Wod #1
Burpee Broad Jump “Diane”
21-15-9
Deadlift-#130
Burpee Broad Jump
Time- 6:26
Wod #2
Clean & Jerk Ladder
Starts at 65…
Max-#130
Wod #3
3 Rounds
50 Singles
15 OVH Squat-#55
Time-6:20
Wod #4 (Championship)
1000m Row
25 HRPU
50 Kettle Bell Swings-#25
50m Farmers Carry-#20
50 Box Jumps
50m Farmers Carry-#20
50 Kettle Bell Swings-#25
25 HRPU
1000m Row
Time- 19:55
WOD #1-
21 – 15 – 9
Front Squat- 65#
Jump Pull Ups
My Time- 3:58
WOD #2-
DB Snatch Ladder- 15# – 20# – 25# – 30# – 35# – 40# – 45#
3 Hand Release Push-ups must be completed before snatch attempt
Example: 3 HRPU, then 1 Right arm snatch then 1 Left arm snatch.
WOD #3-
20 Burpees
20 Knees to Elbows
Overhead Oar Run (Run with Lifeguard oar over your head)
15 Burpees
15 Knees to Elbows
Overhead Oar Run
10 Burpee
10 Knees to Elbows
Overhead Oar Run
My time- 7:34
WOD #1
7 Min AMRAP
Thrusters-45#
Box Jumps
2-2, 4-4, 6-6, 10-10, 12-12….
WOD #2
10 Min AMRAP
10 Jump Pull ups
20 Burpees
90 Single Unders
40 Wall balls-10#
50 Kettle bell swings-26#
then max reps of clean and jerk-65#
WOD #3
Dead lift ladder
-15 bars (65#-205#)
I placed 18th in this competition out of 64 women in New Jersey. This was my first competition and will certainly not be my last. The adrenalin that pumps through my body during these WODs, is almost unbearable. The first WOD had me so tired out, but I found the strength to complete the next two. I practiced the first WOD three times, and never felt winded. But during the competition I was exhausted. I think the heat of the moment got into my head. I never felt more determined to complete a WOD. It was an awesome experience, and I met some amazing women. I am so grateful that I was able to experience a CrossFit competition. I am already signed up for two more competitions. Keep calm and CrossFit on!
This pageant year I am bringing my platform “Strong is the New Skinny” to the stage. I can’t wait to see what this pageant year has to bring.
Strength comes from every hurdle we have to jump, every corner we have to turn, and every obstacle that comes in our way. Women today, are constantly bombarded with incredibly unhealthy ideas about beauty, and this causes a direct conflict with their health. The media is sending messages that everyone should have perfectly flat stomachs, or inner thighs that are 5 inches apart. Should a women ever be able to open her own jar of canned goods? The media would say no, that’s what men are for. The sad truth is, the media industry is displaying “healthy” wrong. Strong is healthy, weak is not. My platform, Strong is the New Skinny, is designed to encourage women to disregard everything the media has ever said about the “ideal” body, and encourage them to become strong physically and mentally. My platform promotes self confidence and teaches women to love themselves inside and out.
As someone who has had low self-esteem, I know that many other women face this too. Low self esteem has negatively affected my life by making it hard for me to be completely comfortable with myself. As a woman, I was greatly impacted by the media allowing us to focus on our outer beauty rather than our inner beauty. I found that women focus on a low number on the scale, spending time dying their hair, adding botox to their faces, and defying their age rather than embracing it. I am changing the way that women think and feel about themselves by blogging about my experiences.
In today’s society, communities use the web, via emails, social networking, blogs, and forums to communicate. I use a blog called “Strong is the New Me” to spread awareness of my platform. I write inspiring information on how I have concurred my struggles, and have become strong mentally and physically. I also write about women, and how they should disregard how society sees them. If you want to become strong in the face of life problems, then you must first understand the thing that makes you weak. If you manage to get rid of your weaknesses you will become a strong person. There are over five hundred people who have read my blog, and I plan to have many more.
