Garbage In Garbage Out

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T17:46:00.001-06:00

Breakfast: Steak & cauliflower, coffee & milk

Lunch: 2 bunless burgers with some mustard and mayo

Snacks: carrots & cukes

Supper #1: Bison roast, gravy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, red wine
Supper #2: same as supper #1

Happy Father's Day!

Great wod at CFR, feeling good.

No Muscle Up Today

2011-06-18T17:47:00.000-06:00

But, I did 125lb Bench for 8 reps and a pretty fun WOD at CFR. If I can get my bench up 10 more lbs (for 47 more reps!), and my weight down 10lbs more, I'll be "Linda" ready. Definitely an attainable goal by Christmas.

Still have strict HSPU's, but my PLU's are feeling ridiculously weak. My grip just isn't there. Not sure if it's still fatigue from the "hundreds" and team workouts last week, or if I've just lost a bit of what I had.

Food for today - light on the calories this morning:
breakast - about 3 oz of roast & gravy with some cucumbers. Coffee & cream
late lunch - about 4 oz of roast & gravy with some cucumbers (I'm not very creative today)
snack - passionfruit iced tea (unsweetened) from Starbucks and paleo choc pudding popsicle
supper - 2 bunless burgers with saurkraut, pickled peppers, mayo, mustard and jalepenos on top + MDA's creamy cauliflower

Going to a movie tonight and packing my own nuts and drink. Good day.

Food on the Road

2011-06-17T20:36:00.000-06:00

Spent the last day and a half in S'toon for work. Food yesterday, awesome.

Breakfast - Chris made me eggs before I left
Lunch - packed chicken breast, tomatoe, and apple
Snacks - nuts
Supper - went to my Dad's place and had maple syrup & dijon mustard glazed salmon and bbq'd veggies. Delish! Some white wine too. Yummy German Riesling in a super cool turquoise bottle. Avante Gard, I think

Travelling + home cooked meal = happiness :)

Food today, started good, went downhill fast.
Breakfast - 3 egg omlette (room sevice)
Lunch - went to a work bbq. Options were hamburgers or hotdogs. No plates, forkes, knives or spoons. So, went for a burger with a bun. Had a mini ice cream too
Supper - an entire pack of gas station pepperoni sticks. Not too bad
2nd Supper - came home to a perfectly cooked roast, best gravy ever, and our last bottle of Merlot from the Okanagon.

Haven't gone for a wod since Tuesday, so feeling pretty blah. Back on the veggies tomorrow!!!

Seriously, already?!

2011-06-15T22:00:00.001-06:00

I've been back on track for 3 days now, and have already completely lost it. Well, not completely, but I had to try really really hard to keep it together today. Started out okay, then went downhill quickly

Breakfast: 3 hard boiled eggs (thank gawd for planning ahead)
Lunch: nothing
Snacks: nothing
Kelly = STARVING after a crazy busy day at work
Late afternoon snack to prevent from passing out: 2 timbits
Snack on the way to gymnastics (where we were already 15 minutes late): nuts/dark choc/raisens
Supper at home 9pm: chicken and sweet potatoes
And, some white wine.

Tonight, I anticipate not enough sleep, another long day tomorrow at work, then on the road to Saskatoon, and another long day after that. Good news is that I get a home cooked meal in S'toon tomorrow. Salmon, courtesy of Dad & Joy. Love it and looking forward to it!

No more wod's until Saturday, but committed to keep my diet in check as much as possible while not at home. Not eating from 8am - 9pm is NOT a good idea for me!

Food Log

2011-06-14T20:11:00.001-06:00

"300" WOD at CFR today. I feel good, but the wod felt brutal. My hands/shoulders/lats are still recovering, so PLU's and floor sweepers were tough. Feel like I have a long way to go to be in decent shape for S'toon. Could be because I've inched my way up to 147 lbs (yikes, just weighed myself!), which makes those pullups pretty darn heavy.

Breakfast
coffee & cream
blueberries & bison roast

Lunch
steak and cabbage/onions

Snack
3 pieces dark chocolate
brewed iced tea

Snack
few bites of chicken post wod

Supper
hamburger/pork stir fry with bok choy and celery
coffee & cream
paleo chocolate popsicle

My 3 and 6 Month Goals

2011-06-13T22:58:00.000-06:00

I'm back in and I have some goals.

#1. Don't embarrass myself at the 3rd annual Prairie CrossFit Challenge in Saskatoon

#2. Do Linda rx'd with 132lbs before Christmas

Thank you Matt Bathgate for your kind words and good advice at the Spring Fling. I'm going to pay some extra attention to diet and recovery over the next few months, and we'll see if a little extra glutamine can help with the recovery woes I've had in the past.

Beyond Christmas, I see 10 consecutive HSPU's, consistent muscle ups, and pistols on either leg.

Chris - this means NO MORE ICE CREAM!!

Today's food:

Coffee with cream

Chicken with feta & blueberries - breakfast

Chicken with feta & carrots - lunch

2 pieces dark chocolate

Home made iced green tea

Home made popsicle (HCAnge's chocolate pudding recipe, frozen = YUMM!)

Bison roast with salad - supper #1

Chicken with feta & braised cabbage/onions - supper #2

Feeling refreshed and very happy :)

Got Dirt?

2011-04-08T19:16:00.000-06:00

We get our fruits and veggies from the incredible folks at Body Fuel Organics. Once/week we pick up a pre-packed bin that has $60ish worth of fresh produce in it. We tell them what we want and don't want and every week there is far more variety compared to when I used to shop in a regular grocery store. Downside - there's no Starbucks at BFO, but I still get by.

The biggest difference I've noticed in the produce that we get (other than the hug me kiss me goodness of the strawberries this time of year!) is that their is DIRT on my produce. Yes. That's right. Dirt. It's on the lettuce, the carrots, and sometimes even the celery. It gets in my fridge, it gets in my sink, and it gets on the floor. And I love it!! This is real food, from the real ground, covered in real dirt.

Why is there never dirt on Safeway produce?

The Trouble with Chocolate Covered Almonds

2011-03-21T08:47:00.000-06:00

Last week Josie was begging me to go to CrossFit to get some chocolate covered almonds that Robin was helping sell for Braxton. We had no plans, so we went to hang out for a while. Turned out, we got there just as CF HQ was supposed to be releasing the first games wod. With computers locked up, webpages frozen and "refresh" not working, we left without finding out the wod.

But, in the hour or so we were there I started re-thinking why I wasn't competing this year. My 2 big reasons being travel, and the 3-5 wod weekends that used to destroy me for several weeks following a competition. With the format change this year, my 2 main reasons for not competing went out the window. That just left 1 reason not to compete. Ego. I've been pretty inconsistent with my workouts since last summer, and have never gone into a competition before without "training" for it. But, if there's one thing I've learned at CrossFit, it's to check your ego at the door. So, I did. And, I did (sign up, that is).

Thrilled to have completed WOD #1 with 2nd top female CFR score and still in the top 1/4 of the women competing in Canada West, I am so glad I did. Turns out, I'm a pretty competitive person.... give me a score to chase, and I'll find the fire I need to get there.

The Games season last year kind of blew out my fire, so I couldn't be happier that the Games season this year seems to have re-ignited it - thanks to a box of chocolate covered almonds.. What makes it even more fun is that Chris signed up to. I can hardly wait for the day that Charlotte can out deadlift me, and Josie can out rope-climb me!

What keeps you balanced?

2011-03-06T10:24:00.001-06:00

For me, it's the right combination of my kids and husband, my health, my friends & family, and my work. I sure have enjoyed some time on my own with the kids while Chris has been freezing out in the bush, but after a few days I'm starting to feel how unbalanced my life is when one of these things is missing! Work (and facebook, groan) replaces family time and everything is out of whack. I had no idea how big of an influence that crazy frozen husband of mine is when it comes to my personal balance, until this weekend.

How does this relate to my typical posts on food an nutrition? Well, I guess it comes down to finding the right balance of the right ingredients. Once you know which ingredients work for you, it's easy - as long as you only have these right ingredients in the house.

Today, I Miss My Grandma's Buns

2010-11-13T00:27:00.003-06:00

Just so y'all know, my Grandma Burton makes THE. BEST. homemade buns in the history of homemade buns. And 3 short years ago, my sister and I had a "bun-off" to see who - with Grandma's recipe - could make the better buns.

(Makes me smile to think about what memories Chris and I will leave behind as Grandma & Grandpa someday - pics of our grandkids making MeatZa and doing 1-armed handstands perhaps?)

Now, clearly I was the winner of the bun-off... but this story isn't about being the winner, or about being awesome, or about being the best, or the smartest, or the youngest.... I'm just sayin'...

It's about those homemade buns and the family they represent. The memories, the laughter, and the love that they always seemed to be a part of. So paleo schmaleo, today I miss my Grandma's buns.

And I miss my Poppy even more.

I Heart My Work Friends :)

2010-10-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

Why?

Because they're brutally honest with me!

They offer sound advice :)

They are brilliant.

After talking through my Josie/snack woes with my work colleagues over lunch today, Chris and I now have an 'approved snack list' for. Such a simple thing, but it has already helped minime snack time stress issues at home.

I assume if you're reading, you're interested in hearing more! So here you have it.

Tunison Family Approved Kinder Snacks:

1. The infamous cheese strings

2. Chocolate pudding (made of avacado, cocoa, whole milk, and dollop of honey). Guess I'm eating my words from my comment on yesterday's post! Limited to once/week

3. Fruit (berries if possible), limited to once/week
4. Beef Jerky
5. Veggies & Dip
6. Sausage/Bacon
7. Dark chocolate (85% cocoa)

And if she asks for chicken, gosh darn it, we'll give her chicken ;)

If folks out there have any other nut/peanut free paleo/primal friendly snacks for a 5 year old, please post to comments!

p.s. Thanks Cary - it really wasn't you who ruined my day today!!

Nutrition Book Club, Coming Soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-03T16:58:00.002-06:00

http://nutritionbookclub.blogspot.com/

Resources

2010-10-02T15:56:00.000-06:00

At the Goals/Nutrition Session at CFR today, a few people were asking me where Chris and I get our meat.

We get all of our grass fed beef, most of our eggs, and some of our chickens from an eccentric farmer named Keith Neu. He comes into Regina once/month and delivers his meat in a back alley behind Farmer's Direct on Broad Street. We get 20lbs/month (which isn't nearly enough!). He's a bit disorganized, but his meat is great. You can also get chickens and eggs from him (although you have to buy the laying hen in the spring if you want eggs). Contact Info: http://www.justbeef.ca/

Lately, we've been getting our pork, lamb, and some chickens from Lynn and Mark Lane. I can't say enough great things about the meat we've received from them, not to mention Lynn herself who is a total gem. Lynn is at the farmer's market every week, just look for the Farm Gate Food sign. You can order whole/half animals from her, or just pick stuff up as you need it. It's cheaper to buy a whole animal, but not always practical depending on freezer space. WE LOVE LYNN LANE!!! http://www.farmgatefood.ca/

As for fruits and veggies (and dark chocolate!),f we go to Body Fuel Organics here in Regina. We get about $60 worth of fruits/veggies once/week. They pack it for us and it's ready for pick up every Thursday. http://www.bodyfuelorganics.ca/site/

In addition to these food sources, we go to the grocery store to buy milk, cream, sauerkraut, olives, sometimes cheese, ketchup/mustard... and not much else, some canned tomatoes maybe. Butcher Boy gets our beef jerky business.

Flushing Fishy

2010-09-26T18:56:00.001-06:00

Most people use the spaghetti scooper to - I don't know - scoop spaghetti? In a paleo happy world, one might ask what exactly we're still doing with a spaghetti scooper... So please, let me explain.

Farewell, dear Fishy. May you always remember your
"fish picker upper" with fondness :)

Meet Fishy. Our dearly departed goldfish. When Josie noticed Fishy belly up this morning, she immediately went to get the spaghetti scooper - as this is what she normally uses to scoop fishy out of her bowl for routine cleanings.

It didn't occur to me until later tonight that Josie may not even know how 'normal' families use a spaghetti scooper. So, I asked her.

Me (holding the spaghetti scooper): "Josie, do you know what this is called?"

Josie: No

Me: Well, what would be your best guess?

Josie: A fish picker upper.

Lessons learned

1. Josie really is a brilliant child.

2. In hindsight, fishy would have made a pretty good lunch

3. If The Tunison's ever offer you a spaghetti dinner....

Fuck Diplomacy

2010-09-22T12:17:00.000-06:00

I generally try very hard in my life to be diplomatic and politically correct - at work, at home, with my kids, with Chris, on my blog etc. And, not because I have to, but because it is generally more effective in building/maintaining relationships, gaining support when needed, and contributing to a healthy/happy environment.

But today, I'm feeling particularly crabby about the general ignorance that exists in the world about nutrition - so here's my non-diplomatic vent. I'm tired of having people harp on me for not feeding my kids cereal for breakfast. What on God's green earth is in a bowl of cheerios that is so crucial to good health? What?

My kid suffered for almost 2 years with asthma that was so bad, she was in the hospital at least once every month for over 6 months. We tried 3 different inhalers, had her on nebulizer meds 4X/day, and for more than a year, she Never! Got! Healthy! She got mildly better, but for 18 months was not "healthy" for one single day. Then, we started getting strict with Paleo - not only as a choice for ourselves, but also for the kids. It took about 6 months, but we gradually weaned Josie off all of her inhalers and is how a healthy child - and has been, since we've made her eat mostly Paleo.

Why? Because she was a grain addicted kid before. If given the choice, she would eat toast, cereal, and candy all day every day. She ate lots of grains (crackers, cereals, granola bars etc), and she was inflamed head to toe - specifically, in her lungs). After a few months of eating a diet that is geared towards reducing inflammation, her symptoms disappeared. And, coincidentally - after a weekend of letting her eat toast for breakfast and pizza for lunch, she has developed a cough and is home sick today. Huh.

My kids will never learn what is truly healthy and what isn't if that message doesn't come from Chris and I. We are not punishing our children by having them eat this way, we are educating them.

So, before critisizing my parenting choices for my kids (and this goes for Halloween choices too!!!!!!), consider my reality, my child's health, read a REAL book on nutrition (i.e. Good Calories, Bad Calories, The Paleo Solution, Protein Power, The Primal Blueprint), google "gluten + enter disease here", then piss off.

Detox of a 3 year Old

2010-08-02T10:39:00.000-06:00

Anyone who argues the effect of gluten/sugar on a 3 year old's behaviour needs to come spend the morning with my 3 year old who is currently detoxing from a week's worth of hotdogs, waffles, sugary desserts, and juice boxes.

YIKES!

On the CFR blog today, Robin asked members to examine their nutritional goals for the month of August. Mine are pretty straight forward. Meat, veggies, little nuts, very little fruit, no added sugar. After tightening back up on my diet just a little bit, my WODs and mental accuity are starting to come back, and I like it.

What I don't like is my crazy detoxing 3 year old!

The Canadian National CrossFit Competition

2010-06-01T20:52:00.001-06:00

Was amazing! On the advice of my ever so brilliant husband, I made only one significant change to my training over the past 2 months - and I think it really paid off.  I changed my attitude. Not that I normally have a bad attitude, but I just wanted this weekend to be all positive and all fun. I'd be lying if I said that the weekend was all positive and all fun (as I was barely holding my tears in while on the phone to Chris after not completing the 3rd WOD!), but it was all good :) Here's how the weekend played out:

WOD #1: Crazy-ass x-country trail run... in the snow! The run had fun written all over it. With all the hills, I couldn't really run that fast (slow going up, slow going down), so I felt like I had a lot left in me for the straight aways which were few and far between. Passed 3-4 girls in the last km. No idea what my time was, not sure of my placing off the top of my head. But, the run felt great and I was happy with how I did.

WOD #2: Snatch complex. 95# snatch, EAT YOUR HEART OUT! About 3 weeks before Regionals, I cried 3 times during a 95# snatch workout.   But, thanks to that day, I had enough confidence to snatch 95#'s twice in 25 secs. Even got 100#'s up once to match (or possibly beat) my old PR. Can't remember whether I've done 97lbs or 100lbs before...

WOD #3: gawd awful wall ball/PLU workout. DNF'd. Went as hard as I could - but paced out the first round, which I think was a mistake for me. I really don't think that 4th round of wall ball would have been any more difficult for me, had I pounded 35 unbroken's out to start. Got called on 2-3 PLU's - legit

WOD #4: DU's & Burpees. DU's were good - my headband went flying off my head and hit my skipping rope on my first round of 50! Burpees were almost as awful as the wallball, but I powered through them slow and steady. Got called on 3ish burpees (same judge as in WOD #3). Again, totally legit. Great judging, imo

Wod #5: Tire flip + C&J + Run = FUN! Feeling nauseous, dizzy and freaking exhausted, went into the last wod with pretty much no warm up. I was too damn tired to warm up! Did a few C&J so I knew what to expect when I got to the bar and flipped the tire a bit in the morning too. Tire flips - a breeze. Jumping through the tire - just plain fun. C&J #1, totally missed the Jerk. WTF?! As I dropped the bar, I gave it an evil eye, looked at my judge with a confusion (and no, I had not accidentally grabbed the guy's 135lb bar, it was clearly only 95lbs!), shook my head, got it back in the game and tried again. Didn't miss any more freaking jerks, and felt great on the run (unusual, but thrilling for me). I think I was just really excited to be done!! Finished with speed and ooomph, collapsed in my tire and relished in the awesomeness of the weekend.

Finished 22nd overall, which just barely placed me in the top half, which I am thrilled with. Still would have liked to see HSPU's in place of WOD #3, but have no doubt that the results of the WOD's this weekend are sending the 6 most deserving athletes to the Games. Pretty inspiring to watch that last heat of women. Wow.

Go Hard or Go Home

2010-05-26T23:12:00.000-06:00

will be the theme of the weekend.   The WODs are up, and once again, it's GO TIME! I have to be honest, when I read through the WODs today, I was disappointed not to see more of my wish list items. But, after having all day to think about the WODs, I'm really happy with 4 ouf of the 5.

Long run - cool (well, not really, but endurance is a definite aspect of fitness - and this will test endurance). I'm guaranteed a PR, as I've never done a 6.7km race before...

Strength Wod - interesting. The one thing I really wanted out of this weekend were fun/interesting WOD's.  This is a bit of an oddball WOD, but I'm curious to see how it plays out. Still figuring out my strategy for this one.

WB/PLU's: eckk!! This one will be tight to finish within the 15 minute time limit.  This is also the WOD where I would have liked to see MU's, HSPU's, or T2B. The only real disappointing WOD for me, but I'm going to work those WB's unbroken and hammer out the PLU's, so it's all good!!

DU/Burpee: A necessary evil. All in all, I approve.

Tire Flip/C&J/Running: AWESOME!! FUN!! INTERESTING!!   Makes up for no rope climb :)

Good Luck!! To all the athletes this weekend. It's going to be a blast!

YIKES!

2010-05-25T20:27:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow, I find out what my WODs will be, going into the Canadian NATIONAL CrossFit competition. I have high hopes for this competition, in that I really want to see some fun, interesting, and challenging WOD's.

Here's my wish list:

muscle ups (but not too many!)
hand stand push ups (bring 'em on baby!)
short running (no longer than 800m please)
toes to bar (even though I SUCK at them)
rope climb, I think.
95# snatch - my nemesis
double unders - well, that's a given...

Funny thing is, I wouldn't consider any of the above my strengths - in fact, T2B, rope climb, and snatch are all weaknesses of mine. But I soooooooo want to see all of these exercises because they're skill based, technically difficult, mentally challenging, and just friggen awesome!! Well, minus the running. But, what's a CrossFit competition without a little running (or rowing... or burpees).

3 more sleeps!!!

