Treading Lightly
Treading Lightly

Managing Stress

From calm to freaking out in 0.6 seconds. 

Earlier in the week I was happier than I had been in weeks and more relaxed than I was even over spring break. And yet in a matter of minutes I went from being incredibly content and at peace to completely panicing and swimming in stress. Who knew a couple of emails with quick deadlines could be so upsetting?

For the next 24 hours I lost myself in the throws of stress and anxiety. I couldn’t sleep and when I finally did fall asleep I would dream about my stress and wake up feeling worse than before.

It’s a bad habit that I’ve gotten into to completely surrender into stress at the first sign of it. But this time I decided to step back and not let it run all over me anymore. Here’s how.

1. Perspective. I can make the littlest things into the most important project I will ever work on in my entire life. In reality it is still just a small project with a deadline. Remembering that this one deadline, paper, project, whatever it may be, does not define the rest of my future goes a long way. 

2. Breathe. When I’m stressed I take shallow breaths or hold them in without being conscious of it. Just taking a few minutes to close my eyes and focus on my breathing helps me to let go. 

3. Laugh. When I feel like I’m really losing my sanity I find my roommates for a good laugh. While I may be distracting myself for a few minutes, I always go back to what I was doing feeling more relaxed and ready to get my work finished.

4. Awareness. Some days I find my stomach knotting and my heart beat quickening and I don’t know what started it. I can be sitting on the couch watching TV and out of nowhere I am stressed. When I am more aware of my thoughts and what triggers these random bouts of stress I prevent them or get them under control faster.

5. Exercise. Instead of sitting around and wallowing in my stress I go for a run or go to the gym. When I get back I can think more clearly and often if I am stuck on something I figure it out while I’m working out.

WOD of the Week: 3 rep max back squat

Crossfit woman back squat
Got to love the blurry cell phone photo of being a beast in the gym

Strength:
Find your new three rep max back squat

WOD:
30 box jumps
then 4 rounds every three minutes of:
30 second L sit
30 second flex arm hang
50 air squats

At first glance this workout doesn’t seem so bad, but how sore I was the next day certainly changed my mind. Back squats are not super fun, but being able to squat 20 lbs. more than I weigh three times is empowering. That and I sure do love box jumps.

WOD of the week: a traveler’s burpee paradise

Since I was home for spring break my schedule had to change a bit. I didn’t get to go to CrossFit three times this past week like I normally do, but I was able to squeeze in a quick drop-in at the gym I was at over the summer. With the sudden spring showers and my lack of equipment, getting a work out in has been difficult. But this is one that you can do from anywhere without needing anything more than your running shoes, or not.

CrossFit San Mateo Team Elite Burpees

WOD
21-15-9
Hand release burpees (lift your hands off the ground every time your chest hits the floor)
Between each set run 100m, 200m, and finally 400m
(so 21 hand release burpees, 100m run, 15 HR burpees, 200 m run, and finally 9 HR burpees and 400 m run.) If you can’t measure out exact meters just stagger your run. Maybe you run half a block, the full block, and then two blocks in your neighborhood instead.

The entire workout is for time and should push your heart rate. For six minutes of work, it sure did leave an impression. Best of all, you don’t need a gym or anything fancy. Too bad I wasn’t running on the beach.

Photo courtesy of Coach Manny.

Monthly Goal: my battle with sugar week 4

At the start of my sugar challenge I would tell myself that when this was all over I was going to devour exorbitant amounts of some amazing desserts, but now that it’s my last day, plans have changed.

homemade coleslaw
I started the challenge completely addicted to sugar, to the point where even if I had a sweet breakfast, I craved a quick dose of sugar. It took me two weeks of the challenge to get my cravings under control, and even now I still am not where I want to be. I had hoped by this time to be fully freed from my sugar addiction, but I’m just not there yet. While much improved, I still give in to my cravings more than I would like to admit.

