Tag Archives: Meat

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First Thirty Days of Focused…ish…. Nutrition Plan

It is amazing how time flies. It is hard for me to believe we are already through the first week of August. Summer is just about over. Believe me, I am not wishing it away. Autumn is my favorite time of year. Fires, Cocktails, Football,  and hooded sweatshirts. Summer is my second favorite time. We have not gotten to the beach once and we do need to fix that, quickly. We have been on the water a few times in the kayaks and Berger took her maiden voyage. She did well. She was very focused on a paddle boarder behind her and Kylie…not sure why.

It has been seven months since I last posted. Way too long. Things have been going well this year, however I have not been focused on hitting my goals. Life gets in the way. Things happen. We all make choices and push what needs to be done at that time to the top. Sadly I think many of us put ourselves last. Then we find ourselves kind of pissed that we are not achieving the things that six months ago were important to us. And of course, there is also the reality of New Years’ resolutions…..that are the same year after year.

For those of you who know me, you know that I lost my Dad the end of April. Losing a parent seems to change the view of one’s own mortality. It is an assault on it actually. When I was little I thought he was the strongest guy in the world, able to do anything. I watched him age and his physical capabilities diminish. He was hard on his body and in the end his body just gave up. It was done.

So, in part because of that, and because it just beyond time, I spoke with a fellow CultFitter and he recommended a nutritionist he had worked with previously. So I contacted her and we were off. I had to get a Resting Metabolic Rate test and a VO2 max test. The first was not hard, just took twice as much time as it was supposed to. Based on those readings I burn about 2500 calories a day just living. The VO2 max test was a giant PITA. It was on a treadmill and everyone who reads this blog knows how much I looooooove running. So imagine me on a treadmill with basically a fighter pilot mask on, a heart rate monitor around my chest, and a clippy thing on my finger. Quite the sight. I hoped that i did not trip and take out the whole thing.

The numbers came back no differently than I expected. Average/Slightly above average for a person of my age and dimensions. I met with the nutritionist via phone and went over all pertinent information. She put together a meal plan and sent it to me. Using MyFitnessPal is a huge win. It was as one would expect. Reduced calorie, high protein, moderate fat, and low carb. I am at 130 grams per day, which is not bad. Just have to make each one count.

I have enjoyed it and as the title indicates, have been committed…mostly. There was one night that was just silly. I am down 21 pounds in a little over a month. It is a steady clip of 3-5 pounds per week. CrossFit five times per week, 2 runs a week, and yoga once. I do not always get both runs, in however I’ll make it longer if I only get one run in.  The big difference on this one is that I followed exactly what I told, and it is paying off much better. Funny how that works, huh? Kind of like that thing, when you finally do what your Coach told you to do, and shocker, it works.

The eating has been easy to follow. 5-6 meals per day. I like having a plan for the week as it makes it easier to prepare and not worry about it during the day. Sunday is meal prep day. I won’t bore you all with a picture of a counter covered with food and individual prepped meals. Do I miss eating pizza? Do I miss desert? Do I miss cocktailing? Absofreakinloutely! She suggested two drinks on Saturday night. I really don’t have that switch, so i cut it out for a few weeks. The stories aren’t quite as funny, however the mornings are much more fun.

It has been a very good experience thus far and am looking forward to it continuing. Drink a few for me folks. Have a great week. Lift something heavy even if it is not in the WOD.

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So, You are Thinking About Going Paleo

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You have taken the plunge and are Nano deep in CrossFit. You have taken a sip of the Kool-Aid and are now ready to go all in! It’s time to go Paleo.

Primal Paleo Beginnings:

So, literally the beginning of Paleo is from our primate cave dwelling ancestors. Think paleolithic era….see the connection? Animal fur coats, spears, horrible BO. You’ve got the idea. This period lasted for roughly 2.5 million years and supposedly our ancestors were stronger, with bigger brains, and suffered less disease. It came to an end roughly 10,000 years ago with the agricultural movement; i.e. processed food.See Here

What is Paleo?

Eat lean meat, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables, some fruit, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats like avocado and animal fats. Don’t trim that steak! Stay away from dairy, starch, processed sugar and processed carbohydrates, legumes (means beans and peanuts people), and sadly alcohol. Nothing is perfect.

What does it Do?

What happens about an hour after you eat a big serving of pasta or bread? You get hungry again, right? It doesn’t make sense considering you just consumed more than enough calories to get you through a few hours. Spikes in blood sugar cause the feeling and the mood swings, etc. that come with it. A Paleo diet stabalizes your blood sugar and some other helpful things as well. Check them out here

Paleo and CrossFit:

CrossFit Approved version here. I am not sure if CrossFit Headquarters fully sponsors Paleo or not. I thought I had read a few things about them moving to Zone. All I know is the best CrossFit athletes I know follow the Paleo eating plan. Want to be successful? Study those who are successful, and then copy the hell out of them, tweaking only what you need to make it better for you.

First Week:

Usually sucks. High grocery bill. Spend all day cooking. Need to buy enough tupperware for a family of eight. Then there is the detox. Sugar is a drug. What happens when a drug addict goes without a fix, minus knocking over a gas station? They come down hard. The same is true here. When your body goes without sugar, it craves sugar, and it results in irritability, headaches, stomach pains in some cases. Is it worth it? Hell yes! That crap is no good for you! Stop eating it.

High Grocery Bill:

It’s not cheap to eat healthy. One of the keys to the agricultural age we referenced earlier was to make it easier for people to get food. How did we do that? By processing everything and in turn removing many of the nutrients or just using plain crap to begin with. Animals were taken from the fields and stored in commercialized farms where they were fed hormones and god knows what else to fatten them up more quickly. You can imagine how that ends. Garbage in, garbage out. It is expensive to eat healthy however you are investing in your health. How can you make it more affordable?

Buy in bulk. Find a local butcher and see if you can go in with family or friends from the gym. That makes it easier for meat. Another option is Costco. It might not be grass fed but it is cheaper than what you pay in the grocery store.

Farmer’s Market or Farm Co-op. Again this is a great opportunity to split with family or friends and as our society is beginning to recognize the importance of a better diet, more of these are popping up. A quick Google search is usually all it takes to find one near you.

Preparation:

Fail to plan and plan to fail. Planning meals ahead of time is pretty much a necessity. It is also a great way to save a few bucks by planning your meals around what is on sale at the grocery store. Kylie is the queen of planning meals. Kylie is my wife and partner in crime.

It does take more time to make meals and prepare breakfast and lunch for the work week, however it is very worth the investment. There are hundreds of websites and cook books with meal ideas. Take advantage of the wealth of information that is available on the Internet. It’s more than just games and Facebook.

Detox:

It sucks. You’ll get through it. Just remember that if you cave and eat some junk, you’ll have to start the detox process again. I’ve done it quite a few times. Fall off the wagon and then just get right back on!

Second Week and Forward:

You will notice that your joints don’t hurt as much and you will have more energy. You will also probably sleep better as well. All pretty good benefits. Your workouts will be better and you will generally “feel” better. Friends have stated they no longer get headaches like they used to, etc.

Following are a couple of links that are really helpful including the Whole Life Challenge which is a great way to get started. By tracking your score daily and journaling, you are keeping yourself more accountable.

Whole9

Whole Life Challenge

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Have fun out there.