Hike of the Week- 5/28/15 & 5/29/15

Cable Line Trail-West Tiger Mountain

 Ugh, this one is so grueling, you gain 2000ft of elevation in 1.5 miles. It's a slow, step/scramble all the way up with only a couple of short flat parts to give yourself a break. We had our packs loaded up since this is about the elevation we will gain on Mt. Adams and it was tough. It took us 1:10 up and then we took the West Tiger 3 trail back down to save our knees. We made it down in 50min as it was much less steep. This would be a great training one to do in an entire day, up the cable line, down the Tiger West, do that 2-3 times and there's Adams for you. I didn't get any pictures because the summit sucks, it's just a clearing in the trees with no viewpoint. Blech.

Kendal Katwalk-Snoqualmie Mt. Baker National Forest, ALpine Wilderness

View of the coming storm 

Corey needed a long Ruck/hike to do in preparation for his Go Ruck Heavy in a couple weekends so we decided on Kendal Katwalk. It's part of the PCT and lovely. It's only about 40 minutes from home and we had no time restraints so we were able to take our time and play at the summit a bit and relax before heading down. My knees were also thankful for the gradual elevation gain (2000 ft over 5.5 miles) and my foot/ankle didn't hurt so I felt less like a granny for this hike.

the top of the katwalk for lunch

Here is my trip report for WTA.org 

This was a beautiful trail, we were wanting a long but not too steep hike in the sun and that is exactly what we got. There was plenty of parking at the trailhead and a vault toilet, although there was no toilet paper in either and someone's colon exploded all over the mens toilet so that was fun to see.

The trail starts out nice and flat and doesn't ever have many steep parts. It's covered for most of the hike which was nice because it was hot! There are a few streams to cross but nothing major, I wasn't wearing gaters and my boots stayed dry. The trail pops out on the side of the mountain just below Kendall Peak, giving you nice views of Snoqualmie and Alpental ski areas as well as Red Mountain. There is an option to scramble up to Kendall Peak and the trail is marked with a stack of rocks, but the climb is steep with lots of loose rocks. We continued on for another 1/4 mile or so around the corner and had lunch on some flat topped rocks which gave a great view. We were even able to see a thunderstorm to over the far mountains. The trail continues on since it's the PCT so we left our packs and walked a bit ahead to see explore a bit, there is snow but it's easily passable. We didn't have poles or gaters and were fine. We saw a handful of people, and most were trail runners.
Up: 2:30
Down: 2:00

The marker to the trail for Kendall's Peak

Katwalk trail

After the hike we stopped by Dru Bru on the way home, it's  a new Brewery at Snoqualmie Ski Resort at the base of Summit West. I had the flight which gives you 6 5oz beers for only $10. I liked them all but my favorite was the dark german style lager.

Corey and I loved the way they did the bar and talked to the tender about it and the company who designed and built it. We want to use something similar in the new box, if all this administrative stuff ever gets figured out and we can sign some contracts and get building. 

Another One Bites the Dust

3/20/15
When I was in my early twenties every time someone got engaged or married, my single friends and I would sing that catchy song "Another one bites the dust" (sing it with me). We would laugh it off as a way of masking our real emotions of feeling left out and knowing that we were no longer the priority in our friends life. We were no longer the go-to's, the shoulder she cried on, the person she told all her secrets to, the audience for bouncing career ideas and life decisions off of. We were in the backseat and she had a new co-captain. We were selfish and singular in our thinking. Instead of being happy for her, which we were absolutely were, we were sad for ourselves because our lives were changing.

In my early thirties all my friends began having babies and I was just enjoying being a newlywed with the love of my life and in no rush to have babies, my husband is even less ready than I am. I find myself singing that same song "Another One Bites the Dust" as one by one my friends stop working out, drinking, and go to bed early. They stop committing to weekend getaways in the PNW and last minute meet ups because they have to pump, or the baby needs a nap, or worse yet they bring the baby along. When the baby comes, they are all cute and smell soft and sweet for a few minutes, then it becomes impossible to hold an adult conversation. Then I am all, excuse me, I need girl time, and to be able to finish a sentence and I don't want to entertain one kid while the other is sucking on your boob.

Then I got married. And I understood.

Tips to help stay on the wagon during the holidays

12/2/14
So my water challenge is officially over and so is the box's Paleo Challenge. This was actually a fun challenge and I did pretty well on in until the last couple days where I cheated a bit too much. However, I still feel awesome and we are going to continue eating pretty strict until Texas on the 19th. We've limited ourselves to drinking only 2 nights a week, and I think that's mainly so we don't blow through the $300 of good whiskey we just restocked our bar with. Yummm, Whiskey. 

So anyways. I don't notice a big physical change from the water intake but I do feel better in the morning. I'm not sure if it's because we aren't drinking every night, or what. So here I am on day 1. And now on day 33ish. I lost track. 

Day 1

Day 33 ish

So now that the Challenge is over and the holiday's are near I want to continue eating well but have no self control around sweets. I'm sure most people are in the same boat as me so I wrote up some tips to help our clients continue eating healthy. I posted them on the Mercer Island CrossFit blog but thought I'd share them too. 

1.) Just because you have junk for one meal doesn't mean you have to throw the entire day away. When you run a red light do you continue doing that for the rest of the day? Probably not. Accept your cheat food and move on to healthier options. It's much easier to stay on the wagon that way.

2.) Plan your cheat meals. When you are in charge of the food, eat healthy and make a plan for a cheat meal. It could be a party over the weekend, a lunch with clients, or a special occasion to celebrate. If you eat healthy at home, it's not as frustrating when you are out and can't find anything healthy. The sporadic cheat meals also give you something to look forward to and you get to appreciate them more.