Becoming strong and confident coincides with becoming healthy. Our food choices have a lot to do with how we think and feel. Across the board, more individuals struggle with making wise food decisions than any other choice on the planet. There are restaurants on every corner, social gatherings to attend, and advertisements everywhere that appeal to all senses. Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, stabilizing your mood, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible– all of which can be achieved by learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works for you. I am in the process of changing the way people choose food, one person at a time. I volunteer my time to sit down with people who want and need a change in their diet, and then make them a healthy food plan. A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others. A role model should be confident, and have high self esteem, among many other characteristics. My platform issue will move the Miss America Organization forward because I am encouraging women to become strong mentally an physically. A strong woman is needed to represent America.
It has been one week since I started the Paleo diet, so I thought I’d give everyone some incite that I have learned. The Paleo Diet is all about eating natural foods to achieve great health. Two million years ago people survived on what they found in nature: fish, game meat, vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts, and seeds. The human race thrived on this diet of low carbohydrates and high protein, but everything changed when processed foods started being introduced to our bodies. It may be called the “Paleo Diet,” but it is actually a lifestyle and a way of living in harmony with nature and our food. The idea is that man kind evolved our genes through natural selection, and most people become nourished on the foods surrounding them. But, some foods we started eating 10,000 years ago are completely mutant to our genes and metabolism. We need to eliminate grain, excessive sugars, legumes, and dairy. I think grain was the hardest thing to leave behind, when I chose to start this new lifestyle. We need to be eating organ meats, such as: liver, kidney, heart..etc. (I am not a big fan, but if you can stomach the thought of it, go for it!) Leafy Green Veggies like: kale, spinach, arugula. Meat from grass fed animals: beef, lamb, bison.. Seafood and Mollusks: clams, salmon, muscles, oysters. Egg Yolks. And Fermented foods like sauerkraut. All of these foods promote a strong and healthy life! Beside food choices sleep, exercise, and stress management are crucial for optimal health. A typical Paleo day for me, consists of: Breakfast- 3 egg omelette with vegetables fried in coconut oil. Snack- celery and Almond Butter. Lunch- Tuna Salad in a Lettuce wrap. (no mayo, use avocado instead) Snack- Green Tea. Dinner- Steak and Mushrooms. Sometimes I’ll have another snack after that. I love this recipe I found for paleo ice cream- http://paleokitchensync.com/2013/03/13/banana-ice-cream/ Like I said, I have just adapted to this new lifestyle, but I already noticed I have more energy. I am not crashing around 1pm in the afternoon anymore. Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel. As time progresses I’ll have more results and feedback to share.
Fitness is not about being better than someone else, it’s about being better than you used to be. As someone who has had low-esteem, I know that many other women face this too. Low self esteem has negatively affected my life by making it hard for me to be completely comfortable with myself. Women often wait to be discovered, they do not want to leave their comfort zones to make a difference. As women, we allow ourselves to focus on our outer beauty rather than our inner beauty. We focus on a low number on the scale, spending time dying our hair, adding botox to our faces, and defying our age rather than embracing it. Since I’ve started working on my goal of becoming strong, my confidence has sky-rocketed. CrossFit is the main reason I have started to accomplish this goal. CrossFit builds confidence, character, and mental toughness, not to mention muscle. I believe that training hard not only positively changes your body physically, but also mentally. The feeling of achieving a new PR (personal record) during the WOD (work out of the day), really boosts my confidence. This confidence then carries over into other areas of my life including relationships, and careers. CrossFit teaches humility, so leave your ego at the door. Having an ego does nothing to gain you respect. I find that everyone suffers together, and feels each other pain. (pain or no gain) We cheer each other on, until we all overcome the end of the workout. CrossFit shapes our character as human beings. The mental aspect of training is commonly overlooked. It takes mental effort to actually get yourself to the gym, let alone push yourself through a hard workout. A key aspect to becoming fit mentally is having the knowledge that when you are faced with a tough situation, you can reflect back to the time when it was worse. Mental toughness allows us to break through our comfort zone and achieve a new PR, and push through a WOD. I know that after and during every workout, that I am becoming stronger physically and mentally. So, work hard and be proud of what you achieve.
