CrossFit HURRAH!

Mr. Wonderful and I are very happy members of the greatest gym on Earth, CrossFit Vacaville. I'd never heard of CrossFit until I was flipping through our local magazine one day. Apparently the guys that trained for the movie 300 did some CrossFit workouts when they were acquiring those drool inspring bods, and the Special Forces military guys really like it. And apparently there are CrossFits all over the place. It's kind of like 24 Hour Fitness or something, except it's awesome. It's one of those places that you may read about and/or hear about and hesitate to go, but once you do you're forever glad that you went.
It sells T-shirts with slogans like "Does your workout make you nervous? It should" and "Pain is temporary, quitting is forever". It's a place that would make you think it's packed full of meat heads and crazy scary people who will judge and stare at you. A place where at first glance you think you wouldn't belong. It's a place where you do things you never thought that you could.
After you've psyched yourself up and are feeling awkward and unsure of yourself, it happens. You arrive and you see that the lady wearing the t-shirt talking about the permanence of pain vs. quitting is 5 foot 6, 150 lbs, about 20 years older than you, and is not only a total bad ass but also a total sweetheart. She smiles at you, waves, and tells you it's good to see you.
It. Is. Amazing. And it only gets better from there.
Six months ago I was struggling to put up a 60 pound push press. Now I'm up to 115 single rep. We've made friends there, people who willingly smile, wave, check your form and give you a spot. In the gym, politics and religion do not exist. They are irrelevant, unnecessary, pure vanity. Politics and religion will not help you attain that 185 pound deadlift or the 20 double unders in succession that you've been working toward. There's a comaraderie and an understanding among folk at the gym. There is no bad mouthing, only togetherness as you attempt to finish those 50 squats as quickly as possible without breaking form.
It makes me wonder what I'll do next, which is definitely not something I ever thought I would wonder. Mr. Wonderful and I will be doing a 5K Turkey Trot next week, which we're very excited about. I also never thought I'd be excited for something like that! Glory, I tell you.
They also do nutrition challenges. In my next post I'll be outlining the Eat Clean diet, which is essentially no white carbs and all fresh ingredients. None of that processed stuff! The good news is I don't even miss it, especially not with sites like The Gracious Pantry to hold on to. Ahhhh clean eating chai tea latte. How I adore thee.

Thursday Gratuitous Cuteness

The weather is turning colder here in Northern California and tomorrow it is supposed to rain. Both of these glorious facts have us quite excited since we're the type of folk that dig baking and movie nights with soft throws on our laps. Yesterday it was a lovely 74 degrees (aka no jacket weather), and today the expected high is 61 (aka definitely jacket weather). Soon we'll be in the realm of hand me a parka weather, which is a different post altogether. To honor this most wondrous occasion, we offer you a picture salute to one of the best - and our personal favorite - ways to keep warm: the mighty cuddle. Assisting us with this illustration will be Superpup and our youngest the Mighty Attie. Take it away, lovies!

You're welcome.