Food & Drink
Who Do You Love? Tell Me… Who Do You Love?
Just seemed appropriate to talk about love on this Valentine’s Day. The song “Who Do You Love” popped into my head today on this day of love. It was originally recorded in 1956 by Bo Diddley, but I always hear the version by George Thorogood in my head when I think about it. I think this question is incredibly relevant not just on Valentine’s Day, but also when you think about the perpetual journey to health and fitness that so many of you are taking or wish you could convince yourself to take. I want you to really think about it: Who do you love? Who matters the most to you in this world? Maybe it’s your husband, wife, or significant other. Maybe it’s your children. Maybe it’s your brother or sister, or mother and father. Heck, maybe it’s yourself! That’s a good thing. Truly loving yourself means that you care enough to take care of yourself.
Jump and Pull and Push and Push to Work Your Whole Body
My CrossFit workout this morning really hit my overall body with a variety of exercises that worked the core, arms, and legs. I felt it all over! Made me also realize that my forearms were more sore than I anticipated from the 32 Kg kettleball farmers walk and hammers yesterday. I really felt it on the pull-ups and performed a bit weaker than I had hoped. Oh well. Every day can’t be the best day for a given exercise. We did this same workout back in November 2010, so I was able to compare my performance. This is so critical for your motivation!). I took 17 seconds off my time and did much better on my pull-ups this time. Now my goal for the next time I do this WOD is to do everything unbroken. No breaks!
Brewing a Heavenly Cup of Coffee to Avoid Calories and Boost Your Health
When people first begin a quest to eat and drink healthy foods, they often find that they have to give up something. For many people, it is that devil drink: soda. I talked about how to stop drinking soda in an earlier post. For others, it is that delicious coffee drink from “they who shall not be named” because they add so much sugar and fat that the drinks have about the same calories as eating a big ol’ greasy cheeseburger with all the fixin’s. Yes, you really do need to give up those coffee “dessert drinks”. Sorry. But you do not need to give up coffee and the benefits that come with it.
Back in the CrossFit and Paleo Saddle Again
I apologize for not posting in a while. I was traveling in Europe and playing a bit of catch up over the past week. The business trip and my stay in a very small, somewhat authentic, Parisian hotel made it a bit too challenging to keep up with any CrossFit travel WODs. But, despite a week of French food and no high-intensity exercise (although I did walk for about 10 hours each day!), I only gained about a pound and getting back into the swing of things at CrossFit last Monday wasn’t too painful. It wasn’t easy! But, it wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be.
Pre-Paris CrossFit Workout of the Day for Thursday
Well, this morning was my last CrossFit workout before heading off to Paris. I have two challenges while traveling this time:
- Keeping up with CrossFit Travel WODs
- Avoiding the temptation of French food to maintain the Paleo Challenge
That’s right. I have to somehow avoid the great bread, cheeses, pastries, and chocolate and only eat duck, beef, and foie gras. Wish me luck!
Read MorePre & Post Workout Protein Recovery Drink that is Paleo!
After many months of researching, shopping, and trial and error; I have finally found a solid pre-workout and post-workout protein recovery drink that works with the Paleo Challenge! You have no idea how hard it is to find a paleo-friendly powdered protein source that doesn’t add sugars (real or fake), soy, dairy products, artificial flavors, etc. But, I finally found a source of pure powdered egg whites with nothing else added. Nothing! I mentioned my new protein powder source yesterday. It has a pretty neutral, blah taste. So, I add it to coconut water to give it a better, sweeter taste and get the health benefits too. Coconut is a great food source when you’re on Paleo!
Go Dog Go! CrossFit Workout for Tuesday – As Many Rounds as Possible
I actually like all of the exercises that we did for our CrossFit workout of the day today (WOD): Push-ups, Chin-ups, and Dips. I’ve been practicing the kipping pull-up and chin-up, so it was a good day to put it to the test. This WOD is a great way to work on your chest, triceps, and biceps. The chin-ups, in particular, also help you perform better on rope climbing.
CrossFit Workout for Monday – Get Those Toes up to the Bar!
With all of the core strength training and ab work over the past few months, my abs have definitely become much stronger (see photo). For example, today in my CrossFit workout we did Toes-to-Bar for part of our conditioning WOD (see the photo on the right). It isn’t easy to do, but I can do it now! Can I do 45 of them? Ummm, no. But, I did my best to get toes to the bar on the first 21 and more like a Knees-to-Elbow (K2E) on the rest of the reps.
Programming for Strength Training – Jim Wendler's 5.3.1 Methodology
Strength training using Olympic-style weightlifting was something I avoided until just a few months ago. For the last 30 years, I have primarily done bodyweight training (e.g., push-ups) and some lighter lifting with dumbbells (e.g., bicep curls). That’s about it. But, when I joined my CrossFit gym a little over 5 months ago, weightlifting was a core component of the training. I dreaded it at first. But, now I have come to realize how much the increases in strength have improved my overall fitness, my cardio performance (e.g., long trail runs), and the muscle tone of my body. It is worth the investment of your time and energy.
Paleo Challenge and CrossFit Workout of the Day (WOD) for Tuesday
Broke the Prowler out again today at CrossFit. Boy oh boy, does that thing work my glutes and hamstrings! The Brazil Butt Lift Workout
has nothing on the Prowler.