I am apart of the Miss America Organization and my platform is “Strong is the New Skinny.” My goal is to motivate women around the world to become strong: physically and mentally. Many models and beauty queens have been gaining a bad reputation because they’re too thin, and sometimes even starve themselves. This sets a bad example for children, who look up to these women. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan, is an excellent example of a strong beautiful woman. She lost her weight properly by good eating habits and CrossFit. She won the swim suit portion of the competition hands down! Mallory, like many pageant girls, would go on a crash diet before each pageant and then binge eat afterwards. Now, because of her CrossFit lifestyle, yo-yo dieting is a thing in the past!
“Strength comes from every hurdle we have to jump, every corner we have to turn, and every obstacle that comes in our way…We are women.” (-Nishan Panwar) It doesn’t take a genius to realize women, today, are constantly bombarded with incredibly unhealthy ideas about beauty, and this causes a direct conflict with their health. The media is sending messages that everyone should have perfectly flat stomachs, or inner thighs that are 5 inches apart. Should a women every be able to open her own jar of canned goods? The media would say no, that’s what men are for. The sad truth is, the media industry is displaying “healthy” wrong. Strong is healthy, weak is not. Weight training improves many things, including bone density and weight management. As women we have many fears, whether its having bulky shoulders, or not being able to box jump 24 inches. As women we should take every challenge, and drop every fear. Becoming strong is a new take on life, but many will find they feel better about themselves. -You EARN your body!
You can’t spell Challenge, without Change. I want to help improve women’s lives by expressing the fact that being strong is beautiful; mentally and physically. I am an independent women, who has moved away from societies views of “perfection.” I initially started CrossFit January 2013, and I haven’t stopped since. I wanted to start my goal of becoming healthy and strong. Running on the treadmill everyday was getting boring, and tiresome. I am always up for a challenge, so I gave it a go. I think the true reason I love CrossFit is because it brings me out of my comfort zone. I never thought I would be dead-lifting 125 pounds, or power cleaning 95 pounds. The work out of the day in the picture to the left was completed May 7, 2013 at CrossFit 550. It was a 10 minute AMRAP (as many round as possible) and each round consisted of 5 deadlifts at 95 pounds, 10 Kettle Bell Swings at 35 pounds, and 15 Ab mat sit-ups. I completed 9 rounds, 5 deadlifts, and 1 kettle bell swing. After every work-out I feel even stronger than I did before. If you start working out now, you’ll start seeing results one day earlier.
Women tend to focus on their weight, and societies views of “perfect.” The only reason I know this is because I was once the same way. Back in 2008 I was diagnosed with Anorexia. I was only 15 years old at time, weighing about 95 pounds. I truly thought that this is what “society” needed me to look like. I was slowly killing myself to “fit in.” I was admitted to The Renfrew Center, and was released two months later. I was eating, but I was still convinced that society needed me to be “skinny.” I was restricted to what I could eat, in my mind. I had a mental list of “good” foods and “bad” foods; vegetables were good and pretty much anything else was bad. Through the years I ate very small portions throughout the day, but then binge ate at night. This slowly lead me to weigh 198 pounds by the time I was 18. I was completely unhappy and unhealthy when I weighed 95 pounds and now I was unhappy and unhealthy weighing 198 pounds. The number on the scale didn’t matter to much to me by the time I reached that weight. What really did bother me was the fact that my mind was not mentally strong enough to remind me of what a beautiful person I really was. I was so frustrated with myself, and upset. I had no self-esteem, or confidence. One day I realized that if I wanted to help myself, I needed to first become strong: mentally and physically. Being over-weight can be so dangerous, like putting strain on my heart among other things. I decided to join the gym because I wanted to become strong and healthy, not skinny. My next step was to set out with my new mindset, “Strong is the New Skinny,” and start my new journey (the right way). I started off eating a balanced diet, and going to the gym five days a week. The gym consisted of running on the treadmill, Pilates, yoga, and step aerobics. Once I felt strong enough I joined the harder classes like bootcamp: strength and cardio circuits. I was finally gaining my back my confidence. After awhile my body hit a plateau, and I was frustrated again. I wasn’t gaining muscle or seeing anymore results. A few months later I was introduced to CrossFit, and my life will be forever changed. I now do CrossFit five days a week. I started January 2013, and in that short time span I’ve started to feel stronger than I ever thought I could. I’ve realized that
as a woman, I cannot let societies views bring me down. I must learn to be strong mentally and physically. I must learn to love myself, and my body.
Strong Is the NEW Me 