Cautiously Optimistic

2010-05-11T21:36:00.002-06:00

"Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within A Generation" is the name of a White House Task Force Report recently released to the President of the U.S.

This 100+ page report contains 70 recommendation on how to reduce childhood obesity from 20% to 5% by 2030 - within 1 generation.

Although the plan has some encouraging recommendations like

taxation on sugary foods, beverages and other unhealthy snacks
economic incentives for production of healthy food
improved access to healthy food, and
increased education

The report is almost completely silent on the potential need to re-define what "healthy food" is. In Part II, the report glazes over the mandatory 5 year review of the USDA, but doesn't delve into any detail other than to say that "The 2010 Guidelines are under review and will be released later this year."

It's one thing to educate the public and encourage producers to create a country full of "healthy food" and people who will eat it. It's another to actually define "healthy food" in terms that will not continue to increase heart disease, cancer, diabetes and all of the other chronic illnesses that have been increasing ever since the low-fat/high carb diet reared its ugly head in public policy.

One step forward, 2 steps back I guess. I had high hopes for Michelle Obama's quest to resolve childhood obesity in the U.S. However, with a report that advocates skim milk, without so much as a discussion about the possibility that the country's very definition of "healthy" is off the mark - I'm a little more cautiously optimistic.

"Sleep more or you'll get cancer?"

2010-05-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

... is just one of my new favourite quotes from Lights Out. Sleep, Sugar, and Survival. Along with:

"That's why runner's high is such a religious experience. Your brain thinks you're dying. But you're just out of breath."

AND

"Exercise just might be the last nail in our collective coffins"

AND

"Exercise can make you fat" (which I actually kind of agree with - in non extremist sort of way)

AND

"Mate or die"

And then, the author started to make sense, about 10 pages in, when he/she states: "If you sleep at night for the number of hours it would normally be dark outside, you will only crave sugar in the summer, when the hours of light are long." Huh. Kinda makes sense.

Then back to,

"Although the instrument of destruction may be food, the cause of death is something much more insidious."
...One can only assume this would be the lightbulb

Joking aside, I'm making a serious effort to look beyond the crazy "YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" ultra-extremist mentality of this book. However, if not for Chris, Paul, and Robb Wolf's affinity for this book, I would not be going back for my THIRD attempt to read it.

Although, I must say, I did find it rather ironic that I was lying in bed last night, next to unnatural light, trying to get something from a book telling me I needed to sleep more...

Bad News for my Weakness - Sugar

2010-05-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

I can live without bread.. Pasta, no big deal. I don't even miss pizza. But sugar? That's my weakness. And bad news for my weakness - in what Emory University is calling the first study of its kind, scientists examined the link between added dietary sugar and cholesterol levels, including HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. And wouldn't you know it, there was a statistically significant correlation between dietary added sugars and blood lipid levels (i.e. cholesterol levls) among US adults.

The study, published on April 21, 2010 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, only looked at the added sugars people consumed, in other words, the extra sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners that were included in the foods they ate.

The study showed:
As added sugar in the diet increased, HDL levels decreased (that's your good cholesterol).
As added sugar int he diet increased, triglyceride levels increased (key indicator of heart disease).

Recognizing that I am in no way a scientist (the best I can offer is high school chemistry!), I do know that that "correlation" does not equal "causation". i.e. this study does not necessarily demonstrate that a higher consumption of added sugar causes an increase in triglycerides and decrease in HDL. The most important thing about this study is that it was done - and may very well pave the way for future studies of its kind - and along with those future studies, a reality check to the masses about the best way to reduce risks of heart disease.

For those of you who are scientifically inclined, a link to the abstract: Caloric Sweetener Consumption and Dyslipidemia Among US Adults.

If anyone has info/knowledge of any peer reviews that have been done on this study, I'd be interested in the real/perceived validity of the data/conclusions.

Hey Mom - Still keep up with my blog?

2010-05-09T14:38:00.000-06:00

As I was trying to think of a witty Mother's Day post that combined parenting with nutrition, I got to thinking... "Garbage In, Garbage Out" applies to so much of life beyond nutrition. The inspiration of this post is my Mom - who kept my childhood as free from garbage as possible, and nurtured a healthy

What my Mom taught me:

How to keep parental garbage away from my kids - it's important to let kids be kids. Some things are best handled by adults alone
Hard work builds character and creates a strong family foundation
Love
Honesty
Forgiveness

Things I'll teach my kids that my Mom didn't teach me:

How to paint their nails
How to climb a rope, hands only
How to draw smiley faces above their i's

How I want to be just like Mom:

I want to be the friend hangout house when Josie & Charlotte get older, fully stocked with pickles at all times!
I want to trust my kids, giving them the freedom to make bad decisions - mitigating bad decisions by instilling values of respect, caring and courage.
Offer my kids natural consequences over 'grounding'

Ways I won't be like my Mom:

I will always set an alarm clock to curfew time! If the kids don't turn it off, I'll know they didn't come home on time...
I will never believe a lame-ass story about how a beer cap ended up under the couch... While the cat's away...
I don't think I'll ever have to work as hard or sacrifice as much as my Mom did as a single parent. I have it pretty easy most of the time.

Nutrition and parenting are a lot alike. Garbage In, Garbage Out. Thanks for feeding me so well Mom!

Chocolate Flavoured Formula for Todders?! Yikes.

2010-05-07T12:03:00.041-06:00

Flavoured Toddler Formula Critisized (well, I would hope so!)

In an attempt not to state the obvious, I'm just going with the Most Disturbing quotes from this recent LA Times Article:

A new formula for toddlers that comes in chocolate and vanilla flavors
*Whoever came up with this idea should be fired.

The idea is to get a toddler to consume milk, even flavored milk, because it will lead to a healthier lifestyle
*Really? Because milk is the be all/end all of a healthier lifestyle? I repeat, FIRED!

"Sometimes he'll eat blueberries, and other times he'll say 'No blueberries!' and throw them," said the Mount Prospect, Ill., resident. Two weeks from his second birthday, Chase is underweight, and Parisi says she would gladly try chocolate- or vanilla-flavored toddler formula if she thought he would eat it.
*Not to discount the stress of a parent and medical severity of a truly underweight child - but I seriously doubt that chocolate flavoured formula would be the best course of action. Seriously?!?

While at first glance chocolate-flavored formula sounds like a bad idea, in some cases, it might be a "second best" option for parents with picky toddlers. If something stands between your children and drinking milk, than this becomes a better choice than juice or juice-based products, even, theoretically water," she said.
*I do believe a pretty strong arguement could be made that water is better option than chocolate formula.

Toddlers crave carbohydrates all the time, she said, and sometimes their palates need to be "bribed," she said. Terri Freeman knows all about the carb cravings. The Streeterville, Ill., resident's 3-year-old, Shayna, won't touch vegetables. She just wants chicken nuggets, pizza and pasta, she said. "My doctor hasn't been that concerned," she said.
*There are no words...

Calling all Skeptics

2010-05-07T11:10:00.004-06:00

The most common question/comment I hear when talking about a paleo/primal type diet and the health advantages of eating like our ancestors is:

"Well, of course there was no evidence of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer in our paleolithic ancestors - they didn't live long enough to get these types of diseases"

Really?

Let's take a trip back to Ancient Egypt....
Typical diet: bread, cereals, fresh fruit and vegetables, some fish & poultry, almost no red meat. Almost no saturated fat and cholesterol.
Life expectancy: 40 years - (approx 1/2 of today's Canadian life expectancy)
According to Health Canada and the USDA's food pyramid, the Egyptians were doing everything right.
Fact: Dissected arteries of Egyptian mummies show arteries choked with greasy cholesterol-laden deposits - an advanced stage of atherosclerotic disease
Fact: Many had scarred and thickened arteries - indicating high blood pressure
Fact: Severe obesity was not uncommon
Conslusion: Even at the young age of 40, there were clearly signs of heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity in the ancient Egyptians who ate a today's typical North American diet.

Now, let's look at our old friends, the hunter-gatherers. There is some debate regarding the life expectancy in the paleolithic era - some sources stating 20-30 years of age, others stating an average age of 40ish. Regardless of age, death rates in paleolithic times were largely attributed to infant mortality, rampant infection, harsher living conditions and the higher risk of hunting for their food. So, rather than compare directly to paleolithic times, let's compare to more modern populations who eat a hunter-gatherer/paleolithic diet, but who have a life expectancy more in line with current North American mortality timelines.

Hunter-Gatherer Populations (Tokelau in New Zealand - pre Western influence, African natives in Gabon, Eskimo - very high meat consumption, North American indians)
Typical Diet: meat (mostly red), some fish, vegatables, some fruit, nuts, seeds
Life expectancy: 55 - 60 years
Fact: Diabetes is non-existent
Fact: Heart disease is extremely rare
Fact: Cancer - Nearly non-existent
Fact: Hypertension is non-existent. In fact, blood pressure seemed to drop lower with age - opposite of what has happened in developed nations
Conclusion: I'll leave that up to you...

So then, what does that say for the argument that "paleolithic ancestors didn't live long enough to get heart disease, diabetes, cancer etc." Looking at it from a purely black and white perspective, I'd say that statement isn't necessarily un-true. (TK - this is where you can gloat that you're right)

However, by applying the science/data we have about populations who currently eat as our paleolithic ancestors did, (yet live longer as a result of medicinal improvements in the past 2 million years) - and the startling absense of chronic disease, it is irresponsible to assume that our typical North American diet is more healthful than that of the paleolithic era. (TK - this is where you decide to stop eating bread/cereal once and for all, lol!)

If you're interested in more concrete scientific data that will support this blogpost, I suggest reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "Protein Power".

The Fountain of Youth - Human Growth Hormone

2010-05-02T20:41:00.001-06:00

Why is it that in my teenage years, I could sit in front of the t.v., eat pizza pops and ice cream for 3/4 of my weekly meals and not pu ton the pounds like I would if I did the same thing today.

It's called the Human Growth Hormone. Teens have an inate abiltiy to secrete HGH, adults do not. HGH is a hormone that causes growth, repairs tissue, mobilizes fat stores, and makes our bodies was to burn fat as fuel.

July 1990: New England Journal of Medicine reported results of a study on the effects of HGH on males ages 61 - 81. Results - In 6 months:
1. Lean body mass increased by 8.8%
2. Body fat decreased by 14.4%
3. Bone density increased int he lumbar spinal bones
4. Skin thickness increased by 7.1%

There was no change in diet over these 6 months. A tiny amount of injected HGH caused all of these changes - which are equivalent to 10-20 years of reverse aging! Sign me up!!

Teens don't have any more HGH than adults - HGH is just released more frequently and more intense in teens than in adults. As an adult, if you want to reap the benefits of the "youth hormone", you need to stimulate more release of HGH. How, you ask?

Decrease blood glucose levels (i.e. eliminate sugary/grainy foods)
Increase blood protein levels
Carbohydrate restricted diet
Increased protein diet
Stage IV sleep (the first hour or two after reaching deep sleep)
Exercise - must be strenuous and done until muscle exhaustion. Eating a power bar/energy drink after a workout will inhibit HGH secretion, so don't do it!!

Huh. Sounds strangely familiar to me.... Maybe Paleo/Primal living works for more than just CrossFitters? Perhaps even for the average day Joe/Jane who just wants to look & feel younger.

On a slightly different topic, yet still intersting and valid to the type of lifestyle prescribed for secretion of HGH - An interesting article that Chris found today states:

"In 2008 Stampfer co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 322 moderately obese individuals for two years as they adopted one of three diets: a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet based on American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean, restricted-calorie diet rich in vegetables and low in red meat; and a low-carbohydrate, nonrestricted-calorie diet. Although the subjects on the low-carb diet ate the most saturated fat, they ended up with the healthiest ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol and lost twice as much weight as their low-fat-eating counterparts."

95# Snatch

2010-04-26T20:28:00.001-06:00

I know there are crazies out there who love the snatch. And I'll be honest - I really don't get it!!!

Today I did "Karabel" at CrossFit. "Karen" & "Isabel" combined for 1/2 an hour of pure SUCK - (well, less than 20 minutes for most). To be specific, it was: 10 rounds of 3 Snatch (95#), 15 Wall Ball (14#).

It wasn't the weight that made this WOD so hard, and it wasn't particularly taxing 'wind' wise. What was tough today was the mental game. I'm totally freaked out by 95# snatch. 85# is fine, even 90# is good, but 95# is a crazy snatch number that totally messes me up. It all goes back to a snatch/sandbag carry WOD I did about a year ago, where I missed more snatch reps than I actually made. I wasn't injured, I didn't get a DNF... I finished, but it beat me up mentally.

In any event, when I saw Karabel posted yesterday, I knew I had to do it. So I wandered into CFR today, turned my back to everyone doing today's WOD, stared at the wall (being particularly grateful today that there are no mirrors at my gym!), and got 'er done. 1 at a time.

Chris was there today - cheering and coaching me - and he mentioned afterwards that throughout the WOD I didn't have the 'killer' attitude that he likes to see in me. But what he couldn't see was how hard I was fighting it out in my head. I may not have been physically fighting for the best WOD time, but I was mentally fighting for the WOD, and I got it.

Over the next 30 days, my mental training is going to be just as important as my physical training if I want to light things up at Nationals, and today was a darn fine start.

One final note. Paul - you totally SUCK for picking this WOD!! But, you also picked "McGhee" last week, so that brings you back up into "I'm still speaking to you" status.

It's GO Time!!

2010-03-25T22:01:00.000-06:00

The WODS have been released for the Central Canada CrossFit Sectionals and I'm putting on my game face!! I watched a video earlier this week with Speal vs Khalipa. At one point during the video, when talking about sub 3 Fran Speal made a comment along the lines of 'once you have a sub-3 Fran, it's no longer about who has more strength. It's all about who has more GO!"

So, I'm here to tell you. I'VE GOT THE "GO"!! (Not to be confused with "I've gotta go!" .... which will probably happen shortly before the first WOD...)

Game Plan? Here it is.

Breakfast 8am: chicken, apple, some nuts, water

First WOD 9:30ish: 3RM OHS
115lb, 125lb, 130/135lb depending on how the 2nd lift goes. I'll adjust these #'s in my warm up if I have to. My most recent 3RM is 125. This is the WOD I'm most nervous for, so I'm glad it's first. I actually really like OHS, but tend to need complete silence and total focus to pull them off - especially max efforts. I'm going to have to really get into my 'zen' place (whatever that is), and find a focal point somewhere. And here's to hoping some adrenaline kicks in as well!

Snack: applesauce, roast beef (or pork), fish oil, possibly larabar or banana.

2nd WOD 11ish: 7 Minutes of Thrusters
For this one, I'm putting on my headphones, singing along, and refuse to count. No rests at the top (obvious for some, a weakness for me), solid core, slow and steady, stay on my heels and DIG DEEP!! I'm most excited for this WOD, which is wierd. It's all about the playlist. ROCK ON!!

Lunch: chicken, applesauce, fish oil, banana (if Chris will let me ;) Maybe larabar - don't want to overdue the fat though. Maybe just more chicken.

3rd WOD 2ish: 3 rds of: 5 Power Cleans (155/105lbs), 10 Burpees, 200m Run
No playlist for this one - earphones would be too distracting for the burpees. Quick cleans, steady burpees, and I'll play the run by ear. I tend to start slow and finish fast - but can't pace it too much.

Supper: LOTSA MEAT AND VEGGIES!!!

Day 2
Wod 4: Event 4 “Canadian Crippler”

For time (22 min cap):
30 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Deadlifts (225/155lbs)
400m run
30 Push-ups
15 Push Press or Jerk (135/85lbs)
30 Squats
15 Front squat (135/85lbs)
400m run
15 Deadlifts (225/155lbs)
30 Chest to bar Pull-ups

This one will be balls to the wall.
Power through the PLU's!
15 consecutive DL's, then off for a run
30 PU's, eh big deal
Pound out those PP/PJ!
Breeze through the squats, shake it out, pick up that bar and keep on squatting
Run the home stretch
Use adrenaline to finish off the DL's
And pure Paleo Power to bring 'er home with the PLU's. C2B, BRING IT ON!!

I'm totally stoked to have Chris with me for the competition this year - he's always such a great support for me, and I really missed not having him there last year. He just has to learn to YELL LOUDER over the crowd so I can hear him :) This will likely be the last year (at least for a while...) that I compete in a Qualifier competition, so I'm not leaving anything behind. It's all out for all 4 WODS.

Good luck to everyone competing! It's going to be AWESOME!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

2010-03-22T22:16:00.001-06:00

As a desperate attempt to distract myself from the fact that Central Canada's Sectional WOD's won't be posted until tomorrow - did anyone else watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution last night?

I've never been a huge Jamie Oliver fan - it's not that I don't like him, I just don't really watch shows about cooking/food. However, I was intrigued by the commercials leading up to this new reality series. Mostly, I was interested in what he considered "healthy alternatives"... so I watched. And I made Chris watch.

Like any reality show, it was repetitive (not sure how many more times I could listen to the words "food revolution" or "pizza for breakfast?"), a bit hokey with local radio personality tearing a strip off of Jamie for trying to change his town, and dramatic - with the head cook at a local school clearly just waiting for Jamie's food revolution to fail.

All that aside, I must admit - I'm a huge fan of the concept and am interested to see how the show plays out.

For those of you who didn't watch it - Jamie goes to Huntington, West Virginia - one of the most obese cities in one of the most obese regions of the U.S. - with high hopes of turning the city's eating habits around. Starting at the elementary school.  In the first episode, he doesn't really make any progress - running up against tight-ass beurocrats who need a spreadsheet and formal data analysis to prove to them that a chicken breast is more healthy than processed nuggets, and spending way too much time tossing out full apples and TONS of food that the kids weren't eating.

But, far and away the most frustrating thing to watch was the cooks who would look at the box of chicken nuggets, and in order to try to prove their point that the food they're feeding the children was healthy would say, "well, chicken is the first ingrediant!"  I fell slightly in love with Jamie when he responded with "and you're not at all concerned about the other 20 ingrediants - most of which you can't pronounce?"

Overall, I'd give the first episode a 7/10. And, I'll likely force Chris to watch it with me again next week. Oh wait - not true. This Sunday I'll be whooping it up after kicking some MAJOR CROSSFIT BOOTIE in Edmonton. Might have to skip an episode.

Favourite show quote:

Jaime Oliver to the principal who tells him he HAS to serve a 2nd grain at lunch to be in line with the USDA guidelines (Jamie was trying to get away with just serving brown rice, but was told he also had to serve bread.) "The USDA guidelines are crap!"   Nice.

Check out some pics!

2010-03-06T17:30:00.000-06:00

Our home away from home CrossFit gym in Mesa. We went to Leiftime twice last year and 3 times so far this year. Here are Chris and I doing some deadlifts as part of a WOD: Leiftime Fitness

We also went to Desert CrossFit while we were in Palm Springs for a few days. We were part of the largest group ever to workout at that gym - and I think they were pretty much the friendliest group of CrossFitters we've met yet.

Desert Crossfit

2010-03-03T02:15:00.001-06:00

So, we found out that one of the nice things about Palm Springs is that it's full of retired folks who get up just as early as Chris does. I was still half asleep this morning when Chris had already been gone for an hour and brought me a koffi in bed :)

Then it was time to give my new 5 fingers a real test - a short 1 mile hike along a canyon trail. I LOVE these shoes. We saw the world's largest fan palm oasis and enjoyed the early morning sun. Mark Sisson ran past us, and all was good.

Later this evening, we were on our way to see a movie (after eating a pretty good meal including chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert). With a few xtra minutes to spare before the movie started we decided to check out Desert CrossFit... Just to say hi. Still in our street clothes, workout clothes back at the hotel we got suckered into a workout. After almost 20 minutes of tire dragging, KB waiter carries, running and slosh piping we vowed never to leave our workout clothes behind again! We were part of the largest group workout ever at Desert CrossFit with other visitors from Washington and San Diego.

