All of you Crossfitters out there know that this week starts the Crossfit Games Open. My trainer (in the pic) convinced me to sign up. For those of you that are unfamiliar, the Crossfit Games Open is an open fitness challenge that allows athletes within their region to complete assigned workouts to determine who is fit enough to advance. Once all the best athletes have made it to the final games, the winner is deemed the “Fittest on Earth.” The reason they can make that statement is pretty simple; they are amazing athletes in EVERYTHING. Not only can they outrun you in a race, they can lift heavier weights and keep up with the best gymnasts. So, if entering a contest like that isn’t daunting enough, I don’t know what is. However, I am taking it as an opportunity to share moments in my life that scare me to death. When I am working with patients and doing demos on how to perform pullups, cleans, and balance skills, I often get the statement “Looks easy enough” followed by “Holy crap, you made that look so easy!” I’m here to tell you that I have moments where things aren’t easy for me either. I have an amazing trainer named Carole; and she’s over 40 people! (Sorry Carole….let the cat out!)
Last night we had a workout where 95lb cleans were assigned. I looked at the bar, thought to myself about how that many reps with that much weight was probably going to push my limits. I had a feeling that I probably wouldn’t finish even close to the top girls. So, I grabbed my bar, waited for Cathy to start the timer, and started methodically doing my cleans. I was one of the last girls to leave the lifting room and get over to the pull up bars. About 4 rounds in, I noticed that I wasn’t doing too bad, and I was actually keeping pace with my trainer! By the 5th round, I actually passed Carole on the box jumps and beat her to the final round of cleans. I knew I had to pick up that bar, and quick! I started my cleans, heard her pick up her bar and before I knew it, she was off to the pull up bar. Are you serious?! How does she do that?!?! No time to think about that! I made it to the pull up bar, and she was about halfway through her set….tried my best to catch her….but I didn’t. She ended that round with a few box jumps under her belt. When I spoke with her after the workout, she told me that she was watching me out of the corner of her eye and telling herself she had to beat me to the box jumps or there was a really good chance I’d pass her on that last round….
I get to put my name on the board behind Carole fairly often. Let’s face it, she may be older than me, but she’s still got it! However, those are the moments when I feel like my patients: she makes stuff look easy and it seems like I could never keep up. I know what it is like to have someone constantly pushing your envelope, and the Crossfit Open will be no different for me. I plan on doing my best, even if my best pales in comparison to the crazy good athletes I am going against. This is an opportunity for all of you guys that think I make stuff “look so easy” to see me in your shoes. It will be a good lesson for me in giving something 100%, sticking to it, and being proud of my placement. I plan to keep everyone updated on how things are going with me and all my teammates throughout the Open.
Once you embark on the challenge of PROGRESS as opposed to PERFECTION, you will be amazed by your accomplishments. Just like Carole having to keep an eye on me in a challenge that should’ve killed me, I may have to keep an eye out for you before I know it!
Once again, you nutrition folks that have heard me talk are probably getting annoyed with me saying that you should be eating meat from cows that ate what they are supposed to eat: GRASS!!! When an animal eats the food it is SUPPOSED to eat to be healthy, the meat it produces contains more nutrients, it’s treated with less chemicals and antibiotics, and the meat tastes SOOOOOOOO much better! So, there is a farm that you can order from online at www.honoredpraire.com and get all the things you could ever imagine. They have everything from wild caught salmon, grass fed beef, cage free eggs, raw milk cheeses, pastured butter, and more. Their next drop off is in March at the Middlebury, IN location. All you have to do is place your order, and pick it up on the drop-off date! Doesn’t get much more convenient than that. Make sure you have your freezer ready and maybe I’ll see you there!
I write so many posts about food, but I never really talk about what I use to bring my food home! Reuseable grocery bags are something that are a great way to express your personality while being earth-friendly at the same time. Most of the time, reuseable grocery bags aren’t much to write home about, but I found a local woman that changes that whole idea! The company name is Bagsy; you can visit the website at www.thebagsy.com to see all the colors, sizes, and custom options for bags that fit your style. They are made out of indoor/outdoor fabric, so they are super durable! I have multiple sets, always have some in my car, and occasionally use them to throw gym clothes in, as well!
