Lead a Fit and Healthy Life
Posts tagged paleo
Getting Back On The Horse
01 month ago
I’m back and I wish I could say I felt refreshed and raring to go this Monday –but I don’t. The last few weeks I have felt seriously run down and all I have wanted to do is stay under the covers in my bed and sleep. I honestly don’t think I have felt this way in a very long time and am not sure if it’s the long winter, a lack of focus on my nutrition, some stress at work that I am experiencing, or the medication I am taking for a leg infection I am trying to get rid of. Or heck –maybe it’s all of them combined.
I have seemed to lost my mojo –and I am sure many of you that seem me day to day wouldn’t know it but it’s true. I haven’t felt much motivation for many of the things I used to and am on the hunt to figure out how to bring it back.
My friend Brittany and I were laughing because I have a light box, I exercise like crazy, I have a happy family – great husband and kids, am financially sound –Life is pretty darn good. I have a wonderful community of friends that I can call family – both my parents are alive and thriving, my five brothers and sisters are all doing well. I mean come on –what the heck do I have to be down about? See what I mean? Makes no sense….
There are some things going on that are throwing me out of balance though and the universe keeps reminding me of them and I start to make changes towards what’s needed but then revert back. I think I really need to tackle it once and for all — and make the change. I know I am being cryptic but it’s kind of a touchy subject and political so I don’t want to blast it out here. Those that are close to me know the situation and have been the ones at me to just do it! It’s about embracing confidence and getting out of the fear loop.
Ok – enough of that!
I am starting a 30 day Nutrition Challenge today with CrossFit Impavidus –not only starting it but helping run it as well. I need to refocus because I am about 10#s heavier than last year and my clothes are not fitting like they used to. I will keep you posted with how it’s going.
Warmup
600m jog
DROM
Mobility
Skill
Deadlifts
WOD
1 RM Deadlift 250#
10M AMRAP
Mini Cindy
- 5 Pull Ups
- 10 Push Ups
- 15 Squats
7 Rounds
Dynamic Effort Squatting
0So today we worked on back box squats and every time we do it, someone asks me all about what benefit these have because it doesn’t feel like a strength day. Well technically it’s not but it has some major benefit to strength training:
Dynamic effort squatting utilizes a lighter load so that you can generate maximal speed and power when driving out of the hole.
You want to squat down onto a box that allows your hips to drop as low as, if not lower than, your knees. You are not sitting on the box for any length of time. Squat down, touch, and go! The concentric motion should be an explosive hip drive of
f the box back to the standing position.
warmup
jump rope
mobility/DROMs
wall balls
skill
dynamic back box squats
WOD
- 12×2 Dynamic Back Box Squats (95,115,125,145….)
- Tabata Sit ups 14,13×6, 12
Busy day today at work with a live workshop on Internet Photography tools to present and also a fun lunch where I am taste testing some meals from Power Supply. I do consulting for them in social media and marketing so part of the benefit of that is getting to be one of their ‘tasters’. How lucky am I?
Paleo Three Ingredient Ice Cream Treat
03 months ago
Paleo Three Ingredient Ice Cream Treat
Last night I whipped up some Paleo ice cream using three ingredients. It was super easy and a recipe I found over at Use Real Butter.com. Here’s how I made it.
- Grab some fairly well ripe bananas and slice them up. You are looking for lots of brown spots but not super mushy!
- Put the banana slices in a freezer bag and stick it in the freezer for at least an hour. You want the slices frozen.
- Add frozen banana slices to your food processor:
- Run the processor until the bananas take on a creamy texture
- Add in a tablespoon of Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
- Add in a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
- Run the processor until blended
- Enjoy a yummy ice cream like treat. You can put it back in the freezer for a more frozen texture or to enjoy later. You can even experiment using walnuts, dark chocolate chips or whatever!
Paleo Worlds Collide
24 months ago
When I first discovered CrossFit and Paleo eating – I came across a blog from Melissa Joulwan: The Clothes Make the Girl. I didn’t know Melissa personally, but found her take on both topics to be 
really inspiring and helpful as I began to explore making meaningful changes in my life. Almost five years later, I am still reading her blog and have gotten to know her. Although I have never met her in person, we both mention that we feel like we are ole pals. Some day, our paths will cross in real life – i know it.
She wrote this book: Well Fed. It’s an amazing Paleo cookbook and I am not the only one who thinks so. Whenever I get the chance to tell someone about it – I do. Not because Melissa is my blogging friend, but because it really is that good.
My worlds collided this past week. I do social media marketing consulting for Power Supply - the paleo meal delivery service and get the meals on a weekly basis myself. I was their customer before I started doing work for them as a matter of fact. I noticed the other day that –lo and behold — they mentioned my ole pal Melissa and her Well Fed cookbook as the inspiration for one of their meals.
I sent the pic to her — that must be a really cool feeling to see something you worked hard on and put your heart and sole into impact others in a big way. I imagine it would be like a singer/songwriter hearing their song on the radio.
