Good morning and happy Monday out there! Hopefully you slept well last night and are feeling ready for a productive week! I know I did and now I’m prepped and ready to take on a short week here at home before I head to Montreal on Wednesday for the rest of the week! So excited to go to Canada for the first time!!
Since I mentioned sleep, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to talk a little bit about it. Because even though more and more people are truly understanding the importance of sleep, it’s still forgotten about or often joked about. Here in America, sleep is often looked at as a weakness in a way. I’ll hear people at the gym talking about how little sleep they got but then mention how they still made it to the gym. And that’s truly not something to brag about. Believe me, I use to be that person. I was working at 5 CrossFit gyms at one point while running my blog, so I would get home until 9, I would work on my blog until 11 then I would go to bed by 12 and wake back up by 4am. And I would do multiple workouts throughout the day. Well you know what happened to me? Elevated cortisol levels and adrenal fatigue.
If you don’t know it already, sleep is incredibly important. And if you’re not sleeping well or just not allowing yourself to get enough sleep in, your body will fight back. Your body will either gain weight or hold onto extra weight, your work will suffer, and your body will be fighting some major issues inside that you don’t even know about until later. And as you hopefully know by now, getting enough rest in so your muscles can heal is incredibly important for recovery and improvement in the gym.
The point is, if you’re not sleeping, you’re not healing. If you’re not healing, you’re not progressing. If you’re working out hard, you probably want to see progression. So reevaluate your sleep schedule and figure out what you need to do differently to help your body turn off and sleep longer. Here are a few things I do to keep a 7-8 hour sleep schedule every night –
- Turn off screens an hour before bed.
- I like to use the f.lux app on my computer to turn the screen a yellow/orange color that’s easier on my eyes.
- I also do this on my phone by going into display->and turning on night shift
- Read a book before bed. This helps distract me from work and ideas that may keep me up at night.
- Take a magnesium supplement. I like Natural Calm to help with sleep.
These three simple things always get me back on track to a good night sleep if I’m having any issues. So get to sleeping, get to healing, and get ready to wake up motivated every day!
Sunday – Rest Day
Monday – CrossFit Broadway Class
Deadlift: 3 x 5. All sets at 70% with a 3 sec descent and reset. (12 mins) – I worked at 140#
Then 12 min AMRAP OF:
- 60 DU
- 15 Thrusters (95/65)
- 7 Burpee Pull Ups
I got 4 rounds + 7 double unders using 55#
Tuesday – CrossFit Broadway Class
OH Squats: 13 mins to find a heavy 3 – I worked up to 80#
Then 5 Rounds For Time: (13 min cap)
- 200m Run
- 10 Power Snatch (115/75)
I finished in 9:53 at 55#
Wednesday – CrossFit Broadway Class
EMOM x 14: 1 Squat Clean – First set at 60%, add as you wish – I worked up to 140#
Then 9 min AMRAP OF:
- 5 Power Clean (185/125)
- 5-10-15-20-25-30…. Wall Ball
I finished the set of 30 wall balls then got 13 more reps total using 85# and 14#
Thursday – CrossFit Broadway Class
Every 2 mins x 16 mins Alternating:
- 18/14 cal Bike then Max T2B in remainder of time
- 18/14 cal Row then Max HSPU in remainder of Time (Kipping allowed)
* score is total T2B and HSPU combined – I got 90 reps doing T2B and strict DB press
Then 6 min AMRAP OF:
- 14 Alt DB Snatch (50/35)
- 1 Legless Rope Climb
I got 5 rounds + 7 snatch using 30# and doing rope pulls
Friday – Rest Day/Traveling to Seattle
Saturday – Rest Day/Traveling back to Denver
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Once I woke up, I started my day off how I always do – with coffee at 6am. I made a hot cup of coffee with a tablespoon or so of heavy cream, some liquid stevia and a heaping tablespoon of collagen.
Before my 9am workout, I had a small bowl of chia seed pudding (new recipe coming soon) with ungranola, cacao nibs, and organic peanuts.
About an hour my workout, I had 1/2 a Picnik butter coffee.
For lunch, I made a rotisserie chicken in my air fryer then made a curry with Mike’s Organic Curry Paste, red bell pepper, onion, and coconut milk.
For a snack later on, I had 2 small pancakes made from Bob’s Red Mill paleo pancake mix.
Then later on, I had a handful of Lesser Evil Paleo Puffs.
And for dinner, I had potatoes cooked in the air fryer, an arugula salad with apples tossed in olive oil and lemon juice, then Shelton’s meatballs cooked in Rao’s marinara sauce.
Check Out The Items I Keep on Hand to Eat Healthy Throughout the Day
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Hey Juli-
I just wanted to tell you how awesome I think your blog is. I’ve been a reader for about four years now. I used to struggle with over exercising and restrictive eating and have come a long way since those days….with the help of your blog. I tend not to read a lot of healthy living blogs because so many lead me down the path of comparison and feeling bad about myself. But you have such a great and balanced approach that I love reading your blog!! Totally random comment and not really related to your post but keep doing what you’re doing girl because you do make a difference and we need your healthy message out there 🙂
wow that’s so cool to hear! i never want a female to feel bad in any way when they read my blog, even when i’m a real b*tch at times, so it’s really cool to hear that from someone! so glad you’ve stuck around this long!
I love reading your weekly updates! It keeps motivated to continue my health journey. And not I want an air fryer, sounds like a great way to make some healthy dishes.
i’m obsessed with mine now!
I can’t wait to see your recap of Montreal. We’re thinking of going there in October and I’m looking for some recommendations!
can’t wait to share my experience there!
Hi Juli! First of all, thanks for being awesome! I love reading your blog and feel like we are friends (haha, I totally talk about you like ‘oh Juli from paleomg said this’). Second of all, sleep is totally important and more people need to recognize it and talk about it! I am always the person leaving the party/gathering at 9pm because it’s my bedtime. And my friends just don’t get it.
Hi Julie!
Do you drink those picnic butter coffees plain without adding anything? I recently bought some but I find them so gross I had to add stevia!
i do! i didn’t like it first but i came to like it over time. but add your stevia girl!
Hi Juli
first: I love reading your weekly letters, they keep me motivated to go to the gym and keep trying to eat lean and clean. I learn different tips from your blog ….like collagen powder…great, love it, put it in my tea.
next: I love your puppy and I love to see pics of you and your baby.
last: Enjoy your trip to Canada, my daughter was in Montreal last weekend and she never went to the Schwartz. Go, apparently it’s very good, very popular, the Rolling Stones go there when they are around
Thanks for your weekly updates
thanks for the love Colleen! so glad you enjoy these posts!
Juli – where do you get your loop bands? and what resistance?
thanks! 🙂
Cheryl
i like alexia clark bands! and i use different resistance depending on the workout i’m doing, but hers come in a pack of 3 so you can pick and choose!