Rain. More please?

Finally, I have been home at 'House on a Hill' to experience a good storm! 

I am so thankful, as we are trying to get our new turf looking healthy. I also have some tomatoes (still green) growing and I am a little forgetful when it comes to water. They have been a long time coming. I planted the seeds in April when my Mumma was visiting. The brush turkeys have managed to munch on a few but hopefully this time around my crop are safe!

Whenever it rains, I get a little fluttery. Coming from Darwin, I associate rain with being at home with my family and balmy nights on the balcony. I haven't been 'home' for so long... I don't miss the place, I just miss my home - as in, Mumma and Dad's house.

I have been starting to go to CrossFit in the mornings a few times a week. It means that I get to spend the afternoon with J (if he manages to finish early, ha!). It is so hard to get up at 4.45am and I find that I never really do well in morning WODs. Today was a different story, I nailed my Clean & Jerk PB. Anyway, this morning, the sky was so pretty I had to pull over and take a photo. Perhaps it was something to do with the storm? The colours are a bit like a Rainbow Paddlepop!

And as I click 'publish'... the storm ends. How ironic.

To Brodie. From Brodie.

I like to reward myself with presents when I achieve a goal. I will share one example with you.

Four years ago I set out to complete a Bachelor of International Business and a Bachelor of Commerce. In less than four weeks, I will have finished my final exams. Might I add, this is within the suggested time frame, with better than average academic results and is inclusive of early life tragedies many people make excuses about (eg. motor vehicle incidents - yes! I can laugh now). Anyway, once I am all done I shall buy myself this Polaroid 300 Instant Camera:

CrossFit. And my story.

I have embarked on a BIG journey. I had been hearing such great things about CrossFit and had been seeing fabulous results for a long time. Fortunately,  some good friends, Greg and Jules, opened a brand new CrossFit 'box' - CrossFit Geebung. I decided to give it a go and I hope you will too (the first session is free!!!). I will never, ever look back.

Now, I know you will have questions. People ALWAYS do. I will endeavour to answer them now.

Isn't it hard? YES. F***ing hard at times. In the end, it is worth every second, every drop of sweat and every devilish moment I consider not showing up.

Don't I need to be fit? NO. That is why you should come to CrossFit. Becoming a CrossFitter will allow this to happen in no time at all.

But my clothes are daggy...? WHO CARES. Hell, come half naked if you like. No one will judge you, what clothes you wear (or don't wear) or how you look. One tip however - avoid make up - you'll just sweat it off!

I don't have the time...? MAKE TIME. I am at uni, work part time, live in a rural area and have all those other commitments that people complain about. The distinction is though, I don't complain. I structure my week around CrossFit classes. Sad you may think? No I say. Just living my passion.

I'm too fat...? NO YOU AREN'T. CrossFit is suitable for all ages, sizes and capabilities. Everything is scalable to your abilities. And I mean everything.

I'm a girl, I don't want to get bulky...? YOU WON'T. Unless you take those super supps, pump testosterone into you and eat incredibly, it will not happen. We are women. I will leave more explaining to the professionals.

Hopefully I have covered your questions so far. I will now delve a little deeper and share my own experience.

Ever since childhood, I have always been a "big girl". I never played sport. I was never active. It just wasn't present in my life and I don't really have an excuse. Meanwhile, my brother was playing cricket/football/rugby (probably all at once if he could). In Year 11 I finally recognised there was a serious issue at hand. I couldn't fit into a Size 14, which meant I couldn't wear the clothes I wanted to. I started riding about 14km a day along the foreshore (in hindsight, this was probably helpful for my mental health too!). I became a Size 12 and remember the a pinnacle moment in my 'Gap Year', which just so happened to be within the male dominated construction industry. Someone asked me how much I weighed - I responded with 77kg - and this is the point of reference I keep today. 

A year later, I moved from my home town in Darwin to study on the Gold Coast. As it regularly happens, I put on the "Fresher 5" - those 5 kilos that just appear out of nowhere. Really it is the booze, hang-over cure and study lollies but I denied this and kept shovelling them down my gob. 5 kilos became 7 kilos and then 10 kilos. Over the next 3 years I dabbled in the gym - making the same mistake as many - 45 mins of cardio 3 times a week. I wondered why nothing was happening. I was eating "healthy" or so I thought.

