Rx Girls: Miami

We just had our nutrition seminar here at CrossFit Soul and I thought I would update with some take home advice for those of you who maybe couldn’t make it (or don’t live here). First off, I don’t typically like to use the term “diet” because of the negative associations people have with it. There is a MAJOR difference though between “going on a diet” and “healthy diet”. A diet is simply the foods that you choose to eat. What it’s not is a short term fix to your problems, whatever they are. For that reason I like to think of the nutritional advice we give here as not having a start and end date, but something that you can maintain over the course of your life!

Ok so lets just get back to basic stuff:

Whole Foods – Choosing stuff that is fresh and natural is always better than refined, highly processed stuff. You might think that’s a given, but just because it’s in the “health food” section doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you. Your best bet is to choose stuff with the least amount of ingredients possible, and hopefully you can pronounce everything that you’re eating. If not, you might wanna question it.

Plants – Plant based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds are always better for your health than the alternative (bread, chips, baked goods, cereals, etc.), regardless of WHAT type of diet you follow.

Healthy Fats – Fats are not bad for you! If you stick to fats that come from plant sources like avocado, nuts and seeds (mmm almond butter) rather than extracted oils, your body can effectively use those fats as energy.

Nutrient Dense Foods – Learn the nutrient density of the foods you eat. Carlos offered a good resource at our workshop from eatrightamerica.com that can show you some of the most nutrient dense food and some of the lowest. Food that is high on this chart will obviously be the best in helping your body to stay healthy. Keep in mind though that a balance of good fats and lean protein is also necessary to maintain good health.

Some other very important things to consider are setting short-term achievable goals, having a support group, preparing ahead of time, giving in to sweet cravings with healthy treats (see the recipe section of my blog), and lastly enjoying your new found health by getting out of the house and staying active!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the nutrition seminar and joined us on our shopping trip! Next up, Soul nutrition challenge!

So… I know some men out there read my blog but since I initially made it for women, you’re gonna have to suffer through this post!

I was thinking the other day about my diet and how it has such an effect on the annoying things that I have to deal with in life. For example, dry scalp. I’ve been dealing with this for as long as I can remember… my mom is a hair stylist and has given me all kinds of shampoos and suggestions to help. Nothing worked. Then I stopped eating dairy, sugar, and processed stuff when I decided to try out paleo. I didn’t really notice at first, but a couple months ago when I started giving into cheese and chocolate again (every once in a while!) my itchy dry scalp came back. EFF THAT. Not happening. No more brie and apples for me.

Another thing I’ve noticed is period pain and length. I was on the pill for a long time so things were regular and short and not so bad… but when I got off it almost 2 years ago everything changed. BAD… I mean bad cramps, headaches, and longer time period in between. When I started doing CrossFit and eating clean I noticed the cramps went away almost completely, it lasts only about 2-3 days, and I get absolutely NO migraines anymore. Thank you!

So I was reading some message boards today and found this during a search: “Training, Diet, and Menstruation”

“There’s a lot of discussion of the hormonal effects of various training regimens and dietary choices on hormones: insulin, cortisol, testosterone, etc. However, any mention of the effects on the perhaps most popularly known hormonal cycle–menstruation–go lacking. So, here it goes FOR SCIENCE!

We know that a balanced diet low in carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, that consists primarily of whole foods can have a significant effect on hormonal profile, in terms of insulin sensitivity and whatnot. We know that proper training, training that walks the line between stressing the body enough to promote development but not overstressing it and draining the adrenals can also have a significant effect on the hormonal profile. We know that excess weight can seriously mess with one’s hormones in all sorts of ways, like testosterone and estrogen production.

So the question is–in the same way we focus our training and diet to manipulate testosterone production, can women focus their training and diet to manipulate, or at least mitigate, the negative effects of their menstrual cycle? I would argue yes.

Do we really gotta rip out our organs to deal? Could it be as easy as adopting a more Paleo lifestyle? Perhaps a very heavy flow, a very long period, terrible PMS are not due to some mysterious genetic luck of the draw but something that can be at least mitigated by eliminating those “whole grains” that are pushed on women all the damn time. I don’t have endometriosis or PCOS, so I can’t give any personal experience here, but the fact that they’re essentially hormone problems means perhaps they too can be treated by a Paleo life.”

Read the full discussion on the Catalyst Athletic Forums

Be Food Conscious

Hello Hello! So I finally have some time off…. I have been doing my internship working almost full time at night at a treatment center, and during the day I have been working to get our new gym CrossFit Soul together. Now that I’m off school for three weeks I can finally RELAX and focus only on writing here and getting our gym ready for opening!!

Anyway, so I was flipping though some articles the other day and came across one about conscious eating. Did you know that the American Indians adopted a spiritual way of eating that allowed them to feel the energy of the food they ate? For example, eating things like chickens, which are normally nervous animals, might make someone feel a little anxious or nervous themselves. If they were feeling cold, eating more heating foods like grass-fed beef and buffalo helped. What do you guys think about that? Agree? or totally hokey??

