Thursday, February 26, 2009

February update

My week has been very busy. I have been going to bed late and waking up early. I am very sleep deprived but I am still full of energy and in a really positive mood.

Last weekend i stayed home (instead of going on climbing trips) because i needed to get homework done. I got plenty of work done and i got plenty of sleep. Sometimes i just LIKE being at home. For the past few years, i have been going on trips pretty much every weekend and i don't get home until late evening during the week. Sometimes i LONG to just go home and chill. I always thought that i hated being at home... that i always wanted to be traveling at all times... but its simply not true. There is something about being home that is very calming and relaxing. I have a great home and I am very thankful for it!

Tomorrow I am leaving school early to go to Athens, Georgia for a climbing competition on Saturday. The competitions that I have BEEN doing have been bouldering competitions (bouldering = climbing without a rope; there are bouldering pads on the ground and the climbs are much shorter!) Anyways, nationals has already happened for bouldering and now it's route season. Routes are climbs WITH ropes.... they can get pretty high! I tend to be a boulderer so I am trying to get psyched about route season! Hopefully this weekend will start my interest in it again!

As far as food goes,

TIM BOUGHT ME A DURIAN ON MONDAY! I was SO EXCITED! (thanks tim!) I ate it yesterday in a mono-meal dinner after working out. It was the best meal ever! I blended up the flesh into a pudding. =) Everyime i eat durian, i can't wipe the smile off of my face. I still can't decide what my favorite fruit is, but durian is either number one or number two!

Today I just finished off the dates from the date people... i'm very sad about it. I love having dates here and there and everywhere. I love knowing that "i still have more dates at home!" But now it is no longer a reality. I will call again sometime. (Does anyone know when the Date People stop selling dates? When is date season? Sarah!?)

Anyways,

you guys should let me know what to talk about in my blog. I can get pretty in-depth about my blogging if I have a good topic to go by! Let me know if you have any questions about me or my diet or lifestyle. =) Hope all is well!!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

SHARING

I love sharing fruit.

Today I was in art class and my classmate was complaining that he was hungry. I gave him one of my perfectly ripe bananas and he was so thankful! Then another guy asked if he could possibly have a banana... and I gladly gave him one without hesitation! I also bought a pear for my friend after school. =)

You see, I fully believe that they needed it more than me. I eat lots of fruit ALL day long... I could live without 2 bananas!!! These people do not eat much fruit. They are constantly eating processed, refined, dead food. There is no energy in the food they eat!!! WHen I share fruit with them, I am sharing HEALTH and I am contributing to their well-being.

When I first went raw, I felt like I would die if i didn't constantly have food around. I felt like I would pass out or not be able to function. I kept imagining myself in a terrible situation where I would be starving and would cave into cooked foods.

Well... now I don't even see cooked or processed food as "food." So there is no problem with "caving in" there. Also, I realized that simply having a good hardy breakfast can keep me going for most of the day! (granted, I still eat quite a large lunch... but giving up 2 bananas really doesn't matter that much in the long run! I can just add another fruit to my evening dinner, you know!?)

Since i realized that I do not have to keep all my fruit to myself to survive, I have felt a compulsive urge to constantly share. It makes me feel so good! Everytime I bring strawberries to school, I always pack extra. Last time I ended up giving probably a 3rd of my whole meal away to people who asked or looked interested. I offer grapes, orange segments, bites of an apple, dates... you name it! I love seeing people smile when they eat a piece of fruit.

Sharing has always been a magical thing to me. And sharing fruit is on a whole new level. Giving the gift of HEALTH is the best gift you can GIVE!!! Share fruit, spread the word!!!!

Monday, February 16, 2009

PICTURES from COLORADO

If you didn't notice, i went back and uploaded pics to the last couple posts. =)

Here are some pictures from the moutains and hanging out in boulder. ENJOY.

Tim making smoothies and EATING RAW with me!


talking on the phone:


me and my coach, Tim


Tim on the moutain


WIll walking amongst the rocks


Tim likes this photo


testing out the rock


me in the moutains

Sunday, February 15, 2009

nationals!

Yesterday was qualifiers.

[note: for nonclimbers, i apologize for using any climbing lingo. I get so used to the language that i do not notice and forget to explain. To start off, a "problem" is a "climb." If i say something that you are confused about, just ask. =)]

There were 4 problems. 4 minutes to attempt each problem. Each hold you controlled was worth a certain amount of points. You could attempt the problem as many times as you wanted within the 4 minutes. After the 4 minutes of climbing, there was a 4 minute break before the next problem.

Before the climbing, everyone is held in a room called isolation so that we will not be able to see the climbs beforehand. Everyone warms up and gets ready in iso. Well, I was the last one in my category to go, so i was in there a while!

I went out to climb and immediately got shut down. On the first problem, there was a hidden hold that I did not see until my last attempt... and by that time, i was tired. Even when i was reaching for the hold, I couldnt get my fingers on it. It was a really long move!!! I got mid-way.

