Tuesday 01.26.16

Getting harder to kill with every WOD

Our 30-Day Paleo Challenge is coming!

If you've been wondering why you plateaued or what the missing piece is that is holding you back, it just might be your nutrition. Here's what you can expect from going Rx'd:

From the Newsletter Archives, February 2012:

Going Paleo 

Last February [2011], Jacob and I completed our first, absolutely no-cheat Whole30 Paleo Challenge. Prior to the challenge, we were not eating clean. I often ate cereal or crackers and cheese for dinner. I drank a gallon of milk a week. I had half-and-half and sugar in my morning coffee. I also have a huge sweet tooth; so much so that it should be called sweet teeth. Out of this list, you probably noticed that only one item is Paleo-friendly, and controversially-so: coffee. My first week of the Whole30 was rough. All I wanted was sugar, bread, and cheese. I never thought about food so much in my life - when I would eat, what I would eat, how I would make my food.

Week 2 was the turning point. I got handle on the Paleo-friendly ingredients and on navigating the grocery store. I found cinnamon - a saving grace. Lara Bars made food deserts bearable. My energy levels stabilized and I slept like a rock - late to bed and early to rise with energy to spare. By the end of the 30 days, dark chocolate and cupcakes were the only non-Paleo things I truly craved.

The experience was hugely educational. I became aware of how much crap I ate and how many crappy additives are in our food. I learned that ice cream is not my digestive system’s BFF and that cupcakes don’t taste as orgasmic as they do in my imagination. I learned how to cook and I learned that cooking can fit into my schedule.

Even though Jacob and I admittedly are off the Paleo wagon with our eating habits these days, our last Whole30 experience permanently changed how both of us make nutritional choices. When we eat crap, we darn well know we’re eating crap. We are no longer mindless about what we eat or drink. It is a conscious decision to be off the clean-eating wagon because of so many excuses: too lazy, too tired, too inconvenient. These excuses sound a lot like the ones we use for exercise when in fact clean eating and exercise are the very things that give us more energy and make our lives easier.

Use this challenge as an awareness and learning opportunity. It is HARD to go cold turkey on many of the food habits built up over a lifetime. I guarantee you will be surprised by that which you can go without, and by that which you never thought you would end up loving (roasted green beans? brussel sprouts?). And if you just need SOMETHING to get you through that mid-challenge sugar tantrum, here is a recipe that toes the line of what is legal on The Whole30:

Fudge Babies 

1 ⅓ cup dates 

1 cup walnuts 

1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 tsp vanilla 

Dump in food processor or blender and annihilate all the ingredients. Roll mixture into small balls with hands. Chill, then serve. 

WOD

1. Establish a max squat clean

2.  4 minutes:

Row 750 m (Men) / 650 m (Women)

Max muscle ups or dips in remaining time

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3.  5 min AMRAP

5 Z Press (95/65)

30 Doubleunders