Finding a balance with food is a good way to help you feel in tune with your body and moods. Some compare the preparation and eating of food to be like a form of meditation for them. They savor the smells and tastes and flavors of every meal they have… I can relate to that. I seriously love food! Since starting to eat clean, I have really enjoyed the process of finding new meals to cook and readjusting my senses to REAL food, rather than sugary, starchy, processed stuff. The experience is SO much better and I can really say that I never feel crappy about what I eat anymore… unless I’m having a day where I think I might actually want to eat some junk, and I do, only to feel heavy and crampy and tired after. No fun.

So the thing that stuck with me most in this article? Eating well just might be the ultimate act of self-care. YES!

Important Info about Orthorexia Nervosa

Ortho what??? The first time I heard about this I was at an eating disorder workshop hosted by the Oliver Pyatt Center, a local facility here in Miami. I had gotten there early in the morning, without eating breakfast, and was disappointed to see that my only choices for breakfast were bagels and cream cheese, pastries, muffins, some fruit and cereal… good thing I had my raw “granola” bars in my purse and my tea. As I sat there, I wondered how an eating disorder workshop could have such unhealthy “food” being served, and why they wouldn’t make a point to at least not have an even amount of real food available for those who choose to eat well…. I soon realized. When treating people for disordered eating there is no “good food. bad food”. People who suffer from this disorder have a very unhealthy relationship with ANY food they eat. They fear it. They struggle with control. They struggle with perfection. They struggle… simple as that. I should say “we struggle”, because I used to be one of those people a long time ago.

Anyway, the point is that when you start to struggle that much with what you are eating, when you start to feel anxious, when it’s not pleasurable to eat anymore… something is up. Athletes walk a very thin line here, because many of us eat for performance, not pleasure. That’s all fine, but like I said there is a thin line. YES fuel your body. YES nourish it with wholesome healthy food, but please do not be afraid to eat out, don’t let it run your life. That kind of fear and stress about food can take you to a really dark place. A place where you are constantly fighting and no longer enjoying your LIFE. You know what I mean?

So back to my story, I found out about Orthorexia Nervosa at this workshop. It’s a classification of eating disorder that is becoming more and more common, especially with athletic populations. If you think you might fall into this category PLEASE get some help. Remember what your goal is: health, longevity, and happiness. Refusing food because it isn’t clean or paleo or raw or whatever it is that you’re doing… it’s just not healthy to do that. A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body, and if you’re crumbling inside it won’t be long before the rest of you starts to go too. Enjoy your life!

NOW – here is a TIMES article about Orthorexia Nervosa

“Stretching the Truth”

Article by CrossFit Intrepid

I think I’ve used every excuse there is to avoid stretching.  Sure I roll on the foam roller or use the lacrosse ball to help loosen up my muscles, but what am I really doing to help improve my flexibility beyond the workout I’m preparing for?  Sadly, the answer is not much.

Roger Harrell discussed stretching and flexibility in a 2006 CrossFit Journal article.  In his opinion, gaining flexibility is primarily about discipline (exactly what I didn’t want to hear).  That’s right folks, there’s no quick fixes when it comes to improving flexibility, just like there’s no quick and easy way to get stronger either.  If we want to get stronger, we lift.  Well, if we want to get flexible we have to stretch…at least once a day, at a very minimum, is Roger’s recommendation…but shoot for multiple times per day in order to see quicker improvements.  Also, he recommends that shorter, more frequent stretching is better than longer sessions, less frequently.  That means that 7 ten minute sessions a week is much more beneficial than 1 seventy minute session a week.  He also emphasizes some light, dynamic stretching mixed into a warm-up, but that stretching post WOD is where we’ll get the most bang for our buck because our muscles are warm, more relaxed, and are better able to work through their range of motion.  That means instead of sprinting out the door as soon as you finish your WOD, consider taking 5-10 minutes to cool down by stretching off to the side… READ MORE

I don’t know about you guys, but I go through so many weird phases with my performance. Sometimes I feel like I am doing awesome (like this week for example!), and other times I dunno, I just suck. I know it’s not actually me that sucks but more like how I am taking care of myself.  Whether its lack of sleep, my diet, or overtraining, sometimes it helps for me to take a couple of days to re-energize and get back into it… So in honor of that, I will be taking off to regionals this weekend in Jacksonville and I WILL NOT be working out at all for 3 days! Here’s a good read from Elitetrack.com about how burnout could be affecting you….

“Do you feel like you’re losing motivation? You might be approaching burnout. Burnout happens when you have previously been highly committed to a sport or activity and then lose all interest and motivation. Burnout mostly happens to highly-committed, passionate, hard working and successful athletes. Keeping this in mind, being aware of burnout is something all athletes should consider.