After making it to a later showing of Shutter Island we found out that there are no reataurants open after 10pm in this land of retirees. After nearly an hour of driving and many locked reataurant doors, we finally gave up hope of food and started heading back to the hotel. As luck would have it, at that moment, we found a little pub with an open sign. All ready to cave and order pizza, Chris noticed they had a "bunless, fryless" burger on the menu. Best friggen food we had all day! Definitely worth all the driving around!

Road Trip to Palm Springs

2010-03-01T11:47:00.001-06:00

We are on the road again, off on a kidless getaway to Palm Springs for a few nights, and probably some wine tours/tasting in the Temecula Valley. We're staying at the Hotel California in Palm Springs and it looks like sunny weather, so should be relaxing. Not sure if we'll hit a CrossFit, but I sure would like to try out my new five fingers I bought yesterday!

The best thing about the U.S. This trip is the unsweetened ice tea that you can buy anywhere! I used to hate that stuff, but now I can't get enough of it.

A Rainy Day in the Desert

2010-02-28T08:18:00.001-06:00

In all the years we've come to Arizona in the winter, this might be the first time it has ever rained on us. What to do on a rainy day in the desert...

Normally I'd say CROSSFIT! But after two consecutive heavy Crossfit WODS and an affiliate that is closed today, I call rest day.

My second choice, shopping for my first pair of five fingers. This holiday might just be all about shoes and Crossfit. I bought some new Nike Free's on our way down that I LOVE.

So far I've been able to eat pretty strict paleo with the exception of some cheese- which I'll likely cut out here starting today. Sleep has also been great. Nothing like a holiday to get you back to 9 hours/night. I heart vacations!

Vacation WOD #1
Rolling thruster Grace: 10:49

Vacation WOD #2
21-15-9
Burpees
155lb DL
K2E
12:02

Tomorrow's WOD, a road trip to California wine country(where there happens to be an affiliate named CrossFit Psycho!!). So maybe this trip will be all about shoes, CrossFit and wine :).

My first mobile blogpost!

2010-02-25T14:34:00.001-06:00

We're on the road right now, heading to Phoenix for a few weeks. First stop for food-Superwalmart in Minot. For less than $12, we fed a family of 4 a meal of roasted chicken, bananas, some pan fries (special treat for the kids), and a container of spinach to munch on in the car. Pretty sweet deal if u ask me. I can honestly say, after eating that meal and getting back in the car feeling re-energized rather than sick and bloated, there will be no McDonalds on this trip!

Introducing: Ancel Keys

2010-02-24T10:21:00.001-06:00

Ancel Keys: Originator of the Fat/Cholesterol/Heart Disease HYPOTHESIS (which has never been scientifically proven... I'm just sayin').

Fat/Cholesterol/Heart Disease hypothesis = Cholesterol levels predict heart disease, and eating fat increases cholesterol. Therefore, a diet high in fat (particularly saturated fat) puts you at risk of getting heart disease.

A bit about Ancel Keys:

he ran the Laboratory of Physiological Hygeine at the University of Minnesota
became famous during WW II by developing the K ration for combat troops (the "K", stood for Keys).
scientifically speaking (according to peers) Keys' was more often wrong than right.
launched a crusade against heart disease in the late 1940's.

Rewind a few years prior to Keys' crusade against heart disease:

most physicians (NOT scientists) believed that people ate too much high cholesterol food (meat and eggs), and that is what elevated blood cholesterol.
1937 - 2 Columbia University biochemists demonstrated that the cholesterol we eat has very little effect on the amount of cholesterol in our blood. When Keys fed men for months at a time on diets either high or low in cholesterol, it made no difference to their cholesterol levels.

Therefore, Keys insisted that eating high cholesterol food had little relevance to heart disease. That would include meat and eggs.

Over the next 10 years, Keys started to collect data to support his hypothesis that dietary fat was the cause of increased cholesterol - and therefore, also the cause of heart disease.

Low and behold, Keys' peers welcomed his work with great skepticism. They did not buy this new hypothesis. Why? Oh, where to start....

Keys drew his conclusion largely based on data he had collected from 6 countries (U.S., Canada, Australia, England, Wales, Italy and Japan).
What Keys didn't mention - there were 22 countries with available data for comparison
Why didn't Keys mention this? Because, when you include all 22 countries into the analysis, the link between fat and heart disease DISAPPEARS!!

Essentially, Keys chose the data that supported his hypothesis (1/3 of the data collected), and ignored the rest (2/3 of the data collected). Yikes!

Now - since the mid 1950's, researchers have KNOWN that the total amount of dietary fat has little effect on cholesterol levels.

1957: American Heart Association opposed ancel Keys on the diet-heart issue, claiming he did not have enough evidence and that his conclusion was unambiguous.
1960: Evidence did not change, BUT a 6-man committee, including Keys issued a new AHA report that reflected a change of heart. Hmmm, bias perhaps? Conflict of interest you say? Or just bad science...

This 2 page report (containing no references) suggesting strongly that if Americans reduced the fat in their diets, and replaced saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, that they would reduce their risk of heart disease.

This was the AHA's first official support of Keys's hypothesis, and essentially made high cholesterol the leading heart-disease risk. Time Magazine immediately placed Keys on its cover, suggesting to the American public that they should increase their carbohydrate consumption, and reduce fat consumption. Whoops.

1950's onward - researchers worldwide tested Keys's hypothesis... nothing like testing the HYPOTHESIS after the CONCLUSION has already been determined. I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that's bass ackwards..

So, we now witnessed 2 schools of thought re: Keys' hypothesis
1. Belivers - physicians who considered it a luxury to wait for 'final scientific proof', so would recommend low fat diets to their patients at risk for heart disease as a leap of faith.
2. Skeptics - who buried themselves in research trying to find the real cause of heart disease.

1961: The Wall Street Journal reports that the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the AHA planned a huge National Diet-Heart Study that would answer the important question: "Can changes in the diet help prevent heart attacks?"

Result: food industry (taking note of the article - again, based on ZERO researched conclusions) started placing new cholesterol-lowering polyunsaturated margarines on the market.

Keys himself admitted that the benefits of cholesterol-lowering had not been established, however, THE PRESS (again, no scientists here) favoured articles that favoured Keys's hypothesis.

1964: Study mentioned above still had not been done
Seriously, do you want me to go on???

1962: NIH assembled a committee led by Researcher Pete Ahrens to review the evidence for and against the diet-heart hypothesis and recommend how to proceed. Finally!
1969: Ahrens' committee conclusions: "it is not known whether dietary manipulation has any effect whatsoever on coronary heart disease."
1971: NIH assembled a Task Force on Arteriosclerosis. 400 page, 2 volume report agrees that a definitive test of Keys' dietary-fat hypothesis is urgently needed. Duh!

Result: NIH agrees to spend $250 million on 2 trials.

1. Test hypothesis that heart attacks could be prevented by the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs
2. You can prevent heart disease with a combination of cholesterol lowering diets, smoking cessation programs, and drugs to reduce blood pressure.

Notice, neither trial actually tested Keys's hypothesis. Both took longer than a decade to complete. Neither the government nor the general public were willing to wait that long, carried on with forming their own conclusions.

1977: common "knowledge" that dietary fat causes heart disease.

Little Known Facts

Masai nomads of Kenya - one of the lowest ever measured blood-cholesterol levels. Lived on millk, blood, and meat. 3000 calories/day, mostly saturated fat.
Cholesterol lowering diet: replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats. In Keys' research, this type of diet would reduce total cholesterol, yet mortality rates would remain the same.
Low-fat diet: total fat in the diet is reduced.

Getting Geared UP!!

2010-02-21T17:14:00.000-06:00

In just over a month, I'll be competing in the CrossFit Games Sectional Qualifiers. And I've been asking myself lately - why am I competing? I'm nowhere near good enough to make it to the CrossFit Games, so I can't help but ask myself "so why bother?".

Today I remembered why. It's because I love the sport of CrossFit. I love how it challenges me physcially and mentally. I love how it has opened my eyes to the importance of nutrition (for reasons other than looking good in a bikini!). I love how my entire family can participate. And I love how little time it takes (on average 20 minutes/day, 3 times/week).

That being said, with the different Competition Training I've been doing to prep for the sectionals, I am really starting to missing the regular CrossFit WOD's. In Nov/Dec, I ramped up my strength training - and quite frankly, I'm bored of it. It takes too long, it's boring, and I don't really enjoy it all that much (hence, the reason before CrossFit I was never able to stick with any globo gym program for more than 2-3 months).

I want to get back into CrossFit. It's not strength training that got me hooked on CrossFit, it was the ability to get stronger/faster/leaner without "strength training", or "doing cardio", or "ab work", etc. that got me hooked on CrossFit.

You want strength - do "Linda" or "Elizabeth"

You want cardio - do "Cindy" or "Helen" or "Kelly"

You want to see abs - do "Isabel" or "Grace" or "Josh" or "JT"

CrossFit. Pure and Simple. That's why I'm competing. Now, let's GET 'ER DONE!!!!

The End of Writer's Block

2010-02-20T23:58:00.002-06:00

is in this video. Almost everything I've been trying to write in my series of blogposts about cholesterol is in this 10 minute video. If you're interested, give yourself some time to watch it (and the other 8 parts of this 9 part series).

The Cole's Notes version:

the logic behind the belief that dietary fat causes heart disease is flawed
LDL (i.e. "bad" cholesterol) is not all bad. Saying you're at risk for heart disease because you have high LDL is like saying you're at risk for heart disease because your overall cholesterol is high. It's simply not true. There are at least 2 different types of LDL's (1 good, 1 bad), just like there are different types of cholesterol (HDL - very good, we want/need these and LDL - some are good, some are bad).
The implications of a high carb/sugar diet in relation to heart disease.

And another interesting study on Saturated Fat and Heart Disease from Dr. Michael Eades' blog (author of Protein Power).

I'm working on it

2010-01-31T22:25:00.000-06:00

Today, I started digging my way through the history of the fat/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis that has so graciously engrained into our minds by Ancel Keys, the American Heart Assocition and the U.S. Government (b/c if gov't doesn't know good health, who does?!).  I have to blame the Americans because I work for the Feds, and have nothing negative to say about our gov't or their Canada Food Guide.... today.

Anyways, there's alot of info I'm looking at right now. Sixty plus years worth. And let me tell you, times have changed, research has evolved, and we know so much more about fat and cholesterol now than we did back in 1950 when this hypothesis first hit centre stage. It's scary to know that so many of our beliefs about heart disease are based on 1950's pseudo-science!

The up-side is that North Americans are slowly catching up to the science that has been taking place, but changing beliefs of the general public and building this into educational institutions is no easy task.  Obviously, it will take some time... as will me completing my next post. I'm not being lazy here, just consciensious (and I really hope I spelled that right b/c the spell checker has disappeared from my blogger).

The history of the fat/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis can be overwhelming - but I'm going to try really hard to hit all the important points, while keeping it simple, without over-simplifying.   Here goes....

I Love This Doctor!

2010-01-28T19:26:00.003-06:00

One of my favourite colleagues at work sent this to me this week, and I just had to share. It's called:

"I love this Doctor!"

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that it...
don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually.
Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying
you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer?
Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiency. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So steak is nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give you 100% of recommended daily allowance of vegetable product.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No pain... good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food are fried these day in vegetable oil. In fact, they permeated by it. How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?!?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me..

Q: Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets. For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

Just thinking about it makes me bored

2010-01-25T22:00:00.000-06:00

You know, every now and then I get on these big cholesterol kicks, where I'm excited and feel like I'm understanding things really well, and want to help others learn.... and then I start trying to explain things, and I end up getting really bored, really quickly.

You may not know this about me, but I'm naturally a very lazy person. I can put on a good show at CrossFit and at work. But truthfully, if I had an unlimited cash flow, I think I'd just sit around every day - well, I'd probably hang out at CrossFit actually - and not really do much. Oh, and I'd meet up with my 'work friends' (as Josie lovingly calls them :) for coffee every morning.

The other thing you may know about me is that I get bored very easily. I couldn't even proof read my post from yesterday because by the time I finally finished it (LDL, HDL, triglycerides and on and on), I was so bored of the topic.... well, you get the picture. This is one of the reasons CrossFit is so enjoyable. Today, we did a workout that I haven't done since 2008. Seriously, what other gym can you go to and only do the same workout once every 2 years!

The point of my rambling is this. Because I'm lazy and get bored easily, the thought of 3 hugely research based blogposts, all on the same topic - cholesterol (ugh) - all of a sudden feels like a really bad idea. I might have to limit my cholesterol rant to one post/week or something, otherwise I may just quit posting all together... because I'm that lazy, and that bored.

Are you massively disappointed? Then read this. And this. Should keep you busy for a few minutes, and it's really interesting stuff.

I'm kind of on a probiotic/antibiotic kick right now. Don't really know much yet, but am interested.

I didn't really want to go there, but...

2010-01-24T20:19:00.000-06:00

I will.

Cholesterol.

I've started and deleted this post about 4 times already , not really knowing where to start. But, I think I finally figured out how to do this thing. Rather than trying to fit everything into a single post, which would end up looking more like an entire chapter of a book, I'm going to do a series of blogposts that look like this:

Part 1: Cholesterol 101 (that's today!) - a bit boring, but important to understand before going into the whole "how it all works" post.

Part 2: I'll introduce to you, Ancel Keyes (originator of the fat/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis). I'll also explain when and why a high total cholesterol isn't necessarily a bad thing, and give you an idea of what 'healthy' cholesterol numbers look like.

Part 3: LDL Receptors and the Insulin/Glucagon Connection (because it IS all about insulin).

Part 4: Explain how, when, and why eggs and bacon can help improve cholesterol ratios and reduce risks of heart disease. Reading the ENTIRE post will be important! (and don't even think of starting to argue with me on this point until I'm done all 4 cholesterol posts!)

For today's post, nothing controversial here - just the basics. This is by no means a comprehensive explanation, it is JUST the basics. It should give you enough information to understand my next 3 posts, if you don't already have a good understanding cholesterol.

What you need to know about Cholesterol.

Cholesterol is absolutely essential for life.
Our bodies have the capacity to create and regulate cholesterol. Only about 20% of our total cholesterol comes from consuming food. The other 80% is produced by our bodies.
Over 90% of your cholesterol is located in your cells where it provides cell membranes with their structural integrity AND it controls the flow of nutrients into and waste products out of the cells.
All cholesterol is not created equally. It is important to understand the difference between HDL, LDL, VLDL and triglycerides - particularly if you are actively working to improve cholesterol levels.

Another interesting note is that HDL, LDL and VLDL aren't really cholesterol at all. They are complex molecular compounds caled lipoproteins. These lipoproteins enclose cholesterol and triglycerides and transport them to your tissues.

Triglycerides
* When you consider weight, triglycerides are the lightest of all the blood fats.
* Elevated triglyeride levels are common in coronary heart-disease patients

VLDL (Very Low-Density Lipoprotein)
* VLDL is made and released by your liver.
* They carry mainly triglyceride, but also a little cholesterol
* The VLDL matures by acquiring more cholesterol as it circulates through your blood
* The mature VLDL takes triglycerides to the body tissues to be burned for energy or stored
* The cholesterol-rich remnants that remain after the triglyderide has been released become LDL's

LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein)
* LDL are the primary carriers of cholesterol to outlying tissues.
They can either be large and fluffy OR small and dense.
LDL's have 3 potential destinations:
1. They can be removed from the blood by the liver
2. They can be gathered by other tissues that need cholesterol
3. They (particularly the small, dense LDL's) can be deposited in the arteries

HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) - a.k.a. Good Cholesterol
* HDL scavenges cholesterol from the tissues, including the linings of the coronary arteries.
Cholesterol works on a two way street. LDL travels away from the liver, depositing cholesterol in the utlying areas. HDL comes back towards the liver, picking up what's been left behind (i.e. in arteries), and eventually disposing of it in the liver.

Yuck

2010-01-17T19:00:00.002-06:00

Yep, that about sums up how I feel today. Sore throat, fevery, earache, headache, and very very whiny.

This is the first time I've been sick since starting on paleo/primal experimentation almost a year ago. I have, from time to time felt like I was getting sick, but nothing ever really came of it... until now.

For that reason, I'm totally blaming work! Between a busy work week and night life in Winnipeg last week, some poor food choices (Paleo? What's Paleo? Mmmmm, sushi!), and being maxed out on work stress right now, my poor body didn't stand a chance. And although my stress at work is what I would consider 'good' stress (in that I love love love my job!), it's still stress. And something I've learned here in the past few months through reading up on cortisol - is that your body doesn't distinguish between good stress and bad stress. Stress is stress. A little is good (i.e. exercise, the occasional adrenalin rush), but too much can reak havok on a person's health.

The thing that's making me the most whiny though, is my refusal to take Tylenol right now. Not because I think over the counter pain killers are bad - but because I now recognize that my headache, fever, sore throat etc. are my immune system's natural and healthy way of attacking the virus and ridding my body of this bleukchy illness. I'm not convinced that any real good will come from dimishing these symptoms by dosing up on Tylenol. Sure, short term I'd definitely feel better with a little Tylenol - but I'd also then be far less likely to lay down and take a 2 hour nap, which is what my body probably needs more than anything (which I totally did today). That being said - today, I was able to function alright with the kids (although they're now watching movie #2). If I was on my own with the kids and the only way to function was with a little Tylenol - I'd be all over it. I'm just not as quick to pound the pills as soon as a headache comes my way anymore.

And just in case you were wondering - yes, I'm looking for lots of sympathy here! And a bucket of rolo ice cream if anyone is out and about... (hey, it worked for Angdesj and her steeped tea this morning - just putting it out there :)

The Thing About Dairy

2010-01-15T21:14:00.001-06:00

... is that it is massively growth promoting in virtually every cell in your body.

This is GREAT for body/muscle building.

But, what if you have breast, colon, prostate, etc. cells that you're worried about turning into cancer. Then, it's not so great. Dairy will have the same effect on cancer cells as it will on muscles. It is growth promoting, and is not discriminatory.

Dairy is also HUGELY insulin spiking, so if you have any issues with insulin resistence AT ALL, consuming dairy is not a good idea.

When is dairy good?
* if you are already quite lean and have no desire to lean out any more AND
* if you are not insulin resistent (because of the insulin spike is causes) AND
* if you have trouble building muscle and want to use it as post workout fuel.

When is dairy not so good?
* if you're trying to lean out (because of the insulin spike)
* if you have any auto-immune issues (as dairy will exacerbate gut irritation issues which is a hypothesized cause of many auto-immune diseases).

Raw Milk and Goat's Milk
* raw milk is infinitely more nutritions
* goat's milk may be more easily digested
* both have same growth promoting qualities and potent insulin spike - so weigh the pros & cons
* Note: it is illegal to distribute raw milk in Canada - I have not done a lot of research into "why" (although assume it's because it would be deemed unsafe because it's not pasteurized). If anyone has info on the legality of raw milk, please post in comments!

Whipping Cream & Butter
* best sources of dairy because
* they have virtually no protein or carbohydrate content (proteins in milk are difficult to digest, carbs cause the insulin spike)
* grassfed source is always better - more nutritious
* still not good if you have auto-immune issues

Please Note: All content for this blogpost so far was taken from Robb Wolf's Podcast 5: The Paleolithic Solution.

But, what about Calcium?
Drinking copious amounts of something high in calcium offers no guarantee that your body will actually absorb the calcium that you require. Vitamin D and Magnesium are just as important (if not more so than calcium) in healthy bone development - and consuming too much calcium will in fact hinder your body's ability to absorb it.

Consider this FACT: North America has one of the highest rates of dairy consumption in the world. We also have one of the highest rates of osteoperosis. Hmmmmm. Dairy producers have done a darn fine job of convincing us that we NEED to consume dairy in order to have healthy bones. This simply is not the case.