I recently went to the grocery store, and one week’s worth of groceries typically fits in 4 bags. So, I took a picture of one of the bags and here is what I had inside:
a bunch of celery
a bag of apples
4 avocados
package of brussel sprouts
bar of dark chocolate
a bunch of bananas
2 bell peppers
fresh ginger
1 lb container of spinach (which fit in the bottom perfectly!)
There are some cities where there simply aren’t plastic or paper grocery bags anymore. People must bring their own bags to the store in those cities and my guess is that many towns will be following suit. Also, summer time is an awesome time to hit up the farmer’s markets and what would you do without a bag to carry home all your loot?!
Last night, we had the Warsaw Himalayan Salt Company speak at our office about Himalayan salt, its benefits, and ways to use it. Salt is something that everybody has on their kitchen table, and yet not many people know what the best choice is in terms of their health. Most salt that is readily available at restaurants, in homes, and on the grocery store shelf is regular table salt, Sodium Chloride. For every gram of Sodium Chloride that your body can’t get rid of, it uses 23 times the amount of cell water to neutralize it. This causes excessive water to be stored in your tissue which can lead to cellulite, rheumatism, and kidney stones. In terms of Sea Salt, it is a better option than table salt but still goes through quite a bit of processing due to pollutant chemicals in our oceans. Himalayan salt is mined by hand and not touched by a single chemical. Therefore, it contains most of the minerals necessary for our bodies.
Containing all of the 84 elements found in your body, the benefits of natural Himalayan Crystal Salt include:
- Regulating the water content throughout your body.
- Promoting a healthy pH balance in your cells, particularly your brain cells.
- Promoting blood sugar health and helping to reduce the signs of aging.
- Assisting in the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in your body.
- Absorption of food particles through your intestinal tract.
- Supporting respiratory health.
- Promoting sinus health.
- Prevention of muscle cramps.
- Promoting bone strength.
- Regulating your sleep — it naturally promotes sleep.
- Supporting your libido.
- Promoting vascular health.
- In conjunction with water it is actually essential for the regulation of your blood pressure.
Everyone received a goody bag with some salt samples for culinary use, some samples for bathing, and salt rocks that you can heat for hand warmers! They carry so many different things from hot/cold packs that contain salt (so they never go bad) to cooking stones that you can put in your oven and cook on! They reminded me of the Pampered Chef stones that I have at my house but they impart flavor into the food. I have been using Himalayan salt to cook with over the past month, and I have to say that I love it. Not only does it taste amazing, I know that I am actually GAINING health benefits from using it. For those of you that were unable to attend, they will be selling some of their products at University Park Mall in Mishawaka this Saturday, and I encourage you to head down and pick up a couple pounds of salt!
Most people have heard something along the lines of salt being bad for your health, especially your blood pressure. However, there are very nutritious salts to choose from, and you can definitely taste the difference! I will expand on the topic next week, but I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to attend our upcoming seminar on “The Art of Relaxation” on Thursday, the 9th. We will be having our massage therapist doing chair massages and we also be giving away a free hot stone massage! We will also be hosting a special guest to come and speak about which salts are the most beneficial to our health, and they will be providing free samples and doing foot soaks for attendees. If you have any conditions that cause you pain and discomfort regularly, you need to experience this opportunity. For those of you that just want to know about the salt options out there, you should come, too! It will be at 6:30, and we hope to see you all there. Call the office to RSVP! 574-522-2255…
Every year I look forward to the Superbowl. I play in a fantasy league, and those of you that also play know that when the season ends, there’s always the Superbowl next! I know I’ll get a lot of remarks from this statement….but this year I’m all in on the Patriots dominating. Anyway, there’s tons of people getting ready to head to their parties at the moment. This tends to be another occasion when people fall of the wagon for eating habits, but I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to! I thought I’d share some of the food that will be present at my house.
For those of you that are a fan of deviled eggs, I grabbed a tuna deviled egg recipe from Everyday Paleo’s website. They are packed full of protein and are sure to please even non-Paleo folk. I also am trying out the Pecan Shortbread Pralines from Elana Amsterdam’s cookbook, the Gluten-free Almond Flour cookbook. I’ve told you guys enough times already that I LOVE guacamole….so I made some of that, too. 
