This past weekend a team of Crossfit Central coaches attended Advocare Success School in Ft. Worth. As many of you know we at Crossfit Central endorse, share, and use Advocare supplements. Not only is Advocare used to enhance your athletic performance in a safe and natural way but it is an essential way to get the minerals and vitamins your body needs. Over time our foods have lost the vital minerals and vitamins we need to live a long and healthy life because they have been depleted from our soil and bred out.
"It's a fact. Our soils are depleted and depleted soils do not produce healthy, nutrient-rich plants." Straight out of the mouth of Dr. Richard Drucker, PhD. The answer "If our soils and crops are lacking essential minerals, it's necessary to supplement our diets if we are to achieve true wellness." This is where Advocare steps in. I'm not saying it is the only supplements you should be taking, but Advocare is high quality and I have actually met the men and women who formulate the supplements. I'm also not saying you can eat what ever your little heart desires and take Advocare and all is good, but with a well maintained diet and exercise along with Advocare you will be ahead of the pack.
This pic was taken this past weekend of some of the top Crossfit athletes in the world. 2009 women's third place finisher Carey Kepler and fifth place finisher Lindsay Smith. 2009 men's second place finisher Tommy Hackenbruck and sixteenth place finisher Jeremy Thiel. All of these athletes use and believe in Advocare and what it does for there performance. Not only can it enhance your athletic performance, above all else, it can improve your overall health and wellness. I strongly suggest you do your research on the benefits of nutritional supplementation along with a healthy diet.
If you have any questions about Advocare and what it can do for you please contact me www.zacharythiel@crossfitcentral.com. If you are ready to dive right in and get started go to www.advocare.com/04011094.
How many of you skip breakfast, eat whatever because you are on the run, buy all of your food from the grocery store???
1. It is essential for you to start your day off with a good breakfast to refuel your body after your "sleep fast" and to get your brain working for the day. I usually eat eggs with any combo of peppers, onions, sausage, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms. Cooked in organic virgin coconut oil, of course.
2. Make an effort to cook and store protein, fruit/vegg and fats that are easy to assemble for snacks and meals. Especially if you are a busy person. See how Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan gets ready for the upcoming week of paleo eating here!
3. Make the time to get out and shop at your closest farmer's market. We shop at the year round FM at the Triangle on Wed. from 3-7pm. They have fresh and local fruit, vegg, pastured eggs, chicken, pork, beef and all kinds of pesticide and additive free Whole Foods! They also have live music and a huge area for your kids and pets to play in the grass or in the water fountain!
As many of you may well know, Americans are discovering the truth behind the fear of fats. This fear, which has been indoctrinated into us for years, has been misleading and detrimental to the overall health of our country, much like many other things! For years the media and even the government has supported low fat, fat free, fat substitutes, and franken-fats (trans-fats). We now know that these are the very culprits of the rise of heart disease and body fat. If you just look at the data of the decrease in consumption of traditional fats vs the rise in consumption of hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated oils, and industrially processed liquid oils, the correlation speaks for itself! My sister Carey Kepler just posted about the dangers of canola oil. Get Educated on FATS!
The following nutrient-rich traditional fats have nourished healthy population groups for thousands of years:
For Cooking
* Butter * Tallow and suet from beef and lamb * Lard from pigs * Chicken, goose and duck fat * Coconut, palm and palm kernel oils
For Salads
* Extra virgin olive oil (also OK for cooking) * Expeller-expressed sesame and peanut oils * Expeller-expressed flax oil (in small amounts)
For Fat-Soluble Vitamins
* Fish liver oils such as cod liver oil (preferable to fish oils, which do not provide fat-soluble vitamins, can cause an overdose of unsaturated fatty acids and usually come from farmed fish.)
The following newfangled fats can cause cancer, heart disease, immune system dysfunction, sterility, learning disabilities, growth problems and osteoporosis:
* All hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils * Industrially processed liquid oils such as soy, corn, safflower, cottonseed and canola * Fats and oils (especially vegetable oils) heated to very high temperatures in processing and frying.
Vegetable oils are more toxic when heated. One study reported that polyunsaturates turn to varnish in the intestines. A study by a plastic surgeon found that women who consumed mostly vegetable oils had far more wrinkles than those who used traditional animal fats. A 1994 study appearing in the Lancet showed that almost three quarters of the fat in artery clogs is unsaturated. The "artery clogging" fats are not animal fats but vegetable oils.42
Benefits of Animal Fats
Foods containing trans fat sell because the American public is afraid of the alternative—saturated fats found in tallow, lard, butter, palm and coconut oil, fats traditionally used for frying and baking. Yet the scientific literature delineates a number of vital roles for dietary saturated fats—they enhance the immune system,54 are necessary for healthy bones,55 provide energy and structural integrity to the cells,56 protect the liver57 and enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids.58 Stearic acid, found in beef tallow and butter, has cholesterol lowering properties and is a preferred food for the heart.59 As saturated fats are stable, they do not become rancid easily, do not call upon the body's reserves of antioxidants, do not initiate cancer, do not irritate the artery walls.
