Sidebar: Foody and KD says I will never be a 1%er. It isn’t just having money. It is acting like you have money which they say I am incapable of.

Getting back on track though I wanted to share some of the interesting things that came out of the experience. First of all I want to reiterate something that I say often but often don’t feel heard. Everything doesn’t work for everybody. This includes paleo, CrossFit, the Zone, vegetarianism, P90X(especially if you only go P17X), yoga, high school, and communism. In fitness there isn’t a single path. There isn’t even a single destination. I certainly believe there are a lot of overlapping principles and a general direction but the fitness that I pursue looks very different than the fitness you might be pursuing even though our journey’s may share many qualities.

General prescription says to cleanse for 7 or more days but for a variety of reasons the four of us all did it differently. During cleansing you don’t exercise. It is a restful time for your body. You are allowing a detoxification process to happen all the way down to a cellular level and training is quite a stress on the system. You are also majorly hypo-caloric which is not a great way to see amazing numbers in the gym. Your gut gets a nice vacation from digestion though and it will thank you at the end.

I went four days because I couldn’t afford to take too much time off of training when I am planning to win the Northwest Regional. It wasn’t hard. It was boring. Consuming the same thing all of the time. It was definitely a time and money saver. Energy was fine. I thought about food a lot. Not in a obsessive way but about my reasons for wanting to eat which were largely emotional. I didn’t want to curl up with a pint of coconut bliss and watch Can’t Hardly Wait and cry about my senior prom but I did find that the social aspect of meal times was strained. When I did get frustrated about something food thoughts came up. Anger and joy both prompted a craving for something.. Certain smells that I would pass pay would incite various feelings linked as much to people and experiences as they were to the desire to consume. I lost 10 pounds and just felt, for lack of better terms, “clean” and “light.” I missed training but not because I felt like I was getting weak or soft but because I genuinely enjoy it. I know many folks suffer through it but I realized that there is something I take away from the act of actually doing it and not so much from the good feelings afterward that so many people enjoy.

Another athlete made it 3 days. Not even a full three days. Headaches nausea, chills, and ultimately such a negative association with the magic cleansing juice that the thought of it was painful. Was she too toxic? Was she not drinking enough? Is lemon juice poison to some people? Lots of things to consider and maybe with some more experimentation we could come up with some helpful answers but it definitely demonstrates that just because it works for me doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Donkey went a full 7 days and had no issues whatsoever.  Cleaned out her system, took a nice break from training, and had the time to ask herself some hard questions about food, life, and fitness.  Her energy was good, dreams became extra vivid, and she lost 8 pounds or so. Much of the weight comes back but you are aware of your body and the fuel you are putting in it in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. This awareness faded for me after about 10 days but it was pretty sweet while it lasted and the lessons from the experience have persisted.

I definitely recommend it as a method to learn some things about your body as well as clear out the waste products of protein digestion, lactate training, and decades of non-foods, and environmental toxins..

If there was ever any doubt regarding the origins of Ted’s ancestors I think we can clear it up with this photo. I am sure everyone as excited as I am about a nice day of fasting culminating with a meaningful and symbolic Good Friday service. It is in this vein that we are foregoing our Friday 4pm class

No 4pm class Friday April 6th.

We are 30 days into our paleo challenge. Scores will be on the dream board by the end of the week. I have been hearing some awesome things from folks as we move through this nutritional/lifestyle change experiment. People are feeling better, looking better, sleeping better, and even getting along better with their kids. I love all of it.

It has been tough for some folks. Many of us have tested our wills in ways and to levels that we haven’t attempted in years. In “Willpower” by Baumeister he presents the idea that willpower is a muscle that can be strengthened.  It turns out that we aren’t only improving our physical states we are also improving our mental strength and our ability to exceed our previous limitations.

One of the reasons that we decided to create different levels at which to compete is so that people could choose a place to start where they could be maximally successful. According to David Blaine, one of the most prolific endurance artists of all time, “getting your brain wired into little goals and achieving them, that helps you achieve the bigger things your shouldn’t be able to do.” By hitting lots of little stuff we are setting ourselves up to do some pretty epic stuff down the road. This should motivate you to hit those daily goals. These daily successes will pay us back in a big way when we need it.

