Accountability and expectations go hand in hand. Others hold me accountable for the expectations I have set for myself and some that I have yet to set. There are certain people in my life that hold me to a higher standard than I hold for myself and that pushes me to continue to do more, be better, and not to quit.
My hobby/passion/me-time is (obviously) CrossFit. CrossFit for me is the time that I have set aside to do something just for me. I don;t spend my weekends shopping or getting mani/pedis, so I make the most of this me-time and am adamant that I do not miss a day. It is my time to socialize and better myself.
It is easy to want to sleep in when the kids have been up and down all night or when your body just doesn’t feel like moving. Teaching is exhausting, small kids are exhausting, working out is exhausting. One of those things I can quit and give myself a break, and it sure isn’t my job…but I don’t quit. When I was pregnant with Scarlett, several people told me that the gym would no longer be an option. Wrong.
If you quit going, it is so much harder to get started back and you are letting your people down. You know those people that you form a bond with, but you barely say two words to. The people you give the look of ‘holy crap this sucks’ as you are on your last round. The suffer together mentality really brings you close to people, even if you hardly speak.
Those are YOUR people, whether you have come to realize it or not.
I love when summer comes around and I get to sleep in and go to the 7 o’clock class, but that isn’t MY class. I am like a visitor when I go to an afternoon class. They know me and I know them, but it just isn’t the same as working out with those people that you suffer with on a regular basis. Those people that have cheered you on through a PR, seen you fail a million times, and ran with you in the dark even when they didn’t want to so you wouldn’t be alone, are YOUR people.
Maybe it is a 5 a.m. class thing or a CrossFit thing. Let’s face it we all must really want to be there if we are getting up before 5 a.m., tip-toeing around the house in the pitch-black dark eating oatmeal and getting dressed, for the torture that awaits us.
These are the people that keep me coming back. I have the drive to go, but knowing that there are others that count on me to be there, gives me that extra push.
One of our members recently said she was only planning on coming 3 days a week. That was until the people in her class kept saying ‘see you there tomorrow’, asking if she was going to the class the next day or asking where were she was yesterday. Her people got her there more often and she was so grateful for it. Those kind of comments can dig at you and make you feel like you HAVE to be there for them. There is no way the class can function without you there, right? RIGHT. 100%. RIGHT.
You might be doing an individual workout, but it is still a group workout. Once you sign up for CrossFit, you are signing up to be apart of a family. Some family members come and go, but even the slowest, fastest, oldest, youngest, mediocre, athlete-level members are crucial to your class. It isn’t always the most fit person in the class that pushes you and keeps you coming back.
People expect things from you. Sometimes they are expecting you to be late (again). Sometimes they are expecting you to PR when you just aren’t feeling it. Sometimes they just expect you to be there. These expectations are what drives me to push even when I don’t want to.
A coach might not think I need to do the Rx weight and that pushes me to do it anyway. Someone in the gym might make a comment about how well I do a movement or how fast I am, on a day that I don’t even want to be there. That pushes me to do it faster and better than before.
When someone is holding you to a higher expectation than you hold for yourself, there is pressure to meet that expectation. Some people might cave under the pressure and quit, but others will rise to the occasion and give it their all. I might fail at the Rx weight, but all I can do is try. I might not be the first finished in the workout, but I completed it. In the end, it is not about where you placed on the white board, but the fact that you went. You held up your end of an unspoken deal you have with your fellow crossfitters.
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Stuffed Pork Loin + Roasted Vegetables
Pork Loin Chops + Spinach Eggplant Feta
BBQ Tacos
Chicken Breast + Sauteed Zucchini with Mint & Basil
Stuffed Pork Loin + Roasted Vegetables
Roasted vegetables have become our best friend around here since Josh is on week 4 of his cut. His cut has consisted of him slowly, every two weeks, cutting down the amount of calories he is taking in. Right now he is down to 1,900 calories a day. Roasted vegetables are great because of the mass amount you can eat without consuming too many calories.