I did much better on the second one. The first part was pretty hard and I almost fell on that part everytime (but i managed to get through) and then a HUGE move to a big green hold. I stuck the green one and reached out really far to a blue crimp and fell. There was only one hold after the blue crimp. I was pretty close!

The third one was more my style, but still had a really long move near the top that I fell on both of my attempts.

The fourth one was ridiculous. A full on dyno... (a dyno is basically a HUUUGE jump to a hold... hands and feet both come completely off the wall) Needless to say, I did not get this huge move.

Overall, the problems all had extremely long moves. If you know me as a climber, you will know that I am pretty good at finding my own way through long moves, but since this was nationals, they also did not supply many footholds, so it was hard to find new beta. I honestly did my best for what they gave me. But these problems were anti-my style.

I got 16th place. 16th in the nation.

This is the first year i didnt make finals. BUT you know what? I'm almost GLAD. I'm glad for a few reasons:

1. I am always happy for humbling experiences. Perhaps my ego needed a rest. One reason why I climb is because there is always going to be rock that humbles me. Not even the best climbers in the world can do everything.

2. This really inspired and motivated me to train harder.

3. I GET TO CLIMB OUTSIDE TODAY! Since I am not going to finals (which is in an INDOOR GYM, by the way!) I get to climb OUTSIDE. I have never had the opportunity to climb outside in Boulder, CO, because I usually make finals. Climbing outside is the only reason i climb inside. I climb indoors to train to climb outside. Climbing outside is the real deal...

This experience made me re-ask myself why i climb. Do i climb to win? NO. I climb in competitions because they are FUN and i like challenging myself. This is a real challenge and I am happy that it happened this way. You cant win all the time, right!?

NOT TO MENTION, i moved up a division this year. I am the youngest in my age category. I am not trying to make excuses, but I feel like next year will be much better since I will be more used to this category.


Thank you to everyone who supported me. I really appreciate it.

I am sorry if i let you down.

I had really high expectations but I just wasn't aware of the style of climbing here. I had so much fun though, and I will have even more fun CLIMBING OUTSIDE TODAY!

ALso, i went to the Open (adult) finals yesterday and even the best of the best (who i've never seen fall) were falling all over the place on their climbs! It just goes to show that the route-setters this year were not messing around!!! They made some ridiculously hard climbs!!!

Okay, well i'm off to go climb outside.

here are some pics from qualifiers:
this is nicole, another raw vegan climber!!! super cool and 80/10/10








Saturday, February 14, 2009

first days in CO

I've been in Boulder for a few days.

On Thursday I arrived. We walked around downtown and ate at a pizza place. I bought a mighty meaty pizza and a chocolate icecream pie for dessert................ JUST KIDDING!


I had bananas at the hotel. I brought a blender so i've been making lots of banana smoothies.





Yesterday I registered to climb and then we hung out. We went to the mountains..... and oh-my-gosh, i was SO GIDDY! I couldnt stop smiling/laughing... it was mind-blowing!!!!!! I was in heaven! (but i couldnt climb because i had to rest for today!!!) I have lots of pics to share. We came back to the hotel and my coach, teamate and i swam for like 2 hours. Its a salt-water pool and does not use chlorine!

This hotel is very eco-friendly. There are recycling bins and compost bags in every room. Everything that they provide (cups, napkins, etc) is biodegradable and recycleable!!! I love this place.

Last night, my dad and I drove to Denver to watch a show. We went to a beautiful historic Paramount theater and watched Devotchka. It was amazing!!!

WELLLLL FOLKS, today is the big day. Its the qualifiers round.at nationals. If I do well, I will be able to climb in FINALS tomorrow. I will update you guys later!

As far as eating goes, I've been eating lots of dates and bananas. They are my favorite climbing foods. I also ate lots of grapes yesterday. OH and grapefruit for breakfast!!! =)

Wish me luck today!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

banana coconut island, DATES, and nationals

I was on banana coconut island for a couple days this week. On these days, i only ate bananas and YOUNG thai coconuts (mostly the water, but if the flesh inside was really soft and jelly-like, i ate that too)

The first day I ate 20 bananas and 2 young coconuts and the next day I ate 23 bananas and 2 young coconuts. I always ate the bananas throughout the day and the coconuts at night after my workouts. I ate most of the bananas in the form of smoothies --- just bananas blended with water. SO GOOD.

While on banana coconut island, I had more energy than ever before. You see, when we eat a variety of foods and we combine lots of foods and ingredients at every meal, it takes a while for our body to digest. Digestion takes a lot of energy. By going on banana island, my digestion could take a break and the energy that usually goes towards digestion went to healing the rest of my body and providing me with more energy to be active. I had 2 great climbing days on banana island!!!!