You might not have known it but “Daily Success” is one of the core values of Xplore CrossFit. This proposition from Baumeister only strengthens my commitment to our third core value.

There will be no class Saturday at 9am. The gym kicked such an epic level of ass at sectional workout 12.2 we need two full days of relaxation and meditation to bask in our own glory and awesomeness. I think if Jan was here she would have actually kicked the bucket. It was amazing. I had to put plastic wrap over my keyboard as I typed this because the tears of joy just won’t stop. I am such a little girl but I don’t care because I am so friggin’ proud of you guys.

Reminder: No class Saturday March 3.

Bonus: JHo’s mama will be in town and she turns 50 something on Saturday so if you see her out buy her something paleo and delicious. She looks just like JHo, and Charlie for that matter.

In case you weren’t there I kicked that guy all the way across the gym and then did 4 more pull ups. It was amazing. As you can tell Emily is super proud of me and I think a little into me.

Opening day was yesterday. I am sure you guys are as excited as I am. We are officially into the CrossFit Games season. The World Series of Fitness will soon be upon us and I can’t think of a better way to honor this special time than to do what we always do. Train like champions. Basically it is business as usual except now folks who paid twenty dollars can find out just how many people in the whole world are better than they are.

The first workout has been announced. It is incredibly unexciting but we are athletes so we are doing it anyway. It will be built into our normal programming so all you have to do is show up. There will be no special testing times.  If you feel like getting your name up in lights you can register as an official team member at games.crossfit.com but it isn’t required. After the open is over we will start testing for our official regional competition team. It is going to be an epic year for XCF.

Whilst taking communion this morning I was thinking to myself “this totally isn’t paleo.” How ridiculous is it that whilst I am remembering the atonement I am more mindful of the food rules that I placed on myself. I thought it would make for an awesome satirical introduction to a blog post on how our restrictive behaviors can become distractions from some of the more important things in life. My thoughts were right on because a few hours later a question actually came in exactly to that affect:

“Do communion wafers and wine set me back to 0?” -Scott

That is awesome that folks are so committed to the cause but at the same time we have to look at the bigger picture. It isn’t about the points. It is about the change. Are we making good choices 85. 90, 99% of the time? If the answer is yes than we can certainly afford to step outside of the box from time to time. This is especially true when those things involve traditions that carry more weight in our lives than anything that takes place in the gym. At the same time though don’t let traditions that are magnificently unhealthy persist for the sake of tradition. It is time to let ice cream only Sundays die out.

Monday February 20th there will be no 5 and 6pm class. 6am O lifting is over. It is time to buckle down for the CrossFit Open. If you haven’t signed up for the Xplore CrossFit team there is still time. You may not want to go to the CrossFit games but that doesn’t mean that you can’t throw down with yor local crew and see how you stack up against CrossFitters worldwide.

Team captains are fielding a lot of questions and it is great. I am excited how involved folks are getting. I am also jazzed about the support people are offering to their teammates. Winning, points, good days, and bad are just a part of a process of self exploration in the arena of food and nutrition. This is not about the points. It is about you learning some things about the things you eat, your relationship to them, and how they are affecting your body. 90 days is short relative to your time on the planet so far and for most of us(excluding Jan) it is short relative to the time we have left. In fact I hope that you take some things away from this challenge that extend the good years you have left.

One of the things that has been coming up a lot is potatoes/sweet potatoes. Are they in or out? Good or bad? Is one better than the other? Here is the deal. They are in. Peel them, cook them long and slow, eat them, enjoy them. They have some good stuff in there. The challenge with potatoes in my opinion comes from several fronts. For many of us the cooking method is the problem. Frying makes them oh so delicious but it adds oh so much unwanted crap into the equation that it leaves me wanting a better choice for you. For others the problem lies with the accoutrements. Without sugar, dairy, and grains many of us are left with an unappealing spud on our plate. So many sauces, and other accompaniments are sugar laden and therefore out of reach. Lame. My thing with them is the poor relationship between density of carbohydrates and density of life extending, performance enhancing, ass shaping nutrients. When you put any sort of potato in a head to head contest against just about any other bright colored vegetable you will find that calorie for calorie potatoes are bringing much to the table in terms of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and prettiness. It is so easy to chow down on a big serving of potato anything. Consider though that you will consuming 3 times the carbs of a similar serving of brocolli as well as missing out on a boat load of fiber and other cancer fighting awesomeness. So yes or no? It is totally up to you. What I am encouraging you to do is choose the best thing for you as often as you possibly can.

