Jeff B, Single Arm Dumbbell Thrusters
Check out Dan R's photo of Teresa B and Carlos G on the CrossFit Affiliate Blog today!
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Why am I So Hungry?
By Chris Fox
You've been doing great with food choices during this first week of paleo, but some days find yourself wracked with hunger.WTF? Recognize that by removing grains, legumes, dairy, and refined sugar, you've removed potent calorie sources as well. Be sure to make up for those calories by eating enough protein and fat. You cannot expect be satisfied with an egg or two and a few veggies for breakfast if you expect that breakfast to last you any more than a few hours. You need to be eating enough. Don't throw hunger pangs on top of cravings for foods that you've removed from your diet. If you're starving you're much more likely to satisfy said cravings. Try combining 2 or more animal protein sources in meals and be sure that you have enough calories coming in. A good drizzle of olive oil or a small handful of nuts added to a meal can make all the difference. Each of your meals should be centered around a generous serving of animal protein and garnished with veggies/fruit/nuts. A plate full of cauliflower and a boiled egg will not provide the energy you need to be a sane, functioning human being. Paleo choices give you the permission to EAT!
Speaking of Hungry… Remember to RSVP for the Paleo Potluck on the 15th! We want to make sure that we get enough table space and cutlery for everyone. Send your RSVP and dish choice to info(at)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com today!
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Kipping Pull-Up 101
Need some work on your Kipping Pull-Up? RSVP with David(at)CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com for a :30-:45 Minute class on how to develop this essential CrossFit skill. The class will be held on Thursday, January 20th at 8pm. The price of entry is the ability to do a single strict chin up or pull-up.
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Neanderthal A-Go-Go! Robb Wolf
The New Paleolithic Nutrition Forums! Robb Wolf
Beef Label Decoder National Geographic Green Guide
Peach and Pecan Scramble Performance Menu
Nutrition Prep Day with the Chans, Part 1 CrossFit Journal Preview
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Professional Ballet Dancer Calves and Ankles Mobility WOD
Zack Kyrch Injury and Comeback
That injury & comeback video is amazing.
Since the Paleo Challenge began, my sleep has been really heavy and restful (using magnesium before bed) I’m pretty quick to drift off, and Lenny has covered all of the lights (clock radio cable box ect.) with black tape so there is NO light in the bedroom. On afternoons I have a rush of energy despite my limited coffee intake. I also somehow am in a much better mood, so thats surprising and better than I expected.
On the down side, I’ve been light headed and my tummy is not my friend since the challenge started. The lightheadedness has slowed me down a bit during WODs and I’ve had to be really conservative about heavy lifting (150 on the OTM for 12 deadlifts instead on approx 180-5 yesterday)
Also, (ahem) I’ve have a little problem with halitosis… is this normal?
And just thinking about the daily swig of Fish oil (blugh) makes me wanna hurl… Is there anything I can do to settle my rampaging stomach, or do I need to tough it out for another few weeks?
That injury video is so well-timed. Charlotte lifting overhead at 7AM without a shoulder-specific warmup = fail. On my second set of 3 OHS at 95# (which were otherwise feeling great!) I lost a little balance bringing the bar back down to my shoulders (moron asshole, you shoulda bailed it!), and heard a “pop!” from my right shoulder. I think I probably partially dislocated it. Which is a HUGE bummer, because 6.5 years ago I had surgery on my labrum in that shoulder after it dislocated 9 times in as many years. So it wasn’t supposed to do that again. Grrr.
David did some great traction on it and that helped, I’m hoping to get back in the gym soon…
PS: You can only get out of the grocery store for so little money if you buy shitty meat. We drop $250/week EASY at the coop.
Valuable lesson learned: Look at the schedule before heading to CrossFit. Who knew there was no noon class on Tuesday? (Well, I guess everyone, since no one else was there.) Nice ride there and home, though.
Today’s photo scares me. Why am I so angry? I look like I want to drop the dumbbell and go punch someone.
@Kahrin – How much magnesium and what type are you taking? Magnesium citrate – NaturalCalm – is a potent laxitive (that’s actually its primary medical use) and if you start taking 2 or 3 tsp a day right away your stomach is going to give you serious problems.