For more information, read Chris' recent blogpost re: Calcium. The short version is: Our bodies need the right ratios of calcium AND magnesium AND vitamin D for optimum bone health. Consuming large amounts of calcium hinders our ability to absorb magnesium because they compete on the same absorption pathways. And, in Saskatchewan winters, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to synthesize enough vitamin D without a supplement. So, rather than focussing all of our energies on calcium, we should be ensuring adequate intake of calcium in addition to magnesium and vitamin D. Without these three vitamins/minerals in the right ratio, our bones won't absorb enough calcium even if we eat it by the pound.

Calcium rich veggies:

bok choy
brocolli
swiss chard
collards
kale
spinach
sweet potatoes
wasab

Some Empirical Data

2010-01-10T20:00:00.002-06:00

Nurses Health Study: 1984 - 1999

1984: Walter Willet (Harvard epidemiologist) embarked on 8 year study tracking diet, lifestyle and disease in 89,000 nurses from across the U.S.

1987: First report is published in The New England Journal of Medicine:
Over 600 breast cancer cases.
Noted: The less fat the women confessed to eating, the more likely they were to get breast cancer.

1992: 1500 of the observed nurses developed breast cancer
Noted: Those who ate less fat had more breast cancer.

1999: 3000 nurses had contracted breast cancer
Research still suggested that eating fatty foods might protect against cancer.

Conclusion: For every 5% of saturated fat calories that replaced carbohydrates in the diet, the risk of breast cancer DECREASED by 9%.

*Taken from Good Calories, Bad Calories P.72.

Last day of my food journal:Breakfast: 1 sausage, 3 eggs, 1/2c. peppers, olive oil, banana, fish oil
Lunch: 1 sausage, 1 chicken drumstick, 1 chicken thigh, big salad with tomatoe + olive oil/white wine vinegar
Snack: red wine + avacado, cocoa, honey
Supper: 1 sausage, 1 chicken drumstick, 1 chicken thigh, 1 cup squash, salad with tomatoe + EVOO/lemon juice
Snack: stir fry with rib steak, swiss chard, celery, zuccini & peppers. Some dark chocolate

Mini-Rolos and Caramilk Bars - What throws you off Track?

2010-01-09T21:32:00.002-06:00

To start with, my food journal - has it been 7 days yet, I really don't like keeping track of my food!
Which, in case you haven't figured out, ends with mini rolos and mini caramilk bars (Yumm! but Boo!)

Trying to Remember from Yesterday....
Breakfast: 1 coffee, 2 cream, 1 apple pear, 4 oz wild boar roast.
Lunch: ground beef with tomatoes and feta, roasted sweet potatoes and zuccini
Supper; 2 chicken drumsticks, 3 oz sausage, roasted sweet potatoes and zuccini
Snack: grapes

Saturday Food
Breakfast, tea with milk, 4 eggs, few slices of cheese, banana
Lunch: chicken fingers, a few fries, little gravy, honey mustard sauce
Supper: bison roast, salad, 2 olives, asparagus (tried to make up for crappy lunch)
Snack: oodles of mini rolos and mini caramilks on my drive home from Saskatoon. Didn't even feel guilty, as I listened to 3 of Robb Wolf's podcasts.

Critique - let's just not go there. Yes, I have bad days just like everyone else. Why today? Lack of sleep last night, plain and simple.

I just had an 'a ha' moment. If you have a bad day here and there, try to figure out what it was that threw you off track. For me, I can honestly say that every single time I get off track it is 100% related to sleep, PMS (for 2-3 days every month) or both. Knowing these things can help get you back on track and also help you to not feel guilty about times of weakness. I was weak tonight, I indulged in mini rolos and mini caramel bars. The un-eatens are already in the garbage (good thing it's only a 2 hour drive!). That's my compromise.

Starting fresh again tomorrow (and getting more sleep tonight).

Curious - What throws others off track? What are you food weaknesses and what causes you to 'fall off the wagon?'

You Can't Handle the Truth!

2010-01-07T21:04:00.001-06:00

Today's post is dedicated to one of my most favourite CrossFitters - Kat. You gave me inspiration!

Quote from "Good Calories, Gad Calories" by Gary Taubes

"The appropriate response to any remarkable proposition in science is extreme skepticism, and the carbohydrate hypothesis of chronic disease offers no exception." p.144 One of the many reasons why I LOVED this book.

Now, let's have a little fun. Think back to some of the things we used to believe as truth. How ridiculous are they now? Skepticism is as important as searching for new truths.

Smoking won't increase your chances of getting cancer
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy won't harm the fetus
Smoking during pregnancy doesn't harm the fetus
Kids don't need to sit in carseats (how many of us have memories of being stretched out in the back of your station wagon for long road trips)
It's not really that important to wear a seatbelt (well, in the front seat, but certainly not if you're sitting in the back seat...)

My prediction of which current beliefs will become myths within the next 50 years

Eating eggs and bacon causes high cholesterol (Thank you Time Magazine)
High cholesterol causes heart disease (Thank you Ancel Keyes - however, this belief is already starting to wither as evolving science is teaching us more about different types of cholesterol)
The best way to reduce high cholesterol by eating a diet low in saturated fats, and high in complex carbohydrates
The Canada Food Guide as we know it in 2010 is a GREAT diet to follow for clean, healthy living! (Don't get me started. When I finally do my post on the CFG, I may very well get fired from my day job with the Feds. Better save that one until summer.)

Today's Food
Breakfasts, 7am: coffee with cream, fish oil
9am: 2 coffee with cream
10:30: 3.5oz roast beef & banana

Lunch, 1:00
8oz wild boar sausage, 3 cups mixed veggies

Supper, 6pm
10oz ground beef & tomatoes with giant lettuce/tomatoe salad (EVOO & white wine vinegar dressing), fish oil

Critique: Obviously not the ideal breakfast (not enough protein, no fat with the actual meal)
Lunch: perfection. Dang that wild boar sausage is good. A bit salty, but good. There might be some sugar in it though, so maybe not quite perfection.
Supper: Good. Piled on the EVOO for some goooood fat.

Today, I am Reminded

2010-01-06T21:32:00.002-06:00

Today, I am reminded why I choose to eat clean. After 4 days of lousy detox, I feel on top of the world again. My concentration is back, my mood has improved, my pants fit better, my skin is more clear, and my workouts feel great.

On 'normal' food, it's like I'm PMSing all the time! On a clean diet, I'm way more balanced... maybe this is why Chris gives me a hard time when he knows I'm eating like crap. Primal eating is good for me.

Another reason Chris and I dove right into this new lifestyle is because of the increasing number of stories I'm hearing about, like the following (taken from Dr. Eades, "Protein Power"):

Background info:
Normal Serum Cholesterol: <200mg/dl
Normal Triglycerides: 100-240mg/dl
Normal blood sugar: <115mg/dl

Jayne goes to Doctor #1:
Serum Chol = 750
Triglycerides = 3000!
Blood Sugar = ??? Doc didn't check it
Prescription: standard medical protocol - "National Cholesterol Awareness Program" and 2 potent cholesterol lowering medications.

Jayne goes for check up 6 months later. Results:
Serum Chol = 475
Triglycerides = 2000
Blood Sugar = ?? Doc didn't check it
Suggested prescription: increase doage of drugs, or add a 3rd medication.
Jayne's decision: GET A 2nd Opinion

2nd Opinion Doctor
Draws Similar cholesterol/trigl numbers, in addition to:
Blood Sugar = 155mg/dl (normal is 115mg/dl)
Presciption:
1. STOP taking both cholesterol lowering meds
2. Change diet drastically (allow red meat, eggs, cheese, and many other foods people view as causing cholesterol problems)

6 Weeks Later
Serum Chol = 186
Trigl = 86
Blood Sugar = 90
"She felt grand" WOW!!!!

Hmmmmm. Yep, that's a reason for eating clean too.

Interesting Tidbit (also taken from "Protein Power"): Although fat is the raw material that your body uses to make cholesterol, your cholesterol will only increase if you continue to eat a lot of carbohydrate at the same time you eat fat. Insulin is what really runs the show here. Without insulin (which you will produce in higher quantities when you eat carbs), your cells can not convert the fat into cholesterol (it's like trying to make your car go faster by putting a larger gas tank in it).

Breakfast, 10am
2 cups coffee with cream, 1 pork chop, 1 grapefruit (light on P, heavy on C, and good for F's)

Lunch, Noon
Spaghetti squash with meatsauce (whoops, forgot the fat!) - light lunch, but it was shortly after breakfast, and I was planning on a mid-afternoon snack to tide me over until after my workout at 6pm.

Lunch, again: 3:30
steeped tea with 2 cream, meatsauce, 1 pear with almond butter

Supper: 8:30pm
2.8oz chicken, 6 oz wild boar sausage, 2 cups veggies with EVOO & white wine vinegar. Chose the wild boar to make up for leanness of chicken, and being light on fat for lunch).

Today's Food

2010-01-05T20:17:00.004-06:00

Breakfast: 10am
2 cups coffe with cream, 5.5oz roast beef, 1.5 cups pineapple, fish oil

Lunch: 12:30pm
6 oz pork chops, 1 apple, 1 tbsp almond butter, 2.5 cups broccoli, steeped tea with 2 cream

Supper: 6:30pm
Spaghetti squash with meatsauce, 2 glasses red wine, fish oil

Supper Again: 9:30pm
3 oz wild boar roast and 2 cups broccoli/cauliflower. Served up 6 oz of meat to start, but apparently have a hard time eating that much so late in the evening.

*ETA: Should not have eaten so late, had trouble sleeping.
My critique: all in all, a pretty good day. An earlier 1st and 2nd supper would have been good. Ate pretty fatty meat today, wasn't hungry.

Motivation, Books, and My Food

2010-01-04T21:47:00.000-06:00

I am now on day 3 of detox, feeling really crappy, totally un-motivated, completely unfocussed at work, I'm more sore than I've been in months (pain sore, not 'that was a good workout' sore), and I'm really not very cheerful either. By 'detox', I mean I'm on my 3rd day of eating 100% clean - and I feel it. It's getting worse before it's getting better this time around.

Last time I challenged myself to go totally clean, I didn't have this kind of physical reaction - but my last challenge didn't immediately follow Christmas either.

On the up side, for the past 2 nights, I slept for 10+, then 8+ hours!

On the other up side, I started reading a REALLY GOOD BOOK called "Protein Power", by Dr. Michael Eades. I'm only a few chapters into it, but am re-learning a lot, and it's helping to keep me motivated.

After 2 days, I'm done with numbers. I could handle it when I was at home all day, but it's just too much of a pain in the arse when I'm taking food to work. However, I am supposed to be keeping a food journal for an entire week in January for the CrossFit Games training, so starting today I'm going to do this... for a whole week! I've started this simple little task several times in the past, and usually get bored around day 4. But, Robin - since you've committed to figuring your numbers and weighing for a few days, I'll commit to a food journal for 1 week - critiquing it depending on where I think I could have eaten better.

Today's Food
Breakfast:
2 cups coffee with cream, roast beef, pineapple, fish oil

Lunch:
large chicken breast, cauliflower with almonds & butter, mixed steamed veggies

Supper:
T-bone steak, baked parsnips & brocolli (lots of oil and spices)

Snack:
dark chocolate & havarti cheese, fish oil

Probably was about 20-30g shy in protein and 30-40g shy in fat. Did well re: food combinations (protein/carbs/fat at every meal) - although my evening snack had too many carbs not enough protein. However, this was my 2nd consecutive rest day, so wasn't as hungry.

Figuring Your Numbers, For Dummies

2010-01-03T14:53:00.002-06:00

Despite Chris' best efforts, I have resisted, fought, kicked, screamed, made up all the excuses in the world why I didn't need to figure out my daily calorie & macronutrient requirements. I'm happy with my weight/body composition, so I must be eyeballing things fairly well - I know in my head how much protein/carbs/fat I eat, so why would I stress myself out about numbers when I'm doing alright as it is.

Yesterday, I broke down, let Chris figure out my numbers, weighed and measured for a day - and you know what? It was worth it. I was SHOCKED at how much fat I eat without trying (which is a good thing), and also a little surprised how difficult it still is for me to get enough protein - particularly if I eat only 3 meals, instead of 4.
So today's post is about how to figure out your numbers - for the non-numbers crowd. For those of you who are more advanced than I, Chris has a really good post on his blog about how to do this. I'm going to tell you the exact same thing he did - but dumb it down to my level...

This is not complicated. If you tell me it's complicated, I'm going to come over and smack you upside the head with my scale! It takes a few minutes to figure out, and takes a bit of extra time to actually weigh your portions, but it is not complicated. Now, get a pen.

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate = how many calories you need just to lay around all day
To figure out your BMR, you need to know your:

weight (140#)
height (5'7")
age (32)
sex (F)

You go here and plug in the numbers. Not too tough. *Grab that pen and write down your BMR.

My BMR is 1428.5

Then, you multiply your BMR X Harris Benedict Factor.

For me, this is 1428.5 X 1.55 = 2214 Calories/day (*write this down too)

Now come the more complicated part - how to break down the 2214 calories into the correct macros (i.e. protein, fat, carbs).

First, you need to understand basic macro math: (*grab that pen again...)
1g Protein = 4 calories
1g Carbs = 4 calories
1g Fat = 9 calories

Protein
Using Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint as my guide - and because my main goal right now is muscle gain - I know that I want to eat 1g of Protein per lb of bodyweight. The number of grams of protein you eat in a day should range between 0.7grams per lean body mass (i.e. what you would weigh at 0% body fat), and 1.0 grams per full bodyweight.

The Math (*You'll need that pen, and a calculator now)
1g per lb of bodyweight = 140g.
140g X 4 calories/g = 560 calories from protein every day

Carbs
Again, using Mark Sisson's carbohydrate curve - and because my goal is weight maintenance - I know that I want to eat about 100g of carbs/day.

The Math (*If you haven't reached for the paper yet, transfer all the numbers you've now written on your hand, onto a piece of paper... oi yoi yoi)
100g X 4 calories/g = 400 calories from carbs every day

Fat
Figuring your fat intake is the easy part. What do you have left after eating the proper amounts of protein and carbs?

The Math
Total Calories: 2214 - 560 calories from Protein - 400 calories from Carbs = 1254 calories from Fat
1254 Calories from fat / 9 calories per gram = 139 calories from Fat per day

Challenges:
1. Setting your macro levels at the best place possible in order to reach your goals
If your goal is fat loss, your numbers will look different than if your goal is weight maintenance or muscle gain. Total caloric intake would be reduced (mostly as a direct result of decreasing carbohydrate intake). If you have questions, ask Chris or I, or someone else you trust.

2. Figuring out how close/far you are from eating at these ideal levels
If you're eating most of your food from a package and can read the label, this is actually easier. However - the goal should be to eat real, whole food, which very rarely comes out of a package. So, if you eat a roast - how do you know how much protein, fat and carbs are in that roast?

Two options:
a) Buy a simple scale - measure your portions and plug the info into an online macro calculator
b) Buy a fancy scale - we have a scale that automatically tells you the protein/carbs/fat in your food (has different code for hundreds of food). I would recommend this approach. We bought ours at Walmart, can't remember the cost (but wasn't unreasonable).

Morale of the story: You can not do this without a scale and without committing to weighing and measuring for at least a day or two. It's not for everyone, but if you have a goal and are having difficulty achieving it, this will help get you where you need to be.

And, I don't want to hear any "I don't have time" excuses! You either make time or you don't. That's a personal choice, and it's your choice. Either you want to do this or you don't. If you don't want to do it, then don't. If you do, then make the time, make the commitment, and buy a scale (and call me if you run into any problems!).

My Numbers.... and I HATE numbers

2010-01-02T21:15:00.000-06:00

That's why I work in HR, and not in accounting or Finance. Ugh!

However, my husband is all about the numbers, so I finally broke down, figured out my BMR (well, actually it was Chris who did the figuring), and actually kept track of my macronutrient numbers for a day. All food is made up of macronutrients, micronutrients, and water. Macronutrients - being protein, fat, and carbohydrates - are the only food components that provide energy (measured in calories).

I should be eating about 2214 calories per day, which should be broken down as follows:

Protein: 140g or 560 calories
Carbs: 100g or 400 calories
Fat: 130g or 1254 calories

So, how did I do? Pretty darn good if I do say so myself. It was actually kind of fun playing around with our electronic scale and measuring our food all day. I must say - you could not do this exercise effectively without a scale. An electronic scale that automatically calculates the fat, carbs, & protein in specific foods makes it even easier (yah for me getting Chris such a thoughtful gift for his last birthday!).

Today was a good eating day for me. I feel like I'm going through a bit of detox after Christmas eating, but after only 2 days of eating clean, I'm feeling a world of difference. My food today:

Meal 1:
2 cups coffee with cream
4 eggs with peppers
1 banana
1 tsp fish oil

Macros:
Protein: 28g
Cabs: 35g
Fat: 30g

Meal 2:
1 pork/beef sausage
Steak
Salad & balsamic vinigarette dressing
1tsp fish oil

Macros:
Protein: 47g
Carbs: 14g
Fat: 41g

Meal 3:
Avacado, honey, cocoa (tastes like chocolate pudding. Thx HCAnge and Leya!)
5.3 oz Steak
Wine
Banana
1tsp fish oil

Macros:
Protein: 42g
Carbs: 34g
Fat: 21g

Snack:
Almonds & bison jerky

Macros:
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 11g
Fat: 23g

Totals for today:
Protein: 137g
Carbs: 94g
Fat: 115g
Total Calories: 1959

I'm currently munching on some jerky, sausage and cheese (Chris' left over snack, and I was a little hungry). Looks like the 2200+ calories/day for me is bang on.

btw, have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE my new OPT CrossFit WOD journal!? For those of you who haven't seen it, it's AWESOME!! Hopefully Robin will be ordering some soon for the masses to enjoy :)

2010, Bring It On!

2010-01-01T09:12:00.001-06:00

I must admit, I'm not a huge New Year's Resolution type of gal. However, after talking to Leya last night, I'm committing to 2 things - at least for the next 3 months (or until my CrossFit 'gaming' season is over).

1. Eat 99% clean. For me, this includes a little dairy but NO sugary treats. Over the Christmas season, I found that of all the bad-ish foods out there, sugar knocks me on my arse worse than anything. Gluten - in small doses - I'm okay with. Dairy - in small doses - I'm okay with. But, since going paleo/primal, I notice immediate and lasting effects from sugar (i.e. instant headache, nausea, and sugar hangovers).

2. Try to get 8+ hours of sleep at night. This includes reading every night (helps me sleep, and keeps me motivated to eat well - since most of my fun reading books are nutrition based!)

I'm not sure what R&A have in store for the CF Gamers in the New Year, but my plan is to stick with their programming for the most part, maintaining the additional strength work I've been doing, working in some hard core sprinting, and getting back into some heavy metcons in February.

Proudest CrossFit moments of 2009:

BW Overhead Squat (140lbs)
BW Bench Press (thx for the reminder Robin!)
My first muscle-up on my 32nd birthday!!!
2X BW Deadlift (280lbs)
1st Place for women in the SK CrossFit Challenge

My 3 big CF goals:

do "Linda" as rx'd
qualify for the Calgary Regional CrossFit Games Qualifiers,
be more vocal and encouraging to CrossFitters that I don't know very well (I tend to be shy and only 'cheer' on people that I know fairly well).

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T15:40:00.000-06:00

Sit back

Relax

Enjoy time with family & friends

Indulge

Love

Remember

**For a great 12 Days of Christmas WOD, visit Chris' OCD - Get Fit or Die Trying

On the 8th Day of Paleo My True Love Said To Me

2009-12-20T17:31:00.000-06:00

"Darn You, Holidays!"