If you are interested in Paleo eating, I heartily recommend visiting the Clothes Make the Girl and picking up a copy of Well Fed. You will be amazed at how delicious food can be –without all the junk!
bon appetit!
Stop Lying To Yourself about Your Nutrition
37 months ago
Whole Life Challenge: Are You Being Truthful?
We are headed into the second week of the Whole Life Challenge at CrossFit Impavidus and for some the first week was mind blowingly hard. For others, it has opened their eyes and they see how easy it can be. It just takes some attention. Most of us mindlessly buy the food our parents taught us too, or our spouses used to eat –and this is the time to be in the moment and learn how to eat healthy and feel how your body responds.
I do think it’s worthwhile to discuss how many of us don’t really get honest about our nutrition. Yesterday, I saw a bunch of WLC Challengers from CFI mention on social how they had a glass of wine, or they went to some party and had some crap food. It’s week 1 and they shouldn’t yet justify their actions and give themselves permission to do that! They haven’t earned it –and I don’t mean in a seniority way. I mean they have not yet really detox’d their bodies and set their proper baseline. It’s the easier route and we aren’t taking the easy route here –I told them all in the beginning that the first few weeks are rough and probably the toughest time you will have and if they can’t even make it past week 1 without bargaining with themselves, that concerns me. The road to health and fitness is not the easy road but the end result when you take the easy route, is being sick and no one wants that.
Think about why you signed up for this challenge — something is out of whack in your life. Things were very out of balance in mine own life before I jumped on the bandwagon. I got serious about where I was in my life and that it didn’t match what I thought was reality. I didn’t bargain with myself — I looked and felt like shit and no one was going to hold my hand as I made changes in myself. Yes, I had support but in the end it was me being honest with myself and committing to a lifestyle change and then recommitting every damn day – hour in some cases!
Here are some suggested topics to go research and get informed about. I talk a lot about this stuff as well here at livefitandsore.com –but I find that if you go and really research the topic from all different perspectives, you learn better and have a better chance at success!
- Find out how food groups impact how you look, feel and perform, even if it’s not immediate.
- Research what foods you should eat to look, feel and perform your best.
- Identify and find out how to break unhealthy patterns, habits and cravings related to food, and change the relationship you have with food in general.
- Which foods should you be eating to help speed up the healing process and how some foods you eat actually contribute to keeping you sick, weak and injured
- Look for ideas and suggestions on how to manage healthy eating while traveling, at home with the family, during social events or in a business setting.
- How to approach’cheat’ meals/treats so that you don’t become that person. The key is to learn how to have those treats without it completely derailing your overall fitness goals.
I have an updated list of popular Paleo websites on livefitandsore.com so you can begin to research how to live this lifestyle without it taking over your life in a negative way.
The point of this post is to really STOP LYING TO YOURSELF –get honest about your nutrition, your fitness program and your life. Is that glass of wine really worth it if it will put you that much farther away from your goals? The goals that you created and said you really wanted? If the answer is yes it’s worth it -then by all means- help yourself! But don’t lie to yourself and wonder why you aren’t seeing the results you want. You create the truth and you hold the key to making progress. The real question is:
Do you really want it? If it is, then own your actions and decisions and put in the work and commitment that it requires to make this approach to living healthy and fit your norm!
Warmup
- 800m jog
- inchworm
- bear crawl
- side shuffle
- pass thrus
- 10 kick to handstands
Skill
- Power Snatch
WOD
15m AMRAP
- 12 Power Snatch
- 10 push ups
rounds: 7+1rep 53/45#
Resources to Start your Paleo Journey
4
Just looking into Paleo? Or doing a Whole Life Challenge for the First time? Here’s a good group of resources where you can begin your research…
- Practical Paleo & Primal – How to Sustainably Eat Better to Look & Feel Better
- Mark’s Daily Apple (Primal expert)
- Robb Wolf (Paleo expert)
- Balanced Bites (nutritionist specializing in Paleo)
- Elana’s Pantry
- PaleoPlan
- Well Fed: For people who love to eat
- Paleo Encouraged Foods
- Paleo Zone for Dummies
- Paleo Hacks Q&A
- Paleo Shopping and Meal Planning
- The Paleo Diet Cookbook by Loren Cordain
- The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson
- Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso
- Paleo Comfort Foods
- Foodee Project: www.thefoodee.com
- Whole 9: whole9life.com
- PaleoOMG
- Nom Nom Paleo
- Paleo Parents
- Fast Paleo
- Things My Belly Likes
- The Gluten Free Connisseur
Yesterday and today’s workouts were the type where you wonder if they were even a good idea to attempt:
Saturday
For Time: (partner workout)
- 1 mi Run
- 100 Wall Balls 10 lbs
- 800 m Run
- 200 Push-ups
- 400 m Run
- 300 Air Squats
Post total time – 27:33
Sunday
For Time:
- 1m run
- 11 Box Jumps
- 11 Thrusters 65#
- 11 Burpee to Pull-up
- 11 Power Cleans 65#
- 11 Handstand Push-ups
- 11 Kettlebell Swings 2/1.5 pood
- 11 Toes-to-Bar
- 11 Deadlifts 135
- 11 Push Jerks 65
- 1m Run
Post total time. 37:16
14 Best Sites to Learn About Paleo
19 months ago
I get asked a lot about Paleo and how to do ‘it’. With the Whole Life Challenge coming up at CFI — i am sure the questions will be the same.