I would have been on banana island all week, but my bananas weren't ripe enough the 3rd day (yesterday). So yesterday I had to simply use up the fruit i had at my house (since I am leaving for CO today) i ate a banana smoothie for breakfast. Then i ate 2 pints of cherry tomatoes for lunch (with a couple romaine leaves). For dinner i blended a few peeled apples with a few bananas. It tasted like a very sweet "oatmeal."

also, my DATES FROM THE DATE PEOPLE ARRIVED!!!! I was so ecstatic. You do not understand. Well, maybe you do if you have ordered from them before!!! Seriously guys, this is my favorite food. The dates from The Date People are SO FRESH! They are so moist and creamy! They are so delicate that when I pick one up it practically falls apart. They are the sweetest, creamiest food I've ever eaten. They always put a smile on my face! I ordered 10 pounds of the Barhi dates. They even wrote a special note on my invoice wishing me good luck at nationals. They are extremely friendly and their prices are CHEAP, especially compared to prices of not-so-good dates at Whole Foods or another grocery store. (At Whole Foods dates are around 7 bucks a pound..... i just got 10 pounds for 36 bucks including shipping!!!) I highly suggest you CALL THE DATE PEOPLE NOW! I'm sure you'd love them. I have shared them with many people who were skeptical about how they looked, and they ended up asking for more and more. I've even shared them with people who "don't like dates" and they soon changed their minds. This is the best energy food (along with the banana) in my opinion, and The Date People is the best company to order from!!! If they don't answer, LEAVE A MESSAGE and they WILL CALL YOU BACK within a few days. Their number is 760-359-3211. You should also search YouTube for "Harvest High" and watch them!!! Taken straight from the words on an info sheet, these dates are unheated, unfrozen, untrated, sustainable and small farm grown! They are highly nutritious, delicious, and RAW. They have high fiber, they are high alkaline and low glycemic. THESE ARE AN AMAZING FOOD!!! =) =) =)

NATIONALS-----------------------> I am leaving for Boulder Colorado in a few hours. I am competing in the qualifiers round on Saturday and hopefully the finals round on Sunday. I will keep you guys posted. WISH ME LUCK!!!!!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Acts of kindness and recent events

First off,

Today I got inducted to the National Honor Society!!! I am so happy. I have worked really hard in high school to keep up with my grades. =)

Secondly,

Today was a "climbing challenge" for the junior high team I help coach at the climbing gym. It was a lot of fun. One of the girls in the program is doing really well on a raw-vegan diet. I spoke with her mother and she seemed SO SUPPORTIVE!!! It was so great to see such a young girl striving to be a raw vegan. SO COOL! I ran to my car and grabbed my 80/10/10 book and a book about athletic performance and raw foods (both by dr. douglas graham, my favorite raw vegan writer and "leader.") I told them to borrow and read them. I'm just spreading the word, you know!? =)

She is a great climber too. She was still using the rental shoes from the climbing gym... so yesterday I brought some old climbing shoes that i used to wear and I gave her a pair. She was really thankful. She deserved it! Today when she came in to the gym, she gave me RAW PISTACHIOS! I was so excited. I've been wanting to try raw pistachios for SO LONG!!!

Also,

AT the event tonight, the only food that we had for the kids was fruit and veggies. IT WAS SO AWESOME! We had apples, REALLY RIPE PEARS (so good), oranges, bananas, mango, carrots, and celery. It wAS AWESOME!!



Hope you are all well.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

I keep on meaning to post an update but I keep forgetting!

I've been training a lot for nationals. It takes up a lot of time.

Last week i was completely overwhelmed with homework and I spent a few days staying awake into the wee hours of the morning to try and finish. NO FUN!!!

On Friday my parents let me drive to Chattanooga for my first time. It was very liberating!!! =) I stayed with Tim and Marcus and we went climbing in Alabama at HP40 the next day. It was a lot of fun. My fingers bled a little, and are still recovering 3 days later (I've been training a lot on top of them too though...)

On Sunday, my friend Becky came over and we made VISION BOARDS! Mine is still not complete, but starting it was really fun. I love setting goals and using creative visualization to achieve them. I think everyone should make a vision board!!! It's so easy! Just cut out pictures and words in magazines that appeal to you. Cut out anything that makes you smile or puts you in a good mood. Cut out anything that has to do with your goals and dreams. Glue them to a poster board and add photos of yourself too! Whenever you have spare time, you can sit down in front of your board and visualize yourself achieving these goals. Feel the feelings that you would feel if you had already achieved them. VISUALIZE. DREAM. BE HAPPY. =)


On Monday, we had a full-team climbing practice. Big Crimpin is our climbing team name... We have the best kids!!! I love our team. We usually train individually, so training in a group like this was a TON OF FUN. Lots of good vibes.

Today I worked with the junior high climbing team again. I climbed a little afterwards but not for long because I needed to get home and eat and do homework. I plan on doing abs and a pull-up exercise here in a bit.



On a raw food note, did I mention that my grandpa gave me BAGS of fresh pecans from his sister's backyard!? It's true. They are organic, fresh pecans that my grandpa's sister collected from her backyard. He gave me LOTS of them... so many that I don't even know what to do with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!?