The lightheadedness and halitosis could both be signs of transitioning to ketosis, which is, generally, a good thing if you’re trying to lean out. The lightheadedness will likely pass once your body adjusts to running primarily on fat. Fox’s post from a few days ago had more details on that. As far as I know, bad breath from ketosis is something that some people get and others do not. If it’s a big issue, you can brush/floss multiple times a day or add some carbs back in. To get into ketosis most people need to be at < 50g per day, but most people can also lean out quickly at 50g-100g per day without going into ketosis.
Oops – Margie’s post. Sorry…
@Charlotte agreed you don’t get better meat for nothing. It costs. To offset some of that, we’ve been doing more with grassfed chuck roasts…slow cooking cheaper cuts for volume. Chicken thighs are a home run too.
Half a head of cauliflower, then a couple of pounds of thighs (those bones are easier to remove than a whole chicken.) some oregano and thyme, other half of cauliflower, slow and low and take the thigh bones out. great stuff.
I also do Mirepoix and ginger instead of cauliflower to do some good chicken soup.
Charlotte – Hope this is not as bad as it could be. Mend well.
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I’ve made a scramble very similarly that Paul Sandwald put me on to a while back. Doesn’t seem like it would work taste/texture-wise, but it does. Satisfies that early morning sweet tooth that many of us have. Also, Love the cooking with the Chans vid. That’s kind of where Jess and I are in the food prep scheme of things. We get the best we can afford quality-wise which often means commercially raised meat, and spend similarly to them. I’d like to purchase better quality foods but found that when I made it a top priority (buy grass-fed/pastured or don’t buy) I wound up devolving to poorer food choices while eating out (somehow it didn’t seem to matter as much if someone ELSE purchased and cooked the food), and that sucks worse.
Charlotte – yeow!
Kahrin- I take my fish oil in between bites of food, never on am empty stomach, and I shoot it, followed by a big swig of seltzer.
The shooting plus fizzy water works for me.
Finally! There’s a class! And it’s not even “BYOK”. Jump for joy.
http://deals.dailycandy.com/deal/88/mario-the-trainer-new-york-50-percent-off
Who’s coming with me? I’m looking at you, Joe Williams.
…and that is why Nick and I don’t eat out much anymore, we’re spending all our food fund on grassfed. Totally legit to go another way, I just get grumpy when people say, “It’s cheaper to eat paleo!” Because unless you’d been living entirely on takeout and Grey Goose, it just ain’t. We ate 90% vegetarian in 2000 for about $90/week, all organic, good source, etc. (No one here on the blog is saying that. Just, there are tradeoffs, is all I’m sayin’.)
As long as I can wear the pink ones.
I’ve been taking Fish Oil gel caps. I don’t think I could do the straight oil– my grandma always threatened cod liver oil as a punishment, so it just feels wrong (I’ve never had cod liver oil, as I was a perfect dream of a child).
Can we talk about eggs for a second? I was in Whole Foods today (I was in Union Square and had to grab a few things– I normally can’t bear WF) and it took me the better part of five minutes to figure out which eggs to buy. Why so many words on the packages?
I am very very sore in the armpit region from yesterday’s chunk of Angie. I’m enjoying some paleo ibuprofen. Charlotte, “pop” sounds terrible– hope you’re ok!
@Robin- Did you see that Paleo Poor link the other day? It linked to a post about eggs, here: http://whole9life.com/2010/11/the-conscientious-omnivore-eggs/It talks about all those words on the labels.
I keep reading everyone’s posts about how crazy-sexy-different they feel, and it makes me wonder if I am doing this whole paleo thing wrong. Before this, I was eating almost all sugar and gluten and zero meat, but I don’t feel any different. What is wrong with me?? Also, how many nuts is too many nuts?
Thanks, Jenna! That is exactly the info I need. And I’d also like to get some graphics people on re-branding eggs so they’re just eggs again. EGGS!
And I second that question on the nuts. I’ve got nuts in everything these days. That’s ok, or am I effing it all up?
I recommend Stronger Faster Healthier’s fish oil…after a bit of adjustment I was knocking it down on its own, no chaser, no problem.
