes) Each minute you increase your workout weight until you get to 95% of your maximum weight that you can lift.
AMRAP- As many rounds as possible
When she says the Ladder of: 3, 6,9,12,….. that means you just increase your total number of reps by three. You start doing 3 deadlifts, then 3 wall balls, then three pull ups, now you move on to 6 dead lifts, 6 wall balls and 6 pull ups and so on and so on. She got 18 reps in.. so it took her 15 minutes to do 18 reps of the Deadlift, Wall Ball, and Pull Ups.
The numbers are the weight that she used. So she’s saying that she used 125 pounds for her deadlift. When she has the (225/155) that’s just the recommended weight for RX (which is what really fit Cross Fit Athletes would use) 225 pounds is for the men and 155 is for the women, so she only used 125 pounds for her deadlift which means she decided to not lift as much.
CrossFit lingo is confusing at first, however it’s great for when you want to come up with your own workouts 🙂
Thanks, Juli!
I’ve been following you for awhile and just recently started following you on Snapchat — hilllllarious. I’m dubbing you #FilterQueen. I continue to check in to your posts and newsletters because I feel like I can totally relate to some of your happenings — between CrossFit ups and downs, being an aspiring food blogger and just your overall personality — you’ve been an amazing resource for me! Thanks for keeping it light, funny and informative.
Doesn’t have to be answered now, but I’d love to know how you have (and continue to) build your business. What’re the things you’ve learned, failed at and continue to keep refining — professionally 🙂 (also, any tips on cookbook writing??)
XO! Thanks, girl!
-Katie
thewellu.com
Love this! I’m a runner and yoga enthusiast but its always good to shake things up. My little sis lives in Denver and works at this gym http://www.awakenadultgymnastics.com/ have you heard of it? Might be another fun thing for you to try. Keep on keeping on!
Thank you for posting this Juli! I completely get what you’re saying about not wanting to get “bigger” and I feel the same way. I started crossfit about a year ago but really started to see the changes recently. I was super skinny before, so obviously I needed to put on a bit of muscle, but now I’m at a point where I want to maintain (sculpt a wee bit) and not gain. You look amazing and I would love to be as lean and cut as you. Goals!! Happy I am stronger but I don’t need to win any competitions 😉
Double thanks for the at home/travel workouts because I’m going on holiday in 2 weeks, for 2 weeks without access to crossfit/weights and I’m not about to do nothing for that entire trip.
cheers!
Miranda
I saw from IG you are at Carbon a lot….I work right across the street and have been hoping to bump into you one day…Love your blog, posts, recipes, and personality! I have been doing Barre Code on Larimer, but will have to try Barre LoHi sometime. Have an awesome day, thanks for great content! – Kristie
i was just there today after my barre class! seriously love that coffee shop!
Hey Juli,
Your posts are always a beautiful inspiration to me. I’ve been a big fan f your website, and love using the recipes in your cookbooks.
I feel in a similar position, and don’t know what to do:
When I was stressed out, sedentary and only eating junk food I was underweight and looking awesome- ‘skinny-fat.’
I’ve been currently super hooked into Muay Thai, and I’ve been trying to follow a Paleo/Primal diet, but since then I’m hungry all day long, crave sugar like crazy, and have been gaining weight.
Obviously, I’m gaining healthy muscle, but I’m not burning fat, so I’m looking bulky.
Any suggestions on how to get rid of this body fat and look ‘cut’ and leaner?
Between running and Muay Thai, I work out 6 days a week 🙂
Thank you or your books, website and positivity,
Amanda 🙂
from the sounds of it, i’m guessing you’re eating too much sugar if you’re craving it. getting cut or lean usually starts more so with the food. if i’m craving sugar and know i shouldn’t be eating it, i try to eat some protein and fat and the craving usually fades
Hey Juli,
Thank you very much much for the tip, I will work on it. I guess that banana for breakfast is not the way to go for me 🙂
Does your gym do endurance classes? After my monthly crossfit membership there really isn’t room in the budget for more/different classes. About a year ago my box started adding in endurance classes. I have been going to only endurance classes for the last few months and really like the way I feel. I get competitive and try to lift more and more and then end up with an injured back. Endurance classes are heavier on running (hate it which means I need to do it and get better) and non barbell movements (or rarely barbell workouts. I’ve leaned out a little bit and the longer workouts 20 – 30 minutes have been great for my endurance/cardio.
our gym has a separate gym called FIT which is more HIIT style workouts and the weekends are usually endurance!
I love this post. I feel like there is not a place for me at crossfit anymore. I left my gym of 4.5 years which makes me sad but I just don’t want all that muscle. My gym in particular was focusing too heavily on short met cons with heavy weights. I love long endurance wods and running. I don’t want to look like the girls who compete in the games. It’s just a general bummer for me because I do like the community and competitive aspect.