If you want more information on all kinds of fat topics check out the many articles from Know Your Fats!
P.S. Many of you follow the paleo diet which does not support fats like butter or peanut oils. Although you may decide to skip these, my suggestion for this and all decisions, make your decision based on your own research!
Wisdom is a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, empowering the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy. Wisdom is the ability to optimally (effectively and efficiently) apply perceptions and knowledge and so produce the desired results. Wisdom is comprehension of what is true or right coupled with optimum judgment as to action. Synonums include: sagacity, discernment, or insight. Wisdom often requires control of one's emotional reactions (the "passions") so that one's principles, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one's actions.
I don't think I'm quit there yet, but it is something I am striving for. Today I turn 32, my wife is due in six weeks or so and I am looking at growing my business to new heights. I feel like I am at a crossroad. Not because I'm turning 32, but because it's a new year, I'm about to be a dad and I have to make some choices about the growth of my business. I have great people around me to help with this growth but I need some wisdom of my own. I am focused on the task at hand and look forward to this challenge and the opportunity to gain some wisdom and hopefully have a strong influence on the people around me. When I learn to control my "passion" I can only imagine what I am capable of.
This very pleasant Sunday morning my awesome and willing I Am Crossfit team joined me at Crossfit Central for an early morning workout. After yesterday's kick off workout the team thought it would be a good idea to get a little more work in before the weekend was out. The pic below was post workout, and apparently they had enough energy to strike a pose for the camera. I guess I'll have to pick it up a notch the next time we come together.
Just in case you were wondering the team workout was:
3 Rounds for time 50 Wall ball shots 50 Box Jumps 400m Run
It was a long and brutal workout, but they managed to finish with a smile on their faces. I am very excited about this challenge and fully expect to win. I know the rest of the team feels the same way.
With the new year all of us are geared up to tighten up our diets and make some changes. What is actually a good choice sometimes is a little harder to grasp. Choosing natural sweeteners like raw honey, blackstrap molasses or even raisins and other dried fruits in small quantities is always a better choice than things like sugar (white, brown, "raw"), splenda or agave nectar.
This is a snippet from a blog post from Food Renegade, who I also linked to above...
But what about natural sweeteners, surely they’re better for you than refined sugars?
Yes and No.
First, the positives. Natural sweeteners are Real Food, meaning they’re old and they’re traditional. They’ve been around pretty much forever. As such, our bodies are better equipped to eat them. Usually, natural sweeteners don’t cause as large a spike in insulin levels as refined sweeteners, so they’re less likely to contribute to insulin resistance and over burden your pancreas. On a practical level, that means they can reduce your risk for developing diabetes while simultaneously not sending you into the violent mood and energy swings associated with sugar consumption.
Now for the negatives. On a cellular level, they’re still sugar. So, ultimately, they still cause your body to store excess fat. If you eat enough natural sweeteners to satiate your sweet tooth, chances are you’re eating far too much. (After all sugar is addictive, and you need progressively more of it to satisfy your cravings.) So while natural sweeteners may be less of a burden on your pancreas, they’re still a burden. While they may lower your insulin resistance, they don’t lower it enough (particularly if your diet is high in carbohydrates from grains like wheat, oat, corn, and rice).
Just so everyone knows it's supposed to be cold this week. Maybe not as cold as the pic with us standing in the snow, but cold none the less. A bit of advice for all you newbies....and some of you veterans, DRESS WARM!!!! Layers, gloves and a hat! You can find them on the cheap at Dollar General or even Target.
Just like the 5:30Am Bridgepoint boot camp below, by the end of boot camp you will have lost much of what you started with. These lady's and gentlemen brave the cold three days week with out even a little peep. Good luck braving the elements this week and happy Crossfitting!
"It's a fact. Our soils are depleted and depleted soils do not produce healthy, nutrient-rich plants." Straight out of the mouth of Dr. Richard Drucker, PhD. The answer "If our soils and crops are lacking essential minerals, it's necessary to supplement our diets if we are to achieve true wellness." This is where Advocare steps in. I'm not saying it is the only supplements you should be taking, but Advocare is high quality and I have actually met the men and women who formulate the supplements. I'm also not saying you can eat what ever your little heart desires and take Advocare and all is good, but with a well maintained diet and exercise along with Advocare you will be ahead of the pack.
(Carey Kepler, Tommy Hackenbruck, Lindsay Smith, Jeremy Thiel)
If you have any questions about Advocare and what it can do for you please contact me www.zacharythiel@crossfitcentral.com. If you are ready to dive right in and get started go to www.advocare.com/04011094.