Two important parts of burnout are: exhaustion and disillusionment.

As an athlete you may have worked so hard at something, for so long, that the easy things become difficult and maybe the sport loses its excitement. These are times when rest helps us to approach the situation with a new focus and enthusiasm. The real issue of burnout comes from the sense of deep disappointment based on our own expectations. Many athletes get our sense of identity and meaning from our performance. The following items can help you manage the possibility of burnout“… READ MORE

Hello ladies, I have been having trouble keeping up with everything going on right now, so I decided to decrease the amount of postings to only two a week. Most likely, I will be updating on Monday’s and Friday’s because those are my days off from the hospital. I’m confident that by doing this I will be able to write more thought out and genuine material, rather than struggling to find something to write about or link for you all… Enjoy your day!

Ever hear the saying “Pain is Perception”? This is a cool little test to see what your perception says about your current state of mind…

I wanna know what you see FIRST when you look at this photo….

Was it a young woman or an old lady?  It’s funny, but tests like these really show us that as individuals we see things as we perceive them, and what we perceive may not be the same as the person standing next to us. It kind of relates to how we take on our workouts; what one person finds painful another finds fun and challenging. Think of the grunts you hear when you see the word burpee on the white board, or how excited some people get when they see a WOD with cleans. What is fun and challenging for you and what makes you cringe?

In case you were wondering,  here’s the psychology behind what you saw…

Those who see the old lady (problems and tough times) and those who see the young lady (solutions and opportunity) are both looking at the same image.  ”Thus, whether you see an old woman or young girl is based on your brain’s attempt to organize deceptive or misleading visual cues into something that makes sense to you.”

Fitness that Targets the Body and Mind

How do you feel today? Is it different than how you felt before starting CrossFit? Personally, the way that I approach life has changed a lot since starting this program. I find that I care about my body more now than I have in the past. I stopped pushing myself to limits that are unhealthy through drinking, smoking, partying, and staying out all night, and I traded that for eating right , exercising, and becoming more self-aware.

I think that what we offer as a community is much more than what other global gyms offer. For one, we know our members; we know what they are going through, what their goals are, what their challenges are, and when they are missing! Because of this we provide support, comfort, a sense of family, and for some we help to improve self-esteem and relieve stress.

“We tend to think that fitness means “body-side” fitness only. But thanks to medical and mind-body science, we now know better. The mind and body are an interdependent unit and, as the ancient Greek Olympians knew well, true fitness is a “sound mind in a healthy body.” Our rapidly growing scientific knowledge of how important the mind is to the health of the body has not entered into the public arena yet.

The “mind-side” of fitness is a kind of critically important inner fitness. If we’re riddled with insecurity and worry and if we’re plagued by self-doubt, confusion and uncertainty, then we’re more prone to high levels of stress, unhappiness and illness. And research has shown that a high stress level is more dangerous to our health than not being physically fit.

To be truly fit we need to develop strength, stamina and flexibility in mind as well as body. We need to address more than our waist and muscle size — we need to focus on what really matters in life. We need to consider the answer to questions such as, am I living deeply, is my life an adventure that moves me or like a movie someone else seems to have written, and have I discovered what I truly want and love or am I just doing what I feel I should or must.

These concerns will be included in the next generation of fitness and health programs that are based on reliable knowledge about what it means to develop and train for a sound mind in a healthy body.”

So…. how does your fitness program measure up when you look at your overall well-being?

article by Dr. Jim Manganiello from newburyportnews.com

I have to make some unfortunate changes to the blog… I will still be here but the name and website will be different. I’ll keep you guys updated! For now, take some time to relax….

I gotta take the weekend off from blogging. My internship starts Monday and I have a busy weekend ahead!

Enjoy your weekend, see you guys Monday!

The deal with nutrition…

So those who know my husband and I at the gym might feel that we are a bit strict in terms of our diet and what we suggest to others. I know that many of us have learned for a very long time that certain things are good for us, and so when someone like myself or Danny tells you “nope, you gotta get rid of that” it can be a bit annoying. I KNOW, believe me I know it’s hard, but it is essential if you want to get the full benefits of the CrossFit program that you follow your coaches advice about nutrition. This isn’t something we just pull out of our asses either, not only has it been researched and studied by plenty of people, it has also been researched and tested… by us!

Anyway, this clip is from a CrossFit Nutrition seminar, I believe, and here Nicole talks about the importance of having your nutrition in check. The main point at the end, is that we want to have a balance. Feeling tired and sluggish after you eat is NOT desirable… also, “needing” things like coffee and energy drinks as a pick-me-up is not desirable and it’s totally not necessary! You can achieve balanced energy that lasts all day and doesn’t make you feel deprived… ever! (well, maybe at first while you are detoxing from all the crap your body has gotten used to) …