Now that my goal is over I won’t be as strict with what I eat and interrogate people about the sugar content of items. I will, however, continue to look for low sugar options and avoid foods loaded with added sugars. Never again will I pay to overdose on sugar at coffee shops, especially if I can make something healthier at home. I also won’t let myself snack on sweets throughout the day or rationalize eating dessert after lunch and dinner.

This whole experience was eye opening. I started finding sugar hidden in foods that I had thought were healthy and natural. More than anything I learned to ditch the packaged goods, say no to extra sweets, and eat whole, natural fruits and vegetables. While counting every gram of sugar was frustrating and at times stressful, I’m glad I did it and I’m not going to let it all go to waste.

My Battle With Sugar: week 3

The definition of failure can be pretty flexible and loose, but it’s safe to say week three was a failure on the sugar front. I started out well, but as finals hit hard and fast my roommates and I turned to our usual habits… sweets.

On Tuesday one of my roommates finished with her finals and to celebrate she decided to make my other roommate and I some cinnamon rolls. Since we were wallowing in our insane amounts of work, we both quickly devoured the cinnamon rolls out of self pity (and man did they taste amazing hot out of the oven). In one sitting I doubled my sugar intake.strawberry whipped cream waffle
The next night it was my turn to celebrate being done. It’s a tradition in my apartment that when you finish something huge or get good news, we celebrate with food. We made some cookies to mark the completion of my second (and final) senior project/thesis, which really would have been fine if I hadn’t eaten six of them (in my defense they were small cookies). The next morning I had a waffle (thanks to Parks and Recreation I had a massive waffle craving for the past month or so and I finally got to give in to it), but I didn’t use the fake syrup and instead just had whipped cream and strawberries.

The week just kept falling apart from there. I would do great all day with my sugar intake, and then I would blow it out of the water at dessert. But by the end of the week (this weekend) I got myself back on track.

Honestly, I’m glad to have failed this week. I’m not going to be one of those people who refuses a homemade dessert because “I don’t eat sugar.” I believe that food should bring you joy as well as feed the body. Did my desserts harm me? No. Would I eat them again, of course (although I wouldn’t let myself eat so many cookies). I’m not saying I’m going to overdo it on dessert every day and be ok with it, but every once in a while I think it’s a good thing.

My Battle With Sugar: week 2

I finally did it. For the first time since starting my sugar challenge I stayed under the AHA’s recommendation of 33 grams of added sugar per day. I kept my daily intake to 30 grams! I’ve been mixing up what I eat, but overall I’ve done pretty well at hitting 33 or just above every day. I have stopped wanting something sweet constantly and Friday after lunch I didn’t even reach for a piece of chocolate from the bowl at work.

One of the biggest things I learned this week was how much sugar is added into everything. I bought dried fruit and because it did not say sweetened on the front I ignorantly assumed there was no sugar added. I was incredibly wrong!

dried fruit ingredients suga content
Because of my nut allergy I usually read nutrition labels and ingredient lists as if they contain the secrets of my future, but for things that I know are nut free I’ve clearly been a little lax. Now I’m on a witch hunt for sguar, and it seems to be slipped in everywhere. Also labled as dextrose, maltodextrine, sucrose, corn sweetener, evaporated cane juice, and any syrup, the sweet stuff won’t be sneaking into my cart any time soon.
super salad healthy shaved beets hard boiled egg
Are you trying to cut back on added sugar but can’t seem to beat the cravings? Try eating a piece of sweet fruit (fresh or dried) or a vegetable like sweet potato. I’ve also been adding sweeter vegetables like sweet potato and beats to my salad, and it’s really helped – satisfying and nutritious.
Where is sugar lurking in your fridge and cabinets? How much sugar do you consume in a day?

My battle with sugar: week 1

Cutting my sugar intake is so much harder than I originally anticipated. For the first few days the American Heart Association’s 33g recommendation felt impossible. I cut out the packaged cookies and the snacking on sweets throughout the day, and still I was going over. I switched to only the smallest amount of honey in my tea and refused candy when it was offered to me, and most days I still couldn’t make it.

