New 6-week Paleo Challenge starts July 7

Get ready for our next 6-week paleo challenge!   We challenge you to eat meat, veggies, nuts, seeds and fruit in a variety of creative ways to increase your athletic potential and lose inches!

Details about the Paleo Challenge

• June 23rd is a Free Paleo Meeting at 5pm to learn WHY PALEO INCREASES YOUR WELLNESS and MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
• You will eat strict paleo for 6 weeks!!! Go to the “What to Eat” page to learn about what you can eat during our challenge.
• Before and After we will calculate body fat %, measurements,  before/after pictures, a strength workout, and a conditioning workout.  All these (except for pictures) need to be posted in your Journal under “Results.” You’ll register for 15 minute appointments the week before the challenge.
• You will earn Nutrition points by recording daily food intake everyday through Penzu online journals!
• Heather and Jenna will provide feed back 2-3 times in your Journals in how to improve portioning, etc.
• You will earn Lifestyle points by attending class, playing sports, doing mobility, and practicing skills.
• Every other week we will host a paleo pitch-in and group meeting.
• Every other week we will host a community outing with a local business
• You’ll earn small prizes throughout the challenge for your engagement and participation!

What’s in it for you?

Other than gaining strength and endurance and losing inches around your whole body, the paleo challenge is an opportunity to do this 100%.  Anyone can do it on their own; anyone can do CrossFit on their own, too.  We achieve greater results when we work together.  Plus, Heather and Jenna make the whole process engaging from start to finish with community programs, paleo pitch ins,  raffled prizes and great guidance on your paleo path.

Cost: $100 per team. There are 2 people in a team. 1 person will register for the team. We will contact you for your partner’s information.

Reward: At least 5 need to register for a reward of $100 for the team to share; the more people that register, the larger the cash prize.  If 20 teams register, the reward is $1000 for the team to share!

How do you win the challenge?

What if you lose inches but lose no weight? What if you get stronger by 10 lbs in your benchmark strength and lose 2 minutes off your benchmark cardio workout?  What if you get stronger by 20lbs in your benchmark strength but lose 30 seconds off your benchmark cardio workout.  In the past, we made the best educated decision with all the facts.  This time, we will have a mathematical spreadsheet that will take in your measurements from the Before and After results and pointing system so we dont’ have to make educated guesses, but have real data to expose the winners!!

Spiced Pumpkin Granola

As the paleo challenge comes to an end and you are thinking of your post paleo habits… consider this your new granola! Make a batch on the weekend and use it to munch on throughout the week! Or enjoy a cup with some coconut milk!

Spiced Pumpkin Granola via Against All Grain

Ingredients

1 cup raw almonds
¾ cup raw pecans
¾ cup raw macadamia nuts
¼ cup raw pepitas + 1/4 cup chopped for
 adding in at the end
½ cup honey, melted
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
½ cup raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips

Directions

Soak the nuts and 1/4 cup pepitas in enough water to cover them and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover, and soak overnight, changing out the water one time.

Drain the nuts and seeds and place on a paper towel to absorb the remaining water.

Place the soaked nuts and seeds in the bowl of a food processor. Process them until they resemble the size of oats.

Add in the honey, coconut oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla, spices, and salt. Pulse until combined.

Remove the blade, then mix in the shredded coconut with a spoon. Turn the mixture out onto 3-4 parchment covered dehydrator trays. Spread it evenly into a thin layer.

Dehydrate on 120 degrees for 24 hours, turning twice. The granola may feel a little sticky and wet when you first remove it, but will crisp up after cooling.

Stir in the raisins and additional 1/4 cup chopped pepitas, then let cool completely before storing in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.

Dehydrating is my preferred method  for making this granola, but you can bake the granola in your oven at 170 degrees for 3-4 hours, or until it is completely dried and free of all moisture.

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites

Looking for a sweet treat? Try these!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites

 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut

2/3 cup coconut oil, not melted, but soft if at all possible

½ cup almond butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips, around 60 – 70% cacao tastes the best

1 T. coconut oil

optional toppings: sea salt, shredded unsweetened coconut, or slivered almonds

Directions:

Mix the shredded coconut, coconut oil, almond butter, and vanilla into a medium sized bowl. If your coconut oil is melted or if the mixture seems runny, put it into the fridge to harden up a bit or until you can easily form the mixture into balls. Form into 1 inch balls and place on a plate. Place in the freezer until they harden completely.

In a double boiler, melt chocolate and 1 T. coconut oil and stir until smooth. Dip the balls into the chocolate. Place back on plate and if you’d like, top with any toppings you wish. Refrigerate until cold and the chocolate is hard. Enjoy!

Bacon

Have you had your bacon yet today?

Coconut Lime Chicken Bites

Coconut Lime Chicken Bites

Serves 4

1  1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 large egg

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a shallow bowl, combine the coconut, lime zest, cumin, and salt. Place the egg in a separate shallow bowl and beat lightly. Dip the chicken pieces in the beaten egg, shaking off the excess. Then roll them in the coconut mixture to coat. (I find it most efficient to work with a handful of chicken pieces at a time.)

Place the coconut-coated chicken pieces in an even layer on a rimmed baking dish or in a large glass baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Serve immediately.

Heads up: Don’t over-bake the nuggets or they’ll be chewy and dry. Cut into one after 25 minutes and if it’s nice and white throughout, it’s ready!