"Time to Go Strict"

"I'll be Your Sponsor"

"PA - LE - OH- FY!"

"Food Journal"

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 8: When you go off Track, Find a way back on.

Even for hard core paleoites, the holidays can be a tough time to stay on track. Tips for staying on track:

1. Always have a good paleo breakfast with good protein, fat, and healthy carbs. Start the day right, it will help.
2. If you know you're going to a non-paleo friendly party, fill up on good food before you go.
3. Enjoy in moderation. It's the holidays, so indulge - just do is smart, and in moderation.
4. When you get off track, start the next day fresh - with a good breakfast. Go from there - start your food journal now if you need to.

Today's food Journal:
Breakfast: 1 banana, 2 cups coffee/cream (not an example of a good paleo breakfast!)
Lunch: 5 cabbage rolls, muffin
Supper: 3 cabbage rolls, carrot sticks

Distraction

2009-12-17T19:28:00.002-06:00

Between the new squat rack and a shipment of 4 new books today, my 12 days of Christmas may have to end at Day 7!! I need a few days off to start reading again :)

Day whatever food journal:
7am: green tea & cream, fish oil, vit D supplement
9am: coffee & cream, 1/4 cup mixed nuts and seeds
11am: 3 breakfast sausages, 1 apple
Noon: KICKASS WORKOUT where I did 5 Bodyweight Benchpress @140lbs (broken up 2,2,1)!!!!
2pm: stir fry and veggie leftovers
5pm: decaf latte
8pm: 6oz bison prime rib, 1.5 cups apple/honey coleslaw, fish oil, 1 mango

My Boring Food Journal

2009-12-16T18:29:00.002-06:00

I don't have a post for today, but want to keep up with my food journal

7am: green tea & cream, fish oil, vit D supplement
9am: coffee & cream
10am: 2 pork chops and 2 kiwi
1:30pm: 5 paleo cabbage rolls
2:30pm: an entire box of rosebud chocolates (whoops)
6pm: 2 breakfast sausages, few pieces of kiwi (still pretty full from the chocolates...)
7pm: 6-8oz chicken, fish oil
9pm: 2 crantini's and sweet potatoe fries

Not a stellar day for eating. I was really hungry in the morning, but didn't eat until 10am. I think that threw me off. Most days I can get away with eating a late breakfast, but shouldn't have done it today. I was also tired from having a lousy sleep last night - which I've noticed lately has a HUGE impact on cravings (hence the entire box of rosebuds!)

Went to CFR at noon for a workout - heavy backsquats, push jerks and PLU's. Was tired from not enough sleep, so backed off from what I should have done for back squats. Every muscle in my body hurt/felt fatigued as I did back squats - need few days away from backsquats so will likely do some bench & deadlifts over the next few days. I'd love to get 5XBW BP!! Push jerks felt pretty good. PLU's felt pretty good too.

Exciting News!! - Chris is putting together our new squat rack right now!! Soooo, maybe I'll jump back onto that backsquat bandwagon sooner than anticipated...

On the 7th Day of Paleo, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-15T20:15:00.002-06:00

"Time to Go Strict"

"I'll be Your Sponsor"

"PA - LE - OH- FY!"

"Food Journal"

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 7: Go Strict - no cheats - for at least 1 month

Why? Because:

1. The first week you'll feel like crap

withdrawl
moodiness
cravings
feeling like "this sucks!"

* Remember: when eating Paleo/Primal, you're eating the way your body is designed to eat - as 2 million years of evolution has shown us. The more bad habits you've developed over the years, the longer it will take to re-program your body.

2. The second week you may start to feel better, but

your workouts will likely suck
if you go back now, you will not have felt the full benefits of paleo
your body is still adjusting

3. The third week may be good

you'll start to feel great
you'll wonder how you ever ate without paleo
your energy will be constant throughout the day
your concentration and mental acuteness will be amplified

4. The fourth week... it depends

day 23ish may be really hard (knowing it's almost over)
your workouts should improve substantially
you wil likely feel a significant difference in your body, mind, and sleep habits

You may have to start your 1 month strict Paleo/Primal a few times before being able to stick with it. And it may take more than 1 month to get over some cravings. If this is the case, stay strict until your cravings are behind you. By cravings, I don't mean the passing desire to have a treat, I mean the physical need to eat popcorn, or ice cream, or whatever your vice may be.

Everyone is different, and everyone's body will take a different amount of time to detox. If you're strict for 1 month, you will likely start feeling enough positive effects from eating this way that you will want to stick with it for life. I try to stay about 90% strict - but have been pretty lax lately. Hence, the food journal. The day before starting my food journal I had fundge and a nanaimo bar for breakfast, Opa's for lunch, and McDonald's for supper. The food journal definitely helps.

Day 4 food Journal
Pre-breakfast7am: 1 cup coffee with cream, fish oil, vit D supplement
Breakfast - 10:30am: 2 cups coffee with cream, 3 cups stir fry leftovers
Lunch - 2pm: 4 homemade paleo cabbage rolls (thanks Chris!! they were awesome :), 1 apple
Post Work Snack 5pm - B52 specialty coffee, 1 glass red wine, few bites of creme broule and beer jello, and some carrot sticks.
Supper 6:30pm - 1lb mussels in butter/garlic/wine sauce, 2 glasses white wine
Snack 8:30pm - 2 chicken drumsticks (with skin) + 1/4 chicken breast, fish oil

On the 6th Day of Paloe, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-14T20:50:00.001-06:00

"I'll be Your Sponsor"

"PA - LE - OH- FY!"

"Food Journal"

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 6: Identify a Sponsor

Have anyone ever said to you

"Come on, how can you resist a home made cookie!"

"1 piece of cake isn't going to kill you"

"It's just not Christmas without a little chocolate"

"Oh, I guess you can't eat this anymore"

Why is it that many people around you will almost taunt you with goodies they know you don't want. Well, at least, you don't want to want them. I don't know the answer to this question, but I know what can help if these situations arise more often than you'd like.

Find a sponsor. A sponsor is someone who:
* Gets it.
* You respect.
* Will give you the type of support you need (encouragement vs. tough love vs. whatever else motivates you).
* You will listen to.
* You are comfortable calling/texting/emailing to bitch about all the crazy people in your life who are eating like crap and want you to join them.
* Won't look at you sideways if you ask them to be your Paleo sponsor...

Chris is my sponsor. He'll give me crap if I eat like crap - and sometimes even takes it as a personal insult if I have Opa's, or McDonald's, or something equally offensive. I'm pretty sure Chris' gut is his sponsor. Last time he gorged on pizza, it yelled at him for 3 days straight!

I must admit, there are very few days when I actually need a sponsor anymore, as I have great support people around me pretty much all of the time - Chris at home, fellow CrossFitters, my co-workers who tease - but who are also very respectful of my choices, and my parents.

I can only imagine how difficult a major diet change would be for someone who doesn't have 100% support at home. If you don't have this, a sponsor is even more important. I'm not suggesting you have to go out and say to someone: "Will you be my paleo sponsor?" But if it's going to help you - why not?

Day 3 Food Journal
Breakfast: 7am - 3 eggs. 1 cup coffee with 18% cream, fish oil, vit D supplement
Snack 9am - 2 cups coffee with 18% cream, 5 oz pork chops
Lunch: 12pm - Hamburger veggie leftovers, 1 cup apple/cabbage coleslaw
Snack: 3:30pm - 1 cup apple/cabbage coleslaw (should have had some protein with this, but was at work and was all out)
Snack: 5:45pm - 1.5 cup whole milk (nearly friggen killed me with stomach cramps. Haven't had a cups of milk since August)
Supper: 6:45pm - 6oz round steak stir fry with coconut oil, bok choy, onions, kale, & broccoli + salad (lettuce and cukes) + broccoli fries & some red wine, fish oil. I was very very full

On the 5th Day of Paleo, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-13T22:05:00.001-06:00

"PA - LE - OH- FY!"

"Food Journal"

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 5: Paleofy your kitchen

Going back to step 4 for a minute - figure out what you need to do that will help you stay on track. Keeping Doritos and chocolate in your cupboards... not helpful. Ridding yourself of all non-paleo food items... helpful.

I'm not suggesting throwing out a bunch of food - necessarily. Chris and I Paleofied our kitchen gradually. Here's how we did it.

1. We/the kids continued to eat the foods in the cupboards (rice, crackers, sweets, bread) until they were gone. Once they were gone, we did not replace them

2. I put together a bin of non-paleo food and donated it to the food bank - soups, rice, pasta, etc.

3. Worked hard to ensure the kids wil eat what we eat - so there are very few non-paleo foods in the house (except for some Campbell's soups). It you have cheat foods 'for the kids', you're a lot more likely to indulge yourself.

Day 2 Food Journal:
Breakfast 10:15am - 4 gluten free breakfast sausages, 2-3 eggs, 1 pear, 2 cups coffee with 18% cream
Lunch 12:30pm - hamburger & veggie leftovers, fish oil, bit of bison jerky
Snack 4pm - green tea & bison jerky
Supper 6:30pm - fish oil, 3 eggs, 3.5 oz steak, 1/4 avacado, 1 breakfast sausage, 2 carrots
Snack: 9pm - dark chocolate, almond butter, bison jerky,

On the 4th Day of Paleo, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-12T20:18:00.007-06:00

"Food Journal"

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 4: Make a Commitment - Record the Foods you are Eating

It's not enough to know what you should be eating. You have to make a commitment and find a way to stick with it. For a lot of people, creating a food journal helps. Write down what you eat, how much, and at what times of the day. Have someone you trust critique it.

I've been wondering lately how I've fallen so far off the paleo wagon. I've been eating about 60% paleo, but quite frankly, that's not good enough. I feel a difference and I don't like it - but I've been really struggling with getting back on the Paleo wagon. I mean, I know darn well what I should be eating. But have I been eating it? No. Part of my 'getting back on track' plan is to start keeping a food journal. The reasons?

Keeps me accountable (I'll be posting it here)
Prevents me from 'cheating'
I want to do it

The food journal is something that I know works for me. The key to sticking with any particular 'diet' program (whether it's to loose weight, improve atheletic performance, or for optimal health) is to figure out what works for you. What motivates you and how can you help yourself stick with it.

What motivates me:
1. Chris
2. Feeling better (fewer highs/lows, consistent energy, no nausia, better sleep)
3. Better workouts
4. Consistent weight

How do I stick with things?
1. Chris
2. Planning
3. Cheats in moderation - don't get down on myself and start fresh tomorrow
3. Food journals (when I've fallen off the wagon - which ironically enough, is direct result of cheats in moderation gone bad)

First and foremost, you have to want to do this. Without that, there will be no commitment and no success. Once you know you want it, you have to figure out what motivates your desire, and how you can help yourself stick with things. Food journals aren't for everyone. If a food journal isn't your cup of tea, figure out what is. Maybe it's a declaration to everyone around you that "I'M GOING CAVEMAN!". Maybe it's a blog, maybe you have enough intrinsic motivation that you don't need anything else. Whatever it is, use it. If it stops working, find something that works.

Normally, my intrinsic motivation is enough. Right now, that is failing me, so I'm moving on to plan B - a food journal - to help me get back on track.

Day 1 Food Jounal:
Breakfast 8:15am - 2 eggs, decaf coffee with cream, 1 orange, fish oil, Vit D supplement
Snack 10am - 16oz decaf coffe with cream
Lunch 12pm - 4 oz steak with kale and onions, salad with orange, coconut, and walnut oil
Snack 2pm - banana, 4 oz chicken, banana, about 15 almonds
2nd Snack 5pm - 2 glasses of red wine, 1/4 cup cashews
Supper 8:30pm - 4 oz ground beef with coconut oil, kale, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, celery and zucchini, fish oil, 1 persimmon

Probably didn't have quite enough protein or fats today. Late supper, but the nuts and wine held me - I was hungry, but not starving.

On The Third Day of Paleo, My True Love said to Me

2009-12-10T20:37:00.000-06:00

"WTF?" (Where's The Fat?)

"More Protein" and

"We Eat Too Much Crap Baby"

Step 3: Don't Be Scared of Fat

Okay, you can be scared of trans-fat, and man-made fats like margerine and vegetable oils - but don't be scared of fat in general.

I used to be terrified of eating fat. "Fat on the lips = fat on the hips" was my way of thinking. Yes, there are good fats and bad fats. No, saturated fat is not bad (unless you combine it with a lot of high carbohydrate foods - then you're in trouble).

Question for you - have you ever felt full from eating a lot, but were still 'hungry' for something? Yeah, me too - back in my "I shall not eat fat" days. Eating fat will create something called satiety. Satiety means that you feel full AND lack the desire to consume more. This is key for weight loss/maintenance - as eating a diet that keeps us satisfied (i.e. satiety), will be a lot easier to stick with than eating a diet where we are consistently hungry shortly after eating.

Foods containing good fats:
1. Wild caught fish
2. Avacados
3. Olive oils (provided you don't heat them to a high temperature, which will cause oxidation). Best used as salad dressings and not for cooking
4. Coconut oil (great for cooking b/c will remain stable - i.e. will not oxidize - at higher cooking temperatures)
5. Nuts
6. Fish oil (this is a supplement high in omega 3's).
7. Animal meat

p.s. please no technical/sciency questions today. All of my good 'fat' resources are loaned out at the moment, and I don't know everything off the top of my head :) I know that everything I've written is true - just can't explain the why's of everything without my cheat sheets!

On the 2nd Day of Paleo, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-09T19:28:00.000-06:00

"More Protein!"

and

"We eat too much crap, baby!"

Step 2: Realize how much/little protein you eat

I would venture a guess and say that the vaaaaast majority of Canadians do not eat enough protein in a day. Take my pre-paleo self for example:

Breakfast: Cereal with milk (5-8g protein)
Snack: apple/banana, granola bar type snack
Lunch: Sandwich/chicken pita or something similar (20-25g protein)
Snack: granola bar type snack/100 calorie snacker
Supper: pasta with chicken (15-20g protein)
Snack: fruit/sweets/popcorn

I considered this a relatively 'healthy' diet pre-paleo. Knowing what I know now about how our bodies react to carbohydrates, fat, and protein, I would not recommend this as a 'healthy' diet to anyone as it is considerably lacking in fat and protein (although falls smack dab in the middle of what Canada's Food Guide Recommends... which happen to be the food guidelines that have guided Canadians to eat a diet causing them to get fatter and more unhealthy than ever before in human history. Hmmm.)

Sometimes I feel like a broken record - but need to explain why protein is important

1. Eating protein releases glucogon. Glucogon is at the heart of everything that is good:
* Glucagon normalizes blood glucose levels
* Glucagon normalizes insulin sensitivity
* If we don't have consistent, high glucagon levels at least during periodic points during the day, we will loose our insulin sensitivity.

2. Okay - so this next point is more to emphasize the importance of eating animal meat as a source of protein. Animal foods contain all of the essential amino acids, and they do so in the ratios that maximize their utility to humans. They also contain 12 of the 13 essential vitamins in large quantities. SCORE!!

3. Bonus: Protein + caffeine releases dopamine = the feeling of love :)

A common fear of too much protein is that protein-rich diets (particularly in the 1920's) were thought to induce chronic kidney damage - a belief based largely on research by Louis Newburgh. Now, I don't claim to know anything about the research/evidence to support or negate this claim. What I will provide is an exerpt from Good Calories, Bad Calories with some information for you to consider. The following exerpt relates to the belief that protein-rich diets induce chronic kidney damage:

"None of these claims were based on compelling evidence. Newburgh, for instance, had based his conclusions largely on experiments in which he fed excessive quantities of soybean, egg whites, and beef protein to rabbits, which, as critics would later observe, happen to be herbivores. Their natural diet is buds and bark, not their fellow animals, and so there was little scientific value in force-feeding them meat or animal protein."

Kat - I'll be looking for a comment from you on this one, as I've heard a compelling arguement from you stating a very intuitive reason why one should be cautious of an extremely high protein diet.

I personally advocate the consumption of 0.7 to 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass, which is in line with Robb Wolf and Mark Sisson's recommendations. Mostly though, I've tried it and it works for me. There's no one-size fits all when it comes to nutrition. My best advice is to try it, and find what works for you. I try to eat about 100g of protein/day (double my pre-paleo consumption).

p.s. note name change from "12 days of Christmas" to "12 Days of Paleo". Copyright infringements and all... that, and I need to make sure Aaron is happy :)

On The First Day Of Christmas, My True Love Said to Me

2009-12-06T08:00:00.009-06:00

"We eat too much crap, baby!"

Step 1: Realzing how much refined food you eat

Look in your cupboards. Are they full? Then you may be eating more refined food than you realize. Look at the label for a pre-packaged soup, spice mix, rice sidkick, pasta sauce etc. How many of the ingrediants are real foods? By real food, I mean a food that is in its natual whole food state (as we would find it in nature). And how many of the ingrediants are either processed, or non-recognizable as foods?

Example #1: Dempster's Whole Wheat Bread:

Real Food Ingrediants: Water, Salt

Refined/Non Food Ingrediants: Whole wheat flour, Glucose-fructose/sugar, Vegetable oil (soy or canola), Wheat gluten, Salt, Calcium propionate, Monoglycerides, Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate.

Not sure about: Yeast.... may be a real food ingrediant, may not be. Not really sure

Of the refined foods, think about where these ingrediants actually came from:
Whole wheat flour = sheaf of wheat
Glucose-fructose/sugar = sugar cane
Vegatable oil = soy bean, canola. Man made fat... not good.
Wheat gluten = sheaf of wheat
The rest.... speak for themselves

Through the process of refining a food, essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients are stripped away - often to the point that manufactuers have to re-add (i.e. fortify) nutrients back into the food. Looking at whole grain breads, take another minute to think about the 'real food' origins of bread. Wheat sheafs.

Would you go out into the field and eat a sheaf of wheat? I grew up on a farm, and when I was a kid, I used to grab a handfull of wheat kernels and chew them up. They turned into gum in my mouth - never could swallow them. And if I had swallowed a bunch, they likely would have made me sick, as unprocessed wheat is toxic to the human digestive system - gluten in particular.

Example #2: Knorr Long Grain and Wild Rice with Herb Sidekicks

Real Food Ingrediants: Wild rice, salt, dried parsley, herb & spice

Refined/Non Food Ingrediants: White rice, modified milk ingredients, hydrolyzed soy/corn protein, monosodium glutamate, canola oil, dried onion and garlic powder, calcium silicate, colour, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, yeast extract, sulphites.

All I can say is YIKES!

"A Ha!" Moment: If you're eating real, whole foods, your fridge will be full, and your cupboards will be bare. Since Paleofying our kitchen, we've regained space on 3 big roll-out shelved in our pantry.

12 Step Program + the 12 Days of Christmas

2009-12-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

My beautiful and brilliant work colleague, Angelina - gave me the idea for a "12 Step Program" for Paleo. Quite fitting for me these days, as I've fallen off the Paleo-wagon somewhat. Then, as I was driving in my car, listening to Christmas music tonight, I was thinking "The 12 Days of Paleo Christmas". 'Surely there's a way I can combine the 12 Days of Christmas with a 12 Step Program and come up with a kick-a$$ blog post,' said my nerdy blogger self.

That, combined with THNTS creater and director - Tyler! - actually noticing today that I hadn't updated my blog in a while, has re-sparked the blogger in me.

