When you fall short...shift and refocus....keeping food too simple!

The Open is over....Whew..what a wild ride. Finished 15th in the Southwest but felt short of my goal of trying to finish in the top 200 world wide. I am not going to lie. I was sad. Very sad. I was in Vegas and when I left to go see a show at about 5:50 pm I was sitting in the 150's...by 10....202. TWO HUNDRED TWO!!!! 

Photo courtesy of Matt Jensen Photography

It's hard not to look back at the ONE wod I should have redone and not question what if...but honestly all in all I am happy with many things about this Open. My life has changed a bit since last year. My job has tripled or quadrupled in demand so I have to take the good with bad on this one. I do want to give huge KUDOS to CrossFit 22...SO many amazing people did so many AMAZING things this year. Week after week I saw people do things that before the Open they did not believe that were capable of doing! For so many people its really not about where they place but about just simply putting themselves out there, and quite honestly being around those people pushes me to want to work even harder. 
So excited for my bro in law Andy Gunther- I was living for the day that he would be in the masters. I predicted he would absolutely KILL it...and he did!! So excited for to watch the next part of his journey. 


Just a little collage of my fav pics of my grandbaby- no more needs to be said. She is amazing!

Lets talk Vegas. BRRRRR!!!! A little cold and windy. But that didn't stop us. We still sat at the pool..in our hoodies and such and enjoyed what we could. 
Saw Blue Man Group...a little weird for me. Not sure I got certain aspects of it...like this...this big eye..WHAT IS IT? 

Not sure I really got what was going on. Some parts were completely entertaining...other parts...I don't really get what was going on.

Yes I wore my MJ shirt to the MJ show!

BUT!!! SHOW 2 Oh be still my heart. Cirque De Soleil Michael Jackson! Goodness. I wish I could could talk about how great it was. All I can say if you are in Vegas wanting to see any kind of entertaining show- this will completely blow you away. It was so amazing!

I was completely awestruck by the amount of talent in this show. Yes kids..this was my fancy "hey I am going to a show in Vegas" outfit. Dont judge me..had to walk a bit.

FOOD!!!!

I came back from Vegas late Tuesday evening so clearly I didn't get a chance to food prep. Wednesday after wodding- yes it was painful didn't WOD the entire time I was gone-I took myself straight to Costco so I could get right back on track. I am not going to lie...the Open was over..didn't make the top 200..I indulged just a little and it was worth it!
I grabbed chicken-thighs and rotisserie - beets- spinach-salad-turkey sausage-avocados-cauliflower-eggs and strawberries. I have bee loving the strawberries lately. Just a few seem to really curb any sweet tooth. So Wednesday it was whats in your fridge stir fry- I actually ended up doing ok on this- I had a red pepper, mushrooms and bok choy- I added the Italian sausage-a little coconut amino's and fish sauce and it was great!!! kind of weird with the Italian sausage but good just the same. 

So for this week. Keeping on the simple grind. Buffalo Chicken Thighs and Easy Peezy Meatballs (my recipe)
For the Buffalo Chicken Thighs-4 ingredients-you can't beat that!
I season the chicken with Greek Seasoning-sea salt and cracked black pepper then just cover it all with Franks Red Hot- I cook this about 6 hours in the crock pot then finish it in the oven- I broil it for about 10 minutes- I pop it into a cake back and pour the sauce over it! Awesome with veggies!

Also prepped some Easy Peezy Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey
1 package hot italian sausage links(not precooked pushed out of the casing)
1 1/2 diced small red pepper
1 large jalapeno (seeded if you don't want spice) 
scoop of garlic
cumin- to task
cayenne pepper-to taste 
sea salt and ground black pepper
1 egg
1/2 c almond flour to bind
Just mix together and roll or ice cream scoop onto pan. I cooked these today on 350 for about 30 minutes. THIS MAKES ALOT THAT IS THE GOAL!






I also baked my bacon. My intent is to use this with my breakfast but it's also nice just to have. In case you have tried this-layer it on a large cookie sheet and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes ish. I watch mine close because different brands cook differently.

In closing...I wanted to post something funny..this is a long one...and not funny at all. I always to turn this source when looking for something to slap me out of some stupid funk I might have been in. For me...I can totally relate to this. When I look back at my life- even back 5 years...I can relate. LOVE IT. 
Oh wait...ONE funny thing first...might have happened in our box this week he he he he

Defining Yourself

I left the girl I was supposed to be. The polite person who said all the right words and didn’t offend. The one who carried on for the children’s sake. The one with the perfect job and the perfect family in the perfect house.
It took me a long time to leave her. Years. And years. And years. It took a while to define myself.
And it’s an ongoing process. I leave the other girl daily, every single time I pick up the barbell or swing a kettlebell. That girl— the polite one, the one society told to be a “good girl” and “play nice”—she runs away every time I run, or lift, or even start to breathe heavy during the warm-up.
She’s not who I want to be. She’s not who I ever wanted to be. She’s the girl I thought I had to be, for everyone else. But they didn’t know me. And that was my fault, because I was too scared to let anyone see who I really was. But I’m not scared anymore.
When I’m in the gym, you might find a lot of things there with me: chalk, tape, blood, heart, sweat. Foot stomping. Grunting. Sometimes, the F bomb — to celebrate, or motivate.
But you will rarely find perfect. In my form. In my words. In me. I try, but I don’t always get there. I am a work in progress.
And I will be a work in progress until the moment I cease breathing. It took me a long time to realize that’s okay, and that the perfect girl is gone. But the one who stayed is pretty kickass. I actually like her a whole lot better.
Gone is that girl who doesn’t believe in herself. You won’t find her here. You also won’t ever find a girl who thinks that if you lift big, you get “too big.” What is “too big” anyhow? Who the heck decided that? What a bunch of bullshit. What a passel of small-mindedness passed around by people who never realized how wonderful life could be. Ignore it all, my friends.
One of the best lessons I’ve learned in life is this: Never let anyone else define how you should be. It’s your life. Push past the small minds and press on towards your big, bad, beautiful self. Define yourself.
Now, get in the gym or out on the trail or into your notebook or wherever you feel huge and alive, and go hard. Be the person you always wanted to be. It’s not too late.

Love Love the end of this- never let anyone else define how you should be...it's your life

Have a good week everyon- clean eating and training is hard is back on the menu for me. Its what makes me HAPPY!!!

Croni...out!