Happy Spring everyone!  With all this snow on the ground, I guess we can say that spring fever hasn't quite kicked in yet.  Every time I walk by the door to our deck, I glance outside at our grill (that we have uncovered and used quite a few times this winter!) and can't wait to BBQ, sit on the deck and enjoy the sun and outdoors.  Its been a rough winter, I am ready for some sunshine!  

In the Crossfit world, we are in week 3 of the Open workouts.  Last week was a very interesting. This workout took an approach on using lot of strategy and thinking out side the box. The workout was a 10 Min AMRAP (as many reps as possible) on 5 Shoulder to Overhead (75/115), 10 Deadlifts (75/115) and 15 Box Jumps.  The big question/strategy here was do you jump on the box, or step up onto the box? (which typically isn't something that is allowed in a non-scaled competition).  Competitors around the world took this on and posted some amazing scores.  But of course with greatness, comes the doubt and disbelief. This brought the worst out in some crossfitters. These 3 movement apparently could be cheated relatively easily, or people just plain didn't understand the standards.   I was appalled and saddened by some of the things that were being written on message boards to fellow athletes.  The open certainly is about competition, but it is also about integrity and the unity of the crossfit community.  Unfortunately, there are people out there who lack these ethics.  They post scores that are not true to move them up the leader board, videos are discovered and they are clearly not following standards.  The most unfortunate part, is these people will get to go to regionals over other who worked their tails off and entered their scores with truth and honesty.  Once they get to regionals, their weakness with be revealed.  But for the athlete who was in 49th place, when they only take the top 48, suffers.  Its hard for logic to prevail over emotion when these things happen, but the past has past.  We can't control it.  Theres a new workout this week, and there will be 2 more after this.  We are going to see more technical movements, (hopefully) some new workouts.  So keep trying, stay focused, and dominate. 

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul" – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

So now after those deep thoughts, lets move on to the recipe!  This is a great crockpot recipe.  Relatively easy, and very flexible - Paleo Beef stew

Day light savings week.  I have definitely been dragging ass.  Its only an hour, but man!  It is exciting to drive home in the daylight and if our workout involves running, to run in the light!  So... The CrossFit open is here!  Last week, the first workout was announced.  It was a 17 min workout that involved some burpees and a snatch ladder.  I will say, I was extremly happy with my performance. I wasn't able to contribute to our team score, but for myself it was a huge improvement from last year.   Overall, our comp team did really well!  Currently, we are 25th in the region!  We need to stay in the top 30 to go to regionals. Tonight week 2 gets announced.  Wonder what it will have in store!

With that being said, when working out this hard you need to fuel your body properly.  Lately, I feel I have been lacking energy, so I decided to up my carb intake.  Eating paleo - sometimes we don't get enough carbs, and as an athlete, we need them.  So I added some quinoa into my diet. This is a controversial food that could go either way.  My advice is that is your working out hard, it's a good addition however is you main goal is weight loss then I would eat this in moderation, if at all.  It is gluten free and it's considered a seed but there are some articles that say it isn't paleo due to the fact that it could contains anti nutrients that if consumed in high amounts regularly could link to a "leaky" gut and cause slight inflammation. So use your judgement!

So its been too long since my last post!  It's Friday, the sun is shining, we are praying for NO snow this weekend!  It has snowed for the last 4 weeks in a row!  Last weekend, we did get to enjoy it by going to Mount Wachusett. (Yes, we took our picture on the big ski chair, haha!)  It was a lot of fun, the conditions were awesome! I have only been snowboarding for about 3 years, but last year I was only able to go twice because we didn't get much snow. (I wasn't totally complaining!)  New England conditions are not exactly beginner friendly, lots of ice!  I've been fortunate to be able to go when there is fresh snow. 
So next week is a HUGE week in Crossfit.  Its the start of the Crossfit Open.  Those of you not familiar, the Open is a world wide event that any athlete can sign up for.  Each week (on Wednesdays) a workout is released that you have to complete at a participating CrossFit affiliate, or submit a videotape of their performance to the Games website. In five weeks there are 5 workouts.  All of them are intended to be attainable, but yet still have a way of pushing you out of your comfort zone. Then, from these scores, the top athletes and teams from each region (there are 17 regions, we are in the Northeast Region).  We have been training to make it as a team, hopefully some of our athletes will make it as individuals too!  So I am excited, nervous – but ready as I am going to be!  If you want to check out the site its: http://games.crossfit.com/
So now onto the recipe!  This is for a paleo alfredo sauce that will knock your boots off!  I will admit, there are a few things I miss from non-paleo food and one is alfredo sauce.  I paired this with some Quinioa, Shrimp and chicken, but would go well over some spaghetti squash with chicken and broccoli!