I am going to roast zucchini and squash, flipping them half way through so they crisp on both sides, sweet potatoes, and brussel sprouts.
This pork loin is so simple and healthy. Pork, spinach, pine nuts, and mushrooms is all you need for a delicious pork loin that still makes you feel like you just created something restaurant worthy. I love to make a pear, blue cheese stuffed pork loin, but alas that is not on the “cut-diet plan” right now. Make sure when you cut your pork loin you cut it just big enough to fit into your skillet so you can brown it on each side before putting into the oven. I am going to skip the pine nuts in this recipe for now, so I don’t break Josh’s calorie intake for the day.
I like to eat my most difficult and “restaurant worthy” meals on Sunday. This prevents me from heating up the meat twice and allows us to enjoy it when it is fresh.
This is a new recipe for me, but it reminds me of a mix between past bowls I have cooked and the coconut curry paste I have been making lately.
I have never used green curry paste before but this bowl sounds delicious. I can’t say I am a tofu fan (I can’t imagine finding tofu in Moultrie, Ga anyway), so I am going to use a mixture of shrimp and chicken breast to give it some variety and flavor.
The original recipe uses 3 cans of coconut milk (eyes popping out of my head), that is a lot of fat. I am going to use one can of lite coconut milk and add in chicken or vegetable broth to make the dish more soupy if I do not like the consistency. She suggests using brown sugar to top the dish off, but I will be skipping that as well.
I am going to put in a decent amount of broccoli, more than the sweet potatoes and rice so that it is filling without giving Josh too many calories.
Pork Loin Chops + Spinach Eggplant Feta
I love eggplant. I never thought I would be much of an eggplant fan, but man the eggplant tomato recipe I had last week just confirmed it all over again. The only sad part is how much water the eggplant loses when you roast it. I can start out with a pile of eggplant and it will turn into 1 cup of cooked eggplant. (This is why it is important to weigh/measure foods before you cook them.)
We used non-fat feta a few weeks ago and I could not tell the difference between it and the regular feta. Since I am really watching how many calories a dish has for Josh (any myself) the fat is very important. Fat contains 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs only carry 4 calories per every gram. It is very easy to overdo it on the fat, when you are using a lot of invisible fats (oils) in your dressings, oiling your pan, etc.
The pork chops are very simple and can be done when you are meal prepping. We like to use Tony Chachere’s seasoning and bake them in the oven at 425 degrees to temperature.
BBQ Tacos
We are helping host a baby shower this weekend and BBQ is one of the dishes being served. This made me want our tried and true BBQ tacos. These tacos are so easy to make and healthy. The Mexican green sauce, literally has nothing in it and adds so much flavor. The high fiber, low carb tortilla shells do not have many carbs and you can load up on the pork (yum!).
I saute 2 green bell peppers, 2 red bell peppers, onion, and garlic with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. After you have cooked your BBQ meat (we like to cook our boston butt in the crock-pot), simply mix the meat and a jar of green sauce in a skillet and warm up before serving.
I typically eat about half a pound of BBQ in one sitting. For this meal I will fill-up my taco and have some meat on the side to avoid going back for another tortilla.
Chicken Breast + Sauteed Zucchini with Mint & Basil
Here is my repeated ingredient for the week. I like to repeat ingredients during my week, like this zucchini and squash, so that I am quickly chopping up the same item. In doing this, it saves me time from cleaning cutting boards and/or knives, and allows me to get the majority of my vegetables cut without stopping. Prepping for meals, sometimes takes longer than the actual cook time of the meals. If you can cut down on your prep time for meals, you will be saving yourself a lot of headache and time.
I love this dish because it is a great twist on your basic sauteed zucchini and squash. I am not a fan of the soggy zucchini, squash, and onion mixture. I want my food to have lots of flavor and this one does it for me.
I am going to skip the pine nuts since they do not make or break this dish, and I am watching the fat content of all my recipes lately to make this cut easier for Josh to obtain.
Don’t forget the list!