Robin- I do the same thing with eggs nearly every time I buy them. I think I know the difference between them all…but its just so. many. words.
Robin and Jenna,
Nuts generally have a bad omega-3/omega-6 ratio. A handful won’t kill you, and fish oil helps balance things out, but strict paleo-ers (paleots?) would encourage you to not over-indulge.
That said, I was fairly cracked out on almond butter the first time I did a paleo challenge and still had good results.
Food labels should just be pictures of the food with a smiley face drawn on them.
I’m embarrassed to say how much almond butter I’ve already gone through. I think I might be abusing it as a sugar replacement, so maybe that’s the answer to my question, but some general nut guidelines would still be great.
Oops, too late on my follow up. Thanks Joe!
I’m sorry, but in response to a number of you,
that’s what she said.
I can’t help it. sorry.
Joe -Real men wear pink kangoos.
Robin and Jenna -If you are worried about addictive “nut butters” do NOT, I repeat, do NOT try coconut butter. It is like crack. But there are 2 factors that keep me from overindulging. 1) It is expensive. 2) I find it too rich to have more than one or two bites at a time. But I’m sure others would disagree about that.
Regarding eggs: here is a shameless self plug, but…http://margieslocal.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/ode-to-the-egg/
Regarding nuts: 1-2 oz or 2-4 tablespoons a day of nut butter is reasonable. If you are a giant man the maybe a little more. Macadamia nuts are somewhat of an exception – they have good fat and good omega 3/6 balance.
Coconut butter is my lover. And I support eating the hell out of it.
Charlotte – shit! this is no good. You made it through the death defying backsquat bail and now this?! damn.
Oh also – what kind of fish oil are you guys taking? I use lemon flavored from Carlson’s and it’s not gross.
And Dan is spot on about the magnesium. You have got to ease yourself into that or else!
Power Clean205x3x4 (went down to 185 for last set, got in my own head)dips10,6,6AMRAP 6 Min (had to hurry to AR)3 strict pullups6 pushups9 sit ups5 rounds
then active recovery
active recovery+advanced class at 7 p.m.:2-position cleans, on the minute, 10 minutes, all of them at 123#5 rds: 5 95# cleans + 5 “HSPU” = 7:33i hate handstand push-ups and always sub them out in WODs for presses–this was my first time actually just going for it. i couldn’t even get them as negatives so went for kick-ups instead. small victories i suppose.i lost count of the rounds–i’m pretty sure i did six.
Lots of stuff here.
@ Kahrin: For anyone going into ketosis and experiencing bad breath, I had something similar happen to me last year (moreso body odor from my body flushing out the nastys) and I started drinking liquid chlorophyll. I still do sometimes just because I think it makes water taste better.
@ Jenna: I’ve drastically reduced my Carbohydrate intake, deleted alchohol, coffee and even fruit. While there has been a noted uptick in my energy levels, mental clarity and sleep quality. I don’t feel like a born again in terms of overall change. Everyone is different so if you’ve not experienced drastic changes in 11 days don’t be too concerned.
I like Carlson’s or Nordic Naturals Fish oils. I usually get the tabs but often end up chewing on them because I like the fish oil taste.
Also- I’ve saved a LOT of money going from primarily eating out to preparing my most of my own meals. I’ve been shopping at the Red Hook Fairway and selecting from their modest grassfed/organic meats selection.
I also tend to eat a lot of almond butter when I have it. I wouldnt stress out about it too much IMO.
@Charlotte,The traction we did significantly improved your humeral position. I would try to do some more of that, including the elbow block and distraction if it continues to deliver relief to you. Glad there was no pain. Keep us updated
Keep me updated!
Whoa, I missed so much paleo talk and I haven’t even had the chance to check out all the links! Damn work.
Warmup:-Active Recovery class–hurts so good.
Advanced Class:-2 position cleans, OTM for 10 mins: 95×4, 105×4, 110x2Those last 2 at 110 felt soooo much heavier.-WOD: 5 rounds of 5 cleans 95#, 5 HSPU in 7:47.My hspu’s were all negatives to one abmat. And holy cow was this hard! Quads were already on fire from doing the on the minute work so that made 95# seem really heavy.Overall, I think all this work really helped to improve my squat cleans. Bodyweight clean here I come!-Really enjoyed the class! Thanks Coaches Fox and Jeremy.
