Two Weeks and Counting!

I have to say I am seeing some great changes at the box!  You may not see them, but I assure you great things are happening.  Keep it up!  The end is in sight, but hopefully just for the competition, not for all the amazing changes you have made in your life.

If we haven't checked your food log will you please drop it off at the box.  Thanks!

THESE ARE THE BOMB!

This is a recipe that Brooke and Daeci shared with me and they are amazing!  I would share a pic but they are already all gone.LOL

Nutrition Q & A

I came across this article about nutriton on Crossfit Impulse that answers questions like:

What should I eat?
My husband/wife will never go for this.  What should I do? 
What should I eat before a workout?

The article covers 11 different areas.  It answers the basic beginning questions and progressively more difficult ones like how to take it to the next level.  The article is a long one, but worth at least checking out the different headings you might have questions about.  Happy reading and eating!

1. What should I eat?

When transitioning from a typical American diet to a healthy diet, which should never be mistaken for the same thing, we recommend a two-step process. First, transition to eating only quality foods that our bodies are made to eat. This is the tough part for most people because it involves eliminating (or at least drastically reducing) grains, bread, and other refined and processed carbohydrates. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store for lean meats, fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seeds. This article on basic nutrition will explain everything clearly. You’ll often see this referred to as eating “clean” or eating “Paleo.” Eating Paleo technically means you follow the Paleo diet, which eschews legumes, dairy, grains, and salt completely. We don’t recommend you worry about completely eliminating all of those foods at first, but you’ll need to know the terminology.

click here to keep reading

Green Pork Chili

Just in case you missed it....this ia a recipe from Tom A.  Looks great!

Green Pork Chili
40 oz. Pork (cubed)
6 tsp Olive Oil
5 cups Chicken Broth (1 very large can)
1 onion (chopped)
2 Jalapeno peppers
3-4 tsp. Garlic
1 cup Cilantro
1/2 cup dry beans (before soaking)
(we are still figuring out the best type of bean to use)
27 oz. Tomatillos (chopped)

Soak the beans.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the Onions, Tomatillos, Jalapeños, and Garlic with 3 tsp. Olive Oil and spread on a baking sheet. Roast until soft (about 20 minutes), stirring twice. In a large Dutch oven, add the remaining oil and brown the cubed Pork in batches. When browned, add it back to the pot with the roasted vegetables and add the Chicken Broth and the beans. Cook the chili until tender, ~90 minutes. Garnish with minced Cilantro and serve with warm Flour Tortillas.

This makes a pretty big pot that feeds four college guys (with moderate appetites).

FOOD LOGS.....

It's been great reading everyones food journals. 

 We appreciate your honesty....that is the first step to making changes! 

Don't stress it if your diet isn't perfect...if it were,

 we wouldn't be doing the challenge...

we would all be top competitiors at the games...

and we would all look like Camille Leblanc Bazinet and Rich Froning....

did I miss anything?

Life is about progressing.   Change doesn't happen overnight. 

I took 38 years to put my weight on...

it took me almost 2 years to take it off and keep it off.

Take joy in your journey and enjoy each success along the way.

ZZZzzzzzz........

I haven't been a great sleeper.  I get up every morning at 4:45 to come to the box. Come evening,  if  I sit down on the couch before 9pm...I am OUT!  In the past 4 years I've probably only made it all the way through 5 movies without falling asleep.   I am I have to say something is changing in my sleeping habbits.   It's been years that I have slept...

I mean REALLY slept through the night.

  Well...the past week or so, I have slept like a baby. 

 No waking up and checking the clock,

 no tossing and turning,

 no crazy dreams! 

 I wake up refreshed. I did some studying to see if it had aything to do

 with my change of diet and here's what I learned.

Food choices that you make greatly influence sleep.

• Root vegetables are high in minerals and are more grounding and settling to the body helping promote restful sleep.
• Tryptophan, an essential amino acid found in turkey, milk, miso soup, eggs, nuts, figs, fish, bananas, dates and papaya, helps the body to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps promote relaxation and sleep.
• Complex carbohydrates and starches promote sleep as they release sugars into the blood causing a compensatory release of insulin followed by a drop in blood sugars causing the body to feel fatigued. Try adding a potato or sweet potato to your evening meal.
• Lettuce can often promote healthy sleep as it contains an opium-related substance combined with traces of the anticramping agent, hyoscyarnin. Include lettuce as part of your evening meal.
• Include foods high in Vitamin B3 (niacin) such as fish or poultry. Niacin is involved in serotonin synthesis and promotes healthy sleep.

 

 

 

Certain foods can negatively impact sleep.

•  Avoid foods high in caffeine such as coffee, tea, cola and chocolate.
•  Sugary desserts and for some even the consumption of fruit after dinner is best avoided if you desire a good night's sleep.  If sugar is ingested right before bed, a drop in blood sugar occurs in the night calling upon the adrenal glands to release hormones to restore blood sugar balance. This release of hormones wakes you up and affects the normal sleep patterns.[
• Foods high in tyramine ... If you have difficulty sleeping, avoid bacon, cheese, chocolate, eggplant, ham, sauerkraut, sugar, sausage, spinach, tomatoes and wine close to bedtime.
• Alcohol,  interferes with the natural sleep cycles and also increases anxiety levels interfering with sleep.
•  Food intolerances are often the cause of snoring and can contribute to gas, heartburn, indigestion, pain and discomfort.
• Diets high in meat or other proteins can inhibit sleep by blocking the synthesis of serotonin, making you feel more alert. Diets high in protein are also more acidic and take longer to digest.
• Avoid too many ingredients in a meal and too much food late at night.
• If you would've told me that I would be sleep better just by changing my diet, I would have laughed.  My sleep is better than ever.  I feel healthy, strong and rested.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING?