I was in bed at 9p last night and happily bounced out of bed at 5am today. I got in a couple hours of work before heading to the gym early.
I planned some time to work one-on-one with a coach on improving my toes-to-bar form. It’s not something I’ve worked on much and I know I’ll improve more quickly with focused coaching than by practicing on my own. It was fantastic!
After working through form drills and doing some back & core strength work, I did my workout. Holy smokes it was a killer today!
“Dip Stick”
AMRAP 15:
15 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
12 Ring Dips
9 Power Cleans (155/105)
I’ll tell you what: I was getting tired during those first 15 box jump overs. It’s at that point when I had a choice: I could use my thoughts to make the workout easier and more effective or harder and less effective.
Here’s what I noticed: around box jump over 9-10, I caught myself thinking,
“Shit, this sucks. This is going to be a brutal workout. 15 minutes is going to feel like an eternity. Maybe I should scale the weight or the number of reps.”
Instantly (because I work on this mindset stuff all day every day with myself) I thought:
Elizabeth, you can use your thoughts to encourage, empower & inspire or you can use them to discourage and frustrate. Which is it going to be?
As I moved to the next movement in the workout I thought:
With every ounce of effort, with every moment of discomfort and with every drop of sweat, I am getting fitter and stronger.
As I glanced up the clock and noticed a thought of “Jesus this is going to last forever” I thought:
All day long I will either be proud of my effort or I’ll know I could have given more.
It’s 15 minutes of my day. Bring your best effort.
I had a choice. I could dial into each rep and meet it with maximum effort & enthusiasm or I could focus on the difficulty, sweat and pain and miss the opportunity to bring my best.
I chose the former.
The timing of a mentally challenging workout was pretty great, actually.
Last night I was watching the pilot episode of Billions and I re-wound it to record this clip.
See, this trader goes into the company psychiatrist’s office complaining about how his performance isn’t up to par. He feels like he’s lost his mojo. This is how she responds.
After my workout, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this awesome quote:
When you let your mind wander, make sure it’s to a beautiful place!
Don’t let your mind wander to frustration, fear, difficulty, anxiety or negativity.
Whether we’re talking about relationships, finances, workouts, nutrition, body image or anything else, YOU are the one who controls where you allow your mind to wander.
Make sure it’s to a beautiful place!
On the food front:
It’s Paleo Power Meals delivery day!! I stocked up on a couple salads, chicken strips, stuffed peppers, ground turkey & all sorts of yummy stuff!
Between the one-on-one skill & strength workout this morning and the workout after that, I was hungry when I got home around 9am.
I enjoyed the chicken cobb salad from Paleo Power Meals and some cold brew coffee.
A few hours later I had the coconut crusted chicken strips and dinner was one of the stuffed peppers with cauliflower rice.
You’ll probably see a lot of Paleo Power Meals over the next several weeks but just remember: if it doesn’t work for you or they don’t deliver near you, you can still make this stuff yourself! There’s nothing magical about their food delivery, but even seeing what I purchase from them can give you some ideas on how you can cook for yourself or your family!
If you do give them a go, use the coupon code ebprimal20 to save 20% on your first order!
The #1 most valuable, high impact thing you can do to improve your body & your health is improve your mindset.
I can’t tell you how much people dismiss this truth and instead only want to focus on diet & exercise strategy.
Guys, our minds create our lives. Our thoughts drive our decisions. When you improve your mind, you make every other change in life exponentially easier.
In today’s episode I’m sharing a few things, mindset related, that really hit me hard this week because I want you to accept this reality:
If you want to change your body or your health, change your mind. It changes everything.
What a world of good a weekend away on the water does! I feel like my normal self again! Hurray!
The weather was amazing this weekend and I got to lay on the beach & work – it’s hard to beat that!
Plus, I got in great workouts each day which made me proud. If you’re traveling or you don’t belong to a gym, here’s a doozy I did in the hotel room with ZERO equipment:
10 rounds for time (you could totally do fewer rounds)
20 body weight squats
10 burpees
1 minute plank (you could do more or less time as desired)
On round 4 I was definitely sweating!
Today’s it’s back to the hustle & grind!
I’ll be honest – I didn’t feel like going to the gym today. I’m tired and have a ton of work to do. I definitely considered skipping it but here’s why I didn’t:
I asked myself which choice would make my day better – skipping the workout and getting more work done or making the workout a priority and giving it 100% effort.
