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Posted by michael stanwyck :
Thursday, Apr 01, 2010
One of the most difficult parts of eating healthy is being prepared. The best solution that I have found for myself is to prepare on Sunday the majority of the food that I am going to eat during the week. I know that this sounds like a HUGE chore, but if you organize yourself like a restaurant chef you can actually cook a weeks worth in about 2 hours. I'll show you what I mean.
First thing is the buying - chefs know how much they need for the week and therefore how much to buy. Pay attention to how long things last for you and get used to quantities so that when you walk into the store you can load the cart and go. Me, I buy 3 3/4# pork tenderloin, 3 1/3 # chicken, 1# hamburger and 1 dozen eggs. I also buy a bag of yams, bag of apples, bag of oranges, some nuts, and a couple of different veggies each week. Keep it simple and don't overwhelm yourself with too many different things. (This is a LOT of food! I prepare for 4-5 meals a day. You probably won't need to).
When you get home turn on the oven - 400 degrees is a good restaurant temp. I put the eggs in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. When its boiling I turn it off and leave it for about 13 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water and ice if you have it. They're perfectly hard boiled and I didn't have to pay any attention. Fill that pot again and return it to the heat. You'll need it later. While the eggs are cooking, cover several sheet trays with aluminum foil; this will make cleaning pans really easy. Look at the food. What takes the longest? For me it's the yams so I immediately put them in the oven. No prep. Boom. They're out of my hair until they're done. Then I unwrap all the meat and season it - this is where you can get creative and try different seasonings on each thing so food doesn't get boring. Pork is next. Heat a pan, brown the tenderloins on all sides, put them on a sheet tray and slide them in the oven. The key is not to forget they're in there! Wipe out the pan, brown the chicken in batches, put on a sheet pan as they're browned, and put in the oven when they're all ready. If you buy boneless thighs you don't have to worry nearly as much about over-cooking as if you buy breasts. At this point, check the pork - with a thermometer (an invaluable kitchen tool). 140 degrees is beautiful if you ask me. Stick a knife in the yams. Goes in really easy? Guess what? Done. Out. Hamburger meat is a no brainer...hamburgers. I make three patties, season, brown in a pan, and then? Boom, in the oven. Those I'd cook til they're about 160 degrees. Oh, and the chicken - 165. If the pork wasn't done the first time you checked it probably is now.
The veggies are really up to you. You can chop them up for a salad once everything is in the oven, you can drop things like asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower into a pig pot of salty boiling water - they really only need 3 or 4 minutes. Then ice water. That's what the pot of water was for. You'll be pretty annoyed at this point if you have to wait 15 minutes to boil water. Keep checking the meats. As they get closer to being done the temperature will start to rise a lot faster.
I know this LOOKS like a lot, but turn it into a list and you'll see there are only about 15 items - including turn on oven, cover pans with foil, and put on water to boil! If you organize yourself around the couple of things that take the longest, you can fill in that time with everything else. And remember those apples and oranges - they don't need any help! Yes, the food is cold when I eat it. But cold, sliced pork tenderloin and asparagus with almonds drizzled with balsamic vinegar ain't a bad lunch. Neither is chicken and yams or hard boiled eggs and an apple as a snack. It'll certainly feel better than whatever you might be compelled to pick up if you're not ready!
Take that! Nice job, Tanya!
Today's Workout
For time:
25 Double Unders
20 Split Jerks (135/95)
20 K-Bell SDLHP (24kg/16kg)
50 Double Unders
20 Split Jerks
20 Kettlebell SDLHP
25 Double Unders
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010
When is the last time you went for a day without eating any grains? If you're like most people, you might not be able to remember. Prior to 10,000 years ago, humans didn't eat grains at all... their diet consisted of meats, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables... the essence of a "Paleo Diet". Starting tomorrow, our Sweet Cheeks are starting our very own NO GRAIN Challenge. From April 1 through tax day (April 15th), no grains - that means no bread, pasta, rice, corn, tortillas, couscous, cereal, bagels, muffins, scones... nada, zero, zilch, nothing, empty, scratch... This could possibly have a profound impact on your health and fitness - and there's no better time to do it than with others who will help keep you committed. To get signed up, head over to the Sweet Cheeks Nutrition Blog!
