Blog Name Change! And HUGE news....

So if you can't discern the big news from the blog name change, then I'm not sure we should be friends. :) Just kidding. Welcome to my new and improved blog! For those of you that are not in the immediate loop of my life, I got married a few weeks ago. Oh...and by the way, we're pregnant! 10 weeks pregnant in fact, give or take a few days. Now, modern medicine (aka my obgyn) has had me pretty freaked out about miscarriage, so I was trying my hardest to hold off on this announcement to the world until week 14...however I had a safety issue come up at CF the other day, and after discussing, Dave and I decided to go ahead and tell the world. So...SURPRISE!!! We know it's still early, but God is behind the wheel. He will give us what we need at the perfect point in time.

To go ahead and answer a few of your questions, here you go:
- We found out Sunday of Regionals.
- Yes, we were surprised....but thrilled!
- Due at the beginning of February.
- Yes, I will continue doing Crossfit my entire pregnancy, God willing.
- And yes, I will try my hardest (and it is definitely hard) to maintain my Paleo lifestyle.

Now, I went from training my butt off for Regionals, to finding out I was pregnant. Yikes! I was scared to death of miscarriage, so I immediately emailed Andrea from Crossfit Mom. She was great in telling me what I should and should not do. It was easy enough to scale my wods when I went back to the gym after Regionals...I simply told my fellow gym members that I was scaling for recovery. (I was hoping they would forgive the little white lie after I told them the news.) But after scaling the wods and weights for a few weeks (I went from doing Fran rxd in sub 6 to an untimed Fran at 45#...sniff, sniff), I just didn't feel like I was putting in any effort at all. Now I know, I know. You're supposed to TAKE IT EASY...DON'T EXERT YOURSELF TOO MUCH....DON'T LIFT TOO MUCH WEIGHT....but I've realized that EVERYONE ELSE has been telling ME what my body should or should not be doing. Shouldn't I be the one listening to myself!? So last week, after reading a couple of other blogs by Crossfitting, Paleo Mommies-to-Be, I realized that I should start calling the shots. And last week, I went back to rxd wods, with a little less weight if it's heavy, and decreasing the intensity (aka not timing my wods). And man do I feel better!

For those of you wondering what this means, please understand that I am not doing anything to harm myself or especially my unborn baby. I am listening to my body. And I have prayed about this too. Here is an example:

Grace - 65# full squat cleans instead of 95# power cleans (next time I might go a little heavier) but I did not worry about my time.

100 burpee boxjumps - I did burpee step ups, 100. I didn't worry about time.

Run 400m, 50 Squats, 4 rounds - I rowed 500m instead of run and I did the 50 squats, not worrying about time.

Now, when I say "not worrying about time" I mean I timed it, but I didn't worry about how fast I was going. I worked out, but I made sure that I could talk while working out and I made sure that I didnt' get too hot. I achieved those things by stopping when I was out of breath and drinking lots of water throughout the wod.

And I am so glad to be woding again.

This blog is my attempt to put further information out there for other crossfitting, paleo, pregnant mommies-to-be. There isn't much out there, so I am going to post what I can about my experience. The only way to learn is from others that have laid a path before you.

Oh...and about Paleo...well, morning sickness (aka all day sickness) struck on Thursday, June 10th while in the back of a cab in Chicago, IL. Yep. That's right. I almost vomited in the back of a cab. And until the other day, I couldn't stomach anything other than pizza, mexican food, fried southern food, fast food and the like. I know, I know....it was a disgrace. And you honestly cannot possibly get any further from Paleo than what I was eating! But this past Saturday, I woke up feeling fabulous! And so far, I've been able to maintain Paleo MOST of the time since then....and when I say Paleo, I mean Paleo with a twist! I'm allowing dairy. The reason for this is, to be honest....I freaking can't eat enough cheese. It is so beautiful and delicious and I can't get enough of it. And well, it's my body and I'm saying it's ok! Now please don't get me wrong...I'm no Paleo angel, but hey...at least I'm trying! (I'm telling you, I can't get enough pizza...it's completely out of my control.)

I'll keep you posted on the Crossfitting wods and the Paleo foods. And if you have any questions, please feel free to email me or post. And if you disagree with what I'm doing, I will gladly read your comments. (But if you disagree, please share your reasons WHY you disagree however I must say that if you have never been pregnant and you have never done crossfit, I'm not really sure you should put in your opinion! That might sound a little harsh, but it's how I feel. Sorry.)

Tonight, the rxd wod at Crossfit Rebellion is deadlift max. Since I'm out of maxing out weights for now, I've decided to do 100 kettlebell swings at 26 or 35#...I haven't decided the weight just yet. The kb swings will maintain strong hamstrings, core and back. What a great ode to deadlifts!

And, in honor of my original purpose of this blog, here's a new recipe for ya. I made it this weekend and I can't get enough of it! It's dedicated to my craving for ITALIAN!

Eggplant Ragu
1 eggplant
2# grass fed ground beef
2 jars marinara (trader joes has a good brand, no sugar)
1 white onion
1 pack mushrooms
garlic
rosemary
red pepper flakes
olive oil

Combine ground beef, diced onion, diced mushrooms, 2 tbsp garlic, 2 tbsp rosemary, 2 tbsp red pepper flakes and a dash of olive oil. Mush it all up and brown the ground beef. While that is browning, dice the eggplant and spread it on the bottom of a large, deep baking pan. After the ground beef is browned, drain off fat. Pour the ground beef mixture over the eggplant and spread evenly. Pour the 2 jars of marinara over the eggplant and groundbeef. Put in a preheated over at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes and voila! It's DELICIOUSNESS! (I, of course, sprinkled...ok more like I poured fresh mozzarello over the top, but you can leave that out.)