Image courtesy of Olsonnd
Because every little bit adds up quickly, I took stock of what I eat on a daily basis that has added sugar and tried to find alternatives. However, I am not substituting cane sugar for a heavily processed, chemical alternative. Instead I am looking for less processed, less sugar options.
But so far I haven’t been too successful at finding good substitutes. I drink soymilk before workouts and some mornings with breakfast, so I bought unsweetened soymilk. It made complete sense at the time, but trying to drink it was pure torture (my roommates got a good laugh at my face every time I tried to choke it down). I thought I would get used to it, but after a half gallon of the stuff, I have to say it was a hopeless cause and I switched back to the sweetened soymilk.
I have also been searching for a soy yogurt alternative with less sugar. So it looks like it will have to be cow’s milk Greek yogurt or sticking to my heavily sweetened soy. I don’t particularly like the idea of eating more dairy products, and neither does my stomach. For now, the replacement is on hold. I am considering cutting out the soy yogurt entirely, but that would make my breakfasts really depressing and cut out my nutrient dense yogurt and granola.
But I am not completely failing. One of my best tricks so far is prunes. Every time I want something sweet after a meal or throughout the day I eat a few prunes. Even though it helps curb my sugar cravings and keep me on track, it’s still perpetuating the habit of eating something sweet after every meal and it will have to be cut back on soon too. I also indulge in some dark chocolate after dinner for a healthier sweet treat and I make sure I actually eat less than the serving size listed on the package not only make it last longer (and save me some money) but also to keep me from going over my sugar limit. But by far my best dessert was raspberries with a little jam, delicious.
I’m still not quite at 33 grams, but I have significantly reduced my added sugar intake. I was averaging 50 to 60 grams before I started and now I’m down to about 40 grams or less. I used to pass 33 after lunch, but now I make it until after dinner before I tip the scale a little too far. And once all of the items with added are out of my pantry, my daily intake will drop even more.

WOD of the week: CrossFit Open WOD 13.1

I am not competing in the CrossFit Open. After a year of CrossFit I just started being able to do some workouts at RX, and if today’s workout was any inclination, I am far off from ever being able to compete.

13-1_SnatchTop_web Julie Foucher
Image courtesy of CrossFit Games
With that said, after watching the amazing video of Julie Foucher demonstrate the WOD, I went to the gym thinking it wouldn’t be too bad, except for the fact that I have been insanely sore for the last few days. I knew I would never be able to do the weights for women, or even the weight for masters women. I still haven’t done a 1 rep max snatch (I’m working on it), but I’ve never done more than 5 reps at 65 lbs, so the 120 lb snatch for the last set of the women’s most definitely wasn’t happening. Nor was the 75 lb snatch. 

Instead I scaled the workout to my less than stellar ability.

CrossFit Open Wod 13.1 Women’s:
Proceed thorugh the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
45 lb Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
75 lb Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
100 lb Snatch, 30 reps
10 Burpees
120 lb Snatch, as many reps as possible

My scaled version:
40 Burpees
35 lb Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
45 lb Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
10 (it was as many as I could finish in the time) Snatches at 55 lbs
Score: 160

1 lb weights weight lifting 2

I was so sore coming into this workout that the warmup had me cringing in pain. The burpees made my tight, aching glutes very angry. I felt completely pathetic sliding on the 1 lb weights to make the women’s bar 35 lbs, but I think I did scale it well to my ability. Overall, I also did pretty well pacing myself. For the most part I kept up with the people in my gym who were actually competing, just at a much lighter weight.

But really, the biggest reason I got up this morning was to eat breakfast with my friends after CrossFit. I really, really wanted waffles, but I got a tofu scramble instead to help my aching muscles and keep me on track with my goal of reducing my sugar intake.

Crepevine Tofu Scramble breakfast

Today inspired me to get stronger and cook some tastier meals for myself.