Things to look forward to from GIGO over the next 12 days.... you guessed it (I have such a smart audience of 12!). For now, signing off to watch a movie with my hotty hotty husband of 6 years (as of tomorrow). Happy early anniversary hon! Love ya :)

Stress Free Sunday

2009-11-21T13:41:00.000-06:00

Two weeks of high stress, rollercoaster emotions, not eating great, and having some not so "mother of the year" moments with my kids, equals my need for a stress free day. Little glitch - Chris is working, so that means an entire day with a 2 & 4 year old.... stress free. Is it possible? I can't recall a single day in the past 4+ years where I didn't experience some tears, or whining, complaining (mostly from the kids...). Thinking about it in a moment of calmness - those things don't need to equal stress for me. They're all a normal part of being a toddler/pre-schooler. So tomorrow, it's all going to roll off my back, we're going to have fun, and when we're not having fun, we're still going to be together. Here's my plan:

Dance with the kids
Play games with the kids (but not checkers, that would be stressful)
Eat good food
Get enough sleep
Enjoy the kids' last day at gymnastics
Have a coffee
Lay around... maybe even have a nap
Read
Get some max deadlifts in

Now, with every plan, it's good to have a back-up plan. Grandma Sharon - consider yourself on call!

What NOT to Read

2009-11-17T08:45:00.000-06:00

The Cortisol Connection : Book Review

Last weekend, a delivery truck pulled up in our driveway. SaWeeet! Our book order had arrived! All excited to have a new book to read, I dove right into The Cortisol Connection.
Looked good, started out alright. I don't know much about cortisol's impact on the body, so was happy to be finding out some new and interesting stuff. Then, BAM! The author puts out there that "high cholesterol causes heart disease." Scrrreeeeeech! My interest comes to a halt. If he's that behind the times with the effects of cholesterol on heart disease, how accurate is his info on cortisol? I re-group, open the book again, and try to read with an open mind. After all, he may not know everything about the link between nutrition and heart disease, but he may still have some good things to say about cortisol.

A few pages later, it happens again. This time it's "cortisol will make you fat", "cortisol will make you fat", "cortisol will make you fat," over and over and over again, without any real explanation. He quotes all sorts of studies of overwieght people who also had high levels of cortisol. Whoopdeedoo! He also quotes all sorts of studies of overweight people who had low levels of cortisol. Hmmm, this is starting to sound eeerily like the fat/cholesterol/heart disease hypothesis. Okay, so I figure maybe I'm grumpy. Need to give this book a fair chance... so I keep reading.

Finally, I read something along the lines of: 'eating carbohydrates is a great way to mobilize fat tissues, allowing your body to use fat as energy.' Okay, I'm done. I no longer trust anything this dude has to say.

I'd like to type the exact quote for this last one, but unfortunately my cavewoman instincts took over and I RIPPED the page out of the book. Now can't find it...

So what did I get out of the book? After checking with a few other sources, I believe the following information in this book may actually be accurate:

Daily stress and lack of sleep will cause higher than normal cortisol release.
Regularized/normal release of cortisol for short timeframes is beneficial and necessary (i.e. similar concept as having small amounts of insulin over short timeframes); however, an ongoing increase of cortisol release will fatigue your adrenal glands which may result in a host of issues such as fatigue, lethargy, decreased immune function, illness, obesity, and eventual exhaustion.
Cortisol breaks down muscle tissues to use as fuel (potentially resulting in decreased muscle mass over time)

If you have a weight-loss goal, lack of sleep or too much daily stress will most likely hinder your success. I'm certainly no expert in cortisol release after reading 2/3 of a book by an author who may or may not know what he's talking about, but I do know this.

* Stress causes increased cortisol release, which stimulates higher than normal insulin release
* Chronic stress causes increased cortisol release, causing an increase in insulin release
* Increased insulin release over a prolonged period of time results in insulin resistence
* Insulin resistence is a precurser obesity, in addition to a whole host of chronic illnesses including Type II diabetes and heart disease.

I do not recommend this book to anyone!!

A better alternative if you want info on cortisol - and how sleep, stress and other lifestyle events can impact your health: Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

Back on the Wagon

2009-11-14T22:29:00.000-06:00

I can't even begin to explain how CrossFit has impacted my life. I know, this is supposed to be my 'nutrition blog'... but given how my life has gone this past week, I'm reminiscing a bit. So for today, you're stuck with a story. Two years ago I joined CFR for 3 reasons:

1. I wanted to get back into shape (a.k.a. look good in a bikini!).
2. I was allowed to take my 4 month old daughter with me to the workouts
3. The first WOD kicked my a$$, and I liked that!

About 6 months later, my husband joined CFR for 1 reason:
1. I kicked his arse at Fight Gone Bad.... and he used the same weight as I did!

I could have never predicted the extent that CrossFit would impact my life. I'm not talking getting stronger, faster, fitter, etc... Those are obvious advantages of many regular fitness program. What I'm talking about are the things you won't find in any other fitness facility anywhere. Let me try and explain (warning - this is where the story gets sad :( )

This has pretty much been the single most stressful week I've had in over a decade. I've been sad, happy, angry, stressed, annoyed, calm, etc, etc. As a direct result of this, I was able to catch a glimpse of my old-self (pre-nutrition nerd) this week - pounding down left-over halloween candy, mini rolo's by the package-full, and Taco Time Mexi Fries. Comfort food. Tried, tested and true. And you know what? It helped. It really, truly helped. Why? Because 5 days ago, I needed to minimize stress from my external world, and crap food was one way of doing this (at least in my mind).

However, after 3-4 days of this I started feeling a new kind of crappy. This morning I knew - I needed to stop eating garbage, and get my butt to CrossFit. Not really wanting to go, but knowing a little exercise would be good for me, I went to CFR this morning for a Painstorm WOD.

What I didn't expect when I got there was a big hug from Kat (which I'm pretty sure was an initial "thank goodness I'm not the only girl here!", but then quickly turned into a "how's your grandpa doing?"), and another big hug from Robin. Before and after the workout, many others offered their condolences, and just made a point to ask how I was doing. In the past, I've often been too shy/nervous/scared to ask how someone is doing when they have a loved one who is ill or who has passed away. However, being on the flip side of things this week, it sure does mean a lot to have people show they care.

This morning, I went to CrossFit for a workout, but left with so much more. Thank you.

** I PROMISE this will be the last of the sad posts. "What NOT to Read" is coming up next!

Derailed

2009-11-12T17:28:00.000-06:00

I have been Derailed.

Long story short, I picked a really shitty week to try this whole sleep thing. My new plan for the week - go with the flow, try to eat quality food, sleep when I can - rest when I can't, sing out loud, dance with my kids, laugh, listen, and experience life.

For those of you who don't know, my grandpa went into the hospital suddenly on Monday evening and wasn't expected to make it through the night. Apparently the doc didn't realize what a tough old farmer he was dealing with and vastly underestimated the old fart. Being strong in mind and stubborn as hell, Poppy is still hanging in there - but is working pretty hard just to breathe right now. He's had a great life and has a family that loves him very much. He will leaving behind a great legacy.

9 Hours of Sleep. Take 2.

2009-11-09T18:31:00.000-06:00

In 1910, the average American slept an average of 9 hours/night.

By 1975 this decreased to 7.5 hours/night.

Today we average about 7 hours of sleep/night.

Granted, these are U.S. stats - but as with everything else, I imagine we're not far off the U.S. numbers.

My first attempt at 9 hours of sleep wasn't really successful - maybe it's my cold turkey approach. I'm thinking it might be more effective to gradually work my way up to 9 hours of sleep - kind of like I weaned myself into Paleo. You know, go to bed 15 minutes earlier every night, until I'm getting about 9 hours of sleep. Then, try to stick with that for a week or so and see how it goes.  I went to bed early enough last night, but then just laid there, not sleeping until 10ish, when I would normally go to bed. Hmmm. Not really the point of this little experiment. Then, I had a toddler wake up call at 4am, and tossed and turned after that.  Got up at 6:30am feeling groggy. Not to mention the stress I was feeling as I lay in bed, thinking with every passing minute - "I'm not going to get to 9 hours!".

FRICK! I'm even competitive with my sleep now! Not sure who I'm competing against, but still!

9 hours of sleep - take 2.

Suck It Up Sunday!

2009-11-08T15:25:00.001-06:00

Suck It Up Sunday! - a new semi-regular feature where I will challenge myself to something that is outside of my comfort zone. Whether that be a workout, a nutrition challenge, a lifestyle change... anything is fair game. My first challenge:

SLEEP!

Chris and I have been pondering the whole sleep issue lately. Is it reasonable to expect that in today's day and age, with 2 kids, 2 full time working parents, meals, dishes, CrossFitting, Paleo-eating, and a modest (yet occasionally active) social life - that I can actually get 9 hours of sleep a night... in any consistent manner?

In the spirit of "Suck It Up Sunday", I'm going to to suck it up, and give it a try. By the end of the week there may be a mountain of dishes on my cupboards, no clean clothes, no new blogposts, and a potentially cranky mama as a result... but on the other hand, it may help me feel more rested throughout the day, giving me more energy, allowing me to be more efficient with my time - resulting in no pile of dishes, inspiring blogposts and a bunch of clean laundry.

9 hours of sleep every day for 1 week. Anyone else feeling overwhelmed for me? YIKES!

How to Reduce Inflammation

2009-11-05T20:37:00.002-06:00

Well, I promised a post about how to reduce inflammation... in lamen's terms, so here goes.

1. Take a good Fish Oil supplement. HUGE anti-inflammatory properties. Chris and I get ours at Popeye's downtown. It has passed the Dr. Sears "sewer of the sea" vs. "high quality fish oil test". Test: put 1 tsp of fish oil in a shot glass and freeze it for a few hours. If you can put a toothpick through it after it's frozen, you're good. If the toothpick won't penetrate, you have sewer of the sea and need to buy something better.

2. Eliminate vegetable oils. According to Mark Sisson: specifically stay away from canola oil, cottonseed oil, margarine (post on margarine vs. butter coming up!), partially hydroginated oils (particularly when used at high heats), safflower/sunflower oils, soybean oil, trans fat and vegetable shortening. Good oils: animal fats, butter, coconut oil, dark roasted sesame oil, high omega 3 oils, marine oils, olive oil, palm oil. This info is taken directly out of the Primal Blueprint, p. 133, 134.

3. Eliminate Grains: Phytates and lectins (particularly gluten) are extemely inflammatory, nevermind the whole host of potential auto-immune issues associated with grains. No, whole grains are not better than their more refined counterparts. The benefits you will gain from consuming the 'whole' grain (i.e. decreased insulin response, fibre), are far outweighed by the increased phytates and lectins found within the whole grain (that you won't find in the refined version). Fibre post also in the works. What the heck is wrong with getting ample fibre from fruits and vegetables anyways.

4. Eliminate Dairy: Particularly in Canada, our milk contains concentrated levels of gluten (because our cows eat grain, rather than corn for the most part). Gluten = inflammation = health issues. For a discussion on dairy and calcium (i.e. why we don't actually need as much dairy as many of us are led to believe), visit Chris's OCD site. (for any newbie's out there, OCD stands for Obsessive CrossFit Disorder).

5. Eliminate all refined carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread): Insulin is at the heart of inflammation issues. Eating refined carbs = high insulin response. So, stay away.

6. Eat grass fed/finished meat products rather than grain fed (which is what you will be purchasing in the grocery store). Check out Grass Hill Foods - a brand new inventory of Saskatchewan grass fed elk & beef. This website has just been created by Wayne and David, two local CrossFitters.

Silent Inflammation

2009-11-03T21:36:00.002-06:00

Part 2: Diet, Inflammation & Disease by Dr. Barry Sears

There are 2 types of inflammation
1. Classical inflammation: You will feel pain
2. Silent inflammation: No pain, but can linger in your system for years.

There is a blood test that will tell you how much silent inflammation you have in your body. This test measures the ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) : EPA. The ratio of AA : EPA should be around 1:1 or 2:1. As you experience a higher level of silent inflammation, the number on the left will increase.

Increases in AA : EPA ratios are associated with:

obesity
type 2 diabetes
heart disease
cancer
arthritis
asthma

In fact, silent inflammation accounts for nearly 90% of all reasons you would go see a doctor. Pharmaceutical companies have jumped on the band-wagon of inflammation research in hopes of creating drugs that will reduce chronic inflammation. However, there is something more effective than drugs in controlling inflammation. You guessed it.

Diet.

Everytime we eat, we trigger a hormonal response - which will either work to our benefit or our detriment, depending on what we eat.

1. Insulin - this is the storage hormone. It tells your body to store fuels and "don't let them out!" Insulin is triggered by eating carbohydrates.  It will trap fat in your fat cells, not allowing your body to use fat for energy.
2. Glucagon - this is your mobilization hormone. It tells your body to "release the energy!". It is stimulated by eating protein and will release the stored fat in your body to be used as fuel.
3. Eicosanoids - These hormones control inflammation - and the levels of AA in our bodies. They are stimulated by fat consumption.

When you eat a diet high in refined carbohydrates and omega 6 fatty acids (i.e. veg. oils), Eicosanoids get overstimulated and increase production of arachidonic acid (AA).  When our AA levels increase without a corresponding increase in EPA levels, silent inflammation also increases.

Our TRUMP CARD in combatting this silent inflammation is increased Omega 3 consumption (which will increase our EPA levels).   Omega 3's. They're out there, we know they're good for us, but we don't really know why. Well, here's why. They are anti-inflammatories. They reduce inflammation and improve our AA : EPA ratio (by increasing the number on the right).

Wanna hear something really stupid? In the U.S., consumption of Omega 3's has decreased by 90-95% in the last century. Whoops!

Cure for silent inflammation - in a nutshell:
1. Increase Omega 3's (this will increase our EPA)
2. Decrease Omega 6's and refined carbohydrates (this will decrease our AA)
3. Bring our ratio of AA:EPA closer to 2:1. It is not uncommon in North America to have a 20:1 or 15:1 ratio. YIKES.

I know the 1,2,3 above may seem ambiguous to some. What does it mean to increase our omega 3's and decrease our omega 6's? I think I'll postpone part 3 of the Dr. Sears lecture for a day and focus tomorrow on clarifying this point a little better.

Inflammation

2009-11-02T21:30:00.002-06:00

Have you ever heard somebody say something over and over and over again, not really getting what they were trying to say? Then one day, it suddenly clicks?

Inflammation.

I'm finally starting to get it.

Part 1: Diet, Inflammation & Disease, by Dr. Barry Sears.  The driving force behind Dr. Sears' original "Zone Diet" book was not to sell a diet to the masses. His intent was to communicate - to other medical professionals - ways to reduce the chronic, silent inflammation that so many people today are living with. People are living with it (I was living with it), without even knowing. Silent inflammation does not result in pain, but it's there. It can linger for years, possibly decades - and we're just starting to learn how this wreaks havok with our bodies.

Dr. Sears is no longer alone in his research about inflammation and chronic disease. Time Magazine featured an article a few years back called "The Secret Killer", which talks about the dramatic increase over the past several years - in research related to inflammation and chronic disease. When it comes to chronic disease, there is 1 common denomenator. Inflammation.  This is all starting to sound very familiar to me - it's exactly what people like Prof. Loren Cordain, Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, and now apparently scientists and medical professionals world are all concluding.

Dr. Sears states in his lecture that it is now known that inflammation is the underlying cause of virtually every chronic disease in today's generation. Now, that's a pretty strong statement. We're talking heart disease, type 2 diabetes, auto-immune diseases, alzheimers, arthritis, asthma, etc.   He also states that if you can control inflammation at the molecular level, you essentially cut the cord of chronic disease.  I have a daughter with asthma, 2 grandparents and an uncle with type 2 diabetes, and 1 grandparent with alzheimers. Let me cut that cord.

Now, before we all go get our scissors out... we need to understand what triggers inflammation.

1. Your Immune System. Not all inflammation is bad. Our body's immune system relies on inflammation to effectively combat viruses, bacteria and injuries. When we get hurt, our inflammatory responses will destroy the damaged tissue, and our anti-inflammatory responses will then rebuild this tissue.
2. Diet. The foods we consume are just as powerful as a microbial invasion (i.e. bacteria that causes disease). If we regularly eat inflammatory foods, our bodies will constantly be under inflammatory attack. This is when our risk of chronic disease starts to increase.

I wanted to stick with a synopsis of Part 1 in this lecture series, but there's a missing link that I have to include here (you'll find it in Part 2). I'm including it because....

**THIS IS IMPORTANT!!**

Specific dietary causes of inflammation:
1. Increase in refined carbohydrates (bread, pizza, pasta)
2. Increase in Omega 6 fatty acids (specifically, Linoleic Acid found in cooking oils such as vegetable, corn, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, and soybean)

Adding high levels of Omega 6's (Linoleic Acid) to high levels of insulin (which will result from eating refined carbs) is like adding kerosene to a fire.

Our bodies have pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory events embedded in our genes. When these 2 events are balanced, we maintain wellness and life is good. If they become unbalanced, we've got trouble. Good news is, we control the switch. How? With Diet.

This Week on GIGO

2009-11-01T22:38:00.000-06:00

My original plan this week was to dedicate all of my GIGO posts to our favourite holiday fiend - sugar. Seemed like an appropriate post-halloween, pre-Christmas topic. Turns out, I'm fickle. And after a weekend of halloween treats, feeling like total crap, and waking up this morning to find myself completely unmotivated to do anything (including go to gymnastics with my kids which is usually one of the highlights of my week!)... I needed something to perk myself up - and coffee was not working!

Like any other total loser, I went to http://www.crossfit.com/ and started watching the new Dr. Barry Sears video (Part 8, I believe). Realizing I had only watched parts 4 and 6 prior to Part 8, I thought it would be a good idea to start over. After scrubbed the giant "L" off my forehead, I spent a few hours (while Chris was with the girls at gymnastics), playing, pausing, rewinding, playing, pausing, and taking notes from Dr. Sears' lecture videos.

I got through the first 4 parts, and let me tell you - all of the pieces are starting to come together. Inflammation, oxidation, anti-oxidants, paleo, fish oil, insulin, glucogon, fats, etc. I'm hoping to write a short synopsis on each of his lectures this week - covering the highlights with links to the CrossFit Journal where you can watch the entire clip if interested. It's good stuff. Really, really good stuff.

Sorry Sugar - I'm done with you for a while.

Confessions of a Nutrition-a-holic

2009-10-29T21:11:00.001-06:00

Pre "Fran" Snack

2 cookies
1 piece of cake

"Fran" PR: 4:51!!!

Post "Fran" Snack

Caramel-o ice cream

Lessons learned:

Eating cake before "Fran" makes me want to puke
Eating ice cream after "Fran" doesn't really help much

Back on the Paleo wagon tomorrow. Ugh.

p.s. My Total Power Output during "Fran": 181.79 watts, 0.25 horsepower

Giddy-up!

Small Steady Steps

2009-10-28T23:40:00.000-06:00

Those of you who know me now may think I'm a bit of a health/fitness nut...and you're probably right. Have I always been like this? I'll let you be the judge. Let me take you back in time a few years....

Ah, high school. The good 'ol days of jocks, nerds, and in-betweens. I played some sports, but quit taking gym class in grade 11 because I didn't feel athletic enough to participate in phys. ed along-side my peers. I struggled with body image (as did every other girl who ever survived high school, I'm sure!), and pretty much hated how I looked 99% of the time.

Fast forward to University. Baby Duck, Lucky Lager, cigarettes, KD, and ichiban. Developed an ulcer, eventually gained the Freshman10-15, and yes, I graduated.

Got married, had 1 baby girl, and then another, 2 years later. Joined Weight Watchers 3 weeks post-partum because I was so self-conscious and hated myself for being overweight. I couldn't even cut myself a break after just having a child for goodness sakes!!

4 months post-partum, I joined CrossFit with the primary goal of exercise for weight maintenance. Took over a year, but finally started caring more about me getting fit, and less about how my clothes fit. I still don't know how that transformation occurred, but it's one of the best things that has ever happend to me in terms of self-esteem.

Early 2009: Chris ordered "The Paleo Diet". For me, this was the last piece of the puzzle. Although I don't agree with everything in this book, and tend to gravitate more towards Mark Sisson's "The Primal Blueprint" - the basic concepts are the same. I dabbled in Paleo until September when I participated in a 30 Day Paleo Challenge. Strict Paleo for 30 days. Melissa Urban was right. It. Changed. My. Life.