Cooldown work:-lax ball to an achy left hip.
Open Gym today to work on some Muscle ups. Felt really good and strong today. Did about 20 muscle ups all strict in about 20-25 minutes i started doing them EMOTM about 5 in.
Finished & started with some squat mobility work.
Robb Wolf has a great little measure for how many nuts you should be eating – roughly the amount you are willing to sit and shell yourself. Manual labor, he says, tends to cut down on the cracking out.
Sadly I cannot obtain macadamia in the shell – they are the best choice but they are preeeeeettttty easy to gorge. I’ve done some clinical studies on this.
@Kahrin re: tummy upset. The only thing that has ever given me a lick of digestive trouble on Paleo (this diet has SOLVED a lifetime of pretty constant tummy upset) is: too much fat.
For instance, once I was cajoled into drinking a coconut drink made from a bunch of fresh coconut cracked before my eyes. There were no other ingredients.
I strolled the Village enjoying it, until: POW.
Lesson learned.
Really fun working with the Advanced class tonight. Its just great to have such a large group of talented people working out together. Very excited to see this program moving forward.5 Rounds:5 Squat Cleans 1355 HSPU4:55 RXThe squat cleans worked their evil on my back as expected, made the HSPU harder than they should be.
Enjoyed the first Advanced class tonight. 2 positions cleans were a 145 (1-4), 155 (5-8), 165 (9-10). Didn’t push it on the weight here, just trying to get under the bar more quickly.
Squat cleans and HSPU are both things I definitely need work on. Didn’t quite finish the WOD in 8 minutes. Got 4 rounds +2 HSPU
Fun lil open gym sesh tonight…warm up – alternating plank and 20 kb swings.
deadlift:WU 53×5, 83×5, 103×5, 123×3, 133x1work: 1 rep on the minute for 12 minutesfirst six @ 133; second six @ 143 (PR!)
partner angieCraig and I chose to scale back to 75 pull-ups. Solid choice.Time: 12:09I was lucky to have a great partner… I probably did 35-40 pullups (blue band kip), maybe 25-30 pushups (mostly on knees), 55 sit-ups, 55 squats. Great to have those at the end to really speed up. Felt great to finish that strong and quick!
accessory foam rolling and handstand work (a mobility sandwich, as I did a MELT core class in the morning and a yoga class later in the day!)
My experience with nuts is that I can eat 1 jar of almond butter in 2 days if I am lifting heavy regularly. It’s kind of horrifying and I’ve pretty much completely stopped – but like Joe said, that’s how I started out with Paleo. Now I am better at incorporating that fat into my food; roasted veg smothered in chicken fat or coconut oil, avocado on everything, lard in my scrambled eggs, roasted porkbelly as a side. There are lots of ways to add fat to meals and eliminate the need to snack – I think it is good to try to avoid snacking if you want body comp changes. Snacking makes it easy to over-eat. Experiment until you don’t need that handful of nuts or that big spoon of nut butter. (sometimes, on super intense days I do eat 4 meals.)
Recovery/Lifestyle update: Lately I have been working very hard. I get to work and there isn’t a moment to breathe, no lunch break and then I get out late and race to class. At night I DO get to bed on time pretty much every night but my brain is racing and I tend to wake up periodically with it madly working away on problems from work. Thank goodness for the paleo challenge, I’m finding I can keep more balls in the air and function with greater clarity for longer. What tricks do you all other insomniacs have to get your brain to shut down?
Advanced class: Squat Clean work: 103,113,123. With power cleans I would have gone heavier, but I have so much trouble actually dropping under it. I could feel the DL in my back, very tight and twangy.
WOD: cleans @95, HSPU negatives 7:11. Attempted to go Rx’d (I was doing sets of 5 strict HSPU on my honeymoon a few months ago) and found that my HSPU had deserted me entirely – NOT ONE! I think my recovery from partner Angie was sup-optimal and I guess from what Jeremy said that I didn’t realize how much the cleans would affect my back. Still, very frustrating.
It was a great class though! Thanks to JerFoxomy.