As I entered my 4th year at university, I started reading. Reading articles online, magazines and on Facebook groups. I developed an interest in health and fitness and joined a gym (Good Life). I stopped eating those yukky white carbs - bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. It was ridiculously hard a first but eventually, it became habit. I developed my own weights program, as I had learned that it is best for burning fat (SHOCK HORROR! Get off the treadmill). I worked one muscle group per day usually 4-5 times a week and based my workouts on everything I read from professionals, fitness models and other fat people. I got down to 82kg, from about 88kg mind you. And then down to 80kg. This happened over the course of about 3 months. I kept at it, with my mind set on the scales. Unbeknown to me, my body was changing but the numbers weren't.

In August this year I learned Greg and Jules would open CrossFit Geebung in September. I found myself thinking about CrossFit but didn't find the guts to to commit. I tried it out during the opening week and fell in love. Not with a person but CrossFit. Now I live my passion 7 sessions a week over 5 days and my gym membership at Good Life is merely a memory in the back of my mind. At the moment my training goes something like this:

Mon - 1 hr, Tues - 1 hr, Wed - 2 hrs (StrongMan and then CrossFit), Thurs - REST, Fri - 1 hr, Sat - 2 hrs (CrossFit and then Strongman) and Sun - REST. I have since learned it is very important for me to rest, it allows my body to recover and in turn, the results to happen. And what about my weight, you ask? I don't give a s*** anymore. Although, I do know I hover around 78kg. I am fitter than I have ever been before. I am stronger than I have ever been before. I have much less body fat than I have ever had before. Put simply, the numbers do not matter anymore. This is because the type of training CrossFit includes - strength and conditioning. How happy am I? I cannot put it into words.

There is no need to be scared about what will happen at CrossFit. There is no need to fear CrossFitters as people, nor the environment it all happens in. There is no need to screw your nose up at my excitement, the quotes I put up or the photos I share. I simply just want you to share my passion. In terms of the people: there is a vibrant culture, masses on masses of verbal and physical support and a lot of love from a new "family". In terms of the work: it is hard, it will get harder but your body will learn to cope, your personality will grow and your fat will shrink. Heck, you may even develop some sexy muscle! So, with my most sincere/welcoming/inviting feelings ever - get out of the gym, get into a box, put down the crap food (yes, that means the muesli bars, cereals, fatty meats and soft drink) and pop the wine glass down on the bench (just pick it up again every so often). You have one chance at life and one body to live it with. Cherish it, work it and get whatever the hell you can outta it. 

See, we do have fun. Here are some girls using "super powers"!

This is after our Monday Benchmark WODs

This is me and a team during one of our Saturday Team WODs

This is me having a laugh during StrongMan - I was carrying more than the weight of J (80kgs). 

This is after some dirty tyre flipping (there was dirt on my chin!)

And this is some of the CFG members

Where else can you find me?

These days I tend to stray from Facebook. So you can find me:

Here - Instagram - @brodiebb

And here - Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/brodiebb/ 

Preparation.

When we returned from Laceys Creek, I prepared some food for the week. Sundays are my preparation days and I simply cannot rest unless I do this! Terribly OCD, I know... Since I hadn't done the groceries yet, I used ingredients I always have at home.

When I make quiche, I just add whatever veggies I can find. This time around, I used red onion, green capsicum and red capsicum. For the base mixture, I add 6-10 eggs and almond milk until I think it is the right colour. I also added some short cut bacon to keep J happy!

Whenever I make protein balls, I use a combination of recipes and lots of judgement. This time around, I added:

- 2 scoops choc honeycomb WPI

- sprinkle of cocoa powder (for extra choc-ness)

- 1 tbsp coconut for mixture, keeping some aside for rolling

- 1/2 cup peanut butter (the one in a previous blog entry)

- few squirts of honey

- 1 cup oat bran/oatmeal 

- 1 tbsp LSA

Mix dry ingredients and melt wet ingredients in microwave. Mix both dry and wet ingredients together and add dashes of water if mixture is too dry. Roll into balls and then roll into coconut. 

Laceys Creek.

This weekend a group of us went out to stay at Laceys Creek. J's family has a lovely "shack"  out there which was family-built many years ago. The boys decided we will cook the roasts and veggies in the camp oven down on the creek bed (a tough stroll down a hill from the shack), despite copping a bit of flack from the ladies. 

The water was SO cold. I couldn't bring myself to get the whole way in so I just kept dipping my toes in. 

It was so great to sit around, eat nibbles and chat with good company. I am usually so busy and never sit down and 'do nothing', so this was definitely a good chance for me.

This is my CrossFit coach and friend, Greg (above). He has recently opened a new box with his partner, Jules - CrossFit Geebung - I invite you to check it out. The box is located in Geebung, on the north side of Brisbane. 

The delicious camp oven veggies! It is quite a shame I didn't capture the roasts, they were just divine!