A few weeks ago, I squeaked out a win at the SK CrossFit Challenge in Saskatoon - Top Female Athlete in Div. 1.

How did I get from barely being able to do knee pushups 2 years ago to being a total fitness/nutrition junkie today? With small, steady steps.

I set small, attainable goals for myself at CrossFit
Had support and encouragement from Chris
Started reading about nutrition from books that actually made sense (Good Calories, Bad Calories; The Paleo Diet, The Primal Blueprint)
Slowly consumed all of the processed food in our cupboards and chose not to replace it
Purchased fruits/veggies/meat/nuts in place of processed foods
Found new convenience foods
Had numerous setbacks (popcorn, ice cream, and Opa's)
Realized how much better I felt when I ate real food
30 Day Paleo Challenge
End of story

Unfortunately, a lot of the health issues we see today stem from information we have been given from textbooks, media, government etc - that are largely based on scientific hypothesis that have never been proven. Medical advice was given out and public policy (i.e. Canada Food Guide) was created based on what scientists "thought" was the best advice at the time. Science has evolved, but public policy and textbooks have not. My blog is one of many alternatives for reading out there that challenge this "conventional wisdom".

Baby step your way to a healthier you by challenging what you always thought you knew about nutrition. Ooh, I just thought of the perfect 1st step!

Step 1: Eliminate Sugar. As in, no sugar. Whatsoever.  No sugar. How long can you go? Try 1 day, try 1 week, try 1 month. Set a goal, make your goal known to others, and reach your goal.
Be prepared, you will likely go into withdrawl and it will suck. Even more reason to push through. Read the labels on everything you eat. No sugar.  Okay, so I'll be COMPLETELY shocked and amazed if anyone has first of all made it to the end of this post, and 2nd of all actually listens to me. Still, I'll say it.

Try it. Tell me your results. Awwe, crap. Just realized it's halloween on Saturday. All the more reason to start today ;)

WFT? .com, R U Kidding me?

2009-10-27T20:10:00.002-06:00

CrossFit Headquarters recently linked an article on their Affiliate page originating from CrossFit Zone in Victoria, B.C. This article, entitled "Boo!" (to which my husband's first reaction was "oooooh reese's peanut butter cups!"), may have been well intended - and although raised a few valid points - also put forth some information I feel the need to challenge. This is all in good learning, so if there are any challenges to what I write here, please post to comments and we can duke it out there! jk, I really do encourage challenges, as that's how we will all learn more - and helps make me feel accountable for the information I put out there.

Here goes with my critique of "Boo!"
“Have almond-butter or cheese with whole-grain crackers. These snacks are a great way to get that carbohydrate satisfaction you’re after and in pairing the carbs with some protein or fats, it helps balance out the damage.”
Absolutely, pairing carbs with protein will help minimize effects of insulin - and in turn help reduce hunger and/or cravings. However, pairing carbohydrates with fats does not have the same affect. My rule of thumb: whenever you eat carbs, eat them with a protein. If you’re left wanting more, reach satiety with some fatty foods. Also, proportions should be approximately like this: little carbs + generous protein + as much fat as you need to feel full.

If you’re not satisfied, even though you're full, you are lacking satiety. Satiety is more than mere absence of hunger. Satiety includes the sensation of feeling full plus the lack of desire to consume any more. Eating carbohydrates effectively prevents satiety. By pairing the carbohydrates with protein, and finishing that off with fat, satiety will be improved and cravings will be reduced.

I won’t get into the whole grain/cracker thing right now - however find it odd that an article about nutrition posted by a CrossFit Affiliate would contradict Robb Wolf (CrossFit Headquarters’ Nutrition Guru - a.k.a. the guy CrossFit pays to know his stuff when it comes to nutrition) who has been known to say that we should all “stay the F*&$ away from gluten!". Not sure if that's a direct quote, but you get the idea. In any event, I believe whole-grain crackers would generally fall into that category.

Another example...
“Fruit juice boxes may seem like they’re for little kids. However, for you healthy adults wanting a sweet beverage, they’re always a better choice than a can of soda. Go for a brand made from 100% juice, not from concentrate, if you can.”
Okay, so fruit juice is likely less detrimental to your health than pop. However, fruit juice is still loaded with fructose and you won't get the same nutritional benefits you would get from eating the actual fruit (I know, this wasn't the author's point, but I still had to say it...).

Just because fructose is "naturally occurring" doesn't make it good for you (i.e. cocaine, tsunami's). Although fructose has often been touted as the healthy sugar, because it has minimal short term effects on blood sugar (however, it does have negative blood sugar effects if consumed in large quanities over a longer term), it does have other - possibly more significant - drawbacks. The issue with fructose is that it can only be metabolized by the liver. Your liver converts excess glucose into triglycerides, increasing fat storage, and increasing risks of diseases like heart disease and diabetes. Drink water and eat the whole friggen apple people!

And Another...
"Who doesn’t love bubblegum? It reminds us of our playful, carefree days as kids. Choose a sugar-free kind, and you can blow all the bubbles you want, guilt free!"
I've compared bubblegum to chewing on a hard candy in the past. Just because the gum/candy is calorie/sugar free doesn't mean it's good for you (or even less bad for you for that matter). Sugar-free gum will still have some form of artificial sweetener in it. There is a lot of conflicting information re: whether or not artificial sweetener is better/worse for you than sugar - and my intent is not to debate this. However, what is not disputed is the fact that consuming artificial sweetener will still impact insulin levels, causing you to become hungry and crave carbs. Whoops, there's that vicious circle again!

To quote Mark Sisson “Yes, it is all about Insulin.”

And another...
"Granola bars are a great alternative to candy bars, and they come in a wide variety of flavors!"
Seriously!? Let's have a look.
Kit Kat (per 100g): 518 Calories, 26f Fat, 65 g Carbs (49 of those sugar), 7 g Protein

Nature Valley Oats n’ Honey Granola Bar (per 105g):
475 Calories, 15g fat, 72.5g Carbohydrates (30 of those sugar), 10g protein

So, the granola bar has barely fewer calories, less fat, but more carbs. If carbs make us hungry, and fat will help us reach satiety – which is the better choice? I say neither.

What I liked about the article:
"Lastly, if your sweet tooth gets the best of you and you do end up indulging in some sinful candy, just set reasonable limits. Have a couple instead of a handful. And set a time limit on how long the leftover trick-or-treating candy stays around. For example, any leftovers get thrown away after 5 day."
Great concept. Not unlike what we're doing in our household this year.

"Remove the temptations from your house."
Even better!

In my opinion, being a CrossFit Affiliate comes with certain responsiblities. Those who hold CrossFit Zone in high regard may very well take the information in "Boo!" and translate it into their daily lives. I would hate to see someone who does not know a lot about nutrition come to believe that they're eating healthy because CrossFit Zone said granola bars were better for them than candy bars. Yes, I understand this was all in the context of halloween, and choosing not necessarily the "healthy" choice, but rather choosing the less unhealthy choice. However, it's easy for people to mis-interpret this subtle difference, and take the information to mean that the "less unhealthy" choices are actually good for you.

Coach! Please don't tell me you're now advocating the consumption of granola bars and juice boxes!!

"NO MEAT! NO MEAT!"

2009-10-26T19:55:00.003-06:00

For anyone who hasn't watched the video of my Charlotte yelling "NO MEAT! NO MEAT!" as Chris chases her with a fork full of meat, the irony of this post might be lost on you.

Last week Charlotte ate 3 helpings of salmon for breakfast, and I had to cut her off when she asked for more. It may surprise you (or not!) that with a 2 and 4 year old, we do not keep any cereal, bread, or pasta in the house. When Chris and I started eating Paleo/Primal, we slowly got rid of all the 'bad' food and just didn't bother replacing it. The kids asked for cereal for the first while, but now willingly eat meat or eggs for breakfast almost every day.

If you're having trouble making the breakfast switch with your family - here are some commonly used excuses that just don't cut it on GIGO... I should know, I've used them all!

No time you say? I say booollsheeet!! You can't tell me it takes more time to cut up 1/2 a hamburger left over in the fridge than it does to pour a bowl of cereal and milk. Well, you can, but I'll totally call your bluff and probably make you do 100 burpees while you make me breakfast if you're wrong.

It may take a bit more time during the first week to convince your kids that they really do want a burger for breakfast, but after that, no problem. (That being said, I give full credit to Chris for making this successful transition with the kiddos. I had nothing to do with it... now read between the lines - what I'm really saying is that if he can do it, anyone can do it ;)

You kids won't eat meat? I say booollsheeet!! My kids very rarely ate 'outside the carbohydrate box' before this change in our lifestyle either. They ate granola bars, cereal, fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hotdogs. Now they eat salmon, scallops, nuts, steak, burgers, roast, chicken, and turkey. Who knew?

You just can't stomach meat first thing in the morning? Yeah, I get that. Try having some nuts to tide you over until you can stomach a bit of meat. Or eat hard boiled eggs. Experiment and figure out something that works for you. Always always always try to eat some protein whenever you eat carbohydrates. This will slow the release of insulin and increase your insulin sensitivity - which is a GOOD thing.

You don't really want to make the change? Then don't. We all have different goals when it comes to nutrition. However, if your goal is improved health, then baby step breakfast until you're ready to cut out grains entirely. I made all the excuses in the world until I was ready to commit to a paleo/primal breakfast. Cutting out grains for breakfast was far more difficult than I ever expected (even with Chris constantly in my ear yelling, "Eat Meat! Eat Meat!") Eating meat for breakfast did not come naturally to me and was a real challenge for the first 2-3 months.

I've been eating Paleo/Primal since March 2009, didn't switch my breakfast to Paleo until June/July, and only in the last 6 weeks, can I honestly say that I will never go back to cereal/toast for breakfast. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it in terms of how much better I feel every day because of how I fuel my body in the morning. I know it sounds lame, but it's totally true. Trust me, I would not choose to eat meat first thing in the morning if it didn't make me feel dramatically better throughout the day!

Any more excuses? Post to comments... I dare you.

*Disclaimer: The following Non-Paleo/Primal foods may be found in the Tunison household for consumption by the kiddos: pancakes, ketchup, crackers (for soup), and hotdogs. I'd say ice cream too, but it's usually here and gone before anyone would even see it :) ...but not everyday, right Josie?

Ghosts, Gouls, and .... Cavemen?

2009-10-25T21:26:00.001-06:00

I really don't mean to be crabby and whiny about the whole halloween thing.... BUT, why is it that in order to be a 'good' parent at halloween, I am expected to encourage my kids to eat the very substance (sugar) that is working to help kill and/or cause disease in so many Canadians? I say encourage, because at the ages of 2 and 4, my kids could not participate in halloween without my support.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's halloween parade, or suggest that parents who encourage treats at halloween are doing anything wrong - so pleeeeease don't read any judgements into this post. This is simply an expression of the internal conflict I'm experiencing this year over halloween.

For the past 30+ years, I've embraced halloween and all of the chocolate that comes with it. And since having kids, it's morphed into a whole family day of hanging out and having fun. However, now that I'm getting old and crotchety (and am starting to more fully understand the negative impact sugar has on health in general - including H1N1 type viruses!!), my halloween spirits have dampened. I'm still all about having the kids dress up, go out, visit with friends and family, and create lots of happy memories - but I'm not all about the aftermath of candy for weeks/months to come.

This year in particular, handing out candy and encouraging my kids to eat candy goes against my values, and I don't feel right about it. On the flip side, I want my kids to be kids - and let's face it, these days that includes a little candy. Everyone needs to experience a nerds rope at least once in their lives!

So, let's look at the arguments:

1. C'mon. Let your kids have candy!

Yes, I ate tons of candy as a kid
Yes, the more my parents tried to limit my candy intake, the more I would sneak and literally hide it away in my room
Candy is a real part of my positive memories of halloween as a kid
No, I haven't experienced any obvious negative health effects as a result
And the kicker - everyone else is doing it!

2. No Candy! No Candy!

It's the healthy choice (blah blah blah, I know)
It's in line with our family values
Won't have to deal with whiny kids who want candy for breakfast every day for the next month
A big dump of sugar into my kids' bodies could very well give current flu viruses the hold they need to infiltrate
Maybe we could replace the 'candy' part of the halloween tradition with something even better

I fully recognize that the arguments above are very black and white, and in my experience, neither black nor white generally offers the best option/answer. It more often lies in some shade of grey... and as all my HR peeps out there know - I'm a big fan of grey.

This year's "Grey" response to halloween:

Limiting # of houses we visit on halloween
No mall visits (too much candy in too little time)
We are encouraging family members to dole out halloween stickers and pencils instead of candy (at least to my kiddos!)
Allow them a reasonable amount of candy consumption on Halloween Day
Suzanne's great suggestion, which we're TOTALLY doing this year (thanks Suzanne!). The morning after halloween, have each of them choose 10 candies they want to keep, and the rest will be traded for a toy. We've already asked Josie if this is something she'd like to do - took her about 3 seconds to pick the Polly Pockets out of the flyer. Which makes me wonder - is it really the candy? Or just the excitement of dressing up, going out, and getting the candy with family & friends that is the real joy of halloween?

Chris and I could get all righteous and totally eliminate candy from our kids' halloween experience - but we wouldn't really be doing them any favours in the long run. You don't teach kids anything through ignorance or deprivation. You teach them through exposure and explanation. Besides, they're not totally deprived of sweets in their daily lives (and neither are Chris & I), so why would we completely deprive them on Halloween?

Got Milk?

2009-10-23T17:48:00.002-06:00

Check out Chris' OCD - Get Fit or Die Trying for a short discussion on dairy.

How many carbohydrates do I need?

2009-10-21T21:57:00.001-06:00

Mark Sisson's Carbohydrate Curve is a great visual that explains how many carbohydrates we actually need in a day. Sam Singer, in The Biology of the People writes, "The brain's energy requirements can be met by between 100 and 145 grams of glucose per day." This is equal to eating 100 - 145g of carbohydrates, or approximately 1/3 of what the Canada Food Guide recommends. Nutritionists confirm this statement, the author of "Good Calories, Bad Calories" agrees - as does Robb Wolf.

However, often omitted, is the fact that glucose does not have to come from consumable carbohydrates. And, that the fuel we need to feed our brain and central nervous system can come not only from glucose, but from ketone bodies which are synthesized from our liver. So, let's review:

Conventional Wisdom dictates: Carbohydrates should be the main macronutrient in your diet (the other macronutrients being protein and fat), b/c if you don't eat copious amounts of carbs, your body will not have the energy it needs to function.

I Call 'Conventional Wisdom's' Bluff!
Our bodies are ingenious when it comes to creation of fuel (hmmm, maybe this goes back to caveman days where it was feast or famine...). Providing you don't have a disease/disorder preventing the following - we all have the AWESOME ability to fuel up on premium using:
1. Glucose from carbohydrates you consume
2. Glucose from fat stores
3. Glucose synthesized from amino acids in protein
4. Ketone bodies synthesized from the liver

Our bodies will do all of the above in order to maintain necessary fuel levels. We are actually capable of creating all the internal fuel we require in a day - now listen closely here - without eating any carbohydrates at all. Of course, if we don't off-set a decreased carb consumption with protein, our bodies will take protein from our muscles in order to create glucose - which we don't want.

Now, I'm not advocating anyone eat a no-carb diet - although populations like the Inuit ate no-carb diets for years and were considered very healthy when compared to other populations (i.e. rates of chronic disease, vitamin & mineral deficiencies, mortality rates).

What I am advocating is a restriction of carbohydrates to an amount closer to what your body actually needs. And, depending on your goals, tolerance, and body composition, your carbohydrate consumption will fluctuate. The only people who will regularly require more than 150g carbs/day are serious endurance athletes (i.e. marathon runners). Again, refer to the Carbohydrate Curve for more detail. It explains things very clearly.

Here are some carb counts for common fruits & veggies. Click Here for complete listings of carb content in all foods. I won't bother saying anything about grains...

Banana: 25
10 grapes: 9g
Apple: 25
Strawberries (1 cup whole): 8g

Spinach, raw (1 bunch): 28g
Tomatoe (1 cup): 7g
Cucumber: 3g
Sweet Red Peppers: 9g
Carrots (1 cup): 12g

I hate...

2009-10-21T20:02:00.002-06:00

That I feel so GUILTY and RUDE when I turn down non-paleo food that is offered to me.

What if...

2009-10-19T21:22:00.000-06:00

...weight gain is not caused by overeating
...calories in > calories out is not why people gain weight
...the majority of research re: weight gain has been mis-guided due to incorrect assumptions

Well, that would explain why...
...clinical trials have shown over and over and over again that people who are overweight eat the same number of calories as those who are lean
...reducing calories alone has a very poor track record (in clinical trials and in real life) of long term weight loss - and often results in greater weight gain as a long term side effect
...Little to no progress has been made over the last 50 years in the explanation and treatment of obesity. In fact, the problem has worsened.

So, then maybe...
...it's now how much we eat, but what we eat
...what we eat has such a profound affect on how our body uses and stores energy that...

By changing what we eat, and NOT our intake of calories, our bodies will naturally lean out - as this is what they are genetically programmed to do. 2 Million years has told us so.

... I'm just sayin'...

For a detailed discussion on thermodynamics and challenging the "belief" (as opposed to "fact") that calories in > calories out, causes weight gain, refer to "Good Calories, Bad Calories".

Oh Crap! Is the Paleo Challenge Over?!

2009-10-18T21:37:00.002-06:00

About 7 months ago, Chris ordered "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain. He was pretty gung ho about trying this new way of eating, and I was your typical skeptic, thinking "fad diet", "what about calcium & fibre?", "how can it be that grains - being such an integral part of the Canada Food Guide and my daily life thus far - are so bad?"

I considered myself fit and healthy.
I ate bread.
I had absolutely NO desire to change.

However, after actually reading the book, I decided to dabble in Paleo - after all, it did make a lot of sense intuitively, and I'm a sucker for logic. About 4 months later, I begrudgingly (due to Chris' incessant nagging, ugh!) traded in my beloved toast & cereal for meat and eggs. * As difficult as it was for me to give up cereal, I will never go back. In September, CrossFit Regina encouraged people to participate in a 30 Day Paleo Challenge . I jumped in with both feet.

Now, if I was fit and healthy 7 months ago, I must be a friggen poster girl for health right now. I am in awe of the changes I have experienced - particularly since going strict Paleo in September.

There were a few things I expected out of the 30 Day Challenge:
1. To be tempted
2. To get questions
3. To get pressure from others to eat what they're eating
4. To probably feel a bit better at the end of the day

Then, there were the un-expected:
1. I feel great!
2. More patience with my kids (less highs & lows re: mood and energy)
3. Constant mental alertness at work - no 10am or 2pm lows
4. My sleep has become self-regulated. I wake up on my own (no alarm or kids) earlier than I have in the past and feel far more rested
5. I feel great!
6. No tendon aches (unless I forget to take fish oil for a day or more)
7. I'm never bloated
8. My kids behaviour has improved (when we are strict with their eating).
9. I can no longer bring myself to order a Nick Burger and fries. :(
10. I feel great!

For these reasons, my Post-Paleo Challenge Plan is to stick with Paleo/Primal pretty much forever. I'm allowing some dairy, coffee, red wine, and 2 cheats/week (normally ice cream!). Other than that, 99% strict.

The most frustrating part of Paleo/Primal eating for me are people who question without really wanting to know. Or people who taunt me to eat what they're eating. Don't get me wrong, I can take a little teasing (just ask my colleagues!), it's the judgement without knowledge that is frustrating. It's not that I can't or won't eat certain foods - but, for the most part, I just don't want them anymore. 9 times out of 10 I'm not tempted by the chocolate in the halls, or the fries on the menu. In the past, chocolate and french fries were my 2 biggest weaknesses. Don't get me wrong, tonight I managed to scarf down a big bowl of ice cream - but tonight, I wanted it (and that's why I'm allowing 2 cheats/week).

