12 Jul

Throw Away Your Scale

Posted under: CrossFit, fitness, food, gym, health, inspirational, Training, Workouts

Okay ladies, and gentlemen. THROW AWAY THE SCALE!! And the calipers! (Tim if you want to get them for the gym you still can as they can still play a part, but body fat % isn’t the best body composition testing tool) But seriously that scale isn’t doing you any good, in fact it’s probably driving you crazy and most likely you are veering off the Paleo wagon. Don’t make this harder than it is! Eat real food, meat, veggies, nuts seeds, some fruit, little starch, no grains, dairy or sugar. Typically what I see happen is person starts paleo, sees a pretty good decrease in bodyweight and them BAM! It stops, and so sets in the “WTF” phase. And people resort to, “If I’m not going to lose weight then I want ________(insert non-paleo food item). It’s okay things will get better. The human body is a very complicated machine. And at all times will be more frustrating then operating a computer. What is happening though is that you are more than likely gaining muscle, which is the reason for the lack of weight loss. Even if that’s not the case, what is really the goal? I was talking with a member yesterday about this topic, she said she’s finally back on the paleo wagon, & her ability to push through a WOD is SO MUCH better! Her athletic capacity in just a couple weeks of strict Paleo has improved and she couldn’t be happier. The aesthetic component of the diet will sneak up on you, as you are focused on your WODs, and soon…BAM! Rethink what your goals are and after reading this article below, weight loss may not have the same ring as it used too hopefully. Eat right, train hard, change your life.

This one was originally posted on Everyday Paleo.

Brace yourself. I’m coming at you with all guns blazing on this one and you aren’t going to believe what you’re about to see. First things first, if you haven’t read my diatribe condemning your bathroom scale, please begin there.

Alright, now that you are caught up, let’s revisit Deb from my last post. Deb has been kind enough to let me exploit her for your education on these here interwebs and I am very grateful. Showing the world where she started isn’t easy, but she is a kind person who wants to help you and she has accomplished some remarkable things in her health and fitness.

So here is Deb at the beginning of a contest we held at my gym in January of last year.

Here she is at a size zero with her nutrition dialed. For the full effect of this picture, place your thumb on your screen directly over the ugly guy on the right.

And here she is a couple of weeks ago after a lot of hard work that has dramatically increased her fitness capacity. I didn’t actually intend for this post to be all about Deb’s accomplishments, so I won’t repeat her numbers here. Suffice it to say, my money would be on Deb versus the average American girl half her age in a contest of any exercise I have ever convinced her to perform. Now for the really good part.

I spent my entire career waiting patiently for the right situation that would produce the picture below.

Now that you are done staring in amazement, eyes darting back and forth between the two Debs and down to “155lbs” to make sure you read it right, let this information really sink in. Let it change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!

Now go throw away your scale.

Faced with the facts above, basing your goals – or even worse, your happiness – on the number on your scale is absolutely ridiculous. I’ll give you an example of why weight is useless information in all but extreme cases. Let’s pretend Deb came to me at a weight of 200 lbs and told me she wanted to get down to 155 lbs. Which side of the picture above do you think she would prefer? Do you think she would have been satisfied with the left side? Look at her face. She is ecstatic with her body on the right, but on the left she can hardly stand to have her picture taken. We can glean from this that goals based on weight are too vague to be useful. If I had only given you her circumference measurements (waist, hips, thighs, bust, etc.) and no photos, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which 155 lb Deb you would have chosen as the more aesthetically appealing. But when you look in the mirror and see a body like the Deb on the left you probably say, “Damn, I need to lose some weight.” Now you have undeniable evidence that defies that thought. Losing weight is not what you want and pursuing a number on your scale is not the path to success. It will drive you insane, though. But that’s probably not your goal.

Change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!

For those of you that may be having a hard time believing how all this can possibly be true, click here and hit Deb up on Facebook. She will be happy to befriend you and answer your questions, but please be reasonable. She has not volunteered to coach you, just to be your motivation.

WOD: Tuesday

AMRAP/12
12 SDHP
12 box jumps
12 window wipers (Scale as needed) VIDEO

L+R = 1 rep (sub with DB locked overhead while laying on back and doing windmills on ground)

01 Jul

Paleo Table

Posted under: CrossFit, food, Group Fitness, gym, health, Workouts

One of the problems with most paleo sites isn’t the recipes. It’s trying to coordinate your grocery list for convenient trips to the store with out buying too much and having the food spoil. Shopping paleo isn’t expensive if you plan right and don’t buy so much fresh food that it spoils before you get to enjoy the goodness! This new site helps to solve this dilemma. Go to the website by clicking the banner above and sign up for their email list. They will send you one weeks shopping list along with all the recipes for your whole week’s meals (that’s one meal for two mostly it looks like). You still have to plan the other 2 meals and snack, sorry! The once a professional writer, Pam King, is loving life and her family has inspired her to start this blog to share their delicious paleo meal plans with you! Paleo is easy and delicious…with a little inspiration and planning! That they have already done for you!