Top 14 Sites I use to help me stay on the Paleo track!
- The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet
- Pinterest: Recipes
- Encouraged Paleo Foods –what you can and can’t eat
- The Clothes Make the Girl – Well Fed
- The Paleo diet: Should you eat like a caveman
- The Daily Apple
- Balanced Bites
- PaleoOMG
- Eat Real Food – Robb Wolf
- Fast Paleo
- Nom Nom Paleo
- Pinterest: My Paleo Life
- Everyday Paleo
- Paleo Parents
- Robb Wolf:What is the Paleo Diet?
Paleo Chicken Wings
1I made these for a Paleo Potluck we had at the box last night. They were a big hit!
Paleo Chicken Wings
from crossfitpaleo.com
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sage
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 package of fresh chicken wings- found with the other fresh chicken at your local grocer
- olive oil (or grape seed oil) spray
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 220°C and line 2 baking trays with foil.
2) Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder ,paprika powder, peppers and herbs in a large plastic bag- I found that using the bag didn’t really coat the wings evenly. My suggestion would be to combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3) Spray the chicken wings with the oil, and dip each wing in the almond flour mixture until evenly coated (or if you opted for the bag, place wings in the bag and shake evenly to coat).
4) Place onto prepared baking trays. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
5) Spray chicken with oil again. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until crisp and cooked through.
6) Add your *optional* hot sauce of choice and serve with a salad. Enjoy!
Gluten Free – A Fad Diet?
0What is a fad diet? I only asked because a few commentators have suggested that gluten-free is the latest in a long line of fad diets – similar to the low carb Atkins Diet craze of a few years back, or the hunter-gatherer diet – an eating regime supposedly enjoyed by our ancestors of 2.5 million years ago.
These types of diet – normally endorsed by a celebrity or two – spring into being from nowhere, gets ample media attention, and then disappear within the space of 12-18 months.
For the 1 in 100 people in the UK who suffer from coeliac disease – a severe intolerance to gluten – eating an appropriate diet is essential for preserving their health. For the uninitiated, coeliacs can suffer from stomach cramps, severe bloating, diarrhoea, headaches and other debilitating symptoms from eating foods that contain gluten.
But what about everyone else? The list of well-known figures opting not to eat gluten is lengthening by the week. Lady Gaga, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Aniston, and Victoria Beckham all avoid gluten. So far, so fad.
However, it is not just trend-hungry celebs that are going gluten-free.
The list of elite athletes who have ditched gluten is also growing. These include Novak Djokovich, Andy Murray and the US pro cycling team. All of them claim that the change in their diet has boosted their performance. In the case of Mr Djokovich, he clinched his first Wimbledon title a few weeks after ditching gluten.
In the US, medical experts are giving weight to the idea that removing gluten from your diet can benefit a much wider group than just coeliacs.
This from Doctor and author Michelle Pick, writing in the Huffington Post two weeks ago:
“It may seem like a fad, but I’ve been taking [non-celiac] patients off of gluten for years, and I honestly can’t think of anything in my practice that makes as dramatic a difference in health and wellness as following a gluten-free diet.”
This is not Fred Flinstone – The Paleo Diet
01 year ago
Paleo diet or ‘caveman’ diet gains traction despite controversies; ‘This is not Fred Flintstone’
Could Paleolithic man hold the key to today’s nutrition problems?
A growing number of adherents to the so-called “caveman” diet contend that a return to the hunter-gatherer foods of the Stone Age — heavy on meats, devoid of most grains — could alleviate problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes and many coronary problems.
The Paleo diet movement is backed by some academics and fitness gurus, and has gained some praise in medical research in the US and elsewhere even though it goes against recommendations of most mainstream nutritionists and government guidelines.
Loren Cordain, a professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, said he believes millions in the United States and elsewhere are following the Paleo diet movement, based on sales of books such as his own and Internet trends.
“It was an obscure idea 10 years ago, and in the last two to three years it has become known worldwide,” Cordain, one the leading academics backing the Paleo diet, told AFP.
“There are at least a half-dozen books on the best seller list that are promoting this,” he added.
The underlying basis for the Stone Age diet is a belief that homo sapiens evolved into modern humans with a hunter-gatherer diet that promoted brain function and overall health. Backers say the human genome is essentially unchanged from the end of the Paleolithic era 10,000 years ago after evolving over millions of years.
“It’s intuitive,” Cordain said. “Obviously you can’t feed meat to a horse, you can’t feed hay to a cat. The reason for that is that their genes were shaped in different ecological niches.”
He said peer-reviewed research has shown the Paleo diet better than the Mediterranean diet, US government recommendations and diets aimed at controlling adult diabetes.
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