I’ll have red peppers and radishes out for my Paleo friends that want to stay on the wagon and organic corn chips for those that are fine with a slight stray as long as it’s gluten-free. One of my friends is bringing Paleo meatballs. I will let you know if any of the recipes blow my socks off, but until then, go Patriots!
And for all of you wondering what I’m drinking….a Norcal margarita. Simply tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, a splash of Patron citronge, and a splash of Perrier. No fillers, no crazy amounts of sugar, and the lime juice is alkalizing to the body. We ARE talking about a drink…can’t be perfect.
Probiotics are one of the essential supplements that everyone should be taking. Most people do not realize that they have 10 times more bacteria in their body than they do cells! There’s about 1kg of probiotic bacteria in the intestines alone, and about 90% of your immune function is dictated by bacteria levels. Most people have come across a yogurt label that says L. acidophilus. That is just one strain of healthy probiotic that lives in our body. In addition to the healthy bacteria, there are also infectious bacteria strains living in our bodies. Everyone reading this post right now has Strep. in their throat and E. coli in their stool. However, most of you probably do not have Strep throat or explosive diarrhea! What’s the difference between those that have an infection and those that simply have the bacteria but NOT the infection? It comes down to the balance of bacteria levels. If the levels of the good bacteria outweigh the levels of bad bacteria, then sickness stays at bay.
If bacteria levels have so much influence on our immune function, what can we do to ensure we have enough? Every time you put something in your mouth, you are deciding whether to feed the good bacteria or the bad bacteria. Guess what the good bacteria like to eat? Fruits and vegetables! Guess what the bad bacteria like to eat? Sugar! So, every time you choose a donut, cookie, pasta or sandwich over a salad, apple, or guacamole (had to throw in my favorite snack), you are choosing to HELP THE BAD BACTERIA REPLICATE! If anyone has ever been in a biology lab, they know that the best way to grow infectious bacteria quickly is to put it on a petri dish full of agar (aka sugar). Think of your gut as a petri dish, and the environment within it decides which bacteria will grow. Plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kombucha all have very high levels of probiotics in them. Fermented foods are great sources of good bacteria; however, most people do not consume significant amounts of these foods on a daily basis. In addition, if you take an antibiotic, drink alcohol, consume medications or have high levels of stress, you are negatively affecting good bacteria levels in your gut. As a result, I find most people benefit from supplementing with a probiotic.
I encourage people to take a multi-strain probiotic. That means that when you look at the label, it has at least 5 weird names on the back. I also advise patients to take 1 capsule a day for maintenance. Our capsules contain 22 billion live, active cultures. Often times, patients will bring me the probiotic that they purchased at a convenience store, and I quickly point out that they would have to be taking 10 pills in order to get the amount of organisms needed. What seemed like a cost-effective alternative has now cost more in the long run. Also, probiotics that you find at doctor’s offices are highly regulated in terms of temperature regulation at the production facility, refrigeration during storage, and cooling mechanisms during the shipping process. Once the probiotics are in a temperature controlled facility, their bacteria levels are guaranteed until the expiration date on the label. Bacteria quickly die when exposed to excessive heat. If you purchase a bottle of bacteria from a store that has not ensured its temperature regulation, you may be wasting your money on dead probiotics! I also encourage patients to take them away from meals in order to ensure the least amount of digestive activity; this allows more active cultures to make it to the intestinal tract.
If you are someone who has digestive issues, an autoimmune disease, ear infections, autism, or chronic infections, you need probiotics the most! I hope this clears up some confusion about what probiotics are and why they are important, but I encourage you to leave me questions!
This is a picture of me finding my max clean and jerk a few months ago. I did a very similar workout last night, and when I lift, I try to make sure I have a recovery drink. So, I have yet to post anything from the athlete perspective of pre- and post-workout fuel. I won’t go into a ton of detail, but will try to hit a few major points.