3.) Don't go back to stocking your pantry and fridge with junk. If it's there, you will eat it, if it's not you won't. Simple as pie...Woops, I mean apples and almond butter.

4.) Don't stop exercising. When we stop eating clean and healthy we feel heavy, groggy, and lethargic and thus don't want to get up and start moving around. It's much easier to stop the healthy cycle than it is to start again. So keep exercising and moving, whatever you do. Exercising makes you want to take care of your body and put healthier things in it.

5.) Don't forget to sleep and hydrate! If you start sleeping worse, it could be because of your diet, and water intake. The minimum water intake is 3/4 body weight in oz. every day, more for active adults (about 2-3 liters). The average adult needs 7-8 hrs of sleep a night which isn't only for our minds to rest but for our bodies to recover from the stress they endure during workouts. 

6.) Plan ahead. If you are going to a holiday party, take something you know you will eat, that way if there is no other good options you can at least eat what you brought. When drinking alcohol alternate water and cocktails, stay hydrated and you won't feel quite as bad the next morning, especially if a lot of sugar was consumed the night before.

Remember, if you hate starting over, stop quitting.

Mirror Hat Rack

Tuesday 11/18/14

I am so sick of my husbands hats being strewn around the house in places they don't belong- like the kitchen table or the kitchen counter, where I make yummy food, ick! So.... I found these awesome old mirrors on Craigslist and bought them for like $30 each.

Then I painted them..

I found these foam balls at Michael's and wrapped them with twine by following THIS tutorial. The only difference is that I hot glued the balls to the mirror because the Command holders didn't hold them up at all under the weight of the hats and the balls kept falling off.

This is the finished product. We had too many hats to fit them all on, but we made do. They add a nice touch to our bare walls. 

Still doesn't keep his hats off the shoe rack and kitchen counter though!

Cookie Dough & Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

Sunday 11/16/14

Ever have those days where you need to be in your happy place so you can forget about all the sad/stressful/annoying things that happened this week? Me too. Well, that place is my kitchen when I bake.

My grandpa died this week. He was sick and in Hospice, and this is what happens to grandparents right? Well fine. I accept that, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. So to help distract myself, take care of other people, and create something, I started baking. I needed to try out a couple new recipes and practice some frosting techniques.

I did two recipes I found on Pinterest. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes I got from HERE.

Before going in the oven

The cake part turned out perfectly, it was not too sweet and was perfectly moist. I did have to bake it for about 25 minutes instead of the  recommended 16 minutes.

Cooling

The frosting was way too sweet but I haven't figured out how to make it not so sweet but maintain the great texture. First time using the large round tip and it didn't turn out exactly like I wanted but better than the last time I practiced.

The middle

The finished project

The next recipe I tried worked out perfectly. I was left with a ton of extra batter so I just threw in 2 Tbsp of Cinnamon and mixed well to combine and baked for 17 minutes at 350 degrees. The original recipe was from this website. I also love the cream cheese frosting from that sight. I tried a different frosting tip and tried doing a ribbon of sorts and did the flat "leaf" tip and turned the cupcake to get the layered look. I know this is probably super simple stuff but I am so incredibly happy with how the decorations and the pictures turned out. 

Since we are currently doing a detox I didn't eat them but I did freeze a couple for us so we can eat them when the challenge is over. I can't wait, 13 days to go!

The New Normal- I accept my image

Thursday 10/30/14

I just read THIS article from The Whole 9 Life and it is offically bookmarked, saved to favorites, pinned, shared on FB, tweeted and shared on the MICF blog for all our clients to read. Needless to say, I love it!  I needed to read this right now. I needed to be reminded that it's not about the way I look, it's not about what I weigh or the extra fluff I have. It's about what my strong, capable body can do. I admit that my issues have more to do with all the junk I have been putting in my body and I need to dial that in so that's on me. But I need a constant reminder of the changing ideal image of this country today. When I was a teenager thin was in,  I mean sickly Kate Moss skinny and I am just not build that way. So having curvy athletic builds be accepted now is amazing to me. I have summit-ed two 10,000+ ft mountains with these meaty little legs of mine, I've skied and snowboarded and hiked and walked all over this great pacific northwest and I can do pull ups! I have no fear of not being able to survive a zombie Apocalypse or not being able to chase my future children around because God has given me this very amazing and healthy body to do all these things with.

At the end of the post they list things you can do to stay positive when looking in the mirror- Focus on Health, Question the "Ideal", and Practice Positive Talk which I found to be one of the most inspiring parts of the post. I have to remind myself that I was given this body to use for a temporary time while on this earth. God trusts me to take care of his temple and to love it and adore it the way he does.

Do yourself a favor and read the article.

At the Summit of Mt. Baker, WA

Water Challenge

I hate water, not what it does for my body but the taste of it. Or the lack of taste. When I was in college I had to have surgery and take these huge horse pills for them which required a lot of water intake. Needless to say I got sick on it and I think this might be the reason I don't like it. Similar to people who get food poisoning and can't eat that food anymore.

Enough of those gross visuals.

After reading numerous articles on the benefits of water and ALL it does for you including THIS great one from Complete Health and Happiness, it came down to a challenge from my husband. He knows the best way to get me to do something is to present me with a challenge.

Anyhoo, my husband challenged me to drink the equivalent of 3 Nalgene water bottles a day(96oz) to see if it helped with my CrossFit performance, sleep, weight loss and skin. I took him up on it but wanted a measurable thing so I'm taking a photo of myself everyday for the challenge and we'll see how my skin changes from there. I even talked a fellow CrossFit friend into doing it with me.

After 2 days I already feel better in the morning when I wake. I'm not as groggy and I just did a workout where I did really well after some time off. So far I like the way I feel, still not keen on the flavor but I'll suck it up.

Day 1