Jillapalooza — Page 32 — IM IN UR OCEAN. EATIN UR CARDZ.

Throwdowns, cooking classes, and whole life challenges, oh my!

September 21, 2012

Lots of crazy things have been happening over the past week. Let me start by talking about the 2nd Annual Cloudy Town Throwdown, a mini version of the CrossFit games hosted by BRK’s CrossFit Fast Factory. Let me tell you right now, this shit is crazy. These people are the epitome of fitness.

Of course Curtis was there recording the event, complete with green STAFF shirt. He made these video montages:

It was a long day. About halfway through I started experiencing the telltale signs of sickness—scratchy sore throat, headache, fatigue—but I persevered. Well, minus one nap in the baby Mazda.

BRK competed like a champ, placing 14th in the women’s division. She’s pretty much like a god to me now because I can’t even close a pocket knife. Here’s a gif of her slacking off in the back of the pack:

View all my photos on Flickr

That was on Saturday. On Sunday BRK ~~dragged me to~~ and I went to a “Keep it Paleo” Cooking Seminar by Paleo Nick. It was actually quite informative, and we made meals to bring home. I have never made a 60 serving meal before, nor will I probably ever again. It was fun working with mass quantities, and I met a lot of nice people. But as the day dragged on (an 8+ hour course the day after a 10+ hour day of spectating, jeebus), I started fading fast. A migraine struck, and then a brief car ride delivered the final blow.

I spent the majority of the evening writhing around on BRK’s couch. The promise of Cherry Berry had me on my feet, but my throbbing head and queasy car-ride stomach wouldn’t allow me to eat very much. BRK’s a good care taker, though. She hooked me up with drugs and peppermint oil and cold packs, and around 9pm I felt good enough to make the 60 mile drive home with a cooler full of food in tow.

Which brings me to the next subject: Whole Life Challenge. For the next eight weeks, I have a strict, almost paleo diet. Meat, fruit, vegetables, and nuts are allowed. No bread, wheat, oats, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar, artificial sweeteners, corn, soy, dairy, dairy!, alcohol, soda, juice, or artificial or processed ingredients. Butter, peanuts, beans, and sweet potatoes are the only exceptions.

So far it hasn’t been bad. I haven’t had any cravings for cheez or bread or Coke or cream and sugar in my coffee, but I attribute that to having been sick for the past five days. And after today I’ll be 1/8 of the way done.

The challenge also incorporates other healthy life aspects such as working out, mobilization (stretching), and taking fish oil, but those are a drop in the bucket compared to NOT EATING CHEEZ FOR 58 DAYS! I turned down pizza today, jsyk.

Let’s see, I think that about sums it up for now. I’m going to make an attempt to blog about my struggles and triumph over the remaining seven weeks.

MN State Fair – 8/30/12

August 31, 2012

Nick and I attended the MN State Fair again last night. It was a pretty laid back evening. We roamed around and got some food, like About a Foot Longs and corn dogs, and did the mandatory stop at the fish pond. Apparently Nick overheard a dude referencing the catfish as a plecostomus. For the first time ever at the fair, I really took a look at the algae filled pond with the fake moose. There are ducks there! For real! Just hanging out, swimming through the nasty green slime. Who knew? #notthisgirl

After the pond, we stopped at the Tiny Tim stand to say hello to Nuts and Jody before going off to find more food. We watched the evening’s amateur talent show semi-finals for an hour or so. I decided I couldn’t possibly go any longer without corn on the cob. To my surprise, I lucked out and got a two for one deal on a couple broken pieces. I was going to be nice and give one to Nick, but he declined, so I had the pleasure of double fisting the corn instead. It was awesome.

The FAIR-well to Summer Dance Party was in full effect by the time we made it back to the donut stand. It was entertaining to watch, but the best part was the stuffed bobcat surfing through the crowd. It was hard to get a good photo because it was dark outside and the strobe lights were going and the music was terrible. Wait, can music quality affect picture quality? Methinks yes.

Check out more pics below.

MN State Fair – 8/23/12

August 29, 2012

Nick, BRK, and I kicked off the MN State Fair season on day 1! We ate a lot of food, watched the Lumberjack show, and generally meandered about. There were two old school Batmobiles on display, which was really awesome.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so here you go:

Anaheim – Friday 6/29

August 2, 2012

Friday was a sad, sad day. Mary and I enjoyed room service one last time. While I was packing, I found a sugar cookie I bought at Disneyland that I was saving for later but completely forgot about. It was probably better when it wasn’t three days old, but it was a sugar cookie, so I couldn’t complain.

Only two photos for you from the last day. Not surprising, they are of food.

Look at that. I actually blogged a last day of vacation. Perhaps I’m turning over a new leaf.

Anaheim – Thursday 6/28

August 2, 2012

Thursday was awesome because it was our do nothing day. We had some pool time during the day, and for dinner we went to The Boiling Crab. Awesomest. Restaurant. Ever. You tell them what you want, and then they throw it in a bag and, I don’t know, boil it or something. I got snow crab. Maybe I’ll have to start the hunt for the Minnesota equivalent. Or go back to California. It’s worth the trip.

Mary and I went out with a bang that night, ordering banana splits and an international cheese tray and dining in our room. Wow, we ordered room service a lot during this trip. In case you couldn’t tell, we ate a lot, too.