Oh, and if you find yourself eating more meat because you're not getting the number of calories you usually do from carbs, if you're eating grass fed beef, you're probably helping the environment.
Magner - a member of our Instructor Training Program - goin' for his front squat.
Today's Workout
Thrusters 3-3-3-3
-rest-
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
20 Sit Ups
10 Broad Jumps
Posted by Becca Borawski :
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010
When you are grocery shopping and attempting to decipher all the various labels on the food, do you ever wonder what "organic" really means? Or if "grass-fed" means it was only fed grass, or was it just at some point fed grass? Sadly, it is not necessarily to the benefit of food companies to be honest about how their food products were grown or raised. It is incumbent upon all of us as consumers, and human beings concerned with our health and the health of the planet, to know what we are purchasing.
For help decoding food labels, check out this article, "The Common Sense Guide to Organic and Other Food Labels." And then, if you're still curious for more, visit the Beef Label Decoder and Where Is My Milk From?
Michael uses good nutrition to get 70's big.
Today's Workout
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
10 Hand Stand Push Ups
15 Box Jump (24”/20”)
20 Bicycles, 2-count
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Monday, Mar 29, 2010
If you didn't watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, you really missed out. You see, Jamie is on a mission - to change the world and the way it eat's food. It's one thing to change your own diet... quite another to change the ways of an entire world. In the face of extreme ignorance, apathy, indifference, and resistance to change, he presses on, insisting on the fact that there is a better way to eat. He is a living, breathing example of what Buddhists call a bodhisattva... through compassion, love, and incredible commitment, bringing an end to suffering for other people, putting their needs first and helping them to become liberated.
If you saw the show on Friday, let us hear what you thought! And by the way, you've still got time to set your dvr to record the show - it's on ABC on Friday nights. And if you want to see Jamie's inspirational talk at the Ted Conference, click here.
Jonesy at Sectionals completed 57 overhead squats, 95#, in 3 minutes!
Today's Workout
“Nancy”
5 rounds for time of:
400m Run
15 OH Squat (95#/65#)
Posted by Andy Petranek :
Friday, Mar 26, 2010
Take a walk around the room... when you take a step, what part of your foot do you land on? Probably your heel, right? Now try the same thing again, but do it running. If you're like most people that wear modern running shoes, you also land in your heel. Were you a barefoot runner, you would probably run very differently - landing in your forefoot. This difference is explained very thoroughly by Dr. Daniel Lieberman in an excerpt on runbare.com from his study ("Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners") recently published in Nature Journal.
One thing that all elite runners have in common... they all run at 180 steps per minute or more, whether they are jogging, running or sprinting. Try it out. Wear a stopwatch when you go for a run and do a 10 second count. You know you are running 180 steps per minute if you count 30 steps in 10 seconds. Anything less... pick up the cadence (not necessarily your speed.)
Ingrid headed up the steps at Sectionals.
Today's Workout
Alabama/Tennessee/Mississippi Sectional WOD 2
12 Deadlifts - 275/185#
40 Wall balls - 20/14#
9 Deadlifts
30 Wall balls
6 Deadlifts
20 Wall balls
3 Deadlifts
10 Wall balls
- note: 15 Minute Cut-off. Scale weight accordingly.
Posted by michael stanwyck :
Thursday, Mar 25, 2010
One of the truly unexpected benefits of participating in CrossFit is the bonds and friendships that form from working in such a tightly knit community under extraordinary circumstances. In a way, it's like relationships that are forged in battle - built on foundation of a common struggle and facing down your fears as one. There's a unifying commitment to something that many people consider nuts, even though we know that the results that come out of this undertaking extend not only to health and fitness but reach deep into our lives and change much about who we are and what we know about ourselves. What benefits have you noticed from CrossFit outside of the world of heath and fitness?
True CrossFit love
(thanks to Travis Gates for the photo!)
Today's Workout
As Many Rounds as Possible in 20 minutes of:
8 Pull Ups
12 K-Bell Swings, 32kg/20kg
16 Box Jumps, 32"/28"