I have never regretted prioritizing a workout.
I’ve often regretted skipping one.
Without question, prioritizing the workout and stepping away from work will make me feel better so that’s what I did.
My favorite part of the workout today was the coaching between the warm-up and the workout. I love the important reminders like leading with your elbows when coming out of the bottom of the squat. It makes me really happy to improve my form because my workouts get more efficient and I know I’m getting stronger & more fit.
On the food front:
I was in the car for a couple hours this morning and I felt pretty hungry when I got home. Breaking from the norms, I ate before my workout.
I had chicken cakes & cauliflower “couscous” from Paleo Power Meals.
I had a few cherry tomatoes with it, too.
After my workout I had a mini meal – carrots & guacamole – since I wasn’t too hungry after that bigger brunch.
I’m going back to a favorite of mine for dinner: a bag of cauliflower rice sauteed with the inside of a stuffed pepper.
The stuffed pepper also comes from Paleo Power Meals and it includes veal, ground beef, mushrooms, a bit of almond flour and onions but no grains or anything like that. Super yummy.
I am back to relying heavily on Paleo Power Meals because, as the weather gets warmer, I want to enjoy more of my time outside and doing things I love.
Cooking isn’t one of those things I love all that much so I’m letting Paleo Power Meals do it for me. Plus, in addition to freeing up my time, their food is totally delicious and very fat loss friendly, so it helps me with this year of push I’m living!
I’ll say this: it’s not cheap but I do believe it saves me money because I’m not buying snacks or making a bunch of random trips to the grocery or letting food spoil in the fridge. That’s just what’s true for me.
I shared yesterday that while under the weather, I went two full days without drinking ANY coffee. That has NEVER happened since I started drinking coffee 10+ years ago. Never. Ever.
Today I woke up feeling better (despite not sleeping well last night) and went to Starbucks. I bought two venti Americanos and drove home to drink them while I grinding through some work.
I was feeling prettttty wired after the first one, so of course I drank the second one.
Halfway through the second one, I was pretty well convinced that I’m a super hero. I glanced up at my book case and thought, “I totally get how people can see through things. I might have x-ray vision right now. In fact, I believe I can fly. With only partial effort.”
I danced like a strung-out muppet, while driving, all the way to gym.
That was right after my workout. I walked into the gym and after taking it easy yesterday, my coach said, “Hey! How are you feeling?”
I proceeded to explain the above situation at the speed of a Micromachines commerical. If you aren’t familiar with the 80s and 90s Micromachines commericals, you’ll enjoy a laugh (or at least a smile) by watching.
I was ready to crush my workout and I feel like I did!
“Franchise” 21-15-9:
Push Jerks (95/65) (This is a push jerk, if you’re unsure)
Pull-ups
I used 75 lbs for the push jerks, which was challenging in just the right way, especially since I’m a little sore from yesterday’s bench press.
I definitely wanted to take breaks and catch my breath, but it’s such a fast-paced workout I told myself to keep pushing, not stop and leave it all on the floor.
100% effort today! Yeah!
On the food front:
I avoid dairy most of the time. I can handle it in small doses but that’s about it. I used to consume dairy (cheese, cream, yogurt) daily but now I maybe have it a couple times a month.
Today was one of those days. Here’s why:
a) it sounded good and most things still don’t sound good to my recovering tummy
b) I’ve eaten so little over the past few days that I wanted a palatable way to get in a solid amount of energy
Here’s what I did: I got a small container of hormone free greek yogurt & added a small amount of cacao powder, a small handful of cashews & a tablespoon of dried cranberries.
Oh it was goooooood. This is for sure not something I’ll eat every day or even once a month, but it made me happy today!
And that was my post-workout lunch.
Around 6pm I made dinner: a stirfry of cauliflower rice with ground turkey, tomatoes, garlic and spinach. The simple 4-step process for this 10-minute meal will be up on my Instagram stories for the next 24-hours.
Since I didn’t sleep well last night, I’m making sure to have some magnesium before bed, mixed with water & a little bit of apple cider vinegar.
Here’s to sweet dreams and a wonderful weekend! I’m off to the beach but I’ll be back for an update on Monday!