Thursday:
Breakfast: black coffee, a couple of protein balls, 1/2 pint blueberries
Snack: another protein ball and some more blueberries
Lunch: leftovers from several meals…;) Some spaghetti from the squash night, a couple of those dang red potatoes that I found more of!, and 2 chicken thighs from the night before
Workout: Clean and Jerk maxes
Post workout recovery drink: 20g of whey protein concentrate in water, glass of veggie juice (this veggie juice was made from broccoli stalks and asparagus ends that are too woody to eat, 1 apple)
Dinner: Pork Chop w/shredded and sautéed brussels sprouts
Snack: 2 spoonfuls of coconut butter out of the jar
As many of you know, I do not consume dairy products. Therefore, there may be some of you that are wondering how whey protein can be acceptable in a diet that does not include dairy. It is a good question and deserves some explanation. There are a couple of reasons that dairy should not be in someone’s diet and one of them is lactose. When you isolate the protein from dairy, it does not contain the milk sugar (lactose). The other reason dairy is excluded is due to pasteurization, there is very little micronutrient content left after pasteurization. For this particular purpose, I am not worried about micronutrients or beneficial bacteria, I am simply interested in a high level of biologically available protein that will easily assimilate. With that being said, whey protein DOES still increase mucus production in the body. That would be a downfall and the reason that many may choose to use an egg white protein powder instead. When looking for a good source of whey, a few things are important. You want to make sure that the cows are eating what they are supposed to eat: grass. You also want it to be cold processed, have no artificial sweeteners, and you want it to be a “concentrate” as opposed to an “isolate.” I could go on and on about protein powder supplementation but I will save you the reading and go straight to the ones that are my favorite. Mercola has a protein powder that is excellent but has to be ordered off the internet and you pay for shipping on top of the expense of the powder. Down to Earth is a health food store in Granger, IN and they have a really awesome vanilla version of their own private label. It will not hit ALL of the pros that the Mercola one will, but you can go to the store and buy it, which makes it more convenient. Also, I have personally tasted quite a few, and that one is by far my favorite tasting and easily mixes with liquid.
When it comes to maintaining muscle, most people do not lift heavy enough or often enough for there to be a true need for protein powder. You can easily get some protein from a couple of eggs after a workout. However, those trying to actually put on muscle (especially if you are trying to do it quickly), protein supplementation is a must after lifting. Your body needs certain building blocks to create muscle and it simply won’t happen if those blocks are absent. So, determine what your goals are, and that will tell you if YOU need to supplement with a protein drink after a workout. I will say that heavy runners are often the opposite, they need to replace glycogen stores, which means quick sugars right away as opposed to protein. Currently, my goal is to add muscle; therefore, I have chosen to supplement with whey protein. I will be entering the Crossfit Games Open this year, and the weights they have the girls throw around are often heavy considering my body weight. I will keep you posted on how it’s going but I’m hoping the additional muscle will help me excel.
This is a picture of me dead on the floor of Crossfit Michiana where I workout. I was looking forward to posting what I eat after a workout for those that are interested in what’s in my recovery drink. However, this week was Fight Gone Bad (every Crossfitter just groaned, I’m sure), and I thought I was going to puke during the workout, and thought I may afterwards, as well. So, I didn’t eat ANYTHING after a workout like that. So, here goes days 5 and 6….
Tuesday:
Breakfast: black coffee, strawberries, 3 protein balls
Lunch: Spaghetti squash noodles w/butter, garlic and wilted spinach, small glass of pineapple/coconut water
Workout: Fight Gone Bad=feel like puking
Dinner: spaghetti squash noodles w/a coconut milk alfredo sauce over leftover chicken breast and sage/thyme sausages
Wednesday:
Breakfast: a pint of strawberries, black coffee
Snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: Sausage and veggie soup w/avocado and blueberries/grapes/cherries (it was a staff carry-in for Dr. H’s birthday, and it’s definitely nice to have others that eat like I do!)
Dinner: Chicken thigh w/tons of broccoli, rosemary red potatoes (thank goodness those potatoes are finally gone! I don’t eat potatoes that often, so it takes forever to finish a bag!)
Snack: apple
Nothing too exciting folks. Lots of leftovers, fruit, veggies, and meat. I will be posting my last food log after Thursday. I will be working out Thursday, so if you’re interested in what I drink after I lift, stay tuned!