Hey Guys! The paleo challenge is winding down with 1.5 weeks to go!!  I want you guys to stay focused and charge through until the end.  This means that we’d like you to keep up your journaling, double check your points, and get in some sports, mobility, and skills!

POINTS!  By this Saturday, I want everyone to see how many points they have accumulated.  The maximum points accumulated from 1/19 until this saturday 2/23 is 400 points(80 points a week). This includes perfect meals, and all weekly bonus points.  If you feel like you are WAY off and you shouldn’t be, double check your points!!   If you feel like you are WAY off because you should be, get some extra credit in this last week by doing extra skills, mobility, and play a sport with friends!  You can also get 20 extra bonus points for releasing a video testimonial of your experience.    Be on the lookout for more info about end of challenge details!!

End of Challenge Calendar!!

February 23: Olive Leaf outing at 5pm! Taste the many flavors of olive oils and vinegars!

February 27/28 4:30pm-8pm: Measurement Benchmarks with IB. There will be an online registration, TBA when it’s up and running.  These are the time frames to sign up. Do not wait until the 26th to tell me you can’t make it on the 27th or 28th.  If Cara performed your measurements, I’ll send an email to everyone to let you know where to go from there.

February 29: “Jackie” post benchmark WOD.  Sign up for Class this day!!! If a class you need is full, waitlist it.  If you can’t come anytime on Friday, then come to any open gym and complete it on your own time.  CrossFit total is TBA  but will take place the following week post challenge.

March 1: At 11:59pm the paleo challenge is officially over!!

March 3: Cooking seminar with Damian! 5pm!!  You get to Eat food and Watch Damian cook!!!

March 8 at 5pm: Your Journal needs to be complete, testimonial video uploaded (20 bonus points), WOD and  MEASUREMENT benchmarks must be updated in your journal,  your Points Tallied on the results page of your journal.

The Testimonial video needs to include the following:

• Thoughts going in to the challenge
• Lifestyle struggles? Are you student, parent, work
• how you prepared their kitchens before the challenge
• How you adapted to the struggles
• Results

On A Side note, keep your testimonials as positive as possible.  Hard working CrossFitters are sometimes disappointed in small achievements, wishing for bigger ones.  If you lost 5 inches in your body, but lost no weight, thrive off the success from losing the inches! Don’t you think inches are more important than pounds!!    Maybe you only lost 30 seconds off “Jackie” but wished for a whole minute.  Let’s keep it positive!

March 10 at 5pm: Final Paleo Meeting @ HCF!!  The winning team will be determined this evening! Your attendance is important! I expect nearly all participants to attend!!  The cash prize is $750 for that team to share!

Continue reading

Fat Re-Cap

 

 

Many of you Might already have paleo pinned down! Yay Success! But others may still be struggling with weight loss, cravings, WOD energy , losing too much weight etc.  Heather and I have pushed for these Major Factors: 1) Build your meal beginning protein first, vegetable second, fat, then fruit. 2) vary your meat and vegetables for a variety of nutrients 3) Less stress + More Sleep 4) eat when you are hungry.  These points need to be achieved, in my opinion, before fiddling with your diet. What I mean by this is you need to make conscious effort not to sabotage your paleo experience with apple, bananas, and almond butter for breakfast, snack, and after noon snack.

This week, focus on each meal AND snack meals to include Major Factor 1).  Your snack should include 1 oz. protein, 1 handful carb, and 1 thumbs-worth of fat.  Mind you, 1 handful of carb is not 1 WHOLE banana or 1 WHOLE apple.  It’s more like 1/2 apple or 1/2 medium sized banana. 1 thumbs worth of fat is not 1 WHOLE jar of almond butter. It’s more like 1 TBS.  Having NO protein with this little snack will leave you craving for more food and, possibly, become bloated.

Need more energy?  Keep reading below from Nerd Fitness to learn how fat plays an important role in our bodies.  On a side note, They say fat is a large % of our diet, but please follow my MAJOR FACTORS listed above before fiddling with your diet. Not eating enough carb and protein while eating more fat (especially in the form of nuts) will sometimes leave you unsatisfied, bloated, and make it possibly more challenging to lose weight.

 

Keep it simple: Try to get a really good protein source with each meal (eggs, steak, chicken, fish, pork) with each meal along with some vegetables or fruit. That’s it.  If you’re having trouble getting enough calories daily, add some healthy fats to the equation: avocado, a handful of almonds or walnuts, almond butter, olive oil, etc.

Now, fruit does have quite a bit of sugar in it, and nuts have quite a few calories…so if you are following the Paleo Diet but not losing weight, check your fruit and nut consumption and see if you are loading up on those at the expense of vegetables and healthy protein.

What I’m trying to say is this: fat should make up a big percentage of your diet.

Pooooooor fat. It’s gotten a bad rap over the past number of decades, so companies have been doing everything possible to make everything low fat and “healthy!” (while adding all sorts of preservatives, chemicals, and sugar).  Yup…cut out the fat, increase the carbs….and look where THAT has gotten us.

Why has fat been vilified? Rather than get into the politics of it myself, I’ll let Gary Taubes, author of the incredibly thorough and well-researched Good Calories, Bad Calories take over.  Here’s an article he wrote for the New York Times a decade ago: What if its all Been a Big Fat Lie? Take the 15 minutes to read that article – it could radically redefine your thinking on fat and carbohydrates.

So, feel free to eat healthy fats, and stop buying ‘low fat’ garbage.