I have added a response from Rex to her team because it offers some helpful info. None of the names were changed in order to shame the guilty or protect the innocent. Depends on how you slice it.

From Rexy’s Noggin:

Hello ALL!  So we just had our weekly morning trainer meeting and I wanted to make a few points of CLARIFICATION:

1. Almond Milk -  I was wrong Dail.  Almond milk is okay.  As is Hemp milk. Still NO SOY.  They must be UNSWEETENED Plain, but yes.

2. Potatoes – They are low on the food spectrum of choice – specifically WHITE potatoes (b/c we are racist) so though they will not earn you a 0 for the day they are not the preference. And if you can make sure you TAKE THE PEAL OFF.  Seriously.

3. Nuts – yes you can eat them.  Just try not to go (heh) NUTS on them.  I notice I feel better when I don’t have too many, but that is me.  For balancing your O-3/O-6 count – macadamias are actually best. If you are giving up legumes NO PEANUTS here is a great article on peanuts:  http://whole9life.com/2009/12/peanut-manifesto/

4. Honey – NO.  If you are giving up SUGAR. HONEY IS A NO.  As is any sweetner. The point is to get your body to stop having the response to sweet.  I am going to write more on this, but NO. No. NO.

5. Fail Safe Judgement – REMEMBER the REASON we are doing this is not to game the system.  BUT – to make you more awesome, to make you feel better, and live longer, and get healthier.  Hence these rules.  So a rule of thumb when confronted with a choice is to think of these 2 questions:  Is this a High Quality Food?  How close is it to real food?  There are some deli meats that are NON-FOOD, but then there are others that are a solid choice – with just meat and no additives.  Look for those options.

This will be an individual as well as team challenge – so if you chronically cheat you aren’t just letting yourself down! Your team captain will be contacting you to let you know who is on your team and where to keep track of your progress. And now for…….

THE RULES.

Each day you will keep track of your total food points. There will be five levels. The first three levels are grains (this includes beer!), sugar, and dairy. Each of these items is worth 2 points. You must cut out all three of these groups in order to be eligible to log points from the top two levels. The top two levels are legumes and alcohol/caffeine. They are worth 1 point each. Therefore, if you were to opt for full paleo, the maximum total points for each day is 8.  You will choose at what level you would like to participate at the onset of the challenge. For example, if you commit to no grains and no sugar your maximum daily points for the first 30 days is 4 points per day. You may adjust your daily point goal at 30 and 60 days if you choose to. I know it sounds a lot like weight watchers but there is a very important twist. We are badasses and we are going to be even badder asses by the time this whole thing is over. There won’t be any public weigh ins and shame circles if we can avoid it.

We would like to see a minimum of at least 4 points from everyone. If you can only stand to eliminate one group from your diet we request it be grains or sugar. These will make the largest difference. If you eat any of the items you have committed to eliminate you will receive 0 points for that day, even if you only eat one prohibited item. Again, 0 points for the day if you cheat. If you have questions about what is allowable ask your team captain or any one of the trainers – we are here to help you succeed!

We will be doing testing in the gym every 30 days to track performance improvements. The 5 tests are 5k row, 300FY, 100 push ups, 50 pull ups, and 1 min AC. Points will be awarded for PRs. There will be other bits of godness along the way to score additional bonus points.

TO GET STARTED

1. Decide what level you want to participate at and tell your team captain. (Choose anything you want as long as it is 4 or higher)

2. Fill your fridge with paleo deliciousness

3. Be awesome
Our sincerest hope and expectation is that you see real change through this. We encourage you to take the first 30 days as a true and significant test of your will. Work one level up from where you think you will be comfortable. The rewards will surprise you.