Tips to Make Paleo Eating Easier

Join a CSA (consumer supported agriculture). We belong to a local CSA, Wild Goose Farm, that provides fresh, organic veggies weekly from June through October. You pay for the entire growing season upfront in return for the freshest local organic produce the midwest has to offer. The variety will challenge you to try new veggies and new recipes.
Eat organic whenever possible. In the off season when organic local produce isn’t available, an increasing amount of stores are carrying enough organics to get by. My go-to store is Yokes, but many other stores often have small sections of organic produce.
Join a meat-buying group or find a source for grass-fed meats. Find a farm that offers a great variety of grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood, free-range chicken, etc. Check eatwild.com for a provider in your area.
Purge your pantry and fridge of all non-paleo items. Pass unopened items on to a local food pantry or shelter.
Pick one day a week to roast a bunch of veggies. In less than two hours, you can clean, cut, and roast enough veggies for weekly lunches. it makes life a whole lot easier, reduces waste from raw veggies gone bad, and makes paleo lunches a no-brainer.
Eating Out – It seems like most people living the paleo lifestyle tend to eat at home more often. We do the same, although we average a dinner out at least once a week. You can make restaurant meals be great. Blackened salmon on a bed of asparagus, topped with a chunky avocado and tomato mixture, you can usually always substitute the starch for veggies. Yum–and totally paleo! Turn down the desert, but a small cup of mixed berries could be a good substitute.

I can usually find at least one paleo-friendly menu item wherever we go. I do try to stay away from steak when we eat out since it is almost always corn-fed. Sticking to the simple paleo guidelines enables me to eat a meal and not have to go home and immediately crash out because I’m so full of non-paleo stuff. Meat, veggies, little fruit or starch, no grain, dairy or sugar 🙂 Enjoy!

WOD: Thursday

5×3 Deadlift

5 rounds
10 Box jumps (24/22 22/20 20/step ups)
10 DB hang cleans (35/20 20/12.5 12.5/7.5)

29 Jun

Snack Time

Posted under: CrossFit, food, gym, health, Training, Workouts

This is a REAL wild bannana. Looks different uh?

Ever wonder why snack look so appealing? It’s really not your fault, the people who make this stuff are inside your head. They know what makes you tick and what makes you want to grab that box of Oreos over a tray of celery and almond butter. I know some of you have looked at this site, but if you haven’t take some time to check out this article from Gnolls.com– Why Snack Food Is Addictive: The Grand Unified Theory of Snack Appeal. They also discuss the idea that is, the supernormal stimulus of taste. It’s an interesting read, and knowledge is power!

The Perfect Snack!

It would be made of cheap ingredients, allowing a high profit margin.
Since our government heavily subsidizes industrial grain production, you’d make them of grains and grain products…corn, wheat, and soy. Mostly corn, because it’s so heavily overproduced that we’re forced, by law, to feed it to our cars!

It would be shelf-stable and require no preparation, so that it could be kept without refrigeration, taken anywhere, and eaten at any time.
Therefore, you’d make it out of highly-processed ingredients that are shelf-stable, pump it full of preservatives so that it could survive for months in a vending machine, and enclose it in lots of disposable packaging so it wouldn’t get damaged in transit.

It would concentrate the tastes we’ve evolved to enjoy far beyond their natural amounts,and as much as our technology allows.
This would be the supernormal stimuli of fatty, salty, umami, and sweet: MSG, crystalline sugar, seed oils, fruit juices, “natural and artificial flavors”.

Finally, it would not be satiating.
No matter how much you ate, you would never be satisfied.

Just some snacks for thought!

WOD: Wednesday

400m farmers walk

5 Rounds each for time beginning every 5 minutes of:

400M Run
15 Hang Power Cleans III: 135/95 II: 115/75 I: 95/55

16 Jun

Eating Healthy on a $$

Posted under: CrossFit, food, Group Fitness, gym, health, Training, Workouts

If you like most you probably think that it’s expensive to eat healthy. And if you don’t do your homework, sometimes it can be. But if you go prepared and know what you need for the week then you can walk out with a steal of a deal. But we deserve better when we are refueling! Listen to this lady’s story at Cavemomma.com, she feeds a family of 6 and does it because, “[her] ‘temple’ and [her] children are worth it. Every. time.”

WOD: Thursday

2 rounds

400m run
15 single arm KB Snatch (L)
400m run
15 single arm KB Snatch (R)

Post WOD: 50 Hip Extensions

WOD: 6/16/11

12 May

Caveman Muffins

Posted under: CrossFit, food, Group Fitness, gym, Training, Workouts

I can’t get enough of these, they are everywhere. I want to share this one with everyone also. There are some great recipes on there and if this doesn’t convince you to start looking at alternative cooking methods I don’t know what will. While eating paleo can also have it own side effects when it comes to your diet, this cheat is much better then the alternative. Enjoy! Recipe is from Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations. Go to there website and see what else they have to offer! I’m also going to be making their Carrot Cake Cookies and Coconut Panacakes, mmmm! Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too!

Ingredients:

3 Eggs
3 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
2 Tbsp Coconut Milk
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Coconut Flour
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans(optional)

Process:

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F
Mix together your eggs, honey, coconut oil, coconut milk, salt and vanilla
Sift together your baking powder and coconut flour and then combine with your wet ingredients
Mix your batter well and then fold in your chopped Pecans if you are using them
If not, divide your batter into 6 Muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes
Enjoy