When I want it I'll eat it. If I felt like I was continuously being deprived of the things I wanted, this would never last. The craziest thing about Paleo, is that it has - for the most part - killed my desire for certain foods. Most importantly, I FEEL GREAT!

Quote from Robb Wolf re: Paleo: "Try it. Tell Me Your Results"

Is Blogging Affecting my Social Life?

2009-10-18T07:55:00.005-06:00

Reality Check - I have no social life! But it has been affecting my t.v. watching schedule, lol!

First, it was skipping House to blog, then it was skipping Grey's *gasp!*

But, for the past 2 nights, my typical mommy weekend of kids to bed at 8, blogging/reading until 10, lights out by 10:30 - was interrupted by social plans. Yah Me!

However, my evening plans have now been affecting my new blogging addiction, and I'm going through withdrawl. With Chris working and 2 munchkins sitting on my knee it's tough to find time for GIGO.

Good news is, I have no plans tonight.... but may have to skip out on Desperate Housewives so I can write about life after the paleo challenge.

*btw, "Smells Like CrossFit", the newest non-CrossFit, CrossFit gym in the South (not to be confused with the Creekside Garage non-CrossFit) is accepting visitors at 2pm for a little "JT" action!

Convenience Foods

2009-10-15T20:13:00.001-06:00

Convenience Foods. Quick, what comes to mind first.

Are you thinking, "Nuts, apples, carrots, seafood" OR "granola bars, crackers, chicken fingers and KD"?

Traditional convenience foods were a really tough mental switch for me. I mean, grabbing a box of granola bars is just so easy! Well, turns out, grabbing a handfull of nuts is even easier - and the healthy fats in nuts actually keep me feeling full for longer.

Overwhelmed by the thought of loosing your convenience foods? I totally get that - I work full time and have 2 young kids. But rather than using that as my excuse to not eat healthy, I use it as my reason to eat healthy. I want to be active in my childrens' lives for as long as I live, and I want them to live a long, healthy life.

Did you know - this is the first generation of children that is not expected to live as long as their parents? Fuck that. I'm going to live a long healthy life, but my kids are still going to outlive that.

Take a few minutes - jot down 5 or 6 new convenience foods (snacks and meals) that your family will eat. Because let's face it, convenience foods are a necessity in today's world. But convenience food doesn't have to mean junk food. If you're serious about changing how you eat for the long term, you NEED to find new convenience foods THAT WORK FOR YOU!

Post convenience food ideas in comments. You must be able to either eat these foods with 1 hand while driving, or prep/cook them in 10 minutes or less. Must be grain/legume/sugar free.

Someone Else Can Have it!

2009-10-15T19:26:00.003-06:00

CFR's "9-1-1 Award" is up for grabs this year. I'm trading it in for the:

"First Girl to 31 Pull-Ups Without Cracking her Head and Getting a Concussion Award!"

Can I hear a WOOT! WOOT!

Franz, there's no way I would have done it if you weren't there. Thanks man!

*Note to my Mom: not to worry, I had a BIG crash mat behind me this time :)

Meat! Meat! Meat!

2009-10-14T21:51:00.001-06:00

If you're a newbie to the concept of limiting carbs and eliminating grains, it's important to figure out what you should be eating in place of cereal, toast, sandwiches, wraps, and pasta. It's not like you can just cut them all out, you'd friggen starve! You have to find something to replace them with...

What's that you say? "Protein & Fat?" DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Today, it's all about protein. In case you missed it, meat is the best source of protein out there. So, if you're looking to eat like a superstar (a.k.a. me, lol!) you MUST ALWAYS have meat on hand to eat (sorry to all the vegetarians out there).

Repeat after me: MORE MEAT! MORE MEAT! MORE MEAT!

Now - Go to your fridge and open it. Seriously, get off your arse and go look in the fridge.... I'm going too. What did you find (post in comments)?

a) No meat (lol, this is Charlotte's ideal fridge!)
b) Frozen meat
c) Meat ready to eat or meat ready to be cooked
d) Meat ready to eat AND meat thawed ready to be cooked
e) Meat ready to eat AND meat thawed ready to be cooked AND meat frozen meat currently thawing

In the Tunison fridge, 9 times out of 10, when you open it you will see the 3 stages of meat.

Stage 1: Ready to eat
Stage 2: Thawed and ready to cook
Stage 3: Frozen

What do we do with all that meat? We eat it! At every meal (including breakfast) and for snacks.
To ensure variety we eat a variety of beef, bison, fish, chicken and turkey.

We cook LOTS of meat at one time, and make sure there are always left-overs (especially for breakfast - b/c there is no time to cook in the morning). I'll often throw a roast in at 7pm. Who says you have to cook your meat at meal time?

MORE MEAT! MORE MEAT! MORE MEAT!

Beating a Dead Horse?

2009-10-14T19:10:00.006-06:00

For fear of beating a dead horse, this will likely be my final attempt (for a while anyways) at explaining the carbohydrate, glucose, glycogen, fat connection. A wise person (and one of the few loyal followers of GIGO) informed me this morning that if I want people to actually read this blog, I need to make it more interesting than a university synopsis. WHAT?! Aaaaand that the parking lot analogy - maybe not so easy for everyone to follow. Well, the nerve of some smarty pants!! Considering I have an audience of about 3, I figured I'd better cater to what 1/3 of them were telling me. So, although this post still may not be much more interesting than a university paper, it will hopefully be easy to follow. (tomorrow's will be better, I promise!)

So, JK - this one's for you! How are you at math??

"Jane" eats 300g of carbohydrates/day (a pretty typical diet)
Fact: Jane's body only needs between 100g - 150g of carbs/day to fully function
Fact: Carbs are converted into glucose once ingested

Do the Math!
Jane eats 300g of carbohydrates/day and her body only needs 150g/day. This results in 150g of excess carbohydrates (which equals 150g glucose in her bloodstream). Easy.

Where does this excess 150g of glucose go? It will either:
a) be stored in the muscles/liver as glycogen (this is preferred, as this is where your body will be able to use it as stored energy later) OR
b) it will find your muscle/liver storage full, and therefore find its way to your fat cells

...still with me? Good. Now,

Consider 5 days of this diet (each day consisting of 150g excess carbs/glucose).
Combine this with no vigorous exercise (because vigorous exercise is now we reduce glycogen stores in the muscles/liver).
Assume glycogen stores in your liver/muscles were half full on day 1, remembering that the liver/muscles can only store 400g of glycogen at any given time.

Day 1
Current glycogen in liver/muscles: 200g
Available space remaining: 200g
Excess glucose: 150g
Where does the glucose go?
Today, it finds the available space in her liver/muscles. Life is good :)

Day 2
Current glycogen in liver/muscles: 350g (200g from yesterday am + 150g stored yesterday)
Available space remaining: 50g
Excess glucose: 150g
Where does the glucose go?
50g goes into her liver/muscles (which is now at its max capacity of 400g).
The remaining 100g goes to Jane's fat cells. Fat cells are full, but they expand to make room for the glucose - which is now stored as fat.

Day 3
Current glycogen in liver/muscles: 400g (still full, because she hasn't depleted any stores)
Available space = 0
Excess glucose = 150g
Where does the glucose go?
To her fat cells. Fat cells are full, but they expand to make room

Day 4
Current glycogen being stored in liver/muscles = 400g
Available space = 0
Excess glucose = 150g
Where does the glucose go?
To her fat cells. Fat cells are full, but they expand to make room

Day 5
Current glycogen being stored in liver/muscles = 400g
Available space = 0
Excess glucose = 150g
Where does the glucose go?
To her fat cells. Fat cells are full, but they expand to make room

**After 5 days, Jane has stored 550g of excess glucose in your fat cells. That's the equivalent of over 1 lb of fat. YIKES!

Continue cycle for 2 weeks, 2 months, a year.... you can see where this goes.

Is exercise the answer? Not necessarily (again, a post in and of itself). The key is to only eat the amount of carbohydrates your body actually needs in order to fully function - particularly if you are not consistently depleting your glycogen stores.

For any scientific/nutritional experts out there who are critiquing what I just wrote - I know this isn't the whole story and is a slightly exaggerated version of how things work. For example, it doesn't take into consideration how the consumption of fat and protein effects the process. However, understanding how carbohydrates, glucose, glycogen, and fat storage is related is a pretty foundational building block that people need to understand first. Like Aaron said on the CrossFit Regina blog yesterday - don't neglect the foundations in order to move more quickly into the progressions. The purpose of the above is to give a very general overview of the basics.

The Parking Lot

2009-10-13T19:21:00.002-06:00

To help solidify yesterday's post.

Imagine....

Directly outside of your workplace is a parking lot with room for only 6 vehicles. Every day, you go to the parking lot hoping there will be a space for you. Every day, the lot is full. So, you end up parking a few blocks away in a different lot that never fills up.

After a year of always going to the prime parking lot outside of your office first - just find it always full - you come to realize that there will never be a space there for you. As a result, you start going directly to the other lot and parking there instead. You no longer even look for a space in the good lot because it's always full.

The great thing about the lot you park in is that there is always room to park. If it fills up, it magically expands, making room for more vehicles. If the expansion fills up, a new parking lot appears right next to the full lot, and you can still find parking.

In this story:

Prime parking outside of your office = Muscles & Liver
Your car = Glucose (which is what carbohydrates become once digested)
2nd Parking Lot = Fat cells

The glucose wants to park in the muscles and liver. However, if the muscles/liver are still full of the glucose that parked there 3 hours ago, the lot will remain full - not allowing any more glucose to park there.

The 2nd lot represents your fat cells. Always inviting excess glucose in when your muscles/liver are full, and always expanding to make room for more. Keep in mind that as soon as the glucose finds its way into your fat cells, it becomes stored as excess fat. Fat stores will grow larger and larger to accommodate all the excess glucose you have - and will even multiply once they're totally filled up.

It's important to note that this analogy isn't complete without considering how consumption of fat and protein effect the parking situation, so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks. The isn't the last you've heard about the parking lot!

Carbohydrates & Fat Cells

2009-10-12T14:21:00.003-06:00

For so many years, I believed that eating a higher carbohydrate, lower fat diet was the healthy way to go. It's just so easy to visualize that eating fat causes fat to build up in your body. However, now that I'm beginning to understand how carbohydrates, glucose, glycogen, insulin and fat are related - the opposite becomes apparent. Lower carbohydrate diets will actually cause you to store less excess fat. There are entire books written on this subject, so take this post as it is intended - as a quick and dirty (and hopefully easy to understand) explanation as to why a diet high in carbohydrates often results in excess fat storage.

1. You Eat Carbs
2. Carbs are converted into glucose
3. Your body releases insulin
4. Insulin allows glucose to access interior of muscle and liver
5. Glucose is stored by liver and muscles as glycogen.

Sounds great right? Problem is - the liver and muscles have a finite capacity to store glucose as glycogen (approx 400g). If our liver and muscle cells are regularly FULL of glycogen, the glucose stays in the bloodstream. Glucose is toxic in the bloodstream (which is why it is meant to be stored in the liver/muscles). So, if the liver/muscles are full, and the glucose is hanging out in your bloodstream, MORE insulin is released in an attempt to get the glucose into the liver/muscles.

"Good" news is that eventually insulin will help your glucose find fat cells, where it will be stored as fat, YIPPEE! Eventually, your body will become insensitive to the insulin (i.e. your body will start to ignore the calls of insulin because it is constantly being released), your pancreas will become exhausted, and will lose its capacity to produce insulin. Then, voila - type 2 diabetes. (Remember - this is a very simplistic version of what happens).

Toxic glucose is like sludge in the bloodstream - it clogs arteries, causes inflammation and can increase risk of heart disease. Excess insulin is also toxic and may cause plaque build-up in the arteries - which is why diabetics have so much heart disease (heart disease is the #1 cause of death/disability for people with type 2 diabetes).

An important little tidbit here - the only way to deplete your glycogen stores is with physical activity (more intense physical activity than you would get with every day living). Therefore, if you are relatively inactive and eat a diet high in carbohydrates (by high, I mean more than 150g/day), pretty much all of the carbohydrates you consume in a day will get stored as fat.

Lamens Terms: If you are very active and are consistently depleting your glycogen stores, a diet that is higher in carbs will not be as detrimental to your health compared to someone who is more sedentary. However, weight may still be difficult to manage, as insulin release also causes hunger - so the more carbs you ingest and the more insulin you release, the hungrier you will be.

Great YouTube video: Why you got fat

Blogposts to come:
How many carbohydrates do I really need in a day?
Carbohydrates - how they block your body's ability to burn fat as fuel
What about breakfast?

Dirt Road Scholar

2009-10-10T20:14:00.004-06:00

Over the past few months I've been throwing around the idea of formal education in the the field of nutrition. No mainstream university type courses, but more holistic/natural healing type nutrition. There were 2 programs I was interested in:

Registered Holistic Nutritionist from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition or
Certificate in Applied Holistic Nutrition from the Edison Institute of Nutrition

I even went so far as to email Robb Wolf to see if he had any recommendations for programs that would be worth my while. Unfortunately, his response was that although work is being done with Professor Loren Cordain to create such a program, there is nothing solid he could recommend at this time. Bummer! After looking into the assigned texts for the two programs I mentioned above, and seeing that they still advocate a high carbohydrate/low fat diet - I decided that at this time, I just don't want to go there. I was really hoping to work towards something 'substantial' to say that KT knows her stuff when it comes to nutrition... but for now, I'll be relying on myself and my own readings to teach myself.

Bright side is, I have a full listing of texts used for both programs, and can now pick and choose which to read first and how much time to spend on each. First on my list (after the 5 I already have dibs on from friends) is a complete guide to vitamins and minerals.

After doing the research/reading for only 1 real blog post, I'm already finding my comprehension of what I'm reading in Good Calories, Bad Calories very much improved. This blog is pretty much the most exciting thing I've started in my life since CrossFit (which was post babies of course!!). I'm sure for anyone out there reading this, it will be a lot like reading notes from a university class - but I can at least promise this - there will be no final exam :) ... just the occasional blog poll.

"Aren't Beans Good For You?"

2009-10-09T13:58:00.014-06:00

So eloquently stated by Robb Wolf when asked the question, "Aren’t beans good for you?"

"No."

I'm going to express a slightly more liberal opinion - but, before I start talking about the good, bad and ugly of legumes, let's clarify what is included in the legume family. Legumes include (but are not limited to) peas, beans, lentils, soy and peanuts.

The Good:

Moderate Protein source
Potassium/Magnesium
Generally high in soluble fiber, so they don't cause sudden blood sugar spikes

The Bad:

Legumes provide a minimal source of protein when compared to meats or some dairy
The protein content in legumes comes hand in hand with high carb content (Tomorrow's post will talk about problems associated with high carb diets, and therefore, why this is 'bad')
Stinky farts
Although legumes offer some nutritional benefits, what they offer can be found in equal to greater amounts within other foods that have lower carb content (Example: see how protein content in legumes compares to meat in charts below).

The Ugly:

Lectins and Phytates

Lectins: Legumes are high in lectins. Many lectins are toxic, inflammatory or both - and may be harmful if consumed in excess (causing allergic reactions, nutritional deficiencies, or immune reactions).

Phytates: Phytates prevent your body from absorbing minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. So, although legumes may be a high in magnesium, your body won't be able to absorb a lot of it through legumes. Preparing legumes properly (i.e. soaking) can decrease the impact of phytates, helping your body to absorb minerals more efficiently. I am not well versed in this process (as I don't normally eat legumes), and therefore must admit am not really that interested in learning/sharing more. If you want to know more about the soaking process, you'll have to search it out on your own (and let me know!).

** Bottom Line: Legumes are "O.K" in moderation. If the majority of your diet consists of high quality foods rich in proteins, fats, and usable carbs - having some beans in your chili, ehh? So be it.

Meats
Beef (6 oz.) – 54 grams
Turkey, breast (6 oz.) – 51.4 grams
Pork Chop (6 oz.) 49 grams
Turkey, dark meat (6 oz.) – 48.6 grams
Hamburger (6 oz.) – 48.6 grams
Chicken, dark meat (6 oz.) – 47.2 grams
Tuna (6 oz.) – 40.1 grams
Broiled Beefsteak (6 oz.) – 38.6 grams
Chicken, breast (6 oz.) – 37.8 grams
Salmon (6 oz.) – 33.6 grams

Dairy/Eggs
Cottage cheese (1 cup) – 28.1 grams
Yogurt, low fat (1 cup) – 10.7 grams
Skim milk (1 cup) – 8.3 grams
Whole milk (1 cup) – 8 grams
Egg (1 large) – 6.3 grams

Meat Substitutes, Beans and Legumes, Nuts
Veggie Burger (6 oz.) – 51.4 grams
Tofu (6 oz.) – 13.8 grams
Peanut Butter (2 Tbsp.) – 8.1 grams
Almond Butter (2 Tbsp.) – 7 grams
Lentils (1/2 cup) – 9 grams
Split Peas (1/2 cup) – 8.1 grams
Kidney Beans (1/2 cup) – 7.6 grams
Sesame Seeds (1 oz.) – 7.5 grams
Black Beans (1/2 cup) – 7.5 grams
Garbanzo Beans (1/2 cup) – 7.3 grams
Green Peas (1/2 cup) – 4.1 grams

References: Marks Daily Apple, Good Calories Bad Calories, The Paleo Diet

"So, you don't eat carbs?"

2009-10-08T21:30:00.006-06:00

Since starting Paleo/Primal eating, Chris and I have both received lots of questions from friends, co-workers, and others, who struggle to understand why we choose to eat the way we eat. Below are some of my favourites.

Question: "If you don't eat grains or legumes, where do you get your carbs?"

My Answer: Fruits & Vegetables

Comment: "It can't be healthy, cutting out an entire food group. Your body needs carbs"

My Response: Carbs are not a food group, they are a macronutrient.

I'm still eating carbs (see response to Question #1).

Have you ever heard of any disease caused by carbohydrate deficiecy? Nope, me neither. I get what I need from fruits & veggies.

Comment: "But I just couldn't give my breads, pastas or cookies. They're my comfort food."

My Response: To each, their own. Choose comfort food, or choose optimum health. Only you can make that decision.

**If you have questions, opinions, comments, concerns, complaints, disagreements with anything I write - consider this blog an open forum. My goal here is to learn as much as I can about nutrition and optimal health - and to share that with others. The more you challenge what I write, the more we all will learn (I know, I know, totally hokey. But, I'm an eager newbie nutrition nerd, I can't help myself).

I just received a personal email from Robb Wolf

2009-10-08T12:27:00.001-06:00

BE JEALOUS!

Garbage In Garbage Out

2009-10-08T10:51:00.001-06:00

Kelly Tunison here, blogging my first ever blog! Great, you say - another blogger, just what the Internet needs!

Well, good news for you is, this blog isn't for you - not yet anyways. For now, this blog is where I'll come to help teach myself the "why's" that underline the "what's" and "how's", I've come to understand about nutrition. Reading will be the source of my information, and sharing that information on this blog will be my source of learning.

For the past several months, Chris and I have become increasingly interested in how food fuels our bodies. After reading Melissa Urban's most recent post about redefining the CrossFit Affiliate, the wheels in my head started turning. I don't know where this blog will lead, or what will be in store for Chris & I re: CrossFit, nutrition, health, etc. 5 years from now. What I know is that nutrition can prevent, heal, improve, and destroy. My goal is to avoid the latter, and help others do the same.

Deep thought of the day: SUGAR eats the enamel off your teeth. Enamel is the hardest substance in your body. What do you expect sugar does to the rest of your body?